Matronly Duties (25 page)

In an attempt to distract myself while his hands move over my sore muscles, I grab a paper from the pile on the bedside table. Despite my ever-heightening arousal, I notice the date—the first of December.

“Are these today’s papers?”

He peeks over my shoulder to glance at the one I’m holding. “Yep, that one is. Why?”

“Damn, it’s only three weeks until Christmas.” Howard is working the muscles in my lower back, and I yelp in pain when he hits a tender spot.

“I take it that spot’s a bit sore.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’ll leave it alone, then. I’m pretty much done with your back. Why don’t you roll over, and I’ll work some of the muscles on the front?”

I do as he asks, my thoughts returning to Christmas. Celebrating with my family was always the one time of year that I looked forward to, even when I was at MITI. Although Christmas since the time of the asteroid isn’t anything like it was supposedly like in the ancestors’ time—I guess the myth of Santa Claus delivering presents around the world wasn’t something they could continue to perpetuate when civilisation was completely underground—it is still a time for families. It’s still tradition to gather and celebrate our love for one another.

With that thought, I realise I have yet to make any presents for my family. I’m sure they’ll understand, considering that only a month ago I wasn’t even sure I still had a family.

“What’s troubling you, my love?” Howard runs this thumb lovingly across my forehead like he is trying to smooth out the wrinkles.

“Oh, just thinking about what I’m going to do with my family for Christmas. Wasn’t too long ago I didn’t think I would ever get another chance.”

“Didn’t Mum tell you that they are coming here?” The look of confusion on my face obviously gives him the answer he is looking for because he continues speaking. “Yeah, your mum and mine have it all organised. They are going to make a big roast chook and veggies for lunch. Your family and mine, together.”

I sit up, needing to be more at eye level with Howard. “Are you okay with this?”

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. I guess it just seems like a big step, our families getting together for Christmas.”

“Well, if you look at things like that, then yeah, you are probably right. But honestly, it’s a step I’m more than willing to take. I hope it’s the first of many.”

I stare at him, my cheeks heating, but I’m not sure whether it’s from embarrassment or desire.

“What about presents? I’m not sure I have enough time to make anything, or whether there are enough resources anyway.”

“That’s all right, love, no presents this year. The family thought that because of our circumstances, we should be thankful just to be together.”

The look of utter adoration on his face makes all thoughts of Christmas, or anything else, fly out of my mind, replacing them with a single thought.

Kiss him.

So I do.

As our lips meet, I whimper a little at the feeling of his lips against mine. His touch always causes a tingling heat to spread throughout my body.

I throw the papers on the floor, turn onto my side facing him, and pull my body flush with his. The feeling is exquisite, and I unabashedly rub myself against him, seeking as much contact as I can get. Howard doesn’t seem to mind my wanton behaviour and starts returning it with equal vigour.

As is too often the case, we are interrupted before we can progress very far. His mum’s voice carries down the hall letting us know dinner is ready. With a groan we pull apart, neither of us happy about the interruption. It is times like these I’m thankful I’m a girl. Though I am no less aroused than my partner, the only real evidence of my arousal is the flush I feel on my cheeks. Howard isn’t so lucky. As he stands, I can clearly see the outline of his erection straining against his pants. I can’t take my eyes off it and wish that, just once, luck would be on our side and let us finish what we started.

“You keep looking at me like that and I’m never going to calm down,’ he says, half chuckle, half growl.

“I should probably leave, then, because the view is way too tempting right now.” With a giggle I swiftly make my exit, leaving Howard to tame his beast within. I hope, though, that sometime in the near future, we find a way to let him free, because I am dying to discover that side of him.

Chapter 22

Staring at the clock the following night, I will myself to relax and go to sleep. I am beyond tired, but my brain does not want to shut down. Howard and the rest of today’s procurement party have not returned yet and they should have been back hours ago.

A million scenarios play in my mind, most of them ending with someone coming to deliver the news that Howard is dead. It’s ridiculous, but I have the sense that something bad has happened, and it’s not going to go away until Howard is safely home.

As the little hand moves to the nine and the big hand to the twelve, I close my eyes again, hoping for sleep to come. A rustling sound and then a dip in the mattress has me quickly opening my eyes. I don’t even think twice as I practically leap across the bed to wrap my arms around Howard.

“Where have you been?” I hold him tight, scared if I let him go he’ll disappear.

“Sorry, love. We ran into a bit of trouble. But I’m fine and I’m here.” The tension in his voice tells me that’s not the complete truth.

“It has to be more than a little trouble if you’re four hours late.”

“Six,” Howard replies.

“Sorry, what?”

“Six hours late,” he repeats.

I glance over my shoulder at the clock and see it’s a few minutes after eleven. I must have drifted off to sleep after all.

“Okay then, what really happened?”

Howard sighs and stares at me for a long while. I get the feeling he is organising his thoughts, so I try to wait patiently for him to speak, even though I am jumping out of my skin for answers.

