A Family for Christmas (Willow Park #3)

by Noelle Adams

  She leaned down to kiss him as she stroked him, and soon he was lining her up above him again, moving aside her panties, and aligning his erection at her entrance.

  She sank down over him, gasping at the tight penetration. Then she started to move over him as best she could, going by instinct since she’d never been on top before. She held Gabe’s eyes as she moved, and it seemed to make the whole thing hotter.

  He rocked his hips to match her motion, and he held onto her bottom, keeping their alignment snug. “Yes, baby. So good. Keep moving just like that.”

  Encouraged, she tried to keep an even rhythm, but everything was feeling so good that she kept getting excited and moving faster. Gabe was groaning in pleasure as she tried to rein in her instinct to grind against him.

  They were gazing into each other’s eyes as the pleasure built up between them. And they were still gazing into each other’s eyes as she lost control and started to bounce shamelessly as another, deeper orgasm tightened inside her. And they were still gazing into each other’s eyes when he choked on a desperate sound.

  She was almost sobbing, trying to reach that elusive peak. “Gonna come,” she gasped, to let him know she was close, in case he couldn’t tell.

  “I know, baby.” His features twisted in effort, and he moved a hand between their bodies to fumble near where they were joined.

  Despite her frantic motion, he found what he was looking for and gave her clit a clumsy massage.

  She cried out as an orgasm hit her, freezing for a moment before letting go.

  “That’s right,” Gabe murmured throatily, as she shook desperately. “Ride it out, baby. Take everything you want. Don’t hold anything back.”

  She rode him hard, sustaining the pleasure for so long she was hoarse when the pleasure finally faded. But it wasn’t over yet, because Gabe had finally let go himself.

  She watched his face break with the climax, felt his body rock hard as he came beneath her, heard him choking out a helpless sound, as if he couldn’t hold anything back either.

  She collapsed on top of him afterwards, and he gathered her in his arms. And she loved how hot his body was, how it was starting to soften.

  It felt as good as her own body felt—like he’d needed and taken as much as she had.

  “Baby,” Gabe was still murmuring with his gasps.

  And she loved that too.

  She had no idea how long they lay together, neither of them able to talk. Then she finally started to feel the chill of the room and rolled off him so she could reach down for her pajamas.

  They smiled at each other as Lydia pulled up the covers and Gabe reached over to turn off the light. He reached out for her, and she snuggled against him.

  It was a long time before she realized that he wasn’t going to go back to his room for the night.

  Ten

  Lydia opened her eyes the next morning to discover that Gabe was still in bed with her. It was the first time she’d ever woken up with a man in her life.

  She felt strange and groggy and soft, and it took a minute for her to register that Gabe was still asleep. It must be morning, since light was streaming in through the edges of the blinds, and she could clearly see his closed eyelids, his dark eyelashes, the stubble on his jaw, the hair on the arm that was resting over the covers.

  He was breathing slowly, deeply. Occasionally making a slight noise. She watched him for a while until she wondered if it was creepy to watch a guy while he slept.

  She was working through this enigma in her mind when Gabe started to shift. She was watching as there was a momentary break in his breathing and then his eyes opened.

  He turned his head and blinked at her.

  “Hi,” she said, since she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  A smile spread slowly over his face. “Hi.” He rolled over on his side so he was facing her.

  She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t come up with anything intelligent. Babbling out how she was feeling—that she was really glad he was in her bed, really glad he was her husband—might be too much for first thing in the morning.

  “I thought this bed didn’t feel quite right,” he said, stretching out his legs under the covers.

  “What’s wrong with my bed?”

  “Nothing. It’s just softer than mine. And smaller.” His smile broadened, and his eyes took on that intimate warmth she loved. “Kind of like you.”

  She snorted. “I’m not exactly small, you know.”

  “You’re smaller than me.”

  “And soft isn’t a word that most people apply to me.”

  “What do they know?” He reached over and pulled her against him. “I’m your husband, and I say you’re softer and smaller than me.”

