Love Me Tender - Please Pt. 06

Shivering with one last prickle of pleasure, Ray let more of his weight down onto her pretzeled body. He shifted to allow her to move her legs from their position but she kept them there and pursed her lips for a kiss. He was afraid of hurting her but she pulled him down and they thanked each other with a wet, sloppy kiss.

Afterward, they lay on their backs and held hands between them.

"I'm going to save this dress because it has your DNA on it. I'll call it my Monica Lewinsky dress," she laughed. "You can't get away now."

"Who says I want to," he replied and turning towards her, he kissed her.

"We have to leave tomorrow," she sighed. "I don't want to go back to work. I want to stay with you."

"Come back to Savannah with me," he offered.

"Come back to Corpus with me," she countered.

"What's in Corpus for me?"

"You mean besides me?" she laughed again.

"Yes, besides you," he replied. "Are you willing to support me as your gigolo?"

"Yes, but you wouldn't be happy. I have some ideas but I'm too tired to talk about them now. I need a shower. Help me out of this dress and my feet feel like I've been in these shoes for a week."

Kari was in the shower when her cell phone rang so Ray picked it up. It was Melody's caller ID.

"Hello," he said into the phone.

"Well, who are you answering my mother's phone?" she asked pretending not to know who he was.

"Pardon me, whom do you wish to speak to?" he went along with her joke.

"My mother, of course. Are you one of her boy toys?"

"Yes," he responded continuing with the game.

"Oh, daddy!" she cried when she realized what she had said. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that. I was just kidding around."

"It's OK, honey. I know you're just joking."

"Where's mom?"

"Taking a shower. We just got back from dinner a little while ago. After dinner we went to this lookout place to see the city. It was great."

"Mom has to take a shower after dinner? Where did you eat? In a zoo? Never mind, I know what you were doing."

"That's quite enough young lady. You don't know what we were doing."

"Yeah, sure," she replied sarcastically. "I'm glad you two are getting along again. Where's Brian."

By the time Ray had caught Melody up on the last few days, Kari had finished her shower and appeared wearing a robe with a towel wrapped around her head.

"Here's your mother. Talk to her."

Kari took the phone and Ray took his turn in the shower and she was still on the phone when he emerged ten minutes later.

"Yes, honey. I'm happy too. We'll see. Bye. Love you."

Ray stood, deep in thought, looking out the window when Kari ended her conversation and walked up behind him. Hugging him from the back, she squeezed tightly and rested her cheek on his back.

"Please stay here tonight with me?"

Turning around, Ray held her in his arms and kissed her.

"Yes, I'd like that. The kids already seem to know what is going on so why not."

Turning out the lights, they took off their robes and slipped under the covers. Pressing herself against his warm skin, Kari lifted her leg and hooked it over his thigh.

Sighing with pleasure, she said, "This is another thing I missed. Just lying next to you."

Snuggling up against him, she kissed his nipple and laying her cheek against his chest she quietly fell asleep.

Chapter 67

A slamming door out in the hotel hallway woke Ray the next morning. He opened his eyes and tried to think where he was when he caught sight of Kari sitting cross-legged next to him. She was still nude and she smiled when she saw him looking at her.

"Good morning," she said. "Like what you see?"

"What are you doing just sitting there?"

"Looking at you. I like to look at you. Did you know that the hair on your chest is turning gray?"

"Don't remind me," he replied. "I know I'm getting old."

"Not old, older," she corrected him.

Glancing down at his morning erection pushing up the sheet, she laughed, "I see that all of you is not old yet."

"I have to pee," he laughed. "That's one of the disadvantages of getting older. When I have to pee, I have to pee."

Rolling out of bed his erection bobbed in front of him as he padded towards the bathroom.

"Want me to help?" she giggled. "I can hold it for you."

"I'll never be able to relax enough to go with you holding me. I'll be right back."

"Hurry," she said in a husky voice. "I'm waiting."

Standing over the toilet, he remembered the time when Donna had held him in her hand standing over the commode in her bathroom. For a brief moment, he wondered what would have happened if he had let her seduce him.

"Thank God, I didn't."

