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2. Illawarra Flame Ch. 10-12

By: inspirixis1



CHAPTER TEN 

As soon as Maya left Tyler got in the shower, he needed to release. Lying in bed with her last night and then on the couch with her today had been bliss but it had also been agonizing for his poor cock. He wanted her so badly but he knew she needed more time. She had clearly specified that she didn't want to have sex, he was going to have to leave making the next move in her court.

He turned the water up nice and hot. Maya had been in this shower this morning. The thought of that exquisite woman naked in his shower was enough to get him hard again. He stepped under the water and soaped up, stroking his cock in long firm strokes. 

He let his mind wander. 

She was so beautiful, he had never seen a more perfect woman. 

She'd had all of the right reactions to his music. He had suspected that she would know about classical music, she was a ballerina after all, but there are a lot of people who know a lot without ever feeling anything. Maya felt music the way he did. 

Cinta had made her laugh with the Mendelssohn piece, Maya had recognized her genius immediately. When Tyler had looked down at her when she was laughing he'd noticed that her bottom teeth were crooked, for some reason this minor imperfection was so sexy to him. He knew something about her that most people would never notice. 

The way she had looked at him after he played the recording of him and Josh and Cinta had just about killed him. It was like she was looking straight into his heart, right at his soul, and approving of him. He had wanted to kiss her right then. He had wanted to take her clothes off and worship her, caress her and make love to her. 

One day she would let him run his hands over her immaculate skin, feel the curve of her waist, the arch of her lower back, caress the contour of her hips. One day she would moan as he entered her, as he stroked her towards orgasm. Her face would contort in pleasure, her round lips would part and she would say his name, she would call out to him, needing him.

Oh fuck, that thought was going to be the end of him. His hand was moving up and down over his cock rapidly and he felt his balls tighten. His cum came in long pearlescent ribbons, dropping in globular pools on the tiled floor before the water pressure broke it apart and washed it down the drain. 

He supported himself with one arm on the tiled wall while he breathed deeply to regain his composure. The water flowed over his body, soothing him. He wanted to go for another swim, to feel the water around him, to feel his body moving through it, to let it lull him into that place where nothing else matters. 

He wasn't looking forward to retiring from swimming, he would probably have to retire from competition after the next Olympics but he would always swim so long as his body was able. He thought of poor Maya being forced to retire from ballet. 

She had been a true athlete. He remembered seeing her dance that Christmas all of those years ago. Cinta had wanted to go and he and Josh had agreed that it would be a good Christmas present for her. 

He hadn't wanted to take Kelly, but it was unavoidable. She was always such a shit when they'd hang out with his siblings, she was always trying to challenge them to see which side he would fall on when an argument erupted. He didn't want to choose sides, he didn't understand why she couldn't just accept that other people had other opinions and let it rest. She was so confrontational. 

That night there was no way that he could side with her, Cinta was still just a little girl and it was her Christmas present, and not only that, Kelly was way out of line. Maya's performance had been breathtaking, her dancing was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She moved with a fluidity that gave her a divine aura on the stage. But just like his swimming he appreciated that every movement, even down to the tips of the fingers, was practiced and practiced and practiced to achieve the desired effect. For him it was speed, for her it was beauty. 

Cinta had been so excited, she couldn't stop talking about how amazing Maya was. Kelly saw it as an opportunity to cause problems and started talking smack, saying that she could dance like that if she wanted to. He remembered how pissed off he'd been when she had yelled at him about fucking in front of Cinta, as if he had viewed Maya as a sex object. He didn't want his thirteen-year-old sister to even realize that he had a cock, let alone think that he would use it to degrade a woman. Josh was right, he should have left her back then. 

He got out of the shower and went straight to bed. He was tired and Zach was coming over in a few hours to play with the remote controlled cars. He wondered if that would be something that Nicholas might like. Maybe he would ask Maya if he could take him with them next weekend. 

On Monday he wasn't surprised when he saw Simon, the guy that Maya had wanted to hire against his advice. He didn't understand why she wanted to hire him, he was like plain tofu in every respect, boring and uninspired. She had given him the cubicle that backed onto Graham's, probably because Graham's work was the stuff that needed the most correcting.

That morning she called him and asked him to come to her office. He didn't know what it was about and he wasn't sure how he should act. Should he just pretend that nothing had happened between them? As he approached her glass box he saw that there was someone else in there with her. 

He made eye contact with Maya before he got to the door and she motioned for him to come in. The other person was Jessica, the woman that he had wanted to hire. 

'Tyler, you remember Jessica," Maya said. 

Maya's hair was pulled up in some sort of twist that left her neck bare. Her ears stuck out a bit, it was cute, she had little wingnut ears. She was wearing dangly earrings that drew his eyes to that soft curve where her neck flared out to meet her shoulders. He'd had his hand on that place when they'd kissed in Jacinta's room. 

Tyler snapped back to the present. 'Of course, good to see you again," he extended his hand to Jessica and shook hands with her. Jessica smiled shyly. He looked questioningly at Maya. 

'Jessica has accepted our offer, I was going to put her on the Packer project with you, I was wondering if you could help me set her up with what she needs and then walk her through the project?"

Tyler felt the smile that spread out over his face. She had taken his advice. 'Of course," he said.

'Good." She looked like she was trying to repress a smile, the corners of her mouth turned up just a little bit. She stood up and walked around her desk dragging her chair with her. There were only two chairs in this room. She motioned for him to sit in her chair and she sat on her desk. 

As usual, she was barefoot, those enticing feet pointing and flexing every now and then, driving him to distraction. She was talking about computer specifications, she wanted to know what she should order for Jessica. It was easy for Tyler to keep up with this conversation while letting his mind wander a little, thinking about her while she sat in front of him. She was so much more than just a woman in a suit. 

She was wrapping things up, writing things down so that she would get it right when she put the order in. 'Jessica, you can go and choose whatever free cubicle you want and do all of your paperwork. Donna can provide you with a temporary machine to work on. Check in with Tyler later today and he can explain the project to you." 

Jessica thanked her and left.

Maya slid off her desk and sat in the chair that Jessica had been in. 

'Tyler...' She smiled at him. 'You need to get yourself under control."

He smiled back, 'What do you mean?"

'You can't stare at me like that at work, it's not appropriate. I'm your boss here, okay?" She was being gentle. 

'Like what?" He said in a sly voice, he was grinning, he wanted to play with her. 

The smile fell from her face. 'Tyler stop. We're at work."

He had overstepped the mark. 'Sorry." He felt embarrassed of all things. He liked to think that he was above feeling emasculated by a female superior, but perhaps that wasn't true. 

She seemed to sense his discomfort, probably his burning cheeks were a give-away. 'Hey, it's fine. I just think that we should try and act professionally when we're here." She said kindly.

He nodded. 

There was a pause. For once it seemed like Maya didn't know how to proceed at work. 

'What are you doing on Wednesday night? Want to eat together?" She asked.

He really didn't want to make nice with her right now but there had been uncertainty in her voice, the only thing that reminded him that he was looking at his Maya, the one that had been weeping in his arms on Saturday. 'Okay."

She smiled at him. 'Good, come over to my place. Wednesday night we can drop the façade." 

'Okay, I'll be done at the gym at about seven thirty."

She bit down on her bottom lip and looked at him for a moment. Finally she nodded and he got up and left. 

It left a bad taste in his mouth. 

He was pissed. He knew that he shouldn't be, it was her job to tell him what to do, but it still pissed him off. It drove him mad, he went over the conversation in his head again and again and each time she was a bit more sinister, a bit more of a bitch.  

In his brain he knew he was blowing it out of proportion, but he couldn't help it, she had totally cut him down. After a while he convinced himself that she had ordered him to come over to her place on Wednesday night. Who was she to tell him what to do in his own time? He was pissed. 

Nicholas was a little shit on Wednesday. Maya had not been kidding when she said that his grandparent's influence was detrimental. He wanted what he wanted and he wanted it now. Tyler was immensely frustrated. First Maya had humiliated him and now Nicholas was pushing every button he had and more. 

He ended up sticking him in the bathroom, he didn't know what else to do. He tried the naughty chair, he tried threatening him that they wouldn't go to the park, he tried everything that he could think of short of spanking him, but the kid was out of control. He had a will like an iron rod. Tyler had to keep on reminding himself that he was the adult. Now he understood the despair that Maya had felt when she was living in New York. 

'What the hell is wrong with you?" Sam asked at weight training that night. 

'Fuck it Sam, I don't want to talk about it." He slammed the bar back on the rack. 

'Settle down, I'm your friend, remember?" Sam added more weight to the bar and took his turn. They were doing dead lifts. When he was done Sam turned back to him. 'Is it Cinta?" He asked. 

Fuck. Why did he have to bring Cinta up when he was feeling so unstable? 'No. I said I don't want to talk about it."

Tyler stepped up to the bar and lifted his second set. Fuck Sam. Just when he thought he couldn't feel any shittier he had to go and bring up his brain dead little sister. 

