The Alphabet of Love Ch. 08

Story Info
Shiloh takes the job; rekindles an old romance-with a twist.
3.2k words
4.62
3.5k
00

Part 8 of the 24 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 08/16/2017
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here

Chapter Eight

Just before Thanksgiving, I accepted the new position and began working with Dr. Couslard. He really couldn't answer me when I asked him why he'd recommended me for this job; he pretty much reiterated what Dr. Miliano said. It didn't make much sense to me but I decided it didn't matter. I found Dr. Couslard reserved yet confident. He had very clear ideas on how he wanted me to do things a bit differently from Dr. Hinckley, whom he hesitated to criticize, but it seemed had been resistant to new ways of thinking.

The raise in pay began immediately and I began pouring more into paying off my student loans. It felt good knowing that there really was a light at the end of the tunnel. I talked with Trevor almost every day. He'd already been to New Hampshire and Iowa and told me that Amanda had come up with the idea of the two of them spending Christmas in Colorado at a ski resort. He loved skiing but he dreaded having to be alone with her for even a few days. He knew she wouldn't let him talk about what was really on his mind, and that when they weren't skiing she'd be on the phone with strategists, or obsessing over early polls in Iowa.

He was thrilled for me over my new position at the clinic, but like me wondered why I'd been selected. I told myself it was because I was young and Dr. Couslard wanted someone unafraid to change how things were done. He wanted to see our clinic at the forefront of studies written up in medical journals, and for me to begin setting up some of these studies. Trevor asked me a lot of questions about Dr. Couslard that I thought were a little silly; such as whether or not he was married, how he treated me, etc. I told him he was being jealous for no reason. Dr. Couslard was strictly business all the time. Honestly I only knew he was married because he wore a ring and I'd never asked him about children or anything else. He'd never asked me about my personal life, either. I assumed he was one of those people who never mixed work with their private life, and I respected that.

I spent Thanksgiving at the hospital. I'd volunteered to be the on-call nephrologist again, and the hospital provided a feast to those who were working. It wasn't a bad day; I consulted on a couple of cases but fortunately didn't see any of my regular patients. I hoped they were all having a great day with their families.

Speaking of families, I hadn't told mine about my job change nor, especially, about my pay increase. I let them believe I was still doing the same thing. I talked to both my parents on Thanksgiving. My Mom bitched about having to cook the meal herself again, as my half-siblings never helped her with anything. She admitted that Morwenna was strung out on something (she didn't know if it was meth or what), while Adrian and his preggo girlfriend had had a fight and he was on the phone with her, trying to get her to come for Thanksgiving from her mother's house, where she'd fled. While I listened to my mother, I gazed around the quiet hospital cafeteria and felt perfectly content to be where I was.

When I called my Dad, I heard the blare of the Thanksgiving NFL games in the background. He and his wife were cooking together; it was one of their 'bonding' activities. Their spoiled daughters apparently were online preparing for the Black Friday sales. Yep, I didn't mind not being there, either.

Early in the day I talked with Trevor for quite awhile, as Amanda had actually volunteered to make Thanksgiving dinner with her sister-in-law (her brother's wife) so that her mother could have a break. We talked about hospital affairs and how we would keep a professional demeanor with each other when he was back at his residency. By then, I hoped we could be open about our relationship. He told me that his sister Rowena, the financial wizard, would be coming on board the campaign to oversee and manage the money. Apparently his wife was none too happy about this development, as she wanted to micromanage every aspect. It'd be hard, he told me, not only for Amanda to intimidate Rowena as she did most people, but to convince Kyle Banks not to have his own daughter -- who was eminently qualified -- take this role.

Whenever Trevor talked about his wife's work in politics, two words always came to mind: drama and histrionics. It was hard for me to picture him with a woman like that, as kind and patient as he was. Maybe he was the only kind of man who could put up with that -- but even he had reached the end of his tether.

Just before Christmas I got an email from Dr. Derek Wiley, the nephrologist from Boston with whom I'd had a torrid pseudo-affair at some medical conferences over the last few years. If he hadn't been married and entangled in his hugely successful clinic, we might have established a real relationship. God knows the sexual attraction was there, and he treated me like a queen. He'd got wind of my promotion and congratulated me, and wanted me to know that he was going to be at a nephrology symposium in Omaha in late January. He wanted to know if I'd be there. As it happened, Dr. Couslard had told me only days earlier that this would be my first out-of-town event; he and I would fly there and present some work that he and Dr. Hinckley had compiled. He, of course, would do the main presentation; I'd watch and learn.

My first reaction was joy; until I realized if I saw Derek I'd be hard pressed to deny him sexually. Now I had a conundrum. I'd told myself I wouldn't shy away from meeting men, but Derek was a known quantity, and being with him would be solely for sex. Would this be like 'cheating' on Trevor? I tried to find ways to justify myself -- after all, I was a fool to think that Trevor and his wife wouldn't have any sex at all for the next year. Of course they would. So why should I refrain? And there was no one safer than Derek. We had no future together. I'd nearly convinced myself, when I continued to read to the end of his email.