Ray finally left her hotel room at ten o'clock to go back to his room to change to meet Brian. They were just in time for the buffet lunch set up for the team members and their parents and friends. Brian was hyper after his night in the dorm with his new friends and the upper class members of the team. They had exchanged email addresses and cell phone numbers and they could not wait to start school and get away from their parents.

Ray had to get back to Savannah and planned to leave that afternoon. Brian talked him in to letting him go to Corpus Christi and stay with his mother for a while. She cautioned him that she would be working but he assured her that he could enjoy the lure of the Gulf Coast beaches. They set no deadline for his return or how he was going to get back home but they figured they could work it out when the time came.

They had arranged for a late checkout and it was almost two o'clock by the time they got back to the hotel. Ray carried Kari's bags down to his room and they loaded everything on a cart and sent Brian down to the valet to get their cars. That gave them time for a long goodbye and they made the most of it.

"I enjoyed the last few days with you," Kari said between kisses. "I wish we didn't have to go back yet."

"We'll work something out. Maybe we can meet in New Orleans when it's time for Brian to come back home."

"I love you," she said and held on to him so tightly that she hurt his ribs. "Please don't go away again."

"I won't. Now let's get going or I'm going to have to pull your pants down."

"It won't take much, I'll help," she replied and pushed her hips against him. "Do we have time?"

"No, and stop that or I'll have to change my pants."

"Do you still love me?" she asked looking at him with tear filled eyes.

"Yes, I still love you," he replied. "I love you."

It was six o'clock the next morning when Ray pulled into his driveway in Savannah. The sun was just coming up and he sat there for a few moments after turning off the engine.

"You're too old to drive for fifteen hours straight," he admonished himself as he leaned against the door trying to get his legs to move to the point where he could walk without falling down.

He had planned to stop in Montgomery, Alabama but he did not feel tired and traffic was light so he just kept driving. The miles ticked off and he only stopped for gas, snacks and the many cups of coffee that caused him to have to pee every three hours or so.

During one five-hour stretch, he hooked up with a line of car doing a steady 85-90 as they practically flew down the interstate. The last meal he had was an egg sandwich from a truck stop that he ate while driving in the early morning darkness.

He was surprised to smell coffee and to see a light on in the kitchen when he opened the front door.

"Melody?" he called quietly. "Are you up already?"

"You scared me," she replied and appeared in the archway of the kitchen. "What are you doing here already? I didn't expect you until this afternoon."

"I decided to drive straight through," he replied. "That coffee smells good. Can I have some?"

"Of course. How was your trip? I talked to Brian and he said you and mom had a good time. Did you?"

"Yes, we did," he replied and sank into a chair at the table.

Melody brought him a cup of coffee and plopped down a half-eaten box of donuts.

"I see you have been eating healthy while I've been gone," he kidded her and selected one.

"Of course," she laughed. "Sugar and booze kept me going. I have to get out of here or I'll be late. They had some problems at the Caruso site and they want my advice."

"Your advice? My, my," he grinned. "My little doodler is becoming quite the architect."

"It's in my genes," she said and gathering her purse and knapsack she bent down to kiss him on the forehead.

"Bye. Love you. See you later. Oh, speaking of 'jeans', Brian told me you got into moms. Bye!"

Ray almost spit out his mouthful of coffee.

"Tell Brian to mind his own business! And you too! Bye."

Finishing his coffee and another donut, he carried his bag upstairs and put everything back where it belonged. Still too wired to sleep, he walked downstairs in his underwear and into his den. Opening the safe he pulled out the DVDs and the plastic baggie containing Karen's rings and ankle bracelet.

Carrying the DVDs into the kitchen, he found a pair of scissors in the utility drawer and stood there looking at the evidence of Karen's infidelity. For a moment he considered reviewing the videos but shook his head at his own stupidity. After cutting through them with the scissors, he buried them in the bottom of the trash compactor drawer.

"Funny," he thought to himself. "I revert to calling her Karen when I think about the past and what happened."

The moment he shut the drawer, he felt a great sense of relief that a sad, sad chapter in his life had closed and he was ready to start a newer, happier one.

Looking up at the morning sky through the patio screen, he mouthed the words, "Thank you."

