Overwored and Wored Over

Malcolm was going to tell her. He really was. But Lara was sick every morning and worn out every night. And then it was Christmas. Shopping, decorating, outings with his nieces, gifts, Christmas dinner; work was crazy for Lara, fourth quarter financial preparations already underway. He'd been served with papers at the beginning of December and had scheduled the paternity test for mid-January.

"We're going to have a nice, quiet New Years, right?" Lara asked, pulling the covers up tight around herself. Malcolm was sitting in bed next to her, going over some paperwork for a meeting at the courthouse the next day.

"Right," he agreed, peering over the top of his glasses at her, smiling. He couldn't get over how beautiful she was—he kept thinking he'd get used to seeing her sexy hazel eyes stare at him seductively, that the beauty mark over her pouty pink lips wouldn't affect him, her distinct, raspy laugh would start getting on her nerves. But they didn't. He was shocked at how he responded to her, just as intensely as the first time.

She yawned and closed her eyes. He knew that if he started things, she'd be eager for him. But she truly did need her rest. He turned back to his notepad and then paused. He should tell her. Right now.

"Lara, I have something to tell you."

He listened to her breath deep and even. She was already asleep. He sighed heavily and decided to go to sleep himself. Tomorrow night, he thought. It was New Years Eve and he didn't want to start the New Year with anything between them. He turned off the light and tried desperately to sleep.

Lara was sick again that morning. Unable to discuss anything, they'd taken turns getting ready for work and because of the late pre-trial conference the prosecutor had scheduled, they'd had to drive into work separately. Lara was so busy she worked through lunch, so he'd only been able to stop by her desk to give her a peck on the cheek and remind her about their date tonight.

"You're going to meet me at Miyato's right?" she asked, distracted, but peering up at him hopefully.

"Yes, ma'am," he leaned in for a quick kiss, "I'll see you at 7."

"'Kay," she said, turning back to her computer.

Malcolm left for court with a sense of dread. He was fully prepared for the prosecutor so he knew he was worried about his confession at dinner tonight.

It was almost 5pm when Lara's cell phone rang. She had just emailed the last financial report and was checking a couple of emails. Her first thought was that maybe Malcolm's meeting was cancelled. She picked up and answered right away, not paying attention to the number.

"Hey," she said, fingers rapidly clicking on her keyboard.

"How's your boyfriend? He excited to know he's a father?"

She stopped typing. "Who is this?"

"Don't play dumb, Lara. It's Seth."

Her eyebrows raised and she stuttered, "How did you know? I haven't told anyone that you know."

He paused. "Told anyone what?"

"That Malcolm is going to be a father. That's none of your fucking business Seth!" she whispered furiously, "Stop calling me!"

Her finger was poised to end the call when she heard his next words: "Going to be? Honey, the baby is almost 2."

Her breath hitched. "What baby?" she almost whispered.

"The one he fathered with Samantha. Sounds like you're going to be baby mama #2 though, huh? You stupid slut."

She ignored his insult. "How do you know Samantha?"

"That's none of your business. But I'm sure she'll be interested to know her daughter is going to have a brother or sister."

"You're lying, you son of a bitch."

"Am I?" he said, laughing, "I might be persuaded to give you some more details. Why don't you meet me for coffee? Thirty minutes okay?" He named a place downtown.

She sat for a moment, stunned. How would Seth know about Samantha?

"No," she said, "I don't believe you. I don't want to see you."

"No?" he said, "That's fine. I'm sure he was going to tell you about it. I mean, the hearing is at the end of the month."

"The hearing?" she muttered incredulously.

"Yeah," Seth said, "Samantha doesn't need the child support, but she said Sasha deserved everything that she could get out of her rapist father."

Sasha. A daughter. Lara had thought about a baby girl many times over the past couple of months. She let her hand drop down to her stomach.

Lara stood suddenly, turned off her computer, and grabbed her purse and coat. She rushed out to her car, still holding her cell phone to her ear, tears streaming down her face. She struggled to compose herself, not wanting Seth to know he'd gotten to her.

"So how did you meet Samantha?"

Seth chuckled, "I did a little bit of research on your boyfriend. Seems like it was only fair that since he got my sloppy seconds, I got a piece of his too. Samantha was only too happy to show her appreciation for some information on what Malcolm has been up to lately."

