Free Ark Royal 2: The Nelson Touch by Christopher Nuttal Page B

saw now, long before he’d been taken away.  They hadn't had sex in months before he’d been recalled to war, then they’d had sex only once before he'd been reassigned to the Luna Academy.  But he’d had sex with Rose more times than he could count.  The spice of fucking someone he knew he shouldn't even be thinking of fucking, paired with the certainty of death, had spurred him onwards.  Every time he tried to think of Molly, naked and willing, he saw Rose instead.
     
    Carefully, he closed the computer and headed out the door, locking the room behind him.  Outside, he could hear the sound of Penny chatting on the phone to her friends, while Gayle – downstairs – was lecturing Percy on the value of thinking before doing something as stupid as walking into a clean house with muddy clothes.  Kurt had to smile at her threat to turn the hose on him next time, washing him down thoroughly before he stepped foot into the house and scattered mud everywhere.  Kurt’s father had made the same threat, years ago.  He hadn't actually done it.
     
    It was nearly four hours before Molly finally arrived home.  By then, Kurt had managed to have a man-to-man chat with Percy, a more peaceful discussion with Penny and speak to Gayle about how his children had been behaving.  Penny had, apparently, fought quite a bit with the nanny at first, then settled down and started to learn.  Percy had been buying books and videos on starfighter training and studying them frantically.  Kurt could only hope that he picked up enough to realise that he knew nothing when – if – he entered the Academy.
     
    “I want you to take them both out tonight,” he’d said to Gayle, when they’d finished talking.  “Take them bowling, then go watch a movie or something that will keep them out for a long time.”
     
    Gayle didn't argue.  In a way, that was a more worrying sign than anything else.
     
    “Molly,” he said, when his wife closed the door behind her.  “We need to talk.”
     
    Molly scowled at him.  She had always had a fiery temper and some of their arguments had been shockingly loud.  “Why?”
     
    Kurt braced himself  “For a start,” he said, “why didn't you tell the kids I was coming?”
     
    “I thought it was tomorrow,” Molly said, sullenly.
     
    “I told you it was today,” Kurt said, feeling his temper flare.  When had he started hating his wife?  “If you couldn't come and pick me up at the station, all you had to do was tell me and I would have taken a taxi home.  But you didn't have to leave the kids unaware I was coming.”
     
    He took a breath.  “And what about the money you’ve been spending?”
     
    “It's my money,” Molly snapped.  “I have a right to spend it how I like!”
     
    “Yes, we agreed we would share the joint account,” Kurt said, trying to keep an icy grip on his temper.  “But you’ve been spending money on expensive clothes, expensive handbags, expensive ... underwear!  What the fuck have you been doing?”
     
    “I’ve been enjoying having money for the first time in years,” Molly thundered.  She drew herself up to her full height and glared at him.  “Why should I not spend it as I please?”
     
    “Because we have to think about the future,” Kurt snapped back.  He took a long breath.  “Penny will be in schooling for at least another three years; longer, if she wants to train as a doctor.  We might have to pay for that training if she can’t win a scholarship.  Percy might change his mind about what he wants to do with his life!  And what happens if we run out of money because you’ve been spending it on overpriced clothes?”
     
    “All of my friends buy such clothes,” Molly said, sharply.  “Why the hell shouldn't I?”
     
    “Because your friends are married to rich aristocrats, high-priced lawyers and corporate CEOs,” Kurt said.  “The amount of money I got as my share of the prize fund is barely a month’s wages for