25. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Oak
I t had been rough, settling into the idea that my grandparents knew. I hadn’t expected it to be that difficult, if I were honest. I talked it through with my therapist and that helped, but she told me I’d keep working through it for a while with the way I’d been raised. I accepted that, just as I accepted the unconditional love of my grandparents.
In the couple of weeks after Law told Caitlyn, everything started to settle into a new normal. We stole moments together when we could. Sometimes someone distracted the kids so Law could sneak away to my cabin for a while, or I’d go to the Yellow House after the kids had fallen asleep.
We also started to take enough lunch breaks together and spend them decidedly not at the Inn that our friends and family began to tease us about it. I had to admit that some midday delight was very welcome and spiced up my life more than I’d expected.
I also hung out with Law and the kids more. I couldn’t say that we did things “as a family,” but it was starting to feel a little bit like that. I knew Harper was starting to realize I was around more, but she hadn’t put anything together yet.
When we were both scheduled off work the last weekend of March—the weekend after Tristan’s birthday—I made plans with Caitlyn. Yeah, I went behind my boyfriend’s back to contact his ex-wife, and she arrived on Friday afternoon, just before Law was to go pick up the kids from school. She wasn’t able to make it to his party during the week, and though she’d managed to FaceTime in, it wasn’t the same. So she’d rearranged her schedule to make it as close to his birthday as she could.
We’d timed it so that when Law went out of the house to go to his SUV, Cait stepped out of her rental, smirking at him.
“W-What?” Law sputtered.
I stood behind him on the porch, very satisfied with my post-quickie relaxation, and grinned at her.
“Surprise?” she said, meeting him halfway and hugging the life out of him.
“How are you here?” he asked as he leaned back to look at her. “You look… radiant. ”
She did look radiant but also tired. I could see the shadows under her eyes and while she did have that aura of a person who was happy with their life, she clearly needed to chill, too.
She smiled widely. “Thank you. You look…,” she started, then raised a brow at him.
He blushed, and I cackled.
Cait walked around him, and I went down the front steps to hug her tightly.
“Hey, you,” I murmured.
“Thank you for suggesting this,” she said quietly. When she pulled back, I could see in her eyes how much she needed this. She hadn’t seen her kids in person in about three months, after all.
“I feel like you’ve been plotting behind my back,” Law accused us.
“No, really?” I snarked. “We would never. ”
Cait guffawed, turning to Law. “What he said. Also, I’m taking the kids and I have a rental cabin in Landry’s Fall until Monday morning. I’ll make sure they get to school on time, and I’ll even take Ranger to the doggie daycare.”
He went back to sputtering for a moment, then he threw his hands up. “Well, then!”
Again, my fucking upbringing perked its ugly head and I looked at him hesitantly. “I’m sorry I went behind your back, I just—”
“No, baby, no ,” he said quickly, coming to sweep me into his arms. “This is good.”
“Give me your keys; I’m going so I’ll make the pickup time,” Cait said, holding out her hand, likely so that she didn’t need to worry about the car seats yet.
Law handed her the keys without looking at her, his attention still firmly on me.
“We’ll be back soon to pack their stuff,” she called out and jumped into the SUV.
I still felt out of sorts. It had seemed like a good idea, but I’d also taken liberties—
“Baby, look at me,” Law said gently, lifting my chin with his fingers. Once I made eye contact, he smiled. “Did you do this so we can spend the weekend together without having to worry about the kids?”
I shook my head. Then I nodded slowly. “Kind of.” I sighed. “Look, I’m not going to lie and say that wasn’t a thing; of course it was. But I mostly wanted them to have time with Caitlyn, too. And Harper mentioned to Charlie that Cait had seemed more tired than usual lately, and Charlie told me and….”
“And you asked Cait if she wanted to come for a weekend to see the kids?” Law looked at me as if I was something special.
“Yeah.”
He cupped my face and leaned in to kiss me senseless. Then he looked at me, his emotions right on the surface where I liked them. I could tell he was so close to telling me things I wasn’t ready to hear, that I pecked his lips and grinned.
“Come on, let’s make sure the kids’ favorite stuff is clean, otherwise I’ll throw it into the washer,” I said and turned around to go back inside.
