“I leave tomorrow morning, but I will be back before you can miss me.”
“An entire week without the boss. What will we do without our fearless leader?”
On the loveseat in her executive suite, Abbey crossed her legs at the ankles. “Hold down the fort. Although, this place already runs like clockwork without my interference.”
In the armchair next to her, Will leaned closer. “With you gone, who is in charge? Me, or Doug?”
“I’ll let you duke it out with my assistant, even though your responsibilities rarely overlap.”
“Has Jed planned a rigorous schedule of events to celebrate your visit to our nation’s capital?”
“Relaxing at home with me, which is a big deal, since both of us love our work.”
Will fidgeted with the wrist of his sweater. “I hope he appreciates his time with you, taking our commander-in-chief away from us.”
“I appreciate you, Will,” she patted his hand, “setting the tone in my absence.”
He used his free hand to sandwich hers. “My pleasure.”
She placed her other hand on top.
They lingered, holding each other for a moment, fingers melding, their hearts beating faster.
He let go first. “Bon voyage, friend.” He stood and shook out his arms.
Abbey rose to meet him. “What do you have planned for the next week? Any big dates? Non-work related, that is.”
He stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’m on daddy duty.”
“Oooh.”
“Actual parenting. The twins have been staying with me for longer than they usually do, which makes my apartment feel like a home. Albeit a hormone-filled home. Puberty is gross. And they’re not even in middle school yet.”
She gave his shoulder a soft punch. “Thankfully they have you, Papa Bear.”
“The four of us should have lunch some weekend, when you return.”
“I’d like that. Pick a day, and tell Doug to put it in my schedule.”
“Will do.” He gave her a salute and walked out the door.
Abbey remained standing, alone in her office, gazing at the blank space that her employee and friend had left behind.
…
“What in tarnation?”
On Saturday afternoon, as the town car departed down the circular driveway toward the street, Abbey dropped her luggage on the stoop. She padded through the grass on the front lawn in her trainers and stared at the silhouette in the upstairs window. Although she prided herself on her 20/20 vision, there was a translucent curtain blocking her view.
Loitering outside of the two-story house, Abbey moved closer. She could tell the silhouette was not Jed.
It was a woman.
Her back was to the window, so Abbey could only distinguish her straight black hair, not her face.
Then she spied Jed amble into the upstairs room.
Abbey had seen enough. She abandoned her bags on the lawn and unlocked the front door with her key. “Jed!”
He bounded down the staircase to the foyer, taking two steps at a time. “You’re early!” Jed declared, scooping Abbey into a hug. “I thought you were arriving later this evening.”
“Who is upstairs?”
His bearded visage changed from a delighted grin to a furrowed brow. “Abbey, calm yourself.”
“This is what you do when I’m not here, Jed? Cat’s away, etc.?” She wrested herself from his arms and stood on the bottom stair. “I know you’re there. No use in hiding.”
“Abbey–”
She swatted his hand away. “Don’t you touch me.”
He gestured up the staircase at the woman walking down. “Abbey, you know your daughter, Amelia.”
Amelia tucked a lock of straight, black hair behind her ear. “Hey.”
“Jed, what is going–”
A second woman followed. “And your mother. And my mother. And my father. And my nephew.”
“Why are you all–”
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Jed told her. “But you came early.”
Abbey looked around the foyer at their immediate family members.
And then she noticed the cardboard boxes.
“Are you moving?” she asked Jed.
“Surprise?”
…
“This is sudden.”
Lying his bed next to Abbey, Jed smoothed her dark hair with his palm. “We’ve been together for twenty years. In the emotional sense, not so much the physical.”
In her D.C. United t-shirt, Abbey glanced at the window. The stars in the moonless sky glowed beyond the open curtains. “It’s unexpected, then. What brought this on?”
“Like I told our family at dinner, it’s time for me to change my ways.”
“But old dogs, etc.”
“I don’t want to be the aging playboy at the bar.”
“Getting a lot of takers?”
“You know my M.O., Abbey. Whenever I’m on the road with one of my political candidates, and a lady desires the pleasure of my company, I discreetly ask her to meet me outside. Then I walk to the elevator alone, take it to my room, and I go to sleep.”
“Those disappointed women.”
“I’ve generated enough income out here in D.C. to last long after I’m deceased. And what has that money gotten me?”
“This big house. The luxury SUV in the garage next to the electric sports car. A first-class ticket to paradise any time you want.”
“I don’t want to keep coming home to a vacant house, counting the days until you and I can rest in each other’s arms.”
She squinted her eyes at him, examining his expression. “There is something else.”
He nodded.
“Confidential?”
“Hypothetically,” Jed rotated to whisper in her ear. His graying scruff brushed against her neck. “I don’t want to continue consulting for an elected representative who put a hit out on his own son.”
“Holy…”
“Someone else’s son, maybe.”
“Jed, are you in danger?”
“The Feds put them both in prison yesterday, so probably not. But I need to spend my life doing something that feeds my soul. Isn’t this what you wanted? The two of us in the same location?”
“I never thought I’d get it, until you retired.”
“I have some pots warming in the Bay Area, so I’m not putting myself out to pasture yet. But I will be home every night.”
“This sounds too good to be true.”
“Do you want it to be true?”
“Not the,” she lowered her voice, “murder for hire part. The rest–you and me in Oakland–a thousand times yes.”
“In a legal, filing-our-taxes-jointly fashion?”
Abbey blinked. “Are you ready for that level of intimacy? That degree of commitment?”
