Natasha's Awakening (69 page)

“You’re an idiot.” She said.

“You make me into an idiot baby. I’ve never been jealous with a man showing attention to any of my girlfriends but with you, it’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull, I find myself going all crazy.”

“But there’s no need Eric. I love you. I don’t have eyes for any other man but you. Still, I do have to talk to other men sometimes. You just have to learn to realise that talking to them doesn’t mean I want to get into bed with them.”

“I know what you’re saying baby but I can’t control my emotions and although I trust you, I don’t trust them. No man puts his hands on you. You. Are. Mine.” Eric swallowed the last of his coffee. “If that bronzed idiot is there today and he touches you, I’m not going to be happy about it.”

“He’s not a bronzed idiot, his name is Brodie and he’s a surfer and he’s a nice guy, but he’s not you Mr CEO. You’re all the man I could ever want or need.”

Eric’s eyes softened at her words. “Well, I’m feeling a little fragile baby. I need reassurance before we hit the beach, so how about you show me just how much you want and need me.”

Natasha groaned. “You men, any excuse to get into our pants, I swear and you might be many things but fragile isn’t one of them.” She grinned.

“Still, we can’t have you feeling all fragile and insecure now can we?” Natasha said, getting up from her chair and moving around the table to where Eric sat. She bent her head to kiss him and his hands came up tunneling through her hair, holding her still so he could deepen the kiss. When she finally pulled back from him, they were both breathing harder. “Ok Mr Rothman, get yourself in the bedroom pronto.”

Eric grinned at her. “I thought you’d never ask.” He said.

A few hours later and after Natasha had spent the morning making love with Eric to try and make him feel less fragile and insecure which she knew he was far from being, slightly insecure yes, but fragile, definitely not, they pulled up in the car park at Bondi Beach. Eric had called for the limo which Natasha thought was a bit over the top as she’d never seen anyone arrive at the beach in a limo before and as they both climbed out, she felt herself tensing up as memories of their last time here, flooded her mind.

Natasha slipped her bag over her shoulder and Eric took her hand as they headed down onto the sand. Fortunately she’d found clothing suitable for the beach in what she’d packed for their honeymoon. In her white shorts and sleeveless top in various shades of green that finished at the top of her thighs and with flip flops on her feet, she didn’t feel too out of place amongst all the bikini clad women.

Eric wore shorts and a singlet styled t-shirt with thongs, the most casual attire Natasha had ever seen him in. She had to admit she was loving him in the singlet top as those gorgeous biceps of his were on display and as she watched women stop to admire him as they walked past, she couldn’t help that little thrill inside that he was hers.

The funniest thing was watching the eyes of the woman admiring Eric when their gazes turned to her and saw how very obviously pregnant she was and then some would have a hint of envy in their eyes.

They followed the water’s edge along, deep enough to have some waves crash over their feet, but not deep enough to risk getting their clothes wet. As they walked, Natasha watched people swimming, others sunbaking, kids running around chasing a ball and although it was a simple act, she enjoyed herself. Natasha had always loved people watching, trying to read people’s emotions, trying to predict what they might be up to, she could keep herself amused for ages doing that.

“Well, well.” Eric’s voice cut through Natasha’s people watching and she looked up at him curiously. He was looking ahead though, his gaze locked on something and when she scanned around to see what had Eric’s attention, she stiffened when she spotted Brodie.

“So months later and he’s still just wasting his life surfing.” Eric said and Natasha dug her fingernails into his hand as a warning. That got his attention and he glanced down at her. “What’s wrong baby?”

“Don’t you dare start Eric. If we just keep walking he might not see us and anyway, it’s been months, he probably wouldn’t recognize us anymore.

Eric grinned. “Oh baby, I’ll bet you anything, Brodie remembers you. You’re not easy to forget.” He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her palm.

“Well if he does remember us Mr CEO, my guess is he’ll have found meeting you a far more memorable experience than meeting me. I thought you were going to hit the man. You were all beating your chest and grunting last time.”

Eric looked indignant. “I did not grunt.” He said. “I was merely making it perfectly clear that you are mine and he needed to back off.”

