Not Just for Christmas Ch. 05-06

"Ok... Dad!" Then she flounced out. Well, more of a happy skip really. He made a phone call, asked a question and got a positive answer.

Once the family were in bed, or in Siobhán's case her bedroom, Mike went downstairs and found Claire in the study where she was doing the household accounts.

"Hello," she said, smiling up at him.

"Claire," he said tentatively, "I wonder would you like to have dinner with me on Friday, and perhaps a few drinks afterwards?"

She started, clearly shocked.

"Mike? What's brought this on? You've never asked me out before."

He knew before he said anything that he wouldn't get off easily, but he had his answer ready.

"Claire," he said, "last week you got your Decree Nisi. Before that, you were a married woman and I don't date married women, but in a few weeks you'll be a free woman. I've wanted to say more for a long time, but as I say..."

"You're asking me for a date?"

"Aye."

She smiled warmly at him. "That's what I like about you, Mike. You say little and mean a lot. Yes, I'd love to go with you for dinner. Perhaps some dancing? You don't mind me asking?"

"No," he smiled. "I know just the place."

Rosemary came home with Mike on Friday, prepared to stay the night and as much of the next day as needed. She loved children and they naturally loved her. Claire left the children's dinner for Rosemary to sort out.

The younger two were all smiles and Siobhán looked satisfied with her machinations of the previous week. There was certainly a conspiratorial air about the place.

He showered, shaved and changed into an open-necked shirt, tan trousers and a navy blazer, and then left his room and made for the stairs. Out of the room at the other end of the landing came a vision. Her hair was up, showing how long her slender neck was. Her 'little black dress' was in fact a deep, deep red. It was demure, v-necked and low at the back; short, just above the knee. Bare legs; strappy, medium heeled shoes, but no jewellery. It struck him she had none.

"Stop there!" he cried, and ran back to his room. He fished out a necklace and earrings, gold inset with diamonds, but not too showy, that his grandmother left to him. 'Give them to the girl you are going to marry,' she had said. He wasn't going to give them to Claire just yet but she could wear them.

He brought them to Claire, "Would you like to wear these tonight?" he asked.

Her eyes glistened and she admired them. She nodded, turned her back and waited for him to fasten the necklace round her lovely neck. Then she fixed the earrings.

"Perfect!" she whispered and looked at him over her shoulder with a dreamy expression before taking his arm and walking him down the stairs.

The children were lined up in the hallway. There were gasps and murmurings from the girls at the sight of their mother and each wore broad smiles. Ryan just grinned. They all hugged and kissed their mother and then came to Mike and did the same.

The taxi was waiting and they were off. Claire had her arm tucked in his all the way. They went to the same club Tom and Mike used. Tom wasn't there, having gone to some convention or other. Claire got her share of admiring looks from many of the men there. The meal was excellent as usual and they chatted away through it, laughing and joking.

Then they went into the club area and danced. The first dances were quick upbeat numbers and after three they were both out of breath. Out of practice too. So they had a couple of drinks. Then Mike got a surprise.

"Hi, Mike!" said a female voice behind him. Claire looked up and stiffened. He turned.

It was Sharon, the girl that Tom took home the night Mike had Bryony, or rather didn't have Bryony.

"Sharon! Lovely to see you!" he said and he meant it. He stood and they hugged. Then to Claire he said, "This is Sharon, she's Bryony's friend, you know, the girl who I was with that weekend. Sharon this is Claire."

"Hi!" Sharon said brightly. "You're Mike's housekeeper aren't you? He looks very well on it! Hey Mike, Bryony was disappointed you didn't bed her properly. She said you had someone else in mind?"

"You could say that," he was now very embarrassed but Claire's grin got wider and wider.

Sharon kissed him long and sensuously on his lips until Claire cleared her throat meaningfully, but she was still smiling.

"See you!" shouted Sharon as she sashayed away laughing, looking for fresh prey.

Claire looked after her, appreciating what he had given up if Bryony was half as good looking as Sharon, then looked back at Mike.

"Well?" she asked him. "Why didn't you 'bed' this Bryony? Who's the 'someone else'?"

