CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE #3
Tabby stared at him. She could see that in him. “Were you?”
“I was an irresponsible workaholic, and an irresponsible party boy. So yes. She had every right to get custody. I didn’t dispute that.
But she had no right to be given twenty-four percent of my struggling business.
She got it in the name of the children: Alan and Clare received ten percent each, and she got four percent, but she knew she would control all twenty-four percent.
And she did until she turned it over to Alan. ”
He exhaled as if it was still raw to him.
“At the time of the divorce, my business wasn’t worth a damn.
I bought it when it was already in foreclosure.
At that time it was this poorly-run watersports rental company on the Jersey Shore that rented out Kayaks and surfboards and wetsuits and other water equipment.
I bought it for pennies on the dollar, but I also had to assume all the debt.
Which was substantial. But I knew me, and Nora knew me.
That was why she wanted a stake in my business.
Back then, it was like owning twenty-four percent of a junk bond.
But when it blew up big just a few years later, which she and I both knew it would, that twenty-four percent was worth a fortune. ”
Tabby stared at him. “Are you bitter about that?”
“I was very bitter. Especially when the courts were making me pay child support too, as if all that money rolling in from that twenty-four percent that she and the children owned didn’t count. But that was a long time ago.”
Tabby turned back around, but he could sense she had another, more personal question. “You can ask me anything, Tabitha.”
Tabby decided to ask it. “Did you love her?”
There was a long hesitation. “I did, yes.”
“Did she love you?”
“Hell no.” No hesitation there.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Oh her actions made that clear. She was cheating on me within four months of our marriage. I didn’t know it at the time. I was too busy working. But it was a constant issue.”
“Wow.”
“And you know what she told me after we divorced?”
Tabby turned her head back around. “What?”
“She told me the only reason she married me was because she wanted pretty children.”
Tabby could see the pain in his eyes just recounting that. “Wow,” she said again. “Now that’s a cold bitch.”
“A son and a daughter was what she wanted out of the deal, and that’s exactly what she got. Along with twenty-four percent of my blood, sweat, and tears.”
“Then she kicked you to the curb?”
“Figuratively and literally, yes.”
“That’s real cold, Stuart. For real for real. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m glad she showed her true colors early enough for me to pick up the pieces and move the hell on.”
“Did you marry again?”
“After that witch? Hell no. I wasn’t trying to trust any woman ever again.”
Tabby turned back around. That didn’t bode well for her. But it wasn’t like she stood a chance anyway.
He already introduced her as his friend.
She was what they called a friend with benefits, but still just a friend.
In fact the benefits part made her a little less than a friend in her view.
Because it seemed like settling for less to her.
Giving away the milk for free. And she’d given away enough and settled enough in her life.
She was tired of that. She wasn’t at all sure if such an arrangement would ever be sustainable for her.
But she loved being around Stuart. He gave her a lift every time. She decided to just go with that for now.
Once they finished bathing, they got out of the tub. But as they were drying off, face to face and body to body, they both began to get that urge. So much so that Stuart tossed his towel aside and her towel too, wrapped her into his arms, and gave her a long, passionate kiss.
Then he moved down her body until he was between her legs. And he pushed her against the wall, with his hands squeezing her butt, as he did her.
Tabby lifted her legs and sat them on his shoulder as he knelt down doing her so long that she was certain she was soon to cum.
Until the doorbell rang. And their heavy breathing and arching and moaning and groaning ceased. Because they both knew it could be JK with news that the charges had been dropped.
Stuart stood up and pressed the intercom button beside the tub. “Yes?”
“Dinner is ready to serve, sir.”
It was Francois. Stuart was pissed, but he knew it wasn’t his chef’s fault. He pressed another button. “Come on in. I’ll be down in a few.” And then he ended the conversation.
And exhaled as he looked down her body. A body he was craving. “Let’s eat first,” he said.
But Tabby was craving him too. “Do we have to?” she asked.
And that simple question was all it took for Stuart. They didn’t have to do a damn thing they didn’t want to do. He pressed the intercom button that connected to the kitchen. “Francois?”
“Yes sir?”
“Put the food in warmers and you may leave.”
“Will do right away. And thank you sir.
And as soon as he ended that conversation, his craving for Tabby heightened to such an extent that he lifted her with a sudden jerk of a lift, carried her to his bed,, threw her on it, and then got on top of her.
He entered her with that wonderful thrust she was looking forward to and her legs wrapped all the way around his body as he did her. It was raw and hard and long. But slow and so sensual that it took all they had to not cum within minutes of their coupling.
But they both held on. They fell into a rhythm that made it last as long as they could hold out.
Tabby was running her fingers through Stuart’s hair and Stuart was squeezing Tabby’s butt even harder as he did her. She fit him like a glove. And his body was enveloped into hers.
They came a half-hour into it, but neither one of them wanted that to be the end. So he kept giving and she kept receiving until he was big again and she was feeling those sensations increase again. And then they came again.
Where they found the energy, after the two days they’d been through, they didn’t know. And they didn’t care. They were just thrilled to have found somebody who just might reciprocate their love.