He and his wife had agreed to divorce. To his shock, she'd been having an affair with a younger man and wanted to be free to marry him. Their children were scandalized. And now I was in a complete tizzy -- he wanted to marry me.

Derek and I originally hooked up at a medical conference in Chicago. The attraction was instant; he'd been magnetically drawn to my large bosom, and I to his warm smile and bright, dancing eyes. Sex with him took me to another place every time, and like no one I'd ever been with. To say he was a good lover would be completely inadequate. He ravished me in every way. And out of bed, he held doors, listened and laughed with me as if we were the only two people in the world. I knew after our second encounter a few months later that he'd fallen in love with me, and in a way I loved him, too. But there was that obstacle between us -- his wife, children, established career in a prestigious Boston nephrology group. He'd been at the forefront of new dialysis protocols, resulting in better outcomes, fewer infections, fewer hospitalizations. He'd won some awards from national kidney organizations.

And there was the age difference. We'd bantered around the idea of being together, but he knew that I wanted children and while he said he'd be willing to father them, it wasn't what I needed to hear. If I were to become a mother, it would only be with a man who wanted a family as much as I did. Derek had his children already, a son and daughter, both now in college. Why would he want to start again with a baby and go through it all again, at his age? He assured me he would do it for me but I didn't want him to 'do it for me.' I didn't just want a sperm donor, a baby daddy. I wanted an involved, loving father who'd play with his kids, adore them as I would.

I'd only known Trevor a short time, but he certainly seemed like good father material. He managed to retain some of that boyish charm that would help him relate to a child; he'd be a fun Dad, the one who would go to all the games and recitals, play in the yard, coach the soccer team. His patience was well-established, and he couldn't be much of a surgeon without nerves of steel -- these qualities boded well for fatherhood. He had a sense of fun that would be great for the kids and for us as a couple. In the short time we'd known each other, he'd found myriad ways to make love to me, all of which seemed perfectly natural, as if he weren't straining to impress me. He treated me with tenderness and respect. What more could a woman want in a husband?

Never in my life had I been torn between two men at once. I had choices, and yet I had no choice. Trevor, despite his resolve that he'd divorce his wife after the Presidential election, was unavailable to me. Derek? He'd expect me to come to Boston, just after I'd secured this fabulous promotion and new, exciting work here in Seattle. The truth of the matter was, I might have two men -- but there was a third choice: I didn't have to be with either one of them. That meant, of course, that I'd remain alone, that I might never have children. Was I willing to forego my desire for a family?

With trepidation I emailed Derek and told him I'd be in Las Vegas for Christmas and if he could get a flight, I had a room. I held my breath while I wrote it, as I felt somewhere inside that I'd betrayed Trevor. Had I, though? Had I really?

I met Derek at the airport on Christmas Eve. I'd planned a week here; I wouldn't return to Seattle until after New Year's. Knowing I'd spend it with Derek, I'd drastically changed my wardrobe from comfy casual, to comfy and sexy. He'd want to see some shows and have some elegant dinners; he liked the good life.

My first glimpse of him made my heart jump. God, maybe I did love him? It'd been six, eight months since our last tryst at a nephrology seminar in Denver. He might be over fifty, but he was an avid runner and kept himself slender and fit. Six-two, dark, graying hair, and warm brown eyes -- Derek gave me a broad smile and when he reached me he dropped his carry-on bag and picked me up by the waist, kissing me, twirling me around.

We both laughed with joy. I smoothed back a lock of hair from his forehead. "My god, it's wonderful to see you," I said breathlessly.

"You, too, Shiloh. I love you."

We kissed a few more times, so focused on each other we scarcely noticed the crowd having to divert around us.

"You know I was just going to sit home and drink all day on Christmas," he said as I picked up his carry-on, handed it to him, and he slung it over his shoulder.

"Oh you would not," I smiled, taking his free hand in mine.

"The kids are going to 'her' new place with the new fuck buddy," he said with a sigh. "They act like this was my fault."

"I'm sorry," I looked up at him.

We started toward baggage claim, matching strides.

"I don't get it," he sighed. "I mean, you're the only woman I ever had anything with outside my marriage, and they don't even know about you yet. They're treating me like their mother was abused or something and I'm some kind of beast."

"She's probably lied to them," I suggested.

He shrugged. "I don't know. My daughter said I never let her Mom be who she wanted to be and when I asked her if she'd always wanted to be a whore, she got mad at me."

I couldn't help laughing. "They'll figure it out. They'll see through the lies she's telling them."

"I hope so. It took a lot for me to send you that email. I didn't want to come across sounding desperate."

"You didn't," I assured him.

We arrived at baggage claim; the carousel began to move as bags slid down the chute. He moved his hand to my waist and pulled me close to him. "I just want to forget all that for now. It's just you and me."

"Yes it is," I smiled up at him, and we kissed.

A moment later, he snagged his bag and we headed toward short-term parking. I'd rented an SUV in hopes that we might venture into the Nevada or Arizona desert for a day or two. He slung his bags in the back and I gave him the keys to drive. He'd lived in Vegas years ago, a Southern California boy working there to earn money for college. He knew his way around like nobody's business.