"You know perfectly well who," he shot back. "I've loved you for months. I couldn't go with anyone else, even though we were at odds that weekend."

"That true?" asked Claire her eyes shining.

"It's true."

"Since when?"

"Oh," he said, "I think it was when you said you were going to see Gary. You were resolute and told me to keep out of your business. You were strong and independent."

"Let's dance," she said.

It was a slow dance and she came into his arms, her arms round his neck and she pressed herself against him. He put his hands low on her waist and pulled her to him. He felt her breasts, she his growing erection and she laid her head against his chest just underneath his chin.

Nothing was said as they moved gently to the music but after a while she lifted her face and her hands pulled his head down. They kissed. It was very gentle, very soft and it didn't last very long, but it said 'I love you' as clearly as if she'd shouted it to the room. Then she sighed; a quiet sound of satisfaction and contentment.

As the dance ended, she said "Let's go home." So they did.

The journey in the taxi was passed in silence. She was in the crook of his arm, her head against his chest and his arm round her shoulders. From time to time she lifted her head for a kiss and smiled beatifically which made her pretty face radiant. He was sure that at that moment there was no woman more beautiful in the entire universe.

They arrived home at one o'clock to find the house quiet. Everyone was asleep and Rosemary had also gone to bed.

He got them their drinks, set them on the coffee table and they sat down together on the sofa in the living room. Or rather he sat down on the sofa and she knelt straddling his lap and started kissing him. The hem of the dress had ridden up, displaying her firm slim thighs, while continuing to hide her panties. Before long they were both moaning as their kisses became more and more intense.

"Mike," she said breathlessly as they came up for air. "Can we use your room? Mine is a little too near the children."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. "This was only our first date."

She kissed him again. "Mike we've lived together for seven months. For most of that time I've been frustrated as hell seeing you everyday and wanting you so badly."

"Me too," he said, "though I tried to deny it. I didn't think you thought of me like that."

"Come on," she said, taking his hand in a firm grip, and leading the way.

They climbed the stairs and went to his room.

"Undress me," she commanded, turning her back to allow him to unzip her dress. He pushed the garment off her shoulders and down her lithe body, until it fell away and pooled at her feet.

"And your lovely necklace," she ordered, with the back of her long swan-like neck still facing him. He kissed her neck and she shivered. She then took off the earrings. He thought how intensely erotic a woman removing her earrings was. Then she turned to face him and stepped back.

"This is what you bought me for Christmas," she smiled with a hint of shyness.

The bra and bikini knickers were in coffee. Under the breast the fabric was translucent, giving the faintest hint of her nipple, while above the nipple was the finest lightest lace. The straps were scalloped. The knickers were very brief with scalloped edges, of the same translucent material, tightly hugging her vulva and outlining it and the valley between her lower lips, with a panel of fine lace on each side.

Her body! There was perfection in the proportions of her waist and hips, and her legs were wonderfully slim and shapely. Above there was the perfection of her pretty face, looking apprehensive as his gaze travelled all over her. He briefly recalled her face when she had arrived, so damaged. She was beautiful then, but now...

Her hands went up to her hair and she shook out her auburn tresses, as they fell down over her shoulders. His lustful expression was obvious, and she smiled more boldly.

"I love it when you look at me like that," she said and did a slow turn so he could see her tight bottom, the exquisite curve of her back and the valley of her spine.

He held out his arms as she finished her turn, and she came into them and they kissed again gently and at length, before she stepped back a little and pulled up his shirt. He bent forward to help her and she pulled it off. Then in one fluid movement she undid his pants but slid the zip down so very slowly.

He wasn't sure about other men, but the sensation of a woman drawing his zip down was among the most erotic feelings he knew. A woman who did that was issuing an invitation. She slipped the garment down, kneeling as she did so. She removed his shoes and socks and then he obediently lifted each leg in turn so she could remove his trousers completely. He stood back and she gazed at him.

"Oh, yes!" she breathed, then stood up and reached behind her to unhook her bra, allowing it to fall forward and off her breasts. They were medium sized, perfectly in proportion with the rest of her and he could see no sign of any droop; the nipples stood out proudly and slightly elevated, and showed her arousal.