“We caught the attention of a government security patrol when we were heading back to the catacombs.” He stops talking. The moment I’m about to ask what happened next, he starts again. “They managed to corner us near the entrance we had planned to use. We tried to sneak by, but it seemed they were prepared for us. They Tasered Grant, knocked him out cold. And John copped a baton to the leg. Thankfully, we were able to double back to another entrance, but it was hard going with both Grant and John unable to walk.”

“Are they all right?”

“Yeah, nothing life-threatening, but they’ll both be on the sidelines for a bit.” His emotionless tone doesn’t fool me. The tension in his shoulders and the scowl on his face tells me he cares about what happened to his men far more than he is letting on.

This journey to Sydney cannot get here soon enough. Encounters with OSP are getting worse by the day. One of my biggest fears is that someone is not going to live long enough to truly be free. My greatest fear of all is that someone will be Howard.

***

Christmas morning, I sit up in bed to find Howard still sleeping soundly beside me.

I take a few moments to appreciate his peaceful good looks. You would never guess he carries the weight of so many on his shoulders. I count my blessings every day that some higher power thought to bring such a wonderful man into my life.

His breathing starts to pick up and his eyelids flutter a little. He’s waking and I’m kind of glad, because I was about two seconds away from attacking him with my lips regardless of whether he’s awake or not.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

“Good morning, my love.” My voice sounds husky and still half asleep. “Did you sleep well?”

“I always sleep well with you beside me.”

The cheeky devil always says the right thing, so I reward him with a passionate kiss. He has none of it when I try to pull away to catch my breath but increases the intensity of the kiss instead. It’s one of those toe-curling ones, the type I feel in every nerve of my body and makes me feel like I’ve been set on fire.

“Merry Christmas,” he says in a breathy moan when he finally breaks our embrace.

“Merry Christmas indeed,” I giggle.

“You know what would make it an even merrier Christmas?”

“No, what?”

He doesn’t answer my question, instead pulling me up so that I straddle him. Then he slides his hands under my shirt.

“Oh my . . . so good.” The feel of his hands against my skin is intense, sending my arousal skyrocketing. There is a playful smirk on his face, and I want nothing more than to let him do whatever it is he is thinking of doing, but we don’t have time.

I put my hands on his, stilling the motion, and pull them out from under my shirt. He whimpers like a wounded animal and even pouts to top it off.

“We don’t have time.” I look at the clock. “We both have to be bathed, dressed, and present for breakfast in forty-five minutes.”

“There is a way that we can save time.” I can tell he is up to no good by the devilish smirk on his face, though there’s a hint of hesitance in there as well.

Against my better judgement I ask, “How?”

“We could bathe together.”

I’m both shocked and excited by his words. The thought of being naked with him in the bath is extremely enticing and would definitely be a move forward in our relationship.

Deciding to see if I can beat him at his own game, I say, “Only if you wash me with your bare hands.”

Howard is up and out of bed quicker than I ever thought possible, and after making sure we both have robes and a clean change of clothes in hand, he drags me off to the bathhouse, making sure no one sees us entering together.

Once inside, he fills the bath with two buckets of boiling water from the urn, then tops it up with cold from the tap until the water is the right temperature. He adds a few soap flakes, and then turns his attention to me.

I should probably be scared or hesitant about what is about to happen but I’m not. I want this. There is a firestorm of arousal raging inside me, and I am sure Howard is the only one who can tame it.

With slow, skilled fingers he removes my robe and then my shirt. He stops for a second to admire my form, and it makes me a little happy to see him so captivated by me. He shakes his head as if to bring himself out of his stupor, then slowly slides down my pyjama bottoms, leaving me completely bare before him.

“Stunning,” he whispers before he starts removing his own clothes.

I stop him. “That’s my job.” It’s only fair if he removed mine, I should get to remove his.

The good thing about my turn is that he sleeps shirtless, so I only have to remove his robe and his pants. I untie the belt holding his robe closed and it immediately falls open. Starting at his waist, I run my hands up the vast expanse of his torso until I reach his shoulders. Sliding my hands inside his robe, I push it off his shoulders and run my hands all the way down his arms until the robe falls to a pile at his feet. Though I have seen him shirtless countless times, it never fails to render me speechless.

I run my hands down his chest until they are resting at the waistband of his pyjamas. I would have to be blind not to notice the tent in his pants, but as much as I want to touch him, I don’t. I’ll have my chance soon enough.

Aware that I am prolonging the torture for both of us, I swiftly remove his bottoms, trying hard not to notice his hardness practically staring me in the face.

Once he is free of all his clothing, he pulls me close, his mouth crashing into mine, hard and possessive. His tongue claims my mouth while his fingers hold my hips so tight it almost borders on pain. With so much of our skin touching, I’m lost in the moment and quite happy to remain that way. Howard is the voice of reason this time, though, breaking the kiss before stepping into the bath.

