A Broken Man (7 page)

“What?” Ethan looked mortified.

“I’m serious.”

“No, of course not.”

“Tell me the truth!”

“All right, all right. I admit it. I got turned on, I’m sorry. It’s just you were rubbing my legs, and your shirt is wet, and I could sort of see—”

“No, look.” She grabbed each side of his head and directed his eyes down at his lap.

“You mean…?” Ethan’s voice broke, and Sarah watched as the realization hit him.

“Yep. Not so useless to a woman after all.” She was genuinely happy for him. Before she realized what was happening, Ethan had scooped her up and pulled her to him for a big hug.

“What’s that scent?” he asked. “Like flowers.”

“Oh, must be my perfume.” She flushed. “Gardenias.”

“You put on perfume? On your day off. For me?”

He pulled her tighter. His wet skin was pressed against her body, and she could feel his erection pushing at her belly. His breathing picked up, and he pulled her back to look at her. She started to speak, but his mouth was on hers before she could form the words. There was no playful exploring this time. He kissed her hard, slow, and deep, and all logic, rational thought, and common sense went right out of her brain.

His hands tugged at her, aggressively groping and squeezing. In the water, he was mobile and unencumbered by his injury. He tore at her top, yanking it up over her head. She liked this side of him. He licked along her collarbone, sending a shudder through her body. Sensations overwhelmed her. His hands, his mouth, the water pulsing and swirling around them, it was almost too much. She let loose a guttural moan, and he practically growled in response.

“Wait, wait.” She pushed herself back from him. “We need a condom.”

“Bathroom. Top drawer.”

Sarah hopped out and rushed to get it, dripping water all the way. Rational thoughts started to form, but she shooed them away. They were both consenting adults; they could do what they wanted. And oh, she wanted it. Part of her was scared he’d change his mind before she got back, but the look in his eyes told her she had nothing to worry about. She handed him the condom, and he put it where he could reach it when the time came. Water sloshed out when she slid back into the tub.

She reached behind her and undid her bra, and he sucked in a sharp breath when it released. His mouth devoured her left breast, and his hand cupped her right. Her nipples hardened as if on command. He flicked and sucked the tender skin, and she let loose a satisfied moan. In that moment, she couldn’t remember anything in her life ever feeling so damn good. Finally, grudgingly, he pulled himself away. One hand grasped each side of her waist, and he lifted her to a standing position over him, one of her legs on either side of his. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he undid her shorts and slid them down.

“You. Are. Beautiful.” Each word was punctuated by a breathy kiss on her stomach. He slid a finger into the sides of her soaking wet panties, and her pussy throbbed with anticipation. He slipped them over her hips and stared at her, obviously enjoying the view. His fingers grazed first the outside, then the inside of her thighs. He pulled one leg and then the other out of the water to free her of the clothes, planting a kiss on each thigh in turn. His left hand slipped around to cup her ass, while his right thumb swirled lazy circles over her clit.

For a moment she was afraid she’d slip and fall, but the hand holding her ass steadied her. Fingertips lightly danced around the edges of her pussy. Then, in one quick motion, he used his left hand to yank her hips forward, thrusting her toward his mouth, just as he slid a finger inside her. She cried out and clutched at his shoulders.

The undulating motions of his tongue and fingers synced into a slow, orgasmic rhythm. Her labored breaths turned into outright pants as she came closer and closer to the edge. She wound her fingers into his thick hair. He pulled his left hand away from her ass, but she was so focused on her own pleasure that she couldn’t be bothered to see what he was doing down there. She heard the condom wrapper crinkle as he tore it open with his teeth. The pressure grew, building in intensity, until all at once it broke through like a river breaking through a dam. Her body convulsed and shook, and just when she thought it was subsiding, Ethan grabbed her hips and pulled her down into the water and onto his waiting cock.

Her wet pussy accepted him easily, but the surprise maneuver took her breath away. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop. Her hands slid over his wet, naturally hairless chest. If he hadn’t been so fit before the accident, his muscle-tone would be gone by now, but he was still lean and cut. He rocked her slowly at first, giving her time to regain control of her senses. She sucked down quick sips of air.

