All’s Fair in Love and Chocolate

by Amy Andrews

  So Viv wasn’t about to spoil any of that or their great Thanksgiving Day—or the rest of their time together come to think of it—with a conversation about Gaylene’s concerns. Besides, the earlier sunny weather had clouded over in the last hour and the sky was looking heavy and ominous now, especially with nightfall less than an hour away, and the roads were getting icier, which meant Reuben needed to concentrate on the road not what his mother might or might not have said to Viv in the kitchen.

  They were home in twelve minutes and within twelve seconds of being inside she was flat against the wall and she was gasping as Reuben’s hands disappeared up her sweater and pulled aside her bra cups, his mouth seeking a nipple as he growled, “I’ve been wanting to do this all fucking day,” against her skin.

  His lips found the peaked tip and Viv’s pulse thrummed and her belly and inner thighs exploded in a fireball as he teased it mercilessly with his tongue. She moaned and panted, “Yes,” as her hands fumbled with his belt and then his fly before finding their way into his boxers and around his rock-hard erection. The harsh suck of his quickly indrawn breath followed by the deep guttural resonance of his groan was like pouring gasoline on a lit fuse.

  Then he was picking her up and striding with her through the cottage to the bedroom. Her last coherent thought as he tossed her on the bed was how chilly the air was on her exposed breasts, which was hardly surprising given the fire had been out all day, but then he was covering her body with his, all his heat and hardness dwarfing her, encompassing her and Viv felt like she was in the middle of a tropical heatwave.

  And hell if she didn’t give herself up completely to the furnace.

  *

  The clock said quarter to seven when next Viv woke. It was dark in her room and her lower body was deliciously warm where the duvet covered her but her naked upper body was exposed to the cold. Her stiff nipples a testament to just how cold. Pulling the duvet up around her shoulders she reached out to snuggle into Reuben except he wasn’t there.

  “Reuben?”

  “Just starting the fire,” he called, his voice drifting in from the living room.

  Viv wanted nothing more than to stay snuggled under the duvet but nature called and she slipped out of the bed, grabbed her long, polar fleece gown off the back of the chair and pulled it on. A couple of minutes later, she wandered down the dark hallway toward the scent of pine and the orange glow—both emanating from the living room.

  The view of the fire was blocked by Reuben standing in front of it, his back to the entrance, his outline silhouetted in a deep ocher thanks to the dance of the flames in the hearth. He’d pulled on his boxers but that left a lot of warm, bare flesh exposed to her view.

  “Hey,” she said as she came right up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist, linking her fingers together as she dropped a kiss between his shoulder blades. “It’s lovely and warm in here.”

  His hand slid over top of hers. “Shouldn’t take long to warm up the cottage.”

  That was the advantage of a small place—it heated quickly and Viv knew the entire cottage would be toasty warm within twenty minutes.

  “Good,” she said, resting her chin on his bare shoulder. “It’s freezing in the bedroom.” She stared into the flames that were reaching high toward the chimney, fueled as they were by the neat stack of new wood and the spiny exoskeletons of several pinecones that flamed like torches.

  “I was going to bring you a hot chocolate to get you through until the warmth made its way down.”

  His voice was all low and rumbly, licking over her body like the fire licking in the grate and she knew exactly how those pinecones felt. Just the man’s voice turned her on. “Mmm, that sounds perfect.” She’d forgone a hot chocolate at Reuben’s parents’ house earlier because she’d been too damn full to squeeze anything else in.

  And too damn uneasy, if she was being honest.

  But, several hours and one round of vigorous sex later, she definitely had room.

  “I’ll make it.” She kissed the side of his neck this time. “I’ve got Galliano, mint or Pop Rocks.”

  “You have to ask?”

  Viv smiled. “You’re just a big kid, aren’t you?”

  “Well…” He shrugged and her chin lifted with the movement. “I don’t like to brag about my size.”

  She laughed this time. “Your mind, however, is triple-X-rated adult.”

  “Not just my mind.”

