Chapter 60 - Sanctuary

The ride home was quiet for the first half, at least for Amy, she didn't want to interrupt the two lovebirds in the back seat who seemed to remain wrapped around each other. It was quiet in the car except for the occasional kiss and whisper between the married couple in the back, until they suddenly seemed to remember that Amy was even there. "Amy, Thanks for picking me up, and bringing Bernadette, I am happy you had the time so she wouldn't have to come up here alone." Howard said from the back seat.

"Thanks Amy, being able to ride back without worrying about driving, was really nice." Bernadette added.

Amy smiled, it was nice to be thanked for the things she did, Sheldon hadn't figured that out yet, but her friends understood. "No problem, I'm just glad you got home safe and sound Howard, and I know Bernadette is too."

Bernadette giggled, "You know it sister." All three of them laughed at that.

The rest of the trip was more pleasant for Amy, all three of them talked, mostly about Leonard and Penny, with Amy throwing in some tidbits about what Sheldon was doing. So with them all talking, the remaining time back to Howard and Bernadette's apartment, made the rest of the trip fly by and they soon found themselves hugging Amy and waving goodbye to her, as she drove back home. Howard and Bernadette held each other all the way to their apartment and once inside Howard stopped and just looked around. He couldn't believe how good it felt to be back home, it was like his own private safe sanctuary and once he closed the door, he was overwhelmed with the feeling that he never wanted to leave and wanted his wife and child to remain there with him.

Bernadette saw him standing, at the now closed door, and just looking around, he seemed like he was in a different world, just looking around, and she became a little concerned. "Honey is everything all right?"

Howard smiled at his wife, he felt safe again and suddenly very tired, "No nothing is wrong now, I'm just happy to be home. Bernie, I'm also very tired, do you mind if we just go to bed?"

Bernadette gave him a little smile, "Sure Honey, it is late now anyway and I am a little tired too." She knew this would be the first good nights sleep she would get since everything had happened over the last couple of days.

Howard took a quick shower by himself, not wanting Bernadette to see the bruises on his body, then put on his pajamas and headed to bed. The feeling of his pillow and the smell of the covers, immediately relaxing him as he waited for Bernadette to get ready. He was already half asleep when he felt her crawl in bed with him, but he gathered her up in his arms, kissed her then relaxed into sleep as he felt his wife get comfortable against him and relax too. The were both asleep a very short time later, Bernadette, finally able to fully relax, now that Howard was by her side, and Howard able to relax because he was safe at home with the person he loved most in the world, and their child.

The next morning Bernadette woke still being held snuggly in Howard's arms, even though she could tell he was still asleep. It was so comforting to know he was safe with her and all the worries she had over the previous few days now just seemed like a dream, a bad dream, but still a dream. The night before and this morning, he had cuddled her, snuggled her and held her like there was no tomorrow, it made her feel incredibly loved, but it made her a little worried too. He was acting like he was scared he would loose her, and he was not like that before he left, Bernadette just knew something happened during his trip that he wasn't telling her, and although, she wanted to know what it was, she was scared she would wish she didn't if she found out. He also might not be able to tell her, she was told about security, during that time her and Howard were detained by the Army, and she didn't want to get him in trouble, so she just laid there keeping her thoughts presently to herself.

However, Bernadette wasn't awake by herself for long, she felt a slight movement of her husband then felt gentle kisses on her neck, which made her smile. She turned in his arms, to see his face, a small smile on it, it made her heart just want him and her lips immediately went to his. She didn't know how long they kissed, she quickly becoming lost in her husbands kisses while being held by him, but she had eventually had to break it off as her pregnancy controlled bladder started screaming at her. "Oh Honey, I'm sorry, but I have to go pee."

Howard chuckled and got quickly out of bed to help her, even though Bernadette really didn't need it. He touched her hand which made her grab his, she knew he didn't want to leave her, so she just took him into the bathroom with her, letting him sit on the edge of the tub, while she used the toilet, leaning over to put her head against his. They left the bathroom still holding hands and got back in bed, Howard immediately cuddling her, which turned into another kissing session again. They never said a word for almost an hour, just kissing and holding each other, until Bernadette realized Howard wanted to just stay in bed with her. "Howie, are we staying in bed all day?"

Howard looked at his beautiful wife, "Um, do you mind?"

