I'm so sorry for the late chapter. I have no excuse except bad planning on my part.
The drive to her house was quiet. As quiet as Adrea had expected. Aris turned on the television and let it play between them. Adrea was grateful for the moment to just be and not think. She leaned back against the seat, watching the streets slip past her window, familiar roads she had not travelled in weeks. Her stomach knotted the closer they got, the anticipation mingling with dread. That house was a collection of her fears and worst memories.As much as she told herself it was not as bad as she remembered. Surely it was not that bad.When the car slowed and pulled into the driveway, she inhaled deeply. The home stood tall and proud, every stone in its façade as she remembered. It did not look touched or tampered with, though she knew appearances could lie.Aris killed the engine and glanced at her, as if waiting for her lead.“Let’s go,” she said softly, more to herself than to him.They stepped out together, the gravel crunching beneath their shoes. The air was warm, with a faint
As they sat down, Belinda noticed that the restaurant was dimly lit and the setting was as she remembered. It was still the sort of place that prided itself on intimacy. Candlelight flickered across the polished wood of the table, silverware gleamed, and the low murmur of other diners provided a muted backdrop. It had been a while since Belinda and Rafael had been here. Belinda looked at Rafael as he sat opposite her. He was dressed elegantly as always. She tucked her hair behind one ear, and then arranged her hands so that they were folded neatly in her lap.The waiter came and offered them their menus. The couple took them with warm smiles and Rafael ordered their usual starter wine. Belinda did not have the chance to tell him that she did not want it as their waiter nodded and walked off swiftly.With the waiter gone, Rafael began looking through the menu. Belinda followed suit, seeing the things she would have loved to have but had to overlook because of her child.She found what
Adrea lay there on the couch, feeling spent and boneless. Her skin was still buzzing from the intensity of what had just happened. Her hair was in disarray, her lips swollen, and she had the faintest tremble running through her thighs, not from fear but from exhaustion and satisfaction alike. She could not trust herself to get to her feet. Her legs were in no state to hold her up.She could hear Aris moving about the flat. His footfalls were silent across the floor, but she could hear him all the same. The faint creak of a door, then another, before she heard the rush of water somewhere in the distance. A soft hiss, then the steady splash of a filling tub. She closed her eyes, sinking further into the cushions, her chest rising and falling in slow rhythm.She did not need to ask what he was doing. The sounds painted the picture clearly enough. Aris was running a bath. She would get one later. Now… now what she needed was rest.She heard the water shift and splash again. A cupboard ope
He felt her hands between them, feeling down his belly as they both tasted each other. There was a rhythm to the way her lithe body was rocking against his. Slow, steady, but firm. The way she was kissing him back. The way he wanted to fuck her. The ache of his arousal was a delicious need that he wanted to satiate slowly. The ache he was sure she was aware of as she was on his lap. He shifted from beneath her weight and her weight was deposited onto the couch. He wanted to savour her. To have his fill of her like the last cool drink available to him in a drying oasis.He let her tug his T-shirt up and then put her hands under it. He shuddered. Every time she touched him it felt like he had put his hand in a light socket and he would never get tired of that. She firmly ran her hands up, letting his shirt catch on her wrists and be dragged up by the motion. Knowing her intention and not wanting to slow her down, he broke off the kiss and raised his hands to let her pull his shirt over
“If I asked you,” Aris said, breaking the silence, “would you go out with me?”Adrea looked up at him. They were in the living room. He was watching a football match on the TV. Adrea had earphones on as she was watching a poker match replay of some of the players she was sure she would meet in the upcoming games. For some odd reason, her legs were draped over his lap. He had his hands on her thighs, gently kneading.“Well?” Aris prompted, his hands going still and his eyes on the television screen.Adrea had a feeling he had all his attention on her despite him trying to be blasé.“If you asked me out,” she began hesitantly, “I would have to know where we are going before I commit.”“Dinner,” Aris said slowly, eyes looking straight ahead at the television. “Maybe before a little shopping trip or a walk in a park.”He was talking about taking her out in public… A notorious flirt and a soon-to-be-divorced woman. No one would care about that… But the issue was… Was she ready to publicly
Belinda placed the final stem into the vase, stepping back to see if the arrangement sat to Rafael’s mother’s satisfaction. The older woman leaned in, tilting her head one way and then the other before beaming in delight.“Perfect,” she declared, her fingers brushing over the petals with a fondness that made it seem like the roses had bloomed just for her. “These will be lovely on the table when the boys arrive.”Belinda gave a polite nod, forcing a small smile. She wasn’t feeling too well; she had been feeling a little green around the gills but she had been holding on. She did not want anyone to know about the life she was nourishing inside her womb just yet. But keeping that secret was proving harder than she had initially anticipated. The baby, since she had discovered it, was doing a small number on her body.“Only a few days until the court date,” Rafael’s mother said cheerfully, moving a small sprig of greenery to a more ‘artistic’ position. “It will be such a relief to have ev