I slapped at his arse. “Put me down.”
“I will when we get to the bedroom.”
“No. Forget it, you bloody control freak! I’m not fucking you.”
“Yes, you are.” He practically bound up the stairs, not showing any signs of strain; my weight appearing to be not much heavier to him than a feather.
“No. I’m not.” Yes I am. Who am I kidding?
“Well, I’m fucking you. You can just lie there and enjoy it.” He walked into our room and gently placed me onto the bed. I went to get up, but he grabbed me and held me down, pressing both arms firmly into the mattress. He climbed over me so that he was straddling my hips, but I noticed he was bearing his own weight so that he did not crush me or the baby.
“Get off,” I half-arsedly hissed.
“Do you really want me to get off?” he asked seductively, then leaned forward and dragged his tongue from my collar bone to just below my ear.
The warm wet lubricated slide of his tongue made me shudder. “Yes,” I whispered, blatantly lying.
He trailed kisses from one side of my neck to my jaw, then across to the other side of my neck, barely skimming my mouth. “Are you sure?” he breathed again. “You can have a workout with me, now. I’ll make you sweat like never before.” He trailed some more kisses across my neck and back down to my collar bone, dipping further so that his lips were pressing into the top of my cleavage. “Are you really sure you want me to get off?” He dipped his tongue in between my breasts. I moaned in response, letting him know that he’d won, and that I wanted nothing more than for him to continue.
“I didn’t think so, Hunny.”
***
After giving in to Bryce and taking my frustration out on him in the bedroom, I pouted for the rest of the afternoon, glaring at him every so often. I found myself to be slightly bored and not having much to do. It was a Sunday, my children were away, and I no longer had to worry about housework. I never really minded doing my housework. I used to get some sort of self-pride cleaning my house and my things, it made me feel appreciative of what I had. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t love housework, and I was more than happy with the fact that I didn’t have to do it any longer. I just sort of felt a little useless now.
Bryce had been in the man-cave for most of the afternoon, and I assumed he was working on some songs. I could hear a faint beat sounding through the walls but couldn’t make out what it was. It sounded very different from the style the band usually played. I was tempted to go and watch him, possibly even stalk and annoy him like he had me, but I figured he was working on something important, so I left him to it.
Instead, I picked up my book and immersed myself into the fiction world. I was about ninety percent finished with my book, where the two lead characters narrowly cheated death in a school fire. I was thoroughly engrossed and hoped to God that this second chance would lead to them getting their shit together, when Bryce took my book from my hands and placed it down on the coffee table. I watched it change location from my hands to the table, like it had grown legs and moved there itself.
He grabbed my hands and helped me rise. “Come on, get up.”
“Hey, I was reading that.”
“You need to get ready. I’m taking you out for dinner, birthday girl.”
“Oh, where are you taking me?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Go and get ready, I’ve laid something out for you on the bed.” I smiled and got all excited. I loved when he picked something out for me to wear; it was like a surprise present in itself.
***
Bryce took me out for dinner to ‘Seaspray’ which was a lovely modern seafood-inspired restaurant by the beach at St Kilda. The head chef was a friend of his and had somewhat been a mentor to Bryce over the years, teaching him all he knew about cooking— my tastebuds would be forever grateful to Chef Daniels and his exceptional culinary teachings...forever grateful.
After our delicious grilled rock lobster, seared Moreton Bay Bugs and VIP treatment by the restaurant’s staff, we headed back home. As I stepped into the elevator with him I latched my arm around his and rested my head on his shoulder, smiling contentedly.
“Thank you for dinner...for everything. You really do spoil me. But that’s not why I love you, you know.”
“I know. You love my domineering dick.”
I raised my head to catch his arrogant smile. “I do love your domineering dick, but no...that’s still not why I love you. I love your passion and devotion, and I love how you love with everything that you have. You’re incredible, Bryce, and what we have is incredible and I thank my lucky stars for it every day. I’m kind of waiting for my bubble to burst, though.”