Page 110 of The Mentor
“You should have told me sooner, then I wouldn’t have left you.”
His hands traveled down my hips and I smiled at the sound of his heavy breathing against my ear.
“I missed you,” I breathed.
“Not as much as I missed you,” he whispered and nibbled at my earlobe while moving his hands down to the V of my thighs. “Spread your legs for me, beautiful. That’s right, just like that.”
I moaned as his hands spread my folds and teased my sweet spot with expertise. My body gave a small jerk from the slight pain of his stubble rubbing over my sensitive nipples.
“Careful, my breasts are sore,” I warned.
“Probably because of the pregnancy.” He pushed me down on my back and suckled at my breast. “I’ll be careful. We don’t want to hurt our little miracle.”
When I lifted my head my eyes grew big at the sight of my bulging belly. “When did this happen?”
Archer gave me a teasing smile. “Must have been one of the times I came in you.”
My confusion blurred with the sensations of him making love to me with his fingers, his tongue, and his large erection that drove me to an explosive orgasm before we cuddled up in each other’s arms to rest.
“I love you,” I whispered in to the darkness.
“I love you too,” he whispered back.
“Then why did you marry another woman?”
“I had to, you didn’t give me a choice.”
I woke up disoriented, and with the early morning light came the deep suffocating sadness of knowing that Archer’s marriage would be consummated by now. Maybe while I was lying here dehydrating from crying, he was planting kisses on Lori Ann’s lips. Yes, I could practically hear Archer telling his lovely new ballerina wife that he couldn’t wait to introduce her to all his children at the school. Torturing myself further, I imagined him telling her about me on the way here, probably complaining about all the nonsense he had to put up with from the “Momsi teacher.”
Stop!The command came from a hidden source of strength within me.You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. You can fall apart when you cross the border, but right now you need to get ready to leave.
Lifting my hand, I checked the time. 6:15 a.m. I still had time before Christina would pick me up and take me to the border. It was Saturday and on the weekends, we always allowed the kids to stay in bed until eight instead of the usual seven o’clock morning call.
My stomach rumbled loudly, calling for food, but I had no appetite and would probably just throw up if I attempted to eat anything.
At least drink some water or tea.
My body was sore, like I had aged twenty years overnight, but I got out of bed and dressed before I walked outside to see the morning sun making the dew on the grass glisten like little jewels. A few birds were reminding me that for everyone else in the universe, this was a normal Saturday.
The tightness in my chest returned when I thought about what I had to do. I didn’t want to say goodbye to all my students, but I had no choice. My tear ducts were leaking again and I remembered the confusing dream of Archer and me. He had said I hadn’t given him a choice, but it wasn’t true. I’d sent him a text.
But by then it had been too late.With my head full of self-blame and sadness, I made my way to the kitchen to make myself a cup of morning tea. But I never got that far, because in the kitchen, leaning casually against the counter with a cup of coffee in his hands, stood Archer.
I stiffened and stared at him.
“Good morning,” he said and blew down into his coffee cup. “You couldn’t sleep either?”
I was worried that my legs might collapse under me but miraculously managed to find my voice. “I thought you weren’t coming back until later today.”
“You sound hoarse, what happened to your voice?”
My hand flew to my throat. I couldn’t tell him that I was hoarse because I had been crying over him all night. “It’s nothing.” And then without thinking, I asked the question that I didn’t want an answer to. “Where is your wife? Why didn’t you stay there for your wedding night?”
“Because I wanted to have a ceremony here where the children could witness it.”
“You’re getting married here?”
Squinting his eyes, Archer took a sip of the hot coffee. “Yup. I talked to Khan about it last night and he agreed it would be a fun experience for the children to witness a wedding.”
