Authors: D. T. Jones
“What about the other bodies? Is there any news on them?”
“Not yet, but forensics told Andrew they all look to have been buried between ten and fifteen years ago.”
“You need to call Miriam,” Sandra said sternly. “We need some answers before we go back to England.”
“This is not how I planned on spending our honeymoon,” he snapped as he stood up and paced the floor to the window.
“Since it’s still raining, we can’t go camping and you said yourself we can’t use the Tornado.” She walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her cheek against his strong back. “It’s been a wonderful honeymoon so far, a dream come true and I promise it will continue, but we need to help Andrew. I don’t want this hanging over our heads the rest of our lives.”
“I’m sorry all of this happened,” he told her through a thick tone filled with anger and frustration. “I just wanted to give you the fairytale love story you always dreamt of.”
“And that’s what I’ve gotten,” she insisted when he turned around and wrapped her in his warm embrace. “I have my Prince Charming and a wonderful, lovely fantasy to live out with him. You did promise me a life of adventure, didn’t you? Consider this an installment of that promise.” Creighton kissed her lips gently, hugging her close to his chest.
“I love you so much, Sandra,” he whispered against her ear, causing waves of anticipation and chills of desire to race along her spine.
“And I love you. Now call Miriam, let’s get this finished and return to our own world of perverted passion.” Creighton laughed full and joyful as he kissed her again, removing the phone from his pocket. His arm remained around her waist while she laid her head against his chest. He dialed the number Andrew had given him and waited for the connection.
“Miriam,” he said a moment later. “It’s Creighton Ashford…I’m good. I’m sorry to hear about your father…we are in France. Sandra and I are on our honeymoon…it was a huge surprise to us as well. That’s what I’m calling for, among other things. I would like to get together and talk with you…Sandra and I can meet you whenever it’s convenient…I would love see your clinic, if it’s possible…we can definitely make it, just tell me when…tomorrow sounds great. We’ll see you then.” He hung up the phone and slid it back into his pocket, wrapping both arms around his wife.
“Why did you tell her you wanted to see her clinic?”
“Because it was a good excuse to meet with her and maybe take her off guard a bit; if she knows anything more than she
wrote about, it may help to have her distracted with other things.”
“We aren’t going to stay there, are we?” Sandra asked with a suspicious gleam in her bright green eyes as she stared up at him, causing him to smile seductively.
“I highly doubt she would be willing to let us take advantage of her facilities just because of old time sake. You said her patients go through a battery of tests and red tape and we haven’t done any of that. It may give us a few ideas though, something new to spice up our humdrum routine.”
“There has never been anything humdrum about our routine,” she argued with an amused grin. “You are an endless wealth of ideas.”
“So I assume you’re happy with the way I love you?”
“Yes, to a point.”
“What do you mean, to a point?” He frowned as he pulled away from her slightly.
“I don’t know if I’m just really tired or…maybe I’m getting ready for my cycle,” she blushed as she spoke to him. “I’m just sore. Last night was a little more than I think I can handle.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because I was enjoying it, but today my breasts really hurt and I’m kind of crampy.” Creighton’s jaw set as he pulled her out of his arms to stare into her flushed face.
“Never hide this from me,” he stated. “If I’m doing something you can’t handle or don’t want to do tell me and I’ll stop. Our love life is very important to me and I will not have you regretting our time together, is that understood?” Sandra nodded, lowering her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I really was enjoying it. It was just today that I regret it. I feel like I’ve been on the back of horse for a week.” Creighton relaxed slightly, pulling her back into his embrace and kissing her forehead.
“So we’ll take it easier for a while until you’re ready to go a little stronger.”
“Just give it time. I usually have breast pain and abdominal pains when I get ready for my period.”
“So in other words, I need to be ready for your monthly mood swings?” Sandra smiled against his strong embrace and nodded. He knew too much about this sort of thing, more than he really should.
“Let’s go get some lunch,” he told her a few moments later. “We’ll stop at the store and load up on chocolates and tampons.”
“That’s the strangest combination I’ve ever heard of,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“But it’s what Sabrina does,” he told her, walking with her to the closet where they pulled out their jackets and umbrella. “I swear she gains five pounds every month during her cycle. She has the PMS thing worse than my mum or Irena put together. When she was younger and we saw the bags of sweeties, the rest of us avoided the house as much as we could. We were lucky to have lived on a farm; at least we had a reason to stay out of the house for a week without making it obvious.”
“This has to be one of the oddest conversations I’ve ever had with a man,” Sandra said with an amused smile.
“It could be worse,” he teased her. “You could be married to a perverted stalker.”
As predicted, Sandra awoke the next morning to find herself
spotting; the rain before the storm. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted but at least she understood her frustration and aggravation lately. It also explained why their wedding night had been so emotional; PMS was never one of her friends. Two weeks of hell for two weeks of sanity, somehow it never seemed like a fair trade.
Creighton watched her over their breakfast as she finished reading Miriam’s book and set it aside. His eyes scanning her face as though he was trying to memorize every detail. When she looked up and caught him staring, she blushed
.
“So how was the rest of the book?” he asked, pushing the
empty plate of crepes aside.
“It was good, I mean in a demented, perverted sort of way. There wasn’t anything else about her family though.”
“So talking to her is going to be necessary after all.”
“I suppose, but you already made arrangements to meet with her. You can’t back out now.”