"No Honey, what ever you want to do. I love to stay in bed all day with you." Bernadette really knew something had happened now and she still didn't want to ask him, she really didn't want to know, but she was a little scared. "Howard, you won't be doing again, like what you did the last few days again, will you?"

Howard looked at her with slight shock, just staring at her a few minutes until he found his voice. "No Honey, I won't do that ever again, never ever again."

"Okay" Bernadette barely got out as she buried her head into his chest so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. The way he was acting and his shocked expression told her, her worst fears had happened, he had been in danger again, and the thought that she had maybe almost lost him again, was almost too much for her. She just laid there not saying anything, feeling his hand gently rubbing her back, until she feel asleep again.

Bernadette woke up feeling Howard's hand still gently rubbing her back, making her realize he had not slept but probably stayed awake just thinking. She felt bad, she needed to help him with whatever was bothering him. "Honey are you okay?"

"Yeah, as long as I'm with you, I'm okay." Howard responded.

Bernadette wanted to cry again, 'Damm hormones' she thought, "Honey, I'll be with you as long as you want us."

Howard took her into his arms, and kissed her hard, slowly breaking the kiss and looking at her, "Never doubt for one minute, that I would ever not want you and our child." his eyes burrowing deep into her soul.

The rest of the day they never really got out of bed, except for an occasional bathroom break or to get the pizza from the delivery guy, they stayed there against each other the whole day. They made out, napped a little, and watched TV, then started that over again in cycles until finally one of their make outs escalated way out of control, a while later, them both laying nude and spent on their bed, "Howie that was amazing," Bernadette really meant it too. They laid there holding each other, a deep relaxed feeling filling both their beings and it didn't take long for the darkness, of late evening, to seduce them quickly to sleep, both of them wrapped tightly in each others arms.

Then next morning was almost a carbon copy of the previous morning, Bernadette found herself in the same position as the morning before, tightly being held by Howard, but as soon as she made any movement she realized he was already awake. "Howie, how long have you been awake?"

"Not long, I just like laying here holding you. You don't mind, do you?" Howard confessed

Bernadette pushed herself deeper into his arms, "No, I love you holding me." she giggled. "You show me one pregnant woman who doesn't' like being held and cuddled by her husband, and I'll show you a woman who is not really pregnant." she smiled as she heard her husband chuckle. "However, Honey a side effect of being pregnant is that I have to go to the bathroom when I wake up."

"Okay." Howard then reluctantly let go of her, needlessly helping her out of bed again, which again she wordlessly accepted his help.

Bernadette sat on the toilet again with her head on Howard's shoulder as he sat on the edge of the tub. "Honey do you want to stay in bed again today?"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to be with you all day, and I guess be in physical contact with you. I know it is crazy, but….." Howard got quiet then.

"I loved it Honey, you don't have to be sorry and if you want to do it again today, I would love to stay in bed with you again." Bernadette kissed his cheek.

"Well I was really thinking of something else. On the flight home, Major Gray was with me and she said there are beach condos owned by the military that we can stay at for a few days, if I want."

Bernadette quickly got up, wiped herself and flushed the toilet then looked at him, "When do you want to go?"

Howard smiled, "I sort of made a reservation for today for three nights. I thought if you didn't want to go, I could always cancel them."

"Wow, sort of last minute. I have to make a call." Bernadette quickly left him to get her phone and five minutes later, she came back in the bedroom. "Honey why are you still sitting there, we have to pack." She then gave him a dazzling smile.

Howard smiled back. "Okay."

Howard and Bernadette where on the road two hours later and at the check in desk five hours after that, after taking over a half hour at the grocery store to buy food for the next three days. The condos were beautiful and truly on the beach, with a beach for swimming right outside their condo deck, just a few stair steps away. That evening Howard made grilled hamburgers for them, with chips and pickles, then later they sat and watched the sun go down while they had bowls of ice cream for desert, Bernadette sitting between Howard's legs her back on his chest as they both sat in the deck lounge chair, admiring the view.

"This is beautiful Howie. What a great idea." Bernadette snuggled back into her husband.

Howard put his bowl down and wrapped his arms around his wife, kissing the back of her head. "Yeah sometimes I get lucky." They sat their for a couple hours, just snuggling against each other, very few words said, most of the time their lips joined in kisses they both showered on each other. That night they made love, with the cool sea air coming in their open bedroom windows, both extremely satisfied and drifting off to sleep in each others arms for a deep restful sleep.

