I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories Emotion, Old Friends, Family, Difficult Decisions, Reflection, Spirit, Acceptance, Whole Again, Homecoming, Oh Father, Birthday Surprises, Misguided Feelings, New Year, Picture Perfect, Kinship, Big River, Sunday Morning Coming Down, To Beat The Devil, Best Of All Possible Worlds, Little Girl Lost, Wicked Games, Monster Bash, It Takes Two To Tango, Nobody Wins and Down the rabbit hole.
It was a cold December morning in Trinity South Carolina, grey clouds covered the sky and fine rain fell over the quiet town. Lucas Buck lay warm in his large bed, with his arm around his companion. He had awoken at the sound of her sharp intake of breath and watched contently, as her breathing relaxing and her body lay peacefully.
It had been a week since the incident with Gail in the hospital and she had insisted on their baby remaining in the postnatal ward, to ensure everything was alright. Lucas had sensed some conflict within her and insisted on her staying with him until she had fully recovered from her ordeal, considering she had checked herself out of the hospital against Doctors orders.
Something did not feel right and he could not place his finger on it. Gail was acting as a new Mother would, showing concern over her baby and spending most her time in the hospital watching him; however, something deep within him called for him to remain cautious, therefore, he did not take no for an answer when he offered his place to her.
Gail had reluctantly agreed to allow him to take care of her and made it clear that she had no desire for sexual activities, due to her figure not being toned like it once was. As Lucas watched her intently while she lay peacefully asleep by his side, he yearned to be inside of her and her figure only reminded him of the fact that she had given him a child; therefore, it made him want her more.
Lucas smiled as she turned towards him and he slipped his hand beneath her nightdress. When she let out a low aroused moan as he gently caressed her sweet spot with his fingers, his smile grew wider and he felt his manhood become hard. He moved his body closer to hers and brushed his nose affectionately against hers, then began to play with her sweet spot.
Gail felt an exquisite sensation flow through her body and licked her lips, before opening her eyes and being met by Lucas' lips on hers. She allowed him to kiss her softly for a moment and took his tongue in her mouth, then took hold of his hand and gently removed it from between her legs. 'We've been over this Master Buck' she teased and turned around so her back was facing him.
Lucas narrowed his eyes at her reaction to the pleasure he had clearly been giving her, then pulled her back into him and reached under her nightdress again. 'We've been over the fact that you don't want any penetration Miss Emory; however, there's no law against me servicin' you in other ways' he whispered, then nipped at her ear playfully.
'Leave it to the mighty Lucas Buck to find a loop hole' she forced a laugh, then took a deep intake of breath and tried to push down her arousal.
The truth was that she could not bare to be here and allow him to touch her, until she had gotten the answers to her suspicions. Her body was clearly betraying her and reacting to his stimulating touch; however, her mind was screaming for him to stop this.
She opened her eyes and stared at the bedroom door, willing someone to disturb them; however, it was just them here. She felt his hard manhood on her behind and reached for it, as he expected her to do. When she heard his loud aroused moan, she felt her body quiver and the yearning for him to be inside of her became strong.
Lucas sensed her holding back and switched tactics. He moved his left arm under her hips and used this hand to play with her sweet spot, while his right hand was now free to caress her breasts. He nipped and sucked her neck seductively, whilst trying to control the urge to rip her hand off his manhood and take her roughly here.
The pleasure he felt with this simple act was exquisite and it reaffirmed his faith that they were meant to be, as she could please him so much just using her hand. He felt his climax building within him and increased the speed of his fingers. He knew she was delicate after what she had been through and took care to ensure he was not hurting her.
Gail felt his movements speed up and could not stop her aroused moans, she decided to let go to get this over with and instantly felt her climax rise within her. She sped up her movements then called out his name as they both came together and he bit down hard on her shoulder passionately. The voice of her Father telling her that she got her womanly ways from her Mother flowed through her brain and she bit her lip in exasperation, then started to get out of the bed.
'Where do you think you're goin' Miss Emory?' Lucas asked playfully, as he pulled her down and kissed her passionately.
Gail allowed him to control her for a moment, then broke free. 'I need to go clean up...these sheets aren't going to clean themselves Sheriff' she said sweetly and forced a smile.
