“Damn lady, you are fine as hell,” he said appreciatively.
In one swift move, he removed his pants and stepped out of them. He stripped his shirt off, and moved to her. Grabbing her behind her legs, he raised her up, and she gripped his manhood. He lowered her onto his erection, and found himself firmly sheathed in her warmth.
Sara leaned back against the wall as Andy slowly began fucking her. She raised her arms back over her head, and he sucked her offered nipple. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “No way anyone but my man could take me this way. My big, strong, beautiful man can take his woman against the wall. Do it, baby. Take me.”
Their evening-long foreplay meant that sooner than expected, their orgasms overtook them. Andy held her there until her legs stopped quivering, and then lovingly carried her into the bathroom. He carefully sat her down on the sink and kissed her before removing his length from her. He got a washcloth and gently washed her off, before doing the same for himself.
“Let me throw some pants on, and we can begin your Andy tutorial,” he said grinning to her. “But one thing we need to get straight, Mrs. DeGroat,” he paused. “We sing together from now on. You sing beautifully, and I love singing with you.”
“Hmm. If that’s what you want. But baby, there’s no way I can handle Chris Stapleton like you do,” she said smiling at him.
“OK, we’ll go 50/50. Our kids need to know how much their mother kicks ass — in like everything. No way you keep this from them — or from me.”
______________________________________________________
5 minutes later, they were in the trophy room in the basement. “Where do you want to start?” he asked. “We could go chronological, or just make our way around this part of the room, I guess.”
“Which one are you most proud of?” she asked. “And baby, I know that’s not how you think — but I’m just curious to see which one you value the most.”
Andy thought for a moment before looking at her with dead earnestness. “Well, if you were telling me the truth when you said that I won you, the ring on your finger is the award I’m most proud of. I know you’re not an object to be won, but an extraordinary woman has agreed to be my wife. So, winning you is my greatest accomplishment.”
She looked at him with a mixture of amazement and love, utterly unable to find words. Finally, she spoke.
“Thank you, baby. You are so incredibly sweet to me. Andy, you show me that every damn day. I hope you know I don’t take that for granted.”
He grinned at her, and then led her to the first of four varsity letters he received in hockey. “This one is second place. I set a goal for myself. Nobody thought a freshman could skate with the varsity, let alone letter. I lettered, and was voted an alternate captain. That was probably my favorite year of playing hockey — personally. After that, the team came first. When you’re a freshman, people are just freaking out that you can contribute. There was zero pressure on me that year except the pressure I put on myself — well and John Moses,” he grinned.
She considered him carefully, “So it’s not the Navy Cross?”
He paused, then answered. “No. You win the Cross. You earn a varsity letter. You earn the respect of your teammates, and they vote you a captain. There’s politics involved with these types of commendations. I know Uncle Hank means well, but there is a part of me that will always wonder if that commendation isn’t just my great uncle flexing on my behalf.”
“Andy, I’d really like to hear about that day. Jane explained to me at dinner that the commendation letter will be read at the banquet. It will go into detail about what you did. Selfishly, I really want to hear about that from you — not from someone else reading it in a room full of people.”
“Bellissima, I want to tell you,” he paused. “I just can’t associate that day with anything other than Romeo being killed. I guess that’s the second thing I need to talk with Dr. Nebeker about.”
She went to him and kissed him. “I love you.”
He nodded.
“Baby let’s sit down. I would love to hear about the first thing you need to talk with your,” she paused, “What would you like me to call her?”
“Well, she’s my therapist, I guess,” he confessed.
“Let’s sit down and would you please tell me what the first thing is?” she asked sweetly.
“Absolutely my love.”
They sat on the floor in front of the leather love seat. Sara scooted her back to Andy’s chest, and he held her there.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much. To tell you the truth, I think I could go a stretch without us making love, but there’s no way I could give this up. I love being close to you. You holding me at night is my absolute favorite.”
He kissed her head. “OK, so I’ve realized I have this need to announce my presence with authority in pretty much any new situation. Hell, I basically steamrolled you and Eden when I moved in. Our engagement weekend was a pretty major flex on my part. I’d like to know why I do that — and then not do that anymore.”
Sara giggled. “I’m sorry baby; but I love the way you steamrolled me. I know you’d get no complaints from Eden, either.”
Andy chuckled.
“You should talk to your sisters about this. They warned me about that — I mean that you do that,” she said cautiously.
“Really?”
She nodded her head. “Ellen even has a theory about why you do it.”
“Well, I’d love to hear it — if you’re not betraying your future sister-in-law’s trust — that is.”
“You’ve had three times in your life — formative times — where people you loved or cared about were suddenly taken from you,” she began. “Your parents when you were a boy, Anna Chang when you were a teenager, and Romeo as a young man. You get into a new situation and immediately go on the offensive. Ellen thinks it’s a defense mechanism. If you provide the chaos, then it’s a way to guard yourself from other things happening.”
She felt him tense up, and then heard him mutter, “Fuck me.”
Sara giggled. “I just did, and it was wonderful. If you need another go, you know I’m your Huckleberry.” She turned to him and saw the forlorn look on his face.
“Baby, I’m sorry if I said too much,” she said lovingly.
“No . . . I just never thought about it that way. It makes sense,” he paused. “So how in the hell do I not do that anymore?”
“Hmm. Well, Jessica and Grandma Helen tell me you’re already doing two things you need to do.”
He looked at her confusedly.
She kissed his nose. “You’re finally allowing yourself to mourn; and you’ve pursued me without any sense of holding back to protect yourself. I don’t know if there’s more; but I assured them you’ve held nothing back in your wooing of me. By the way, it’s why Jess didn’t get upset when you put my name in the third verse of ‘Isn’t She Lovely.’ She knew that was a huge step for you.”
“Baby, that’s one of the ways you’ve shown me how much you love me. You don’t just desire me — though I know you do,” she giggled. “You value me. You’re working on your shit so that we can have a life together. I can’t begin to tell you what that means to me. Andy, I feel so safe and loved by you — I wish you could see that too.”