She didn't remember when he carried her to bed, waking in his arms near dawn. Vaguely, she was aware that she was clean and knew they had showered first but had no memory of the event. His arms were wrapped around her, his hard body warm against her back; it was enough and she fell asleep again.
He had opened his eyes when he felt her stir, remaining still in case she was dreaming, ready to soothe her with soft comforting words if something bothered her. When he felt her relax into his arms, he knew she was asleep again. Pulling her warm butt closer to his belly, he tucked a heavy thigh behind her and slipped his hand over her mound. She was soft and silk and warm, her bottom still slightly heated from the sweet spanking his hand had imparted earlier in their lovemaking. Contented, he closed his eyes.
Later, he gently rubbed cream into the scars on her back, lightly massaging her flesh. It was a ritual he performed almost every day since their first intimacy, something he wanted to do, an act he needed to do for her. After so many years, her scars were no longer rigid and ugly, mostly soft and most the color and texture of her skin. Though she didn't say anything, he knew the massages eased the discomfort in her back that she ignored. He bent his head to rub his lips across the fading scar that crossed her spine when she opened her eyes.
"Good morning, husband," she murmured, her voice almost lost in the pillow beneath her face.
"Good morning, wife," he answered, holding her hips as his mouth moved down her butt, tickling her with his tongue.
"JC..." she moaned.
"I'm here, baby, and I'm loving you," he whispered, lifting her hips so he could spread her thighs. His lips and tongue teased her hidden secrets, his mouth the instrument in a performance of pure eroticism. Turning her, he continued the sweet torture until she begged him for release.
Parting her thighs, he pushed into her, the thickness of his need spreading her and filling her. Looking at where they were joined, he watched his hardness disappear inside her body, felt her welcome him with gentle upward thrusts that became firmer and faster the longer he pumped into her. His balls drew up, slapping against her flesh and his chest ached with loving her. She reached for him, her hands pulling him closer, urging him to love her, murmuring her pleasure as their bodies danced.
Spencer always thought she could drown from the passion in JC's hungry brown eyes. She always thought she'd melt from his rich deep drawl when he murmured love words in her ears. But the look on his face when he emptied into her was the most erotic sight she had ever seen and it sent her careening into sheer bliss, blinding light and utter ecstasy.
"Was this part of your Sealy training?" she asked when they could breathe.
"Only so far as learning to be persistent and thorough and to complete my mission, imp," he laughed softly, brushing the hair off her brow as he looked at the woman he loved.
"You are definitely persistent and thorough," she murmured, stroking his chest. "And you completed the mission very successfully."
"It's not complete," he husked, pulling her onto his chest. It's gonna take a life time to complete."
They spent the afternoon sipping wine while they played round after round of dirty Scrabble, oblivious to the snowstorm whipping against the windows. Spencer blushed furiously at the words; JC laughed softly and tickled her senseless when he won a round. "Where did you learn all those naughty words, imp?" he teased after she earned maximum points by creating a particularly graphic one-word description of female genitalia.
"I plead the fifth," she gasped, squirming in his arms as he pulled her over his knees, his hands dancing stinging swats across her covered bottom cheeks.
"That's not gonna save you, piccola little one," he laughed, tickling her in between the light stinging spanks. "Tell me where you learned all those words."
"I'll never tell," she swore, trying to catch her breath between giggles and gasps. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you," she threw one of his own lines back at him, making him chuckle.
"It's a good thing I love you," he told her, trying to glare and failing miserably as he turned her in his arms.
"JC?" she asked in a serious tone.
"What, bambina?" he smiled, stroking her back, and nibbling on her ear.
"I need to know something," Spencer said, pulling out of his arms and standing.
He looked up at her, waiting for the question, hoping it was something he could answer truthfully.
"What did you do when you were younger and desperate for a woman?"
"Desperate!?!" he yelled, lunging for her as she skipped away from his arms.
"Catch me, squid!" she laughed, dodging his hands and darting around the furniture.
"When I get my hands on you," he growled, going after her.
"Did you have to chase them to get them to kiss you?" she goaded.
"No, they chased me," he said, stalking her until he had her cornered and when she tried to dart under his arm, he caught her, swung her up into the air and spun her around until she was dizzy.
"Gotcha!" he chuckled, lowering her to his chest and kissing her soundly.
"They chased you when you were only a lieutenant?" she grinned, catching her breath and kissing him back. "I'm shocked!"
"Naughty imp," he grinned back, his hand moving under the waistband of her sweats, pulling them down.
"You're a horny squid, husband. Were you always horny?"
"Not till I met you," he laughed, kissing her again as he pulled her sweats completely off, his large hand cupping her warm bare bottom. "What about you, sweetheart? What did you do when you were horny?"
"Was never horny till I met you, squidlet," she snuggled into his embrace. "Sex was always good for you, wasn't it?"
"Don't remember anything before you, mia amore," he sighed, rubbing his chin against her face. "You've spoiled me... big time," he murmured, bending her back over his arm, burying his face under her T-shirt so he could kiss her belly.
"Who made sweet love to you before I came along?" he asked, certain no one had.
"No one," she answered truthfully. "Once in high school... it was nothing... just nothing, no feeling... not worth mentioning... I remember it hurt."
"Was that your first time?" he asked softly, his hands on her hips, and his lips teasing her belly, pushing her T-shirt up to nuzzle her breasts.
"I think so," she murmured, her nipples tingling from his kisses. "I'm not sure."
"Tell me," he said softly, realizing that he had triggered a memory she had blocked. "How big were you when a man touched you here?" he asked, cupping her mons, then pulled her onto his lap and held her tight, his hand stroking her cheek.