“I suppose not,” he said, looking down at the glass of orange juice in his hands. “I guess I was hoping to find a confession of sorts so we would be done with this and not have to think about it any longer.”
“But I thought you were looking forward to seeing her clinic?”
“What would make you think that?” A slight frown furrowed his brow as he looked at her.
“I could tell from the way you were talking to her. Why wouldn’t you want to see it? She made you the man you are… at least the lover you’ve become.”
“Are you complaining?”
“Not really. I rather enjoy your perverted side
, even if I’m exhausted beyond words.” Creighton stared at her, an amused gleam in his dark eyes as he drank the juice then stood up.
“So I take it you’re not opposed to learning a few new tricks?” Sandra followed suit as he walked into the kitchen, joining her plate with his in the double sink.
“I wasn’t aware there were any tricks you didn’t know?”
“Don’t know that there is, but it’s always a good idea to stay abreast of anything unique that could create a little added pleasure.”
“Any more added pleasure and I’ll never walk again,” she laughed, watching his smile widen when he pulled her into his arms.
“I’ll take it easy on you…for a while at least. Yo
u need to work up to an all-nighter.”
“Lord
, help me,” she sighed in feigned exasperation.
“Let’s
get dressed and get out of here.” He slapped her bottom as she turned to go into the master bedroom. “I want to have done with this mess and come home and relax with you.”
“That’s all you’re going to be able to do,” she smiled. “I am bleeding you know?”
“So?”
“That’s disgusting,” she snapped, coming to a halt by the bedroom door, her eyes wide as she stared at him in disbelief.
“What’s disgusting? It’s a part of life and marriage. I don’t care if you’re bleeding; I don’t want that to interfere with our honeymoon.”
“No way, not a chance,” she assured him sternly. “I will not have sex while I’m on my period. It’s gross enough
just being on it and I don’t want to be all bloody when we’re finished. Yuck!”
“We’ll see,” he assured her, turning
her back around and nudging her to walk through the bedroom door.
The road to Paris was wet but the ride was pleasant enough with the soft jazz music playing over the stereo. Sandra relaxed against the back of the seat; she really liked this car and was glad Creighton kept it available for when he was in France. The Mercedes was a true piece of work; elegant, sleek and expensive. She was shocked at herself, at how easily she was getting used to having money; she had never had more than a few hundred dollars extra a year and that was usually after getting her tax return, so spending without thought was new to her. She had to admit, she would be a liar if she said she didn’t like not having to worry about the cost of an item.
The traffic was horrible in the heart of Paris, especially considering the rain. Sandra had assumed people would avoid driving as much as possible and use public transportation as she used to do, but it didn’t seem to make a difference here. The many cars continued to fill the streets and parking lots while many people ran or hovered under umbrellas in doorways and under covered shop windows to avoid getting wet.
Creighton was absorbed in his own world as they turned off the road that led into the business district of Paris. Knowing that Sandra wasn’t pregnant was a letdown, though pregnancy was not something he had ever considered before. Being a father was an idea he avoided like the plaque, but having her in his life made him rethink what direction he was traveling and he didn’t like the prospect of where he would be now if he hadn’t seen her two years ago.
She said he was her
Prince Charming, but in reality, he knew she was his savior; the one who rescued him for a dismal existence, a life filled with dark perversion, far beyond anything she could imagine. He wanted to start over, and she gave him the opportunity to do just that. With her, he had hope, dreams for his future. He wanted a family, a home, a happily ever after that only she could provide for him.
“Are you nervous about seeing her again?”
she asked as they stopped in the middle of the street for a group of pedestrians to cross.
“No, why?” He turned to her and frowned slightly.
“You just seem distracted. I wasn’t sure if it was because you were seeing your old lover or the reasons you were seeing her.”
“Neither one actually,” he told her, turning back to the road and moving forward again. “I was thinking about you.”
“What about me?”
“We haven’t decided what to do about birth control. Do you want to see a doctor, or do you want to continue as we’ve been doing and just take our chances?”
“To be honest, I was rather getting used to the idea of having a baby,” she said softly. “Especially after seeing Kristen and how happy she is being a mother. I suppose I didn’t really think it would be an issue after as much sex as we’ve been having. I really thought I was pregnant, or at least conceiving.”
“
There is always next month, unless you’ve changed your mind?”
“I’m not very keen on hormones,” she said a few moments later as they headed out of town toward
Dijon where Miriam’s private clinic was located. “I tried them once to control my cycles and it made me a lunatic.”
“We could stick with condoms?”
“Like you would remember them?” she teased with an amused laugh.
“If that’s what you want, I would remember them.” Sandra sighed as she thought about their situation. She really wanted to have a
family; in fact she was subconsciously anticipating when she would deliver and how to set up a nursery once they were in their own home. If she were to be honest with herself, she was very disappointed that she wasn’t pregnant.
“
Maybe we should just continue as we have and not think about it,” she told him at last.
“Are you
sure this is what you want?” he asked softly. “I mean, I didn’t consider it before we were married and as much as I really want to have a family now, the choice is yours.”
“
No, it’s ours. It’s one we make together. I’m not getting any younger and having a family sounds like a wonderful dream come true. Like I said, we don’t know if we can even have children; I’ve never tried before.”
“We’ll have a
family that I’m sure of. We’ll just try and forget about all the ifs and maybes until things happen, agreed?” Sandra nodded with a soft blush. Maybe there was hope for a normal life with this man after all.