"Hotel?" he asked, looking over at me.

"Bellagio," I said. "Unless you want to do something else first. Are you hungry?"

"For you," he leaned over to kiss me. He moved onto my neck and shoulders, stirring me.

"Let's go," I said, sliding my hand between his legs. I left it there the whole way.

We managed to get in the hotel room and shut the door before we gave in to our lust. He went straight for my breasts, of course, warm hands under my shirt, pulling it off over my head. I undid his belt and zipper; we were naked in seconds. With most men, it would have been a few quick, token efforts at foreplay, then the denouement of intercourse. With Derek, foreplay lasted a long time, working me into a level of desire that left me begging. Maybe because he was older, he understood the importance of taking his time. All I knew was, when he loved me, there was no doubt that I'd been loved.

Evening had fallen by the time we lay in bed, spooning, his hands still fondling my breasts, me loving the feel of his body against me.

"I want to love you like this for the rest of my life," he said, his voice spare, honest. His kisses on my neck and back made me shiver.

"We have to talk about that," I said, squeezing his hand over my breast. I rolled over to face him.

"I'll do everything to make you happy," he said.

I knew he would. That was not a worry. But did he have what I needed to be happy? Did he understand my desire for a family? Or would he say anything to assure we'd be together?

"I know you want children," he nodded. "I'm happy to raise a second family."

"Are you, though?" I asked gently. "I can't expect you to do that just for me."

"If that's what makes you happy, I want to do it. I love you, Shiloh. I'd do anything to have you with me."

His sincerity made me choke back tears. Probably because I still wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Trevor niggled at the back of my mind, a tantalizing possibility of everything I thought I wanted for myself. His unavailability, though . . .

"If my divorce was final, I'd marry you today," he said. "I'm that sure of us."

I drew his face down and kissed him. "I don't want you to have any regrets."

"About you? Never."

"I don't want to rush," I told him. "Let's give ourselves some time. You're emotional right now, and I -- well, I'm overwhelmed that you want to marry me. I need time to process it. You know I love what I'm doing at the clinic right now."

"I know you do. But I can get you into the same sort of position in Boston. Better, even."

No doubt he could. Part of me, though, didn't want to go there and be known as Dr. Wiley's lover who got what she had because he did it for her. I'd always earned my own way. I wasn't about to let a man hand me things.

"How long?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "I can't put a number on it. I just --"

"You have misgivings. Is it our age difference?"

"Well, yes and no," I said evasively.

"If I were your age, would you hesitate at all?"

"Probably not," I admitted. "But it's not the age, it's the fact that you have grown children, you've been through all that. Surely you want to spend the rest of your life enjoying yourself and not having to be a parent."

"Maybe," he allowed. He nuzzled my neck, kissing me, all the way to my nipples. "I enjoy this, I know."

I ran my hand through his hair, sighed, and let him make love to me again. His age did not affect his ability to achieve and sustain an erection. Maybe he took Viagra when I wasn't looking, or perhaps he was just that virile.

It was after nine when we again lay spent, gazing into each other's eyes.

"How about dinner?" he asked.

"I'd love that," I said, stroking his face. "And I love you."

He smiled, and kissed me. Hearing me say it meant everything to him. And it wasn't a lie. I did love sweet Derek, I only didn't know if it was in the way I needed to love him.

We showered, and dressed for dinner. He stood behind me knotting his tie while I put on makeup. "I did tell someone about you," he said to my surprise.

"Oh?" I asked.

"My mother. After Brenda skipped off with her teenager, Mom came over to see me, make sure I was eating and all that. You'd like my mother."

"I probably would," I agreed.

"Anyway," he finished his tie, and went on, "I told her how I'd met you a couple of years ago, and that we only saw each other a few times a year. I told her how I feel about you. She said I should pursue you, that a younger woman would keep me young. I think she's right."

I turned around and looked up at him. "You don't need me to keep you young."

"I just need you."

I brushed out my hair and got up, turning to face him. "You think you do. You get along without me when we're apart."

"Things are different now. I'm going to be free to have you. If that's what you want."

With a sigh, I leaned my head against him; he put his arms around me. "I want to be completely honest with you," I murmured.

"I want that, too."

"Come on," I took his hand. "We'll talk at dinner."

Please rate this story
The author would appreciate your feedback.
  • COMMENTS
Anonymous
Our Comments Policy is available in the Lit FAQ
Post as:
Anonymous
Share this Story

Similar Stories

I Didn't Know She Was A Vampire A man finds a woman in a bar who turns out to be a vampire.in Erotic Horror
Snow Drop A widower and a divorcee reunite around the holidays.in Romance
Scott & Holly Online lovers make love for the first time.in Romance
Tales From Fantasy Island The beginning of a new and exciting journey.in Erotic Couplings
The Elf & The DILF A hot, naughty mall elf makes a divorcee's Christmas merry.in Erotic Couplings
More Stories