The Surrogate Ch. 03

"Michael, it's me, Teri. Please don't call me anymore right now, okay? Give me some time to figure all this out. I miss you too, but I--I don't know if I can handle this, and I need some time. I promise I'll call again when I'm ready."

He'd honored her request, though it was making him crazy. He went to work, came home, saw the children whenever he could. He even made an appointment to go see Elizabeth, whose advice was "be patient, give her time."

Shit--that's what he was doing; what goddam choice did he have? But it sure pissed him off, being blamed for something totally innocent! For Chrissakes, he hadn't even MET Teri when he worked with Marina! Didn't she ....

His thoughts went around and around in his head, aimlessly and pointlessly. He finished his beer, tossed the can into the recycling bin and went up to bed.

Michael was just drifting off to sleep when the doorbell rang. He sat up, glancing at the clock: 11:20. Could it be ...?

He dashed downstairs in his boxer shorts and looked out through the glass panel on the door. A dark figure stood on the porch. He threw open the door but before he could say, "Teri?" a woman flung herself into his arms.

"Michael I'm sorry but I miss you so much!" she cried, twining herself around him. "My life is just empty!" She dropped her coat, revealing that all she was wearing was a thin nightie, and pressed herself hard against him, kissing him fiercely.

"What the ...! Jo?!" After a momentary response to her warm body against him, Michael pulled back, holding her at arm's length.

"Baby, please! Just for tonight! Just one more time!" She reached out again to pull him into her arms, to press her breasts and body against him.

"Jo, no!" He held her by the arms and steered her into the living room, guiding her down onto the sofa. "Sit!" he said, and took a chair across from her.

"Now--what's going on?"

"Michael, I--I know I screwed everything up, but ... can't we try again? I love you so much, and we have the kids, and ..." She lost the thread of her words a little, and he realized that she must be a little drunk. He could smell the alcohol on her breath.

Sighing, he took both her hands in his. "Jo, we're divorced, and we are not going to get back together. I'm sorry. We will always share Amy and Will, but that's it. You need to make a new life for yourself."

Almost frantically she said, "but baby could you just ... take me, just tonight? I'm so desperate to feel you inside me one more time..."

He realized he had an erection. Joanna's breasts showed clearly through her nightie, and the tears on her face somehow turned him on too. It would be so easy to just take her into his bedroom, to relieve the sexual tension he'd been feeling for weeks ....

Forcing himself to get up, he turned away and went to the kitchen, returning with a glass of cold water. "Drink some of this," he commanded, handing Joanna the glass. He sat down again, further away from her this time.

"Jo," he said, "you have to go home. We can't do this. We're divorced and I'm in love with someone else."

"Is it that ... Teri?" He nodded, and she began to cry again. "But baby, I always thought ..." She sobbed, not bothering to finish the sentence.

"Jo, did you leave the kids at home alone?"

She nodded. "Yes, but they're fine--they were both fast asleep."

Grimacing, Michael ran into the bedroom and quickly put on jeans, a T-shirt and sandals. Returning, he got Joanna to her feet and said, "c'mon, Jo, I'm taking you home."

She continued to cry, but made no effort to resist him as he walked her back down the street to her house--to what used to be the home they shared.

Ten minutes later, Joanna was alone in her bed, snoring, and Michael was back in his own house. He shook his head as he climbed into bed. Not quite the late-night surprise he'd been hoping for ....

****************************

5:30 on a Thursday afternoon and they were sitting at a small table in a noisy, crowded Starbucks four blocks from the hospital. This is what Teri wanted, and he hadn't dared to suggest something different.

Teri stared down into her caramel latte; she'd hardly looked at him since they'd sat down together. This was NOT good. Michael sipped his own coffee without tasting it.

"Michael, I've been--it's been ... just hard, I guess."

She looked up now, into his face. "I've tried so hard to be logical about this. Yes, we both had sexual lives before we met--there's no reason to be bothered about that. Yes, you stopped seeing Marina before you and I ever knew each other. Yes, it was a professional relationship, nothing romantic about it.

"But it's ... I'm just not that logical a person, I guess, not about this. I keep seeing you with her, on top of her, or thrusting into her from behind ..." Her voice had dropped to a whisper, and he had to lean far forward to hear her.

"And it's not just some anonymous woman, it's my big sister, the person I've looked up to and admired for so long! And she's so sexy ...

"And she's making you come, and you're making her come--the two of you fucking each other wildly, crying and shouting ..." She stopped talking, and tears appeared on her cheeks.

"Let's take a walk," Michael said. He stood up and offered her his hand. After a long moment, she took it, and they left the shop together.

They walked in silence for seven blocks, all the way to the park south of Main St. where he found them an empty bench across from the duck pond. There were a handful of small children playing, under the watchful eyes of their parents, tossing rocks into the pond or chasing the pigeons around.

Michael wasn't sure what to say, so he figured silence was still the best strategy. The next hour figured to be crucial, one way or the other.

"Was it better? With her?"

He was startled for a moment. "No, Teri, not at all. Of course not!"

"But she's a professional, she knows all the tricks..."

