Breaking the Ice Ch. 05

Adjusting to our new schedule after our mini-vacation proved to be easier than I thought it would. Shane was true to his word and left me alone to my unnecessarily excessive study habits during the week. I wore headphones when I worked so I wasn't really aware of his comings and goings. Sometimes food would appear next to me, the soft brush of his lips as he kissed the top of my head, and on more than one occasion I would wake up in bed after passing out on the living room floor. I kept my promise to dedicate my weekend to him. We didn't do much: we'd go to the movies, or dinner, or we'd read and talk in bed for two days. And of course, screw each other's brains out. It was a good balance, and we both seemed to be getting what we needed.

"Oh Tess..." Shane called out in a playful tone and I tried to stifle my giggles. "Come out here, sweetheart. I have a present for you..."

I fished my phone out of my pocket and sent him a text. Stop trying to draw out the enemy with promises of presents! The moment he walked in the door from the gym I hurled snowballs at him rapid-fire from the top of the stairs, then sprinted off to hide before he registered what the hell was happening.

I heard a faint dinging sound, and then his booming laugh. "But it's such a nice present, soft and...fluffy!" Down the hall a door banged open, and he made a tsking sound with his mouth. "You can't hide from me forever, eventually I'm gonna get your fine ass."

Smirking to myself, I tortured him some more. Then what are you going to do to my fine ass? BTW, Aunt Flo left town last night.

Another sound of his text alert, then a deafening silence before he started yelling. "Contessa Thomas, your period ended yesterday and you're just now telling me?! Get the fuck out here right now so I can tan the hell out of your hide!"

Ooh, you're all sexy and southern when you're mad. Maybe next time you won't be such a jerk about my books. Shane was always so grumpy from the absence of sex when I was on my period. Usually on the last day I relented and we'd do it in the shower, which was my plan last night until he started scolding me about my textbooks being all over the house as soon as I walked in from class. He had texted while I was on my way to my accounting lecture this morning, apologizing for picking a fight and calling me a "pampered slob," so I skipped class to clean the house and wait for him.

I saw him enter the room from the cracked door in our armoire I was crouched in. He looked around cautiously, a pillow clutched in his hands. "I know you're in here, Contessa, this house isn't that big. Get out here and take your punishment like a good lil' girl." I grinned to myself as he peeked around the corner into the closet, he was right where I wanted him. I silently opened the door, pushed off on my feet and leapt on his back, effectively scaring the daylights out of him. "Shit!"

"Victory! Surrender to your tiny wife!" I pretended to choke him as he stood in front of the wall mirror with his arms crossed, glaring amusedly at the 5'4" ball of energy wrapped around his 6'4" giant body doing absolutely no damage to him whatsoever. I stopped my assault and rested my chin on top of his head. "You could at least pretend like I'm ferocious."

"Ferociously annoying, you lil' spider monkey. Why aren't you at school?"

"Eh, I have senioritis. Besides, I had to go and get you this," I reached into my back pocket and pulled out an envelope, dangling it in his face. He shot me a skeptical look as he took the envelope from my hands and opened it. His face instantly brightened as he pulled out the two Celtics/Rockets basketball tickets to the game in Boston the following weekend. "How did you get these? The game was sold out."

I played with his auburn hair, tugging it into a sloppy faux-hawk as I explained. "One of the guys who works for my dad has season tickets, and he traded these for some free tutoring sessions for his daughter. You get to go to the game and she won't fail algebra, it's a win-win for everyone."

"And what do you win, darlin'?"

"Hopefully your forgiveness, and a husband in a better mood."

He reached around with his long arm and patted me on the butt as I hopped off his back. He turned and leaned down, burying his handsome face into my neck as he murmured, "Thank you for the tickets, and I'm sorry I was an asshole last night."

"Yeah, for such a huge man you were kind of acting like a little bitch."

He smacked me hard on the ass and I yelped loudly, rubbing the throbbing cheek. "Watch your mouth, sweetheart. I haven't been inside you for almost a week and I'm real close to losin' it." He straightened to his full height and I was treated to his wolfish grin. "And I get you all to myself for an extra day. What am I gonna do with you?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, until five. I'm about to go to the mall with Sydney."

His smile instantly flipped into a scowl. "The hell you are. I need to fuck my wife."

