He moved hard inside her as she moaned in ecstasy. It was like he was inside her head and knew exactly what she wanted. He paced himself as he bit her flesh. Her eyes shut tightly as she felt a few lustful tears form in her eyes. If she bit down anymore on her bottom lip her teeth were going to pierce through it. She opened her eyes to see her lover, but the room was pitch black. His body pressed against hers causing her to move up higher on the bed. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he continued moving roughly. The pain was killing her, but the pleasure was irreplaceable. Her toes began to curl as an electrical surge ran through her body. She let out a high pitched whimper as well as a few moans and it was over. He didn't comfort her, he didn't caress her. He just stood up and went to the bathroom and she heard the shower switch on. She sat up slowly feeling sore and felt around for the lamp switch. She slid off the bed and picked up his button up shirt and slipped it on. She slowly crept to the bathroom door and creaked it open. Steam pushed against her body as she opened the door slightly more and walked in. She could hardly see. The room was all fogged up from the hot shower he was taking. She walked across the room to the shower and watched as he rinsed his face. Who was he? She couldn't make out his face within the all the steam. She opened the glass door as he switched off the water. She got a hold of the towel and handed it to him. His face was still not visible to her and she wondered. It wasn't Malcolm that was for sure. Malcolm was slightly taller and fuller. He walked out of the shower and came up to her and kissed her. She stepped back as the steam began to fade away and there he was; standing in a towel.
"What's a matter? It's like you've seen a ghost." He smiled. "Did I hurt you, sweetie?" he walked up to her. "What about the baby?" he placed a hand over her stomach. Her eyes widened and she looked down.
"Where is Malcolm? What are you doing here?" she began to panic.
"What are you talking about? We haven't seen Malcolm in over three years. Karen, are you feeling ok?" he placed a hand over her forehead.
"No, what did you do with him? He's my husband! This is his baby. We've been married for five years. You're the one that is not ok." She shook.
"I'm calling the doctor…" he walked towards her.
"Get away or I'll call the cops!" she ran into the room stumbling over their clothes on the floor. He switched on the lights, but she kept running. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a frame containing a picture of her and Will at their wedding. Tears ran down her face, she threw the fame on the floor and she made her way down the corridor.
"Karen come back!"
She never turned back as she made her way down the stairs. "Malcolm, where are you! Malcolm! Mal…" she tripped as she hurried down the stairs and tumbled down the stairs.
"Ahhh no!!!" she shot up in a cold sweat.
"Karen, what's the matter?" Malcolm turned on the lamp. He looked over at Karen who was shaking and crying uncontrollably. She was drenched in sweat and pale white. He took her in his arms and rocked her slightly until she was calm. "Its ok Kare, it was just a nightmare. You're ok." He assured her. She held on tightly to him as she kept shaking. He leaned over to his side of the bed and retrieved a bottle of water off the night stand. "Are you ready to talk?" he asked as she took a sip of the water.
She shook her head and leaned on his chest. "No just hold me." She looked out into the darkened room then back at him. She held his hand and caressed his wedding band. "It was about the baby and the father." She spoke all of a sudden.
"It's ok you don't have to say anymore if you don't want to." He kissed her hand. "It'll all be better tomorrow." He promised.
"Mal, will this weekend just be us on the yacht like we had planned or is this the weekend the gang comes with us too?"
"This weekend is just us. They are coming with us until next week which is Fourth of July weekend."
"Good I think we need some time to ourselves. Don't you think?" She snuggled up to him.
"Yes it'll just be the two of us on the open seas."
"Mal thank you for the ring. I really really love it." she admired it in the dim light. "Hey! I never gave you yours." She sat up and jumped off the bed. She ran to her closet and came back out with a small emerald green box. She got back on the bed and sat on him as she always did. "Open it." She grinned.
He held the box in hand and removed the lid. To his amazement it was a gorgeous sliver diamond encrusted watch. He was dumbfounded. "Karen I love it!" he kissed her. "Read the back." he turned it and read Forever & Always Love, Karen. He put the watch down on the nightstand and came face to face with her. She smiled as she neared his face and held him from the back of the head. She passed her lips playfully over his repeatedly. He tried catching her lips and failed. She kissed his forehead as his hands ran up her negligee to rest on her bare hips. She gasped at the contrast of their body temperatures. She slowly shut her eyes as she felt the slightest tear form in her eye. His hands gently pulled the negligee up her body and over her head. Her body filled with goose bumps as her skin became freed of her clothes. Malcolm knelt in front of her as she did and placed a hand behind her head. He soothingly massaged the back of her head as he went to kiss her paled lips. Her eyes never opened as he continued to gently caress her. He went up to kiss her neck and she whispered shyly. "Malcolm, make love to me… like you mean it." Malcolm sat back staring deep into her now opened glistening eyes. "Can you do that for me?" she asked. He nodded repeatedly and embraced her as he laid her back on the bed.
They drove down to the dock where their yacht awaited them. Karen had been quiet the whole way there but well Malcolm didn't think much of as he never really did. He knew that if there was something really bothering her she'd come and talk to him. The Range Rover came a stop and she turned to look at him. "Alright that's it over there."
"Is that the new one, Mal?" she looked at it in astonishment.
"Mhm… lets go. I want you to see it before we head out." He stepped out and slipped on his sunglasses. He went around the truck, but Karen had already taken it upon herself to open the door on her own. She took hold of his hand and they walked to the very end of the dock.
"Mal, you really out did yourself with this. When were you planning on telling me we were now the crew for the Carnival Cruise ships?" she giggled.
