Christmas Wish

by Jill Sanders

  He pulled out his phone and read the last email from Barbara.

  “Around twenty until after the New Year. We will be booked solid by the end of January after one of the facilities in Englewood closes its doors for good.”

  “Wow, I guess it was lucky you came along and built this place when you did. What would have happened to those kids if you hadn’t?”

  “Most likely, they’d be moved to Durango or out of state.” He felt a twist in his stomach as he remembered the time when he’d been fifteen when he’d almost been moved across the state. Just the thought of not being near Laura and her family had caused him to start plotting to run away and live on the streets.

  How many other kids had gone through something like him? How many were now living on the streets because of a bad situation?

  “You’re deep in thought.” Laura broke into his thoughts.

  “I was just remembering the time that you convinced me not to run away,” he admitted.

  She smiled brightly, but still, he doubted she knew just how close he’d come to leaving for good.

  “You were going to live in my brother’s car.” She shook her head.

  “It was better than the alternative.” He saw her smile slip.

  “I always thought that you’d adopt a ton of kids once you were out on your own.” She leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her fists.

  “I still plan on doing so, but after I ensure the safety and well-being of as many kids as I can.” He reached across the table and took her hand in his. “And after I have my family back.”

  Her hand jerked slightly at his touch.

  “Simon, I’m… it’s true that I’m happy you’re back, but I don’t think it would be wise if we…” She dropped his hand and waved between them. “This…” She shook her head. “I just don’t think…” She dropped off as if searching for the right words.

  “Laura, I’m prepared to wait forever if I need to. I know that I’ve hurt you and even though you now know the reason that I had to leave... I understand that doesn’t fully release me from all wrongdoing. But I hope that someday we will be able to put it behind us.”

  Without saying anything, she nodded, and he felt his heart jump slightly at the possibility of moving forward. He hadn’t expected to jump right back to where they’d left off. Hoped, yes, but expected, no. Still, knowing that she now understood why he’d left made him feel more at ease than he had before.

  She hadn’t turned him away or, worse, turned against him like his father had claimed her family would do once they found out about him. Found out about who his mother had been.

  It was strange, but over the past five years, it hadn’t bothered him that his mother had been a prostitute. Not as much as it had bothered him who his father was. What kind of man he came from.

  He remembered hating the man even before he’d found out he was his father. Joseph Wilson had pushed through a state law that banned young foster kids from seeking their independence until their eighteenth birthday. Even if they could prove they could support themselves, they had to remain in the system or suffer legal consequences.

  Simon had been working a full-time job at nights since the age of sixteen while attending school during the day, and he’d made enough money that he’d hoped to get a place of his own before his eighteenth birthday.

  Not only had that law kept him in a foster system that no longer served him, it had also instituted a new rule that had required him to have a curfew. He’d had to be back at the facility no later than ten o’clock at night, so he’d had to cut back his hours at work, which held him back even more. If he wasn’t back in his room by then, they were required to call the police and charge him. If that happened, a caseworker would be called in and he could have a criminal record. To add to it, if he showed up to school tardy, a truancy agent would visit him at the home and had the right to enforce stricter rules or even require that he stop working all together.

  Every child in the foster care system was being treated as if they were criminals instead of kids with potential.

  As an adult, it was one of the first laws that he had hoped to help overturn. If the kids could prove they could support themselves after sixteen, there was no reason they couldn’t be on their own, with, of course, some supervision and counseling. He understood that there were some good laws in place to help foster kids from age eighteen to twenty-one. If he’d been in the States, he would have cashed in on a few of those offers himself.

  “Now you’re the one deep in thought,” she said as they left the restaurant.

  He glanced over at her and once again reached for her hand. It was something he had done without even thinking about it all those years they were together. Whenever they walked side by side, her hand was in his. Now, he frowned down at her cold fingers.

  “Where are your gloves?” he asked her.

  She shrugged and smiled. “I guess I left them in my car. I didn’t expect it to get this cold.”

  He pulled his leather gloves from his jacket pocket and handed them to her.

  “Thanks,” she said, slipping the too-large gloves on. He smiled and took her gloved hands up and then laughed.

  “I remember when we wore the same glove size,” he said with a chuckle.

  She narrowed her eyes. “You’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you. I think you’re almost a foot taller.”

  He pulled her closer and held onto her as they stood by his car. “No, you’re just getting shorter.”

  She laughed. “Right.” She rolled her eyes.

  His gaze ran over her face, taking in the blue of her eyes, the soft pink color of her checks. Her perfect smile.

  “You’ve changed too,” he said softly as he reached up and brushed a strand of her blonde hair away from her face. “Your hair is longer.”

  “So is yours.”

  He thought about it and nodded. “Yeah, the foster home used to make me wear it short.”

  She frowned. “They did?”

  He shrugged. “It was just hair.”

  She lifted her gloved hands and ran her fingers through his longer locks.

  “Doesn’t it get in your eyes?”

  “Usually, I pull it back,” he admitted.

