Chapter 11

Ron and April lay nude in bed and facing each other. He stroked her cheek. “I can’t believe it’s November already,” she said to him.

“Mattie seems to have settled in at school.”

“Yes, she’s happy there. She’s made some friends. You’ve been a really good provider for her, Ron. You bought her winter clothes and a new coat.” She kissed his cheek. “It was a nice seventh birthday for her. You were very generous.”

“You’ve helped out, now that you’re working full-time at Ford’s Point.”

“I have a grown-up girl’s paycheck,” she replied.

“And, a grown-up girl’s bank account,” he added.

“The school was happy with what I did last year. There was an opening and they extended the offer.”

“You know ... I kind of like this arrangement,” he remarked. “We have some time together to talk before we get down to business.”

“Now that we know for sure Mattie’s an empath,” April replied, “it’s especially critical we wait until she’s asleep. Sensing our passion would be ... confusing to a child, to say the least. The other day I was talking to her about what she feels from others, trying to understand the extent of her talents.”

“What did you learn from her?”

“These ... feelings had been intruding into her consciousness for as long as she remembered. It dawned on her that they were coming from others that morning when Brad assaulted her mom. She said she felt good from you and me, and bad from her parents. She put two and two together and realized she was reading us.”

“How long did it take you to figure it out?” he asked.

“I was a lot older. You have to realize I only had emotional connections to my folks and I always felt good in their presence. In my freshman year of high school I met a boy whom I liked and who liked me.”

“Aha! Teen-aged love rears its ugly head.”

“Reared it, it did indeed. I started forming that emotional bond ... and began to realize what my ability meant. I started talking to my mom about it. I was dumbstruck when she informed me that not everyone can do it, that it was something that ran in the family and that I should keep it a most deeply guarded secret.”

“We need to take a different approach with Mattie,” Ron replied. “She needs to know she’s been given a gift, but along with that gift comes responsibility in how she uses it.”

“Very well put.”

“So, your talent does run in your family.”

“Mom said it was passed from mother to daughter. Her mom was an empath, as was her grandmom. I thought Mattie would be safe.”

“Your mom was wrong. It was passed to Mattie through Brad.”

“Yeah. I haven’t told Mom about Mattie’s gift, yet. She’s starting to drift off.”

“For a kid whose nominal bedtime is eight-thirty, she sure takes a while settling down.”

“I was like that. I tell her she can read for half an hour but she usually stretches out. I have to go in her room a couple of times each night to remind her it’s lights out. She’s a voracious reader.”

“I was blown away when I realized she’s reading at a fourth or fifth grade level.”

“I was, too, at her age. I was a real conundrum to my teachers. How could a kid who’s smart enough to handle middle-school reading be so stupid with math?”

“By the way,” he remarked, “I had a phone call from Gloria. She and Dad want us to come for Thanksgiving. Steve and Connie will be there, too.”

“They don’t have children, do they?” she asked.

“No. Connie is unable to,” he replied. “I said we’d come. I also told her that we’re engaged and that we’ve taken Mattie under our wings.”

“How did she take it?”

“She’s over the moon. She is my step-mom, even though I was launched before Dad married her. You and I were meant for each other, she said. She’s also delighted to have an instant almost-granddaughter to spoil.”

“Okay ... She’s asleep now.”

Ron embraced her and began kissing her lips, each kiss more passionate than the last. He kissed her neck and shoulders and then between her breasts.

“How did you keep all that passion in check until now?” April asked.

“I dunno but I am hornier than a three-peckered billy goat.”

“Hold on, big guy. You know I just got over having my period.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m hornier than a three-peckered billy goat.”

“Are you saying you’ve gone unsatisfied every night for the past week?”

“No ... but, nothing’s the same as real sex. It’s been a week since I’ve been able to sink into that luscious, warm pussy of yours.”

“First, we need to check to make sure my IUD is still in place.”

“We haven’t done that before,” he replied.

“That’s because I usually check it myself before bed once my period is over. About the only time a woman is at risk of dislodging it is during her period. I forgot to check today.”

“How do you check for it?”

“You reach in and feel for the threads.” She lay on her back, spread her thighs and crossed her arms above her head. “Maybe you’d like to check for it.”

“My pleasure.” Ron knelt by her hips and with his left hand spread her labia. “Hello, pussy ... did you miss me? I sure missed you...” He put two fingers in his mouth and used his saliva to lubricate between her inner lips. Wetting his fingers again he eased them into her vagina. “What am I looking ... feeling for?” he asked.

There should be two threads coming out of my cervix. Push in deep.”

“Yeah, I feel them. IUD is safe for another month. I wonder why I’ve never noticed them before?”

“You probably weren’t looking for them. That feels nice.”

Ron gently stroked the roof of her vagina with his fingertips. “This?”

“Yes, that. Can you do that for a while?”

“Sure...”

“Can you do that for a while and be up here by me?” April rolled onto her right side, her left knee bent to keep her thighs open.

