Saranghae Read online

Chapter Twelve

  "Where are you taking me?" Shaundra asked Ichiro as they zoomed down the highway with the wind blowing in their hair.

  "It's a secret," he told her.

  "Ah, come on. You can tell me. I won't tell anyone. "

  Shaundra hid those beautiful brown eyes behind a pair of white sunglasses. Her reddish-brown curls spilled onto her face, and she brushed at them every now and then.

  "Kyoto," he said.

  "Kyoto," Shaundra repeated. "What's so special about Kyoto?"

  "It's a wonderful place to relax with my best girl. "

  Shaundra blushed. "True reason?"

  "I'm thinking about opening another restaurant. There's a plot of land available right by the seaside. "

  "Sounds romantic. "

  He smiled. "I thought so too. I've always wanted to retire to a little place by the sea. You know, away from everything. "

  "Sounds perfect. Mind if I join you in your retirement?"

  "I couldn't retire with anybody else but you," Ichiro confessed. He sighed contently. If anyone had told him he would find such a truly remarkable woman, he wouldn't have believed them. He wished his parents were still alive. His mother and grandmother would have loved her. She was funny, beautiful and a good mother to her kids. "I can just picture it now, just you and me with a little farm with a swing on the porch where we'd sit in the summer and watch the sun go down. "

  "And then we could have a little fireplace where we can cuddle together in the winter and drink . . . "

  "Sake," Ichiro answered.

  "No thanks," Shaundra said. "Tom Collins. "

  "What is a Tom Collins?"

  "A Tom Collins is gin, lemon juice, sugar and carbonated water. "

  "Sounds tasty," Ichiro said, mimicking the way she answered using short sentences.

  "And probably fattening, But we won't care about that part. We'll just grow roly-poly together. "

  "You have to drink an awful lot of those drinks to get roly- poly as you said. But since you don't drink alcohol anyway, I don't see that happening. "

  "Okay, hot chocolate," Shaundra said.

  Ichiro made a face. "I'll drink sake and you can drink hot chocolate. And on the weekend we'll go fishing or maybe have the grandchildren over. "

  Shaundra grimaced. "You really have this thought out, don't you? Let me see, the twins are two now and I have fourteen years before I can retire, which will make them sixteen. . . just that perfect age, and I won't have to change a diaper. "

  Ichiro chuckled. "Was motherhood that awful?"

  Shaundra shook her head. "No, in fact it was the best time of my life watching my belly grown big with child. My breasts were humongous and my hair grew down my back with each child except Juanda. It fell out then, and now she has me pulling it out. And babies smell so good when you first take them home that you want to kiss them and sniff them all the time. Juanda was a really beautiful baby with big button brown eyes and chubby cheeks, and then she learned how to talk. "

  "What happened next?" Ichiro asked.

  "Then she wouldn't shut up. "

  He chuckled. "Yes, she is quite a character. What about Tricia?" He enjoyed hearing her talk about her children. She complained and fussed about them, but he knew that she loved them.

  "She was a tiny little thing, barely five pounds, but so good natured. She hardly ever cried, and she came home sleeping through the night. The boys, on the other hand, were big bruisers, and I had a pretty rough time with them being so big and me so small. "

  "You poor thing, and you had them all natural. "

  Shaundra nodded and pinched him on the jaw. "Look at you knowing your prenatal terminology. Yes, I had all four naturally. But all that's over now. I only wish the little bleeding would go away soon. "

  "Little bleeding?"

  "It's nothing. "

  Ichiro shrugged and put his gaze back on the road. She wore a skirt just for him. . . denim with a white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black moderate-heeled shoes. He liked when she wore relaxing clothes instead of those power suits.

  He didn't mind a mini-dress every now and then because she had great legs, but it liked it when she was natural, with her hair loose and her glasses perched on her cute nose.

  Ichiro turned off the highway, veered to the right and headed for Kyoto. Then he met with the first real traffic. It was a beautiful day for the end of winter. They'd left home in coats, but Shaundra got out of hers the minute the sun came out.

