Taking Back Beautiful (10 page)

“What did you do to her?” Apollo demands with a chuckle, suddenly back outside with us on the sunshine sidewalk.

Michelle sniffles, “Who, me? Or her?”

“The both of you. What’s with the crying party out here? Did somebody die?”

“Shut up,” Michelle laughs and nudges Apollo’s arm with her elbow. “I’m embarrassed enough as it is.”

“What do you have to be embarrassed about, Mom?”

She frowns, “I want your girlfriend to like me, that’s what!”

“I do,” I giggle. I really do.

A waiter sticks his head out the front door and calls out, “Armstrong, party of three!!”

Apollo wraps his arm around me and smiles his sunshine smile. “That’s us. The Armstrong family. All three of us.”

I melt into his side.

And like that, I know we’ll be best friends forever.

I can’t explain it.

I just do.

Apollo Armstrong is my forever man.

Really and truly.

Chapter 14

DAPHNE

Six months later.

“You can do it, Lynn! One more rep!” I cheer.

She glares at me, sweat dripping down her face. “When I signed up for this, I did it so I could get squat fucked, not ass fucked.”

We both laugh as she strains to lift the empty bar to standing.

She walks it to the rack and sets it down. “How did you ever talk me into this?”

“It was your idea, remember?”

“You’re a liar, you know that?”

I laugh.

It’s true. I talked her into it. But it took a lot of talking.

Ever since I quit my job as a dental receptionist two months ago, I’ve been working here at Body Fitness as a personal trainer. It wasn’t hard to get the job because I’m sleeping with the new head trainer. Yes, Apollo got promoted. It also helps that he and I talk about healthy eating and healthy living every single day. Maybe it’s obsessive, but at least we’re obsessing about staying healthy. And we’re doing it together. There’s worse things to base a relationship on.

Anyway, deciding to work here was the logical next step for me because I was already spending all my free time here exercising or hanging out with Apollo whenever he wasn’t with a client. So why not work here? When I told Lynn I got the job, she said she’d be my first client. When I told her I had signed her up for a trial membership, it took a bit of convincing to get her to come in. But eventually she agreed. I’ve been training her ever since.

She blots her forehead with her workout towel. “I miss you at lunch, girl.”

“I miss you too.”

She smiles and pats my arm. “This is the right place for you.”

I nod. “It is.”

“You’re so lucky you get to work with your man.”

“You could work with Matt. He has an office staff. Can’t you be a receptionist for him?”

“Are you kidding?” she laughs. “We’d kill each other. Trust me. When you’ve been married eleven years, you’ll know what I mean.”

I smile. “You’re probably right.”

She grins, “I hope I’m wrong. I’m no prize. Then again, neither is Matt. But I love the man. What can I say? True love is blind dumb.”

I snort, “Ummm, how is that romantic again?”

“Love isn’t romance. Love is work. Take my kids for example.”

“Dylan and Nicholas? What about them?”

“No, take them!” She pleads. “Just for the weekend! So I can have some peace and quiet for once!” She laughs heartily. “I’m kidding. I love those two little firecrackers. But I’m telling you, true love is work. Relationships aren’t fairy tales.”

“I know.” I really don’t. But I’ll take her word for it.

Apollo waves and saunters over. “She busting your ladyballs again, Lynn?”

“All busted,” she chuckles.

“Good to see you here again, Lynn. Daphne tells me you’ve been coming along great with the training program.”

“Working on it. But I’m all trained out for the night. Now I need to hit the showers. I also need to have you two over to the house for dinner. I think my husband Matt could learn a thing or two from you about squat spotting.” She winks at Apollo.

Apollo narrows his eyes. “What?”

Lynn nods at me, “Ask her.”

I blush like roses.

“Bye you two!” Lynn catches my eye. “See you Thursday?”

“Yeah. For sure. Same time?”

“Eight o’clock. It’s the earliest I can get here after I cook the kids dinner. And by kids, I include Matt.” She waves as she wanders to the locker room.

Apollo arches an eyebrow. “What… did you tell her… about squatting?”

“Ummm,” I chuckle. “That was a long time ago. When we first met.”

“Did you tell her what we did that day? The
mmmm
and the
mmmm
?”

