Authors: EMME CROSS
There was warm breath on his inner thighs, hair tickling his groin. A hand gently cupped his balls while a tongue swirled about the head of his penis. Lips gently kissed his length and girth before he was engulfed in a warm, wet sheath.
What a delicious dream! Then the pressure and the rhythm increased and Sven’s eyes came open. There was dim light streaming through windows dressed in yellow and white curtains. The bed was a cocoon of down and brushed cotton. It took him a minute. This was Oslo and . . . his wife. Sven came with a cry and collapsed back against the pillows.
A head of untidy reddish gold curls emerged from beneath the comforter. Sunny wiped her mouth and smiled at his startled satisfaction. It took him a while to clear his head and catch his breath, giving her time to nestle in the crook of his arm and sigh contentedly against his neck.
“Not that I’m complaining . . .” This emerged as a squeak and Sven cleared his throat, beginning again in his usual deeper timbre. “Not that I’m complaining, but what prompted that glorious impulse?”
He glanced down and saw that his wife was wearing lingerie. It was a yellow and white bra that barely contained her pregnancy-ripened breasts and a tiny thong, the lace just visible beneath the bulge of the baby. He swore he could feel himself stiffening again.
“Bacon’s too fatty and I wanted protein for breakfast.” A teasing kiss and then a laugh. “The baby and the dog are still asleep, getting over their jetlag. I got up to pee, thanks to this one’s elbow on my bladder,” she added patting the bump, “and all I could think about was how happy we’ll be here. It’s a happy place and it’s your home. Our home.”
“You’re almost always happy,” he responded, thinking he should buy her some lingerie that fit her swollen breasts. But given how those breasts were ready to escape at the slightest movement he thought, maybe not.
“I want to be happy here because this is where you grew up. You’re a different person when you’re away from Hollywood. You have roots in Norway and now Bliss and I will have roots here as well.” She propped herself on an elbow, tracing his cheekbones with her finger. “It made me happy, and I wanted to make you happy too.”
“You have. Can I count on this type of wake-up call on a daily basis?”
“Talk to our daughter,” said Sunny, trying to roll out of bed at the sound of rustling coming from the baby monitor.
He helped her up and held her for a moment. “You’re right. We’ll be happy here.”
* * *
Mother and son were making a start on filling the bookcases in his office. “Am I a different person when I’m away from Hollywood?”
Judith put down the box and stared at Sven. “Where did that come from?”
“Something Sunny said. Don’t dodge the question, Mother.”
“Then, yes.”
“How?”
“You aren’t so driven and competitive. I understand you’ve had to be like that in order to succeed, but sometimes when I visit you in Los Angeles it’s like you’re not really there. You’re waiting for the phone to ring or for an email from your agent. You don’t let your guard down and you can be short with people.”
Sven grunted. “Well, I asked for your opinion.”
“You did. But can I add that each time I come to visit you in America you seem a little more relaxed and happy. That’s your wife and your family.”
“You’re not wrong. It’s just when I’m in LA there’s so much politics and ass kissing and which public appearances are important. It’s exhausting and it has nothing to do with acting.”
“It’s probably the same in most jobs, having to suck up to the boss and put up with unpleasant people. But I imagine it’s harder in show business because you can’t tell where the knife will come from.”
He laughed. “At least you always stab me in the front, Mother.”
“Just a glancing blow. Nothing fatal.”
Sven sighed as he rearranged his notes. “I miss Henry. He was always such a good sounding board for this stuff. When he died, I lost more than a good friend.”
Judith directed a glance at her son. “You lost a father.”
Sven looked up in surprise. He’d never realized his mother understood how deep his feelings for Henry were. Now he worried she would think he had somehow betrayed his own father. She didn’t seem upset, though.
“I know how much you relied on Henry. Even if your father were still alive he wouldn’t have been able to help you with show business. He was terrible at that kind of politics. Remember when he got thrown out of your soccer games for punching your coach?”
“That asshole kept putting his weasel son in. What was his name? Benny. He always kept putting Benny in as striker. What a waste. He couldn’t score in an empty net.”
“Your father was so angry. He even wrote to the officials about the nepotism. He loved watching you play.”
The sun shone through the skylights, giving the attic an intimate glow as they reminisced about Sven’s childhood.
“I remembered when we found out dad was dead.”
“Hmmm?” Judith looked up from her box of books. “Of course you remember. You were ten.”
“Mother, I hadn’t remembered for years; I’d blocked out the memories. It all came back to me the night Henry died.” He stopped sliding the stacks of books onto the shelves and took her hand. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more help to you then.”
“You were a child!”
“I was the man of the family.”
Judith stared at him aghast. “Has this been bothering you all these years? Sven, you were a child, my youngest. I should have done a better job of protecting you. I might have been able to if we’d gotten word right away. But . . .” she faltered. “It took so long to find the body. I knew in my head that with each passing day it was more likely he was dead, but somehow I told myself that if they hadn’t found him, then maybe he was still alive somewhere. Maybe he’d hit his head and couldn’t remember who he was. God, it sounds so stupid when I say it out loud now, like something out of a soap opera. I wasn’t thinking clearly then. But I never blamed you. I never expected you, or your sisters, to prop me up. That was my job as your parent. You feel the same about Bliss and will about the new baby. You’ll want to protect them, not the other way around, even if it’s not always possible.”
* * *
“I don’t understand.”
Sunny’s eyes shifted from Sven to Liam to Judith.
“He’s your assistant,” said Sven firmly, pointing at the young man and trying to ignore the stubborn expression on his wife’s face.
“Judith has already arranged for cleaners once a week and Fatima is going to help with Bliss most afternoons. Why do I need an assistant? I thought Liam was going to help you with your screenplay?”