  Her fingers stilled in his hair as he shifted closer to her.

  “Laura, I’ve missed kissing you.”

  He heard her breath hitch and knew the moment she thought about kissing him. Her eyes moved down to his lips, and desire flooded them.

  Pressing her body between his and the car, he covered her soft lips with his own until he heard her moan with pleasure.

  When her gloved fingers dug into his shoulders, he wished more than anything that they weren’t standing in the middle of a parking lot at one of the busiest restaurants in Denver.

  When she angled and pressed her body tighter against his, he knew that if he didn’t pull back now, he wouldn’t be able to control himself much longer.

  “We’d better…” he said, clearing his throat.

  Instead of answering, she quickly nodded and jerked the car handle, only to come up short because he hadn’t unlocked it yet.

  “Sorry.” He reached into his pocket and unlocked the car, then opened the door for her.

  He slid in behind the wheel and turned to her. “Where to now?” he asked.

  She ran her eyes over him and, after biting her bottom lip for a moment, answered.

  “How about we head back to your place?” she said softly.

  Chapter 11

  Screw it. She was going to throw caution to the wind. Why the hell not? This was Simon after all. The only man she’d ever loved. The only man she’d ever been with.

  How long had she waited? Five years. Sure, she’d dated other men but none for long and certainly none she’d ever let into her bed. It wouldn’t have been fair. Not when she knew she’d be dreaming of Simon while with them.

  She’d hoped that one day she’d be over Simon finally so that she could move on
with her love life, but the fact was that she wasn’t. And now he was back in her life. Back with excuses for breaking her heart that cut deeper than anything her imagination had made up over the years.

  The fact was, she wanted him. She’d always wanted him. She would always want him. So why fight it anymore?

  When she’d been sitting in the middle of the restaurant, looking across the table at him, she’d had a moment of strength. Of courage. She’d tried to convince herself that she was better off pushing him away.

  But, in his arms, with those strong muscles wrapped around her body, she’d turned to putty. Just like she had always done.

  Her legs had gone weak, her body had vibrated from his touch, and her mind had turned to mush.

  He’d actually given her his gloves just because he didn’t want her hands to be cold. She looked down at the leather gloves warming her fingers and smiled.

  It had been pure hell sitting with him all week long in her office. She’d known that he’d watched her. Every time he’d moved, shifted, or breathed, she’d imagined how he would feel next to her.

  Her mind had played over each and every time they’d been together in the past.

  His hand reached across the car seat and took her hand in his. Then he smiled and nudged off the glove so that they were skin to skin, linking their fingers together.

  “You’ve warmed up,” he said softly.

  She wanted to reply that he had no idea how warm she was now but bit her bottom lip and nodded instead.

  God. Could the car go any faster? Why had they gone to the new furniture store in Aurora instead of the older store closer to Golden?

  She closed her eyes and tried to keep her body from exploding as he ran his thumb across her knuckles.

  “Laura?” he said softly, causing her eyes to jerk open. “Are you okay?”

  Again, instead of answering, she nodded.

  “We can make it, you know.” He squeezed her hand.

  She thought about finding some hotel for them to stay in along the drive and then realized that she’d waited five years, what was a few more moments?

  “I know,” she finally answered.

  He chuckled. “I meant… We can recover from our past. We can win the battle brought on by my father.”

  She was silent as she allowed her mind to switch gears away from sex to more practical things. Like the fact that there could be a man out there who hired hitmen to hurt them.

  “Right.” She nodded in agreement. “We’ll need to come up with a game plan.” She squeezed his hand as he turned off the highway and hit the hilly road leading up towards his house.

  “Simon, let’s not let the man ruin one more moment of ours.” She shook the dark thoughts out of her mind. There was so much she wanted to say to the man who had ruined their lives, but since he wasn’t there, she wanted to enjoy her time with Simon.

  He lifted their joined hands to brush his lips over her knuckles. “Agreed. For tonight”—he glanced over at her— “it’s just us.”

  He parked next to her car and turned off the engine. She laughed when he removed her seat belt and pulled her across the center console into his lap. The laughter died in her throat as he took her mouth and kissed her.

  As far as lovers went, Simon had been everything to her. She’d never experienced another man in bed, but she’d fooled around a lot over the years he’d been gone, which had confirmed that no one had ever made her feel as much as he did.

  No one could come close to how Simon made her feel. It was as if her soul and his were connected. The depth to which his simple kiss could affect her was intoxicating.

  “Simon, take me inside,” she pleaded softly against his warm skin.

  Then she was laughing again as he jerked the car door open and almost spilled her onto the snow-covered ground.

  “Sorry,” he groaned. He shifted her and climbed out still holding onto her.

  “I can walk,” she suggested as he nudged his car door shut.

  “I know, but I don’t want to let go of you for fear you’ll change your mind.” He smiled down at her.

  “I won’t.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him.

  The moment he stepped into the house, he slid her body down his and continued the kiss. She’d waited so long for this moment that she doubted she would be able to go slow.