Sam got the hint and stopped trying to pry. Tyler was lifting like shit. 

'Hey, Gray? Maybe you should just go for a run or something," Sam suggested. 

Tyler glared at him. 

'Dude, you're going to hurt yourself if you don't settle down, I'm trying to do you a favor." 

Sam was right, it wasn't a good idea to lift when you were angry. Tyler walked away without comment and changed into his running shoes. He flung the doors of the training center open and took off. He ran hard. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been angry like this. What the fuck was his problem? 

He really didn't want to see Maya tonight, and if there was one person he wanted to see even less it was Nicholas. What was he doing pursuing a woman who was such a bitch and had such a little shit of a kid? He had never been so happy to see anyone in his life as when Emma came home this afternoon and he knew he could leave Nicholas behind. 

He tried to clear his head, he tried to calm down but it wasn't working. In his brain he knew that he loved Nicholas and that he was a good kid but right now his emotions were totally out of control. He was still fuming when he got back to the gym and took his shower. Luckily Sam had already left so he didn't have to deal with any more of his stupid questions. 

He was already running late but he didn't hurry. He'd told Maya he'd be there at seven thirty but it was going to be more like quarter to eight by the time he got over there. 

Who the fuck cares, he thought. Let her wait. 

When he got to her front door he was still angry, only now he was also tired and hungry. Not a good combination. He tried to tell himself to calm down. He knocked on the door. 

It only took a moment before she opened it. "Hey," she said with a smile.

"Hey," he said flatly. He didn't bother to smile back.

She motioned for him to come inside. It smelled amazing in her house, she was cooking something good. She led him through to the kitchen. She was playing Dvorak on her stereo, he grudgingly admitted to himself that he liked the piece, it reminded him of his dad, Dvorak was one of his favorites. He could hear Nicholas screaming somewhere upstairs. 

"I'm glad you're here, I was starting to worry that you were going to stand me up," she said a little too quickly. "Do you want to sit?" Her kitchen had a bar with a few stools at it. Tyler sat down without answering her. 

She went to the sink and poured a glass of water and then set it down in front of him. He was really thirsty but his pride was preventing him from picking the glass up. Nicholas' screaming was fucking annoying. Didn't that kid ever shut the fuck up?

She paused for a moment and then came and sat on a stool beside him.

"Tyler?"

"What?" He looked at her and was immediately sorry for his bluntness. She had a pained expression on her face. 

"I'm really sorry about what happened on Monday. I should have brought it up with you on Saturday, before we saw each other in the office. It was completely my fault. You did nothing wrong."

She did it. She disarmed him in just a few short sentences. All of a sudden there was nothing for him to be angry about, there was just a beautiful woman in front of him asking his forgiveness. He felt like a dick.

He reached out and touched her arm. "What are you cooking? It smells good."

She smiled, relief passing over her face. "Moussaka, it's ready whenever you are."

"I'm ready. Where's Nicholas?"

She got up and went to the oven. "He's in his room. I put him to bed, he was being a shit."

"Tell me about it." 

"Was he bad today? I'm sorry, it's his grandparents."

"Yeah, I figured. I have no idea how you put up with it for so long, you must be some sort of a saint."

She took the dish out of the oven and set it on the counter. "Not likely, just a mother. It's amazing what you'll put up with because of biology. Now I just try and stand my ground. Yesterday night was hell, I thought I was going to have to leave the house. He screamed until close to midnight before he finally fell asleep, I'm hoping it wont take that long tonight."

She tried to pass him to get to the pantry behind him but he caught her by the waist. He looked into her eyes as he pulled her closer to him, they reminded him of the ocean, that grey blue pool that he would never get sick of. He hugged her close, laying his head down on her shoulder. He felt her hands in his hair, the stress dissipating with her touch, leaving only exhaustion. 

"Bad day?" She asked quietly.

"Mmm..." He had been so angry at her. How could the person that caused the anger be the one who made everything alright? 

"I missed you," she said. 

Tyler sighed as he lifted his head to look at her. "I was angry at you," he admitted. 

"Yeah I know, I'm glad you came over." 

"Me too." He leaned in and kissed her. It was like coming home. He didn't know how that was possible, it had been less than a week since they'd kissed for the first time but she felt like home to him. Even with Nicholas screaming in the background Maya felt like a good place to be. 

Her cooking was fabulous. The dish she had made was rich and flavorful but it had a tonne of vegetables in it. Tyler could really get used to this. 

Sometime during dinner Nicholas finally stopped screaming. He must have fallen asleep. 

"What's the story with you and Sam and Emma?" She asked.

"They're my best friends."

"So you went to school with them in LA and then all three of you decided to move out here together?"

He knew what she was getting at, it was a bit odd. "Emma went to Cal Berkeley." He said. 

He was stalling, trying to decide how much to tell her. It wasn't his secret to tell, but at the same time there would be no future for them if she couldn't accept Sam and Emma so he might as well get it out of the way now. 

"Oh, I thought they started dating in college? I had just assumed they went to the same school."

"No, they'd know each other for a long time." He put his fork down. He was going to tell her, this was a make or break moment. 

He watched and waited for her to realize that he had something to tell her. Eventually she put her fork down and gave him her full attention. 

"You might not like this," he warned. 

She sat still and waited for him to continue. 

"I decided to follow them after school because of Emma. She is the reason I have a world record, she is an amazing coach."

She nodded. "Emma's your coach." It was a statement.

"No, she's not, but she has insight. She sees things that nobody else does."

"Okay..." He could tell that she still wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"We moved to Colorado because it is the only state that they can live in legally."

She tilted her head to the side in question. 

"Emma's mother died during childbirth, she was adopted by Sam's parents. Legally they are brother and sister, Colorado is the only state that allows marriage between siblings."

She was sitting still, it seemed like she was still waiting for something. He wasn't sure what was going through her head. 

"That's it?" She asked. 

He nodded. 

"Fuck Tyler!" She whacked him in the arm. "I thought you were going to tell me you were in a polygamist relationship with them! Don't scare me like that!" She shook her head and went back to her meal. 

Tyler was shocked, he hadn't expected that to be so easy. "You don't think it's weird?" He asked. 

"The polygamy thing would have been intolerable, but the sibling thing? Probably if I sat down and thought about it in detail I could think of it as weird but I don't intend to because it's none of my business," she said. "They're good people and that's all that matters."

Tyler was gob smacked, he wasn't sure what sort of reaction he had been expecting, but she was sitting there eating her dinner as if these sorts of things happen every day. So much for a make or break moment, Maya had just made herself somewhat of a legend in his eyes. 

"More rice?" She asked.

"Um... Sure." Tyler was struggling to come to grips with how amazing Maya was. He had never met anyone like her before. She had a very firm grasp on reality, she didn't let the winds blow her around. She knew what was important to her and what wasn't. 

Suddenly Nicholas started screaming again. He had been quiet for a good half an hour. Tyler looked at Maya, she was frozen, looking at him. Suddenly she burst out laughing, and then Tyler was laughing too. He didn't even know what was funny, they were just laughing. 

She was panting she was laughing so hard. 'At least nobody will ever say that he's easily swayed!'

That sent them both in to renewed hysterics.

She didn't invite him to stay the night. He hadn't been expecting her to and honestly he didn't think it would be a good idea to see her at work only hours after emerging from her bed, but that didn't stop him from feeling a little disappointed. It had been such a relief to see her, the real Maya, not the fake Maya at the office. He didn't want to let go of her, he knew the next time he saw her he would have to pretend that he wasn't falling in love with her.


2. Illawarra Flame Ch. 10-12



Once he accepted that he was falling for her he understood why he had been so effected by their little spat on Monday. Anyone else could have pulled him back into line and he would have been fine with it, but coming from Maya it was a personal affront. Coming from Maya it was a rejection. 

She had the executives from the medical hardware company come to the office that Friday to discuss a big contract. She had asked him and Graham to go out to lunch with her and the executives, she had emailed them and asked them to look good. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, it was entirely possible that it was directed squarely at him. 

As usual he had entrusted the task to Marie, he was pretty sure she did a good job of dressing him. 'Need to look good next Friday," he had written in the note that he always left for her. On Wednesday she had left a new charcoal grey suit out for him with a matching shirt and tie and she'd had his good shoes polished. She must have had the tailor rush the suit. Marie was a good employee, she was getting a good Christmas bonus this year. 

When he walked into the office on Friday Maya was standing talking to Donna and Graham at the reception desk. She looked up at him as he walked in and her eyes went wide momentarily. 

Oh shit, I've worn the wrong thing, he thought.

She motioned for him to come over to them. 

'Do you have any extra ties?" She asked. 

'Um yeah, there are a couple in my truck, why?"

'Graham needs to borrow one. Do you have anything that would match his suit?"

'I don't know."

'Come on, show me," she said as she started to walk back to the elevator. 

He followed behind her. When they were alone in the elevator he didn't know what to say. He wanted to say hello to her but he didn't want to risk overstepping the line like he had on Monday. 