"Listen," he said. Time to proceed carefully. "Marina saved my life, okay? Before her, I'd never had intercourse for more than about two minutes in my whole life. My confidence was zero--especially after Joanna went out and cheated on me.

"Marina worked with me, she taught me. The happiness I felt when I was able to last for 15 minutes for the first time, you have no idea what that was like.

"And of course the sex felt good--it always feels good. But it's nothing to what you and I have. It was physical pleasure, like a good massage.

"With you, it's ... everything, it's love and sharing and closeness. And you are so exciting, Teri! The way you touch me, the way you move, the way you sound, it's ..."

He stopped. He found himself getting a hard-on, which didn't quite seem right for this situation.

"I've never been with anyone who makes me feel the way you do." He left it at that, hoping it would be enough. They sat for another long period in silence, her staring out moodily across the lake, him discreetly watching her face.

"Walk with me some more." She jumped up suddenly and he hurried to follow. They walked twice around the lake, slowly. He didn't dare to speak.

"Can we go back to your place?" she said.

"Of course--come on. I'll make us some dinner."

When they got there Teri lay down on the couch in the living room while he cooked some spaghetti and threw a salad together. When the food was ready he poked his head into the room; he could see she'd fallen asleep.

"C'mon, honey, dinner's ready," he said gently, helping her to her feet. She went to use the bathroom and wash up, and they ate together silently. Michael was worried and watchful. Keeping his mouth shut still seemed like the right choice.

When they were finished Michael stood up and cleared the table. He noticed that Teri hadn't eaten very much. When he returned she was crying.

She said, "I can't stand this! Every time I look at you I see you with her! I can't get the pictures out of my mind--all the positions, the two of you all over each other, going wild. Your cock in her mouth, you shouting as you come down her throat ...

"And I tell myself 'well, that's it--this isn't going to work, with him. You need to find someone else, where there won't be this ... this past to deal with.'

"But I love you, Michael! I love you and I can't even imagine letting you go, going back to my life and not seeing you anymore ... I can't do it!"

She was crying hard, her face in her hands. He picked her up without resistance and carried her to the bedroom. Putting her down gently on the bed he took her in his arms, kissing her, murmuring to her as he held her.

She began kissing him back, hard, and then pulling at his shirt. In a few moments they were tearing each other's clothes off, and then she yanked him on top of her, between her legs. He tried to go slow, to caress her, but she said, "no--I want you now!"

She grabbed his cock and pulled him to her cunt, pushing him in with a hand on his ass. She was surprisingly wet, and they both groaned as he slid smoothly all the way in, his hips pressing against her spread thighs.

They fucked hard and fast, no subtlety. She clung to him like a drowning woman, and as her orgasm approached she wrapped her legs tightly around his ass and squeezed him into her frantically.

"Oh God, oh, Michael, yes!" She came, digging her nails into his shoulders, and he roared as he came into her a moment later.

They collapsed together; and when he moved to roll off to the side she said, "no no, stay there." She held him tightly on top of her for a long time. Finally she shifted a little and he moved next to her, turning sideways to hold her in his arms.

He wanted to say, "are you okay?" but he kept his mouth shut. Finally, she turned her head to him and said, "thank you, Michael."

"I love you, Teri."

After about a half hour he got her up and they took a quiet shower together, washing each other but gently, no laughing or horseplay. Then they dried each other and he took her back to bed, where he loved her for a long time.

She held his head while he licked and nipped and caressed her breasts, and then slid down to lick and suck on her pussy. He sucked her clit and slid two fingers inside her, his other hand twisting a nipple gently, until she cried out and came. Then she said, "oh, baby," in a breathy voice, and pulled him up to her.

They fucked then, in the missionary position again but slowly, lovingly, their eyes open to one another. Michael felt the joy of being in control, but most of all he felt the closeness to this amazing woman and the incredible gift of her openness to him.

When he finally came, stroking steadily into her until his come jetted out of him, they kissed and snuggled for a few minutes, then fell asleep.

****************************

Michael woke up at 6:55 and turned the alarm off before it rang. He knew Teri's shift didn't start until noon that day. He slipped downstairs to make the coffee and start on breakfast.

He'd hoped to bring her breakfast in bed, but as he was taking the eggs off the stove she walked into the kitchen, looking unbearably adorable with her sleepy eyes and her mussed-up hair. She was wearing his shirt from the night before, which just managed to conceal her pussy.

She smilingly approached and gave him a long kiss, then gratefully accepted a cup of coffee. They ate together, holding hands, not saying much--both of them very very happy.

She said, "last night was wonderful, Michael--thank you!"

Very carefully he said, "you know, that was all you and me. Marina's not in bed with us--not in my head, not anywhere."

"I know. It's still gonna bother me, sometimes--but I'm just going to have to deal with it." She smiled. "Because I'm not letting you go."

"And I'm not going to let you get away," he said. He stood up and reached for something up on top of a cabinet. Coming back to the table, he knelt down in front of her and opened up his hand. There was a little square box, which he popped open to show her a ring with two beautifully matched small diamonds.

She gasped, and he said, "Teresa, will you marry me?"

There were tears in her eyes but the smile on her face was the brightest one he'd ever seen.