Romance: Luther's Property (71 page)

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Authors: Laurie Burrows

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Chapter 9
 

When they had each finally finished they both shuddered in
satisfaction. Nicole dismounted from Doug, hissing as his softening cock
slipped out of her. Doug turned toward as she laid out beside him.

Doug’s eyes traveled over her beautiful, naked body, and
took in every inch of her. She was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.

“Thank you for coming,” he said with a smile, running his
hand through her silky dark hair.

“Thanks for having me,” she said, turning to face him,
batting her dark eyelashes.

Doug felt suddenly overcome with emotion. It had been a long
time since he had felt anything quite so intense. He felt a sadness deep inside
his stomach as he realized she wouldn’t be staying, and he frowned. Nicole
raised her eyebrow at him.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, her tone teasing. “Not good
enough for you?”

“You’re more than good enough for me,” Doug said softly,
running his hand through her hair.

“Well, then I don’t see a problem here,” Nicole shrugged,
sitting up on the bed and moving down toward the end.

Doug watched silently as she put her clothes back on, at a
loss for what to say.

“You know, you would think I had just told you your puppy
got run over,” Nicole remarked flippantly.

“Hm,” Doug grunted, and rolled off the bed to begin putting
his own clothes back on.

“Come on,” Nicole soothed. “What’s really bothering you?”

Doug paused for a moment, and stopped buttoning up his shirt
to gently cup her face in his hands.

“I just…” he paused and sighed. “I wish this whole situation
was different… I wish you could stay.”

Nicole’s expression darkened and turned to one of sympathy.

“You’re probably feeling a lot of things right now,” Nicole
said softly, leading him over to sit on the edge of the bed. “Confusion, guilt.
And I’m sure your intense arousal toward me isn’t helping at all. But I know a
secret.”

“And what secret is that?” Doug asked, his expression grim
and his hopes low.

“The secret,” Nicole resumed. “Is that you can have all of
this and more. Not with me, but with Anna.”

Douglas let out a low growl at the mention of his wife.

“I really don’t think this is the time to bring up my wife,”
he growled out, standing up and picking up his tie off the ground.

“Now is the perfect time,” Nicole countered, her voice firm.
“You are getting confused and emotional, and that’s perfectly normal. But you
need to find a long term solution to your problems, and that solution is not
me, I promise.”

Doug continued to stubbornly ignore her, pulling on his
pants and roughly tucking in his shirt.

“You and your wife are having a rough time right now,” Nicole
went on, her tone gentle and convincing. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t fix
it. Couples have gone through way, way worse than this.”

Doug laughed lowly at her words, shaking his head.

“I just find it a little hard to believe,” Doug said
angrily. “That you think you’re the one who is best to tell me any of this. I
mean, just think of how hilarious this whole situation is. The woman that I’m
cheating on my wife with is trying to patch up my marriage. That’s rich, that’s
just…”

Doug shook his head and ground his teeth.

“Do you think that I don’t understand how ridiculous this
whole thing is?” Nicole spat back at him. “But I’m literally the only one who
can help either of you right now.”

“Oh yeah, and what exactly makes you think that?” Doug
countered.

“When I first came here,” Nicole said, her voice more calm
and collected. “You were such a tense, frustrated mess that you couldn’t even
do your job. What you needed was a good massage, but more than that, a good
fuck.”

“Which you provided,” Doug said. “And I’m grateful, I am.
But now I’m in this huge adulterous mess.”

“I don’t think this situation is even half as bad as you
seem to think,” Nicole sighed, and pinched at the bridge of her nose. “And
besides, if you don’t like my solution, the one where you fix your marriage and
end up twice as happy as you were before, what do you propose?”

Doug was quiet for a moment. He knew what he would propose,
but he knew it would not be well received.

“Well?” Nicole pressed, crossing her arms and raising her
eyebrows.

Doug was quiet for another moment.

“Come away with me,” he said softly.

Another long silence stretched between them.

“Excuse me?” Nicole’s eyes narrowed, and her tone was harsh.

“Come away with me,” Doug repeated, his tone more secure.