The next morning found them on the deck again drinking coffee and eating bagels, in their robes just watching the water, again Bernadette sitting between Howard's legs her back against his chest. It was late morning and the shade was slowly disappearing from the deck as the sun got higher overhead, so they just enjoyed the remaining morning snuggled close together, both content as they could be. It was obvious to Bernadette that Howard had been quieter than normal, since he had gotten home, making her just want to help him back to normal, she knew something was bothering him and she knew if she could get him to relax he could probably get over it. Therefore, Bernadette gave Howard an excuse and went back into the condo to put a little plan together she had been thinking about all morning.

Bernadette wanted to distract Howard's mind away from what was bothering him and she thought the best way to do that was for Howard to get his mind back to her, so she decided to do that by getting more intimate with him. Bernadette had one of those tiny thong type string bikinis, she had bought long ago on a dare with some of the girls she went to college with. She had been always too embarrassed to wear it until now, because now she wanted her husband to really notice her. It was extremely tiny, just three cloth patches held into a bathing suit shape by strings and it was in a small pouch like bag, so she knew Howard had never seen it before. When she came back out, she had carefully wore her robe to cover herself so he couldn't see her, then, once outside, she quickly put her beach towel on the lounge chair, dropped the robe and laid on her belly to act like she was working on her tan. She felt naked, there was a small strap going down the crack in her ass from the thong bottoms, and a string on her back, she was embarrassed but the sight of Howard's face made it all worth it. "Honey can you put suntan lotion on me so I don't burn." she said as sweetly as she could.

"Umm….Yeah….I guess that I can do that." Howard just stared for a few moments until he finally put his coffee on the small table next to the lounge and took the bottle she left off the table. He took a deep breath, while he pulled a chair next to her, too engrossed at looking at his extremely sexy wife to notice that the suntan lotion bottle, she had left, was really couples massage oil. He had to force his hand not to shake as he started to rub the suntan lotion on her back, trying hard not to stare so obviously, at her perfectly round sexy bottom that was exposed by the thong. Howard always lusted over his wife, she was beautiful, and the thought of rubbing lotion on her almost nude body, was way up there on his list of favorite things to do. He first did her back, arms and neck then moved to her feet and legs, getting more and more nervous and aroused as he moved to her thighs approaching her ass.

Bernadette never, in her life, had gotten turned on by a guy rubbing her ass, but now her husband moving up her legs was making her so turned on she was barely keeping it together. The thought crossed her mind that if she didn't try to control herself this escapade was going quickly go from her seducing him to him driving her crazy with lust. She bit her lip not to moan while he did the top of her thighs and then when he touched the sides of her bottom, she shivered, he was so turning her on.

Upon feeling her shiver, Howard pulled his hand away, "I'm sorry." he thought he had done something wrong in his touching her there.

Bernadette tried to control her voice. "That's okay, I just felt a little draft…Please continue Honey."

Howard looked at her confused a second, but he did want to resume the task, he really never wanted to stop, her skin felt so good under his fingers, "You sure?…..Do you want me to put more suntan lotion on your…bottom?" Howard regretted even asking, he so wanted to rub her ass.

'Hell Yes' Bernadette thought, "I don't want to get sun burnt on my bottom, Honey. It will probably hurt if I sit, if I did. You don't want that, do you? I know I don't." she said with false innocence.

Howard slightly smiled and nodded, "Okay." He had never rubbed anything on Bernadette's bottom before, it was both exciting and very arousing.

Bernadette closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing and actions, Howard's hand rubbing lotion on the cheeks of her ass, was amazing and was exciting her in a very carnal way. When he finally stopped she almost moaned in frustration, but she knew she wasn't done with him or this experience. She had laid on her stomach, because she knew if she laid on her back, her breasts would fall out of the bathing suit, now that was just what she wanted, this game she was playing now affecting her much more than she thought it would. "Honey since you have lotion on your hand and right here, could you do my front too?"

Howard was just getting his senses back from rubbing Bernadette ass cheeks, they were so soft, round and sexy, Bernadette's distraction was actually working because Howard had never been in this situation before and was overwhelmed and getting very turned on. He didn't want to stop and he wasn't even thinking when he said 'Okay' to her request.

