Karma Ain't Always a Bitch Ch. 05

Putting his most persecuted look in place, he sighed with a pained look holding it just long enough to grab a handful of very ticklish woman in each hand. When his ears were ringing with the echoes of the giggling screams, he relented and they collapsed in a chuckling heap.

"You were saying?" Mark started with a grin.

"You're a shit, you know that right?" Amy slapped him playfully when he agreed wholeheartedly. "Scott came by and we filled him in on everything, well everything he needs to know anyway. He's going to get Frank pictures of all of the guys so the drug guys can get moving. We've got a time set to meet with the Captain at 10 tomorrow morning and Jack is still out of range, but it may be Monday morning before anyone sees him anyway."

Mark glanced at the piles of clean clothes and looked at the ground, his cheeks heating.

Vanessa put her hand under his chin and lifted his eyes to meet hers, "if it had been me, they wouldn't have been dirty, they would have been cinders."

Taking a deep breath, Mark hugged both of them tight, pulling their heads to his shoulders. He kissed Vanessa's head then Amy's, before he settled back trying to get his head around what he wanted to ask. There was no way he wanted the two ladies at each others' throats with what was coming at them. He must have tensed up or maybe they just knew him well enough to know something was bothering him.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Amy asked for both of them.

"I don't know that anything is really, but I don't know how to act right now. I also don't want there to be problems between you two over anything I did either. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I can deal with that, but I can't handle it between you." He coasted to a stop, mentally cringing and waiting for both of them to stomp off.

Neither said anything, his nerves fraying further with each second. Finally he looked down and his stomach dropped, both of them were crying. Shit. He would rather cut off an arm than hurt one of them, now he had hurt both.

"Please say something. I'm sorry for," pausing to think of the next word.

"We're not mad at you or each other, we talked after Scott left and decided that until this mess is over, I'm going to stay in the office and you can have the bedroom, Vanessa is going to stay in the guest bedroom." Amy said when Mark hesitated.

He looked at Vanessa, and got a confirming nod, then leaned his head back trying to soak everything in. Even with the mess with Chad, Vanessa had his heart in her hands, something that she shared with Amy after last night. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that they had always had joint ownership and he was the only one that was late coming to that conclusion. He felt like a splinter in a flood, going wherever the current took him and knew if he didn't have them he would be swept away.

"Fuck me," slipped out, echoing the loss of words to describe the knots he was in, his eyes popping open when he heard a chorus of "ok" from the two occupants in his lap, making the girls laugh; that sound making things ok again. He still had no idea what to do, but at least they were good.

"I'll sleep in the garage, you two can flip for the big bed. We also need to get a mattress." Mark was getting the look that said "why are you being stupid?" and stopped talking.

"The mattress will be here within the hour and you're not sleeping in the garage." Vanessa said with Amy nodding in agreement. "The only thing we weren't able to figure out was the sex part."

All he could do was wheeze and look between the two of them.

"You love Vanessa too much to not sleep with her and after last night you're stuck with me. We talked about it after Scott left. I really can't say anything about you two and she is ok with us as well." Amy said with nods from Vanessa.

"Remember when I said that about not making love in the same room, baby?" Vanessa asked, and continued when he nodded. "I meant it then and I mean it more now. If I try to drive a wedge between you two, you'll be miserable, and then we will be miserable too."

"Wow." The one word summed up all of his feelings and emotions, drawing a pair of amused giggles from the girls. They had the luxury of sleep and the chance to get comfortable with the things that had just been dumped on the man they both loved.

He was just about to say something when the mattress got there. The two kids that delivered it spent equal time drooling over the ladies and looking at Mark with envy evident on their faces. He almost laughed when one puffed out his chest, but Vanessa shot him down with a raised eyebrow as she ran her fingernails along Mark's chest. When Amy wrapped herself around him on the other side and ran her teeth up his neck, they all but ran back to the truck after shooting him one more "lucky bastard" look.