  She giggled and wrapped her arms around him. “I guess I can give you that much.”

  “I’ll take anything you give me,” he murmured against her hair, moving her body so she was pressed up fully against him.

  She felt relaxed and content and like she wanted to keep touching him—but not particularly urgent. He seemed to feel the same way, since he didn’t try to deepen their embrace. So she just enjoyed the feel of lying in his arms like this. Not about sex. Just about being together.

  Maybe this was what it was like to have a husband for real.

  “I should get up,” Gabe said, still sounding sleepy, without all of his normal edges.

  “It’s not even eight yet.” She didn’t feel like getting up, and she didn’t want him to get up either. She stroked his chest, over his t-shirt.

  “Yeah. I don’t normally sleep this late.”

  “Me either.”

  “I’ve got to drive to Raleigh today, so I need to leave by nine-thirty or so.”

  She stiffened, since this was the first time she was hearing about this. “What? Why?”

  “It’s just a lunch meeting. We arranged it late yesterday afternoon, and I forgot about it when you and Ellie came home. I’m coming back this afternoon.” He shifted slightly. “Is that okay?”

  “Of course. It’s fine. I thought you meant you’d be out of town for a while.”

  “My folks said they’d watched Ellie today, so I wasn’t trying to pressure you into watch—”

  “I know. I don’t mind that. I’m happy for Ellie to stay with me, since I don’t have anything going on today anyway. I just thought you meant you were going to be gone for a while.” She realized she was repeating herself, but she felt compelled to explain her reaction.

  When he didn’t answer, she looked up at his face to see that he was smiling—just a little.

  “What?” she demanded.

  He shook his head. “Nothing. It just seems like maybe you would have missed me if I left.”

  She felt her cheeks reddening, which was ridiculous since she never blushed. “Why would I have missed you?”

  He leaned down to brush her lips gently with his. “I have no idea.”

  “Well, don’t get smug about it. I bet you’ll miss me when I go visit churches through South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama after Christmas.”

  “What?” He frowned. “When is this?”

  “In January or February. I don’t have it scheduled yet, but that’s what I was planning—to get some more churches on board with my work in India. I’ll probably be gone for a couple of weeks.” She felt a little thrill at his disapproving expression. “So I bet you’ll miss me then.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

  He sounded more than teasingly disapproving. He sounded faintly annoyed.

  She sat up on the bed. “I didn’t have it planned yet. I was just in the early stages. Of course, I’d talk to you about the schedule and everything.”

  “Oh.”

  “Is something wrong? You don’t have a problem with me doing something like that, do you? I mean, you know the work I want to—”

  “Of course, I know. And, of course, I don’t have a problem with it. I’d just like to be kept in the l
oop.”

  “Sorry,” she said, fighting against the instinct to defend herself. “I was going to keep you in the loop. I didn’t mean to keep you out of it. It was just in the early thought stages now.”

  “Okay. When you get further than the early stages, maybe you can let me know.” He gave her a half-smile that proved he wasn’t unhappy with her.

  She smiled back and let him pull her down to press against him again. “I think this means you will miss me,” she murmured.

  “Maybe a little.” He turned her over and pulled her up so he could kiss her, and the kiss was just getting deeper when they both froze at the sound of a girlish voice from the hallway.

  “Daddy! Dad, where are you?”

  Ellie didn’t sound angry or whiney. She sounded scared.

  “I’m here,” Gabe called out, loudly enough to be heard through the door. “I’m in here, Ellie.” He rolled over and jumped to his feet, straightening his pants just as the door started to open.

  He hurried over to where Ellie stood in the doorway, staring at them, her face a little pale. “I’m here, sweetheart. What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.” She rubbed at her nose. “I just didn’t know where you were.” Ellie looked over at Lydia, who had sat up in the bed, hoping she was mostly presentable. “Are you sleeping in late?”

  “We were,” she said with a smile, trying to sound natural. “But we had already woken up.” She really hoped it wasn’t going to upset Ellie to see that her father had slept in Lydia’s room.

