Double Dare (A Neighbor from Hell Book 6) (16 page)

Chapter 26

The Next Day…

              “Morning!”

             
I’m going to kill her….

              Not Jodi, even though her annoyingly chipper attitude demanded some form of retribution, but she wasn’t the one who had done this to him. No, the woman that he wanted to throttle was none other than his beautiful wife. He could have forgiven her for screwing him over at the buffet, but the way that she’d left him, desperate, hard and eager to do anything to get her naked beneath him had guaranteed revenge.

              That kiss…that fucking kiss…

              She’d surprised him with that kiss, knocking him on his ass when she’d leaned down and threaded her fingers through his hair as she took his mouth in a kiss that left him panting and desperate for more. By the time he’d reached for her, it had been too late. The fucking tease had jumped back out of his reach, knowing that he was in no shape to follow after her.

              He’d been forced to sit there, panting and praying desperately that his cock would settle down quickly so that he could go after her. He’d watched as the smiling woman with the beautifully flushed cheeks had sauntered out of the restaurant, her ass swaying enticingly, guaranteeing that he wouldn’t be able to follow after her anytime soon.

              After that things got a little...
hazy
.

              He vaguely remembered something about mashed potatoes, lettuce flying everywhere, screams, cries for help and being thrown out of the restaurant. He wished that he could claim that he couldn’t remember the rest of the night, but unfortunately for him that wasn’t the case and God, how he wished he could forget the horror of witnessing the destruction one small drunk woman could cause.

              “Kill. Me,” Danny groaned somewhere by the bed and as much as Darrin would like to get in on that prayer, he had other matters to deal with today.

              “Rough night?” Jodi asked, sounding disgustingly cheerful.

              “
You
did this to me!” Danny snarled accusingly as Darrin forced his eyes open and tried to figure out how he’d managed to crawl beneath the small coffee table and pass out.

              “Me?” Jodi asked, sounding surprised when she should be apologizing to both of them and begging for their forgiveness.

              “I hate you both,” Darrin groaned as he made his first attempt to crawl out from under the table and failed.

              “Exactly how much did the two of you drink last night?” Jodi asked, swallowing nervously as she took a step back and out of their reach.

              “How much did
we
drink last night?” Darrin repeated, shaking his head in disgust.

              “Not half as much as you did!” Danny snapped from where he lay on the floor, blindly reaching up and grabbing the blanket off the bed as he glared at the small woman glancing nervously between the two of them.

              “I didn’t drink last night,” Jodi muttered with a thoughtful frown and even he had to admit that the small woman was adorable, but after what she’d done to them last night it really didn’t matter.

              “I really hate you,” Darrin mumbled with a pained groan as he finally managed to crawl out from under the coffee table and get to his feet.

              “Where are you going?” Danny asked, looking like he was going to be sick.

              “To my room where I can die in peace,” he said, stumbling his way to the door, deciding that admitting that he was planning on spanking his beautiful wife’s ass until it was black and blue and she was unable to run away before they could settle a few things would probably bite him in the ass later.

*-*-*-*

              “Move over,” Darrin said even as he flopped down on the bed and curled up behind her.

              “No, get out,” she muttered pathetically, whimpering a bit at the end there.

              “Make me,” he mumbled in her ear, almost sounding as exhausted as she felt as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, but she knew that was impossible.

              She’d never been this exhausted before in her life and she could blame the bastard shifting behind her, trying to get comfortable, for it.

              After she’d made a hasty retreat last night, for obvious reasons, she’d rushed back to the hotel, switched to a new room, hit the gift shop downstairs and loaded up on drinks, snacks and magazines before she’d rushed back upstairs, threw the locks and breathed a sigh of relief that she’d managed to get away before he could get his hands on her. Her relief was short lived though, because not even an hour later he’d been at her door demanding that he let her in so that they could “talk.”

              She probably would have considered letting him in so that they could work things out if he hadn’t been snarling promises to turn her ass black and blue and make her think twice about using his love of food against him again. Deciding that it was for the best to ignore him, she settled for taking a long relaxing bath. She’d just taken her clothes off when the hotel door was thrown open and Darrin, looking angrier than she’d ever seen him before, stormed inside the room.