Once he is seated, he offers his hand to help me in, guiding me to sit between his legs with my back resting against his chest. I never imagined that sitting in a bath with another person could feel so heavenly, but the soft caress of the water and the heat of his skin against mine are beyond words.

When he starts to wash me with his soapy hands, I am adrift in an ocean of bliss. Every touch only serves to stoke the fire inside me. I’m so on edge I might explode at any moment.

“Ahh,” I moan, unable to keep quiet as he rubs my breasts. I’m beyond caring if anyone hears us; I just want to revel in the pleasure he is providing.

I can tell he is enjoying washing me, too, because his hardness is pressing firmly against my back and I can feel him moving his hips every now and then.

Just when I’m sure I can’t take any more teasing, he finally trails his hand to where I desperately need it.

“Yes, yes, yes!” I cry out. His gentle touch is pure ecstasy.

Knowing this feeling inside me is building quickly and wanting Howard to feel good, too, I muster all the courage I can and slide a hand behind my back. The almost growl-like groan Howard emits when I cup my hand around his hardness is all the reassurance I need.

Slowly we move together, each of us working to bring the other as much pleasure as possible.

Just when I think I’m going to die if I don’t climax soon, Howard inserts two fingers inside me. That, combined with his moaned “I love you,” sends me crashing into oblivion.

Wave after wave of utter bliss courses through my body. I feel Howard groan and slump forward, his body shuddering beneath mine.

“Thank you,” he whispers in my ear, pulling me tight against him.

“You’re welcome, though I feel it should be me thanking you.”

He chuckles then peppers kisses over my shoulders. “Come on, we should probably wash up for real. I reckon we’ve been in here far longer than is acceptable.”

***

When we finally return from the bathhouse, I head into the kitchen to see if Mum and Rhonda need a hand while Howard joins the others in the dining room.

I am barely in there two seconds when Mum says, “Things between you and Howard seem to be going well.”

I can’t stop the way my ears flame in embarrassment. “Maybe” is all I can say in reply.

“I don’t think there is any ‘maybe’ about it,” Rhonda interjects. “I saw you two sneaking into the washhouse together this morning.”

Now I am outright ashamed of my behaviour. I’m fairly sure my entire body is blushing in mortification.

“Oh, don’t be so sensitive,” Mum says as she pulls me into a hug. “We have all been where you are right now. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Matter of fact, your dad and I still regularly pleasure one another.”

“Eww, Mum, I do not want to hear about what you and Dad do in the bedroom.”

“Fine,” she says, raising her hands. “But I am sure Rhonda will agree when I say that if you think things are good now, they only improve with age.”

“Oh my word, I cannot listen to you any longer. I am going to see what the kids are doing.”

I head out in search of the children and find them playing Go Fish in the lounge.

“Can I join in?” I ask.

“Of course,” Claire says as she shuffles over to make room for me. “Have you played Go Fish before?”

“I have, but a long time ago, when I was little like you.”

“Wow, that is a really long time ago, then.” I try hard not to be offended; I’m sure to her six years of age I seem ancient. “Do you want to know the rules?”

I listen intently as she explains the rules, and I’m happy they have not changed over the years. They finish the hand that they are on and then deal me in. We manage to get three rounds in before we are called to the table for breakfast. On my way there, Howard sneaks up and wraps his arms around me from behind.

“You are going to be an excellent mother someday,” he whispers in my ear and then pulls a chair out for me to sit.

I had no idea he was watching me play cards with the kids, but it makes my heart flutter at the thought that maybe he wants me to be the mother of his children.

Before we eat, Anthony leads the table in the Lord’s Prayer. The words are unfamiliar, but I bow my head and clasp my hands together as the rest of them do.

“Dig in,” Anthony says when he is finished.

Breakfast is delicious, and the table is abuzz with chatter as everyone eats. I thank my mum and Rhonda for the wonderful job, and there is a chorus of “hear, hear” from everyone else.

After breakfast, the kids head out to play with some other children while the adults lounge around, replete after the huge meal.

“Take a walk with me?” Howard asks.

Without hesitation, I hook my arm through his and let him lead the way. I’m not sure how long we walk, but we finally stop in a secluded part of the cavern.

We sit down on a rock that’s almost shaped like a chair, and Howard pulls something out of his pocket.

“I know we aren’t exchanging gifts this Christmas, but . . .” He hands me a little brown package. “I made you this. I hope you like it.”

Inside the package is a gorgeous necklace. The chain is made of leather, woven in an intricate braid pattern, with a beautiful pink heart-shaped pendant dangling from it.

“It’s beautiful,” I say as I kiss him in thanks. “Could you put it on me?”

I hand him the necklace and turn so that my back is to him. Sliding the necklace into place, he closes the clasp.

“I wanted you to have something that reminds you how much I love you.” He peppers kisses along my shoulders and up my neck. “You have my heart; take good care of it.”