Remembering that he had eight wheels lying on the floor of the garage and two oil-less vehicles in the air, Mark left the ladies to the linens.

He cranked the music but this time it was classic R&B; Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass and Mr. White. He spun the new filters on and had just tightened the drain plugs when the door opened. He looked up and dropped the wrench.

Vanessa was standing framed in the doorway, wearing her black heels and a smile. She looked hungry, but tentative, scared that Mark would reject her. He had never seen her this vulnerable before. Even at her lowest points, she always had an inner strength that refused to bend to anyone. But here was the frightened girl that had captivated him the first time he laid eyes on her, seeing through her walls and shells so much like his.

He had never really thought it through, but with all of his feelings and emotions simmering just below the surface, it was easy to see what made the almost symbiotic relationship between the two, not possible, but more like unavoidable. Each had built their mental fortresses, not to keep others out, but to keep themselves locked away in the highest reaches, keeping everyone safe from them. They only let a select few through the gates and fewer still access to the self-imposed cell. Mark had only made three keys to his and had dropped one when he swept her up with that first look.

Jack used his to check in. Amy had, up until last night, used hers as a curator would; but Vanessa had moved in and in turn had given him the one and only key she had made. When they were together, it seemed as if they were two halves of one person.

All of that flashed through his mind in the time separating two heartbeats; the first with an aching void, the next a feeling of peace and contentment as he saw the change in her eyes. It seemed that everything had gone still and he was floating, feeling like he was being irresistibly drawn to her. His senses suddenly filled with her scent, shocking him as she touched his cheek.

Her touch jolted him back to the here, flooding him with everything that had happened and he knew that there was nothing that Amy or Vanessa could ever do to him that would make him change his locks.

Vanessa couldn't believe she let Amy talk her into this. She had let Amy help her with her makeup and hair and pick her "outfit". She turned around twice in the yard, only to be escorted to the door and shoved through the door as the robe was unceremoniously stolen. The only farewell was a sultry "have fun" before she saw Mark.

She had never been as scared or nervous as she was now. Standing in the doorway waiting for him to look up gave her time to soak him in, feeling whole again. When he started looking her way, it was all she could do to stand there waiting for some sign. When she felt his gaze travel up and reach her eyes, she gasped as she felt the connection renewed.

She felt like she was being pulled toward him, unable to stop even had she wanted to. He was the man that she gave her heart to that first night, never regretting it.

Mark automatically checked his hands for grease, wiping them on his shirt. Shaking his head he saw her frown when he started walking away. When he held the greasy palms up, she grinned and followed him to the sink pressing against his back, running her hands across his stomach and chest under his shirt.

Vanessa lifted his shirt and pressed her nipples into the firm muscles of his back, pulling him into a tight hug, her face resting against his shoulder. She took deep breaths, pulling his scent in and soaking up his feel, complete for the first time in four months. He was her best friend; the only person that had seen all the way to her fragile and scarred soul, and he still loved her. Tears started flowing as she thought about the depths of the love and devotion that went both ways between them and how she felt as if there was a bleeding, gaping hole in her heart because of what she had done.

Mark pulled the shirt the rest of the way off and threw it in the general direction of the washer. He slid a hand behind him to wrap around her, pulling them closer and put his other hand over hers where it sat on his stomach, then tilted his head back feeling the tears running down her cheeks. Each one seemed to wash away a little of the animosity and the anger that he had used to try to keep her out, and himself safe.

He turned inside her arms and held her to his chest letting her feel his barriers drop, opening himself to her, and ignoring the voice telling him to walk away. If he listened, he wouldn't just be turning his back on her, he would be throwing away the missing piece.

Mark leaned down and picked her up, walked to the couch and sat back. He held her to him, not knowing the size of the hole that had formed inside until he felt it filling back up. Rocking his sobbing wife, he kissed her hair and made soothing noises until she calmed down, her tears finally running their course. He reached up and raised her face, brought his lips to hers and kissed her with all of the love that he had to give.