“You’re ridiculous,” Nicole shook her head, and gathered her
pants up off the ground.

“I’m serious,” he said. “I will leave Anna the house, and
half of my savings. The rest would be more than enough for us. I’ve saved
enough to live off the rest. I’ll quit my job at the company. It would be you
and me. It would be perfect.”

“Do you even hear yourself when you talk?” Nicole said
scornfully as she buckled the belt of her pants. “You really think this is the
answer you’re looking for?”

“I think you are the answer I’ve been looking for,” Doug
said, his words ringing in their sincerity.

Nicole’s expression went sober.

“Douglas,” she sighed. “I am not what you need.”

With that statement, Nicole left the room, softly closing
the door behind her.

Doug released a frustrated growl, and paced wildly up and
down the room. He had no idea what any of her cryptic remarks meant. She was
the best thing that had happened to him in years. Ne felt alive, and he felt
full and complete once again. She was able to take his mind off of work, which
was something that nobody had been able to do in years. Surely, she was the
solution and the change that he needed.

And yet, even after he had offered to drop everything for
her, she was intent on refusing him. It was infuriating, and he had no idea how
to react to this. Now, though, he tried to clear his head. There were only ten
minutes left in his lunch hour, and he did have thing left to accomplish in his
office. So, he put on the rest of his clothes, and combed his hair. Then, he
headed back to his office.

Even as he worked, though, his mind tried to process his
thoughts and what he ought to do in his current situation. He knew very well
that he was in a mess, but he wasn’t the only contributor. In spite of his
increasing stress, though, he did not experience even the hint of a headache or
any tension in the muscles of his back or neck. He acknowledged wryly that
somehow in all this mess, he had gotten accomplished the original goal.

At last, the clock read five o’clock, and Douglas gathered
his things together, eager to get home and think of a solution to his plight.
He pulled into his garage at home and moved into the kitchen. He couldn’t hide
his mild irritation as he stepped into his kitchen, only to see Anna sitting at
the kitchen table.

“Hey,” she said to him as he entered the room.

“Hey,” he responded, hoping that his uninviting tone would
be enough to dissuade her form further conversation.

“You seem agitated,” she said, stating the obvious.

“Yes,” Doug replied shortly, moving to go rinse out his thermos
in the sink.

“You want to talk about it?” Anna said, her tone sincere.

Doug let out a sigh and braced himself on the edge of the
sink. The genuine concern in her voice sent a surge of guilt through him. He
suddenly wanted to talk a lot more than he was willing to admit, but he knew
that he didn’t have the courage to do it.

“No,” he answered shortly, pushing back his emotional
response to her words.

“Okay,” Anna said softly, her tone softer, and Doug thought
he detected a measure of hurt in her words. Again, he felt a rush of guilt, and
he turned to face her with a sigh.

“What about you?” he asked gently. “How was your day?”

Anna rose from the table and shrugged.

“It was fine,” she said softly as she began to move toward
him. “Just a regular day, I guess.”

“Hm,” Doug grunted, somewhat confused as she began to move
closer to him.

“I was actually…” she said, her eyes lowering as she trailed
off. “Thinking about us a little bit today.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand and rested it on his
forearm. Doug felt several alarm bells go off in his head, and he struggled to
remain calm. He wondered if she had finally caught on to what was going on
between him and Nicole, and he wondered what he could say to keep from
incriminating himself.

“What about us?” Doug asked, his brows furrowed in concern
even as his heart pounded furiously in his chest.

“I know that things have been a little rocky over these last
several months,” she said with a frown of her own. “Years, even. And I know
that I haven’t done my best to help things…”

As she spoke, her hand moved to press against, his chest,
and moved even lower. She hooked her fingers into his belt and pulled a little.
Doug released a gasp and tightened his grip on the sink behind him. His mind
whirled, and he was shocked to find that his cock was responding to her
proximity and to her touches.

“Oh?” he managed to croak out, even as his heart raced and
his mind spun.

