Greetings, reader! If you've not read the previous chapters of the Red Roses series, don't worry. This can basically stand on its own. For anyone following the series, thanks for returning. As always, I take any feedback, whether good, bad, or indifferent, posted in comment or sent via the Feedback tab. Thanks to Privates1stClass for giving this a look-over for me; any remaining errors are mine, from tinkering with it after his edits.
Note to our non-American readers: April 15th is the normal filing deadline for the previous year's income taxes in our country.
#
"Mom!" The shriek cut through my peaceful state of mind. "Mason took my monkey!"
For a moment, I was tempted to ignore it. I'd gotten home not long ago, changed, and only just kicked my slippers off and plopped my feet on the ottoman. If Tabitha yelled again, I was sure Justin would hear and emerge from the study to deal with it—and for a moment, I was tempted to let him.
No
, I thought.
I can't do that.
We'd made a deal and it was my turn to deal with these things. I dropped my feet to the floor and stood, unconsciously running my hands down my pants to smooth the material, and stepped from the living room to the family room.
The two of them looked up the moment I appeared in the doorway. Mason knelt on the floor. He ducked his head from my gaze, though the guilt on his five-year-old face was plain enough. Eyes peeked at me from behind his light brown bangs, and he was clearly wondering how much trouble he was in. He clutched a brown and white sock monkey in both hands.
Standing beside him, Tabitha stood with her hands on her hips and as fierce a glare as a three-and-a-half-year-old could muster. I noted her wavy brown hair—a carbon copy of mine, in tone and textures—had, for once, stayed in its braid.
For a moment, I had to fight back a smile. Our kids were totally adorable, even when they were being little snots to each other. Both Justin and I were only children, so we had no experience with the sibling-rivalry thing. Sometimes they seemed to squabble just because they could. At other times, they were amazingly solicitous, like the time that summer Tabitha had dropped her ice cream cone and Mason had stopped her from crying by sharing with his with her. Those little moments touched my heart and I hoped they would be close and look out for each other as they grew up. For the most part, they got along and played well together. But at the moment, I had to diffuse a crisis.
I crossed my arms and kept my voice level. "Mason? What are you doing with Tabitha's monkey?"
"She said I could play with it."
"Nu-uh!" Tabitha shouted.
I flicked my eyes at her and she stilled. "No yelling, Tabitha. You know better than that. Mason, give it back to her."
He flinched. "But—"
"It's her monkey. Even if she said you could, now she's saying you can't. You have your own toys. If she won't let you play with hers, she doesn't get to play with yours either, okay?"
"Okay," Mason said, satisfied.
"We'll be having dinner soon, so you kids keep it to a dull roar, okay? There's dessert tonight, if you're well-behaved. Does that sound good?"
They both bobbled their heads up and down. Justin and I had tried to keep them eating healthy and desserts were a rarity at our table, so the threat of losing it would occupy their little minds for a few moments, at least. It was probably bad parenting to bribe them with sugar but you can't do it by the book every day.
I pondered returning to the chair and kicking my feet up but stating aloud that dinner was coming reminded me that it was my turn to cook. I wasn't quite ready to do that, so instead, I wandered to the study. The door was open, I paused in the doorway and watched him for a moment.
Justin sat with his back to me at his computer desk. His brow furrowed in concentration and his hands clicked on the keyboard. An engineering program covered the screen. He moved the mouse, rotating the wireframe design of his current project. Justin paused and made a note on the legal pad before continuing. A pair of noise-canceling headphones—probably playing Eagles or Van Halen—covered his ears.
I smiled as I watched him. He had been able to convince his boss that he could work from home several days a week, as long as he stayed plugged into the network and answered team questions. His bosses hadn't been too keen on having their senior engineer out of the office but had reluctantly agreed. A month later, with his productivity better than ever, the issue had been dropped.
My finger traced over the walnut-stained doorframe. We'd bought the house after moving back to Atlanta, after two years in Tampa. As he thought they would, Justin's company offered him the position of senior engineer at the home office and he snapped it up. I was already pregnant with Mason then, and Tabitha had come not long after. After she stopped nursing, I was able to go back to work part-time as a CPA, mostly Monday through Wednesday, with an odd Friday when Justin was off. Justin stayed home with the kids on those days, though he had to work for several hours every evening after I got back.
I focused on Justin. He'd stayed in shape—we both had—and if anything, he was even sexier and more alluring at thirty-three than he was back when we got together in our mid-twenties. He was great with the kids, considerate of me, and showed his love daily. He had been my best friend since we were in elementary school and I loved him like there was no tomorrow.
