Always Consumed
By Skyla Madi
Always Consumed
Copyright © 2015 by Skyla Madi. All rights reserved.
First Print Edition: February 2015
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com
Formatting: Limitless Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1507738658
ISBN-10: 150773865X
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
A Note To My Readers
This is a small novella for the readers who wanted to spend Valentine’s Day with Seth and Olivia. This novella changes nothing about their story. It’s just a small slice of life with the Marcs on a special day.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter One
Olivia
Valentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year. Sure, the first one is cute and the second is sweet, but when does it end? It’s my least favorite gift giving holiday. Seth is the hardest person to buy for. I struggle enough on his birthday, our anniversary, and at Christmas. I don’t need another pointless holiday forcing me to drag my ass around a mall to look at things Seth doesn’t have use for.
Seth loves Valentine’s Day. He loves any chance to spoil me more than I need or deserve and, somehow, he always manages to find things I want and need, even when I claim I don’t want or need anything. Seth, on the other hand, hates it when I buy him gifts—any time of the year. He can refuse a gift or demand I don’t buy him one, but I’m not allowed to do the same. He claims waking up and seeing my face every morning is all he needs—which is a super sweet thing to say—but the same goes for me, too. He’s all I need. I don’t want roses, chocolates, or gifts. I just want him. I want him to finish work a little earlier so I can see his face for a few minutes longer before we sleep. I want him to take the day off and lounge around the house with me, but he’d rather shower me in diamonds and clothes—things that can be lost or replaced. He can’t be replaced. He’s my single most priceless possession (second only to Chloe) and I don’t need anything else.
But, he doesn’t see it that way. Seth is the simplest, most complex man I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing…and I love it.
I love him.
With a final wipe, I step away from the stationary bike and stuff the corner of my cleaning cloth into my black shorts. For weeks I’ve tried to work out a plan for a nice Valentine’s Day gift and have come up short every single time. There aren’t any decent action movies on at the cinema either so I can’t take him there, not unless he wants to sit through another Nicholas Sparks movie. I don’t think he’s forgiven me for the last one.
I sigh. I can’t come up with a single, simple thing to surprise him with on that ‘special’ day, and as much as I’d hate to admit it, Selena is right. I suck at this wife thing.
I peer across the gym into one of the training rooms. Immediately I’m mesmerized by his smile as he stands with his hands on his hips. I feel my lips curl into a stupid, adoring smirk as I watch Seth explain something to Michael, the lean seventeen year old boy he’s training.
Their relationship is sweet. I love watching them interact—the look of admiration that glistens in Michael’s eyes whenever Seth speaks is inspiring. Michael is a big fan of Seth’s. He’s always arriving and leaving the gym with a grin almost too big for his face. Initially, Seth didn’t want to take him on, but I encouraged it. At one point, I could see his life wasn’t fulfilling him the way it should be. Sure, the gym was busy and we had Chloe, which is hard work all on its own, but he just never seemed…satisfied. When I pushed him to roll up his sleeves and get involved, he was much happier with his job. I know it’s not what he wants to do. Fighting is all he’s ever wanted to do, but since that’s out of the picture, this is second best and he’s doing an amazing job.
Seth slaps Michael on the shoulder and, with a swift wave, Michael turns and exits the training room. I cross the main floor, hoping to get a few minutes in with Seth before the next one arrives. Callum, the boy who fills the slot after Michael, is also a fan of Seth’s. However, while Michael’s goal is to learn from Seth, Callum’s goal is to beat him. He leaves frustrated most of the time, but occasionally Seth lets his guard down and gives him a reason to want to come back.
Seth turns his back as I pass by Michael, who offers me a warm smile. I return it before slipping into the room, shutting the door, and blacking the windows. When he hears the mechanisms click into place, he glances over his bare, broad shoulder. Oh, boy. I can’t remember the last time I ran my tongue along his shoulder and up his neck. In fact, I can’t remember the last time our timetable has allowed us to be intimate. Daily sex has fallen to weekly sex that has, somehow, turned into ‘it’s been a few weeks’. Have we fallen so far from where we used to be? If so, when? When the hell did that happen?
Suddenly, as his full, beautiful lips pull into a curious smirk and he angles his head, I begin to pulse in hot, unbearable waves between my thighs. The air becomes thick, the ground liquefies and my skin bubbles with sweat, sweat that’s formed at the thought of his mouth on mine…of him between my legs…of his warm tongue gliding across my skin.
Touching…
Tasting…
“O?”
Fucking…
“Hm?”
He wipes his blue microfiber cloth over his forehead, collecting a light sheen of sweat. “You okay?”
Oh! I shake my head and swipe at a loose strand of chocolate hair fluctuating in front of my face. “I’m fine.”
He steps closer, a brazen smile curling his lips. He knows. He knows exactly what my wicked mind was conjuring up.