              When he’d spotted her, he came to a halt and licked his lips as he ran hungry green eyes that promised to make up for the last month, over her. Before he could make good on that promise, and God, how she’d wanted him to do just that, Danny had been there, putting him in a chokehold and dragging him off. It had taken her a few minutes and a cold bath to help her realize that it had been for the best.

              She wished that she could say that had been the end of it, but unfortunately for her and the rest of the guests at the hotel last night, that wasn’t the case. Thanks to the trio from hell, as she was now referring to Darrin, Danny and Jodi when there were drunk, she’d spent half the night chasing after them, trying to get them to go to Danny’s room and sleep it off before security, the police and for some unknown reason, a Priest could find them. The other half of the night she’d spent avoiding Darrin and his drunken need to get a few things off his chest.

              Once she’d shoved them in Danny’s room and made sure that they weren’t going to stumble out and cause more problems, she’d gone back to her room, taken a shower and curled up beneath her covers, hoping for an hour of sleep before she was forced to drag her ass out of bed and go meet the rest of the Bradfords at Disney World. She’d barely managed to close her eyes when she’d heard her hotel door open and close a few seconds later.

              Too exhausted to throw the bastard out, she’d closed her eyes and fallen asleep a few minutes later when she heard him turn the shower on, praying that he took his shower and left so that she could pass out in peace. Apparently her prayers would not be answered today, she thought miserably as she turned over onto her stomach with a muttered groan and weakly shoved him away.

              “Why must you fight our love?” he asked as he simply followed after her, throwing his arm back around her and pulled her back.

              “Because I hate you?” she said, shifting and squirming as she tried to get comfortable, but it was kind of difficult to do with two hundred and thirty pound of pure muscle plastered to her side, refusing to let her go.

              “You love me,” he muttered confidently as he snuggled closer.

              “No, I really don’t,” she lied, shifting to put more space between them when all she really wanted to do was to snuggle closer.

              She’d missed him so much…

              But this was for the best, she reminded herself as she shifted onto her side and…

              Somehow found herself draped over Darrin’s lap, again.

              “
Seriously
?” she asked with a whimper, because really, she was too tired to deal with this shit right now.

              “I think it’s about time that we put an end to this bullshit, don’t you?” he asked around a loud yawn, shifting beneath her to get more comfortable and apparently that meant placing his hand on her ass.

              “And you have to put your hand on my ass to do that?” she asked with an annoyed sigh as she reached over and grabbed a pillow.

              “It helps me focus,” he murmured, giving her ass a gentle squeeze.

              “Can we get this over with?” she asked grumpily as she hugged the pillow tight and settled in for the long haul.

              “Well first,” he said with a slight pause and another squeeze of her ass, making her roll her eyes even as her lips twitched with amusement, “I thought we’d stop with the bullshit.”

              “Meaning?”

              “I’m done playing games, Marybeth.”

              “Does that mean that you’re going to give me a divorce?” she asked weakly as her stomach turned with dread.

              “No, that means that we stop playing these games and start being honest with each other,” he said softly as he ran his fingers through her hair.

              “I’m not playing any games with you,” she stubbornly argued as she tried to climb off his lap and away from this conversation, but he used his hold on her ass to keep her right where she was.

              “You’re not running away from this anymore, sweetheart.”

              “I’m not trying to run away,” she lied, trying to do just that, because it was one thing to know that this day was coming, it was quite another to actually face it and deal with the aftermath.

              Oh God, she wasn’t ready to do this…

              “Why don’t we settle something before we start?” he suggested as he reached over and took her trembling hand in his. “We’re not getting a divorce, Marybeth, so stop trying to push me away. It’s not going to work. I’ve loved you since the moment that I saw you balling up your little fist and took a swing at your brother and I know that you love me too.”

              “Darrin, I…,” she started to lie, but she just couldn’t do it. Not anymore. “It doesn’t matter.”

              He trailed his fingers down her spine, smoothing down the tee shirt that she’d helped herself to from his bag and asked, “Do you really think that I could ever be happy with anyone else but you?”