  Ellie didn’t seem to think it was strange that Gabe hadn’t slept in his own bed. She was returning the hug he gave her, but she smiled over at Lydia. “I like your pajamas.”

  Lydia looked down at her pale blue, polar bear pajamas. “Thank you. You know, your dad has to go to a meeting for lunch, so I was thinking maybe you and I could do something fun. We could go visit Uncle Thomas and Mia, if you want. He has a big huge yard that’s really fun to explore.”

  Ellie nodded. “That would be fun. Thank you.”

  Lydia caught Gabe’s eye, and they both smiled with their gazes alone. Ellie’s attitude seemed to have changed for the better.

  Maybe yesterday had been a turning point.

  ***

  “Just be careful,” Lydia called up to Ellie. “Don’t put your weight on any branches that don’t seem really strong.”

  “I won’t.” Ellie was climbing a big tree on Thomas’s property. He owned a large, rambling house just outside of town, not far from their childhood home. Today was one of his days off, and he’d had Mia all week, since Abigail was taking their daughter out of town starting tomorrow to visit her parents for Christmas.

  Lydia and Ellie had arrived around eleven, and Ellie and Mia had played some—which mostly consisted of Ellie bossing the younger girl around.

  Then Ellie had declared she’d wanted to explore the woods that were part of Thomas’s property, so Lydia had taken her for a walk, since Mia wanted to read instead.

  “How high did you get?” Ellie called down. She was about halfway up the tree and climbing surprisingly well—since evidently she wasn’t a well-practiced tree-climber.

  “I can’t remember. Just go as high as you’re comfortable.” Lydia was regretting her random comment about loving to climb this particular tree when she was Ellie’s age.

  She’d climbed all the way to the top all the time, though. And when no one else was around. The tree looked very tall, and Ellie looked very small, but surely it wasn’t dangerous. Not if Lydia had done it so many times herself, when she was even younger.

  “I’m comfortable,” Ellie called down.

  Lydia reassured herself with the fact that the girl was doing fine. “Very good.”

  She stood under the tree watching Ellie, thinking back to when she was a girl. When she wanted to be alone, she would climb the tree and sit for over an hour sometimes, just thinking and watching the birds and bugs and leaves.

  Ellie got about two-thirds of the way up the tree and stopped.

  “Everything okay?” Lydia asked.

  “Yes.” Ellie was reaching up for another branch, but she kept pulling her arm back before she reached it. “I’m going to come down now.”

  “That’s sounds like a good idea. You got up as high as I ever did.” Lydia wasn’t sure if this was entirely true, but she wanted to encourage the girl.

  “Good.”

  Ellie was coming down now, just as fast as she’d climbed.

  “There’s no hurry,” Lydia called, wincing slightly when Ellie almost missed a branch. “Take your time.”

  “I am taking my time.”

  Whether this was true or not, Lydia didn’t argue. And she let out a sigh of relief when Ellie neared the bottom.

  “That was fun,” Ellie said with a smile, stretching her leg down for the big branch Lydia had boosted her up to earlier. “I didn’t know climbing trees was so much fun.”

  The girl definitely could have used a brother. Imagine never having climbed a tree at nine years old.

  “I always liked it—Ellie, wait, not too fast!” Lydia jumped forward when Ellie’s foot missed the branch below it and her small body slipped down too quickly from the branch above, since she’d expected to be secured on the lower branch. Ellie’s body jarred against the big branch from the fall and then kind of bounced off and down toward the ground.

  Lydia was right beneath her, so Ellie landed on her hard. They both fell down to the ground.

  “Ellie,” Lydia gasped, trying to catch her breath and sit up. “Ellie, honey, are you okay?”

  Ellie didn’t answer. Her body was a dead weight on top of her.

  Terrified, Lydia rearranged them so that Ellie was lying on the ground and she was sitting up so she could see.

  There was blood streaming down over the girl’s face. So much blood Lydia almost choked.

