The Adulterer's Unofficial Guide to Family Vacations, A Novel (24 page)

He had a point, “True.
I didn’t think of that.”

“Laura, I love you.
I love Jenny and Ben.
I’ll be a great father and even better husband.
You don’t need to worry about that.”
His eyes were dark, as they always were when he was passionate about something.
And that something was me and my kids.

I melted, “I’m determined to ruin the last few moments of this crazy trip, huh?”

“No,” he shook his head, “you’re thinking ahead.
But stop doing that.
Here, everyone just lives for the moment.
There will be plenty of time to worry later.”

He was right.
Good God!
This vacation had been full of ups and downs, and I’m not just talking about sexual positions.
There was enough for two or three made-for-television specials on
Lifetime
.
I needed to relax.
Enjoy what little time I had left with Alan, Alice and Jack.
Soon I would be on the plane back home and… there I go again!
I forced all concern from my mind and concentrated instead on lust.

“You look fantastic in that swimsuit.
Hey!
Let’s get a pool in New Mexico so you can look like that all the time!”

“So, I’m already relegated to Pool Boy,” he shook his head in mock horror.

“Don’t forget Soccer Dad and Carpool Engineer,” I waved my hand dismissively.

“As long as you are always in bed waiting for me, I think I can manage that.”

I looked at him, giving Alan my full attention, “I love you too.
So much it almost hurts to breathe when you’re around.
And Alice and Jack are so perfect.
I don’t care if we live on the moon, as long as I have you.”

He laughed, “Well, then you would have trouble breathing.
I think for now, New Mexico will have to do.”

I leaned back.
Alan was right.
I was thinking too much.
Besides, we were down to two more days, and nights.
And I had more important things to focus on.

I was shocked when Martha agreed to baby sit again.
Alan insisted it was no big deal, but I thought I saw her mouth the word “slut” at me.
When I blinked, she was smiling, waving us off and telling us to have a good time.
Was there a switch to disable my imagination, like airbags?

I’d always wanted to eat at Wolfgang’s.
I know, it’s kitschy as hell, but what can I say?
We ordered dinner and sat back to enjoy our drinks.
It was one of those half-circle booths with the tablecloths that went all the way to the floor, if you know what I mean.

“So,” Alan said casually as his right hand slipped under the table to stroke my thigh, “besides working on your thesis on adultery in literature, what do you do for fun back in Ohio?”

I put my left hand on his thigh in response, “That’s pretty much it, unfortunately.
How about you?”

Alan smiled, “Not much.
I’m actually looking forward to having a yard in New Mexico.
City life doesn’t look so good to me anymore.”

“We have a huge yard in Ohio.”
I thought about the huge weeping willow tree in the backyard.
I’d miss that.

Alan leaned in, nuzzling my ear with his nose, “I’ll make sure you love our new yard too.” he breathed in my ear.

I turned to kiss him, meeting his lips and tasting them, “Really?”

“Whatever you want there, be it tree house or birdbath.”
He pulled away and grinned.

“Should I be insulted?”
I took a sip of champagne.

He shook his head, “No.
Unless you insist on the birdbath.”
His fingers trailed a little higher on my leg.
At this rate, we wouldn’t make it to desert.

“Enough of this verbal foreplay,” I said, pushing his hand from my thigh.
And it took superhuman willpower to pull it off, I might add.
“Let’s talk about you.”

The glass froze in midair and he cocked an eyebrow, “Ok.
What do you want to know?”

“How do you plan to manage your career from Santa Fe?”

He drained the glass, “Santa Fe, is it?
I wondered exactly where we were moving to.”

“Didn’t I mention that earlier?”
I had the decency to blush, “That’s where the college is.
But stop dancing around the question.”

Alan’s hand returned to my thigh, “I don’t know.
I haven’t really thought about it.
Shouldn’t be a problem.
With e-mail and fax machines, I can still work with my agent.”

“Won’t you have to go to New York sometimes?”

He nodded, “Occasionally.
But I’ll take you with me.
That’ll be fun.”

I leaned back against the booth, closing my eyes, “I would love to see one of your plays.
Especially with you.”