'Fucking Graham shows up in a Homer Simpson tie. Can you fucking believe it? On the most important day of the year, when I've specifically asked him to look good, he shows up in a fucking novelty tie."

Tyler smiled, he had never heard her swear like that before. She had been so cool and collected in the reception area, but he was starting to learn that she was a very good actor. 

'What are you smiling about?" She asked.

'You sound like a sailor. I never knew you had such a potty mouth." 

She smiled and shook her head. 

'I thought I was the one who you were telling to look good," he admitted.

She looked at him as if he were a retard. 'Are you kidding Tyler? You look like a fucking super model."

'Even with the broken nose? I'll have to tell Jo-Jo."

She laughed.

The elevator dinged. They stepped out into the basement parking lot and he took her over to his truck. Her heels clicked on the cement floor. He opened the door and leaned into the back of the cab where he had a bunch of spare clothes hanging. 

'What have you got?" She asked. 

'I don't know," he replied. 

'You have them right there, just tell me what colors you've got."

'I don't know," he told her again as he collected the three different ties he had back there. 

'What do you mean you don't know?"

'I don't know. I'm color blind," he told her. 

A sly grin started at the corner of one side of her mouth. 'You're color blind?"

'Yeah, what's the big deal? Heaps of guys are."

'Red-green or blue-yellow?"

'Blue-yellow. It's not a big deal, I just can't see yellow, green or violet."

'That's why your face paintings were so... unusual." 

He shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't something that he thought about a lot, not since he had gotten Marie to start dressing him for work. 

'What color are your eyes Tyler?" She asked.

'I dunno, grey?"

She seemed to freeze in thought for a second. She was looking at him in a peculiar way, a little lopsided grin on her face. 

'What?" He asked. 

'Nothing." She looked down at the three ties and chose one. 'This will work. Thanks, you just saved Graham's ass," she said as she handed the other two back to him. 

She waited for him to put the ties back in his truck and he joined her to walk back to the elevator. She had a big superior smile on her face. 

'What are you smiling about?" He asked. 

'I like knowing that about you." 

He hesitated for a moment before he decided to say, 'Your bottom teeth are crooked."

'You have a birth mark behind your left ear." 

'You don't eat raw tomatoes." He was enjoying this game, he knew he held the trump card. 

'You pee sitting down when you're at home." 

'What!' How had she known that? What a wicked smile she had on her face.

'Emma told me that you and Sam both do, because when you lived together in college you used to fight about cleaning the toilet and it was the only solution that worked." 

He laughed. Trust Emma to go blabbing that sort of information around. 'No fair, that's cheating, that one doesn't count."

'Why not?"

'Unwarranted assistance."

'Okay fine... You have eyes that are sometimes amber and sometimes green." She smirked at him, thinking she'd won. He knew he couldn't see either of those colors. 

They got in the elevator, after the doors had closed he leaned in close to her ear and said in the same playful voice, 'You have the most extraordinarily beautiful neck I've ever seen."

She gasped and her hand flew to her neck, but she looked happy. He knew he'd gotten away with it. 

She regained her composure on the elevator ride up to the office. She blew out a deep breath. 'Okay, I can do this. I will not strangle Graham, I will not strangle Graham, I will not strangle Graham...' she chanted over and over again as the numbers counted up to the eighth floor.

Tyler couldn't help but laugh at her, she smiled at him sideways. 

They went to a steak house for lunch. The executives were pretty pompous and self absorbed. He didn't know why Maya had wanted him to come and he sure as hell didn't know why she had wanted Graham to come, the guy was a complete dick. Everyone knew that his work was slow and buggy, he was essentially useless. 

Everyone ordered steaks, they were at a steakhouse after all. Maya ordered hers rare and ate the whole thing. It was pretty impressive, she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred and thirty pounds but she could down a twenty-ounce ribeye without a second thought.

The discussion was focused pretty strongly around the contract. Maya was brilliant. She articulated the strengths of the company, she emphasized the talent that she had in her office, asking him to elaborate on technical issues. She tailored every response to the needs of the two company executives. 

After they'd eaten she excused herself to go to the bathroom. Tyler watched in disgust as the executives' eyes followed her out of the room, clearly checking her out.

'Did you see that steak that she ate?" The fat one said.

'I could give her some steak to eat that she'd like better than that... some tube steak," the grey haired one said through laughter. 

Tyler looked at Graham, he looked conflicted, like one part of him wanted to laugh but the other part wouldn't let him. 

'Yeah, did you notice that she ordered it bone-in?" Came from fatty. He laughed a grotesque cackle.

If Tyler was disgusted before it was nothing compared to the contempt that he felt for these assholes now. He flexed his fists under the table, he was starting to get angry. 

'I heard that she has a kid. Now there's a true MILF." 

The reference to Nicholas was too much for him. He stood up and left the table. He didn't even excuse himself, if he opened his mouth he was afraid of what might come out. 

He walked to the back of the restaurant and around the corner to where the bathrooms were. Maya was just coming out of the women's room. 

'I don't want to work for them," he told her, his anger simmering just below the surface. 

She looked confused. 'What are you talking about? This is a huge contract, you told me it was good work."

'It is, but I don't want to work for them."

'What happened?" She asked. 

'They're disgusting."

She looked at him for a moment, the cogs in her brain turning. 'They said something about me didn't they?"

He didn't reply. He didn't want to have to repeat what they'd said, he didn't even want to have to think about what they'd said it made him so mad. 

Maya sighed. 'Tyler, they're men, most men are disgusting, it's just the way it is. This is business, don't let some stupid jokes get under your skin."

She wouldn't be saying that if she knew what they'd been saying about her, he thought, but he didn't say anything. 

She sighed again. 'Did they joke about how they wanted to fuck me? Did they make some comment about getting me to suck their dicks? Or did they take a survey to see who thought I'd take it up the ass? It's all been said before about a million different women in a million different situations. Is it repulsive? Yes. Is it something that should prevent business? No."

Tyler was shocked. She knew that they would say disgusting things about her but she left the table anyway. He still didn't say anything. 

She looked behind her to make sure nobody was looking and then she leaned into him and squeezed his arm. 'Teaspoon of concrete Gray," she said, and then she walked back to the table. 

He was surprised by her strength and by the witty use of his line. He couldn't help but smile. She'd called him Gray, she was getting comfortable with him. 

He didn't want to go back to the table but he couldn't see any other alternative. Besides, if Maya was brave enough to go back there then he guessed he should be too. 

Luckily things drew to a close pretty quickly. He shared a cab back to the office with her while Graham went in a different cab with the executives. 

'I can't believe you were fine with them talking about you like that," he said. 

'What can I do about it? There's no point in getting upset about things you can't control."

He shook his head. He guessed she was right but it still pissed him off beyond belief. 

'You did good," she said.

'What do you mean?" He asked.

'You looked and sounded smart, that was your job and you did it well."

He snorted. 'What was Graham's job?"

'To be one of the boys. I hope he can pull it off." 

'What do you mean hope he can? Aren't we done now?"

'You are. Graham's going to take them out tonight. I wouldn't be surprised to find the company credit card in some pretty insalubrious establishments tonight."

'Eeiw, I don't want that tie back," he said.

Maya looked at him and then burst out laughing. 

He smiled at her. 'Are we at the office right now?"

She shook her head and he leaned over and kissed her. She was so gutsy and beautiful, he couldn't resist. He felt her giggling against him. He hadn't intended to, but he slipped his tongue into her mouth, tasting her and letting his desire for her be known. He was leaning across the back of the cab on one arm and he stroked her thigh just above her knee with his free hand. She wasn't giggling anymore. He squeezed her thigh gently and she moaned quietly into his mouth, it was the sexiest sound he had ever heard. Tyler felt his cock jump in anticipation. 

'What are you doing tonight?" He asked while his face was still pressed up against hers, his nose still a little painful from when she'd broken it. 

'Hanging out with you," she answered. 

He smiled. 'Good answer."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Maya was ridiculously nervous as she waited for Tyler to arrive that night. She felt like a schoolgirl on prom night. It was different from when he'd come over on Wednesday, that night she had known that he was upset with her and she just wanted to get them back to a place where they could talk again. Tonight had a very different feeling about it.

Nicholas was finally starting to settle down again after Hari and Priya's visit. He was playing with his train set in the living room while she was in the kitchen cooking dinner when the doorbell rang. He was early. 

'Come in, it's open," she called out.

She heard the door open and Nicholas squeal in delight, 'Tyler!'

When she looked around the corner to the front door Nicholas was in Tyler's arms talking at him excitedly. She couldn't help but smile. Tyler was nodding and answering and asking more questions. He looked up and caught her eye.

'Can Cassie come in?"

'Of course," she answered. 

Tyler walked down the hallway towards her, still carrying Nicholas, his dog a half a step behind him. He was a sight to behold, tall, broad and angular in all the right ways and holding her child as if he were his own. 

Maya knew she was not a weak woman, she was not prone to fits of desire, she was not a woman who melted when she saw a man, but watching Tyler walk towards her with Nicholas in his arms she wondered if perhaps she didn't know herself as well as she had imagined. 

