Unfaithful (8 page)

His lovemaking was so predictable. She knew his every move before he even made it. Occasionally she would suggest new moves to him. He'd try it once and then revert to his old, familiar position. She knew she loved him, but she wished he would take more of an interest in spicing up their marriage.

Oh, well
, she thought to herself, as she lay in Sean's arms
, I'll have my rampant sex and then at least my marriage can continue as normal. No need for breaking up. I have a problem, I fix it. No dramas.
She looked at the clock and uncurled herself reluctantly from Sean's embrace. "I have to go," she whispered.

"So soon?" he asked, pulling her to him to kiss her full on the mouth.

"Yes, the children will be home from school in a few hours and I have to be there. My husband returns home tonight from his business trip so I have to pull myself together by then."

She returned his kiss, closing her eyes and losing herself in him for a few more wonderful moments.

"Will I see you again?" Sean asked as she made her way towards the bathroom.

"Of course," she smiled at him, "that's if you want to see me again."

"Absolutely.” He threw off the covers and strode purposefully across the room towards her. "Let me help you with your shower.” He pulled her inside and closed the door behind them.

She laughed excitedly as he turned on the shower tap and adjusted the temperature. He waited several moments until the shower was steamy hot, and then he opened the glass doors and lead her inside. He took the shower hose and let the warm water trickle down the lines of her slender body. He pushed the hose between her legs and increased the water pressure to full volume. She gasped as the hose vibrated against her.

When he had brought her to the edge of reason with the vibrations he switched tempo and began to soap her body, slowly and carefully. He soaped her breasts and lingeringly soaped her buttocks and between her legs. She moaned with pleasure, feeling the familiar waves building yet again. She took his hardness in her hands and felt him grow at her touch. He pushed her against the shower wall and she wrapped her legs around his buttocks, digging her heels into him and pushing his hardness deep inside her.

~~**~~

"I'll call you," Jackie said, as she jumped into the taxi outside the hotel. Her face was glowing from her night of passion.

"Ok.”

He leaned in the window to kiss her one last time. She felt like a bit of a tramp still wearing last night's sexy clothes and wished she'd had the foresight to bring an overnight bag with a fresh change of clothes. She hoped none of her neighbours would see her as she got out of the taxi, on the way into her house, but at that particular moment in time, she really didn't care who might see her.

"Did you have a good night?" the driver asked her, with a smirk on his face.

"It was a super night.” Jackie grinned cheekily at him.

"Keep the change," Jackie said, as she paid the driver and ran to her front door.

She was relieved when she got inside. Neighbourhood watch hadn't spotted her. She made her way into the kitchen and started the coffee machine. Her hangover from the previous night was starting to kick in and they had been too busy to make it downstairs in time for breakfast at the hotel.

Who needs food when I can have sex like that?
She smiled to herself as she poured milk into her steaming strong coffee and savoured her drink, sipping it slowly. A quick glance at the clock on the kitchen wall told her it was half past twelve, two hours until Shona dropped the children home from school. There was plenty of time to get changed and calm down from last night.

Jackie's mobile phone beeped. It was a text message from Colm.

"
I just got on the plane. I should be home by seven. Love u xxx."

A pang of guilt stabbed at her when she read her husband's message. She quickly responded to his text with

"I love u too xxx
."

She decided to put the children to bed early, so that she could enjoy dinner alone with Colm and make a fuss of him. She got out a pen and paper and made a list of food so she could cook her husband his favourite dinner later that evening. Red wine was the first item she put on her list
. I think I'll try looking for a bottle of that Chateau Neufe du Pape that I shared with Sean last night,
she mused.
She smiled to herself as she thought of his name.

Mushrooms, an aphrodisiac, were next on the list, then baby potatoes, peppercorn sauce, peas and of course fillet steak.
Colm enjoyed his steak rare and bloody. Jackie shuddered at the thought. She preferred hers well done. Dessert would be cheese and more wine of course. She ordered the groceries online from Tesco once her list was complete. She didn't feel like rushing around the supermarket.

Then she had another steaming hot shower and finally changed out of her sexy clothes from the night before and into her favourite, comfortable boyfriend jeans and loose tee-shirt. She pulled her wet hair back into a tight ponytail and spritzed herself with her favourite daytime perfume, Clinique Happy. She adored its summery fragrance. Then she rifled through her makeup bag and put lashings of Yves St Laurent Touch Eclat under the dark circles beneath her eyes.

The excesses of the previous night hadn't done much for her complexion. She brushed her pinkest blusher on to the apples of her cheeks and added lots of Lancome's Juicy Tubes lip gloss to her lips. Even though her complexion might look a little worse for wear, she had a definite twinkle in her eyes. She winked at herself in the mirror. Then she skipped downstairs and started preparing lunch for the children, who were due home with their Auntie Shona at any minute.

"Mommy, mommy, I missed you!" Emmet flung himself at his mother, almost sending her flying flat on the floor.

He really was growing up fast and was getting very strong. She could already see that he'd be tall and athletic like his dad.

"Hi, darling, I missed you too," Jackie laughed and bent to give her son a big bear hug.

"Hi munchkin," she looked at Charlotte, her two year old daughter who was cuddled up in her aunt's arms, clutching her pink blankie. She held out her arms to her mother who immediately took her from Shona and inhaled her special baby smell.

"Hey squiggles, did you miss your old mums?" she nuzzled into her daughter's hair. "Were they well-behaved for you?" Jackie asked Shona as they made their way towards the kitchen.

"They were an absolute delight, as always," Shona smiled. "Emmet had a nightmare about monkeys coming to get him. He woke up screaming in the middle of the night, so I let him sleep in my bed with me. Charlotte was an angel. She fell asleep around ten o' clock and slept right through the night."