"And you call me a slut?" Lara mumbled. She cleared her throat. "Look, don't call me again Seth. It's over between you and me, and I don't need you tattle-telling either."

She hung up the phone. Seth did the same. He smiled to himself and immediately picked up the phone to dial again.

"Sam? I just told her. Yeah, she didn't know."

Lara drove straight home, tears streaming down her face. She doesn't know how she made it inside but she immediately sat down on the couch, only moving to send a text message. "meet me @ home" she typed quickly and sent to Malcolm. She turned her phone off. Her heart was broken. She wept silently in the darkness of her living room.

She was still sitting there when Malcolm rushed in. "Lara, God, what's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"

He'd knelt down in front of her and leaned to take her into his arms. She held up her hand.

He looked confused but stopped, resting his hands on either side of her thighs. His eyes searched her face.

She wiped under her eyes and scooted away from him.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Their eyes locked and held. Hers pleaded with him one second, shunned him the next, her internal war evident. His filled with pain and shame, words stuck in his throat.

The tears she thought were all cried up made their reappearance. She wiped them away roughly.

"I was going to. I swear. I was going to take you out to dinner, watch the ball drop with you tonight, and start off the New Year brand new, no secrets between us."

"I had to find out from Seth, Malcolm. Seth."

Anger flared through Malcolm. "What do you mean? How—"

She interrupted him, her voice louder now, "From Seth, Malcolm! SETH! My fucking, no-good, ex-boyfriend told me! How could you? Do you know how devastated I was? How unprepared?"

He reached for her again and she scrambled further down the couch.

"So what, I can't touch you now? You don't want me?" Malcolm's voice was panicked.

Her heart nearly broke at the expression on his face.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" she said, taking his hand, reaching for his face, "No baby. I love you. That's not going to stop, just because I'm mad at you."

The wild look in Malcolm's eyes faded slightly and she let her hand drop. "But you hurt me. I am beyond disappointed right now. I trusted you and I thought you trusted me."

He put his head in his hands for a moment, and then looked at her again, taking one of her hands in both of his, "I do trust you, Lara. With everything. I'm so sorry. I just didn't want to upset you. You've been so sick with the baby, then we were busy with Christmas, and I promise, I was going to tell you tonight."

She nodded, looking at their hands.

"It's not mine."

She nodded again.

"Do you believe me?" he asked, pleadingly.

"Yes," she said quietly, "I do."

He pulled her toward him again and she didn't resist. He reached up and held her face between his big, strong hands, so gently, like she might break. She pressed her lips against his, taking in the taste, feel, smell of her man. She reached between them and loosened his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, pulled him against her. He broke the kiss to stand and quickly shed his clothes. He took her hand and she stood as well, a silent acquiescence to undress her. She traced the planes of his chest and stomach with her fingertips, the soft touch making him shiver. She leaned in and pressed her tongue against his nipple. He draped his hands on her shoulders, kneading the muscles at the top of her back. She groaned and arched her back. She kissed her way across his chest to the other nipple while his hands moved slowly down her arms and back up to her neck, rubbing and massaging as he went.

They needed this. Not the frantic, no-holds-barred fucking that they usually succumbed to, but a slow, sweet seduction. She licked his collarbone and stood on tip-toe to press her tongue against the cords of his neck. She felt his dick harden against her. She softly sucked, then bit, pulling him down, trailing kisses across the five o'clock shadow he nearly always sported, biting his chin, then losing herself in the lusciousness of his lips.

"Mmmm," she moaned as his tongue caressed hers.

"I love you Lara."

"I love you," she said, her hand wrapped gently around his dick. She grazed the ridges, traced a fingertip around the head, and then touched the wetness at the tip.

He reached between them to smoothly take hold of her breast. Her nipple pressed against his palm and he gently kneaded the soft globe. He felt the nipple slide between two of his fingers and he squeezed it firmly, causing her to stumble into him. Malcolm sat down on the couch and pulled Lara into his lap. Her legs straddled his and she pressed her mound against his dick, gyrating rhythmically.

After a few minutes, she lifted her hips and reached between them. When she finally slipped her dripping pussy all the way down his dick, they both groaned.

She braced her hands on his shoulders and then lifted her hips up and down slowly, punctuating each word she said: "Don't. Keep. Any. Thing. From. Me. Again."