Yeah, I’d taken to doing some chores around the house. Not because it was expected of me, and the kids didn’t even notice. I did it to get more Law time, so it was for selfish reasons, really. Plus, it made me feel better about being around so much. Again, it all boiled down to my childhood and feeling like I needed to be of use to deserve my space, and I knew Law had begun to figure it out.
He followed me inside, and we had some of the kids’ things ready by the time they got back. The amount of happy babbling that went on while they figured out what else to pack was pretty damn impressive.
While Law and Cait made sure the correct things ended up in Tristan’s bag and that Harper didn’t take too much schoolwork with her, I helped Marlie with portioning out Ranger’s food and treats for the weekend trip.
Once it was done, I told her to go get her own stuff next. I watched her run up the stairs and exchanged a glance with Ranger.
“Very active, aren’t they?” I mused out loud.
Ranger sighed, then wagged his tail a little. He was going to be ecstatic once they got to the cabin and he would get to go on walks in a new environment.
It took about an hour and a half for us to see the taillights of Cait’s rental.
Law turned to me. “So, what’s the program tonight?”
I grinned. “Well, tonight we’re just gonna cook something for dinner together and hang out. Tomorrow, I have a whole date planned.”
He looked surprised for a moment. “Oh really?”
“Uh-huh. We’re going to do something fun.”
“I can’t wait.” He kissed me firmly, then patted my still sore butt. “Let’s go see what’s in the kitchen, eh?”
We did exactly what I suggested that night. It was weird not to be worrying about the kids, and Law told me as much.
“They’re with their mom,” I said thoughtfully. “Of course it’s different than if they were with the grandparents or the uncles.”
“I suppose so. I just… it’s nice to feel like I don’t have to think about them and what could go wrong, you know?” Before I could comment, he added, “Not that I ever think about something going wrong just because they’re not with me or Caitlyn, but you know what I mean.”
“Of course I do.” I kissed him softly. “I think both her and you need this weekend for different reasons.” I smirked. “And if I can benefit from that, then—” I yelped, because suddenly I was on my back on the couch with Law hovering over me.
Then he proceeded to show me exactly how much I was benefiting from my brilliant idea. Twice.
The next morning I woke up with a mouth on my cock and mug of coffee on the bedside table. Yeah. I’d been a good boy.
After I came down Law’s throat and gave him a hand, we had a lazy morning with coffees in bed, then showered together, and finally decided to go get breakfast at the Inn.
“When is our date?” Law asked as we got dressed.
I walked to the bedroom window and peered out. The weather looked like it was going to hold. “We should go after breakfast.” I went to my bag I’d grabbed from my cabin and pulled out my more outdoorsy winter clothing. “Wear the snow pants and dress with the idea of being outdoors for a couple of hours.”
“In the snow?” he asked, still a bit hesitant on some level. Poor desert boy.
“Yes.” I grinned. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you ski.”
He took me at my word and got dressed accordingly, and we drove his SUV down to the Inn and had breakfast with Charlie.
“So, you’re going to have a couple’s weekend?” he asked, eyes filled with happiness for us.
“Yeah,” I grinned and squeezed Law’s hand.
He leaned sideways to kiss my temple. “This one went behind my back.”
Charlie looked sheepish. “I might’ve helped.”
We told Law about Harper’s worries about her mom and how we’d had the idea and so on.
Law cleared his throat and took a sip of his coffee, appearing a bit choked up. Then he glanced at Charlie and me. “Thank you, both. Seriously. This is….”
Aww. It took a lot to make my guy awkward, and I cherished every moment. This time I leaned to him and kissed his cheek. Then we changed the subject and finished our breakfasts.
I asked to drive when we went to the SUV again, and Law handed me the keys easily.
When he realized we were going to my grandparents’ neighborhood, he looked confused. “Where are we going?”
“Well, first we’re going to Gram and Gramps’ to get some stuff, but then we’re doing something I’ve wanted to do for a while.”
He reached for my hand and squeezed. “What’s that?”
“Remember when I said I wanted to go sledding?” I’d mentioned it the previous week when the kids had been sledding with Charlie and Uncle Teague.
Law nodded slowly. “And I, maybe stupidly, said we can go with the kids soon.”