              “And do you really think that you could be happy with a woman who can’t give you children?” she asked, deciding that he was right. It was time for them to stop playing this game and get to the point. She pushed herself up and climbed off his lap. “I can’t do that to you, Darrin. I’m sorry…I just can’t.”

Chapter 27

              “Oh my God! What the hell are you doing?”

              “Taking matters into my own hands,” he explained as he dragged the squirming woman back where he wanted her and flipped her over onto her back.

              “Wait, what? No! Darrin, don’t do it!” she cried out as she struggled to escape, but he wasn’t letting her go.

              Not this time.

              “Please don’t do this!” she cried, trying to shove his hands away as she used her feet to push away from him, but he simply ignored her struggles, grabbed onto her hips and pulled her back where he wanted her.

              “I’m sorry, but you’ve left me no other choice,” he said gravely even as he licked his lips in anticipation while his hungry gaze locked on the patch of golden skin that the rucked up tee shirt had exposed.

              He hated himself for what he was about to do, but she’d given him no other choice. The pigheaded woman wouldn’t listen to reason, he told himself as an excuse to finally give in and do what he’d been dreaming about for the last month. He pulled her closer, ignoring her demands that he release her and her sad little attempts to escape as he reminded himself that he had no other choice.

              He had to do this and he had to do it now.

              “Please don’t do this, Darrin!”

              “I’m sorry, Marybeth,” he said with a long-suffering sigh as he leaned over her and did what he had to do.

*-*-*-*

              “You..,” uncontrollable giggle, “son of,” another giggle, “a bitch!”

              “You can make this stop anytime you want,” the large bastard tickling her calmly explained as he moved onto an especially sensitive spot below her ribs.

              “S-stop!”

              “Are you going to drop this bullshit about getting a divorce?” he asked, pausing in his tickling attack to give her a chance to catch her breath and answer him.

              Panting, she shook her head. “It’s for the-
bastard
!” she finished on a gasp as he commenced with his tickling attack, causing her to giggle uncontrollably as she struggled to get away, but he refused to grant her quarter.

              “This is how I see this working out,” he easily continued as she giggled and gasped, desperate for escape and making promises to herself that this time she was definitely going for his balls, “you’re going to agree to stay married to me, you’re going to stop trying to turn yourself into a martyr, and you’re going to stop this bullshit about children.”

              “It’s not bull-
eeeh
!” she started to argue, not appreciating the martyr comment one bit, only to end up screeching a bit there at the end as the bastard reached down and focused his attention on the bottom of her foot.

              “So, this is what’s going to happen,” he calmly explained as she giggled so hard that she could hardly breathe, “you’re going to promise never to even mention the word divorce again.”

              “Dar-” she ended on a gasp as he suddenly shifted his attention away from her foot, grabbed her by her hips and flipped her over onto her back. Before she could take her next breath he was sitting on legs, pinning her down on the bed and tickling the shit out of her.

              “We’re staying married, right, sweetheart?” he asked offhandedly as he went for all the weak spots that he’d mapped out over the years.

              She opened her mouth only to giggle uncontrollably as he doubled his efforts. “All you have to do is promise that we’re going to stay married and I’ll stop,” he promised, going for that ticklish spot on her side that he’d learned about when they were fifteen and his hand accidentally brushed against her side when he went to reach for something next to her.

              “S-stop!” she cried, laughing so hard that she was crying.

              “Are you giving in?”

              “N-no!”

              “Then I have no choice but to continue,” he explained, sounding amused as he continued his crazed attack as she tried to squirm free, but the bastard outweighed her.

              “Y-you’ll p-pay f-for t-this!” she swore, laughing so hard that her sides hurt.

              “Aw, is little Marybeth getting mad?”

              “Yes!”

              “Do you want me to stop?” he asked in a syrupy sweet voice that had her eyes narrowing even as she continued to giggle and gasp uncontrollably.

              “Y-yes!” she managed to gasp as she grabbed hold of the bedspread and pulled, desperate to escape this torture so when he abruptly stopped, she was understandably frightened.