Malcolm gripped her hips and let her ride out every bit of her anger. He gritted his teeth when she reached in down and started stroking herself. She leaned back and he watched her pregnant body with lust-glazed eyes. He moved his hands from her hips to her breasts, pinching her nipples, pulling the heavy weight of each breast up and letting them fall.

After a few more minutes, Lara's nonsensical barrage of words came pouring forth and Malcolm jutted his hips forward to deepen her penetration. Her fingers were frantic on her clit and a high-pitched wail suddenly spilled from her lips. Malcolm gritted his teeth as she slowed and finally collapsed against his chest. He cradled her body while he maneuvered them both until he was on top. He kissed her cheeks, lips, and forehead.

"I promise, I'll be so honest with you, you'll be sick of hearing what I have to say."

She chuckled, smiling and sated. He snuggled up against her, tucking his face in the crook of her neck, licking and sucking while he fucked her slow and hard, barely pulling out before pushing back in, grinding his pelvis against hers.

Lara was exhausted but she wrapped her legs around his waist and began fucking him back. Her hands gripped his shoulders and rolled her hips in time with him. Her orgasm was slow burning but seemed to last forever. Her usually extreme flash of an orgasm that swept her away and dropped her back to earth quickly was great. But this orgasm grabbed her and didn't let go. Not that she was fighting it, but it had wrapped her up and held her down, wracking her body with long, hard undulations.

Malcolm nearly choked with pleasure when he felt the hard pull of Lara's pussy around his dick. His sperm churned out, hot and thick. His whole body shook and he growled, still grinding his dick into her, pushing her body across the couch.

They lay there breathing heavy, still stroking each other softly. Malcolm had never felt so satisfied in his entire life.

Hours later, they'd both showered, snuggled up on the couch again, snacked on popcorn, and toasted with grape juice while they watched the ball drop. Malcolm and Lara were determined to make this new year a great one.

Malcolm took the paternity test and prepared himself for the results to be read at the hearing a couple of weeks later. He still hadn't seen the little girl and didn't want to. She didn't deserve to be in the middle of this mess, but neither did he. Samantha was to blame for both of their misery. Until their court date, he had a couple of things to take care of. Unfortunately for Malcolm and Lara, Samantha and Seth had a couple of things up their sleeves as well.

"Why do you have to go to Cincinnati?" Lara asked, pouting a bit. The stress of the upcoming case was causing her to worry and she'd been unable to sleep.

"Just something I have to take care of," Malcolm said, sipping his bourbon—he'd been stressed too.

"What happened to trusting me?" she reminded him, "Honesty?"

"I've got a feeling about something and I need to follow-up on it. Before court. And I don't want you to worry or be disappointed if it doesn't work out."

"Hell, Malcolm, I'm going to be more worried not knowing," she said, exasperated with him. Things had been tense between the two of them since Seth had spilled the beans about the paternity suit, despite their mind-blowing make-up sex. Between their stress, her moodiness and worrying about her own pregnancy, and the near constant phone calls from blocked numbers, they were both on edge.

"I want you to be focused on taking care of yourself, not worried about some bullshit that you can't help."

She just glared at him as she sipped her water. They finished their meal in silence.

"So you leave in the morning?" she asked, irritated with him.

"Around 9, yes," he responded coolly.

"Well, maybe you should sleep at your place tonight so you can get some sleep. I've been up and down all night for a week."

She didn't want to be away from him. But she was hurt. Why couldn't he just tell her the truth? Was he pulling away from her? Secrets about why he needed to take an overnight trip to Cincinnati the weekend before his court date? She bit her lip to keep the tears from flowing. She'd been so emotional since finding out she was pregnant. She got up from the table and leaned down to kiss his cheek.

"Have a safe trip tomorrow. I'm going to wash these dishes and..." she looked at the clock on the microwave -- 6:29pm, "since it's early, I'll probably go for a walk. You go on home so you can get packed and in bed at a decent hour."

He started to protest. She was being silly. Of course he trusted her, but if his plan to find Samantha's child's father failed, he didn't want to face her disappointment. It was a shot in the dark but he had a feeling he'd be right. He stood and pulled her away from the sink. He kissed her hard. She tensed and then relaxed into the kiss.

"I love you Lara. I'll be back Sunday evening."

"I love you too."

