Six and Counting

Chapter 12

                “I’m afraid the troops have scattered, ma’am. A virulent mutiny. There’s nothing left. I can’t even raise the white flag, if you catch my drift.”

                A panting laugh answered him.

                “You’re incorrigible, Mr. McNeal.” She scooted closer to him, and they turned in one accord, spooning and drifting off to sleep together.

                Twice more that night Emily was awakened by skillful fingers and clever tongue, brought to such exquisite pleasure she believed she’d never experienced the like before. Darrell and she had had a wonderful sex life together early on, but now she was a woman, and Emily instinctively realized she and Shane met on a totally different plane than she and Darrell. And, bless his heart, Darrell had always tried to please her but Holy Cow! If this wasn’t the most mind-blowing sex Emily had ever participated in, she couldn’t remember. And just when she felt sure Shane had done his best, the onslaught began anew, topping their previous union somehow. Sleep came quickly after each interlude, their bodies’ way of replenishing energy lost so enjoyably...

***

                Daylight. The morning after.  Groggy with lack of sleep, and what little sleep she’d had being deep and boneless, Emily at first did not remember her nocturnal activities; the reason why she seemed so deliciously relaxed, yet felt aching muscles, momentarily eluded her. And then the memories poured through her brain, causing Emily to throw the covers over her head with an embarrassed groan, their conduct of the night before vividly replaying in her head. He rising above her, she straddling him, the things their mouths and hands had done to each other under the cloak of darkness...

                “Oh, my God! What have I done?”

                She’d slept with her boss, that’s what. Although sleep hadn’t really entered into the equation. And if she was truthful with herself, she’d lost part of her heart in the process. Emily sat up in bed, quickly wrapping the bed sheet about her even though she knew she was alone. She pondered her predicament with chin resting on knees. Knowing Shane McNeal was interested in her hadn’t been a secret; his flirting was a dead giveaway. But finding out she’d been lusting after him was an eye-opener. But what to do now? That now being—she glanced at the alarm clock in shock.

                “7:15 in the morning? Oh, shit!” Emily stumbled from the bed, tripping on the sheets as she ran to her wardrobe and pulled out ugly gray sweats after stopping at the underwear drawer, since her panties from last night were tumbled somewhere in the bed clothes. Wondering how much of the house the twins had destroyed unsupervised, Emily flew down the hall to their room. Both new beds were empty. In fact, the whole floor was empty.

                “That’s strange,” she mused as she headed down the stairs. There was definitely noise down here.

                The tableau in the kitchen halted Emily at the foot of the stairs, rooted in disbelief. For at the counter sat the twins, albeit bouncing on their chairs, but seated just the same, along with Danielle. In the kitchen worked Shane, flanked by Dana and Darcy. The noise level was stupendous; the twins were chanting for “Breakfas’! Breakfas’!” and thumping their fork handles. Danielle was giggling at them, while Dana kept shushing them. Darcy stirred what looked to be oatmeal, which boded ill for Shane, since the twins hated oatmeal, and Shane poured pancake batter onto a griddle next to Darcy. Undetected by the characters in this scene, Emily studied the man at the center of the action.

                Shane McNeal looked unfazed by their night of debauchery, eyes bright and focused on his task, although his hair stood about his head like a fallen angel’s halo, his chin sported more stubble, and the uniform of too tight T-shirt and plaid pajama bottoms only made him sexier looking in Emily’s opinion. Groaning inwardly at her fan-girl mentality, she stepped off the last stair; Shane looked up, meeting her eyes with a raised eyebrow and a softening of his gaze. Then the kids caught sight of her, and pandemonium broke loose.