It was noon when he awoke from a calm sleep and laid in his bed looking up at the ceiling. He felt complete again and he ran through a mental list of things he had to do to get started in his new direction.

The first thing he did was to sit at his computer and check his email. Sorting through the usual crap, he found one from Kari that she had sent an hour before.

Dear Ray:

I miss you already. Brian was up bright and early this morning and is down at the beach. No one but me has ever slept in my bed here in Corpus Christi. I long for the time when you can share it with me. The last few months have been the happiest of my life. Reconnecting with you and hearing you pledge your love for me has strengthened my resolve to devote the rest of my life to making you happy. I am proud of what you have done with our children and I am proud of your willingness to give me back your love. Thank you for being you,

I love you,

Kari

After several false starts that sounded too mushy or too phony, he finally just replied with,"Thank you, I love you too."

Melody ragged on him unmercifully when she got home from work that evening. She kept dropping little comments about being too old for hanging around hotels with single women. She even hinted that she was going to ask her mother about his staying power. Knowing that there was no future in trying to argue with her or to try and defend himself, he put up with her comments and went along with the jokes.

By ten o'clock, he was falling asleep in front of the television. He finally admitted that he was exhausted and that the few hours of sleep he had that morning were not enough. He told Melody that he was going up to bed and paused, fully expecting her to make another comment about his age and sexual stamina.

Instead, she got up from her seat on the sofa and gave him a hug and a kiss goodnight.

"Do you think that you and mom will ever get back together?" she asked with hopeful tears welling up in her eyes. "She loves you so much and I think you love her too. Am I right?"

Looking down into his daughter's eyes, he realized the strain that the events of the past few years had on her and he hugged her to his chest.

"Yes, I do love her, sweetheart. My problem is that I am afraid that I will not be able to get over the horrible images living in my head of what happened in the past. I don't want to give her, or you for that matter, any false hopes that I can ever be free of those ghosts."

"I'm not sure I understand everything you're talking about. There must be something I don't know and I don't think I want to know about it."

"You're right, you don't want to know. Let's give it time and we'll see how it works out. I love you for supporting your mother and for being patient with me. Goodnight, honey."

"Goodnight, daddy. I love you."

Ray awoke refreshed and ready to go the next morning. He spent some time with his partners working out the general details of his plans and he was grateful that they understood and supported him.

He immersed himself in his work and the next two weeks flew by with he and Melody hardly ever seeing each other. Except for some quick conversations early in the morning or when they happened to cross paths at the office, they lived on separate schedules. The emails between he and Kari continued and they talked on the phone about every other day. Brian was ready to come home and they agreed to meet in Baton Rouge and spend a day together before they went back to their respective homes.

Melody wanted to see her mother so she rode with Ray and it was nice to have her share the driving. Brian and Kari were already checked in by the time they arrived at the Argosy. Melody called when they were a few minutes away and they met them in the lobby. Brian gave them their key cards and took their bags and they followed him into the elevator. He made it clear that he thought Melody over packed and that she had enough clothes to last a week rather than one day.

"What room are we in?" Ray asked.

"We have 821 and 823," Brian answered. "You're in 823."

"But ...," Kari started to say when Melody interrupted her.

"You and dad are in 823," she informed them. "Brian and I will sleep in 821."

Ray looked at Kari with his eyebrows raised in question. She smiled, took hold of his hand and squeezed it while nodding gently in agreement.

"Thank you, but this arrangement doesn't apply to either of you two if you are with a date. Understand?"

"Yes, mother," they chorused with a pretend groan and the four of them laughingly exited the elevator.

"Well," Kari said when the door to their room closed behind them. "Should we strip and jump into bed? That's what the kids think we are going to do."

"I'm all for it," Ray answered and grabbing her he pushed her backwards onto the bed and plopped down beside her.

"Umm," Kari moaned when their lips parted. "I liked that."

"I brought you a present," he said and getting up off of the bed he set his suitcase on the stand and rummaged through it.

"Shoes?" she laughed. "It seems that every time you bring me shoes we end up naked in bed."