“You seemed out of it for a little while there.”
Subtly, I rake my teeth over my bottom lip, determined to hide my smile. “Did I?”
My only option in this situation is to play dumb. If I don’t, I have no chance. My sturdy frame will melt and I’ll be nothing but a puddle of desperation at his feet. I haven’t been a puddle at his feet since I met him and he was always around, but refused to have sex with me. It drove me insane having him close, having his body heat waft over me and his skin touch mine, but never striking home. Thinking back, I have no idea how I lasted as long as I did. Now, I feel like I’m going to implode if we don’t do something—anything!
“I was thinking about Valentine’s Day,” I say, casually brushing my fingertips over my throat to cover the redness I’m certain is spreading across the surface.
I fan my face. Whatever hormone has hijacked my skin is a second away from spreading over my body. I’ve never been this way—even as a teenager—but around Seth, there’s no telling what kind of frenzy my hormones are being swept into. The room is warm, too, which isn’t helping at all, and his cologne, it hangs in the dense air, teasing my senses.
“Valentine’s Day? Valentine’s Day has you all flustered?” His chocolate irises flare and the tiny golden rivers of honey in them brighten as he closes the distance
between us. “I doubt it.”
I hold my breath. This would be so much easier for me if he had a shirt on. Instead, I’m forced to look at his chest as it rises and falls quicker than usual, his tan skin glistening under the light. I swallow and my dry tongue rubs against the roof of my equally dry mouth.
“I was thinking about Valentine’s Day…but then I came into the room and saw you. Now, I’m th—”
He lifts a hand to silence me, the ghost of his previous wicked smile faintly on his lips. “I know what you’re thinking now.”
His large hands find my hips and he pulls me into him. As our torsos connect, air leaves my lungs. Though we may not be having sex as regularly as we used to, he always holds me close and, always, I react the same. To be so close to him, to share the same personal space, is an experience unlike any other. How many things in life make you feel like you’re on drugs even though you haven’t put anything into your body? How many things make you feel as light as a feather, floating carelessly through the air, without damaging your internal organs?
I have only one.
Him.
And I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. On the plus side, I also can’t be indicted for getting high off Seth, either. Winning.
I watch him breathlessly as he eyes my lips, studying each one carefully before finally meeting my gaze. My heart throbs fiercely and my throat becomes thick. Instead of talking, I focus on my breathing. If I don’t, I’m afraid I’ll die. Seth sets his forehead on mine and all I can do is breathe him in, my insides intoxicated by everything he is. Nothing in my life has ever smelled as good to me as he does. I see his lightly bristled jaw become slack as I move my mouth towards it. I love it when he lets his facial hair just break through the skin. I love it when it tickles my flesh.
Only one kiss. That’s all I want.
I kiss him and a jolt of electricity mixed with fire burns down my spine and explodes in my shoes. It’s a propellant and I’m unable to stop. A hot rush of air falls off my lips and blows against his skin. I kiss him again, this time a little lower on the jaw. My entire body tingles as Seth releases a tight groan from his chest and his fingers dig into my hips, squeezing with unbelievable pressure. To feel how desperately he wants me too fills me with a pleasure I can’t describe. To know for certain our sex life, or lack thereof, is a result of our busy schedules and not because the spark is lost, is a relief. To lose the spark would be devastating.
“Callum is going to show any second now,” Seth says, his throat vibrating against my lips as I move them south.
I smile against his skin, not because Callum is coming, but because Seth’s tone made it sound like he doesn’t care if Callum walked through the door this second and saw us. Still, we hold a professional standard here at the gym, and although Seth grabs, squeezes, and pinches me as I walk around all day, it’s a different thing entirely to be caught engaging in foreplay.
And that’s exactly what this is.
My kisses aren’t innocent. They’re provocative, teasing, and completely private. They work me up beyond belief, making them utterly inappropriate for anyone else to see.
I pull back and look Seth in the eyes. I can see the painful restraint on his face. I can see his need for this to happen, too. How long can he last without forcing himself inside of me?
“Tonight? After we put Chloe to bed?”
I pout and shake my head. “Your mom is coming around to have dinner with us, remember? By the time she leaves, it’ll be too late. We’ll never get up for work in the morning.”
With a heavy exhale, he tilts his head back, exposing his throat. “Olivia.”
“What do you want me to do? I’m trying.”
Releasing my hips, he runs his hands over his face and I take a step back, fighting to regain some composure. “How long has it been?”
I shrug. The last time we had sex was in the gym’s office during a scheduled close a few weeks ago. Selena called at the beginning asking about Jackson. She almost ruined it, too. Thankfully, Seth was in one of those moods where he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“A few weeks.”