She lifted up, rolled her chest, and came down on his shaft in a hard thrust.

“God. More, please.”

She obliged. Water sloshed out of the tub as she came down on him over and over again. He gripped her hips and took control, pumping her weightless body in the water. He kissed at her chest. Then he placed one of her hands behind his neck and whispered for her to lean back. One of his hands maintained their rhythm, while the other pinched and tweaked at her clit. Her breasts bounced in and out of the water, the cool air a shock each time her warm nipples broke the surface.

She was going to come again. A single, uninterrupted “aah” came out of her mouth when the orgasm hit, this one more gently than the first. He slowed his pace, and in just a second, his own body jerked and trembled. A look that can only be described as surprise took over his face. He reeled her in, and she wrapped her arms around him, collapsing over him as their erratic breathing slowed and began to normalize.

She had to pry herself off of him to fetch a towel and fish her underwear out of the Jacuzzi. She helped him into his chair and toweled them both off.

“So, how was that?”

“Fishing for compliments?” A smirk turned up one corner of his mouth.

“More like professional curiosity.” She swatted him playfully with the towel.

He nodded his head seriously. “I don’t know how to describe it. Surreal. Different. Not like it was before, but not in a bad way. Mostly, it’s a relief. I can get hard; I can fuck; I can come. This is the greatest day of my life since the accident.” He meant it, too. She could tell. Though the truth of the matter went so much deeper than the fact that he was able to perform the physical act. What mattered was that all the bullshit fell away. For a little while, they’d both forgotten about the injury and the chair and had just been two people doing what felt good.

“Had your doctors said anything about what sex would be like?”

“Just that I shouldn’t get my hopes up.”

She leaned over and picked up his sweatpants, the same ones he’d been wearing the night before. A red G-string slipped out of the pocket. She looked down at it blankly before snatching it up and waving it in front of his face.

“Seriously, creep-o? What’s this?”

“I’m sorry. They were there. Out in the open in the laundry room. I took them. It was an impulse.”

“They’re underwear, not a stick of gum by the register.” She feigned anger, but couldn’t summon the real thing so soon after two orgasms.

“Won’t happen again. You know, now that I’ve been in them.”

She slapped his shoulder with the panties. “It better not. Not if you ever want to get in them again.”

“That’s a possibility?”

“I don’t know.” The laughter was gone. “Maybe.”

Chapter Ten

The next day was a Saturday, but Sarah had to go in to work. She got up and got dressed, plagued by uncertainty over what had happened the night before. They’d both needed something from each other. She’d needed to be fucked, to be reminded she was still a woman and not just a mom. He’d needed to prove to himself that he was still a man. And damn if it wasn’t good. But she didn’t want to let those things confuse the situation. This whole thing was some kind of fucked up, untidy heap of transference and Florence Nightingale effect, not to mention that it was highly unethical for her as a therapist.

It couldn’t happen again. She finished getting dressed and headed out to find Ethan already up.

“You going to be okay today?” she asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s nothing. I’m nervous about you and Jared spending the day alone together.”

“We’ll be fine.” He looked down at his chair for effect. “Seriously, how much trouble can we get into?”

That’d have to do. She was late. She grabbed her keys and walked out the door with a wave.

* * *

Truth be told, Ethan was nervous about spending the day alone with Jared, too. He didn’t have much experience being around kids, and he wasn’t sure what they’d talk about. Maybe it’d be better if he just hid in his bedroom all day. As if on cue, Jared came out of his room at that very moment. Too late to hide.

“Hey,” Jared said.

“Hey.”

The two had breakfast in near silence, broken only by the sounds of their crunching. Finally, Ethan ventured a question.

“So, you like sports?”

“Not really.”

There went all hope of Ethan finding some common ground.

“Hiking? Mountain biking? Any outdoor activities?”

“Nope. Definitely not.”

“What do you like?”

“Video games. Building stuff.”