'Hi," he said. 

He stood very close to her and kissed her on the lips, and then just as quickly as he was there he was gone again. He took a glass from the drying rack and poured himself water from the tap, doing everything with one hand instead of putting Nicholas down. 

'Hi," she said, a little bemused at how easily he was moving around her home. 

'Kolya tells me that you're cooking us spaghetti for dinner."

She had been hearing Gracie and Emma call Nicholas Kolya and she had no idea what it meant, when she had asked, Emma had just shrugged her shoulders and said, 'It's what Gray calls him." 

'Kolya?" She asked.

'It's the diminutive of Nikolai," he explained. 'You don't like it?"

'No no, I like it, it's fine." 

Of course. Tyler's middle name was Alexandrov and his mothers name was Nadia, they were of Russian descent. 'Do you speak Russian?" She asked.

'A little bit, my mom is fluent. I was almost called Boris, could you imagine it? Thank god my dad won that argument." 

'Hello my name is Boris," he said to Nicholas in a thick Russian accent, 'you play train with me, yes?"

Nicholas started giggling. 

'Kolya and Boris play with train now," he said maintaining the accent.

She smiled after him as he left the kitchen for the living room where Nicholas had his train set out. 

As she finished preparing the meal she listened in to what was going on in the living room. 

He and Nicholas were both making train noises, Tyler was completely uninhibited in his enthusiasm for the train set, like a big child. 

Every now and then there would be an exchange between them and his deep voice would shock her out of what she was doing. 

'Are you going to make it go left... or right?" He asked.

'Um... left." Came from Nicholas.

There was a pause, then, 'Nope, wrong way, back it up and make it go left... That's the way, good job."

Maya smiled, he was teaching Nicholas left from right. 

They chatted amicably over dinner. He talked about swimming, he wanted to teach Nicholas how to swim, he asked her if she would bring him to the pool the next morning. 

Nicholas was excited, he wanted to go, she agreed on the condition that he went straight to bed after dinner and he stayed in his own bed all night. Nicholas was a pretty good sleeper but it wasn't totally unknown for him to sneak into bed with her at night. She definitely didn't want that to happen tonight. Tyler caught her eye as she was explaining the deal to Nicholas, he had a funny little lopsided grin on his face. 

Tyler did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen while she put Nicholas to bed. She had no idea how he was going to figure out where things went, but she was so disorganized that it really didn't matter anyway. She commonly forgot where things went and so she pretty much just made it up as she went along.

When she came back downstairs he was sitting on the couch waiting for her. 

'So let me get this straight," he said, 'the glasses go in the same cupboard as the rice cooker, and the teapot lives beside the blender?"

'Something like that," she said mildly as she approached him. 

'Okay good, I wouldn't want to mess up your system."

She smiled as she stood in front of him. 'Tyler, you know I don't have a system. If it's in a cupboard I call it good."

Tyler was looking up at her, he leaned forward, put his hands on her hips and shook his head. "I don't get it Maya, you are the most organized person I know when it comes to work, but you don't have a designated place to put your cups, plates and bowls."

"Is that a deal breaker?"

He pulled her towards him, she had to widen her stance to let his knees pass underneath her. "No. I just think it's weird, it's ironic." He pulled her down into his lap so that she was straddling him. 

"I do have some basic structure, I learn from mistakes."

"Like what?" He continued to adjust her body, nestling her in close to him so that their faces were just inches apart, her groin pressed snuggly against his. She started to feel her body respond to the highly suggestive position she was in despite the fact that they were both still fully dressed. Her breasts were tingling and there was an abnormal amount of heat pooling around her pussy. 

"I used to keep my shoes under my desk. Once I put a pair on to see a client and it wasn't until half way through the meeting that I realized that I was wearing one red shoe and one black shoe. Now I keep them in a pile in the corner, it looks messier but it's safer that way."

Tyler chuckled. "I never knew that shoes could be dangerous." His hands were stroking up and down her back, sending little shivers over her body. "Is Nicholas asleep?"

"Maybe. He will be soon. He has one of those lights that dim slowly. I let him look at a book for a while after I put him to bed. I only read him one story, I don't have the energy for two like Emma and Sam give Grace." She felt shitty about that, but it was just a fact of life. At the end of the day she didn't have the energy to give Nicholas what Grace got.

Tyler was gazing into her eyes, his hands still working their magic on her back. "I don't blame you. It's different for them, there are twice as many of them and the benefit is non-linear."

"Two and a half times as many," she corrected him.

"Huh?" 

"You do an awful lot for them. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying that it's extra help. They can just call you if they need help, right?"

"Within reason. You can call me too, you know. You can call me any time you like. I'd love to get a call from you." He closed the narrow space between their lips as he talked so that by the end of his last sentence he was talking against her lips.

She opened her mouth to allow him inside. His tongue was warm and gentle, it stroked against hers with a hastelessness that let her know that there was no need to rush. 

Her hands were in his hair. She loved his soft dark curls, they were such a stark contrast to the strong angles of his pale face. He was so fabulously good looking to her. 

They kissed like that for a long time, letting their need build slowly until she was grinding her pelvis against the hard lump that had grown in his jeans. His hands were on the bare skin of her back, underneath her shirt. She wanted more. She wanted him to touch her breasts, to touch her pussy, to fill her. 

She pulled back, she was starting to become breathless. 

"Where will Cassie sleep?" She asked. The dog was curled up on the edge of the rug. 

Tyler smiled in comprehension. "Beside the bed. Can she have a cushion?"

"Yeah, any one you like." She started to move off him.

"Oh no you don't," he said, pulling her back against his solid body. "What's the point of lifting all of those weights if I don't get to carry you to bed?" 

She laughed. "That's what you've been working out for all these years?"

"Uh-huh, I've been preparing for this moment for a long time." 

"Hmm..." He picked up her leg and swung it over his lap so that she was sitting sideways across him and then plunked a couch cushion down in her lap. "You carry this," he said. He scooted to the edge of the couch and looked down at her, he had an uncertain look on his face, he was chewing his bottom lip. "Are you ready?" He asked.




2. Illawarra Flame Ch. 10-12



Maya couldn't help but laugh. "You don't have to carry me Tyler, I have my own legs you know."

"Are you kidding? Women love to be carried," he said.

"Says who?"

"I don't know, all of that sweeping you off your feet business."

"I think you are taking that a bit too literally, the physical reality is actually not all that romantic."

He frowned. "Who's been carrying you around?"

She rolled her eyes. "Tyler, I was a ballerina, I've been carried by a thousand different guys."

"Well, I have a feeling that one thousand and one is a lucky number for you Mayechka," he said with a playful glint in his eye. 

"Mayechka?" She asked.

"Yes, there is no going back, you are my Mayechka now."

After all of that stalling and uncertainty he stood easily with her in his arms. She hadn't been joking, she really didn't like to be carried, but she had to admit that there was something special about being in Tyler's arms like this. 

He snapped his fingers for Cassie to follow him and he tried to carry Maya up the stairs, but together they were too wide, her leg banged against the railing. 

"Ow, see I told you it's not that romantic," she giggled. 

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Okay miss smarty-pants," he said as he heaved her so that she was slung over his shoulder. 

She squealed in surprise and he swatted her on the butt. "Shh, you'll wake Nicholas up."

She had dropped the cushion on the floor during his rearrangement of her and he squatted down to pick it up effortlessly. She realized that he was just teasing her before, he was easily strong enough to carry her around. 

"Where am I going?" He asked as he got to the top of the steps.

She directed him to her room. He shut the door behind him quietly. 

"Lock it," she told him. "Just in case."

He followed her request and plopped the cushion down on the floor for Cassie before depositing her unceremoniously on the bed. 

"Just try and tell me that wasn't the most romantic thing you've ever experienced," he challenged as he climbed on top of her with a mischievous look in his eye. 

She was giggling like a schoolgirl. Tyler made this all so natural, he was so easy to be with. He was straddling her hips leaning down towards her with one hand on either side of her. She reached up and pulled his t-shirt over his head, revealing his muscular torso and those broad solid shoulders. 

He leaned down and kissed her again, but this time it felt a little more insistent, a bit more urgent. He pressed his lips against her harder, his tongue was faster, more purposeful. He took her breath away.

She ran her hands over his back and shoulders, feeling and appreciating his taut muscles. His skin was warm and smooth. 

She didn't know why he wasn't trying to take her clothes off, wasn't that the way it usually worked? She reached for his belt and fumbled with the buckle, he pulled back from her and looked into her eyes. 

"Mayechka, you told me you didn't want to have sex with me. Did you change your mind?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded her head. 

Tyler looked up to the ceiling, "Thank you god," he said. He smiled down at her. "I hope he doesn't call me out on all of the things that I promised him."

Maya laughed. "What did you promise?"

"Oh I don't know... The usual. I said if I could have sex with you I'd name my firstborn after him."

She laughed again. "You're going to call your firstborn God? God Gray?"