  Because she couldn’t not, Viv’s hand slid down the flat planes of his belly to the waistband of his boxers, slipping beneath to fondle that part that was becoming more triple-X-rated by the second. Viv gave a squeeze because she loved how he sucked in his breath like that and his breathing went all rough.

  “So I see,” she whispered, nuzzling his neck.

  A low rumbly, “Mmmmmm,” escaped his lips and Viv felt the vibration of it right through the layers of polar fleece to her chest and for a moment she let her mind wander to those things Gaylene had suggested.

  Not leaving but staying.

  Being here every day and every night, touching Reuben whenever it took her damn fancy. And vice versa. Coming home to him every day. Him coming home to her. Not going to Missouri but doing this instead.

  The moment passed—thankfully—and Viv pulled herself together. Staying wasn’t what she did and Delish needed her in Missouri. Reluctantly, she pulled her hands out of his boxers to reinforce to herself that this was a temporary aberration and that getting too dependent on those warm and fuzzy sensations would be dumb.

  Would be dangerous.

  Kissing him on the neck again she said, “Don’t forget to put the screen across,” and turned toward the kitchen.

  She was just placing the saucepan with two cups of milk in it on the gas ring when Reuben joined her and they worked in tandem to pull together a rudimentary meal. He put bread into the toaster and they slathered it with peanut butter and jelly while they waited for the milk to come to the boil. She could easily have microwaved it but, if there was time, Viv preferred to do it the old-fashioned way.

  It just…tasted better.

  Within fifteen minutes they’d eaten their toast and they were both swishing their hot chocolate stirrers through the scalding milk. Reuben had boosted himself up onto the central island bench and Viv was standing between his legs, her elbows resting lightly on his thighs.

  “So…” he said, his gaze trained on the contents of his mug as he stirred, “what were you and my mother talking about in the kitchen earlier today?”

  Chapter Eight

  Viv’s fingers faltered for a second or two before resuming. A sugary hint of mint from her mug combined with the richer undertones pouring from Reuben’s warm, male flesh filled her senses as she glanced into his steady gray-green eyes. The temptation to duck the question and just nuzzle his whiskery throat and his chest was great but, in the end, she decided honesty was always the best policy.

  “She’s worried I’m going to crush your heart.”

  “Oh God…” His brow crinkled as he sat back a little, his abs flexing. “Really?”

  Viv nodded. “Uh-huh.”

  He pulled a face. “I’m really sorry about that.”

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “It’s fine. She’s your mom; she’s just looking out for you. I didn’t mind.” Sure, it had been confronting and not just because Gaylene had gone there but because she’d made Viv think about an alternative to her current rolling stone lifestyle.

  “Well I mind,” he said with a grimace that made Viv happy she hadn’t given any oxygen to his mother’s suspicions about Reuben being in love with her. “I’ll talk to her.”

  “What?” Viv stood straighter this time. “No. It’s fine.” The last thing she wanted Gaylene to think was that Viv had complained to Reuben. “Really. I think it’s nice that she had your back like that.”

  “I’m thirty years old, Vivian. I don’t need my mommy to have my back.”

  Viv shrugged. “I guess that
kinda thing is hard to switch off.”

  He huffed out a breath, clearly annoyed, but went back to staring into his mug as he stirred his milk. Viv followed suit for a few more seconds before Reuben glanced up again. “My heart’s going to be fine, you know.”

  “I know.” Viv nodded, ignoring Gaylene’s nagging assertion that she’d never seen her son look at another woman the way he looked at her.

  “Do you?” His brows shot up as he searched her face earnestly. “Because I meant what I said when I swore on my deputy’s badge that night.”

  “I know.”

  “Nobody needs to worry about my heart,” he reiterated.

  It was encouraging to hear that Reuben was still on the same page. Even if a tiny piece of her wished he wasn’t quite so damn emphatic about it. Because the longer they did this she wasn’t entirely sure her heart would get out unscathed. Oh, she was leaving, for sure but this might be the first time she was nursing some emotional bumps and bruises.