“I think he got it Eric. The whole making it perfectly clear that we were sleeping together thing, would have given him the message.” She said dryly.

“We weren’t sleeping together baby. That wasn’t sleeping. That was sex, lots and lots of hot sex.” He grinned down at her and she couldn’t do anything else but shake her head. Eric could be both annoying and adorable all at the same time. How was she supposed to argue with him when he was like that?

They kept walking and were almost up to where Brodie and his mates were talking, some leaning on their surf boards and it looked like they were going to make it past them without being noticed when one of Brodie’s friends spotted Natasha and bent to say something to him. Brodie turned and he saw her.

A big smile lit up his face, before instantly fading again as his eyes fell on her stomach and then he looked beside her to where Eric held her hand. Still, despite the surprise on his face, he walked over to see them.

Natasha smiled and Brodie put out his arms to give her a hug. She pulled her hand out of Eric’s grasp and hugged him back, actually quite pleased to see him. Despite what Eric may have thought, Brodie was a friend, nothing more and it seemed that Brodie didn’t have any interest in her beyond friendship which was good because that would hopefully stop any testosterone filled performances from her husband.

“Wow, just look at you.” Brodie’s eyes moved up and down her. “I haven’t seen you in a long time. So how are you? Apart from very pregnant.”

“Eight months pregnant with twins Brodie, plus Eric and I are married.” Brodie’s eyes moved to Eric. “So you two finally got your acts together then?” He held his hand out to Eric. “Congratulations.”

Eric stood there looking at Brodie’s out stretched hand and Natasha elbowed him. “Well, don’t just stand there.” She told him and finally he put his hand out to shake the younger man’s hand. When she looked at him, he was looking at Brodie with the facial expression he’d have if he’d stepped in something nasty and she sighed. Obviously Eric was never going to be able to be civil to the younger man.

“So what have you been up to Brodie other than surfing?” Natasha asked and he laughed.

“What else is there in life but surfing Nat? I work nights so my days are mostly free. I surf as much as I can because I want to go Pro.”

“What about a girlfriend Brodie? Is there no significant other to share your life with?” Natasha felt Eric tense slightly beside her and when she glanced at him, his attention was focused on Brodie as he waited for his response.

She silently groaned, now he was interested in the conversation when it had turned to Brodie’s love life, if he had one. Brodie grinned. “Yeah there’s someone. She’s a surfer too. She wants to go Pro like me. She’ll be here later when she finishes work. It would have been good for you to meet Chloe, but maybe some other time.”

“Baby, don’t you think we should get going? You shouldn’t be on your feet too long.” Eric’s voice cut in and Natasha looked up at him, “My feet are fine Eric, but food, I could use some lunch soon.”

Just then one of Brodie’s mates called out to him and when he turned, Natasha and Eric turned too. They were all getting into their wetsuits ready to go out surfing again and Brodie surprised Natasha by bending forward and kissing her cheek. “I’d better get going. Hey, I’ll give you my number so you can let me know when your babies are born and when you have it on your phone, ring my number then I’ll be able to save your number to mine. Have you got your phone on you?” Natasha nodded and dug around in her bag for it.

Brodie gave her his number and she loaded it although she could see from Eric’s rigid stance that he wasn’t happy about the whole exchanging of phone numbers.

“Oi Brodie, hurry up man.” His mates called to him again and he turned.

“I have to go. Good luck with the babies and congratulations on your marriage.” He turned to Eric. “You treat her well man, you’ve got a real nice lady there.” And with that, he ran back to his friends.

Natasha couldn’t resist looking up at Eric and his facial expression was a classic. Dark colour filled his cheeks and he looked like he was going to murder someone. “Who the fuck does he think he is? I don’t need to be told how to treat you by some young bronzed fucking idiot whose only goal in life is to fucking well spend his days surfing.”

Natasha elbowed him. “Oh get over it Eric. Brodie’s just looking out for me. He saw how upset I was last time we were here. He tried to comfort me. He didn’t want me just taking off the way I did, so stop treating him like he’s the bad guy all the time. You should be happy, he’s got a girlfriend, he told us that.”

“Yeah, so he says.” Eric murmured. “Lets get out of here and go get you something to eat. You said you were hungry.”

