Sleeping with David, she thought, may not have been the smartest thing she'd ever done, but it was the most satisfying thing she'd done in her entire life.
She had no idea if any of what happened would last. She wanted it to but couldn't control that. No one, not even her husband, had ever made love to her like that, so tenderly. Whether he meant to or not, John had been forceful and selfish, her pleasure sometimes an afterthought when it was too late.
It felt good to let go of her inhibitions and trust someone who cared about her wants and needs, first.
She heard a rustle behind her. David touched her. "You're cold, aren't you?" He moved to the bureau, opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of flannel pajamas. "You take the top, I'll take the bottom."
"Thank you," she started to say. His lips found hers before she could finish. She turned and kissed him; he smiled, holding the kiss longer than expected. "You know," she said, "I should get home before the kids wake."
"I'll set the alarm; now, let's go to bed while we can," he said, leading her back to his arms and the bed.
**********
When she opened her eyes just before sunrise, she felt something heavy across her waist. Confused for the moment, she glanced around the room. David was lying beside her on his stomach, his arm curled possessively around her body.
She relaxed and sighed. It was a good sound, a happy one.
They made love one more time, this time much more vigorously, almost violently and her loud moans filled his room, filled his house as she lost any pretense at modesty as she took him into her mouth and then into her body as he entered her from behind.
Instead of handing it to him, Carolyn pushed his coffee across the tiled counter toward him, then added cream and sugar to her mug. All her attention seemed devoted to the task and if she felt his eyes on her, it didn't seem to bother her.
He watched her as she stood looking out the kitchen window as the rising sun touched her dark curls. She moved away from the window; he took a few hasty steps until he was standing only a couple of feet away as she stared at him, her lovely face transformed into something even more beautiful and passionate by the animation of powerful emotions.
After she left, he showered and dressed. How would Kendra treat him... how would Michael treat him... now that he had bedded their mother? He couldn't call in sick like a coward, even if that was the easy way out but, he knew, it would only postpone any consequences for a day or two.
God, Carolyn thought on her drive home, how the man liked to kiss her there. John never would. While she loved his memory, she now realized how much she had missed during sex. David took his time with his lips and tongue, letting her taste and smell roll over him like a fine wine. When they finally parted, he smiled down at her.
***********
David was speaking to his second period geology class about the end of the Cretaceous Period. "...and so, the asteroid hit right about here, on the Yucatan peninsula. The shock wave was sufficient to start forest fires all the way to what is modern Canada and the soot can be found worldwide. More importantly, there are tektites associated with the soot layer, now known as the K-T Boundary... Now, tonight, I expect you all to read today's handout; there's a quiz tomorrow on it."
Student groans were drowned out by the bell ringing the end of class. Standing in the doorway was Kendra and after the classroom was empty, she came in and shut the door.
"Mom came in a little late, last night... or, should I say, this morning."
"Uh, yes, I suppose she did. I know what..." He didn't know what to say to the girl.
The bell rang with thirty-three students still waiting in the hallway.
"You need a pass to class?" he asked, walking to open the door.
"No, I'll take the tardy, if I have to. We'll talk more after school," she said, opening the door and walking down the hall.
"Uh, sure. I'll be here." Oh, boy, he thought... at least, she wasn't trying to kill him... yet.
David watched the clock hand inch around and the closer it came to three in the afternoon, the more nervous he became. He waited apprehensively for Kendra to arrive. No matter how much Carolyn might like him, even fall in love with him, if her daughter was angry with him their romance was dead before it ever had a chance to blossom. He wondered where Michael was. Was it possible the boy didn't know what happened?
There was that knock-knock-knock on the door. Kendra walked in, looked around and closed the door.
"Thank you," she said, setting her books down on the nearest desk.
"What?" Surely, he wasn't expecting that. He honestly didn't know what he was expecting. He had never been in such a situation.
"Thank you for Mom. I've never seen her so happy. Whatever you did... and I don't want to know, she was smiling all morning. I just wanted you to know. May I sit down?"
"Yes, please... she was happy? That's great! I was SO afraid she'd..."
Kendra tensed. "You're not going to break her heart, are you?"