Bernadette smiled then rolled over, her breasts immediately coming out from behind the postage stamp material that made up the top. She almost giggled when she saw Howard's eyes go wide and now thought it was time to move this whole experience up a notch. "Damm, I should have expected that, well this top is useless. Let me move it out of your way." Bernadette quickly pulled the bow in the back discarding the top to the table in one quick move, then laying back for Howard to put lotion on her.

Howard had seen his wife many times nude before, but out on the deck in the morning, in the bright daylight was something different. He adored his wife, she was just perfect to him, and he always desired her, but now he was being consumed by lust for her. Bernadette was quite shapely and her breasts were amazing, plus the way she was looking at him right now was making his heart beat faster. "Umm…Okay." was all her could get out of his mouth. He started putting lotion on her feet tops then moved up her legs trying to savor her before he reached her breasts, however he forgot about the small patch of cloth that covered her womanhood until he reached it. He just stopped and stared for a minute at that patch, unable to get any closer to it, then he put his hand under the piece of cloth to rub the lotion discovering her completely cleanly shaved, and his breath caught. He concentrated on his breathing, quickly rubbing the oil there then moved to her arms and neck, trying to recover from his excitement and calm down, but he soon came to point where he had to put lotion on her breasts and his heart started beating wildly again, so he stopped to look at her.

Bernadette saw the look in his eyes, his eyes where dilated and she thought it was adorable, he was just as aroused as her, which made her feel better about what she was doing. "Honey I really need you to put lotion on my breasts, they really need to be covered so they won't get burnt. Can you do that for me." she pleaded. His gentle touch, as he stared to rub the lotion/oil on her breasts, sent electricity through her, and she knew she wouldn't last long in this little situation if he continued his massage, but she really didn't want him to stop. It was worse because he was covering her breasts and not touching her nipples, which were rock hard by now, so the pleasure kept growing in her core as he gently massaged the lotion in. She was too turned on by the time he rubbed the lotion on her nipples, his fingers rubbing against them as he rubbed the lotion deeply in, and she couldn't control it anymore as she writhe under his touch and moaned loudly.

Howard, at first, was actually surprised at her squirming under his touch and then her moan made him realize she was getting turned on, which aroused him more and made him work harder on her. However he had no doubt about the level of her arousal, when she opened her closed eyes, to see them almost black in dilation, as she reached up to bring his face to hers. Howard's mouth met hers as her tongue immediately sought his in a searing kiss that surprised and excited him. It was right then when Bernadette moaned loudly again into his mouth and he felt her back arch, he knew what his wife wanted and be became completely focused in providing it to her.

Later when they went back into the condo, Howard's mind was solely fixed on her, they couldn't seem to get enough of each other, and that made him drop his guard. They stripped to take a shower together, and Bernadette finally saw the bruises, "Oh My God! Howard what happened to you?" She gently touched his back, afraid she was going to hurt him, "Honey are you in pain?" the sight of the bruising on him really shook her up.

Howard looked down at the floor, not knowing what to say, he could never tell her the truth and he didn't want to lie to her, she was his wife. "They don't hurt much and I have pain pills. They are nothing really, please don't worry."

"Howie, who did this to you?" Bernadette just stared at him in disbelief.

"I had an accident, with my work for the Army, but really it is okay." Howard tried to reassure her.

Bernadette stared at him, trying to control her rapid breathing, she felt faint and she knew her getting upset was not helping. His eyes were pleading with her, to let it go, but it was so hard for her to do that with him standing in front of her so hurt. Finally she found the inner strength she needed, "Howard get in the shower, I'm going to wash you and put you to bed."

"Its okay, I'll be alright." he said with a small smile.

"That will be up to me to decide mister, now get in the shower." Bernadette then heard her own words and felt ashamed, "Howie, I love you. Just let me take care of you, okay." It warmed her heart when he just smiled and nodded.

The remaining days were spent cuddling, walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean and taking it easy, just doing things a husband and wife who are having a child would do and talk about. Bernadette took care of him and babied him, keeping him very distracted and he returned back to his carefree self by the time them left the ocean, but still Bernadette could tell he had changed a little, he seemed more mature, a slight seriousness with him, that he never seemed to possess before. She didn't know if it was good or bad, but she did have her husband back and for that she was more than happy.