My cries as he thrusts are no longer for pain, but pleasure at how amazing he makes me feel. He sweeps me up in his arms as he makes love to me, kissing me deeply and touching me in all the places he knows so well. I marvel at his skills to undo me as we soar to the moon and beyond.
Chapter Five
The next morning I bring him breakfast in bed and it takes two extra-large mugs of coffee before we’re ready to go face the rest of the house. Luckily in the light of day it’s not as bad as we feared. Most of the spilled booze is in the Batcave, which will only require a hose-down after the cave walls come down. Other than that and vacuuming up remnants of The Thing, it will be pretty quick to finish cleaning up.
“Do we really have to take the walls down?” He asks, forlorn as he runs his hands over the paper.
I arch a brow and don’t even answer.
“Please, Brooke.”
I shake my head firmly. “We have to access the storage cabinets. It’s got to go down. But I’ll tell you what. If you can figure out a way to take it down and roll it up, we can use it again next year.”
A huge grin spreads across his face. “Next year? Does this mean…?”
“Yes, I do believe a tradition has been established. We’re Superhero Halloween central, and with all the time to plan, I’ll be in prime spandex shape by next year.”
He grabs me and twirls me around in his arms. “You’re the best!”
When he sets me down he strokes my cheek as he gazes deep in my eyes. “It was pretty awesome wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, the party was great but the way the evening ended was especially epic. It was so erotic how you set me free last night — and it wasn’t just with the scissors, Nathan.”
He sets his hands on my sides and with a look of longing, slowly slides them down over my bondage-free, curvy hips. When he gets to my thighs he slips his hands under my skirt and slides them back up my bare skin, ending with his hands holding my ass. “Do you feel how perfect you are when I touch you? Do you know that when I see you all naked and gorgeous in our bed I only crave you more?”
“I think I’d forgotten, but believe me, I’ll remember now.”
“Do that, sweetheart. You made me feel incredible last night. I hope I did the same for you.”
“You sure did.”
He lets out a long sigh. “It was out of this world, wasn’t it? Damn, at one point it felt like we were flying.”
I gaze at him thinking about where we were long ago when he started showing up in my office at Sketch Republic with hand-drawn coffee cups — and where we are now. This man, with his gentle soul and fierce love, is my everything.
I take his hand. “You know you may have felt like Clark Kent when I first met you, Nathan, but you’re all Superman now.”
I grew up in a cartoon world with a father who was an animation director and my mother, a cartoon producer. That upbringing inspired me to write about animators and share with the world why I love them so much. I’m also a fine art publisher by day and obsessed writer late at night, all while being a mother to a snarky teenager who loves comics and cartoons too.
While visiting my blog www.RuthClampettWrites.com also check out Mr. 365, a love story about Sophia, a reality television producer, and Will, an irresistible man who goes a little overboard with Christmas decorating.
You’ll also find information about my upcoming release that I’m wildly excited about, book one of the trilogy, Work of Art.
I hope you’ve had as much fun reading Spandex is for Superheroes as I had writing it (which was a lot!). If you’re inspired now to learn more about Nathan and Brooke’s auspicious beginnings I encourage you to check out their story: Animate Me. You can find purchase links and an unbelievable cute (and short!) trailer on my blog: www.RuthClampettWrites.com
You can also connect with me at:
https://www.facebook.com/RuthClampettWrites
https://twitter.com/Ruthywrites
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4115217.Ruth_Clampett
instagram.com/Ruth_Clampett
I’d like to thank the terrific authors on the Shiver team who included me in this anthology…and you, the awesome readers who are doing something really good for St. Jude Children’s Hospital with your purchase of this book. Thank you.
Macabre Magic
by L.H. Cosway
Halloween. A bet. One spooky magic trick.
Part One: The Bet
“Scary movies have never really done it for me,” I said with a shrug.
I lay stretched out on the bed in the gigantic hotel suite. Jay and I were spending our honeymoon in a five-star resort in Miami. Having lived in rainy Ireland my entire life, it was a whole other world from what I was used to. I could definitely learn to appreciate all the sunlight. You’d never find yourself suffering from seasonal affective disorder in this part of the world. The sun was everywhere; it infiltrated every nook and cranny.
“Not even The Ring?” Jay asked in a curious voice as he lazily traced circles on my arm. “Everybody gets freaked out by The Ring, especially the original.”
I shook my head. “Nope. It’s like when it comes to horror films, I have this inability to suspend my disbelief. I just burst out laughing when the scary bits start. Plus, the title of The Ring is comical in itself. I feel like the person who came up with it was having their own little private joke at everyone else’s expense.”
Jay gave me a wry but amused look, and shook his head. “One week as my wife, Matilda, and already you’re making ass jokes. I must be a bad influence.” Despite his tone, he seemed pleased by that fact.
I grinned. Every chance he got these days, he was reminding me we were now married. Our wedding was a small affair; it took place in Las Vegas (which to me was glamorous with a capital “G”), and I got to wear a swanktastic dress. In comparison to the women on that Bridezilla show, I was particularly easy to please.
“Well, you’ve hardly let me put mine away since we got to this ritzy place. I’ve almost forgotten there’s such a thing as clothing.”
He feigned a confused look and put on a haughty voice. “Clothing? What is this sorcery of which you speak?”
I giggled, because my husband looked like the ultimate cool dude when you saw him on the street, but behind the bad boy façade lay a bit of an oddball.
His hand slid from my neck and down the center of my chest to rest on my belly. I could tell from the heated stare he was giving me that he was getting turned on, and we’d just had sex a half hour ago. This was verging on the ridiculous. I knew we were on our honeymoon and everything, but I did want to leave the hotel room and take a look around at least once. We were flying back to Vegas tomorrow. Since Jay had a full run of shows booked and our wedding was something of a spontaneous affair, we only had a three-day window in which to honeymoon.
Before my next thought could enter my head, Jay was parting my legs and climbing between them. For a moment I was mesmerized by the way his muscles moved and flexed as he held himself above me, the way his tattoos came to life as though dancing on his skin.
“Jay,” I half sighed, half whimpered, and leveled my hands on his shoulders. “We’re not having sex again. I’m going to be walking funny as it is.”
He cocked a sardonic eyebrow and tilted his head. “I don’t mind you walking funny, Watson. Besides, we’re not leaving this bed for the rest of the day, so it’s a nonissue.”