Lucas nodded and signaled for her to get up; however, he watched her closely as she put on her robe and left the bedroom. She was not herself, that was clear and he sensed that she was hiding something from him. Her quickness to get away from him after their sensational act and the guilt he caught in her eyes was concerning, he would have to keep a close eye on her to ensure things were playing out as they should.
Merlyn sat on the bench outside Abe's Antique Store, admiring the paint job her brother had done the previous week. Considering he was so young, he had done a good job and she was proud that he had offered to help out someone in need.
After the events of the previous week, Merlyn had not been feeling herself. She did not know whether it was down to the fact that her Mother had nearly hurt her cousin over some petty jealousy, or the fact that she had kissed Matt Crower. The whole situation with what her Mother had done was horrendous and she did not know how she was going to forgive her; however, thinking back to Matt's soft lips on her's made her forget about all that drama and all she could think about was him.
Matt had avoided her as much as possible after she had kissed him. She even suspected that he had not put up much of a fight over Gail checking herself out of the hospital, as it would keep Merlyn away from his place of work. She could not blame him for reacting in such a way, he was an adult and she was a teenager. He was unaware of who she really was and how much she had seen; therefore, he had no idea that she was mature enough to make these decisions for herself and probably felt like he had taken advantage.
'Well that's what happens when a 16 year old girl throws herself at an older man' Lucas said appearing next to her, casually sitting on the bench.
Merlyn sighed at this interruption and went to stand up; however, Lucas pulled her back down and put his arm around her shoulder, before giving a friendly wave to a resident who was walking past on the other side of the road. 'Get off me Lucas' she ordered.
'Have you spend much time with your cousin lately?' he asked, disregarding her order.
Merlyn turned towards him angrily, then noticed the look of mischief in his eyes and chose to handle him with care. She knew that look and would not give him any reason to lash out at her. 'I've not had much chance with her being at the hospital with the baby all day, why?'
Lucas sighed and shook his head. 'You're sure that's where she is everyday?' he asked suspiciously.
Merlyn watched Lucas carefully, she did not understand why he was acting this way and as far as she knew, everything was fine with him and Gail. 'Where else would she be Lucas? She's just had a baby, why would she be anywhere else?'
Lucas nodded and pondered on her comments for a moment. 'I suppose you're right Missy, but if you're lyin' to me...'
'Lyin' about what?...' Merlyn snapped and forced herself up, '...You made pretty damn sure no-one could see Gail when she left the hospital, as you forced her to stay with you...What in the hell do you think i know that you wouldn't?'
Lucas stood up and approached Merlyn, the girl was actually making sense and he nearly started to doubt his suspicions; however, then he remembered Gail's strange behaviour this morning and sighed. 'Alright, you think everythin' is fine and dandy? I guess that's good enough for me, comin' from someone so pure and innocent...but if you start to suspect somethin' different, you'd do well to let me know. Unless you want that good Doctor of yours to start hearin' voices again' he smiled and entered the Store to check on his old friend Abe.
Merlyn stood still for a moment, then started to wonder about her cousin. Clearly something had happened to cause this change in Lucas, so she had to find Gail to ensure she was aware of his current behaviour.
Rita paced around the room, holding the beautiful baby boy in her arms. She had tried to hand the child to her friend, after Gail had finished using a breast pump to ensure the baby had plenty of food; however, she was more standoffish today than she usual was and this caused the baby to start crying.
Rita had personally assigned herself to the postnatal ward to look after Lucas and Gail's baby. After what had happened the previous week she had felt responsible and wanted to make it up to them. Gail had insisted that what had happened was not her fault; however, it did not change how Rita felt and she was determined to make things right.
'Come on Gail, I really don't know what's up with you but this behaviour has to stop' Rita said and rocked the crying baby in her arms.
Gail had not meant to cause the baby to cry, she just could not bare to hold him after her actions with Lucas this morning. She was disappointed with herself and it had not helped her stick to her usual caring fascade when it came to the baby. 'I just don't want to hold him right now Rita, is that so bad?' she asked, not appreciating her friends dramatic reaction to her not wanting to hold the baby.