His laughter caused me to open my eyes.
Alan responded, “Only one thing could make me happier than that.”

I swallowed the bait, “And what would that be?”

“If I could make love to you in the orchestra pit during a standing ovation.”
Alan’s eyes practically glowed in the dim light.
And I knew that he meant every one of those words.

The rest of the evening was amazing.
Relieved of the conspiracies and lies, we gave in to just being another couple.
We kissed openly, unafraid of being busted.
In fact, I don’t think there was one single moment when we weren’t touching.
And the best part was we made each other laugh.
Well, that and knowing I would fuck him silly when we got back to the room.
Ok, so maybe the sex ranked just a little, teensy bit higher.
Alright!
A lot higher.

After dinner, we headed back to the clubs we hit on our first date.
My ovaries did a back flip just thinking about it.
That was the birthplace of our illicit affair.
Mmmm… I wrapped my heart around those words.
It wasn’t illicit anymore, now was it?
I mean, we came out of the adultery closet and have made plans for the future.
Family-Vacation-be-Damned, we were a legit couple now.

I melted against his body as we danced.
We weren’t hiding anymore.
It didn’t matter who saw us.
And for some reason, I wanted the world to know how I felt about Alan.

Of course, he made no secret of how he felt about me.
That is unless he had a summer sausage in his front pants pocket.
My heart sent my mind to bed, hanging out the Do Not Disturb sign.
As the strains of music thrummed through my body, all I could focus on was touching the man who held me.

Alan blew in my ear, and I giggled.
In response, I slid my hands down to his ass and squeezed gently.
For the first time, we weren’t drinking heavily, and I was wide awake.
Unfortunately, the slow songs came to an end and we were forced to sit down.

Alan looked deeply into my eyes, “I never thought I’d be here, with you, making plans for the future.”

“Is that good?” I was practically in his lap.
No, we definitely weren’t going for discreet.

He laughed, “That is very good.
I love you Laura.
I can’t think of a better way to say it.”

I kissed him, and then pulled back, “You don’t have to.
I will always know.”

A smile settled on his face.
For once, we were both completely relaxed.
I felt so comfortable with him.
Was it because of all we’d been through?

“Tell me about your children,” I said softly in his ear.

He looked surprised, “Really?
Why?”

“Because I want to hear your words describe them.”
It was true.
We hadn’t talked about Alice, Jack, Jenny or Ben, except to decide what we would do each day.
I knew what I thought of Alice and Jack.
But I wanted to know what he would say about his own kids.

“Alice is a spitfire,” he began, “she has very distinct opinions on what she wants out of life and goes after it full-throttle.”
His expression screamed admiration.
It was obvious how he felt about his daughter.

“She does well in school, especially in reading and math.
Sometimes I think she is too serious.
Alice jumped three levels in swimming lessons this summer.
She had her heart set on making the highest level for her age before anyone else and she did it.”

I laughed, “Jenny is different.
She’s a little clown.
She laughs and giggles through swimming lessons.
I wish she would take it a little more seriously.”

Alan squeezed my hand, “Oh, I don’t know.
I wish Alice had a little more fun with life sometimes.
What else is there to the darling, little Jenny?”

My heart went
kapow
when he called her that, “Well, she’s extremely creative.
If she’s not trying to get everyone to laugh, she’s in the corner painting pictures of unicorns or writing stories about puppies.
She does well in school, but to her, life is lots of fun.”

“An artist, eh?
She’s a woman after my own heart,” he laughed warmly.

“Oh yes.
Jenny’s already told me she will be a famous artist someday.
Not terribly lucrative, but she’ll probably change her mind.”

Alan frowned, “Why should she?
I’m an artist, and I make a good living at it.”

He was right.
I felt like an idiot, “I’m sorry!”
I tripped over my words, babbling like a nitwit.

“It’s okay.
Believe me, I get it a lot.
I’m glad you told me about Jenny.
I can be supportive, help her out.”

I took a deep breath.
It was hard not to get choked up with the idea that Alan found a bond with my daughter.
“What about Jack?”

“Jack is completely different,” he began, “he just wants to play superheroes or war.
Jack is all about fantasy.
His head is definitely in the clouds.”

