Inseparable: A New Adult Erotic Romance (10 page)

"I’m going to miss you." Julie moved his hair off of his forehead, sliding her fingers down his face.

"I know. Me, too. It helps knowing you’ll be here when I get back." He rubbed his hands along her side. "I don’t suppose you’d... uh, stimulate me. Again."

Julie grinned. "Well, I suppose I’ll have to now, you smooth talking bastard."

After getting a towel, a condom and some personal lubricant, Julie slipped a condom over her index finger as she sauntered back to bed. Jack laid back, pulling himself to attention, grinning like he had just won the lottery. She sat next to him and pushed him to lift his knee, then oozed a little of the lubricant on her finger. She bent to take his head into her mouth as he continued to pull slowly, reaching from his balls up. As she slid him between her lips, she pressed her wet finger against his tight hole, working her finger in as his muscles pushed against her.

He moaned, pushing down against her finger, and then drawing air through his teeth. She found the spot much quicker this time, his sudden gasp confirming she had the right spot. He began to move his hips as he tugged slowly, his other hand gently rubbing her hair and down her back.

Julie found herself warming as well, shifting herself around so his hand could reach. Thick fingers moved into her lap, pulling at her legs to open, so she shifted further to allow him to reach her mons. The hand pulling at his shaft moved in time with the fingers rubbing above her opening, making her hum happily.

The vibrations from the humming, the wet lips and tongue, the slick finger probing and pushing, all pushed him closer and closer to his edge. She could feel him trembling, not quite ready to let it go, just hanging on the edge as he groaned loudly. The sounds built as he fell, her finger circling and pushing him over the edge.

She was happy to feel the pulses begin and slid her lips further down the shaft, meeting his hips as they pushed him higher. She let the excess slide down as she swallowed his seed, lapping up the last oozing drops as his fist loosened around his shaft. He had held in his cry, only straining at his peak, then panted quietly as he recovered, rubbing his fingers around her slippery opening.

"Move around, on top of me." He pulled at her hips, wanting her to straddle his chest. She kept his soft head in her mouth as she did what he asked. He pulled her back by her hips, licking her from top to bottom along her wet slit. He used his hands and tongue to tease her into a frenzy, never quite touching where she wanted, but building her higher as her frustration grew.

She continued to lick and blow air along his softened member, but could hardly concentrate on both him and herself as he brought her closer. She began to push harder against his mouth, wanting his tongue further in, wanting him to lavish her most sensitive spot with the attention it craved. He worked his fingers around her legs to pull her mons open, allowing him to finally engulf her tender nub with his whole mouth and tongue.

She cried out, pushing even harder, her face rubbing against his stiffening shaft as she leapt into her release. He tried to keep her steady, but Julie was almost convulsing as she gasped and groaned. She crawled away when it got to be too intense, to lie on her back with her leg over his chest. He kissed her foot and ankle as they both relaxed and rested.

"Do you need a drink?" he asked as he sat up, giving her ankle one last kiss.

"Water, please," she whispered with a satisfied grin.

When he came back, Julie was sitting up against the pillows and headboard with her eyes shut. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she said and took the cold glass with a smile. He sat down next to her and pulled her under his arm, kissing the top of her head. She sipped a bit and snuggled into his chest. "Despite all that’s going on, I’m strangely happy."

"Me, too."

"Even with everything?" she asked, almost afraid to spoil his happy mood.

"Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever been more angry and happy, more sad and peaceful. It feels like I’m being stretched out on a rack, pulled into shapes I’ve never been before. In some ways I’m happier than I’ve ever been, but sadder than I’ve ever been in others. It wears me out, but then I’m with you and feel like I could lift the sky."

"You make me feel like I belong with you. I’ve never really felt that before. Even with Mom, it’s more about me taking care of her. The guys I’ve been with have been more like trading favors. I have good friends, who are dying to meet you by the way, and yet I feel like you belong with me. Like you’re mine."

"I’m glad," he said. His voice got low. "You saved my life, you know."

"I thought so. That first night."