"I guess so, unless you change your mind in the next twelve seconds."

"Twelve seconds?"

"Yeah baby, I'm fast but I can guarantee it will be the best twelve seconds of your life," he said, grinning at her. 

She laughed, he was so funny.

He began to unbutton her shirt. He leaned down and kissed her skin where he was unfastening the buttons, he started at the top and made his way down between her breasts, across her tummy to her pants in a long string of soft kisses. 

Maya's body was on fire, she wanted more, his lips were teasing her in the most delightful way. 

He pulled her shirt open and leaned back to look at her. 

He gasped. "Oh Maya, have you seen this?" He asked lustfully. 

"What?" She asked, worried that something was wrong. 

"Come, I'll show you." 

He got off the bed and held his hand out to her, she accepted and he pulled her up to standing. He led her to the bathroom mirror where he stood behind her and slid her shirt off her shoulders. His hands came to her waist and gently caressed over the curve there down to her hips. "This curve right here is perfect Maya," he whispered into her ear. 

Maya watched his big hands move over her skin in the mirror, it was an incredibly sexy sight. 

Tyler moaned. "I thought your neck would be my favorite part of your body, but I had no idea that this would be so beautiful," he said while still stroking over her sides. 

Maya's heart was beating quickly. She watched as Tyler dipped his head and kissed her on the neck while his hands came to the front of her pants and unbuttoned them. She shimmied her hips to help him push her pants down, he moaned and pressed his swollen groin up against her buttocks. 

Now she was down to her panties and bra and his hands had free reign over her body. They slid over her skin, caressing her hips, dipping in between her thighs and then back up her sides. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the mirror, it was such an arousing sight. One hand disappeared behind her and she heard a zipper and his jeans falling to the floor. Oh god, she wanted him so badly, she had never wanted anyone like this before.

She felt his cock, hard and warm against the small of her back. His missing hand rejoined its partner in front of her and they made their way towards her breasts, she watched in anticipation. She moaned when they finally reach their destination. He squeezed gently, but that's all she needed. Now that his cock had made it's presence known her pussy was screaming at her, causing her entire body to go on full alert. Her breasts ached with need. 

His hands disappeared behind her again and she felt him release the clasp of her bra. He pushed the straps over her shoulders and let it fall away revealing her small breasts. 

"Oh Maya," he breathed huskily, "they're perfect."

She watched in the mirror as his hands slid over her belly and up to her breasts, fondling and caressing them, catching her nipples between his fingers and squeezing the soft flesh. He resumed kissing her neck and shoulders as his hands roamed over her skin. One hand came to her neck, caressing her gently, encircling her throat, while the other clearly had intentions for her pussy. 

It dipped under the lacy fabric of her panties, she widened her stance to allow him more room. He rubbed up and down over her pubic mound, sending hot waves of pleasure through her body. She leaned back into him and closed her eyes. This had never happened to her before. She was putty in his hands, she could feel her pussy drooling all over him. 

"Mayechka," he whispered in her ear, "you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

She whimpered, her need for him palpable. 

He withdrew his hands and gently lifted her off her feet and carried her back to the bed, laying her down carefully. And then he was on top of her, kissing the places where his hands had been. She moaned as he sucked on her breasts, rolling his tongue over her hard nipples, shooting sparks of pleasure through her flesh, like meteors burning in the sky. 

His hands were on her hips, tugging on her underwear and then she felt his cock at the entrance of her vagina. There was something that she was supposed to do, she knew there was something that she needed to do but she couldn't think straight. Tyler was making love to her. She was in Tyler's arms, he was going to put his cock inside her. 

Suddenly she remembered. "Wait." She was breathless, panting from the pleasure he was giving her. 

He pulled back, removing his cock from her vicinity. He looked into her eyes, questioning. 

"A condom, you need a condom."

He smiled, relief evident on his face. "It's okay baby, I took care of it, I already have one on."

"Oh." She relaxed, trusting his word without knowing when he would have had time to do it. 

He kissed her on her neck and up to her ear. "Good girl Maya," he cooed between kisses, "you're a good girl."

"Mm..." She basked in his approval.

He returned his cock to her entrance while he continued kissing her jaw line. He was taking his time, or perhaps he was waiting for something. He kissed her on her mouth and she thought she might die if he didn't push his cock inside her, her poor pussy was aching with need, begging for attention. And then she realized that she could do it. She pushed her hips up towards him, there was some resistance and then she felt him enter her. 

They moaned in unison as he pushed further inside, but her moan was one of pain. She hadn't anticipated that it would hurt, but he was stretching her so thin, his cock felt enormous inside her. Her eyes flew open and her hands clamped down around his shoulders

"Ahh, Tyler it hurts," she whispered, her voice cracking. 

He held still inside her and kissed her again. He kissed her slowly and he used one hand to fondle her left breast. It was a dull pain that seemed to throb gently. Tyler's hand had left her breast and was doing something delicious to her pussy, he was stroking against her clitoris as he continued to kiss her mouth. 

Oh god, it felt so amazing it made her forget about the pain his cock was inflicting. She squeezed her pussy muscles around him in time with his strokes over her clit. He wasn't even moving inside her and she felt waves of bliss passing through her body. Oh god, was she really going to climax? She felt it building, layers of pleasure piling on top of one another, higher and higher until it all came apart, until her orgasm exploded from within and took her down. 

"Shh baby, quietly," Tyler was whispering to her. 

She was still holding onto Tyler's shoulders, she hadn't realized how tightly she'd been digging her fingers into him. When she moved them away there were red marks where she'd scratched his fair skin. 

"Oh Tyler, I've hurt you, I'm sorry."

He smiled at her, his face still just inches away. "Maya, you can hurt me like that anytime baby, you don't even need to ask."

He shifted his weight and she felt the bulk of his cock move inside her. Either he is hung like a horse or my pussy has shrunk, she thought. It was such a tight fit, it didn't hurt anymore but she definitely felt stretched, she definitely felt every little movement, every pulse and twitch. 

She flexed her pussy and his eyes widened. He could feel it all too.

"Are you ready for more?" He asked. 

She started moving her hips under him as way of answer, clenching her pussy in time with the roll of her pelvis, gripping onto his cock as it crammed in and out of her. 

Tyler's eyes rolled back into his head and he moaned, his face wore an expression of pure bliss. 

"Oh Maya, you're so little... you feel so good..."

He started to move his hips in time with hers, thrusting, reaching deep inside, connecting with a part of her that had never been touched before. 

"Mayechka, my sweet girl," he whispered as he showered her with kisses. 

He made love to her like that for a little while, then he changed positions. He leant back on his knees and brought her legs up in front of him, one at a time, and stroked them and kissed them as he moved his cock in and out of her. He kissed the arches of her feet, he kissed her calves. His hand brushed occasionally over her pussy, sometimes lingering and stroking her there, sometimes passing on to its next destination after just a moment. 

He was driving her crazy. Maya knew that she wouldn't climax again, it was a miracle that she had the first time, but god how he was playing her body. He was touching her in all the right places, places that even she didn't know about. How could an ear feel erotic? How could his breath, hot on the tips of her fingers, feel so wickedly lascivious? How could his tongue in the hollow of her collarbone make her want him deeper? Need him faster? 

"Baby, I need to see something," he said as he pulled out of her. 

She was empty, devoid of Tyler. It was not a feeling she liked. 

He rolled her over and she heard him groan. 

"Oh Maya, look at you. You are so beautiful. I can't believe how beautiful you are," he breathed. 

His hands were on her back, gliding over her shoulder blades up to her shoulders and back again. She felt his lips in the small of her back and she moaned, she wanted him inside her again. She lifted her hips off the bed and propped herself up on her elbows as an invitation. 

The bed shifted and she felt the warmth of him between her legs. His cock entered her and then his hands were on her on her waist caressing that curve he seemed to like so much. 

This angle was so good in her highly aroused state. He pumped in and out of her, rubbing his cock against that sensitive spot in the front of her pussy. She started to feel pins and needled prickle over her skin and the heat in her pussy grow. 

"Ah... Maya... you're so sexy... I can't hold it much longer," he panted. 

One of his hands dipped down to her pussy and started to rub her clit.

"I need you to cum for me Maya." His voice was raspy.

"Oh Tyler," she moaned. She was so close, she could feel the edge of it swelling. 

"What do you need baby?"

"Faster..."

He picked it up a beat and she knew that it was going to happen. 

"Oh Tyler... oh take me Tyler," she begged.

He pumped into her quickly a few more times causing her orgasm to swell to dizzying heights, and then she felt him stiffen as he groaned and lengthened his strokes pounding deep and forcefully into her pussy as she buckled, her arms collapsing below her as the pleasure swept over her and his weight pushed her down on to the bed. 

Tyler was kissing the back of her neck. He was on top of her, she felt his weight pressing her down into the bed, his cock was still inside her and one of his hands was underneath her, on her belly. He continued to kiss across her shoulder. She didn't know how long it had been, it could have just been a moment. 