"I can't afford to bring you shoes every time I meet you," he laughed. "So I brought you a sort of a virtual present instead."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Ray walked back to the bed and lifting her leg he pulled her shoe off and rested her foot against his chest. Opening his hand he pulled out an ankle bracelet and she watched as he fastened it around her leg.

"That's my bracelet!" she exclaimed. "Oh God, I thought I'd lost it. I searched everywhere for it. Thank you, thank you."

"There's a new one on there."

Sitting up, she rested her leg on the bed and examined the charm.

"A pair of shoes!" she laughed. "Does this mean I don't get any more shoe presents?"

"For the time being," he laughed in response. "This is a reminder of our getting back together. You like?"

"I love it and I love you. Now can we get naked?"

"You've turned into a lustful and wanton woman," he chided her. "I don't know if I can keep up with you."

"Don't hand be that crap," she replied and pulling him down on the bed she straddled him and kissed him again.

A knock on the door interrupted them.

"That's got to be the kids," she groaned. "Shall we answer it?"

"I guess we'd better. We're not setting any kind of a good example for them."

"Ha, ha," she said in a fake laugh. "I think they're beyond the 'good example' point in their lives. Do you think they're both virgins?"

"I don't even want to consider it," he replied. "Open the door. I'm going to go into the bathroom so I won't be embarrassed."

"I see what you mean," she laughed and squeezed his erection through his pants when he stood up."

After dinner, they took a walk along the river and enjoyed the warm summer evening. Melody and Brian led the way as they watched the darkness fall and the lights along the river come to full brightness. Kari and Ray held hands and several times they stopped to kiss, much to the delight of their children.

At one point, both Melody and Brian chorused amidst much laughter, "Get a room!"

Later, as they stood outside of their respective hotel room doors, they made plans to meet for an early breakfast in order to get an early start on the long drives back to their respective homes.

Ray took a shower and put on the robe provided by the hotel while he waited for Kari to shower and wash her hair. He sat in the darkened room and looked out over the city while his thoughts jumped from place to place as he reviewed their relationship. He still did not feel as though he had all of the answers as to the "Why" of Karen's need to cheat on him. He had been wondering if he had done something to make her unhappy and would it happen again if they got back together.

Hearing the door to the bathroom open, Ray turned around in his chair in time to see Kari turn on the light next to the bed. She stood on the opposite side of the bed dressed in the green gown that he liked so much.

"I didn't know that you still had that," he told her as he rose from his seat.

"I haven't worn it since we were still married," she replied. "That sounds so weird, doesn't it? When we were 'still married', I mean."

"Yes, I guess it does. Come over here and sit by me," he offered and moving his chair he pulled the loveseat in front of the window.

Kari turned out the light and walked over to stand beside him in front of the window. When she came closer, the city lights revealed that she was wearing heels with the gown.

"You're going to kill me," he murmured and taking her into his arms he pulled her against his chest and kissed her. "You are so beautiful, you make me ache when I look at you."

Sitting her down on the front edge of the loveseat, Ray knelt between her knees and holding her around her waist he gently pulled her forward and kissed her. As the kiss intensified, Kari rested her hands on his forearms and held onto him. Pulling back, he waited until her eyes opened before placing little kisses along the side of her mouth.

Taking her hands in his, he lifted them and gently pinned them against the back of the loveseat. Kari felt his tongue moving down onto her neck and bare shoulder. He tickled the hollow of her shoulder and leaning against the backrest she surrendered to his lips and tongue. The touch of his tongue on her underarm startled her at first but the new sensation, instead of tickling her, sent little shivers down her back and made her butt clench.

He continued laving her armpit and each touch of his lips and tongue increased the eroticism until she was moaning in anticipation of where he would next touch her.

"You like that?" he whispered.

"God, yes," she whimpered. "Where did you learn that?"

"It's my own invention. No part of you is unkissable as far as I'm concerned. I love your taste everywhere."

Releasing her arms, he sat back on his haunches and lifting her legs by the ankles he brought them up until her high heels were cradling his cheeks. He kissed her exposed instep through her nylons and she again felt the touch of his tongue caressing her. Sliding his hands up over her calves and onto the outside of her thighs, he lowered her legs and continued kissing her at her knees.