“Ooo,” she said, grinning at him. “I like that! Okay…” she continued. “Come on, handsome.” She stepped around him, her hand finding his and leading him back to the living room. Once there, she grabbed the remote and settled down on the couch next to him, her feet losing the shoes she was wearing and sliding up comfortably behind her as she leaned into him.
“So… I hear my girls are at some party your son and his girlfriend are throwing,” Candy said as she put it on an older movie and set the remote to the side.
“Yeah, he called me earlier today and asked if I minded if they used it to have some kind of farewell for his girlfriend’s roommate. Her family is leaving or something, I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sure you have nothing to worry about, though,” he added, looking at her quickly.
“Oh… I’m not worried about my girls at all,” she said cryptically. “Movie time?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said.
She reached over to the side table and grabbed a remote, then turned on the TV and began to flip through. After they found something suitably interesting, she settled in next to him and the two began to quietly enjoy the movie together. Two and a half hours later, they stood and stretched in unison.
“Mind if I use the restroom?” he asked as she clicked the TV off and set the remote down.
“Not at all. Down the half, first door on the left,” she said, gesturing to the hallway.
Don nodded, then went to where she’d directed and closed the door behind him. The bathroom was undoubtedly feminine, but still very clean. Once he’d finished relieving himself, he washed his hands and returned to the living room. Candy had disappeared but emerged a minute later from the direction of her bedroom and joined him on the couch once again.
“So… what do you think our kids are getting up to right now?” she asked, hooking her legs over his once more.
“Not sure I want to know,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m hoping you don’t kick me out anytime soon, so I don’t have to go and find out.”
“Oh, I’m definitely not going to kick you out,” she replied. She pulled herself closer, leaning into him.
The way she molded to him, the way her body seemed to just need to be pushing against his was something that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was surprising at first, but he realized that he’d been aching for that feeling for a really long time. It all clicked in one moment then, and he smiled.
She needed him.
He realized immediately that there was even more to it than that, though. It was like her body needed him. It was as if they were drawn to each other like gravity.
“Are you enjoying this as much as I am?” he asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence between the two.
She nodded immediately and looked up into his eyes, staring hard. He returned the gaze unflinchingly.
“What I wouldn’t give to know what you’re thinking,” she said after a few seconds.
“How crazy gorgeous you are,” he said immediately. “And how much I’m loving being with you.”
She laughed easily, her head dipping a bit as her shoulders bobbed.
“How are you single?” she asked, shaking her head at him after she recovered and looked back at him. She stroked his chest idly with one hand, the other propping up on the couch behind her.
“Well, after my first wife passed, I didn’t date for… years,” he admitted, smirking at her.
“I’m not prying,” she said, raising a hand.
“Its okay,” he said. “It’s been… God… 15 years?” he said, the words coming out as more of a question. “Wow… has it really been that long?”
Candy held silent, listening quietly, intently.
“Anyway,” he said, “I wasn’t looking to replace her, you know? We were high school sweethearts and after she succumbed to cancer I didn’t really even consider trying. I was just like, ‘what’s the point,’ you know? I had two boys to raise and bills to pay, so that just became the norm.”
“So… what changed?” she asked.
He pondered the question briefly, then chuckled. “To be honest, Jessie. My son started dating her and she pretty quickly took an interest in my happiness. She got me started with online dating.”
“But that didn’t work out,” Candy guessed.
“Not at all,” he said. “I’ve already deleted those damn apps. I had several bad dates and several abysmal ones. I mean, it got to the point that I was just wanting a normal one.”
She nodded, still watching him. “I can sympathize. I’ve had my share of terrible dates. That’s why this is such a welcome, pleasant surprise.”
She briefly lifted her phone and checked something.
“Parenting?” he asked, offering her a smile as she looked back up at him.
She shook her head. “I trust my girls,” she said. “They know to be safe and what I expect of them, plus they’re smart and make good decisions. If they want to crash at your house, I’m fine with it.”
“That’s good to hear,” he said. “I feel the same about my boys, though I do wonder when they’ll get around to moving out.”
He’d mean the last part as a joke.
Candy laughed, the tone of her voice sending impulses of delight racing through him. Reaching up, he ran a hand across her cheek and pushed a stray lock of blonde hair back over her ear, eliciting a smile from her perfect face.
“God… how are you single?” he murmured. “You’re so damn… enchanting.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him before returning her gaze back to his. “Honestly… by choice,” she explained.
“Oh?” he asked, a little surprised by the response.