Malcolm took 20 minutes to pack a bag and then he was on edge. He sat on the couch in his apartment and stared at the silent TV. He hadn't stayed at his apartment in so long, he'd cut the cable off. His visits to the apartment had lately only been to pick up a change of clothes. He'd had to scrounge for socks and a couple of pairs of boxers to pack for the trip to Cincy—nearly all of his clothes had made their way to Lara's house. It had been only an hour since he left Lara's house and he missed her. He was turning into such a punk for her. He smiled, only slightly bothered at the thought of being so pussy-whipped for the woman he loved. He hoped things could go back to the way they were, once this paternity bullshit was finished.

He knew he'd have to do some searching once he made it to Cincinnati. He'd located the name of a man he thought might be the father, but he wasn't sure he could find him. He decided to walk the couple of blocks to an old hangout spot to have a couple of drinks, shoot some pool. Maybe at least watch one of the TVs they had set up. He could walk home a little tipsy and go right to sleep without having to think about missing Lara.

Lara pulled on a pair of sweats and her coat and walked out into the brisk January evening. It had been an incredibly mild winter, but the wind was still a little harsh. She'd walk a couple of blocks to the park near her house, take a lap or two around the walking path, and then walk home. She'd started gaining weight with the baby and didn't mind at all—but she did want to keep herself from getting too soft. Her doctor told her that the walking would be good for her. It had gotten dark a little earlier than she realized and when she made her way through the small wooded section of the park, she tried to hurry. She could no longer see the lighted playground so she decided this would be her only lap.

"I've been waiting for you."

Lara screamed as someone stepped out from behind a tree and ran into her path. She relaxed only slightly when she realized it was Seth.

"Damnit, Seth, what are you doing? Following me?"

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, why don't you fucking say anything during one of the dozens of times you call me a day? All I hear is you breathe and hang up!"

Lara was angry and only slightly scared. She tried to keep from appearing fearful though, planting her feet and putting her hands on her hips. She'd thrown her pepper spray in the pocket of the sweats and could feel its slight weight against her leg. Her cell phone was tucked into her bra. She didn't think she'd be able to get either one without him noticing.

"I wanted to say it to your face."

She felt her heart start to race. "So say what you have to say and get the fuck out of my way," she said, boldly.

"Wow, you must be mad, that's the second time you've dropped the F-bomb, Lara," Seth sneered, "Your new boyfriend must be rubbing off on you. Samantha told me about how he liked to talk dirty to her during sex. Does he do it with you too?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yeah," she replied, nonchalantly. She shrugged her shoulders. "So what?"

He seemed surprised but then frowned and took a step closer. "I always knew you were a slut! I just wondered what it would take to bring it out of you. You were always so innocent-acting with me but all you needed was a little bit of dirty talk."

"Aww, Seth. You didn't know how to turn your girlfriend on. Poor you," she said, mocking him and taking the opportunity to put her hands in her pockets. She felt the pepper spray and slid the safety button forward.

"You fucking bitch!" he yelled as he lunged toward her. She jerked the pepper spray out of her pocket and filled his face full with a stream. He screamed and turned his face, but still managed to grab her arm and pull her down, twisting her shoulder painfully in the process. He was on his knees coughing and wiping his face and eyes. The slight breeze had blown a gust of it toward Lara and she scrambled away from him, eyes watering fiercely and shoulder throbbing. She fished the cell phone out of her bra and called 911. She forced herself to get up and run. She heard Seth screaming at her and running wildly behind her but he was unable to see, allowing her to steer clear of him. Within minutes, police sirens could be heard and Seth panicked, rushing back into the copse of trees.

Lara waved down the officers from the edge of the woods and told them quickly what happened. They had a description of Seth and two of them took off into the woods. The third assisted Lara back to the parking lot and within minutes, had her loaded up in an ambulance.

"Just a precaution, ma'am, because of the baby. We want to make sure he's ok after the fall."

She nodded gratefully and held her arm tightly against her as the EMT tilted her head to the side to flush the pepper spray from her eyes. Her tears had almost done the job. They arrived at the ER and had her in a room within minutes. The nurse had already taken vitals and assured her that a doctor would be with her shortly. Twenty minutes later, she was being discharged with instructions to ice her shoulder and wear her arm in a sling for a few days to avoid any movement. And the baby was fine. The baby was fine! She nearly exploded with relief and joy when the doctor confirmed that the fall had not injured the baby. She was met at the door by two of the officers from the park. They'd caught Seth, wandering around in the woods, and arrested him. He was being charged with assault and terroristic threatening and they needed her statement. She looked like she was ready to fall apart.