"Swear to God, if we break up, it'll be her decision, not mine. I really... is it too early to say I'm falling in love with your mother? I don't know but I'm..."
"Invited to a bar-be-que this Saturday? I mean, if you want."
"Yes, of course." Oh, hell, yes!
David suggested they all come to his house. He had been to their neighborhood and could feel the uneasiness in her voice. It would be better than meeting at some park, especially if the weather turned bad.
"I'm sure that'll be OK. I'll ask. What do you like to eat?"
"Tell you what... I'll get some steaks and you can bring the rest, how's that?"
He wondered how much Carolyn knew about her daughter's machinations. Probably less than he did, that was for sure. He thought about a bottle floating along with the waves and wondered if that was what he was, pushed along by the smiling girl in front of him.
"Good, I'll talk to you some more, tomorrow after school."
**********
Thursday, Carolyn was waiting for him when he drove into his driveway after school. Without speaking, each knew what the other wanted, drawn together like a moth to a flame, so bright, so dangerous.
When they reached his bed, he lifted the covers and she slid under them... then he was beside her, pulling her near. She felt his caution as he eased up next to her so that he could hold her. She nestled against him instantly, found the perfect place to lay, her nose pressed to his neck, just below his ear. His manly scent comforted her in a way that nothing else could, familiar and cherished, making her feel safe.
She closed her eyes, thinking she might sleep, but was so aware of him she thought she would never sleep again. Time ticked by, but life came to a stop. There was no world but theirs.
She inched closer; her foot touched his. Carolyn tipped her head back, seeking him in the dimness, pulling herself a little closer, if that was possible. "Thank you," she said, "for finding me in your heart..."
Her hands wouldn't stay still; she needed to touch him, to know he was there, to know he wasn't going to leave her, not even to turn to the other side of the bed.
"David..."
"Yes?"
"Nothing... I just wanted to say your name."
Their legs intertwined, her breasts brushed against his chest, then flattened against him. She felt his hand stroke her hair, then drift down over her back, over her butt. He did it over and over, trying to soothe her but it was doing anything but...
Her breasts grew hot and her nipples grew taut. Carolyn wriggled downward until she could press her lips to his collar bone. Her fingers combed his auburn hair spread across his chest, tapering to just one tempting line, a line she followed with her finger. She danced her fingers back and then toyed with some strands of hair, finding an odd comfort in doing so.
He leaned down to her, until he could touch his lips to hers. His tongue sought entry through those full lips of hers and she gave it willingly. Such tenderness, such care, he offered, unlike John. The longer she was with David, the more she accepted that John had been a selfish lover, more concerned with his own needs than ever any of hers.
The gentle kiss went on and on, for minutes, for hours, forever. Only their lips touched with intimacy. Carolyn squirmed in his arms, anxious for more, needy for more. David took her hand and pushed it down his body until she could feel his own need for her.
He wanted to stretch it out, to drive her crazy for him, to forget any and every thing and any and every one but where they were and what they were doing and whom she was with.
She made a soft little moan that he had come to love and he held her breast. The sound deepened when he brushed his thumbs across her nipple. He raised on an elbow and then they went flesh to flesh, warm and anxious and thoroughly aroused. David kissed her, a leisurely caress that intensified second by second, breath by breath. He left a damp trail down her throat as he ventured lower until he found the peak of her breast and stroked it with his tongue until it stiffened impossibly.
He heard Carolyn suck in a deep breath as he closed his mouth. She tasted good, smelled good. She moved, arched, sighed, rocked. Every part of her body responded to him and the moment.
David covered her body with his, settled his legs between hers. He wanted to feel her quiver, to give those little shakes that he had discovered their first night together. He wanted to hear her pant, trying to hold back her response.
She groaned, lifting her hips higher, seeking him.
He let more of his weight rest on her. Their bodies touched all the way down. David didn't attempt to join with her; he had to control it, the pleasure had to be hers, all hers.
He kissed her. He, in his self-imposed exile, had never had a woman need him so much. She told him so in husky, little whimpers and breathy little sighs.
"Just feel," he said as he entered her just a little.