“Before we have this conversation,” she said, moving her hand up and idly pulling at one of the buttons on his shirt, “I want to make sure that you and I are on the same page. I’m not seeing anyone else and judging by the way things are going between the two of us, I’m not going to be.”
She looked at him pointedly.
He smiled, briefly laughing at her. “Look, I’d just about given up on dating altogether when Jessie and Erin set the two of us up. I’m definitely not interested in trying to date anyone else.”
“Good,” she said. “I just needed you to know that I’m not interested in trying to juggle multiple guys. I’m not interested in being shared with any other men either.”
She kept looking at him intently, and he could sense that this was important to her.
“That’s not something I’d expect from you,” he assured her. “I’m not interested in it, regardless.”
“Good,” she said, smiling genuinely at him. “There are… things about me… sexually… that make me different from lots of women,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“No, I’m not like… secretly a man or anything,” she said, blushing a little. She sighed in embarrassment before smirking at him. After a few seconds of turning red, she finally continued. “I… love sex. I mean… I really… really love sex.”
“Good,” he said with a chuckle. “So do I.”
“But… what I mean is… I love rough sex,” she continued. “And when I say rough, I mean rough.”
“Really?” he asked, smiling at her. “Spanking? Hair-pulling?”
After each question she nodded emphatically.
“It’s not a recent thing either,” she said, pulling at this shirt again. “I’ve always just… needed it that way. I can’t really have an orgasm anymore unless I’m just having my brains pounded out.”
Don grinned even wider. She’d managed to work a button on his shirt open and was idly running a finger on his exposed chest.
“Unfortunately, it’s hard to hide the sound of your ass being spanked from the rest of the house and hotels get expensive,” she continued. “I tried to be modest, but things played out differently and I just decided that it was best if I was open with them about things.”
He nodded, still listening.
“I told them that they could have experiment as much as they want and could ask me whatever they needed to, or talk to me about anything, but I made sure that they knew that we all had to be honest with each other. So, we have been ever since. In fact, that was Erin and Alec you heard last night, taking advantage of the fact that I allow them to have fun with each other as long as their safe and careful.”
“It sounds like you three have a great relationship,” he said.
“We do,” she said, smiling. “They both great girls, and they make me so proud.”
“So… do you three talk about all your sexual encounters?” he asked.
“Well,” she said hesitantly, “not like… over dinner or anything, but if they ask me how a particular date went, I’m not afraid to tell them.”
“And vice versa?” he asked.
“I know it sounds a little weird, but once you lose that awkwardness about talking about sex with your kids, it just becomes something that happens. Erin is much more vocal about things than Cass, but both of them talk about the things they experience. But I’m getting off track,” she said. “That all came about because of my need for rough sex.”
“Right,” he said. “You having loud sexual encounters would likely have made them more curious about it.”
“Very much so,” she agreed. “But wanting rough sex also tends to put me at risk.”
“Oh?” he asked. “How so?”
“Well,” she continued, “the reason I’m so hesitant to start a sexual relationship with men is because that when you’re a woman that likes rough sex, some men tend to think that entitles them to treat you differently. Just because I like rough sex, doesn’t mean that I like to be treated like I’m an animal or abused.”
He frowned, reaching out and squeezing her arm comfortingly.
“Some of my past relationships, more than I’d like to admit, in fact, have turned into abusive ones,” she said, her gaze lowering a bit.
“I’m so sorry,” he told her, squeezing her arm again.
“I’m fine,” she said, looking back up quickly and smiling. “I mean, I wouldn’t be dating again if I wasn’t. I just tend to play it much more carefully now than I’ve done in the past.”
He nodded, studying her face as a brief silence descended on the two.
“All I can say is… that’s not me,” he said after a bit. “I’ve never hit a woman.”
“Well, as long as you don’t hit me in anger, we’re good,” she said. “Sexually… that’s a different story.”
He raised a single eyebrow in surprise.
“I told you… rough!”
He chuckled in response.
“So… what about you?” she asked. “What kinds of kinks do you have?”
He chuckled at her for a few seconds, then shrugged. “I’m not all that exciting, really,” he said.
“I beg to differ, but go ahead,” she joked.
Smirking briefly, he continued. “I don’t know, I like the normal stuff I guess.”
“Well… that means different things for different people,” she said. “For Erin, that means she likes having sex in different places and doing whatever her boyfriend tells her. For Jessie, from what Erin tells me, that means something totally different.”
“Fair point,” he conceded. “I guess… uh… oh hell, I don’t know.”