"Yeah, I was in pretty bad shape. Sophie had cut me off from our friends, work was falling apart, and even our priest wouldn’t talk to me. He didn’t come out and say it, but I suspect he is advising her on how to get an annulment. I was so desperate for company I propositioned you like a creepy old man."

"You’re not that old."

"Yeah, well, I feel old. And for some reason you stayed with me." He kissed the top of her head. "You saved me, Julie. I don’t know what I would have done that night, but I was lost. I had given up."

"And now?"

"Now I’m ready to fight. I want it all; you, my girls, my life back. Even though she has completely gutted me, I still feel like I could take on the world with you at my side."

Julie grinned. "I hope you feel that way after two weeks on the rig."

"Me too. I am a little concerned about the work. I haven't had to work that hard in a long time."

"Just think about the girls, about what’s at stake. You’ll find the strength. I have faith in you."

Jack pulled the covers up as she sat her glass on the night stand. They snuggled up together on the pillows, kissed softly and drifted off to sleep.

***

T
he next morning, Julie helped him load his truck. "Do you have everything?"

"Yeah, it doesn’t look like much, but they give us coveralls to wear for work."

"I’ll mail the bills tomorrow. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

"No. I left some cash in the kitchen, inside a coffee cup. If something comes up, don’t be afraid to spend it if you need to."

"I should be fine. I’ll probably spend some time over at Mom’s. She said she was getting lonely, which probably means she let the place go to hell and wants me to clean it up for her."

"I’m going to miss you."

Julie kissed him hard, pressing her body against his. He responded instantly, gripping her arms, then ran his hands over her back and up into her hair. She took a deep breath, savoring his scent, and then broke the kiss, staring into his eyes. "I’m counting the days."

"I’ll see you in two weeks."

She wiped her eyes as his truck disappeared around the corner. She returned to the apartment to take a shower. She took off her sweats and shirt as the water warmed, staring at herself in the mirror. Her brown hair hung in soft waves. Her eyes were red from crying, but she thought they seemed clearer somehow. She stood tall, with her shoulders back, and ran her hands around her breasts, unable to decide if they were bigger or not. One hand trailed down to her stomach and ran under her navel, pressing where she imagined she felt a slight swelling inside.

She was afraid when she had been sick, but according to what she read it should have been too soon to be morning sickness. She opened the paper box that held the test she had hidden in her bag, already sure of the results. Her hand trembled as she sat on the toilet and placed the test in her stream. While she showered, standing numb in the scalding water, the test sat on the counter, the thin line fading into being as if by magic.

A
fter finishing her shift at Bigger Bounce, Julie stopped by the pawn shop where her mom worked. Her car was making a funny noise, but her friend Bobby, who worked with her mother, would usually help her diagnose it. Sometimes she could get the parts and figure out how to fix it herself. If she couldn’t, at least knowing what was wrong would keep her from getting ripped off by some mechanic looking to take advantage of a young woman.

The two-tone chime announced her arrival as she walked through the door. Mom slid off a tall stool and waddled out from behind the counter. "Sugar, there you are! I missed you."

"Me too, Mom. How’s business?"

"Got more loans than buys or sales this week, but that could still change. So, did lover boy make it out OK?"

"Yeah, ten more days alone," Julie said, giving her a frown and a hug. "Is Bobby around? I think there's something wrong with my car." Then an idea came to her. "Hey, could I borrow a nice camera from the stock?"

"Sure, we even got one with a big lens and some kind of light rig right now. It’s not gonna last long, but I can spare it for a couple of days."

Her mom walked with her through the dirty shop and led her into the back room. Bobby looked up from the work bench where a computer case sat open with wires and parts hanging out. "Hey Darlin’, good to see you."

"Hey Bobby, what’s up?"

"Nothin’ much. Just exorcizing Windows from this ancient box."

"Linux?"

"You know me too well," Bobby said with a smile, waving a disc with a hand written label.

"Well, if you ever have a system fall off a truck, let me know. My boyfriend is working out in the gulf, but he has Internet. If I had a computer, I might be able to chat with him sometimes."