“I am hungry. You know what I feel like? You’re probably going to cringe. I want a donar kebab with loads of hommus and white sauce and chilli sauce, yum!” Her face filled with pleasure over the thought of the kebab.

Eric watched her for a moment, then laughed. “Fuck baby, I want to be that kebab. How can you make food into something orgasmic all the time? If a donar kebab is what you want, then a donar kebab is what you’ll get. Come on, lets get out of here.”

He took her hand and together they made their way back along the beach heading for the pavilion. “So where are we going to get this culinary delight from?” Eric’s voice was filled with amusement.

“When I came to the beach by myself that time I walked up the road to a big Westfield shopping centre. If there isn’t some shop in the eatery there that has donar kebabs, I’ll be very surprised,” She said.

“How much of a walk is it baby? You weren’t pregnant last time. I don’t want you overdoing it.” He squeezed her hand.

“I’ll be fine Eric, just don’t turn it into a sprint and I’ll get there. The doctor said gentle exercise is good for the babies and me, so stop worrying. You’re not going to call for the limo for a short walk up the road.”

They made it up the beach and started the walk up the stairs that led to the pavilion area, Natasha looked up, blinking against the bright sun that hit her in the eyes and her heart leapt in her chest when she saw a willowy blonde headed woman looking down at them.

Natasha’s heart began to beat heavily. It looked like Vivian, but surely it couldn’t be her. How could she possibly know that her and Eric were at the beach? “Eric, that’s…” Her voice trailed off as she looked up again. There was no one there. It must have been a trick of the sunlight.

“What is it baby?” He asked and Natasha shrugged.

“It’s nothing.” She assured him. When they reached the top of the stairs Natasha looked around for Vivian, but she couldn’t see her. It must have been her imagination.

The walk to the shops only took them around 20 minutes as Eric walked slowly so as not to tire her out. Once they got to the eatery, they found a place selling kebabs and he ordered one for each of them. Once they were made and handed to them wrapped in foil and white paper, Eric found them a seat and they sat down to eat.

At the first bite, Natasha’s taste buds exploded in ecstasy and she moaned, her eyes closing, savouring the bursts of flavours. She heard his quiet chuckle and grinned at him. “They should get you to advertise their product baby. When people see your face, they’re going to flock here to order donar kebabs.”

They took their time eating lunch and Natasha looked around at the other people seated around them. Since there were numerous places to order food, there were all sorts of meals on tables before people. She watched others eat, smiling over a little girl at one table who had managed to get gravy all over her face from the box of chips and gravy before her. Her mother reached over to wipe the gravy off and Natasha couldn’t help but think that she might be doing that herself one day too.

She patted her stomach, feeling the gentle movements of Nathaniel and Erica as they jostled around inside her. When she glanced up again, over by the far wall of the eatery, she caught a glimpse of perfectly styled blonde hair and her heart leapt again. She had to be going nuts. Obviously their run in at the restaurant with Vivian was playing on her mind more than she realised because every blonde woman she saw, made her think it was Vivian.

Natasha decided it was probably best not to mention to Eric how her mind was constantly playing tricks on her and making her think she was seeing Vivian. So far their day was going well and she didn’t want to be the one to spoil it at all.

Once they finished eating, Eric asked what she wanted to do next, but Natasha was starting to feel tired. She’d been on her feet for quite a while and after her meal, she suddenly wanted to do nothing more than head back to the hotel.

“Nothing Eric. Can we go back to the hotel please? I feel a bit tired.” She said.

“Of course baby. You need to get your rest.”

Eric called Henry to get the limo to come and pick them up and then they headed back through the shopping centre and out the front to wait for the car to come and pick them up.

Back at the hotel Natasha collapsed on the bed, suddenly feeling very sleepy. Eric climbed on with her and pulled her back against him. “I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep baby.” He said against her ear and she smiled, lifting his hand that was around her waist to press her lips to it.

“I love you Eric.” her voice was sleepy and he laughed.

“I love you too Mrs Rothman, now sleep baby. I’ll see you when you wake up.” And with that, Natasha drifted off to sleep, held in Eric’s warm embrace.