"Well I thought it'd be appropriate since you want to start a family and well Grace and Leo now have their baby. I know how you see all of them as part of our family even before I came along and it'd be nice to have them all here." He said looking at the yachts details.
"Oh darling, that's so sweet of you." she hugged him tightly.
"Shall we go in?" she nodded and he led her inside.
After twenty minutes of walking around the enormous yacht the finally got to the last door on the second level. "And this is ours…how about that view? The best one on the boat." He added.
"Oh my God! It's gorgeous! I love it!" she walked over to the enormous window and looked out into the never ending ocean. She loved that there were steps that lead up to the window made her feel superior to the ocean. She turned around to look at him as he watched her with so much love and tenderness in his eyes. She smiled widely and threw herself on to the bed. She patted a spot on the bed for him to lay with her. He lay next to her as they both looked out into the blue sky. "I'm going to love waking up in the morning. I'm guessing we are going to spend a lot of time here." She smirked.
"Well yes, but first we have to go get our luggage." He sat up and walked to the door.
"Why do I have to get it?" she whined.
"Do you plan on staying in the same clothes all weekend?" he asked from the corridor.
"Well I didn't pack much since I thought we were going to be in bed all weekend." There was silence for a few seconds.
"I'll get them!" his feet stomped their way down the stairs. She sat up laughing and followed the path he had taken before. He must have left in a hurry because there he came with both their bags in hand.
"Well that was fast." She commented coming along the side of the yacht.
"Rosie and driver are coming as well." he tilted his head back indicating the two people behind him.
"Oh I thought it would be just you and me you know." she sighed.
"Well we need someone to steer this thing and someone to cook." he made his point walking up the slanted plank.
"Well that's true. I ain't going to cook. Hey you know what I'm going to go nap. I need sleep!" she walked back to the stairs.
"Wait for me!" Malcolm called from behind.
"No I want to sleep!" she ran up the stairs and closed the door as she entered the room. She pulled the covers and jumped under them. She curled up and waited for the door to open. She was all giddy she felt like a child again. It reminded her of when she and her father would play hide and seek and she'd hide in the same place purposely.
"Gotcha!" his body dropped over hers but keeping his distance. He tickled her from over the covers and she let out a high pitched scream right into his right ear. She sat up and pushed the covers off when she felt his body drop to the side.
"Oh my God! Mal…" she didn't even finish her sentence when she felt his rough hand slam against her face. They both looked at each other in shock. She held the left side of her face and he held his right hand.
"Karen, sweetie I'm sorry….I didn't mean to." He reached over to her. Her eyes were full of tears ready to spill over. She flinched and pulled away at first, but then she let her body go and fell into his arms. He rocked her back and forth asking for forgiveness. "Kare, I'm sorry it was pure instinct." She didn't speak just cried with such a sentiment that even she was surprised. "Baby please forgive me? I've never hit a woman before. I feel so horrible."
She sat up and left his arms. She didn't look at him just got her purse and went into the bathroom. She walked into a new surrounding and looked around. There was a window with a beautiful view. She looked out of it and she saw as their car became smaller and smaller. Her face was still pulsating from the hit, but she didn't want to believe it was true. After five years of marriage he hit her. She knew it wasn't intentional, but maybe it was. Maybe it was God's way of showing her that what she had done was wrong. Even if she didn't want to admit it she had, she had slept with a man who wasn't her husband. She didn't even know what had gotten into her. She still felt something for Will and she couldn't deny it not even to herself, but she knew that her love for her husband was more profound.
For the mean time she stayed sitting by the window thinking and taking everything that was going on into play. She sat there thinking of their anniversary and Joshua James, Grace's look as her child slept, Leo obviously feeling superior to everyone after showing his new son. She took all of that into the perspective of her life. She'd look huge and would have that waddling walk as she carried what seemed liked a bolder. She hated the thought of not wearing heels or being able to see her feet, but at the end holding a bundle of joy you knew would be yours forever made her feel motherly. She did want someone to care for other than Malcolm, someone to sing to and rock to sleep, some one to teach the important things in life.
She sat back in the chair and began to rummage through her enormous purse for her pack of gum. She dug and dug through the purse, she felt it at the very bottom. She pulled it and something else came up with it; it hit the floor. She sat up to pick it up; she stopped for a minute. How did that not cross her mind? She picked it up and stared at it in disbelief. She was late and it hadn't even crossed her mind. There it was the tampon she had put in her purse weeks ago. She'd lost count. When was the last time I got? She got hold of her little planner and opened up to the month of June. The second through the seventh were circled in red; flipped to the other page and looked at the second and nothing. It was the twenty-seventh nearly two months and nothing. She had told Malcolm she hadn't been taking her pill in over two weeks, but lacked to mention it had been two months or so.
She shot up from her seat and ran to the door. Malcolm was no longer in the room. She rushed over to her bag and opened the front zipper. There it was… what she needed to figure everything out. She followed all the instructions and waited for about five minutes before even daring to touch the test. She picked up with an unsteady hand. She looked into the mirror and then over to the test. She took in a few deep breaths then finally looked at the test clearly. There was a knock at the door. She head shot up and the test went into the trash. The door came ajar and in walked in her husband. "Are you ok? You've been in here for an hour."
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Sweetie I'm really sorry about what happened."
"Say no more Malcolm. It's ok… I know it wasn't intentional."
He watched her walk away into the corridor not saying more. What was going on? Was she having mood swings or was she learning how to control her temper? It was all very confusing to him. She kept to herself a lot and when she didn't she was telling him everything she kept from him. Was this what she meant by "a new me"?