I wince, “I hope that’s okay.”

“No. It’s not okay.” The light goes out of his eyes.

“It’s not?”

“No. That was our thing. Now you’re telling everybody?”

“It’s just Lynn! She won’t tell anybody! She hasn’t even told her husband Matt!”

“Doesn’t matter,” he glowers. “I’ll still have to teach you a lesson for being such a naughty little girl.” Then he winks and the sunshine is back in his eyes, but it’s dark, like an eclipse. “I just have to figure out what form of punishment will give you the most excruciating…
orgasm
.”

“Oh! That sounds like my kind of punishment. Do tell.”

“No, I won’t tell. I’ll make you pay for your mistake when you least expect it.”

“Mmmmm. Deal. But I still have another client tonight.”

“Better watch your back then,” he warns with a wink.

“What did you have in mind?” I smile.

He grins, “Actually, I’ll be in the lap pool while you’re with your client. Need to blow off some steam.”

“I can do some blowing for you,” I giggle.

“Maybe later. But you can’t enjoy it. It has to be punishment.”

“How do you expect me
not
to enjoy sucking your cock?” I mean it. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. And his.

“Good point,” he chuckles. “We’ll hammer out the details of your punishment after I finish swimming.”

“You can do all the
hammering
you want…”

“I get it,” he smiles. “You want sex tonight. Let me finish my laps so we can go home and do it right.”

“Okay. If you insist. But do I get to see you in your sexy Speedo before you dive in?”

“Maybe after,” he smiles and walks to the men’s locker room.

My new client is a friend of Lynn’s. I’ve never met her before tonight. Her name is Anne and she reminds me of me, except younger. We have so much fun chatting together during her session that we lose track of time and finish up late. By the time she leaves, it’s nearly closing time and the gym is empty.

I make my way to the locker room to shower and change. I never would’ve imagined when I first came into Body Fitness that I would feel confident enough to shower here, but I do. It’s not a nightly routine, but I often do it when Apollo and I have dinner plans like tonight. We’re going to ReaXion to celebrate our one year anniversary.

I grab my shower tote from my locker and make my way to one of the shower stalls and pull the curtain closed. As always, I’m wearing my flip-flops. I don’t care how clean they keep the showers. Some precautions are worth the dorkishness. I put my hair up in a bun because we don’t have an hour for me to deal with it after it gets wet. Then I turn on the water and rinse myself under the warm spray.

The second I close my eyes, I think of Apollo. He’s all I think about these days. Somehow, that feels just right. I never thought I’d be so content in life, but I am. Because of him. And I’m—

SHRIK!!

The shower curtain whips open behind me and I instantly feel cold air on my back. I spin around and wipe water out of my eyes.

Apollo stands there nearly naked, wearing the smallest navy blue swimsuit known to man. His cock is rock hard and poking out above the waistband. This poking cock look is either dead sexy or the cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen. I take a second look. Nope, dead sexy.

He’s also wearing flip flops.

That
is the cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen. But I don’t even care. I laugh, “What are you doing in here? This is the women’s locker room!”

“We’re closed. There’s nobody here.” He pulls the shower curtain shut behind him.

“So?! It’s the principle! You’re invading my personal space!”

“I’m gonna be invading a lot more than your personal space in a second. And the only principle you need to worry about is the principle I’m gonna put up inside you while you’re screaming my name. I can’t believe you’re not pregnant yet.”

A small voice in the corner of my heart whispers:
One of you is sterile. Or both of you.
I ignore it. After six months of unprotected sex with the love of my life, I’ve gotten very good at ignoring that voice. “Then you better do something about that and start your invasion, Mr. Man.”

He grabs my wet butt with both hands and yanks me hard against him. His mouth smashes into mine and we kiss deeply. I roll his Speedo down and his cock pops out hard and strong between us.

I must be barren
.

I push the thought away because I’m soaking wet. And I’m not talking about the water raining down on my shoulders from the shower. I’m talking about the wetness raining between my legs.

He’s sterile.

I don’t want to think about it.

He hoists me up and I wrap my strong thighs around his waist.

He positions his throbbing head against my opening and I ease down.