It took every ounce of self-control I had not to roll my eyes at his whining. I lifted onto my toes and kissed his Adam's apple gently. "And you will, at five o'clock, and for the next two days straight I'm sure. I haven't seen her since, what, before finals? That's almost six weeks ago. I can barely even get her on the phone lately, she's spending all her time with Jeremy." My frown matched his. "I'm a little worried about her, Shane."

"I'm sure she's fine, sweetheart. You remember how we were when we first got together, you couldn't get us apart for anything."

"Yeah, but we were happy. Err, happyish, anyway. She doesn't sound like her normal happy-go-violent self."

Shane smoothed down the loose strands of hair from my ponytail, his calm touch soothing me somewhat. "Look, I'll go talk to Sam, okay? Since they're living together now maybe he knows what's goin' on." Sam moved into Sydney's condo in December when his lease was up on his apartment, they had long stopped the friends with benefits routine and seamlessly evolved into best friends. I hugged Shane around his tight waist. "You're the world's best husband, you know that?"

"Uh huh. Five o'clock, Tess, your ass better be in this house on your knees or on your back. If I have to come hunt you down you're gonna regret it." He pulled out his wallet and pressed his American Express into my hand. "Buy the sluttiest thing you can find, but don't get too attached to it. It'll probably end up in shreds on the floor ten seconds after you put it on."

Shaking my head, I pocketed the card. "Then what's the point in buying anything?"

A slow smirk spread on his face as he tapped his temple with his finger. "Spank bank. I gotta have somethin' to keep me occupied five days out of every month.

"Ugh. Pervert." I giggled until his kisses halted my laughing fit.

***

I walked around the galleria looking for Sydney, her text an hour ago said she would meet me outside of Nordstrom. I finally located her in a corner angrily whispering on the phone as her back was turned to me. I got at close to her as I could, not wanting to spook her but also totally trying to eavesdrop.

"Jesus, Jeremy. I'll only be gone a couple of hours...shopping, with Tess, like I told you a hundred times...no, if I was with Sam I would tell you I'm with Sam, you've got to stop acting so weird." She grunted at whatever his response was. "Then why don't you go and have another line and calm the fuck down," she replied snidely before turning suddenly, surprise on her face when she discovered me there. "I gotta go." She didn't say goodbye before she hung up, throwing her phone in her black Balenciaga handbag. I gave her a hug but she quickly pulled away. "Everything okay, Syd?"

She rolled her eyes and tried not to appear unruffled. "Boys. Ever since Sam moved in, Jeremy's been a little jealous. It's fine."

"Oh. Okay." We walked into the store, aimlessly wandering for a few minutes in silence. I took in her appearance as she fingered clothing on the racks; on the surface she was flawless, designer jeans worn low on her hips and a black leather jacket over a white tank top. But her figure seemed smaller, almost too small for her tall frame, and her normally jovial face was hard. "What was that about him doing another line?"

She avoided my eyes as she flipped over a price tag on a turtleneck sweater. "He's just hanging out with his friends, they always have coke or speed over there." She walked away with me right on her heels, almost running into her back when she abruptly stopped at the jewelry counter. I kept my voice low when I asked, "Does he have you using drugs?"

"Jesus Christ," she spat out sharply. "I'm a grown woman, Tess. Whatever I am or am not doing is none of your fucking business, so stop with the third degree."

"I'm not giving you the third degree, but you look like you've lost weight and you're giving off a very angry vibe right now."

She snorted in annoyance. "Just mind your fucking business, okay? Worry about your own relationship."

"You are my fucking business, Sydney. You're my best friend and I'm worried about you, I haven't seen you in forever and you're being mean as hell right now." I held my hands up in surrender. "Forgive me for being concerned, but I'm not the enemy so you can stop attacking me now."

Her stance softened as she ran her fingers through the shag she was growing out. "Shit. I'm sorry. I'm...we're going through a rough patch, that's all." I must have looked as disbelieving as I felt because she grabbed my hand gently. "Seriously. I'm fine, okay? Now tell me what we're doing today, because I feel like getting something tattooed. Or pierced."

I scratched at my chin, temporarily letting her change the subject. "Shane wants me to buy something slutty, but I don't know. Every time I buy lingerie he rips it off so it seems like a waste of money."

Sydney put her arm around my shoulders with a sly look and steered us out of the store. "Rips it off, you say? Then I have the perfect thing for you to get, Big Red's gonna love it."