With a sensual smile and fixing her eyes on his, she hooked her fingers in her bikinis and slowly slid them down her legs, bending over at the hip but all the time holding his gaze, then standing erect. She held his eyes until he could not any longer stand the temptation to gaze on her sex. Her pubic hair was closely cropped, and auburn, like that of her head, though more reddish. At this she laughed a guttural laugh and he reddened, feeling caught out.

She stood before him brazenly naked, legs apart, hands on hips, and nodded at his boxers with a smile he could only think of as predatory.

He mimicked her action, sliding them down and over his straining erection. They fell to the floor and he stepped out of them. She made a twirling motion with the finger of one hand and he obediently did a slow turn as she had.

"Nice buns," she whispered. "Lovely arse!" and she giggled.

She stepped forward and as he turned towards her, she reached out both hands and traced the contours of his chest, feeling his pectorals and six-pack, then running her fingers over the muscles of his back as she pressed herself to him and moaned. She kissed his nipples, then held out a hand and drew him to the bed.

"Can we just lie together for a while?" she asked.

He could only agree. They climbed into bed together and entwined their legs, his hard erection between them on her stomach, one breast against his ribs, his arm around her and her head on his chest, her hair tickling his face.

A deep sigh escaped her lips and she moved sinuously against him more as a cuddle than an erotic invitation. He made a sound, a sort of hum of contentment, and she did the same.

"Happy?" he asked.

"Never more so," she answered, her tone dreamy. "If you knew how long I've waited for this, imagined it, ached for it, to be in your arms. You happy?"

"I feel as if I've come home at last," he whispered, "and I never want to leave home ever again."

She made a happy noise and nuzzled into his chest.

"I married Gary," she said after a pause, "and I thought I loved him, but what we had was nothing like this. I really didn't know what the word intimate meant. I do now. I love you so much."

"With Cheryl it was pure lust," he responded, "or rather, it was impure lust on both our parts. I thought it was love as well, and I did love her after a fashion, but she wasn't a soul mate. I think that you and I can be, no we are, soul mates."

"Mike?" she raised her head and looked into his eyes.

"Yes, my love?"

"I want you to make love to me. It's years since Gary made love to me. It was always violent."

He knew what she meant. They stroked each other all over. As he touched the back of her knees she closed her eyes and stopped her ministrations; it was a surrender to his touches. The backs of her thighs, the cross-shaped creases of her bottom, the small of her back all received careful attention.

As he moved to her shoulders, she turned onto her back and presented her breasts. He could have teased her, but she was breathing urgently, so he passed his palms over her nips as he cupped and caressed their fullness and she groaned. She took one of his hands and led it to her bush, spreading her legs widely.

He began to move his face downwards, but she stopped him.

"No games Mike."

"Claire," he pleaded, "I want to taste you. I want to kiss and lick you. I want to know every part of you."

She relaxed and he moved off the bed, gently pulling her with him, to take what was his favourite way of eating a woman, kneeling on his haunches on the floor. It was relaxed, and her vulva was at exactly the right height so there was no twisting of his neck. He looked at her body, then held her outer lips apart revealing her inner folds. This was not the time to tantalise, to give a huge orgasm. This woman simply wanted to be loved gently to a conclusion, so that is what he did. He revelled in her taste, her smell, all woman.

It did not take long. As he licked along her inner folds and stroked her clitoris with the flat of his tongue her bottom began to rise and fall. There was no intensification on his part, he simply continued gently tonguing her to and fro until she pulled up his head.

"I'm near," she panted. "Please, Mike!"

She scrambled to the middle of the bed, took hold of his stiff cock and pulled him onto the bed towards her sex, and once he reached her opening there was no going back. It was quite tight even after three children, but slick, and he slid into her effortlessly and moved with her.

She groaned. She moaned. Her breath came faster. She grabbed his bottom and pulled him further in each time he pushed into her and she thrust upwards more and more quickly, which he echoed by speeding up himself. She may have had the idea of a gentle and quiet love-making at first but now she was wild.

He began to thrust harder and was rewarded each time with "Yes!"

Then she came, convulsing under him, but silently. He came immediately after, the spasms releasing the jets of his semen powerful in the extreme; his grunts and panting not so silent.

