My Mail Order Wife (The Value of a Man Book 1) (9 page)

I can’t breathe
.

Thurston was suffocating. His legs were running, yet he was going nowhere. They were tangled in something. The harder he struggled, the further down he went.  It was a dark place.  The grip around his neck was closing off his throat and he could not breathe.
Fight.  Fight your way out
.  His fingers clawed, his arms were swinging, and he could almost breathe.  A little more. A little more and he was awake.

His breathing was shallow, but his chest felt heavy. The clock said 2 am.
My chest. I can barely breathe
. His eyes traveled slowly down his chest to find Douglas sprawled sideways on him with his little foot in his throat. The space that he had occupied in the bed between him and the boy’s mother was now filled with TaeTay, who had wrapped herself around him as well with her legs intertwined with his. Thurston moved over an inch to the left.  They moved with him.

Never one to use profanity, he was ready to start cursing up a blue moon, and his right leg was asleep and so was his left arm.  If he moved another inch, he was going to be on the floor.  To make matters worse, his bladder was full and it felt as if Douglas had emptied his onto his belly. “Shit, please let that be sweat,” he said.  He gathered the boy in his arms, or rather the one arm that was working, disentangled himself from TaeTay, and carried Douglas to his room. When he laid Douglas in his bed, his pants weren’t wet, so it was only sweat.  He made quick work of changing Douglas’s little damp sleep shirt and tucked the boy in. His little eyes cracked open only once to say, “I love you Daddy.”

“I love you too, Douglas,” Thurston told him as he curled his little body into a ball and went back to sleep.  Thurston only hoped it would be so easy for him. He relieved himself in the hall bathroom and quietly changed his tee shirt as he stood beside the bed watching his wife sleep. If it wasn’t love he was feeling for this enigma of a woman, it had to be mighty close.  He slid back into bed beside her and closed his eyes, breathing deeply, inhaling her scent, and hoping to get back into a slumber before he had to get up for work.

TaeTay rolled over on him and her hand slid low to take a grip on his person. With ease and care, he loosened her fingers and slid her hand up to his chest where he held it there for a few minutes. She moaned softly as she threw her right leg over his thighs and her hand went back to get a handful of him. “Shit,” he muttered again as he tried to remove her hand but it wasn’t budging.  His body was responding to her touch.

“Honey, wake up,” he whispered as he tried again to move her hand.  This time, the movement of her hand made him gasp. 
Any more of that and I am going to wake you up my way
. He nudged her with his arm, “TaeTay, sweetie, wake up.”

She exhaled softly against his neck, sending courses of testosterone from his upper portions to his lower ones. “I am awake,” she said to him as her fingers gripped tighter… “…and this is not a chicken wing flap.”

“No, it is not,” he responded as he lay there for a second; he didn’t want to move too fast. Everything about him was fully awake now, but he was not going to rush her. Even as badly as he wanted this moment to occur.

“Thurston, I am in your bed,” she told him.  That was all he needed to hear.

“And this is where you will sleep from now on,” he told her as he rolled over to face her. He kissed her gently as his hands began to remove her gown. His touch was tender as his hands went to her full breasts, caressing her skin, kissing the delicate flesh. This time together was more about connecting them as man and wife than the act was for any other purpose, or so he told himself.

The more he touched her, the more responsive she became. TaeTay wasn’t sure if it was the time lapse between the last time a man touched her or the way her husband was stroking her delicate parts, but her body was on fire.  She wanted this man like she had never wanted any other and try as she might to be the lady who would stand at his side, the woman he married needed her man. 

She told him so.

In his ear, with breathy moans.

It only invigorated him more.

Her nails scratched at his arms as he touched her there, preparing her body for his entry. Soft kisses along her neckline that made a trail down her body to her breast, her navel and then her… “Oh, Dear Lawd!” she cried.

Anxious fingers dug into the skin of his shoulders as TaeTay pulled at him to join their bodies. Suddenly, he stopped as his eyes traveled to the door.  Slowly, he slid out of bed to close and lock the door, securing it so Douglas would not come in and be traumatized for life.  He took his time returning to the bed, reaching unhurriedly to turn on the ugly lamp.  Her eyes flickered, trying to adjust to the light.

“I want to see your face when I make you mine,” his lips said the words, sending her mind into overdrive.  TaeTay’s eyes were on his beautiful, strong body. The man was in great shape as he pulled the tee over his head to reveal firm abdominals.  The boxers slipped down to his ankles and her heart almost stopped beating at the beauty of him.

“I am yours, Thurston,” she told him.  The bed creaked a bit under his weight as he climbed back into the bed and took her into his arms.