I sighed. Married for six years to an awesome, sexy man, two kids, all of us healthy, good friends, nice suburban house, no money troubles, and a job I enjoyed. I had everything I thirty-something woman in modern America could want.
So why was I so unsettled?
We're in a rut.
Right from the beginning, Justin and I had had a white-hot love life. Starting with my fantasies about an invader in my home—the 'encounters'—to our dalliance with public sex on our honeymoon, we'd never had any issues with sex. Even now, we were intimate once or twice a week, and sometimes more. I never got tired to making love to my husband but that's kind of what we'd settled into. The passion hadn't disappeared from our life but at times it felt that fiery desire had been muted under the mundane aspects of life, of raising two darling children, and all the accompanying running around.
Staring at Justin's back brought another smile to my face. My mother had always told me that if I was having trouble with someone and wanted to resolve things, that I shouldn't wait on them but should get the ball rolling myself. Of course, if Miss Prim and Proper knew I was about to apply that lesson to my sex life—even my married sex life—she probably would have keeled over. The thought made me blush. I'd gotten much better at discussing such things with Justin but the conditioning and shaming my folks instilled in me ran deep. Even though we'd been lovers for years, I still found it was easier to act than discuss.
Speaking of acting ...
I glanced down the hall. The kids were right in the other room but I could hear them chattering and it sounded like they were buddies again. I looked at Justin again. My gaze outlined his strong shoulders and the side of his handsome face. My desire grew to the point that I couldn't stand it.
I slipped inside the study, shut the door, and locked it. Like a tiger, I paced across the carpet toward my unsuspecting prey. I glanced at his web-cam and microphone that he used for his office meetings. Both were unplugged. Justin only plugged them in when he used them, saying you never knew who was listening or watching. All the better.
Justin didn't like high-backed office chairs, since he said it was too easy to lean back in the chair and doze off. That meant his head was at the perfect, unobstructed height. I peeled off my tee shirt, undid my bra, and flung both to the floor. I crept behind Justin and with a single pounce, grabbed him and pressed my tits against the back of his head.
He jumped, then relaxed. "Jesus, Trish. You scared the crap out of me. What, uh, what are you doing?"
I rubbed my breasts against him. "Teasing you. Is it working?"
He laughed. "Always."
"Oh? Let's check." I leaned around him and ran my hands down his chest, to his khaki shorts. Almost immediately, my fingers encountered a prominent bulge that grew even bigger as I caressed it. "Well look at that. It does seem to be working."
Justin's eyes narrowed. He tossed the headphones on his desk, clicked the SAVE icon on his project, and half-turned toward me. "You looking to cause trouble? The kids are right out there." Even as he said it, his hand found its way between my legs. A gentle thumb caressed my mound through my yoga pants.
I shivered and continued to stroke his stiffening cock through his pants. "They're okay. They're behaving for dessert."
"What's for dessert?"
He fully swiveled the chair to face me. The hand between my legs moved lower. Pressure on my clit made me groan. Justin took that moment to slurp one hard nipple in his mouth. Forceful lips massaged the areola. I groaned. My distracted mind tried to answer. "Uhm ... I made ... peach cobbler."
"Mmm," he murmured. His hands and lips moved faster, as did mine,
After several moments of that treatment, I was soaked. I knew we didn't have a lot of time; even the threat of withholding sweets would only keep the kids quiet for so long. I pulled away from Justin. His eyebrow rose but before he could say anything, I grabbed the hem of his shorts and dragged them, belt and all, down his thighs. He elevated his legs for ease of dragging. His cock sprang free, hard and proud.
I grabbed his hands and pulled them to the hem of my pants. He peeled them halfway down my legs, spun me around, and pulled me into his lap. I reached behind and guided his stiff dick to my waiting pussy. As wet as I was, he slid right in. I trembled as his girth filled me. It wasn't just the sheer pleasure of having his hot, throbbing member separate my insides and all the wonderful quivers and sensation that entailed. It was the knowledge that my lover was inside me, not apart from me. He was where he belonged. Where there were two, there was now one.
Ever so slowly, I began to raise and lower my hips, each time groaning as his dick split me apart. Justin placed his hands on my hips, assisting my pace. I placed one hand on his desk to help my balance. With the other, I caressed my breast and pinched my nipple. Justin groaned and his fingers dug into my hips. Before I knew it, he was thrusting up into me as much as I was riding him.