“We’re in our mid-forties. It’s long overdue. If you will have me.”
She wrapped her arms around his torso. “Yes – squared, cubed, all the yeses.”
“Fortunately, I have procured the ring.”
“Where is it?”
“Patience, Abs. I promise, you will adore it.”
Abbey struggled to keep her eyes open.
“Jet lag?”
“In addition to emotional overload.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Getting everything I want is wearing me out.”
He kissed her forehead. “Then it’s bedtime. Goodnight, my darling.”
She responded with a soft snore.
…
Abbey awakened to the dim morning sun. Her movements jostled Jed out of his slumber.
“Go back to sleep.”
“I’m up now,” he yawned, stretching under the sheets. “You’re thinking about something.”
She fiddled with the hem of her red t-shirt. “I’ve had offers for the business.”
“Do you want to sell?”
“To the right woman, yes, one day. I’m not done yet, though. I want to expand, explore.”
“Brilliant idea.”
“I also want to spend time with you, Jed.”
“I will be there.” His light blue eyes searched her dark brown ones. “What else is on your mind?”
From her seated position on her side of the bed, Abbey pondered what the correct words were. “To grow the company, I need to stop doing everything by myself.”
“I agree. Delegate, collaborate, find a partner. You have anyone in mind?”
“A few external colleagues, including that electronics guru I told you about, Hayes, who thinks she’s more amusing than she actually is. Also, a couple of internal people I should have promoted earlier.”
“What about your work husband?”
Abbey flinched. “What?”
“Will?”
She looked away. “He’s not… We are professional…”
“Whatever he is, you sing his praises constantly. He sounds like an asset. Do you want to keep him in your orbit for the foreseeable future?”
“I do.”
“Make Will an offer so you don’t lose him. The first step is the hardest. But, once you nail him down, the other pieces will fall into place.”
“To confirm, you want me to nail Will?”
Bare-chested and cross-legged, Jed shadowboxed with the pillows. “Pin him down, tie him up, and make him beg for more.”
“Metaphorically.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Abbey planted her legs on Jed’s lap. “When we met, when we fell in love, could you have imagined that we would be where we are today?”
“Where are we? What are we? Who are you?”
She laughed as she pushed on his chest.
He lay down and pulled her on top of him in a bundle of limbs. “We were a pair of grad school nerds traipsing through Europe. My long term plans vaguely involved a plane ride back across the pond. I had more energy in my twenties.”
“You have gained more skills over the years.”
“I’ve got moves you’ve never seen.” Jed wiggled his hips. “Truthfully, mostly the ones you showed me.”
“We taught each other.”
He kissed her nose. “You are an apt pupil.”
“You are my best student.”
He rolled her over and balanced on his palms. “Teach me how to love you, here and now.”
She ran her fingertips across his chest, which hovered above her prone body. “Take off my panties.”
Jed complied, lifting her brown legs as he removed the damp fabric, but left her shirt on. His pale finger ventured along her thigh, eventually finding a home under the dark hood of her swollen clit. He dipped inside her honeypot, covering his knuckles with her cream. “My favorite flavor,” he crooned, licking his digits.
She grunted, “Take off your boxers.”
He took them off, leaving his athletic body completely nude.
She saw that he was already hard, veins throbbing in the cool air.
“I almost forgot.” Jed went to the closet and returned with a pink gift bag, which he opened.
“Is that a present for me?”
“And indirectly for me as well.” Jed inserted a pair of batteries, switched the toy on, and inserted it between her lower lips.
“But it’s a butt plug,” Abbey stated, as she enjoyed the vibrations coursing through her dripping cavern.
“Lubing it up.” He teased her for a moment, stroking himself along with her moans. Then Jed extracted the silicone device from one hole and gently implanted it in another.
“What about my puss?” Abbey mewled.
Jed filled it with his shaft, rotating within her walls, drilling until he reached her spot. His balls bounced on her rump.
Feeling satisfyingly stuffed, Abbey hooked her ankles around his posterior, directing their rhythm with her heels.
The two reveled in the familiarity of their embrace, as the pulses from the toy reverberated throughout both of their pelvic regions.
“This is what I want,” Jed croaked, building to his first climax of the morning.
“Tell me.” Abbey rocked her haunches, increasing the friction between them.
He forged ahead with his undulations, his eyes fixed on Abbey’s expressions of pleasure.
“Jed.”
“Yeah?” Beads of sweat trickled from his forehead.
“Tell me what you want.”
“You.” He roared as the cum rocketed from his balls through his dick and into Abbey’s welcoming slit.
Abbey clung to him as he convulsed. As Jed calmed, she guided his chest on top of hers and stroked his brown hair. “Don’t move.”
His body exhaled and inhaled, uniting with Abbey’s essence.
Abbey squeezed her arms and legs tighter around him, thrusting with a measured cadence to tantalize her insides. The increased suction cajoled another spurt and tremor from Jed.
Her passion nearing a peak, she closed her eyes, clenched her crevices, and let the waves wash over her.
Jed shuddered as Abbey spasmed with a prolonged intensity that soaked their thighs.
Drenched with a blend of perspiration and shared fluids, they kissed deeply as their breathing slowed to a normal pace.
Abbey held her hands against Jed’s salty cheeks. “Everything is wonderful now.”
…
“Bienvenue. Velkommen.” Will entered the office with a cheerful disposition as he greeted his boss. “How was your cross-country excursion?”
Solemn, Abbey motioned to him from her mahogany desk. “Shut the door. Have a seat.”
