While Ian finished in the kitchen, Hope changed into one of the oversized T-shirts he liked her to sleep in. Another concession she made absentmindedly now, more out of habit than desire. She washed off her makeup, brushed her teeth, and got into bed.
Ian came into the bedroom a few minutes later, smelling faintly of dish soap and aftershave. He looked like the boy who was about to score with the head cheerleader, and maybe he was.
“You alright?” he asked, pulling off his shirt.
“Yeah, tonight was nice.”
“We should do this more often, maybe not schedule it though, I’ve decided I want to be spontaneous. Surprise you more. That works.”
Hope wasn’t sure if she was supposed to heat the last part. Ian sometimes thought aloud without realizing it. That was part of his problem, but no one ever told him. People took advantage of his open-book personality, and so did she.
Ian took off his pants and slid into bed. He turned on his side, facing her, propping his head on his arm. “Tonight was good, right?”
“It was nice.”
He grinned. “See? I can do romance.”
“Sure you can, baby.”
Ian moved close to Hope and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “I want us to keep working on things. Really working. I think we can make something great out of this marriage if we both put in the effort.”
“That sounds nice.”
Hope felt a little guilty. Just a little, but her heart softened. Here she was planning on leaving this fucking control freak, and he had to go and try to work on their marriage. Tonight, she would satisfy his romantic gesture by performing her wifely duties, but that was the end of it.
She knew in her heart this uptick in his generosity would be gone tomorrow. Never to return. She didn’t blame Ian now for being a prick. He couldn’t help it. He was born one.
God, she wanted to get this over with, but Ian was still talking.
“And I want to be…” he hesitated, searching. “More attentive. More connected. More… everything.”
Hope was staring at the ceiling. That’s exactly what Vaughn had said earlier. Only with the freedom of having sex uninterrupted. So, what if one of the men in her life was talking bullshit about being committed to casual sex, and the other was talking about connecting on some other plane?
It was all bullshit.
Ian moved as close to her as he could. “I want you to feel like I see you. Like you matter.”
“Hmm, Ian,” she sighed. Not so much at what he was saying, but the fact that Ian was in the mood to enjoy some action in the bed that had no strings attached. He was a big, sexy hulk of a man, good-looking, and Hope liked him when he took charge.
So this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. It might even be enjoyable.
Ian leaned in, kissing her neck tenderly, the way he used to. Hope’s body melted into it. Something inside her was stirring.
Ian was wrapped up in the excitement of his own prowess.
Buzzed from wine.
So close to this sex kitten.
He got an immediate hard-on.
Hope could feel it.
He was picking up the momentum.
His hand slid to her waist, then lower.
He drew her close and began to kiss her more passionately than usual. It was like when they were first married, and she remembered what it was like to be held by a strong man, like Ian used to be, who would take her with or without her permission, just because he could.
He held her firmly and used his tongue when he kissed her, something he didn’t usually do.
Hope didn’t know what had gotten into him, but she let it happen.
She became aroused. She loved the initial feeling of skin touching skin, especially with this real man who had finally taken charge.
It was then that Ian did something unexpected.
He started kissing her on the neck, and then his mouth moved down towards her breasts. This was a lot of foreplay for Ian, a missionary man whose main interest in sex was for procreation. But there he was, running his mouth and tongue around Hope’s breasts. Hope went with it and began to respond a little.
Much to her surprise, however, Ian continued down her stomach towards her navel.
He continued kissing her until he got to the top of her briefs and pulled them down. Hope wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was sure that she could thank Dr. Aubrey Prentice for this surprise.
Ian didn’t know what he was doing, but there was a first time for everything, and Hope was more than happy to have him fumble around.
As he worked his mouth between her thighs, Hope let out a happy little sigh. He began kissing and tonguing her, exploring her unfamiliar territory with his inexperienced attempts at oral.
He must have had enough, because he straightened up and dropped his boxer briefs. That was fine with Hope; she was more than ready for him to enter her.
“What am I doing?” thought Hope. But she couldn’t help herself. He was her husband after all, and he was making an effort. And he was taking what was his.
Ian lowered himself onto her, supporting himself with one elbow; then he guided his thick cock into the wetness between Hope’s thighs. After he eased into her, he lowered himself closer. While kissing her neck, he pumped his erection into her pussy, lightly at first. Then harder.
Hope gasped in delight at her husband’s new and exciting way of making love.
He was thicker than Vaughn and filled her more completely than she remembered. He paused for a moment, holding her and feeling her wetness around his rock-hard shaft for a few moments before he started thrusting hard.