"Not too big," she said quietly into his chest, trying to remember details, and finding it difficult.
"Were you in school yet?" he probed gently, wondering if Martin had raped her as a child.
"No," she whispered, unable to bring the memory to the surface but knew that much.
"Was it Martin?" he asked, all his protective instincts surrounding her, his arms keeping her safe.
"No, it wasn't Martin. It was..." she suddenly remembered, her face turned to JC's chest. "It was a big man..." she said softly, her voice in singsong cadence narrating a long forgotten memory. "With a big belly... big belly hanging over his belt. He smelled bad like... old beer and... he needed a bath. He always stared at me and whenever he passed me on the stairs, he patted my bottom. I... I didn't like that."
"What stairs, baby?" JC asked softly, his arms holding her, his hand stroking her neck.
"The stairs in the house," she recited in a matter-of-fact tone. "The stairs in Mrs. Thompson's house, the place I stayed right after my arm came out of the cast the first time it was broken. The social worker took me there... said I'd live there for a while. I don't remember the details." Spencer suddenly looked at her husband and swallowed hard as she remembered more. "The stairs were steep. I was afraid I'd fall. I used to scoot down them on my butt. I'd hold on to the railing and sometimes, that big man would grab me and... and pick me up and hold me close to him. Once..." her voice got softer and her breath slightly stuttered as she remembered. "Once, he took me under the staircase. There was a door there that went into the furnace room. He... he hurt me. This man hurt me. He picked me up like a baby and hurt me close to him." Turning in her husband's arms, she pushed her back against his chest and whispered. "Hold me, JC."
"You're safe, baby," he murmured, his arms wrapped around her. "Tell me the rest, sweetheart."
"He touched me with his hands and his mouth... in places he's not supposed to know about me, JC. Why did he do that? I was a baby. It hurt... and it was ugly... and I felt dirty and used... He scared me. He was very big and he laughed when I cried. He laughed in an odd way like it really wasn't funny. Why did he do that to me? I must have been... I think I was four. Four-year olds shouldn't be touched that way... not with a big man's hands, not with his mouth."
"No, they shouldn't," her husband said softly, turning her around in his arms and kissing her brow. "Did anyone else touch you, Spencer?"
"No. It didn't take long to learn how to avoid being touched that way. The boy in high school was a friend of sorts and we... we were exploring... it was such a nothing thing... I didn't have any desire to go through that again. Later, I was too busy trying to get through college and I... I went out with a number of very nice gentlemen before I met you, but they were strictly platonic, friendly dates. I let a few of them kiss me, but there weren't any whistles or bells and nothing ever progressed."
The childhood memory didn't hold terror for Spencer the way it might have before she met JC and she relaxed in his arms, comfortable talking to him about that time as if it had happened to someone else. Basically, it *had* happened to someone else. Spencer was not the child she had been. The incident hadn't marked her as severely as other childhood incidents and she had been able to move on.
"Then I met this sexy sailor," she told him, reaching up to cup his face with both hands. "He was so beautiful... held me in his strong arms. I was powerless to resist him and I succumbed to his charms."
"He was charming?" JC grinned.
"Well... that, and his kisses..." Spencer rolled her eyes. "I was a real sucker for his kisses. And his hands... mmmm," she sighed. "The things he did with his hands."
"What did he do with his hands?" JC asked, the huskiness of his voice betraying his hunger for her.
"I'm embarrassed to tell you," she breathed against his neck.
"Can you show me?" he questioned softly, his hands itching for her.
"You'll keep the secret to yourself?"
"Count on it," he swore, tilting her head back and gently sucking the hollow spot in her throat.
"He touches me here," she said, putting his hands under her shirt and onto her breasts. "He strokes my nipples, too. I like that," she sighed as his hands touched her, his thumbs stroking her nipples until they were taut.
"What about here?" he asked, his palms rubbing the sensitive undersides of her breasts. "Does he touch you here?"
"Mmmm," she hummed. "He does."
"What else does he do with his hands, sweetheart?" his voice reduced to low murmurs as his need for her grew.
"He touches me here," she said, taking his hand and putting it on her mons, her bare bottom sitting on his lap, her sweats long since discarded.
"Does he just touch?" JC asked, spreading her thighs, and stroking her folds.
"No," she whispered, arching into his hand. "He rubs against me, teases me... spanks me, too," she added and then breathed harshly when he lifted her higher onto his chest as his hand made sharp contact with her bottom... his palm rubbing the sting away... spanking... rubbing...
"Do you like that?" he asked, his erection pulsing against her belly.
"Mmmm," she murmured.
"What else do you like that he does?"
"I like the way his hands and lips touch me at the same time."
"Where?" he husked, his tongue eager to taste her.
"Here," she moaned, pushing his hand against her moist sex.
"I should do that, too," he murmured, pulling her down to the rug in front of the blazing fireplace. He cupped her butt, his mouth kissing her inner thighs as her legs draped over his shoulders. Spreading her outer petals with his thumbs, he dipped into her, the tip of his tongue teasing her until he could taste her sweetness. "Is that good, bambina?" he asked as he licked her nectar. "Do you like that?"
"Yes," she moaned softly, "but I need you inside me."
"Soon," he murmured, his mouth teasing her again.
"Please, JC."
"I'm here, baby," he whispered as his hips moved over her and he slid into her heat. "I'm here... now..." he thrust into her gently. "I'm here now... and forever, my love." Rotating his hips as he pushed in and out of her, he murmured love words to her, his rich deep voice filling her, the sounds of his lovemaking all she wanted to hear, the thrusting of his hips into her heat all she wanted to feel. "Now and forever, cara mia. Now and forever."