  "Look at all the fishermen," Shaundra said, looking out of the window, "and seaside fish markets. " She stopped talking for a moment and just concentrated on the scenery.

  Ichiro left the road, drove into an empty lot and turned the car off. He got out and walked around to her side of the car.

  "This is the spot," he said. "Let me help you out. " He took her hand.

  "You weren't kidding when you said this place was by the water. " Shaundra sighed. "What a view. "

  Birds flew in the air and then dived into the water, trying to catch the fish.

  "I was thinking about opening a seafood restaurant that served your mother's gumbo as a specialty to draw the customers in. "

  "Sounds great," Shaundra replied.

  He let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders. The clouds were especially fluffy in the blue sky.

  "Do you think you could be happy writing here in this town?"

  Shaundra nodded. "I can be happy anywhere you are. I don't need a big fancy office to write. I can do that just sitting on the porch. But I do insist that we have electricity and the Internet. "

  Ichiro hugged her tighter.

  "What time are you meeting with the property owner?"

  "Next week," he told her.

  Shaundra looked at him oddly. "Then why are we here this week?"

  "I just wanted you to see it and get your opinion. After all, you are my wife. What I do now effects your life too. "

  "Will you name it after me?"

  "Sure. How's Shaundra's Seafood?"

  Shaundra shook her head. "Uh-uh," she said. "I like Mrs.

  Yoshida's Seafood better. "

  "You are so silly," Ichiro teased. "Are you hungry?"

  "A little," she said. "We left pretty early. "

  "I know the perfect place. " They walked back to the car and got in. Ichiro drove to a little seaside cafe closer to town.

  Next to it were some fancy new bungalows. He drove into the parking lot of the bungalows and parked the car. "Wait here a minute," he told her. He went inside the office, filled out the form and paid for one of the bungalows. The elderly woman behind the desk handed him a key, and he got back into the car and drove to the last bungalow before stopping and turning the car off again. "Come on," he told Shaundra, opening the car door.

  Shaundra got out and followed him to the back of the car.

  Ichiro opened the trunk and pulled out two suitcases.

  "What's this?" Shaundra asked.

  "It's my surprise. "

  "I thought the trip out here and the new restaurant was the surprise. "

  "Is there a limit on surprises?" he asked with a little smile.

  He carried the suitcases to the bungalow door, and Shaundra followed him.

  "What are you up to?"

  He opened the door, stepped inside and turned on the lights. Then he put down the suitcases and pulled his inquisitive wife inside and locked the door. "I thought you might like to spend one night away from your new family. "

  "Are you kidding?" she asked with a squeal. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. She looked up at him, and Ichiro lowered his face and kissed her. The scent of her cologne tickled his nose, and he enjoyed the feel of her body as it mashed into his.

  "Damn vixen," he said, knowing full well where this type of smooching could lead. "We have things to do and places to see. "

  Shaundra unwo
und her arms from around his waist.

  "Okay, but later you're mine. "

  Ichiro smirked, knowing exactly what that meant. "Let's go get something to eat and we'll do a little sightseeing before it gets too late. We might as well get to know the area, since we might be spending a lot of time here in the future. " He took her hand and led her back out of the bungalow. Cars and trucks started to pile into the parking lot of the little restaurant. "This will give me time to check out the competition. "

  The restaurant's atmosphere was light, and the clientele consisted of fishermen who worked the nearby waters.

  Service could have been better and quicker, and the menu consisted of a few classic selections.

  Shaundra, still having to watch what she ate, settled for Sukiyaki, thinly sliced meats, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and kayak noodles. He chose Shabu-Shabu, a meat fondue, made with thinly sliced meats, vegetables, and mushrooms, dipped in a hot soup and then into ponzu vinegar. There was no way Shaundra could eat that, even though she kept eyeing it. "Don't even think about it," he told her. They had bottled water to wash the food down.

  Afterwards they walked around the area, checking out the seaside before moving on to some historical sites. The evening ended with him taking her to another restaurant, this one a bit fancier, before retiring to the privacy of their bungalow.