"I do have one, actually. It’s old and no one wants to buy it because the case is dented. It’s pretty fast now that it’s running Linux, and I left the Wi-Fi card in it after I finished setting it up. It’s just collecting dust in the corner for now, but I may need it back in a week or so. Should be good enough for chat though. Let me get the bits together and I’ll put it in your car for you."

"Thanks so much, Bobby."

Julie's mom came back into the back room. "Here’s that camera and other stuff, Sugar."

"Damn!" The camera was in a padded bag, but there was another large rolling case with cables and a collapsed diffuser attached to the side with bungee cords. "It’s a good thing I’m off tomorrow so I have time to figure out how to set it up and use it. That looks like it will work great, though."

"What are you going to do with it, shoot a porno?" Mom said with a grin, smacking her gum.

"Jeez, you looking to star in one?" Julie said. Bobby snorted as he picked up the box he’d been preparing.

"No, Sugar, but you might want to take a few boudoir shots to send to your lover boy to tide him over." She winked at Julie slowly.

"All I’m doing is shooting pictures of a room I painted for Jack’s little girls. I’m planning on printing out some large pictures to put on my table at the flea market this weekend. It turned out so nice, I was hoping I might get some extra work out of it."

"Stick the pics on craigslist as well. Lots of freelancers advertise that kind of stuff on the creative services board," Bobby suggested.

"Can you help me do that after I get the pictures?"

"Sure can, but it isn’t hard. You could do it yourself, easy."

After loading the car, Julie popped the hood and started it up so Bobby could hear and see what happened when she turned the steering wheel. "Sounds like your power steering pump. See it wobbling there?" He pointed. "If it goes, you’ll feel like you can’t turn the wheel, but if you lean on it hard, you can still control the car. What year Civic is this again?"

"2000."

"Yeah, there is a pick-a-part place down on Highway 6 that should have a bunch of them pretty cheap. If you want a refurb or new part, you’re looking at around $150 for the part and about as much again to install it."

"Shit! That’s $300 more than I can afford. Hell, so is $150. Let’s just hope I can find some rich parents who want their kids to have a cool room!"

***

T
hat evening she drove over to Jack’s apartment and lugged in all the computer and camera gear. She set the computer up on the coffee table in the living room, but it took her a little bit of time to remember where all the cables went. After it finally booted up, she connected to someone’s open Wi-Fi network and fired up a browser to check her email account.

After she cleared out the spam, she found that Jack had sent her an email. He seemed pretty upbeat so far, but it was hard to qualify the truth in text. The work was as hard as he remembered, but he liked the crew so far. She smiled at his words, placing her hand on the screen as if she could touch him through them. "This is going to be harder than I thought," she whispered.

She clicked the little grey arrow to reply to him, staring at the blank email for a long moment before typing
I’m going to have your baby and I’m really scared right now.
Her eyes teared up. She took a deep breath, then slowly backspaced over her words as she blew out the air and blinked back her tears.

––––––––

G
reat to hear from you! I am glad to see you are settling in. I borrowed a computer from a friend and can email when you are free. I don’t think it can do video, but it’s easier than typing on my phone. I’m going to take pictures of the girls’ room to see if I can drum up some more work since it turned out so well. I’ll let you know how it goes! I miss you bunches, Julie.

––––––––

S
he clicked the blue Send button and turned off the monitor, then went to lay in Jack's bed to try to go to sleep.

***

T
he next morning, Julie sat at the borrowed computer on Jack’s coffee table, nibbling on saltine crackers as she browsed the craigslist website to get a feel for what other people posted in the creative services section. While she worked, she found her left hand continually moved to rest protectively against her stomach, seemingly on its own. She had avoided thinking about her "situation", as she referred to it to herself, but the nausea continued to plague her at odd hours of the day and night. The crackers helped a little, but despite the recurring thoughts she refused to worry about it at this point.

When she felt a little better, she got up to experiment with the camera. It took a bit to figure out how to set up the lights and diffuser, but eventually she got the camera to signal the remote flash and got her first real shots. She was immediately frustrated by the size of the little monitor screen on the camera, so she tried plugging it into the computer with a USB cable.