He lifted himself off her and she felt his cock slide out and his hand extract itself from under her. Her head was lying sideways and she could see him out of the corner of her eye, dealing with the condom. He leaned over her and plucked tissues from the bedside table. He was responsible, trustworthy. What a good man. 

He lay back down with her and pulled her into an embrace, his face right up beside hers. He kissed her on the lips, slowly, tenderly. He brought her back around from the stupor in which she had fallen.

"Tyler, that was a very long twelve seconds."

"Did you like it?" There was shyness in his voice, uncertainty. 

"Oh god, it was amazing. You were amazing."

He smiled and hugged her closer. "You were pretty amazing yourself Mayechka."

She adored her new name. Tyler had something special that he called her, it made her feel loved. 

"What's your Russian nickname?" She asked.

"My mom used to call me Sashenka, she still does sometimes." 

She laughed. "How do you get Sashenka from Tyler?"

"You don't. It's from my middle name, Alexandrov. It actually doesn't make any sense. Alexander is my father, so according to Russian culture my middle name should be Alexandrovich, but my dad hated that so mom compromised with Alexandrov, which literally means Alexander's. So my nickname comes from my dad's name."

"I still don't get it. Sashenka is short for Alexander?"

"Mm... Russian is weird like that." His hand was caressing her side slowly, passing over her waist and down to her hip and back again. "Sashenka is a super cutesy name, it's not the sort of thing you would call a man in public."

"What do you want me to call you?"

"Whatever you want."

"I want to have a special name to call you."

He smiled. "Okay, Tyler is difficult though, there's really just Ty."

"But that's what Josh calls you, I want to have a name that only I call you."

"You want a Russian one?"

She nodded. She didn't know why this was such a big deal to her but she really wanted her own name to call him. 

"Well there are a million pet names for Alexander... Sanya... Sanka... Shura... Shurik...Sasha..."

"I like Sasha." And she would actually have a chance of remembering it, she thought. 

Tyler paused for a second, a smile creeping over his lips. "Okay, I think I can do that... when you're trying to convince me to do something you change it to Sashka, the 'ka' signifies affection."

"Okay... Sashka, can I have a kiss?"

He laughed. "You're a quick study Mayechka," he said as he planted his lips on hers. 

He smiled at her. "You're so funny Maya, I've never had a conversation where I've selected my own nickname before."

"Sasha baby," she said as she wrapped her leg around him to pull him closer. "After what you just did to me I think you deserve whatever nickname you like."

"What's your middle name?" He asked.

"It's Galloway right now, but it used to be Eleanor."

"Maya Eleanor Galloway."

"Mm, that's me. I was conceived in Guatemala, that's where the Maya comes from and my grandma was Eleanor."

"Guatemala? Are your parents like Indiana Jones' or something?"

"Hardly. My dad's a history teacher and my mom's a nurse. They went down there for their honeymoon because dad wanted to see some Mayan ruins."

"Did you go on a honeymoon when you got married?"

She snorted, it wasn't very lady-like but it was her first reaction to the question. "No. I was already five months pregnant."

"Can I ask how that happened?"

"The pregnancy? I was stupid. I hadn't menstruated in over a year and we didn't have sex all that often so I stopped being pedantic about enforcing the condom rule. It happened a couple of times that I realized afterwards that he hadn't used protection.

"I know that it was my responsibility too and that I should have been checking up on him to make sure, especially after the first time he deceived me, but it didn't seem like that big of a threat. I thought I was infertile.

"It was ages before I figured out what was wrong with me. I wasn't expecting my period so when I finally realized there was a baby inside me he was already about fourteen weeks old."

"You didn't menstruate for a year?"

"Yeah, I didn't have enough fat on me, I was working out too hard. My body shouldn't have been able to support a pregnancy." 

"Baby, that's fucked up."

She shrugged. "It never really bothered me. I started dancing seriously before I had my first period so I was used to it being irregular and having stretches where it just disappeared all together. It actually took me a long time to get used to it showing up regularly after Nicholas was born."

"When would you say you started dancing seriously?"

"Well, I was committed by the time I was nine or ten, but my mom and dad wouldn't let me leave home to join a company until I turned twelve. That was the magical age in their minds."

"Twelve? That's how old Zach is. I can't imagine a twelve year old leaving home."

"It was a fully staffed boarding school, it's not like I was living on my own. I wanted to go. I begged them to let me leave. I loved ballet."

He kissed her again. He kissed her gently, his hand stroking the hair back off her face. 

"Maya you are the gutsiest person I've ever met."

"Gutsy? Tyler half of the time we've spent together I've been crying on your shoulder, how can you interpret that as gutsy?"

"You've just had some bad luck, that's all." He was kissing her all over her face and stroking her back and butt and down her leg. They were lying on their sides facing each other and she had her leg wrapped around his torso, every now and then he would stroke over the exposed part of her pussy causing the warmth there to grow. She could feel his cock growing and pressing against the softness of the inner thigh of her outstretched leg. 




2. Illawarra Flame Ch. 10-12



"Sashka," she whispered to him, "do you have more for me?"

"For you Maya, I have more than I know what to do with."

CHAPTER TWELVE

Tyler felt like a million bucks. He had hardly slept the night before and his body felt lethargic, he was having trouble making his intervals and coach was yelling at him but nothing could ruin his mood. He was on cloud nine, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. 

All he could think about was last night. Maya was so amazing... So amazing. He had never had a night like last night before. She had called out his name, she had said 'take me Tyler,' the way it had come out was so quirky, so old fashioned, unique.

He had made her orgasm, several times, and she had made him cum, twice. Maybe to some guys that was nothing, but twice was a big deal for Tyler, he might have a big cock, but he was no porn star. With the correct stimulation it was not unknown for him to get it up a second time, but to actually cum a second time was unheard of for him. The thing was, Maya wasn't even stimulating him when he got his second wind, she was just talking, choosing a nickname for him. Maya. Sweet, sexy, Maya...

"Dude, what the hell is up with you lately? You're like a freaking rollercoaster ride," Sam said in between sets. 

"What?" Tyler asked. He knew he had a big grin on his face. 

"On Wednesday I thought you were going to kill someone you were so angry and now you look like you're about to pass out from delirious happiness."

Tyler just shrugged his shoulders, it wasn't his style to kiss and tell. Besides, he didn't want to tell anyone before he'd had a chance to talk with Maya about it properly. Even Sam.

"Hey, is Emma bringing Grace down to play this morning?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. Are you going to stay?"

"Yeah, I told Maya to bring Nicholas, kid need's to learn how to swim."

Sam nodded but he looked skeptical. That look wasn't reassuring, it occurred to him that Sam might still think that he shouldn't be pursuing Maya. Fucked if Tyler was going to tell him anything and risk screwing this up, if it weren't for Sam he would have gotten together with her long ago. 

Tyler was just finishing his warm down when Maya walked in with Nicholas. She looked unsure, she hesitated until she saw Emma and then she seemed to relax. He decided to put in a few more laps before going over to them, he had become conscious of Sam and Emma's presence, he wanted it to look like there was nothing going on between him and Maya. He didn't want to get into an argument with Sam about it and ruin his high. 

He swam the length of the pool underwater, using dolphin kick, feeling the friction, allowing the water tell him what to do. He swam underneath the other lanes, there were only a few people left in the pool and they were just warming down too. He surfaced at the side of the pool near the shallow end where Emma had been getting Grace ready and pulled his cap and goggles off. 

Maya was sitting on the cement front step of the stands, talking to Emma. She was wearing a tank top and shorts that showed off her long slender legs. As usual her shoes were discarded off to the side somewhere. Her hair was pulled back casually off that splendid neck of hers. She smiled at him and he grinned back at her. He didn't let the moment last as long as it should have, he felt self-conscious. 

Nicholas recognized him and came running towards the pool, calling out his name, already dressed in a bathing suit with the Spiderman goggles Tyler had given him over his eyes. 

"Hey!" Tyler said sharply holding up his hand to stop him. Nicholas stopped dead in his tracks, a look of shock on his young face. 

"Walk. Slowly," Tyler instructed. He motioned for him with his hand. 

Nicholas walked very slowly towards him, now hesitant and unsure of himself.

When he got to the side of the pool Tyler put his hands around Nicholas' ankles and told him in a very serious tone, "Nicholas there are two rules here." He held up a finger. "Rule number one is no running. No running, ever. Got that?" Nicholas nodded his head. Tyler held up a second finger. "Rule number two is that you don't come to the edge of the pool unless I'm here and I'm looking at you. Not Sam, not your mom, only me okay?" Nicholas nodded again. "Okay what are the rules?" Tyler asked. 

"No running and only come to the edge if you're watching me," he recited. 

"Okay, good. Are you ready?"

Nicholas nodded his head, he looked nervous. 

Tyler lifted him under his arms and held him on his hip. He squatted down slowly into the water so that Nicholas was submerged to his armpits. His little body clung to him as if his life depended on it. He was scared. 

"It's okay Kolya, I've got you, I promise I wont let you go." 