“Yes,” Anna nodded, and her hand moved even lower, tracing
hi hardening cock through his pants and underwear. “I know I haven’t been very
attentive to your needs…”

Doug said nothing, and breathed raggedly as she continued to
tease at him. A part of him wanted to succumb to her right there and then, and
take her roughly. Another part of him resisted, though, as he was reminded of
the adultery he was committing with Nicole. His mind was a haze of confusion,
and he needed a moment to clear his thoughts.

“Wait, wait!” He insisted, seizing up her wrists in a strong
hold. He saw the lust in her eyes, and he felt a surge in his rapidly hardening
cock.

Anna, though, did not wait. She broke out of his hold, and
took his face between her hands, pressing a hot, passionate kiss to his lips.
Douglas was helpless, and he tightly gripped Anna’s hips as he kissed her back.
He ground his hips into hers, and he hear her whimper as his hard cock ground
into her abdomen. He growled at her reaction, and he spun her around to press
her against the edge of the sink.

They pulled apart for a second and Doug looked down at her
breathlessly. Anna lifted her hand to softly caress his face. He saw tenderness
in her eyes, and he felt the love for her he had harbored all these years rise
up once more in his chest.

“I’ve missed you…” Anna whispered, her voice equal parts
longing and sadness. It nearly broke Doug’s heart.

“I’ve missed you too,” he said brokenly. He gathered her up
to his chest in a tight embrace, and inhaled the all too familiar scent of her
hair.

His treacherous mind, though, hastily reminded him that he
could not live this moment in peace. He could not stand here and calmly enjoy
the company of his wife when he had just offered to leave her for another
woman. Now, though, holding her so close, and remembering the way she made him
feel, he wasn’t sure if he could hold up his offer to Nicole.

Douglas’s thoughts raced, and at the same time, his cock
ached severely. He knew that he surely couldn’t maintain this position for long
without succumbing to his lust. He released Anna from the hold he had over her,
and held her back by the shoulders to look into her eyes. He was once again
taken aback by the hazy lust he saw there, and the force of his own arousal was
almost enough to bring him to his knees.

“Anna, I…” he shook his head. She stopped him, placing one
of her soft hands over his mouth.

“Don’t say anything,” Anna pleaded in a whisper. “I know
this was sudden, and I know I forced this on you. We don’t have to do anything.
I just…”

Anna trailed off, and Douglas waited silently for her to
continue.

“I just needed to see,” she said slowly. “If I could still
do to you what you do to me.”

Doug felt another surge of arousal and pleasure at her
words, and he cursed himself for the trouble he had gotten himself into.

“Trust me,” Doug laughed sadly, lifting a hand to gently cup
her face. “You could have always done this to me.”

Anna smiled up at him, and he saw tears sparkle in her eyes.

“But…” Doug sighed. “I can’t do this with you. Not right
now.”

Anna’s face fell slightly, and she nodded.

“It’s not because I don’t want you,” Doug added hastily.
“Because… God, I do, I do…”

Anna’s expression lifted slightly.

“It’s just…” Doug struggled to find the right words. “I have
to take care of something tomorrow, and then… you and I need to talk…”

Anna nodded, her eyes full of understanding.

“Okay,” she said. “I can wait. You do whatever you need to
do. I’m not going anywhere.”

Doug felt a rush of pain and sadness shoot through him at
her words. He hoped that she felt the same way after he revealed his infidelity
to her.

“Okay,” Doug smiled at her softly, running his hands through
his hair. “I’m going to up to bed now. I’ve had a long day, and I have
somethings I need to sort out.”

“Alright,” Anna nodded. “If you need anything, I’ll be out
here or in bed.”

“Okay,” Doug nodded, moving away from her and heading for
the staircase.

“Doug?” she called out after a moment, and Doug turned to
face her, raising his brows and waiting for her response.

“I love you,” she said softly, genuine care in her eyes.

Doug felt the words like a knife to his heart.

“I love you too,” he said with a broken smile. The words
were true, but they only made his betrayal that much more potent.

Without another moment, Doug move up the stairs and down the
hall to his room. He shut and locked the door behind him, and immediately began
to pace.

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