***

I was standing in front of our bathroom mirror trying to tame the ridiculous mess of curls on my head when Shane strolled in, immediately trapping me in his strong arms and inhaling my skin. "Ohmygod you're so soft and beautiful I love you so goddamn much and you smell so good," he rambled into my shoulder. I giggled lightly, tossing my brush next to the sink and turning around into his chest. "Did you miss me that much, Mr. Thomas?"

"You have no idea. Get naked." He whipped off my tee-shirt before I could stop him, but I grabbed his hands as he went for my bra. "Wait, Shane. What did Sam say?"

He sighed, tucking his hands in his pockets for the time being. "Nothin' good. Sam said he's walked in on them havin' some pretty brutal fights. Nothin' physical, but..."

"Oh, crap. Shane, she's miserable. He's been doing drugs, and I think she's doing them too. We have to get her away from him."

A resigned look etched on his face. "Sweetheart...look, as much as I would love to kidnap her and keep her here until we find a suitable hit man to kill the asshole, she's an adult. If we push her to leave him that may send her runnin' back to him faster."

"So, what? We do nothing? She's my best friend, I can't just sit back and not do anything," My voice shook as I tried unsuccessfully to keep the tears at bay. "Not all abuse is physical, Shane."

"I know, Tess. I wish I had the right answer, but right now we don't have a big case against him other than 'he's acting like a jerk.'" He rubbed his hands down my arms, eventually settling on the sides of my stomach. "You're not doin' nothin', she knows you care. Maybe we can try to get her out here more, or we can take a trip or somethin' for spring break. Maybe she'll like Texas?" He shook my hips in his hands, coaxing a reluctant smile out of me. "It'll be alright. She's a ball buster, and I won't let anything happen to her, okay?"

I gave him a kiss on the cheek, ducking under his arm as he tried to grab my bra again. I started digging around in the medicine cabinet for my birth control pills, and when I looked up he was standing behind me again. "Whatcha doin', sweetheart?" I shook the package at him in the mirror before popping a pill out of the foil. He grabbed my hand before I put it in my mouth. "Wait. What happens if you don't take it tonight?"

"Then I'd have to double up tomorrow." I smiled at his silly question and went to take the small blue pill when he stopped my hand again. "What if...maybe, you don't take it tomorrow either?"

I looked at him strangely, my voice nervous and quiet. "That's a dangerous game to play, Mr. Thomas."

He kissed the side of my neck tenderly. "You say dangerous. I say wonderful."

"Oh...Shane, I know we haven't really discussed the whole baby thing at length but I don't know that now is the right time."

"There's never going to be a 'right time', Tess. There's always going to be a reason to push it back, or to wait. I want a beautiful little version of you running around. Can you at least think about it before you automatically say no?"

I turned back toward him, leaning back against the counter and looking up into his hopeful green eyes. "That depends. Can you tell me why the sudden baby fever?"

Shane sighed as he played with the satin strap of my bra. "I don't know. This protective feeling I'm having over Sydney, not that I think of her as my kid or anything, but it's stirring up some strong paternal instinct shit. I know we've only been together for less than a year, and we've been married for less than half that...I sound crazy, but fuck, Tess. I just," He poked me in my soft belly and chuckled nervously. "I want to put my baby in there."

I grabbed his finger in my hand and kissed the tip before reaching behind me for the full packet of pills. I twirled the package in my hand for a moment, then tossed it into the trashcan. "Okay. Let's do it."

His green eyes sparkled brightly. "Really?"

"I mean, with a line like "I want to put my baby in there" how can a girl say no?"

He kissed me firmly, urgently grabbing onto my body as his tongue skimmed mine. "I love you so damn much. Let's start baby makin'."

"Slow down there Tex, I think it takes a while for all the hormones from the Pill to get out of my body. In the meantime," I reached behind me to unhook my bra, letting my full breasts fall out of the cups as I tossed it onto the countertop. "So you know how you told me to buy something slutty?"

"Mmhmm." I laughed at Shane not even attempting to look anywhere other than my chest. "Where is it?"

I hooked my thumbs through the waistband of my panties and bent to slide them down my legs. When I straighten, he fell to his knees in front of me like a ton of bricks. "Son of a bitch," He cursed softly as he came face to face with my freshly waxed pubic mound. What used to be covered in closely cropped black curls now lay bare in front of my husband's wondering eyes. "Oh...fuck. Darlin', you're not gonna be able to move tomorrow after all the good dick I'm about to give you."