Thurston could not stop staring into her eyes, “You are such a beautiful gift that I will cherish all the days of my life.”  His mouth came to hers as he moved and positioned his body to join them as man and wife. TaeTay’s breath came out in huffs of air as he sweetly filled her, plunging her deep into a magical world where only they existed.

As with each thing he did, his movements were well-planned and deliberate, creating a perfect rhythm as he brought her pleasure.  His wife gave as good as she got and what he had hoped was a tender connection became a passionate encounter with no holds barred. It was wonderful, fantastic, and Thurston lost himself in his sweet TaeTay. She was lost too, surrendering to his movements as she found her release and cried out his name.  He matched her pace and reached his own, grunting through his pleasure until he finally collapsed on her sweaty body. She squeezed him tight with her thighs and then her arms.

“I don’t care if you don’t say it back.  I didn’t care if you don’t feel the same way, but I love you, Thurston.  I love you for everything that you aren’t,  I love you for everything that you are, and I love you for what you are to me,” she told him.

“I love you as well, Ta-Ta-La-Vee-Sha,” he said as he held her close enjoying the post-coital bliss.

“You are skilled and generous, and I liked it,” she grinned in the dim light.

“And you, my wife, are a hell of a woman,” he commented into her shoulder.

“Next stop on this love train is Washington, DC,” she said.

Thurston felt like a pig.  He wanted her again, and he knew he was going to be very late for work because round two was going to take a while. It was already 3 am. “The train has to be decoupled leave the station first.  All aboard…”

“You and your fancy words,” she said as she clicked off the lamp.  “Toot, toot!”

It was 7:30 in the morning, and although he was awake and standing in the kitchen holding a cup of coffee, Thurston was barely able to stand. He looked at the cup of dark liquid, which seemed to be moving on its own inside the cup and he knew he was going to have trouble getting through his day.

“Hey, you look beat,” TaeTay said as she bounded down the stairs with far too much energy.

Is she serious
? “I didn’t get much sleep,” he said flatly.

She squinted as she leaned in to kiss him. “I’m sorry, but Hubby, making love to you was really good.”  She paused as she took the milk from the fridge. “It was like I have been on a diet and someone offered me a cookie.  I wanted to have just one…”

He laughed at the analogy, “But, Baby, you gorged out and we ate the whole box.”

“Speaking of that…”

He shook his head as he pushed away from the sink. “I have to go to work.  We are not going to speak on
that
…”

“I’m just saying, you are a generous and giving lover, Cookie Monster,” she was grinning as she made a bowl of cereal for Douglas.

“Mommy, we have to go shopping.  I have
wored
all the clothes in my closet.  I need some more,” he said. He plopped his little body down, almost in defeat as he sported a pair of blue jeans with a tee shirt with Kermit in the middle.

“Sweetie, I have washed everything and you can wear the clothes more than once,” she told him.

As if he had just noticed Thurston, “Oh, hi Daddy.”

“Good morning Douglas, did you sleep okay?”

“Not really, I am tired,” he told him.

“Me too, son, but I have to go to work.” He kissed the top of the boy’s head and his wife and headed towards the door. While he was walking he informed her that he would have their insurance cards ready this afternoon and he left her his credit card. “You will need to take a copy of the marriage license and adoption papers to the social security office to do a name change and get you a new license and ID this week.”

The town car was out front waiting for him. “I will see you tonight.”

Her husband had left for work and she had so many things she needed to get done today alone.
I have got to get moving
. Something was niggling in the back of her head about their house.  It needed her touches added to it before any company started to come over for a visit. For some odd reason, she felt it was going to be sooner than she had planned; better safe than unprepared.  She would never embarrass her husband by being unprepared.

TaeTay was amazed that in less than five days her life had been transformed. Before she and Douglas left the house, she said a prayer of thanks, and then they went shopping.  By the end of the day, she had purchased two deep red armchairs for the living room and an area rug that tied it together with that grayish colored ugly couch.  A local artist was painting on the street, and she had him do a quick painting of her and Douglas. This painting she hung in the living room above the mantle.

On a side street, almost in an alley, she found a little shop that sold bedding. She picked up two Matelassé covers, one for the guest room and their bed, along with some vibrantly colored throw pillows. In a second hand store, she located two lamps that could replace the eyesores in the bedroom and she grabbed several bunches of fresh flowers from a corner flower shop. Her shopping cart was loaded.

By the time she arrived back home at two, Douglas was limp and ready for his nap and the chairs were being delivered. Candace Burrows had given them a vase that she thought would be perfect for the coffee table.  She had no idea who Candace was, but she sent the lady a thank you card.

Roger Williams, she also had no idea who he was, had given them a gorgeous throw that she draped over the back of the couch which perfectly picked up all the colors in the rug.  Along with the painting that hung over the fireplace, the room felt cozy after she added the two colorful pillows to the couch, It was smart of her to take care of the bedrooms while Douglas was sleeping, and with the new touches, the house was beginning to feel like she and Thurston lived here.