"Oh, that's great.”  Jackie stirred sugar into their tea.

"So, how was your night?" Shona asked, "I'm surprised you didn't call the kids to say goodnight."

Jackie stopped in the middle of stirring the tea. Luckily, her back was to Shona so her sister didn't notice her pause. "Yeah, I fell asleep on the couch," was all she could manage to say. "I woke up around half past two with the television blaring some cheesy advertising at me."

"I suppose you're not used to having an evening off," Shona sympathised.

"I'll be happy to take them off your hands more often, if you and Colm fancy a romantic night together anytime."

"Oh, that would be wonderful, thanks Shona," Jackie smiled at her sister, hoping she wouldn't see the guilt in her eyes. "Speaking of romance how's your love life?" she asked cautiously, wanting to deflect attention away from herself.

"Don't ask," Shona sighed, "you really don't want to know. Let's just say it's as disastrous and dramatic as ever."

"Oh dear," Jackie said carefully over her tea cup. "No sign of Mark leaving his wife, as promised?"

"Nope, no sign at all, and what's worse, she's decided to start making her presence felt at the office."

"What?" Jackie exclaimed.

"Yep, I almost had a heart attack the other day after we had lunch together. I arrived back to the office only to find Rebecca, Mark's wife, sitting at my desk. I almost collapsed with the shock!"

"Gosh, that must have been nerve- wracking," Jackie sympathised.

"Slightly," Shona looked pale even at the memory of it. "She's been covering my shift at the office. I took a half day yesterday and today to mind the kids and she's been looking after my work."

"Where was Mark?" Jackie asked.

"He was off on some photographic shoot somewhere," Shona said dismissively.

"Is he not worried that you'll say anything to Rebecca about you and him?" Jackie asked.

"No, he’s not worried in the slightest. He knows I still believe he's going to break the news about us to her any day now. So he's safe enough for the moment, but honestly, if he doesn't tell her soon, I'll tell her myself. I'm starting to get impatient with his delaying."

"You wouldn't dare!" Jackie exclaimed incredulously.

"I would too dare," Shona insisted. "He swore to me he'd tell her, so for his own sake he'd better follow through. I'm nobody's fancy piece. He doesn't get to use and abuse me and then drop me when he's had his bit of fun, and go back to playing happy loving families with his wife after he's done with me. I don't think so. If I'm going to suffer, then he can suffer too."

"What about his wife?" Jackie asked, not believing her sister's bravado, "surely she's the innocent party in all of this."

"Yes, well, she's not my problem. Her husband is cheating on her. Wouldn't you like to know if Colm was cheating on you?"

Jackie squirmed slightly in her seat at her sister's direct question. "I suppose," she shrugged. "Anyway, it's up to you, Shona, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life.”

"Ok, let's just change the subject," Shona pouted. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that and Mark tells her himself."

"Yes, let's hope so," Jackie agreed. She got up and busied herself with getting the children's lunch. "Who wants crisps and cheese sandwiches?" she called to the children, who were watching cartoons in the sitting room.

"Yey!" Emmet came running into the kitchen, followed closely by little Charlotte who toddled unsteadily behind him saying "crips, crips."

Well, I should be heading home.” Shona quickly finished her tea. "I've got a lot of tidying up to do after these two munchkin heads wrecking the joint."

"I know, it's amazing the amount of mess two small people can make," Jackie shook her head. "They're worth it," Shona kissed Charlotte and gave Emmett a quick hug goodbye.

"Thanks so much for looking after them," Jackie said gratefully.

"Anytime, girl, anytime, my pleasure," Shona smiled as she gathered her keys and coat together. Jackie, Emmet and Charlotte went to the front door to wave Shona goodbye, who beeped the horn loudly as she drove away, waving wildly.

Jackie shooed the children back into the sitting room where they happily resumed watching cartoons. She tidied up the dishes from lunch and checked her mobile phone to see if Sean had texted her. No messages. Then she logged back on to her computer and checked her emails, no new emails.

Oh well
, she thought,
it hasn't even been twenty fours since we've seen each other. I suppose he has to play it a bit cool. Anyway, I've plenty to be doing myself
. Her thoughts were interrupted by the front door bell ringing. It was the Tesco delivery man. He was laden down with bags and she helped him bring the rest in from his van. She unpacked everything carefully in the cupboards and fridge.

She opened the bottle of red wine to let it breathe and inhaled its heady aroma. Immediately, she was transported back to the decadence of the previous night. She felt a little thrill run through her body. She closed her eyes for a moment and recalled Sean's delicious kisses and expert hands teasing all over her body.

"More juice mommy," Emmet asked plaintively. Jackie jumped at the sound of his voice, which made her son laugh. "I scared you," he giggled.

"You did scare me, you rascal.” She ruffled her son's hair.

He scampered back into the living room to watch his beloved 'toons, as he called them. "Spiderman's coming on telly, mom," he called from the living room.

"Ok, darling, that's nice," Jackie called back. She popped her head around the door a few minutes later. Little Charlotte was curled up in a ball on the couch, fast asleep, holding her favourite doll and blankie tight. She picked up her baby daughter and brought her upstairs to her cot. Then she stopped by her bedroom on her way back downstairs and gathered her dirty laundry from the night before, which she hastily flung in the washing machine. She certainly didn't want Colm seeing that outfit. The rest of the afternoon flew by in a haze of housework, helping Emmet with his homework and preparing dinner for herself and Colm later.

Before she knew it, she was tucking Emmet and Charlotte into their beds and reading them a bedtime story. Emmet and Charlotte were very good children overall, but exceptional when it came to bedtime. They nearly always slept straight through the night, unless they were sick, of course.