  “Check.” Viv smiled at him then because he’d gotten a little tense and as much as his abs looked awesome all puckered into little pillows like that, the day had been too good to end with any kind of tension. “So…let’s talk about something else.”

  “Oh yeah?” He dropped his attention back to his drink. “Like what?”

  Viv grinned. “Like losing your virginity in your cousin’s barn.” She’d been dying to hear about that ever since Stephen had spilled the beans.

  He groaned. “I’m going to kill Stephen.”

  “No way. I thought it was hilarious.” She laughed. “So, come on, talk. Who was it? How old were you?”

  He feigned a superior expression as he shook his head. “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”

  Viv smiled at his chivalry—she wouldn’t have expected anything less from him. Then she leaned in and murmured, “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” against the hollow at the base of his throat.

  A kind of a half sigh, half groan fell from his lips and Viv smiled. “I was almost nineteen,” he said. “Just before I left for the academy. She was a twenty-two-year-old childcare worked from Canada who was working up at Bridger Bowl for the ski season.”

  “Oooh. An older woman.”

  “Well…one of us had to know what we were doing.”

  “Oh come on.” Viv laughed as she nuzzled his throat again. “You look like you were born knowing what to do.”

  His deep chuckle buzzed against Viv’s lips. “I assure you, I was not. I was trying really hard to make a good impression but basically I was just pathetically grateful and overly eager. But she was patient and I take instruction well.” He angled his neck as Viv’s lips teased higher, his spare hand sliding onto her hip. “What about you?”

  Pulling back a little, Viv’s gaze met his. “I’m afraid I’m the full cliché. Lost it at seventeen on prom night in a seedy motel out on the interstate.”

  He frowned, his expression both concerned and annoyed. “Your date pressured you?”

  Viv pressed her lips together trying not to laugh because his concern was both sweet and kinda hot. “Hell no. I booked the room three days prior. I bought the condoms. And because I didn’t have a boyfriend, I asked the jock with the biggest man whore rep in the whole senior class to take me.”

  She hadn’t been sure Calvin would say yes—even back in high school she’d been curvy and his tastes had always run to cheerleader. But he was a boob man and Viv had worked that angle for all it was worth.

  If anything, Reuben looked more confused. “Why on earth did you want a man whore?”

  “Because I figured he’d be up for popping my cherry without remorse or declarations of undying love. Like all things about my life at that stage, I was in a hurry to start living. I just wanted it gone. Like I wanted to be gone from Kearney and the motel and all the middle-class expectations about staying close to home and family. I didn’t want love. It was a…transaction.” She dropped her gaze. “I realize that doesn’t exactly color me in glory but it’s the truth.”

  He placed his fingers under her chin and lifted it. “You knew what you wanted and went after it. Just like in Bozeman.” He smiled. “Good for you. I just wish I’d known teenage girls were into man whores—I’d have been much sluttier.”

  Viv laughed and his fingers slid from her chin. “I don’t think I was normal.”

  He smiled and said, “No, but I bet you were something else, Vivian Dawson,” and Viv’s breath hitched at the admiration in his voice.

  After a beat he lifted his mug to his mouth and blew on the hot milk. “So? How was it?”

  “Well…” Viv pulled her wooden spoon out of her drink. Half of the chocolate had melted and she sucked on it absently as she thought back to that time. “It didn’t set my world on fire but it wasn’t awful either.” She swished the spoon through the hot milk again. “Looking back at it now I actually don’t think he was that experienced, but you know what it’s like in high school: anyone who’s done the business is elevated to a position of sexual prophet.”

  He laughed. “True.”

  She pulled out the spoon again and sucked on it some more before swirling it again. It was supposed to melt in the milk but Viv loved how it tasted all warm and gooey on her tongue. “He was actually sweet and gentle, which I hadn’t expected nor realized I wanted. I thought I wanted it fast and over with but it wasn’t like that. I didn’t exactly see stars but it could have been a lot worse. Better than a lot of deflowering stories I’ve heard.”

