Chapter 30

She didn’t know how long she’d been soaking, but the water was still warm when a draft of cool air warned her she was no longer alone.

“Feeling better?”

She nodded.

There was silence for a few moments while Richie debated his words. “Are you still pissed at me?”

Tori sighed, cracked open an eye and just looked at him leaning against the vanity.

“I’m sorry.” He offered, lips twitching.

“What for?”

And there was the black hole question that so many men fell into. He had to be careful how he answered it, but he was pretty sure that ‘for whatever I did that pissed you off’ wasn’t what she wanted to hear. This wasn’t so much about what he was sorry for as whether he understood what had pissed her off in the first place.

“For going against your wishes and bringing home a dog.”

“And?”

“And for not thinking about what all is involved with having a dog and who was going to do it.”

“And?”

“And that it might be too much for you right now with the kids and the new baby coming.”

“And?”

And? What else did I do? His mind raced trying to come up with something. The longer he took the more her eyes narrowed at him. But he had nothing. “And what? What else is there?”

Tori bit back her exasperated snarl and kept her tone mild. “How about making a decision that affects our family without discussing it with me first? Don’t you think that might have been the right thing to do? So that we could make the decision...together?”

Oops. Forgot about that. “You’re right. I should have talked to you first. I’m sorry.”

Tori studied his face, judging his sincerity, then, satisfied, nodded, closed her eyes and relaxed against the back of the tub again. “You really are a sucker for sad puppy eyes.”

Lucky for me, so are you. Richie waited a few more seconds. “So, am I forgiven?”

She opened her eyes again to be greeted with that pleading puppy dog look and she mentally kicked herself. I am such a push over when it comes to him and that look. “I don’t know. I think you need to do some penance.”

“What kind of penance?” His voice deepened as all kinds of possibilities swirled in his head.

“Well, for starters, you can wash my back.” She sat up and leaned forward slightly.

“Yes dear.” Kneeling beside the tub, he took the puff she handed him and lightly scrubbed the length of her back. Then, using his hand, he scooped up water to rinse her off. “Want me to wash the rest of you too?”

She thought about that for a moment, but she knew where that would lead...and she had other plans. “No, but don’t go anywhere, you can help me out in a minute.”

Quickly washing the rest of her body, she rinsed off and started to stand. Richie immediately moved to give her a hand and help her out. Spying the towel, he swiped it up and gently dried her. When he finished, he turned her to face him and, with a finger under her chin, raised her gaze to his. “I really am sorry. I love you.”

“I know, and I love you too.” Raising on tip toe, she kissed him.

When their lips parted, Richie glanced at the vanity counter. “Where’s your lotion?”

“In the bedroom.”

“Come on.” He started to toss the towel aside, but caught himself – and her warning look - in time and hung it up. Taking her hand, he laced their fingers together and tugged her out the door.

A little push urged her onto the bed and he reached for the lotion. While Tori got comfortable, Richie stripped off his clothes, careful to put them on a chair and not drop them on the floor. He was working on getting out of the dog house, he didn’t need to do anything to get sent right back in again.

Tori stretched out on her stomach and sank into the mattress, anticipating the relaxing touch of his hands. The dipping of the bed on either side of her hips told her that he’d straddled her the instant before his large hands settled on her shoulders. Her muscles quickly became mush under his strong fingers. “Mmmm. Seriously, babe, if you ever want a new career, you’d make a fantastic masseur.”

“Thanks angel.” He chuckled, then bent until his lips brushed her ear. “But would you really want to share?”

She thought about that for a minute. “No. I like knowing that this is all mine.”

“That’s what I thought.”

For the next ten minutes, the silence of the room was broken only by the occasional soft moan as his hands moved down her body. He worked the tension from the long muscles bracketing her spine and paused to knead and caress the firm globes of her ass before moving on to smooth the length of her legs. Finally, he took each slender foot in turn between his hands, thumbs pressing deep along the arches and tugging each toe gently.