  “Ellie,” she rasped, trying to wipe the blood away from her closed eyes. “Ellie!”

  There was no answer, and Lydia experienced a wave of pure terror at the thought that the girl might be dead. She wasn’t, though. She felt a pulse when she fumbled for Ellie’s wrist, and she could see her chest rise and fall with her breath.

  She must have knocked herself out on the big branch as she fell.

  Still terrified, Lydia scrambled to her feet and reached down to pick up Ellie. But then she stopped herself, hit with some vague memory that you weren’t supposed to move people who had been injured, for fear of making the injury worse.

  Instead of reaching for Ellie, she reached for her phone and dialed her brother.

  “What’s going on?” Thomas said, picking up, clearly surprised by her call.

  “Ellie fell out of a tree. The big oak tree in the southwest corner. She’s bleeding terribly. She won’t wake up!” The last sentence was a wail, as Lydia’s fear caught up with her.

  “Don’t move her,” Thomas said, brisk and calm. “I’m on my way.”

  Lydia sat down next to Ellie, wiping the blood off her face as best she could and realizing the gash was just above her hairline.

  She hadn’t seen her head impact the tree, but it must have hit the branch or something on the way down.

  Lydia prayed and trembled for three minutes until Thomas appeared. He must have run the whole way.

  After a quick look at Lydia, he knelt down next to Ellie and started to examine her with professional calm.

  “I think she’s okay,” he said, after a minute.

  Lydia choked back a sob of relief.

  “She hit her head, so she must have a concussion, but she doesn’t seem to have broken any bones. As long as she wakes up soon…Ellie.” His voice was brisk and authoritative. “Ellie, wake up.”

  Ellie made a little sound in her throat.

  Encouraged, Lydia moved closer. “Ellie, can you wake up, honey?”

  “Wake up.” Thomas’s voice was much sterner than hers.

  Ellie’s eyes fluttered open, and Lydia almost dissolved in her i
mmense relief.

  “We should take her to the ER,” Thomas said, looking over at Lydia. “Just to be safe.”

  “Yeah. Is it okay to move her?”

  “Yeah. I think so. Ellie, does anything hurt?”

  “My head.” Ellie’s face was twisted, and she looked pale and bewildered. “Did I fall down?”

  “Yes, when you were climbing down the tree,” Lydia said.

  “You caught me?”

  “Well, sort of. We both fell down.” Lydia wished she could hug the little girl.

  “You have a bump on your head,” Thomas explained. “Does anything else hurt?”

  “My wrist.” She lifted her arm to show him.

  He felt her wrist and when she winced as he moved it a certain way, he said, “A little sprain, I think. Anything else?”

  Lydia knew this side of her brother. Curt. Professional. Completely in control. It used to drive her crazy, but now it was exactly what she needed to get control of her fear.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Can you move your legs?”

  She shifted them around and nodded her head.

  “And both arms?”

  She moved them too.

  “Very good. Can you turn your head from side to side?” When the girl did so, Thomas nodded. “Okay. You’re in good shape, but I’m going to pick you up and carry you to the car, if that’s okay. I’m going to get a doctor to fix up your head.”

  “Aren’t you a doctor?” Ellie’s voice was weak, but she seemed to understand fine, which was a great relief.

  “I’m a different kind of doctor. I’m only good if you need surgery on your heart. Do you need surgery on your heart?”

  “No, thank you.”

  He chuckled and picked her up in his arms. Then he smiled over at Lydia. “Don’t look so scared. She’s going to be fine. We’ll just stop to grab Mia, and we’ll be on our way.”

  Lydia had no reason not to believe her brother, but she prayed all the way to the hospital anyway.

  ***

  Three hours later, she was sitting next to Ellie’s bed in the ER, so exhausted she wanted to drop.

  Thomas had been right, and Ellie had a concussion. They didn’t think it was serious, but they wanted to observe her for a while before they sent her home. She’d had to have six stitches to sew up the gash in her head.