Falling from my lips, the timeframe doesn’t sound so bad. It feels like an eternity ago, though. When you’re not intimate with the person you love for a lengthy period of time…things don’t feel right. Everything is tense and arguments spring from nowhere. I’m sick of it. I want to fuck my husband. Why is that so hard to accomplish?
“We’ll make time.” He sighs, bringing his stare back to mine. “I promise.”
I blow air out of my cheeks. They’re words I’ve heard before and they’re words I don’t want to put up with anymore. When? Tonight? Tomorrow? Next week? I open my mouth to beg him to call his mother and tell her we’re busy tonight, but the door opens, stopping my words in my throat.
Seth glances over my head. “Callum, take your shoes off and work the bag. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see tall, blond Callum cross the room without a glance in our direction. Defeated, I suck in an inhale and expel it. This conversation will have to wait. I turn from Seth and barely make it a step away before he snags my wrist and pulls me back.
“Things are a little busy right now, but we will make time, O.”
I study his face and see his sincerity. That’s all the reassurance I need. I smile at him and nod.
We will make time.
We have to make time.
Chapter Two
Seth
Even in her sleep Olivia huffs at me, annoyed by my lack of attention. Despite it, my lips twitch and I reach out to brush a strand of chocolate hair from her forehead. I hate that she’s feeling like this, but she’s not alone. It’s not that I don’t try. I do. I try very hard to be alone with her, but it doesn’t come as easy as it used to. Between working at the gym, raising Chloe, training Jackson, and being involved in the draining process of opening another gym on the other side of town, we haven’t found the time. When we are home, our mothers stop by constantly, and when they don’t, Chloe runs around on her newly found legs and destroys the place. By the time we have dinner, put her to bed, clean up and shower, we’re exhausted. Just the other night we sat down in front of the TV to watch a movie. Both of us were out by the end of the beginning credits. Truth is, we’re exhausted. How do you find time for each other if you can’t even find time for yourself?
Once, I contemplated stopping in at the library on the way home from work to pick up a book on marriage and intimacy. Yeah, it happened, and the thought makes me fucking shudder. Have we fallen that far? How have we let a few weeks slip by? No. I refuse to entertain the idea of being stuck in some kind of rut. Old people, people who have been married for forty years, get stuck in ruts.
Not us. Never us.
All I’ve ever wanted to do is make her happy. I fucked up once, in the name of revenge against someone who wasn’t worth a second of my time, but never again. I like to think I’ve grown since then. My maturity levels have risen way past high school dramas that exist only to poison me and my life.
I toss the blanket off of Olivia, and she doesn’t budge as it folds nicely at our ankles. The morning sun has yet to hit our room, but I don’t need it to see her properly. An almost see through light pink tank top and tiny gray shorts cover her body as best they can in her sleepy state. Seeing her lying there still and perfect sends blood rushing around my body, pooling everywhere but in my brain. I lean closer, close enough to smell the sweet scent of her shampoo and the cleanliness of her skin. She went to bed early last night, leaving me alone with a mother who refused to shut up. By the time I made it up here, Olivia was fast asleep and I didn’t have the heart to wake her. This morning, however, I know she’s had a full eight hours sleep, the first in a long time, so I don’t feel too bad about waking her.
I inch closer to her, keeping my eyes on her peaceful face. I reach out and lightly brush the tips of my fingers over her outer thigh. Her lips softly part and she
expels a warm breath of air that sends a pleasurable chill through my body, causing goosebumps to erupt over my skin. I touch her gently, pushing all impure thoughts from my mind. It’s too easy to get lost in Olivia and the beautiful curves of her body. For now, I only want to explore the surface of her skin, reconnect with it. Her body is new to me once again. Before Chloe, I could draw Olivia from scratch and know where to put every freckle, every curve or bump. When she was pregnant with Chloe, her body changed. I still loved it just as much, if not more, but I never had the chance to connect with it because it changed every day. Now, post-Chloe, her body is different again. I’ve touched her entire frame with my bare hands, but it still feels like uncharted territory. Her belly, for example. I move my fingers over her hip towards her belly button. I watch her face as her eyebrows draw in. She rarely lets me see or touch her stomach since having Chloe. It’s softer, that much I know, but it’s nothing that would ever turn me off her. I move my fingers around her belly and I genuinely enjoy its extra softness. To be so selfless, to sacrifice your body to grow another human being…does she know how much I admire her for it? Have I told her?
I slip my fingers underneath the fabric of her shirt and the very tips of my fingers seem to heat up as our skin connects. I continue my ascent. My destination? Her breasts. Excitement shoots straight to the tip of my cock. They’re yet another thing on Olivia’s list she doesn’t like about herself anymore. I try to remember the last time she let me see them. God, I’d give anything to peel them from every piece of clothing she owns, post breast-feeding or not. I wonder when she’ll stop caring about what other people think of her body. I love it, just the way it is. Through all of its changes and all of the trauma it’s experienced, it’s only more arousing to me.