Her breath was coming in sobbing gasps when she felt his fingers lifting her chin, turning her face toward his. She looked terrible and didn't want him to see her now that her makeup was ruined and her face was red and puffy. When he held her in place with a finger, she looked down trying to avoid facing the pain that she had caused him. When she finally looked into his eyes, she saw none of the expected anger or condemnation that she had earned, just love and compassion. As she felt his lips touch hers, all of the emotions she saw in his eyes flowed into her, healing the wound and filling her with the feelings she had been resigned to never experiencing again.

"I love you Ness."

"I love you too baby. Mark, I"

"Shh, not now. Maybe not ever. We'll get through this somehow, and I can't do it without you either."

Vanessa pulled him back down, the kiss gradually filling with the heat and passion that she had never truly gotten accustomed to. Mark was the only person that had ever been able to love her for who she was on the inside, warts and all, and not what she looked like. She knew that was part of the reason that he was able to take her to the heights of passion so easily.

Mark finally felt his body responding and remembered that he had a lap full of a very beautiful naked woman. The fact that his soul and heart was completely exposed and vulnerable only added to the depth of the need he felt, as if there had to be a physical component to the renewed bond between them. Their tongues met in the middle, dancing to a slow sensual beat, lips caressing as the two lovers reveled in the sweetness of being complete again.

Vanessa kicked her heels off and twisted to straddle his hips, feeling his hands exploring her back and settling on her ass, as she urged him into a deeper kiss. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, she felt a bolt of pleasure flash through her when her clit rubbed against his bare skin, not recognizing her need and arousal before now. She arched her back into his fingernails as he traced patterns on her skin, purring as he slowly stoked her already burning fire.

Mark felt the heat from her aroused pussy as she shifted in his lap and pressed against his stomach. He slid his hands down and pulled her harder against him, grinding her pussy in circles, leaving a wet path to mark the progress of its journey, Vanessa's breath already coming in sighs and gasps.

As he started moving toward her ear, she bared her throat to him, willing him to mark her; to stamp his seal on her flesh. She felt his lips taking time to caress each inch of skin as he made his way, silently willing him to move faster. She felt his teeth as he dragged them along her exposed neck and throat continuing along her collar bone, drawing a frustrated whimper from her. As the sound faded, she felt his teeth as he nipped her neck, followed by a series of nibbles back up, ending just below her ear.

Mark trailed his fingers along her skin, the thrill sending pleasure throughout his body and drawing sighs and murmurs of approval from Vanessa. He slowly slid his hands past her ribs and started rubbing her nipples. As his thumbs were tracing the outlines of her pebbled areolas he licked his way along her exposed neck. Reaching behind her, he grabbed a handful of her hair, held her head where he wanted it and clamped down on her neck with his teeth, sucking the tender flesh roughly. He heard the intake of breath when he pulled her head back followed by a moan as she felt his teeth.

Reaching down with his empty hand, he grabbed and squeezed her ass, jamming her down on his throbbing hardness, feeling her grinding against him. Mark used her hair to pull her chest back and dropped his teeth to her tits biting and sucking them, latching onto the nipples and stretching them away from her body. Slamming his hips up as he was pushing her against him, he could feel Vanessa tense, then she pulled him closer, forcing her nipple into his mouth as she came.

"Mark, I love you. Fuck fuck fuck," the last screamed as she felt him giving her nipple the rough treatment she needed. She needed him to reassert himself and give the chaos swirling around them some structure. She also needed to pay a type of penance for what she had done, and Mark was the only person that could mete out that justice.

When Mark made sure she was back, he slid back into the role they both needed him to play.

Vanessa felt his hands on her head pushing her face down; needing more, she resisted. She squealed then moaned as she felt his hand come down on her ass, then more downward pressure. Again she resisted, this time he spun her so she was across his lap, her wrists held above her head in his left hand. His right hand came down on her other ass cheek with a stinging slap, a handprint clear. Each time his hand made impact she could feel her pussy clench, and with the last swat she was tipped over the edge exploding with another thunderous orgasm. She could feel his hands soothing her red flesh as she rode the waves of pleasure.