              She lay there, gasping for air as the last of her giggles died away and common sense demanded that she get off the bed and run away before he could-

              “Let me make it easy for you,” he whispered in her ear. “We’re not getting a divorce, sweetheart. I’m not going to lie and tell you that it doesn’t feel like my heart is breaking when I think about never having children with you, because it does, but it would never have stopped me from wanting you. That’s why you never told me, isn’t it?”

              She closed her eyes in defeat as she said, “Yes.”

              He was quiet for a minute before he asked, “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

*-*-*-*

              “Darrin?”

              “I’m not speaking to you. Go away,” he said, shifting to snuggle his pillow tighter when he spotted a lovely collection of snacks on the nightstand by the bed.

              Now, he could have grabbed any of the other lovely snacks she’d bought, but he didn’t. He grabbed the small bag of Hershey Kisses and ripped into them all while shooting her a glare that dared her to bitch about it.

              “Are you going to tell me what has your panties in a twist?” she asked, sitting on the bed beside him and looking oddly amused when she should be begging for his forgiveness.

              Not that he would give it.

              At least, not unless she found some inventive and rather satisfying way of making it up to him, that is.

              “You know damn well what has my panties in a twist,” he said, unwrapping one of the delicious foiled covered treats and popped it in his mouth as he glanced around the room, looking for something to wash down the delectable chocolaty treat that he refused to share.

              Sighing heavily in a manner that he didn’t much appreciate, she climbed off the bed, walked over to the entertainment console. He watched as she opened the bottom cabinet, revealing a mini-fridge, and bent over, giving him one hell of a view. Although he preferred it when she went to bed without panties, he had to admit that he really loved it when she wore a pair of his boxers, mostly because they were too big for her and had the tendency of falling down and giving him the view that he was currently enjoying at the moment.

              Before he had a chance to fully appreciate the view or reminisce about good times, she was standing up and walking back over to join him on the bed with a bottle of orange juice in her hand. Without a word, she handed him the bottle of juice and sat down next to him. Although it wasn’t enough to buy his forgiveness, he decided that it was enough to earn a Hershey Kiss or two.

              Grudgingly, he handed over the chocolate and took a sip of juice, wondering how a woman as intelligent as Marybeth could do something so fucking stupid. Apparently she was wondering the same thing, because she asked, “So?”

              “So, what?” he asked, handing her the bottle of juice.

              “I thought we weren’t playing games anymore,” she reminded him as she took a sip of juice and handed it back to him.

              Nodding, he decided that she had a point so he decided to get straight to his. “You’ve known for the past six years that you were going to marry me and instead of cutting out the bullshit and letting me make you the happiest woman alive, you wasted six fucking years!” he snapped, glaring accusingly down at her as he unwrapped a tasty treat and shoved it in his mouth, needing the chocolaty distraction to stop him from spanking her the way that she deserved.

              When she blinked up at him slowly with a slightly bemused frown, he decided that he no longer had to share his juice or chocolates with the aggravating woman. So when she reached over to take the juice from him, he glared at her until she got the hint and pulled her hand away.

              “I had no plans on marrying you or anyone for that matter,” she explained, sounding tired as she climbed off the bed and walked over to the television console where she once again opened the cabinet, bent over and gave him something to sigh about.

              God, he loved her ass.

              As she walked back over to the bed he finished off his juice and tossed the bottle aside. Before her beautiful ass had a chance to sit back down, he snatched the ice-cold bottle of juice out of her hand, cracked it open and finished it off in three swallows before she could bitch about it or try to snatch it back. Shaking her head and muttering some rather hostile words about his poor neglected cock, she stormed back over to the cabinet, grabbed another drink and earned a little more of his forgiveness when she bent over again.

              “You’re pathetic,” she muttered, shaking her head in disgust as she walked back to the bed, this time making sure to take a sip of her drink before she sat back down beside him and offered him the small bottle of juice.

              “And you love me,” he said, accepting the bottle with a nod of thanks as he prepared himself for the denial that she’d been using for the last six years to push him away.

              “More than anything,” she admitted as she reached over and took the bottle of juice from him.

              “Then I was right,” he murmured, returning his attention to the remaining Kisses at the bottom of the small bag.

              “About what?” she asked, reaching into the bag and helping herself to a piece of chocolate.

              “Everything.”