He could hear the child breathing rapidly. His nails were digging into Tyler's shoulder. He stood up again so that Nicholas was out of the water and felt him relax a little. 

"You don't like it?"

Nicholas shook his head and his bottom lip quivered. He was about to start crying. 

"It's okay, we'll just practice blowing bubbles, okay?"

He seemed to like that idea better. Tyler grabbed his goggles and walked Nicholas over to the handicapped access steps. He put him down on the steps and they blew bubbles. Nicholas was much more relaxed when he could stand on the steps, he stuck his head under the water, he giggled and squealed when Tyler tickled him. He went down to the fourth step, where the water came up to his armpits. He was having a good time. 

Tyler talked to him under the water. "Kolya, I think I'm in love with your mother," he told him. You couldn't discern any words, just a jumble of bubbles and sounds. Nicholas screamed him an equally indistinguishable reply. 

Every now and then Tyler would sneak a glance over at Maya. She and Emma appeared to be deep in conversation, but he did make eye contact a few fleeting times. 

They played like that for a half hour and then he needed to get out. He was cold. 

Sam was still playing with Grace as Tyler returned Nicholas to Maya but Emma was there, he didn't want to talk to her in front of Emma. He stopped at the corner of the pool and watched Nicholas cross the last few yards to his mother on his own. He walked very slowly and purposefully, it was the most adorable thing Tyler had ever seen, he had taken the rules so seriously. 

Maya looked up at him, the question clear on her face. He just smiled and held his hand up to her, as if he was waving, and walked into the locker room to shower and change. 

When he came back out she was waiting for him, Nicholas was back in street clothes, Sam and Emma were nowhere to be seen. 

He took them out for breakfast. As usual, he was starving, keeping up with his caloric requirements was a daily struggle. He could tell that Nicholas had enjoyed himself, he was being particularly affectionate. He wanted to sit beside Tyler, he wanted to order the same thing as Tyler, he wanted Tyler to cut his pancakes for him. 

"What are you up to today?" He asked Maya. 

"No plans. Grocery shopping, maybe we'll go to the park, nothing exciting. What about you?"

"I need to sleep for a while, then Zach is coming over for man time this afternoon."

"Man time?" She asked. 

"Yeah we get together and do guy stuff." 

"What sort of guy stuff?" 

"Are you a guy?"

"No."

"Then I can't tell you." She didn't need to know that they played with remote controlled cars at the park. "I was wondering if Kolya wanted to come hang out with us?" 

Nicholas' eyes went wide with excitement. 

"For man time?" Maya asked. An amused smile played on her lips. 

"Sure, he's a guy isn't he?"

"Please mommy?" Nicholas begged. 

"What time?" She asked. 

"Zach comes over at three."

She turned to Nicholas. "You can go if, and only if, you take a nap after lunch without complaining."

"Okay, okay, okay," he said bursting at the seams with excitement. 

Zach was unimpressed with Nicholas' presence. Tyler couldn't blame him, Nicholas required almost constant attention, he felt kind of guilty about it. Zach's life was fucked up, Tyler knew that hanging out on Saturday afternoons was one of the few things that he really liked to do. 

They took the RC cars to the park and stuck mostly to the deserted basketball court. Usually he and Zach raced around the bike path but he needed to keep a better eye on Nicholas than that could afford. 

Tyler had given Nicholas the simplest model that he owned and after about an hour he was starting to get the hang of the remote control. That was about as much as Zach could tolerate, there were only so many burnouts and jumps you could do on a basketball court before you were bored. He wanted to go home. 

Tyler wanted to make it up to him so he asked if he wanted to jam. Zach was learning guitar and sometimes they jammed together. 

"Yeah okay, whatever," Zach said impatiently. 

Tyler gave him his keys and told him to wait at his house while he took Nicholas back to Maya's place. 

When he got back to his house he knew immediately that something was wrong. The front door was wide open. He walked in and called out to Zach... there was no response. He walked through the house. 

"Zach?"

Fuck. There was a pile of a thousand splinters of rosewood and sitka spruce on the floor of his office, the broken fret board and tangled strings the only thing that distinguished it as his guitar. Shit, he must have really gone to town on it, Tyler thought. He knew Zach was fucked up, but he didn't realize it was this bad. 

He called Sam and Emma's house phone. Sam picked up.

"Is Zach there?" He asked. 

"No, I thought he was with you."

"He was but I've lost him."

"What do you mean you've lost him?"

"I'm coming over." He hung up. 

Shit. He felt sick and shaky, he hoped Zach hadn't gone and done anything stupid. He rode his mountain bike, he didn't feel well enough to drive. Cassie ran beside him. 

"What's going on?" Sam asked when Tyler walked into their house. 

"Zach smashed my guitar up and then ran off."

"Why? What happened?" 

"I guess he was mad at me. I took Nicholas with us to play with the remote controlled cars. I guess he was jealous."

Sam stood still, thinking. After a moment he looked at his watch. 

"We'll wait," he said. "We'll give him two hours."

That was the good thing about Sam, he was good in a crisis. He stayed calm. He had the stability of a mountain. His mere presence was reassuring. 

"Where's Emma?" Tyler asked.

"Asleep." 

"You going to wake her up?"

"No. She'll just get stressed, better for her to be well rested before she gets upset."

"Are you sure we shouldn't be out looking for him?"

"No, but I've made the decision now and that's what we're going to do."

Tyler nodded, only too happy for Sam to take control of the situation. Sometimes he wished that he had the nerve that Sam did. "So what do we do for two hours?"

"We figure out how we're going to deal with him when he comes home. How much was the guitar worth?"

Tyler shook his head. "Doesn't matter, it was insured." It was worth over two thousand dollars, but that wasn't the point. 

Sam nodded. "Maybe we should give him a figure and make him work it off? How much is the deductible on your policy?" 

"I don't remember, maybe two hundred?"

"That seems reasonable, no?"

"Yeah if you think so, he's your kid."

Sam nodded. "He can cook for you. He's a good cook... Better than Emma," Sam raised his eyebrows and the corner of one side of his mouth turned up in a stupid half-smile. Tyler had known him for long enough to realize that the joke meant that Sam was done worrying about the situation. 

Sam walked into the kitchen, he had obviously been in the middle of preparing dinner when Tyler had arrived. He went back to chopping vegetables. 

Tyler ate from the fruit bowl. 

Sam wanted to talk about swimming. He was pissed that the training camp was so close to when they had to leave for worlds this year, and that it was in Montana instead of Colorado. He also wasn't excited about having to go all the way to Australia for worlds. He was worried about Emma, is what it came down to. 

Emma wasn't known for doing well with long stretches of separation from Sam, and with the pregnancy there wasn't much she could take if she fell into a depressive episode. It had been a long time since she'd had one, but it was a concern all the same. It made Tyler nervous to think about it, he could see why Sam was upset. 

Tyler watched the minutes tick by on the wall cock. Sam didn't seem the least bit concerned about Zach. Tyler was worried, what if he decided to take it out on himself? What if he decided to run away? Zach had some pretty lowlife friends, what if he decided to take up with one of them? Tyler couldn't help but worry, he felt like he should be out looking for him.

After an hour Emma came down, she was dewy from sleep. 

"I thought I heard your voice Gray," she said. She laid her hand on his back as she passed him on her way to the main attraction, Sam. She walked into his arms and they cuddled in the middle of the kitchen for what seemed like minutes. They were so disgustingly in love. He wondered if it would ever end with those two. After a year or two most couples love each other without being in love, but not Sam and Emma. 

"Is Grace still asleep?" Sam asked her.

"Yeah, I thought I'd leave her, she had a big morning." Emma yawned and stretched her arms above her head. She had the most enormous mouth he had ever seen on a woman and fat lips to match, she would have looked stupid if not for her big dark eyes that balanced her face perfectly. Her stretching caused her shirt to ride up and reveal her swollen belly. 

"Nice gut," Tyler said. It was a relief to finally be allowed to talk about it. 

She turned to him and smiled. "You like?" She asked, smoothing her shirt over it so that he could see her whole belly. She was getting big. Not huge yet, but big. 

"Looks good on you Em," he said. 

He heard the front door open and shut. Cassie trotted down the hallway to see who it was. 

It was Zach. His head bowed, his shoulders slumped. Tyler was utterly relieved to see him. 

"What's wrong?" Emma asked. 

Zach didn't say anything. 

Sam stood behind Emma and wrapped his arms around her. "Zach?" He prompted.

"I'm sorry Tyler." Zach's voice hadn't broken yet and he sounded particularly child-like in his apology. 

"It's okay dude," Tyler said. 

Sam cut in. "It's not really okay Zach, you can't smash other people's stuff up, you'll get yourself in trouble that way." 

Zach nodded, he was still looking at the floor.

Emma looked at Tyler in question. "What's going on?"

"Zach broke my guitar."

"It was an accident, right?" She asked. 

Tyler shook his head. 

"I'm sorry." Zach's voice cracked with emotion, he used the back of his hand to wipe at his eyes. 