Mark felt like he was two people, one that wanted to punish her for what she had done and the other horrified at what he was doing.

When Vanessa was catching her breath, he resumed the downward pressure and with a satisfied purr she went to her knees at her husband's feet. She waited for his hands to insist before she pulled his shorts down releasing his shaft, the head already glistening. Shivering with the passion that was building, she licked the head clean and was rewarded with a moan in return. When she felt the pressure again, she held back just enough for him to growl and press the head into her throat.

By the time he was stroking into her mouth, her nose against his stomach, she had started a rolling orgasm that kept building, reaching a crescendo when she felt him hold her face against his stomach, unloading down her throat. Even after he took his hands away she kept swallowing him, prolonging the pleasure. When she sat back on her heels she looked up to see the tortured look in his eyes.

"Mark, its ok baby. Look at me sweetheart." Vanessa had only been able to get Mark to take her a few times, and each time she had seen the self-loathing look. She climbed back into his lap and held his head against her chest as she brought him back from the flashbacks of what Jimmy had done. She would have loved to have shot the bastard personally for what he was still putting her husband and best friend through.

Vanessa held him until she felt his arms go around her, tentatively feeling the heat still radiating from her tender ass, and felt the tension flooding back into his shoulders. Reaching behind her and taking his hands in hers, she brought them to her lips kissing them as she looked into his eyes.

"Mark, you aren't him and you didn't hurt me; you didn't do anything I didn't want. Have I ever said no to anything you wanted me to do?"

"No baby, but," he started.

"Shh, no but. I needed you to lose that control and make me yours again and if a red ass is the price, I'll pay it every day to be with you. I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

Taking a deep breath, he pulled her into a kiss filled with all of the feelings he had for her, never tiring of the feel when she returned them. He had never been comfortable going past the firm squeeze or occasional swat, the few times he had, reached into his sub-conscious to remind him what happened when you let that particular genie out of its lamp. It didn't matter that Vanessa had wanted it or actively participated; it just wasn't in his nature to treat any woman that way.

Vanessa felt the intensity as he pulled her into the kiss, moaning into his mouth as she felt his tongue flicking her lips. Leaning over, she pulled him with her so they were lying on their sides facing each other on the big sofa, each able to explore the other for the first time in four months. She took the time to study his face inch by inch the way she did every time he came home. The shade of the dark circles and the visible stubble were the only differences she could see. She knew that deployments were in the equation, but she hated every second of them.

She felt his fingers caressing her face and saw the hurt creep back into his eyes when he saw the mark that she needed so badly. Taking his hand from her face, she kissed each finger and placed them over the spot, holding them in place. She shook her head at him to stop that thought and slid her thigh between his, the smooth skin resting against his balls, as she started rubbing her pussy on his thigh.

He rolled over to lie on top of her, feeling her thighs wrap around him and the wet heat of her pussy nestle against the underside of his revived cock. Mark reached down and slid his hands behind her knees and pushed her thighs back, pressing her breasts flat, opening her drooling pussy to him. He leaned back on his knees, took his cock in his hand and started using her erect clit to fuck the swollen purple head. Sliding it down, he split the swollen lips pressing just enough to push the flared ridge into her.

Vanessa's breath caught as she felt Mark fold her legs back, sure that he was going to finally give her what she had been craving since that morning four long months ago. She purred as she felt him stroking her wet clit with the head of his cock, letting it slide into a frustrated growl as she felt the first wet smack as he used his hardness as a meaty club, each impact making a wet noise.

"Please don't tease me baby, I need you. Mark, oh fuck that's so good. Smack your pussy sweetheart. Shit, yes."

As she finished she felt him push the head back in and before he got away again, she grabbed his hips and pulled until his stomach was mashed against the back of her thighs.

"Oh god yes Mark, fuck that's so good baby, fuck your pussy hard. Hear that sweetheart? Listen to how wet you made your cunt. Please fill me up."