Liam shuffled his feet, eyes down, embarrassed to be caught in the middle of this family discussion.
Judith tried her luck. “Someone to drive you. To help you around the house. Liam can help Sven as well, when you don’t need him.”
“Once again; I don’t need an assistant.” Sunny’s eyes flashed at Sven.
Judith sighed. “Liam and I are going to take the dog and Bliss to the park while you settle things. I told you we should have discussed this first,” she added with a look at her son.
As soon as the front door closed, Sunny squared off against her husband. “Explain it to me. Tell me why all of a sudden I am so feeble I need a minder. I’m not sick, I’m pregnant. I feel better this time around than I did when I was carrying Bliss and I looked after the villas and was on my own then.”
“That’s the point,” said Sven through clenched teeth. “You were on your own then. You aren’t now. I’m here and damn it, I’m going to look after you and the baby.”
“I am perfectly capable of looking after the house on my own.”
“Which is why I found you on the step ladder yesterday.”
“Stop making it sound as if I’d scaled the Burj Khalifa. It was two small steps. I was arranging the top shelves in the pantry.”
“And as soon as the landscaper finishes the garden design, I imagine you will be out there digging.”
“It’s not archaeology. So I’ll plant a few bushes. Put in some herbs. Maybe some tomatoes. I like to garden.”
“And walking the dog. And walking the baby. And taking swimming classes.”
“Exercise is good for pregnant women.”
“And cooking for the guys painting the exterior. And bringing snacks to the guys in the garden. And shopping and making meals for all of us. And entertaining my family and friends.”
“Absolutely!”
“What about the days when inspiration doesn’t strike and I want to show you some of Norway, maybe take you for a drive or a boat ride out into the fjord?”
“Then I’ll arrange to go with you.”
“What about how tired you are all the time? It’s not going to get better. You said this pregnancy is wearing you out more than the first one.”
“That’s because I’ve put on more weight this time, I’m sure of it. The ob-gyn in Los Angeles says I’m fine. Judith will get me a doctor here and he’ll say the same thing. I like to keep busy.”
“I don’t mind you keeping busy but I mind you not taking care of yourself.”
“I will. I am. I. Don’t. Need . . . A . . . Minder!” Sunny was practically shouting.
He took a different tack, trying out a gentle plea. “Do this for me.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t there the last time, when you were pregnant with Bliss.”
That stopped her in her tracks.
“I wasn’t there to help you then. I’m here now. I want to help you. I want to feel like I can keep you safe, for once. Surely you can understand that?”
Sunny’s anger ebbed away, replaced by guilt over her lack of understanding, her selfishness. She had put her stubborn independence ahead of his natural desire to protect the people he loved. She caved in, as he had anticipated. “Of course I understand.”
Sven gathered her up in his arms. “I want to cherish and coddle you, just a little bit. I know you are incredibly capable, but let me spoil you for a while.” He brushed the curls out of her face. “Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Have I told you how sexy you are when you’re angry? Your eyes get all dark green.” He bent and kissed her brow. “You get these bright spots of red right here.” He planted a kiss on her cheekbone. “Your heart starts to pound.” His finger dropped to her breastbone, gently rubbing the pulse that throbbed beneath the surface. He could feel it start to gather speed and had to turn his head away so she wouldn’t see him smile.
His hands went lower, tracing the line between her swollen breasts. One caressed her bulging belly, and the other dropped lower still, slipping between her legs. He was not surprised to feel the damp heat through the crotch of her jeans. He rubbed back and forth, slowly, persistently, as he slipped his tongue between her lips. Sunny moaned and returned the kiss, pulling him closer to her.
“I haven’t finished putting away all the clothes in our room yet. We could christen the guest bedroom.”
“Too far,” said Sven as he manipulated a swollen nipple between his forefinger and thumb. They moved to the front room, discarding a piece of clothing with each step.
* * *
“We’re back!” Judith shouted as she wheeled the carriage through the front door, while the dog barked and the baby giggled. Nobody could have missed the noise of their arrival.
She noted her son’s misbuttoned shirt. Sunny’s curls were more unruly than ever and her T-shirt was inside out. Sponge had rooted out a stray, abandoned sneaker, the laces bouncing the shoe against the dog’s muzzle.
“I take it you convinced her,” Judith acknowledged wryly.
“Was there ever any doubt?” Sven answered with a grin. “Liam, you have the job. You can start tomorrow.”
“The most important thing you need to know about working for these two,” Judith told Liam, “is always knock. If you’ve left them alone for more than thirty seconds, don’t enter a room without knocking or shouting. Or buy a bull horn.”
* * *
“There? In the front room? In the middle of the day?”
Astrid poured Liam a glass of milk and topped up her wine. “Are you sure?”
“Mother, there was no mistaking what they’d been up to. Judith went off right away to order blinds for the big window. She said the neighbours shouldn’t see Sunny and Sven naked before they’d been formally introduced.” He choked back a laugh. “I never knew old married people were so randy. And her pregnant! Judith said it’s worse when she’s pregnant.”
Astrid shook away the image of Sven making love to his pregnant wife.
“But I thought the job was to work with Sven on the screenplay. I didn’t know you were going to be Sunny’s errand boy.” Astrid couldn’t keep the sneer out of her voice.
“He says I can help him in the afternoon, when she goes for her nap. And other times too. I’m looking forward to it. The money’s good and I think it could be fun. Plus Sven says he will teach me some stuff about the movies, maybe even introduce me to some of the people he knows. It can’t hurt. Tomorrow he has an interview on NVK-TV. I get to tag along.”
“I never knew you wanted to be an actor.”
“I do and I don’t. It would be interesting just to see if I could do it. I may even take an evening drama class at the university.”