Tyler's heart broke for the poor kid, he wanted to go to him and comfort him, but this was Sam's show, he should let him run it. 

"You're going to pay for it Zach. You are going to cook for Gray. Twenty meals, whatever he wants."

Zach looked up for the first time. His eyes were red and swollen, but there was hope behind them. Hope for redemption. 

Tyler saw what Sam had done. Instead of treating it as a huge catastrophe and driving them further apart he had given Zach the chance to make it up to him in a personal way, by doing something that he was good at. It would allow Tyler the opportunity to praise him, to mend things. 

It was times like these that Tyler knew he would never be as good a parent as Sam. If he were in charge he probably would have woken Emma up and been out looking for him frantically, stressing her out, and if he'd found him, then what? It would have blown the whole episode into something that was too big to handle. Sam had let Zach come to terms with what he'd done on his own and let him come home to face the music of his own volition, letting him keep that small slice of pride in tact. 

Tyler thought a lot about how Sam had handed that situation over the next couple of days. How had he known what to do? How had he made the decision to wait, and not let his fears over ride it? How had he known to choose a punishment that was actually an opportunity to heal? Tyler didn't have the answers to these questions, leading him to the conclusion that he already knew in his heart: He wasn't ready to be a father. The responsibility was too great, the stakes too high.

He adored being Uncle Tyler, but the thought of being dad scared the shit out of him.

He didn't know what to do about Nicholas and Maya. 

He knew he was in love with Maya. His every thought led back to her, his body craved her, he couldn't escape the euphoric haze that had enveloped him. But Nicholas was always there, watching, wanting and needing more from him than he was willing to offer. 

He couldn't not be with Maya, but he set himself some ground rules when it came to Nicholas. He wouldn't touch her if Nicholas was in the room, he'd spend as little extra time as possible with him and he would always leave her house before Nicholas woke up. It wouldn't be that difficult given his training schedule, except on Sundays. 

That Sunday he wanted nothing more than to sleep in with her, to cuddle with her and make love to her slowly as the sun came up, but he left. He made an excuse and he left. 

If Maya noticed that there was something wrong she didn't say anything. She was doe eyed and perfect. She called him Sasha when they were alone, when they were being intimate, it made his heart swell to hear that name in her sweet voice. 

On Sunday he went to the mall and bought her lingerie, which she wore under her work clothes. He loved it that she was wearing his gifts and that nobody else knew. It was a huge turn-on. 

He was extremely careful not to let anything on at work. She was an excellent actor, he was sure nobody at the office suspected, but he was starting to be able to read her better. He saw shifts in her eyes and changes in her posture that let him know what she was really thinking. 

It went on like that all week. He would steal glances at her throughout the day at work, then in the evenings he would do his second workout, eat the dinner Zach had cooked for him and go over to her house and make love to her. He'd strip off her clothes to admire how her body brought his lingerie gifts to life, before peeling them too back and worshiping her, loving her as fully as he could. 

They would talk long into the night and then make love a second time before slipping into a contented slumber for a few hours before he had to get up to go to swimming training. He had learned a lot about her in that week and every little piece of information made him love her more. 

She had one sister, an adrenaline junkie named Julia who was younger than her by a year and who she adored. She grew up in Worchester, Massachusetts and she'd started dancing when she was four years old. Her paternal grandmother was Native American. She had gotten her business degree at night school while she was dancing full time during the day. She liked her shower water scalding hot.

She was shy about sex, it was so charming to watch her blush when she touched his cock. She was also shy about her parenting skills, she felt guilty about putting Nicholas in day care, she felt like she should spend more time with him. Tyler hadn't thought it possible, but that week he learned that she was even more beautiful on the inside than she was on the outside. 

But Nicholas... he didn't know what to do about Nicholas. All he could think to do was to keep his distance. 

He had to go away to Montana for two weeks for a training camp the next Sunday. He had long since stopped getting excited for these training camps, but this time he felt that it was a blessing in disguise. He was so tired. He hadn't slept longer than four hours straight since he'd started staying at Maya's place over a week ago. 




2. Illawarra Flame Ch. 10-12



Nate, his and Sam's coach, was going mental on him, yelling at him non-stop. "What the fuck is wrong with you Tyler?" He asked. "Man up and get your fucking head in the game dip-shit."

It didn't bother Tyler that much to be sworn at, but he knew coach was right. He needed to focus. In Montana he still felt distracted by her, they emailed back and forth and talked on the phone, but at least he could sleep. After a few days of training with the national team it started to settle in that he needed to cut himself off. All he could think about was Maya, if he didn't cut himself off he was going to throw away a whole year of training.

He wrote her an email but then he thought better of it, this was something that should be said in person but seeing that wasn't possible he would do it on the phone. He waited until he knew that she would be at home that evening and called her.

"Hey," she answered. 

"Hi babe."

"Did you have a good day?"

"Kind of. I need to ask you a favor."

"Okay, what do you need?"

"Don't get upset Mayechka, it's not that I don't want to talk to you, I just need to focus on my swimming. I need some time away from you, I can't talk to you or email, okay?"

"Oh." There was a pause. "It's okay, I understand, I'm not upset."

"I'm sorry Maya, but this is really important to me."

"It's okay, I understand. It's only a few more weeks, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be back in ten days then I leave again a week after that."

"Can I see you when you're back here, or do you want to wait until after Australia?"

"No, I want to see you when I get back but I can't spend the night, okay?"

"Okay, I can live with that."

"Thanks babe."

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Sasha?" 

"Yeah?"

"Kick some ass big guy."

He laughed. "Okay Mayechka, just for you. I'll call you when I get home."

It was better after that, he could keep his mind on the task at hand. He wanted the 200 breaststroke world record. He was so close. He knew he could do it if he focused properly. He was fit, he felt fast, he just needed to get his head back. 

By the time he got on the plane back to Colorado he was feeling pretty good. It had been a good two weeks. A fucking hard two weeks, but good. Coach was happy with him. He was happy with himself. He just had one more week of hard work and then he left for Australia, for taper week and then the championships. He wasn't going to break a world record he was going to bust the fucking thing open. 

In order to prove a point of his self control to himself he didn't call Maya right away. It was a Sunday. Emma came to the airport to get them. 

"Zach's grilling steaks for dinner, you'll come over wont you Gray?"

It was a good excuse to stay away from Nicholas. If he ate with Sam and Emma he wouldn't be able to see Maya until afterwards, when Nicholas would be in bed. 

Once he had been home and stuffed around for a bit, played his guitar, eaten the hard boiled eggs that Maria had left for him, taken a shower, he decided to call Maya. He told her that he was going to eat with Sam and Emma, but that he could drop by after that. There was silence over the line. Did he say something wrong? Finally he heard her voice. "Okay."

Now he was nervous. Why had it taken her so long to reply? He wondered as he ate the dinner Zach had prepared. Was she pissed that he hadn't wanted to talk to her when he was away? She had seemed okay with it at the time, she'd said that she understood. 

She greeted him warmly when she opened the door for him and he thought for a moment that maybe he had imagined her discomfort over the phone. She kissed him and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he remembered why he had cut himself off from her. She was like a drug, she intoxicated him, he wanted more and more, he wanted to drown in her. 

She led him into her living room and sat him down, he held his arms out for her but she sat at the other end of the couch. He was confused. There must be a problem.

"Something's bugging me," she said. 

"Are you mad that I didn't call you, I tried to explain to..."

"No." She cut him off. "I don't mind about that, that's not a problem." 

"What is it then?"

"Are you going to tell Sam and Emma about us?"

Fuck... Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. He didn't want to do this right now. What should he say? She was sitting there waiting for his response. 

"Not yet."

She nodded. "Is there a reason?"

Because Sam would tell him that he would have to become Nicholas' father and that would end everything. He couldn't possibly say that to her, but he had to say something. 

"It's Nicholas. I'm afraid he's going to get the wrong idea."

She tilted her head to the side. 

"I'm not ready to be a father."

"I'm not asking you to be his father."

"I know you're not." He emphasized the 'you're' to get his point across. 

Nicholas was the one asking him to be his father. Every smile, every giggle, every time he snuggled into his side or sat on his lap Tyler couldn't help but think that what Nicholas was really saying was 'please don't ever leave me.'

She looked at him for a moment, comprehending, and then dropped her eyes down to her hands. "You're probably right," she said softly. 

Oh fuck. Poor Maya. What had he done to her? 

The silence stretched on and on and on. She continued to look at her hands. He didn't know what else he could say. He didn't want it to be like this. 

"It's late," she finally said. 

It wasn't really late, it was only nine o'clock. 

"Maya... I..."

"No, just leave it. You should concentrate on your swimming now. Just leave it." She got up off the couch, walked to the front door and waited for him. 

He sighed, he really didn't want it to be like this. 

He got up and walked to her. He wanted to put his arms around her. He wanted for her to not be in pain, but he was the cause of her pain. This was his fault. He did this to her. 

He should have listened to Sam. 

He placed his hands on her arms. "I don't think I'll come to work this week," he told her.

She nodded. 

He left.