  "This sunken tub is so nice," he told her. "And big enough to accommodate me comfortably. "

  Shaundra teased his legs underwater with her toes. She was up to her cleavage in bubbles with her hair pulled high atop her head in a crown of curls. "I love it," she replied.

  "Mood setting. "

  He knew she only teased. Shaundra didn't need any lagniappe to get turned on. Were all women like this? he wondered. He doubted it, trying to imagine Amaya sexing up Yori at the drop of a dime.

  Shaundra lifted her toes higher.

  "Ooh," Ichiro replied. "Your toes are very presumptuous. "

  Shaundra smirked. "I'm not doing it. They have a mind of their own. " She moved them away. "Would you scrub my back for me, please?" She stood up in the tub before giving him a chance to reply. Bubbles and water droplets clung to her.

  Ichiro gulped. Except for a few light-colored stretch marks from childbirth, Wifey had a gorgeous body. Full breasts with dusky brown nipples, flat abs, rounded hips and a bouncy firm butt. She sat down again with her back to him. Ichiro picked up the sponge and began soaping it. She had the sexiest neck. He rubbed his way down, well aware of the closeness of their bodies. He rinsed the soap off her and then pulled her closer and kissed her neck between her shoulder blades.

  Shaundra giggled.

  Ichiro lifted his hands and began messaging the tension away in the neck and back area.

  "Your hands are so strong," she told him.

  He pressed into the groove of the clavicle.

  "Oh yeah, right there. "

  His body responded to the sound of her sultry voice, and his manhood rose and touched her just above the swell of her behind.

  Shaundra let out a little moan.

  Ichiro massaged her right side. Her body felt tense, probably from all that sitting and writing. After they returned from the tour, he would try to get her to go for walks or running in the evening for exercise. And he'd make an appointment for her at the massage parlor, complete with facial and pedicure. He might even make one for Cristal to accompany her, since they seemed to like each other.

  Nothing was too good for his baby girl.

  He didn't remember when the massage stopped and the seduction started. Shaundra's game was that good. He barely remembered getting out of the tub and drying off. But the next thing he knew they were in the bedroom and he was applying kisses all over her body. He kept expecting her to take control, but this was one of those rare occasions when she allowed him to have his way with her.

  Ichiro took his time sampling each and every inch, imagining the sight of a baby sucking at her breasts as his lips captured one of her nipples. His tongue later slid down the dark hairline on her abdomen and along the little stretch marks, which made Shaundra moan with pleasure. He released his hair, letting it glide against her skin. Her body arched and her legs spread. He could take a hint. He moved lower.

  Shaundra tasted delicious, freshly washed and femininely scented. After a few times with her like this in the past, he knew what she wanted him to do. His tongue traveled deeper, and Shaundra squeezed and locked her knees against his ears. He smirked. He'd found the right spot. He continued working on her until he felt her butt lift from the mattress.

  Shaundra exploded, drowning him with her warm flow. Finally he came up for air, licking his lips triumphantly.

  Ichiro looked down on his wife as she lay awash in the afterglow with her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted and her breasts heaving. What a delightful sight. He gave her a few minutes to recuperate before flipping her onto her stomach. Ichiro ran his hand over her buttocks. They were simply beautiful, like two brown balls. He ran his finger around them before pinching each cheek tenderly. Then, when he couldn't take the pressure between his legs any longer, he put her on her knees, pried her legs apart and moved between them.

  Shaundra whimpered as he entered her and he sank into her damp, tight warmth. His hands found their place on each hip and he pulled her toward him, slowly imbedding himself deeply, moving her forward until she got comfortable. She opened a little more as she moved back in. Her body shuddered, and he fought off his own mounting desire to give her pleasure.

  Shaundra seemed to wake up and began moving with him, sliding her body back with great muscle control. Their rhythm increased, and before he knew it she moaned loudly and rode him without embarrassment, giving as well as receiving until they both exploded. Their bodies shook and quivered, and their love juices mingled. He pulled her into his arms after the tides and waves subsided inside them. And for the first time since their wedding night, Ichiro drifted off into a contented, restful sleep.