He hisses, “Fuck, Daph. Every time I’m inside you it feels like the first fucking time I’ve ever had sex with anybody.”

“I know, love. I know.”

Apollo is so strong, he easily holds me up while fucking me. I help, using my legs. I never imagined I would have this much stamina or be this strong. A year ago, I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs without losing my breath.

Since then, Apollo and I have gotten
really
good at sex. We frequently have hour long sex sessions. I’m talking multiple times per week. Some weekends, we go even longer. But some times, we do it quick like this. We’re in a gym shower after all, not our apartment. Yes, I moved in with Apollo a month ago. It seemed like the right time.

As he lifts me up his cock, I clench my pussy around him before lowering myself back down. As always, our sex is magic and beyond anything I ever expected sex could be.

I whisper, “I love this fucking cock of yours.”

He murmurs in my ear, “Dirty talking now, are we?”

“Uh huh.”

“That’s a first,” he chuckles, continuing his slow thrusts, filling me perfectly. “I could do this all night.”

“If it was our shower I could. But I want dinner,” I whine as I climb up his cock.

“Worked up an appetite?” He thrusts.

“Uh huh.” I ease back down his cock.

“I’ve been watching you all day. Thinking about fucking you in this shower.”
Thrust.

“Then fuck me, you stud.”
Slide.

“You better believe I’m gonna fuck you. I’m gonna make you scream my name so loud they hear you in the movie theaters next door.”

I giggle at that.

“I can hear the two of you just fine!” Fashion Forty Fiona grumbles on the other side of the shower curtain. “Would you two hurry the fuck up and fuck so I can go home?”

I stifle a laugh by biting Apollo’s muscled shoulder.

He grunts, “Get the fuck out of here, Fiona!”

“This is the women’s locker room, Apollo!” she says snidely.

“I’m fucking my wife, Fiona! Take a fucking hike!”

“Your wife?” she blurts.

He growls, “Yes, my wife! Now leave already!”

“Just hurry the fuck up so I can go home,” she groans and walks off. Although Apollo is the head trainer, Fiona is responsible for locking up at closing.

“Fuck her,” Apollo mutters. “I’m not hurrying anything. She can fucking wait.” He resumes thrusting into me and I match his timing, grinding down against him.

“Did you call me your wife?” We’ve never made it official. No engagement, no ceremony. We just live together.

“Yeah I did. I told you almost a year ago I was going to marry you.”

“I thought that was a figure of speech.”

“It wasn’t. You’re gonna have my kids.”

Sterile.

I suddenly get all emotional. “I would love that.” I’m going to cry.

His eyes glimmer and his voice goes hoarse. “I mean it, Daph. You’re going to have my babies. Okay?” He suddenly sounds so uncertain.

Barren
.

He’s thinking the same thing.

“Yeah,” I nod, “Okay.”

“You mean it?” He sounds emotional, like maybe he’s on the verge of tears.

“I mean it,” I nod vigorously.

 
It’s not like we’ve never discussed the fact that I still haven’t gotten pregnant. We’ve discussed seeing fertility specialists. We’ve even discussed adoption in a round about way. Mainly, we avoid the topic because I think it hurts us both too much.

“Oh my god, Apollo, I’m coming…” I’m also weeping as the orgasm starts to shake me. Every muscle in my body clamps down.

“I love you, Daphne. I love you so fucking much.” His face tightens with emotion.

“I love you too, babe. I love you—oh my god!!!” My face knots and I bite his shoulder and I come even harder and he fires his seed into me.

He sucks in a sob and fires again and again.

A wave pulses up my core, milking him, trying to draw out every last drop. I sink down, taking in every inch of him.

In that moment, our hearts connect.

In that moment, something deep and profound opens between us.

Something eternal.

Chapter 15

DAPHNE

“Do you want dessert?” Apollo asks two hours later at ReaXion. We sit side by side in one of the back booths. Our usual booth. We learned after my first time here to call ahead for reservations.

“Dessert? Who stole my boyfriend?” I lift up his top lip and peer into his mouth. “Is there a robot cyborg in there?”

He snickers. “We can have dessert once in a while. Besides, we’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?”

“Hello! Our one year anniversary. I thought the guy was the one who was supposed to forget, not the girl.”