My core twitched in anticipation, then I broke the bad news. "Umm...I'm not supposed to do any extraneous activity for, like, the next twenty-four hours."

Shane groaned and closed his eyes, leaning his forehead into my lower belly. "My favorite present gets unwrapped and I have to wait until tomorrow to play with it? Can I at least touch it?"

"No...if you touch me we're not going to be able to stop. Compromise, eighteen hours?" He grunted heavily, pulling my panties back up as he stood and towered over me.

"I'm givin' you twelve."

***

The steady buzz barely pulled me away from my dream as my hand absentmindedly sought out Shane's hard body. "Baby. Alarm." He took in a deep breath and sat up, grabbing his cell phone and turning it off. I lifted my head from my pillow, not seeing much in the dark other than the clock showing it was little after five in the morning. "It's Saturday. You going to work?" I asked sleepily.

"Mmhmm," he responded, coaxing me to lie back down as he kissed my forehead before getting out of bed. I rotated onto my back and scooted over until my head connected with his pillow, the faint scent of him lulling me back to sleep.

The bed dipped and our blanket left me, my skin suddenly exposed to the cool night air before his large warm body covered mine. His tongue trailed a hot line from my neck down the middle of my sternum, pausing to lick into my belly button. My face scrunched in confusion. "I thought you said you were going to work."

"I am. On you. I said twelve hours, I meant twelve hours." My body tightened as he quickly inserted two fingers into my vagina, working carefully into the tender tissue. "Did you really think I was gonna wait a whole day to get in this sweet pussy, Mrs. Thomas? Especially after sayin' you're gonna have my baby...hormones be damned. I'm about to knock you the fuck up, lil' girl."

"God, Shane." He full-on spit on my clit before taking the swollen button in his mouth, his fingers curling upwards every time he moved his hand. I bucked my hips instinctively every time he penetrated me. My breath started coming faster, the soft squish of my wetness spilling out of me almost bringing me over the edge. "I need you. Now."

Happy to oblige, he stopped his ministrations and leaned over the bed to turn the lamp on, using his damp fingers to trail my juices down my torso. "You might want to grab onto the headboard, sweetheart, I ain't about to be gentle right now." I curled my fingers around the top of the strong oak as he sank most of his rock solid length inside me with a hard grunt. Opening up my thighs wider to accommodate him, he thrust his final inch into me and a rough noise bubbled out of my throat. He paused with a look of amazement. "Tess, did you just growl at me?"

"That depends." I took in the form of my impossibly fit husband in front of me. His tight six-pack was flexing with every breath he took, a dark red line of hair from his belly button leading down to his soft pubic hair that tickled my clit every time he bottomed out inside me with his thick, pale cock. I licked my dry lips and started massaging my breasts, pulling and tugging roughly at the erect nipples while he watched. "Which answer is going to get your pussy fucked harder?"

He gripped the insides of my thigh firmly, squeezing his eyes shut as he groaned loudly. I felt his hot semen start leaking out around his cock, which showed no sign of softening just because he came. He forcefully pinned the back of my knees into the mattress. "Headboard!" he bellowed, my hands barely returning to their original position before he reared his hips back and started fucking me through his orgasm. "Look at me lil' girl, I want you to watch me fill your belly with my seed. This pussy is so goddamn hot...tight and hot...son of a fucking bitch I'm gonna get you so fucking pregnant..."

My eyes snapped open, the focus of his controlling gaze sent me over the edge as I began chant in broken spurts. "Yes, Shane...give it...fucking...come, oh my god Shane..."

"Take it. Come and fucking take it." He grunted through his teeth as I climaxed around him with a desperate scream. "That's it...suck my come out with your tight cunt you...good goddamn girl..." His head fell back as he shouted out my name, his chest heaving and soaked in sweat. I stared at him as he stared at the ceiling, my body physically responding to the fact that I could do that to him. Very slowly he pulled away and let up off my knees, though my legs were void of any feeling anyway. I went to sit up and he leaned forward, putting his hand on my stomach to stop me. His hand moved lower, coating his thumb with the mixture of us that lay on my inner lips before circling my clit slowly. "We're not leavin' this bed for the rest of the weekend."