"Oh, Jesus, you feel so good." It was all the encouragement he needed to go even more slowly, to feel her wrap her hot velvet slickness around him, little by little, to feel her squeeze him from within, to feel the waves of her climax, one after another after another as he slowly filled her.
David cradled her butt with both hands, bringing her up tightly to him, putting pressure where it would take her higher. Again he felt her squeeze him from within; again she cried out, that little death.
He ducked his head and drew a hard nipple into his mouth at the moment he felt her peak. He was amazed at the power of her reaction as she wrapped her long legs around him higher. Hard, rhythmic thrusts... heat... an intense mix of her long, low moan and her teeth sinking into his shoulder then he joined her in pleasure, the explosion of light in his mind a far distance from the gentleness he had started from.
Carolyn melted beneath him, although her arms stayed around him, keeping him where he lay. David absorbed the experience, waited for the pleasure to wane and the surprise to settle.
Where would they go from here? he wondered. He thought of marriage... marriage to her. What would that be like? So many things to think about.
On her drive home, Carolyn had plenty to think about. She'd never been kissed so well, leaving her feeling almost drugged from the way he used his mouth to arouse her. It had been wonderful, even though he hadn't given her a chance to return the exploration of his body... and then, the moment he'd eased into her, filling her so completely and beautifully, she'd climaxed. The instant they joined... incredible.
Was it because it had been such a long, long time for her? No, it was him.
Carolyn smiled.
That night, the phone rang. It was him. "Hi..." she said, softly.
"Hi..." He lay on the bed, phone to his ear, his mind imagining her on her own bed, her smooth, mocha skin beneath a silk nightgown. He couldn't see her nipples but in his mind she lay with her breasts together.
"Tell me about your life," settling into her pillow, Carolyn said, quietly...
"... and so, the ROTC gave me the money to finish college. I hadn't planned on doing it in the beginning but the costs just became too much. That's why I have the two degrees, biology and engineering... when Evangelina was killed by that drunk, it destroyed me. We were going to be married, as soon as I graduated and went into the Air Force. I withdrew from the world, the depression was so bad and so I volunteered to go to Korea... just to get away..."
He stopped speaking, remembering his time in the backseat of the Strike Eagle.
Silence.
"David?"
Silence.
"David... are you OK?"
"Let me talk to you, tomorrow..." He hung up.
Carolyn wondered what demon she had unleashed from his memory and was uncomfortable at how the call ended.
**********
Chapter 3: Promises made... promises kept...
Friday was moving too slowly for him. He had assigned his geology students the task of mapping out each quake on a AAA map, his oceanography students were finishing up an intricate lab assignment concerning wave motion and his advanced biology students were still struggling with the concept of viral infections. As usual, AIDS played a large part of his lectures. Even though he had three preps, the material was so interesting he didn't mind at all. If you weren't interested in what you were teaching, how could you expect your students to be? And... science was always being renewed. When's the last time anything worthwhile had been discovered about Shakespeare?
As soon as the three o'clock bell rang, his cell phone buzzed. It was Carolyn, he happily saw. "Hi..." he said, quietly.
"Hi..."
"I missed you. Are you going to tonight's game?" he asked.
"I don't know. Would it be like last week? Or, would we actually watch the game, this time?" She laughed. It sounded like wind chimes and Christmas bells and stardust and moonbeams.
"I'm open to suggestions. Early dinner?" David started one-handedly closing the windows.
"I'd love to."
"How soon can you get here?" he devilishly asked.
There was a knock on the open door and an angel in the doorway. "Soon enough?"
They went to Souplantation.
"I've never been here," she said, pushing her tray toward the bread.
"It's a healthy place if you go easy on the salad dressing and butter. They have these great muffins and I love their sourdough." He looked for a private table. It was hard to talk about things surrounded by an audience of diners.
"I don't see you as a muffin man. The muffin man..." She smiled, picking one up and putting it on her plate. "Blueberry... I haven't had a blueberry muffin in the longest..."
"I'm glad, then." They sat near the window, away from others. He placed his hand on hers. "Carolyn... I'm so glad I met you." He squeezed her hand, gently.