Her husband called at 4 pm. “Honey, I hate to do this, but Roger needs to stop by this evening; can you possibly set another place for him to join us for dinner?”

“Roger Williams?”

“Yes, how did you know that?”

“He gave us a nice gift, and it is no problem,” she told him.

It was now a mad dash to see what was in the fridge.
I can do this.  I am going to be a Congressman’s wife
. 
I will always be prepared
. When Thurston arrived home at 6 pm, his eyes widened.

Douglas was dressed sharply in black dress slacks, a bowtie, and a soft cream-colored shirt with a sweater vest.  TaeTay had opted for a deep blue skirt with a matching twin set in soft pink. Her hair was up and tendrils hung about the side of her face.  She wore the pearls that Veronica had loaned her, making a mental note to return them tomorrow. She was getting entirely too attached to them.

Thurston could not believe his eyes as his wife greeted his longtime friend, “Welcome to our home, Mr. Williams; please forgive us, we are just getting settled in. I also love the throw you gave us, it matches perfectly.”

“Please call me Roger.  Something smells divine; what are you cooking?”

“I hope you like salmon, jasmine rice, and steamed asparagus,” she told him as she took his jacket.

“Sounds heavenly,” he said.

“Great; dinner is ready,” she told them.

All of the touches she had added since this morning were amazing, even down to the fresh flowers that also adorned the dining room table, which held a different china pattern than the night before. The placemats and chargers were a nice touch, along with shiny silverware and nice cloth napkins, which were folded on the plate in a fan design. Everything looked amazing.

As she served dinner, based on the video she saw on YouTube earlier, all of the forks were in the right place and the salad was perfectly dressed, and the conversation was on point.  Douglas helped to clear the table when dinner was over and Roger Williams turned to Thurston to ask, “Where on earth did you find her?”

Thurston only chuckled, “That is my mail order wife.”

Roger, who was the head of the New York RNC, watched with his mouth opened wide, “Seriously, all jokes aside; where did you meet her?”

“I met her in LA,” Thurston said. 

Roger did not believe it. “Mrs. Cromwell…”

She held up her hand. “Please, all my friends call me TaeTay.  I would be honored if you did as well.”

“Okay, TaeTay; how did Thurston propose to you?”

She grinned. “Believe it or not, he proposed through the mail.  So I guess that makes me his mail order wife.”

It was evident based on the look the two were giving each other that there was a lot of love between them. Douglas, who had acquired a new movie, asked, “Daddy, may I be excused?”

“Yes, son, I will come up and tuck you in later,” Thurston, said. The boy hugged Thurston’s neck and shook Roger’s hand while saying, “It was nice to meet you Sir.”

TaeTay excused herself, as well, after serving the men after-dinner drinks in the living room.  Roger didn’t stay long, and Thurston came into the kitchen. “We did it.  I am in!”

“Yeah!” She said as she jumped up and down. “What did we do?  What are you in?”

He smiled, “That little surprise visit was to see if I was ready to run for the Congressional office.  You and Douglas were perfect.  Dinner was perfect.  The house looks amazing and I know my credit card is maxed out, but I don’t care.”

She hugged him back, “Thurston, I only spent $800 dollars.” 

He looked around the house. “You did all of this for $800?”

“The vase is from Candace and Roger actually gave us that throw, so it all worked out,” she told him with a huge grin and a mock salute.

“This is going to be a fantastic life,” he said as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her fully.

She had to agree with him. If only she could survive the rest of the week.

Beatrice made a surprise visit on Wednesday for tea. TaeTay returned the astonishment by serving the afternoon tea with fresh fruits, tea sandwiches that she whipped together, and the tea set Beatrice had given them as a wedding present. “I must say, I am surprised.  You seem so prepared,” his mother complimented her.

“I am ready to handle anything that comes our way,” TaeTay told the woman.

“Do you actually believe that?”

TaeTay provided a coy smile. “The question is, Mrs. Cromwell, do you?”

Again a perfectly manicured eyebrow went up the forehead of his mother’s well-trained face, and it seemed as if it stuck there. Again. “Oh, you are really going to be a lot of fun aren’t you?”

“Thanksgiving is going to be off the chain as well,” TaeTay said with a roll of her neck and a finger snap.  The two women laughed as if they were sharing a secret.

“TataLavisha, how did you pull this off?”  Beatrice wanted to know. “I heard rave comments about the dinner last night, and my phone has been buzzing all morning for introductions to my new daughter-in-law.  What is your secret?”