Ron shifted so he was lying on his left side facing her with his right hand between her legs. “Is this the right spot?” He resumed stroking her internally.

“Mmm ... Yes.” She gazed into his eyes and caressed his face. “I love you so much,” she said.

“I love you, too. Is this doing anything for you?”

“It feels interesting like I could go somewhere with it...” April plumped a pillow under his head and guided his face to her chest. She held her left breast to his lips. “Nurse,” she said. Ron drew her nipple between his lips and caressed it with his tongue until it firmed. “Take more of me into your mouth...” Ron drew most of her wide areola into his mouth, her nipple back near his soft palette and began sucking and massaging it with his tongue. He could feel her nipple firming. “Oh, that feels good,” she said. “Mmm ... Now it’s building. Don’t change it.”

She held his face against her breast and ran her fingers through his hair. Ron synchronized his suckling with his internal stroking -- two strokes with his tongue to each full stroke with his fingers. He realized April had synched her breathing with his stroking and he could feel her heart starting to pound.

“I’m feeling it in my clit again -- it’s getting big and hard...” April released him and rolled partway on her back. “Other side,” she said and Ron began suckling her right breast. Her breathing continued to deepen. “Ron!” she gasped. “I’m gonna come!” She held her hand over her mouth to deaden a moan. Her belly twitched and her legs shook. “Enough!” she panted and Ron removed his fingers.

He brought his fingers to her lips. She parted them and he slid them into her mouth. “You were getting pretty wet down there.”

She rolled onto her back and opened her arms and legs to him. Ron eased his manhood into her as he lay atop her, feeling her smooth belly against his. He held her head and kissed her lips. She twined her legs with his. “God, this feels good,” he said.

“Feels good to me, too,” she replied. Ron began taking his pleasure with a combination of thrusting and rotating his hips to maximize friction on his glans. “You’re right,” she panted, “nothing beats skin-on-skin, exchange of body fluids, real sex.” Her breathing deepened. “Milk my breasts.”

He lifted up on his elbows and began firmly caressing them from back to front. He ended each stroke by pinching her nipples. His arousal was building. Soon he sensed fullness near his prostrate that signaled the onset of his orgasm. What happens next would be out of his control -- not that he wished to control it if he could. Much of his pleasure derived from abandoning himself to the inevitable, and now he had reached the point of no return. Ron pressed against her and ejaculated. “Oh, God,” he gasped as his climax peaked and began to recede.

Simultaneously April let out a loud moan and then covered her mouth. They held each other tightly as their breathing slowed. “Wow,” she said. “I think I had another.”

“You mean, you didn’t feel mine this time?”

“Of course I felt yours, but there was something more.”

“You’re right about one thing, April. You don’t have a G-spot. The entire roof of your vagina is your G-spot. Give it gentle, consistent stroking, add nipple stimulation and you can carry it across the goal line.”

“I also need to feel your arousal and desire,” she added. “I felt that in spades tonight. It was wonderful.” She kissed him. “Sex with you is so satisfying and so different than with any of my other partners ... I’m glad hearing that that pleases you.”

“What pleases me is that we have each other ... under my roof. I don’t care how many other partners you’ve had. All that matters is that we have each other, now.”

Ron switched off the nightstand lamp. April cuddled against him, her leg wrapped around his and holding him across his chest. He held her shoulder blades and stroked her back. He felt her body relax as she drifted to sleep.

“APRIL! ... APRIL!” Ron was startled awake by Mattie crying and screaming for April.

April got up. “Something’s wrong,” she said. “I’ll go see what’s the matter.”

“Do you want me to come, too?”

“I’ll take care of it. You get your rest ... for your heart.”

“What do you sense from her?”

“Terror.” April slipped into her lightweight robe and tied the belt. “She probably had a bad dream. That’s what it usually is in the middle of the night.” April closed the bedroom door behind her.

Ron lay on his back, his heart palpitations beginning to subside. Drowsiness overcame him and he closed his eyes.

He was awakened by the alarm app on his phone -- a gentle, swelling musical chord that eased him awake instead of startling him. He reached for his phone to silence it. Shit, he thought, today is Saturday. Why did I set this frickin’ thing?

April roused. “What time is it?”

“Too early. I forgot today is Saturday and not a school day for Mattie or a work day for you. You can go back to sleep if you want.”

“Your heart is okay?”

He sighed. “Yes, it’s okay. I told you -- after enough of these episodes, you get used to them.”

“I will never get used to feeling discomfort from you,” she replied and cuddled against him.

“What was with Mattie last night?”

“She had a nightmare. When I went in there she was blubbering away and I felt the strongest terror from her. She held onto me like a monkey and once she settled down she told me her dream. She dreamt that the police came and took you and me away to jail and then Brad and Rayla took her home. Except instead of her room upstairs they put her in a dungeon in the basement with no light and a door with bars on it.”

“That sounds like a pretty scary dream,” he replied, “especially for a seven-year-old.”