He began slowly, kissing her neck roughly.
He picked up the pace, and Hope started to feel a tingling she hadn’t felt with him in a while. As he pushed into her, she felt herself succumbing to the motion of him as she surrendered herself to his brutish force.
She held onto Ian harder as she felt him bring her to orgasm, something he had never accomplished before.
Hope was almost there, an intense pleasure building that was leading to her release.
The waves of her orgasm shuddered through her until she wasn’t sure if she was crying or screaming; every part of her body was contracting and expanding at the same time.
Ian was breathing hard now, and as he tensed up, he let out a groan of contentment.
The two of them held this position for a moment, as their passion subsided.
They rested for a few minutes, savoring their mutual satisfaction.
Ian went to the bathroom to get a towel.
After Hope recovered, she had time to think. Even with this mind-blowing orgasm, she had returned to reality. The wine had worn off, leaving Hope’s thoughts sharp and too loud.
The evening was enjoyable to a point, but what was she playing at? She wanted to get away from Ian, not build a marriage. Besides, pulling off this one night took every ounce of effort he had. What about tomorrow? Hope couldn’t fall for this one night, only to get burned again later when Ian wasn’t in such a good mood.
Ian came back with a warm, damp towel.
Hope was lying on her back, eyes closed on purpose.
Ian stood at the edge of the bed for a moment, towel in hand, unsure what to do with it. This was the part he never understood. He didn’t know how to read moods, how to pivot gracefully. He laid the towel on Hope’s stomach and continued his one-sided conversation.
“Now is the time we should talk. You know, because it’s good to talk afterward,” he said.
“I’m too tired, Ian. In a good way. You really gave me a wonderful night tonight and made me so happy. Why not leave it at that?”
Ian froze. “What? Why not? Tonight went great. Now we need to talk about it. You know, share our feelings.”
“It did go well,” she said quickly. “I’m just tired, Ian. It’s late.”
He stared at her, trying to interpret this. He wasn’t used to actually listening to a woman to figure out what they were thinking. “Is this because I got upset earlier? At dinner?”
“No. It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
He was trying to stay calm. She could see the old Ian rising to the surface, trying to get a verbal confirmation on something that didn’t need it.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “The sex was great tonight. I just want to sleep.”
Hope dropped the towel on the floor.
Ian climbed into bed beside her and lay on his back. He was staring at the ceiling, trying to think how to proceed.
“Hope,” he said, his voice low and unfamiliar, “I’m trying.”
But Hope was happy with the way things had turned out and was ready to let it go. Sure, this evening had rekindled their love life, showed the potential where their love could go, but it was forced, artificial.
Hope knew there would be no repeats. This good fuck would have to last her until the next time Dr. Aubrey Prentice told him he had to do it again.
“C’mon, Hope,” he said, “Tell me about your day.”
“I went to pick up your dry cleaning and bought some bird seed. You know how I like to watch the birds from the dining area.”
“That’s great, honey. What species of birds do you like the most?”
“I don’t know. The yellow ones?”
“See, Hope, we can have a conversation about something you like,” Ian said, “Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Marvelous.”
“Today, at work,” he said. “I landed a new contract with the defense department. I can’t tell you what it is, though. It’s classified.”
“Then I guess you can’t tell me, but congratulations.”
“See, honey, this is how married people talk. Isn’t it great?”
“Yes, it’s wonderful, honey,” Hope agreed.
But secretly, she was thinking something else entirely.
“What a jerk,” Hope thought, “I expected him to take at least two weeks to ruin tonight, but he was able to do it in about half an hour.”
“Goodnight, Hope,” Ian said and turned over. But Ian was thinking too.
“That ungrateful bitch,” he thought. “I give her everything, and she should be on her knees thanking me. And instead, she gives me the cold shoulder after all I did for her this evening. But I am determined now to get control of this marriage, and I’ll do it one way or another. What was I thinking of going to a woman for advice anyway?”
And Hope had thoughts of her own, like:
How soon can I get out of this?
Can I find someone to replace Vaughn?
Can I go back to dancing?
The thoughts were running through her head, with no answers forthcoming, because the wine had clouded her thoughts, and she couldn’t think with Ian lying beside her.
She wondered if Ian’s generosity tonight was part of a plan to control her further. Lull her into a false sense of love and then kick her ass to the curb when it was convenient.
Hope knew that her husband was getting more out of Dr. Aubrey Prentice than he admitted, but Hope didn’t like being toyed with.
There was some bad karma going on there, and Hope wanted to get away from it as soon as possible.