"Me, too," she whispered, smiling with those beautiful white teeth and full lips.
**********
Saturday took its own time in coming but it finally arrived. Friday after the game, Carolyn had gone home with her family after picking up her car from his house. As much as he regretted seeing her drive away, he knew it was for the best. He needed time to think. Questions flooded his mind... would he be able to keep her happy, once the blush of new love had faded and reality set in?
She wondered what he'd say if she told him she woke in the night and found herself listening for the sound of his breathing, reaching out for the warmth of his body. She couldn't tell him that... it was too soon.
All morning, David nervously straightened his house. Vacuuming the hallway, he noticed his 'me' wall where he had years ago put his almost forgotten Air Force medals and college degrees. He was so used to passing by them they had just disappeared into his subconscious.
He put his finger on his picture with Captain Leon Jones, in front of their F-15, "Crazy Ace". That last flight out of Edwards was insane, still just a lieutenant flying as Leon's 'whizzo'. The Vought ASM-135 ASAT gave them a hell of a time but they still were able to hit the Chinese platform with the missile. He was sorely tempted to remove everything from the wall but realized it was part of who he was, that's all. Then, he realized he had three model F-15s on a shelf in the den. They had been there so long, they, too, had just disappeared in the background clutter of life.
He already made the mistake, a humble mistake but a mistake, nevertheless, of telling Carolyn he hadn't done more than just his duty while in the service. And, it was true, at least in his own mind, if not that of his commanders'. He did what he had to do, what he was told to do, just as her late husband had done. He was just lucky, that's all. He shuddered, remembering how close he and Leon had come to dying as they released the ASAT at 55,000 feet in a vertical climb.
His time resulted in several medals, including the Air and Space Campaign Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal and one locked up at CIA headquarters for that last flight. His Overseas Service Ribbon marked his official time in South Korea following Evangelina's death when he just needed to leave while the rest came from his time at LAAFS. Satellites had changed the manner of warfare... at least, he knew, until World War Four arrived and everybody used rocks.
He left them on the wall... hoping that Carolyn either wouldn't notice or not think much of them. The last time she was here, it was dimly lit and they were thinking of something quite different than a tour of the house.
**********
David put the steaks on the grill, listening to the hiss of the meat as it touched the hot metal. One inch thick, he thought... eight minutes to a side.
Michael walked over and handed him an A&W. "How much longer?" While Kendra was her usual happy self, he could tell there was tension in Michael's voice.
David looked at his cell, trying not to look too nervous. "Oh, probably about ten minutes, now." "Close game..." he ventured.
"Yeah... they were better than we thought. Next week, it'll be worse. North is also undefeated." The boy looked right at him, as if looking at him for the first time.
"How's the team?"
"All right... Coach says not to get full of ourselves or we'll give away the game." There was a pause. "You're sleeping with my mom, aren't you?"
David looked at the boy. "I'm not trying to replace your father."
The boy stood there, his hands clenched and then he put them into his pockets. "She's happy but I don't want to see her hurt. You're the first man that she's been with since Dad was killed."
While not intimidated by the boy, David did step back, establishing his personal space, again. "I like your mom... a lot. That's all I can say. I know you're her son and feel protective but all I can say is that I won't hurt her, I promise."
"Yeah, well, Dad promised, too... promised to come home..." Michael walked away.
He turned. "Promises don't mean much."
David wasn't too surprised. No boy liked the idea of his mother sleeping with someone not his father. Even with Kendra on his side, Michael's recalcitrant attitude could cause a tremendous amount of trouble for him. The boy had been eight years old when his father died. He was sure there was resentment, but of what? Sleeping with his mother? Probably some of that... or, was the boy fighting a long dead specter? How to deal with it, though...
Carolyn saw her son talking with her lover. Her hands tensed, nervously wondering just what they were saying. A flash of anger crossed Michael's face and she saw him walk away. Oh, God, she thought, now what? She had feared something like that might happen. What did Michael say to him?
"Steaks are ready," David said, breaking into her fear. "Who's hungry?" He purposely gave the boy the largest steak. "I love your coleslaw. I could eat it forever," he said.
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