Moving off her, he removed the clip from her hair and nudged her hip. “Turn over.”

Tori rolled onto her back and gazed up at him through slitted eyes. It was almost impossible for her to keep them open at all, but she wanted to see him.

Richie poured more lotion into his palm and tuned back to her, noticing her watching him. He smiled into her eyes and reached for one of her arms. Her eyes drifted closed as he massaged first one arm, then the other. Shifting his attention to her torso, he paused, debating. “Are you awake?”

It was that dark velvet voice that sent shivers down her spine. “Mmmm?”

“Sit up.”

When she did – with his help – he moved to kneel behind her. Glancing in the mirror on the wall opposite the bed, he shifted their positions until the view was to his satisfaction, and reached for another bottle from her nightstand.

He showed it to her. “This the one that helps with stretch marks?”

“Yes.”

Richie sat back on his heels, gripped her hips and lifted her onto his thighs, curling her legs back so that she was straddling him with her back against his chest. Squeezing lotion into his palm, he rubbed his hands together and cupped her breasts.

“Mmmmm.” Tori leaned her head back on his shoulder and watched in the mirror as he smoothed lotion over her breasts and stomach.

For long minutes, his hands rubbed and caressed, smiling when the baby kicked him. Then one stealthy finger dipped lower and slid along the cleft between her thighs. What was already damp, quickly became wet as he stroked. When he was satisfied that she was ready, he raised her up onto her knees, positioned himself and eased her back down, impaling her on his waiting erection.

“Oh!” Tori gasped.

Richie gave her a moment to settle. His lips nuzzled under her ear. “Watch.”

He didn’t have to say anything, she couldn’t look away. Her body rocked with the motion of his hips and thanks to the mirror she could see his glistening flesh slide in and out. “Oh God.”

As her passion grew, Tori lifted a hand to grip his hair, the other dropping to grasp his thigh. “Mmmmm.” She turned her head, her mouth in search of his. Finding it, her lips fused to his, her tongue seeking entrance and diving in when he granted it.

Tasting her hunger, feeling her body squeeze his, he knew he wouldn’t last long.....and she wasn’t quite there yet. He need to do something about that. One hand cupped a breast, kneading and squeezing, pinching the sensitive tip. The other slipped down between her thighs, middle finger resting on her swollen clit, riding her movements without blocking the view of their merging bodies.

She tore her mouth from his. “Oooooh shit! Richie!” Her breathing became increasingly laboured. Using her knees for leverage, she raised higher, increasing the force of his penetrations when she sank down again.

“Jesus angel! You feel so damn good!” He growled in her ear and increased his pace.

“Yes, Richie! Like that!” She was panting now. Watching him plump her depths, and feeling him stretching her at the same time was incredibly erotic. “Just like that. Mmmmmm.”

Richie fought to hang on to his control, silently admonishing himself to let her fly first. But he couldn’t wait too much longer. Luckily, he didn’t have to.

“Oh! Oh! Yes! Yes! Yes! RICHIE!” Her body arched back against him, her hand fisting in his hair, her body fisting around his throbbing shaft.

He kept moving until her muscles started to relax, then, with a grunt, he let go and found his own release, emptying himself in her pulsing depths.

Collapsing back onto the bed, he separated their bodies and pulled the blankets up over them. “Damn baby!” Make up sex with her made the argument worth it.

Tori chuckled breathlessly. “I love you too.”

They’d been asleep for a couple hours when a high pitched whining coming through the baby monitor woke them up.

Tori sat up, frowning. “That’s Peanut’s monitor. What the hell is that?” Her heart started to pound at the thought of what might be happening to her son.

Richie set his hand on her arm when she would have jumped from the bed. “We gave it to Taffy tonight. Peanut said he could yell loud or come get us if he needed us.” At his wife’s look, he grimaced, threw back the covers and pulled on his robe. “Don’t say it. I’m going.”

Tori smirked and snuggled back down under the covers.