"I thought it was supposed to be gentle?" he asked as they both came down and once more lay in each other's arms.

"So did I," she laughed contently. "I sort of got carried away, and anyway that was quite gentle. Really!"

Mike felt angry. If that was gentle what must Gary have been doing to her? How could anyone hate or abuse someone so beautiful?

"Don't get angry," she said. She knew him so well. "If he hadn't been so violent, I would never have met you, and would never have known...

"I remember how angry you were when you saw me for the first time," she mused. "You used it to put a wrong right."

There were no more words. He felt her hands tracing over his back and sides, gently stroking.

He must have fallen asleep, and when he woke up she was gone. He dressed and went downstairs. It was seven o'clock. No one had stirred. He made his usual tea and sat in the kitchen. He was about to pour it when Rosemary, fully dressed, wandered into the room.

"Well?" she asked.

He knew better than to plead ignorance.

"Perfect," he said. "I love her; she loves me. Couldn't be better."

"Well," she said with a wide smile. "It's not often you can make four people the happiest on the planet all at once, but I think you're about to do it!"

"I hope so." he said, and they drank their tea.

-

Saturday was a strange day. Claire couldn't keep her hands off him nor could he off her. Each time they touched, kissed or embraced briefly in passing there was a daughter grinning smugly at their intimacy, though Ryan did not seem to notice - that's boys for you!

That evening, however, Claire said she'd have to talk to the girls before coming into his bed again.

Sunday was the same. They all went for a walk, including Siobhán which was a surprise, and Claire and Mike held hands. The giggling from the girls seemed to go on forever and even Ryan caught on, but they eventually got used to it.

The interesting thing was that neither of the girls actually said anything. There was a certain shyness about them.

Everyone got used to the new relationship during the next week, but Mike and Claire decided to cool their bedroom activities until Claire had talked to Siobhán. After a Friday early evening visit to the pub, with Julie next door babysitting, the rest of the weekend approached the normality they had before they got together.

On Sunday night once the children were in bed Claire and Mike sat in the living room.

"I had a chat with Siobhán," said Claire out of the blue.

"About?" he asked.

"Well, us really. She's very mature you know. She wanted to know if we were going to move in together."

"And are we?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'd need to tell Ginny and Ryan before we did anything."

"Ryan's a little boy: he will just accept it and never think about it. Ginny is more aware I think. Siobhán is definitely aware of the implications of sleeping together. I think the younger ones will just see it as the normal thing parents do - they sleep in the same bed. You slept with Gary for most of their lives, you know.

"Kids adapt. They've seen us working and even parenting together; they've been on the receiving end of our team effort. Surely they'll expect us to move in together now?"

"Mm," she murmured, unconvinced.

"Why not talk to Siobhán again? She's a clever girl and a lot nearer their age."

She brightened at that. "Yes. Good idea! But we can't do it until they know."

"We've 'done it' already sweetheart," he grinned, "or have you forgotten the Friday night?"

She nudged his ribs. "I'll never forget that!" and she smiled lovingly at him.

It was time to prepare for the coming week, lunch for Siobhán and Mike and snacks and drinks for the younger children who had school dinners.

Then Claire came to him, kissed him long and hard and pressed her body to his so that his interest became obvious to her groin region. She took an exaggerated look at his pants and then said goodnight, leaving him to set the alarms and reset the video surveillance hard drive recorders. Then he trudged upstairs ready for a good night's sleep.

Which happened later than he expected because when he entered his room there was a naked woman in his bed.

"I thought fun was out until you talked to the children?" he enquired, though he shed his clothes quickly enough and revealed his enthusiasm to her.

"I said I'd have to talk before we moved in together," she said slyly. "When you've performed to my satisfaction I'll be leaving for my room!"

"Well," he growled, "I'd better get on with it then."

He did or rather she did. As he approached the bed she climbed out of it.

"Sit on the bed," she commanded. He sat on the edge, legs wide apart while, naked, she knelt on the floor between them on her heels as he had done the previous time, this time with her face level with his penis. He sensed her reluctance.

"Claire, darling," he said gently. "You don't have to, you know."