'It's not just you not wanting to hold him Gail, you won't take him, you won't breastfeed him...This boy needs his Mother and I don't understand why you're not steppin' up' she replied honestly and shook her head when the baby's cries became louder.
Gail rolled her eyes and shook her head. If she could not stand to be with the baby, how was she supposed to breastfeed him? This was becoming a problem that she was unable to resolve and if Lucas decided to check in on them at this moment in time, he would see her true feelings clear as day.
'Give him here' Merlyn said, as she entered the room and took the baby.
Gail smiled at her cousin when the baby stopped crying, then walked towards the window and spotted the navy blue Crown Victoria parked out front of the hospital. 'Leave us' she told Rita and continued to look out of the window.
Merlyn watched as Rita left, with a look of frustration in her eyes. She approached her cousin and held out the baby to her. 'He's lookin' for somethin' and he's determined to find it...Take the baby Gail'
Gail turned towards Merlyn and stared deep into her eyes. 'Your Mother...'
'Is dead and has been for a long time...now, take the damn baby' she ordered.
Gail narrowed her eyes at her, then took hold of the baby. When he began to cry, she stroked his cheek gently with her finger and tried to disregard her Father's laughter in her head. The baby stopped crying and stared up at his Mother, Gail forced a reassuring smile and held him tight.
'Well look what we have here' Lucas said, leaning against the open door. After seeing to Abe, he wanted to check on his love to see if she was where she was supposed to be.
Gail rocked the baby in her arms and chose to disregard Lucas' presence. 'I hope you didn't walk all the way over her from the Store' she said to Merlyn and started pacing the room.
Lucas watched as Gail attempted to ignore his presence and smiled at how good she looked holding their child. 'Yeah, how did you manage to beat me here Missy? Enquirin' minds wanna know' he smirked.
Merlyn regarded Lucas with irritation, then shook her head. 'Not that it's anyone's business, but TJ dropped me off'
'As in TJ who owns the old Bowen Junkyard?' Gail asked curiously.
'You don't half have a way with men Darlin'...' Lucas laughed and went to Gail's side, '...You kiss him like you did Harvard?'
'You did what?' Gail snapped and shrugged off Lucas' attempt to stroke her back.
Merlyn glared at Lucas with hatred in her eyes, she had not told Gail what she had done and resented Lucas' insinuation that she was easy. 'It's not what you think and I know TJ from spending time with Poppy He's always happy to drop me off places, so you can get your mind out the gutter' she snapped at Lucas.
Gail handed the baby to Lucas and approached Merlyn angrily. 'Tell me you didn't do what he's saying you did? Please give me some sort of sign that you've got more common sense than that'
Merlyn stared down at her hands and attempted to hide the guilt that was written all over her face. She had not wanted to burden Gail with this and could not believe Lucas ratted her out.
Lucas laughed at the conflict he had caused, he enjoyed tormenting Merlyn and he had the added bonus of dropping Harvard in it too with this one. Had this occurred when Matt first came into Caleb's life, Lucas would have carted him off to a Jail cell for this sort of behaviour; however, he believed the man would incur a worse punishment now that Gail knew their secret.
Lucas stood up, handed Gail the baby and placed a soft kiss on both of their heads. 'Well I guess I better scoot and get back to work...You two enjoy your family chat' he smirked, then left them alone in the hospital room.
Merlyn closed the door behind Lucas after he left and turned towards Gail. 'He was here checkin' up on you and...'
'I know what he was doing...' Gail interrupted and handed Merlyn the baby. '...I'm more concerned with what you're doing at this moment in time'
Merlyn held the baby tight and sighed. 'It was nothin' Gail'
'Is that so? Well why can't you wipe that smile off of your face when the kiss was mentioned?' Gail asked disapprovingly.
Merlyn bit her lip, in an attempt to hide her smile and turned away from her cousin.
Gail shook her head in exasperation, she really did not need this right now with all that was going on. 'I haven't got time for this...Do me a favour and watch him for an hour or so'
Merlyn nodded and watched as Gail gathered her jacket and backpack. 'Where are you goin'?' she asked curiously, knowing this is what Lucas had been referring to earlier.
'It's better if you don't know...Just cover for me and don't go near Matt Crower' she ordered, then headed out of the hospital room and started towards her car.
-To be continued-