Ethan could barely email. “What kind of stuff do you build?”

“Computers. Electronics. Mechanical stuff.”

“Oh.” Another strike. He was on fire.

From over by the French doors leading to the deck, Dame let out a soft whine and scratched at the glass. Jared hopped up and went over to let her out.

“Thanks. You like Dame?”

Jared’s face lit up. “Yeah, she’s great. Oh! That reminds me. I’ve been working on something for her.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Jared ran off to his bedroom and emerged a few moments later with a small object made of metal wire. He held it up proudly and raced over to the door. Ethan had no clue what it was supposed to be. Jared slipped the top wire over the knob and then opened the door, fitting the rest inside the door’s closing mechanism. He opened and closed the door a few times to test it, and once he was satisfied he hooked on a loop that hung down from the doorknob. He retrieved a tennis ball from his back pocket. The ball had been slit in half, and he slipped it on over the loop and stood back.

“What do you think?”

Ethan had no fucking clue what to think. “What is it?”

“Watch.” Jared reached down and slapped at the tennis ball. The door popped open. “See, she can just hit it with her paw when she needs to go out. Automatic doggy door.”

“Whoa, that’s incredible. You figured that out all by yourself?”

“Wasn’t hard.” Jared shrugged his shoulders.

“You think she’ll be able to learn how to use it?”

“Totally. She’s really smart. I’ve already taught her some new tricks.”

“Maybe you could show me?” This kid thing wasn’t so hard after all. Ethan patted himself on the back for a job well done.

An hour later, they ran out of things to talk about. Jared and Dame showed off the new tricks they’d been working on, but eventually Dame got tired and lay down for a nap. Ethan was out of ideas.

“So, uh…you like school?”

“It’s all right.”

“Got any homework over the weekend?”

“Nope, we’re out for winter break.”

“How long does that last?”

“Three weeks.”

“You’re not going back to school for three weeks?” Ethan was on the verge of panic. It hadn’t been three hours yet, and they were bored of each other.

“No. So…since we live here now, does that mean we’ll have Christmas here, too?”

“I guess.”

“But you don’t have a tree.”

“Oh.” Ethan looked around the room. Nope, nothing that resembled a tree anywhere to be found. He never put up a tree. It was just him, and he was always gone anyway. Holiday tours usually sold out. “Should we put one up?”

“Could we?”

“Why not?”

“Where do you keep it? In the attic?”

“Keep what?”

“Your tree. Mom keeps ours in the attic.”

“You mean an artificial tree? I don’t have one of those. I always used to go out and chop one down with my dad.”

Jared’s face fell. “Oh. Well, thanks anyway.”

“You don’t want a tree anymore?”

“I do, but how are we supposed to get one?”

He meant how are a nerd and a cripple supposed to get one. That fired Ethan right up. They would have a fucking tree.

“You built the dog a door opener out of wires and a tennis ball. Surely between the two of us, we can figure out how to bring in a tree.”

* * *

Sarah came home exhausted after a long day of work. She worried about how the boys had gotten on all day without her. She half-expected to find them both hidden away in their respective bedrooms. To her surprise, she heard them laughing and talking in the living room. They seemed to be having a good time. Color her impressed.

“What on earth happened here?”

They both turned to look at her with what could only be described as shit-eating grins. A tall, skinny Christmas tree stood next to the fireplace. A hacksaw lay in the floor beside it. Green needles littered the room all the way to the French doors. There was also a set of distinct, snow-covered tire marks running along the same path. The two of them had somehow gotten down the hill, chopped down a tree, and dragged it inside without hurting themselves or freezing to death. Out on the deck, she could see that they had rigged up some sort of pulley system to get the thing in the house.

Ethan was parked on one side of the tree adjusting a garland, and Jared stood on the other. They each fished ornaments out of a large box in the middle of the floor. Dame lay contentedly at their feet.

“We decided we should have a tree,” Ethan said matter-of-factly.

“O-OK. How did you get it in the house?”

“We improvised.”

“Where’d you get the decorations?”