I glanced at him. “Not stupidly. I didn’t specify, baby.” I flicked the blinker on and turned into Gram and Gramps’ driveway. “But I really want to have fun with you, and I really meant it when I said I wanted to go sledding.”
I wasn’t wrong. After we got the different equipment—a tire tube, a plastic sled and a plastic large disc thing—and headed to the hill near the grandparents’ house, Law started to get excited.
“Uncle Teague said they used to come sledding here a lot as kids,” I told him as we got closer.
“Do a lot of people use it these days?”
“Apparently not as many. Some teenagers and grandkids of the older folks living around here. It’s a bit secluded to be in common use.”
The spot was empty of other people, and I hoped it would stay that way. We climbed up the hill and Law picked the tire tube, while I took the disc.
“See you down there?” I asked as we aimed ourselves.
“Three, two—” and he pushed off, cackling as he went.
“Cheat!” Even if it wasn’t a competition, he’d still cheated.
I gave myself a push and started down the hill. The wind whooshing past me as the disc propelled forward faster and faster made me feel elation like not many things could.
I whooped and held up my arms as I let the disc spin me around a little. I wasn’t scared at all; I’d done this so many times before that I knew what was safe and what wasn’t.
Law, however? He’d gone sledding with the kids at another spot in town, a longer, less steep hill a couple of times, but this one? Yeah.
As I came to a stop near him, he looked half scared, half excited. Like you should after some decent sledding, if you asked me. I was pretty sure he hadn’t thought he’d get the speed he’d gotten and was recalculating his expectations.
“How was it?” I grinned.
He knew I could tell he was feeling uneasy and made a face at me. “Don’t mock me.”
“I’m not. Come on, you’ll get used to it.” I grabbed the disk and his hand, and we walked back up the hill.
The next try, he was a bit more careful, trying to slow down with his feet, and ended up accidentally steering himself into a snowbank.
I, however, spotted a little jump some kids—probably teens—had made to the other side. Now that one I had to try!
On our third run, I suggested he’d take the disc because I felt it was easier to control being that you were practically on the ground, and took the tire from him.
Then I leapt on the tire and aimed at the jump.
“Oak!” Law yelled, when he saw how fast I was going.
I whooped again, held onto the handles on the tire, and flattened myself as much as I could while sitting down to gain even more speed.
Then I hit the little ramp and flew over it. The airtime wasn’t huge, but I still felt the swoop in my belly and laughed with delight as I was tossed into some soft snow on the other side.
I was still giggling my fool head off when Law’s face appeared above me.
“Oak, are you okay?” he asked, his hands touching my face, and then down my body as if he was checking I was in one piece.
“Oh, you sweet summer child. Literally.” I grabbed the front of his snow jacket and pulled him on top of me, kissing him on the lips noisily. “I know what I’m doing here. I’ve jumped much higher—”
“Don’t tell me that; holy crap, Oak. You looked like a ragdoll!”
I laughed and attached myself to him before he could escape in his sudden indignation. “Trust me, baby. This is fun and it’s safe, and I know what I’m doing.”
He tried to glare at me, but then deflated and let his weight sink against me, which made me press deeper into the soft snow.
“Okay. I trust you,” he finally said.
“Thank you,” I replied seriously. Then we kissed for a moment, and while he was distracted with that, I asked, “Wanna go on the tire with me?”
“Sure.” When he looked at me and saw my expression, he frowned. “I think I’m missing something here.”
I snickered as I pushed him off myself and we started back up the hill. “Well, it might be a bit faster with two people….”
“Oh shit….”
We made it back to the house past midday. I’d called ahead and Dana had packed us lunches and told us to come get dinner later.
Both of us were happy with our winter gear, but somehow we still got a bit wet and cold, and by the time we went inside and started to strip off the outerwear, I was shivering.
“We really need a shower,” Law said as he took the food into the kitchen.
“Yeah, and food,” I agreed. I followed him and started to strip behind him.
I was down to my underwear before he turned around from the lunch containers.
Confusion spread on his handsome boy next door face. “What—”
“Babe, can you do something for me?” I asked, feigning innocence.
Still frowning, he asked, “What is that?”
I pushed down my underwear and grinned wickedly. “Catch me.”
