Page 27 of Unveiled Wounds

I laid my head against the back of the chair, closed my eyes, knowing exactly why I couldn’t. I’d been running on adrenaline for most of the day, so I could only imagine how Meredith felt. If she was exhausted, I’d make sure she didn’t drown and then put her to bed. If she let me hold her, I’d consider that a step in a comfortable direction. I was used to being in the friend zone, even though she was my wife. In the early days, I hadn’t pushed her for anything, knowing it was the last thing on her mind. The longer we went with no physical activity, the easier it had become to ignore those urges.

The devil on my shoulder was pumping his hips in anticipation. “We’re getting laid,” he sang over and over, but I didn’t pay him any attention. I didn’t want to rush her. Ifshe wasn’t ready, I’d sit outside of the tub, letting her lead the conversation. She meant more to me than a quick fuck, and if that wasn’t in the cards, I could wait. Any piece of her she willingly gave me was enough to satisfy me for now.

Do I have the cajones to seduce my wife?Yes, yes, I did. I wanted to continue what we had started earlier until we were both a sweaty mess. I’d let her fall asleep and then wake her up a few hours later to do it all over again. She’d rubbed against me, and it was like my body had woken up from hibernation. We were willing and ready to go. She just had to give a sign she wanted more. I wouldn’t say no.

I stripped to my boxers and sauntered to the bathroom, planning to burst through the door and strike a pose. It sounded better in theory. I ripped the door open, but when I first saw her in the tub, my brain misfired. She was stunning, and I couldn’t look away, but I didn’t see the pile of clothes she’d left in front of the door. Preparing to lean against the doorjamb, my foot slipped, and I almost fell on my face as I tripped on her leggings.

Laughter floated through the bathroom. “Are you drunk, Jonathan?” Her eyes had been closed, but two slits appeared as she turned her face towards me.

“On your beauty.” She’d take it as a light-hearted joke, but I was serious. A messy bun held most of her blonde curls, but some had escaped and bounced in the water at her shoulders. She opened her eyes wider, and the light highlighted the gold specks in her brown pupils. It was the sense of peace radiating from her I had mostly reacted to. I wasn’t fooling myself that our issues were over, but for now, I could have wept with happiness.

She laughed again. “You can come closer. I won’t bite. Hard.”

One foot in front of the other.I couldn’t believe I had to remind myself how to walk, but I made it the tub. Bending over to grip the edge, my knees gave out, and I hit the tile floor withathump. I hadn’t thought that one through, and I winced from the pain.

“Poor baby.” She raised her wet hand to my cheek, and I instantly turned to kiss her palm, getting a mouthful of bubble bath. I spat and sputtered until the rose taste disappeared.

Her knee broke the surface of the water as she bent it. “If you’re lucky, I might share my bubbles with you.” Meredith raised her hand and blew a kiss, the air making the suds dance in her palm.

I picked up the pink poof ball that hung from the shower faucet, dribbling body wash on it. Placing my hand underneath her knee, I straightened out her leg, running the poof ball from her toes to where the water swallowed up her thigh, before rinsing it in the water.

“This is nice,” she said, shifting in the tub to raise her other leg and spilling water over the edge. “Shit.”

I wouldn’t stop bathing her, and I didn’t care how much water spilled. We could have a new pool in our bathroom, and I wouldn’t give a flying fuck. “Lean forward.” I watched as she followed my instruction, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

I poured more body wash on the poof, and as I was making large circles down her arms and across her back, I whispered in her ear, “My little head has had no action since the last time he pillaged your sweet pussy.”

She laughed, laying her head on her arms. “You didn’t die? You’re an all night long, five nights a week guy.”

“It’s no fun playing by myself when I know what it feels like to play with you.” I pulled at the hair tie and let her blonde curls spill down her back. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. The devil on my shoulder agreed. He was still dancing around, thinking he was going to get laid, and my dick chimed in. I was harder thanI’d been in a while, but I didn’t want to push her. It was enough just to touch her like this.

I cupped my hands to gather water and then let it fall from the top of her head through her hair. It wasn’t fast, but it did the trick. I’d have to install a portable shower head, and the devil jumped up and down. The ideas were endless. Grabbing the shampoo bottle, I was pouring some into my hand when I heard her.

“I’m sorry, Jon. It all spun out of control rapidly, and I didn’t handle any of it well. I don’t even know why I started the fight about Brandon cheating. It was the past, and I didn’t care.”

I froze, my hand in midair as the shampoo ran out of the bottle.

“I wanted to call you as soon I was positive about the pregnancy, but I didn’t want you on the road. You would have driven the four hours, and I didn’t want you distracted. I had planned to tell you that weekend, but it all went to hell. I was so angry, blaming Grace, Matt, my dad, and anyone else I could think of. We could have worked through it together if I had only told you.”

I quickly capped the bottle, but the liquid was running from my hand into the water. I didn’t know what to do, so I quickly adjusted, letting it hit her hair.

“I always wanted the baby. When you left that night, I wanted it even more, because it was a piece of you no one was going to take away from me.”

I started at her scalp, rubbing the shampoo in.

“I understand the medical jargon of what happened, but I thought it was the universe’s sign that I should let you go. Today…” She sighed. “I almost lost you, and that hurt more than anything we’ve been through. It made me recognize how lucky I am you haven’t given up on me.”

“I would have come for you,” I said, my hands pausing in her hair. “I would have pulled any favor I could, paid any price, but I would have come for you.”

“Stop,” she said, laying back in the tub and rinsing the shampoo as best as she could before rising to her knees. Facing me, she threw her arms around my neck. “I don’t have an excellent track record with relationships.”

I held her tighter to my chest, water running off of her, down my body, to the floor. “This is the fairytale you always wanted. It just doesn’t look like how you expected. There’s no pretty bow.”

“That’s just window dressing.” She pulled on my shoulders as she leaned backwards, but I planted a hand against the back wall where the shower met the tub.

“Are you sure? I don’t have condoms, and I’m not running up and down the halls looking for any.” My eyes didn’t leave her face. If she said no, or there was any doubt in her eyes, I was stopping this madness. My dick would fall off, but I wouldn’t go any further.

“We were using protection, and I still got pregnant.” She tilted my chin with her thumb so that we were eye-to-eye. “I’m fighting to find myself so that I don’t emotionally hurt anymore. It won’t be a simple process. It’s going to take hard work and maybe a little patience, but I’m not afraid to let most of it go. However, there’s one thing for certain. I never want to know what it’s like not to be with you.” She leaned forward and kissed me, licking my bottom lip until I opened for her. Meredith’s nails dug into the back of my neck, and she tried again to pull me into the tub. “If it happens again, it happens, but we go through it together.”