  The amount of chocolate had halved when she pulled it out this time and popped it back in her mouth. He made a kind of low growly noise as his gaze dropped to her lips. “Must you talk about deflowering then suck on that thing like you’re trying to fellate it?”

  Viv deliberately hollowed her cheeks as she pulled it slowly out with a wet kind of phfffttt. “I have no idea what you mean.” She dipped it back in the milk then lifted it to her lips again before sucking it in, her gaze locking with his as she repeated the withdrawal process, totally spoiling the effect by grinning.

  Dipping it one more time she lifted it out, this time smearing it on his neck right over the fat bound of his pulse. “What are you doing?” he muttered as Viv wiped the flat of her tongue over the whiskery skin, taking her time with it, smiling as she felt the vibration of his voice and the thick bob of his Adam’s apple against her mouth.

  “I’m licking chocolate off you,” Viv said as she smeared some more along his collarbone and licked that too. He sucked in a breath and the hand on her hip tightened. “Mmm,” she murmured. “You taste good.”

  He chuckled. “This is going to get sticky, isn’t it?”

  Viv lifted her head, her eyes meeting his as she dipped the spoon again then daubed the dripping chocolate on a flat brown nipple. He sucked in a breath. “So sticky,” she whispered then set to work removing every sweet trace.

  He groaned, and Viv vaguely heard the thunk of his mug as he placed it on the bench while his other hand slid up her side to her neck then into her hair. When she lifted her head this time he kissed her hard and deep and wet and Viv’s pulse skipped crazily against all her pulse points as his tongue sought out and found every last sweet recess of her mouth.

  Dragging herself away from the kiss was hard but she managed, planting a hand in the center of his chest. “Lie back.”

  His nostrils flared at her husky demand but he didn’t argue, his hand falling from her hair as he eased himself back onto his elbows, dwarfing the small island bench, which just barely contained all his delicious real estate. Viv looked her fill, conscious of his inner thighs bracketing her hips, his bare feet brushing the outsides of her thighs.

  Her mouth watered as she hoped like hell there was enough chocolate left on her stirrer to do that body justice. There was just so damn much of him, his boxers the only thing keeping him decent. In theory anyway. In actuality they were thoroughly indecent, bulged out as they were by the contours of his very impressive erection.
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br />   Placing her mug down on the bench next to his, she pulled the stirrer out to find only a small portion remaining. Not enough to paint him from nipples to knees and really go to town but certainly enough to treat one particular part of his anatomy to a little sumthin’ sumthin’.

  “Lift,” she said huskily, reaching for the waistband of his boxers.

  He made some kind of strangled noise but eased all the way back to lift his hips, allowing Viv to ease the boxers down. She couldn’t get rid of them altogether given she was standing between his legs but she could push them down enough so they were well out of the way, which was what she did although how she was capable of anything with his big, beautiful cock lying primed and ready against his belly she had no idea.

  It really was a magnificent specimen and Viv’s mouth watered some more.

  His dick bucked and Reuben gasped as the stirrer touched down on the rigid flesh. Viv’s hands actually shook in anticipation as she ran the wooden spoon up and down the shaft streaking it in warm, minty chocolate. The thick pound of his abdominal pulse beat enticingly through his belly as his abs tensed and puckered, making Viv really sorry there wasn’t enough chocolate to do them justice. His hands reached for the sides of the bench, his fingers curling over the edge, his knuckles blanching white as she took her time, teasing and testing his endurance.

  But too soon she was done with playing and only tasting would do. Tossing the stirrer, which was now practically clean as a whistle, aside, she leaned in and licked. His dick bucked again and his guttural groan hit Viv right between her legs, stoking the smoldering coals there to full flash point as she licked him clean.

  The sweetness of chocolate, the zing of mint and the musky notes of clean, male skin were a truly heady combination.

  “God,” she whispered, “you taste good,” before she swirled her tongue all the way up his shaft to the thick, spongy crown on top and taking him inside her mouth.

  “Holy fuck,” he growled, his hands leaving the sides to sink into her hair now, his entire frame pulled taut.