  Her fingers shook as she pushed off his coat then started working on pulling his sweater over his head. She wanted—no, needed—to see him. To feel his skin under her fingertips. To remember just how wonderful her body felt against his. She wanted all of him.

  “Simon,” she moaned when he wrapped his fingers around her wrists and stopped her from pulling his jeans down his hips.

  “Please, Laura, I need… time. I’ve waited forever for this moment, and I want it to last.” He nibbled on her earlobe, a move that used to drive her nuts and still did.

  Her own coat and sweatshirt had landed on the floor next to his. Now they both stood in his living room in nothing but their shoes and jeans.

  Simon pulled back slightly and ran his eyes over her then smiled at the silky red bra she wore.

  “I like this.” He ran a finger over the strap slowly. “Makes me want to discover what else you have hidden under your clothes.” His fingers trailed from the strap down her ribs, over her flat belly, and played with the top of her jeans. “Laura, look at me.”

  Her eyes slid open and met his. She couldn’t stop the low moan that escaped her lips when he opened her jeans and slid them slowly down her hips.

  “My god,” he sighed as he ran his eyes over the rest of her. “You’re even more beautiful than I remember.”

  He helped her step out of her boots, then removed the jeans completely from her legs.

  Standing in his living room in her matching bra and panty set made her feel empowered and bold. With her eyes locked on his, she reached for his jeans and repeated his actions on him.

  Well, she tried to at any rate. His boots were a little harder to untie, and he had to sit on the edge of the sofa to help her remove them.

  “Let’s go into the bedroom,” he said, taking her hand in his. She followed him into the mauve room and held in a chuckle at the decor.

  “I know,” he sighed. “Here.” He turned the lights down low. “Now it’s not so bad.”

  She walked into his arms and leaned up to kiss him. “It doesn’t matter.” She sighed against his mouth. “I wouldn’t care where we were. Just as long as you’re back with me.”

  He kissed her as she ran her hands over his warm skin, enjoying the strong muscles he’d gained since the last time she’d seen him.

  It wasn’t as if he’d been flabby before. On the contrary. He’d been a skinny kid. Too skinny. Now, however, his chest was wide, full of toned lean cords. His arms were easily double what they had been the last time they’d been wrapped around her naked body.

  “You’ve changed so much,” she said, trailing her fingers around his chest, enjoying the way his muscles flexed under her fingertips. “You started working out,” she said with a smile.

  His smile grew. “I did.” His smile slipped. “I plan on protecting everything and everyone that’s important to me by any means.”

  She felt his arms flex around her as her heart skipped a beat.

  “Laura, I know you must…” he started, but she stopped him by placing a finger over his lips.

  “Later,” she said, and bumped her body against his as she laid her lips on his skin. “For now”—she ran her mouth over his taut skin— “I want to enjoy this. Enjoy you.”

  A loan groan emanated from deep in his chest. She marveled at how it caused his body to vibrate.

  When his hands circled her waist and he hoisted her up, she wrapped her legs around his hips and held onto him as he walked towards the bed.

  “There hasn’t been anyone else,” he said as he gently laid her down on the bed. “Just so you know.” He looked deep into her eyes.

  “On
ly you,” she agreed. She pulled his head back down to her as her fingers ran through his hair.

  Making love to Simon was the same and yet different than it had been before. He was the same boy, the same man inside that he’d been all those years ago. But now there was a shadow of mystery surrounding him.

  She couldn’t wait to unveil it and discover what was underneath. Just as she was enjoying discovering every new cord of muscle he had, she looked forward to discovering new aspects of his personality.

  He moved over her, and she couldn’t help the memories from mixing in with what was happening now. Still, he would kiss her or say something new and exciting, and she’d remember that this was the new Simon, which would send waves of excitement racing through her.

  She discovered a new darker trail of hair leading from the bottom of his belly button down to below his boxer briefs. She smiled and traced the line, then groaned with excitement when she nudged the material off and his dick sprang free.

  He’d grown in more ways. Her body grew heated at the memory of how he’d felt the last time he’d embedded himself in her.

  “Simon.” She ran her fingertip over him and watched as passion flooded his eyes.

  “I…” He shook his head. “Laura, I don’t think I can wait much longer.”

  She smiled and licked her lips slowly, dreaming of how he would feel inside her now. “Don’t then,” she encouraged him.

  In one quick motion, he changed their positions and pinned her underneath him, holding her down with those powerful arms. His eyes met hers once more and he settled between her legs.

  “I…” he started but then she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him to her.

  When he filled her, she arched and cried out his name in pure delight. Her nails scraped his skin, trying to hold him closer to her heart.

  She hadn’t realized tears had leaked from her eyes until he gently brushed them away with his fingertips.

  “I’ve hurt you?” he asked with a frown.

  “No,” she assured him, holding him tight. “You’ve healed me,” she said against his lips. Then she encouraged him to move with her and forgot all of the pain he’d caused her over the past few years and focused only on the wonderful feeling of being with the man she loved again.