I sprinted around the corner, then stopped so he couldn’t see me.
He went past me, tossing his undershirt to the side as he headed toward his bedroom. “Where did you go?” he asked in a growly tone that made my whole body break out in goosebumps.
As he vanished to the bedroom, I went to the far side of the living room, just in time for him to realize I wasn’t in bed.
“Oh this is how you want to play,” he continued in the same voice. “Come out, come out wherever you are,” he sing-songed as came back out of his room.
When his eyes locked onto me, standing behind the couch in the family room, his expression morphed into something predatory.
I squeaked as he lunged, and I scrambled over the couch, hearing him grunt as he failed to catch me.
For a moment, I thought of going to the kitchen or even up the stairs, but in the end I realized I wanted to get caught. I ran toward the bedroom, giggling like crazy, my heart pounding as I heard him come after me with his heavier footfalls clear as day even over the whooshing in my ears.
Just as I was about to go around his bed, his strong arms came around me, and I yelped as he tossed me on the mattress as if I weighed nothing. The swoop in my stomach felt like flying over the jump again.
I had barely time to roll onto my back when he was on me, smirking in a way that made my cock hard in an instant.
“You caught me,” I panted.
“So I did,” he murmured, his hand going around my throat. Not to squeeze, but to hold.
“W-What are you going to do to me now that you have me?” I asked, excitement coloring my voice.
“I’m going to take what’s mine.” His words turned into a growl that he muffled by kissing me until I had no breath left in my lungs.
Then he flipped me onto my stomach, lubed his cock, and smeared some lube in and around my hole in an almost perfunctory manner that made me so fucking hot I couldn’t stand it.
“You’re going to take what I give you.” He nipped at the back of my neck as he pressed the head of his dick against my hole. “You know what to say if you want me to stop.”
Yeah, I knew. Red. We’d agreed on it pretty early as a blanket safeword in case anything went wrong at any time, and we needed a pause.
“What? Meatloaf?” I asked innocently just before he began to push in.
He stopped. “I… What? ”
“Yeah, you know, ‘I’ll do anything for love, but I won’t do that’?” I asked innocently.
I wasn’t exactly too young to know who Meat Loaf was–thanks, Rocky Horror Picture Show–but I could admit stealing the safeword thing from a meme.
For a moment, Law was still, then he groaned. And then he pushed inside me with no mercy until he bottomed out. The sounds that escaped me were animalistic, part because of the pain, but mostly because he made me so fucking hot, handling me like this.
“Tell me, brat of mine,” he growled against the side of my head. “Should I let you adjust or just fuck you until you can’t form coherent words?”
I let out a whine of pure, utter lust, and he read it exactly right. Without waiting, he pulled out most of the way, then slammed inside me and proceeded to steal my capability to produce speech until I was a puddle in a puddle, with his cum leaking out of me the way I liked the best.
I barely registered him leaving the bed to grab a washcloth, and as he cleaned me up while admiring his handiwork, I just felt loved.
He rolled me onto my back and took care of most of the wet spot, then took the cloth back into the bathroom. Then got me a glass of water and made me drink it before gathering me into his arms and pulling the sheet over us.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, petting my noodley form with a smug expression on his stupid face.
I made an incoherent noise, and he laughed, then squeezed my ass cheek with his gigantic mitt of a hand and made me whine with the pain.
“Too much?”
I shook my head limply. “Perfect.”
He kissed the top of my head and we stayed like that until I was able to talk again.
“Shower, then food?” he asked eventually.
“Sure. Sounds good. Carry me?”
He laughed as he got out of bed and then grabbed me into a fireman’s carry. I yelped and stared at his ass as he did as I’d asked. Damn it. I hadn’t thought he’d actually do it, but the view was magnificent.
I told him as much as I slapped his ass. He grunted and put me down in the shower, then turned the water on. The first few seconds were cold as hell and I screeched, but then it warmed up and I didn’t comment anything further.
We washed each other and cuddled under the hot water, then got dressed in the comfiest things we had and went into the kitchen.
As we sat at the table to eat, I grinned at him.
“What’s that look for?” Law asked suspiciously.
“Well, I think I planned and executed a pretty fucking awesome date,” I replied. “I’m excited to see what you plan for us for the next one!"