I nodded, “Ben is more like Alice.
I fear that once he discovers sports, I’ll never see him again.
He loves collecting ribbons and trophies.”

“We certainly have diversity in this group,” he laughed again, “but I think we have the talent to handle things.”

Alan’s face had glazed over.
How cool was that?
He was so in love with our kids, he found something wonderful to say about each of them, looking for ways to encourage them.
Damn.
I was lucky.

“Sounds like Jack is a lot like his Daddy,” I squeezed his hand.

Nodding, he agreed, “I can see it.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But Alice is so intelligent, so driven, I’m blown away by what her little mind can do.”

A slow song came over the speakers and Alan pulled me onto the dance floor.
Once again, we moved together, our bodies merged.
I thought about what he said, about his kids and mine.

Alan held me in his arms on the bus trip back.
We didn’t fondle each other like before, exercising Herculean restraint.
Hopefully, the kids would be sleeping when we got home.

Home?
The idea shocked me.
We’d been on vacation so long, was I really considering it to be home?
It made sense, I guess.
The connections to our old homes were about to be severed.
Our life together began here.
Suddenly, the first day I arrived seemed so very far away.

Martha accepted the money with a smile, betraying no urge to brand me with a scarlet A.
Within a few moments, the door between us and the kids was locked and Alan stood before me.

I wanted him, this man who loved my children.
Was that weird?
Pulling him to me, I pressed my lips to his as if trying to swallow him whole.
The feelings I had overwhelmed me.
I wanted to make love to him, show him what he meant to me.

Sensing my need, Alan peeled my clothes off, depositing them on the floor.
His lips didn’t leave mine as he undressed himself and soon we were standing there, together, with nothing between us.

I leaned into him, trying to make an impression of my body into his skin, while his hands slid up and down the length of my body.
His touch felt different, not desperate like before, but as if he was taking his time, enjoying everything.

“Oh, Alan,” I breathed between kisses, “I want to feel you inside me.”

“Not yet, baby,” he paused, “we have time tonight and I want to make the most of it.”

“I don’t know if I can…” I said shakily.
My skin tingled and I felt desperate.

His mouth dipped to my right breast, teasing the nipple gently and I cried out.

“You can,” he said, looking up at me, “and you will.”

Alan’s voice was, pardon the pun, cocksure.
He was in complete control.
There was a sophistication, a smoothness in his tone that startled and inflamed me.
Was it me?
Did I have that effect on him?

Before my mind could come up with a workable argument, I felt his lips back on mine, as he gently pushed me to the bed.
Alan stood over me, kissing me, the head of his cock poised at the rim of my pussy.
I tried to press up against him, but he wouldn’t let me.
Very slowly, he slipped just the smallest bit of himself inside me, and then pulled out.
He did it again and I thought I would die.

“Ppplease…” I begged.

Alan didn’t answer, but used his hands to guide me onto my stomach.
I rose to my hands and knees and backed into him.
So this was what he wanted, eh?
Did he know it was my favorite position?

His hands scorched my skin as he gripped my ass, pushing himself slowly into me.
I cried out as he filled me completely, arching my back.
The sensation was terrible and amazing, all at the same time.
I waited for him to pull out, then enter again, relishing the hammering that would make us both come.

Nothing happened.
Alan stayed hard inside me, refusing to move.
I froze, waiting for the slightest sensation.
His breathing was ragged.
In order to encourage him, I squeezed my vaginal walls.

“Ohhhhh,” he moaned.

I couldn’t help but smile.
Control me, will you?
I moved forward, then slammed into him backwards.
Alan cried out and began to move.
He pulled out almost completely, then drove himself home inside.

“Laura!”
he cried out just as my orgasm exploded.
My cheeks were wet with tears.
I felt completely raw.
Like he had seen something I didn’t want to expose.
But what?
Alan shuddered violently, finally collapsing on top of me.

After few moments, I rolled over, certain that everything I had ever felt about him was displayed on my face.
To my amazement, he was smiling.
The same smile he had when he teased me at the bar earlier.

“I love you that way,” he started, wiping a stray curl from my eyes, “we’ll have to do that again.”