TaeTay was actually laughing. “I worked conference services at the Marriott in Los Angeles and I rely on the Internet.  It’s easy to find pretty pictures of food on Pinterest, and go to YouTube to see how it is done. I figured since you gave us the tea set, you would want to see it used when you came for visits;  pretty much common sense.”

“So do you still want the training from me?” Beatrice wanted to know.

“Is Obama liberal?  Yes, I do,” she said.

Thurston came in the door and the bell jangled. If Beatrice had not turned her head to see it for herself, she would have missed Douglas’s slide down the banister as he rounded the corner full speed to dive into Thurston’s arms.  “Daddy’s home!”

Beatrice watched her son hug the boy and shower him with affection.  Thurston held him at arm’s length. “What did I tell you about the stairs?  Remember how you fell down them before and knocked out your front tooth?”

Douglas’ bottom lip trembled a bit. Thurston rubbed the top of his head, “It would break my heart if I walked in the door and you fell and hurt yourself or worse.”

“Now, Douglas, go back and do it the right way,” Thurston told him.

“Yes Sir,” he said as his feet dragged up the stairs. For good measure, Thurston opened the front door and jangled the bell.  He winked at his mother and his wife as the boy slowly made his way down the stairs, taking them one by one, when he reached the bottom, he hit a Michael Jackson pose, flexed his mini pelvis upwards and yelled “Whooo!  Daddy’s Home! Hee-heee!”

He took off at a full gallop again and flung himself into Thurston’s arms.  He hugged the child tightly, grateful for such a precious gift given to him to raise and nurture. Even Beatrice found herself touched by the tender scene as the child spoke a hundred miles a minute about every little thing he did all day, and Thurston did not address anyone until his son had run out of story.  Then he asked, “Were you helpful to your mother today?”

“I was honest; she even gave me a gold star for helping put away my clothes and taking out the trash,” he showed his father the gold star with pride.

“Great job, Douglas,” he told him.

It was also with some melancholy that Beatrice watched the scene, knowing her sons never got this from their father when they were growing up.  She understood so much better now. She watched her youngest as he greeted his wife with the same undivided attention he had given his son, and then he came to her.  His eyes stayed on her face when he inquired about her visit.
He gave me his undivided attention
.

“I hope you are enjoying your visit with TaeTay. I was thinking of bringing them up to visit you at the house,” he told her.

“That would be lovely.  TaeTay, would you like that?”

“I would greatly enjoy it, Mrs. Cromwell.  Maybe we could even squeeze in a quick tea with some of those inquiring minds?  Oh, and we must invite Veronica.” TaeTay told her.

Beatrice really liked her daughter-in-law a great deal and she admired her spunk, “I cannot remember the last time I so looked forward to spending time with anyone, as I do you.” TaeTay only wished her mother felt the same way.

The phone call that came from Cookie on Thursday afternoon was a list of complaints, starting with a daily visit from Spyder who thought TaeTay was hiding from him.  “Then this morning, some great big nasty looking man came up to the door, wanting to know where you were.”

“Big Nasty came to the house?” She knew he would come back; she didn’t know why she was surprised.

“Yeah, he was big and nasty looking.  He looked mean and dangerous. He asked about you and then Douglas,” Cookie told her through the phone.

“What did you tell him, Ma?”

“I told him you and Douglas was gone. And I didn’t know where because you didn’t tell me.  I did tell him you had gotten married,” she said.

TaeTay knew her mother could not hold water, which is why she never specifically told her where she and Douglas went.

“Ma, did he try to intimidate you or anything?”

“No, Sweetie; I told him about the Skype thing and how pretty you looked and the nice man you married that Douglas was calling Daddy.  He wasn’t happy, but he left,” she told her.  “Tay, are you happy?”

It wasn’t a long pause. “I am Ma.  He is a good man and he is good to us.”

“I just want to make sure you didn’t run from one devil to be saddled with another,” Cookie whispered in the phone.

They talked a few minutes more before TaeTay said she would send her some money to help with the bills. To her complete astonishment, Cookie told her she was moving.  “My sister finally did it.  She got her a place in Palm Springs and I am moving down there with her.  She has a nice three-bedroom condo in one of those gated communities that comes with its very own golf cart.  Ethel said that there are some nice men there.  I may find you a new step daddy, child.”

It was just like her mother.  Always on the lookout for a good deal.  TaeTay’s heart was full of joy knowing her mother would finally be leaving that horrible neighborhood. She promised to send her something once she got settled, and told her, “All my love to Aunt Ethel. I love you, Ma.”

“I love you too, Tay.”

Once her mother was completely moved and settled, she would let her know where she and Douglas were, but her mother was one of
those
relatives. The kind that shoots off her mouth and either gets everyone killed, hurt, or blackmailed.  Unfortunately, the less Cookie Brown knew, the better.