The Sweetest Gift: A Second Circle Tattoos/Preload Crossover Novella

by Scarlett Cole

  Lia shook her head. “No, god forbid. Reid cooks roast dinners and things. I think he gets his skills from Harper.”

  “Okay, so Reid cooks. What else?”

  “I hate cleaning. I have a cleaner. I won’t touch his work overalls beyond stripping him out of them when he comes home from work.”

  Pixie laughed. “I’m sure Reid doesn’t have a problem with that.”

  Lia laughed. “Yeah, definitely not. I can’t count the number of times we’ve had sex up against the front door because that’s as far as he’s made it before I attack him.”

  Pixie looked at the sexy underpinnings Lia wore. “He’s going to freak out when he sees you in that. You know he fell for your old-school glamour.” She took the layered underskirt with its thick layers of net and tulle off the bed and held it open while Lia stepped into it.

  “This is true. But I don’t know if I’ll have your patience if we have kids. And I can’t cook for shit like Harper. And I don’t have a community backing me up like Drea. I’m just—”

  “You, Lia. You’re just you. You are a loyal friend. You listen. You support. You gave me a home. You gave Reid a garage. You know what people need and you unselfishly give that to people. Who gives a shit if you can make a pot roast? Reid can. Who gives a shit if you outsource your cleaning and laundry? You can afford it. But being there for the person you love… being able to listen to them and share their dreams and burdens and the trivial parts of the day… supporting them in what they want to do and where they need to live,” Pixie took a deep breath, “that’s what will make you a good wife, Lia. Nothing else.”

  A shimmer of tears flittered in Lia’s eyes.

  “Oh, god. No, nope. No,” Pixie shouted. “You can’t cry. Don’t even think about it or I’ll be forced to remind you of the time Cujo let you wax his chest for a dare.”

  The tension burst in the room as if she’d stuck a pin in a balloon. They both dissolved into laughter.

  “Thank you,” Lia said, reaching for her hand. Pixie’s words had bulldozed through the worries she had, through the faint whisper of insecurities left over from her childhood that she wasn’t enough. That she wasn’t smart enough, that her career wasn’t enough, that who she was as an adult wasn’t enough.

  “You’re welcome. It’s not like you to be uncertain. You had me worried.”

  “I know. It’s not like me. For a moment, I had a brief understanding of what normal mortals felt every day.” Lia shivered. “Lacking confidence on a daily basis must be exhausting. And I’m pretty sure Reid would stay with me for the rest of our lives for the sex and my lingerie collection alone.”

  “Well, speaking of lingerie, seeing we are due at the church in an hour, I think it’s time to put this on,” Pixie said, holding up her dress.

  Exactly one hour later, Lia pulled up outside the church. She’d chosen to travel alone and be on time. Most brides were given away by their father, but seeing hers was in prison, that wasn’t going to happen. She hadn’t spoken to him in years. Her brother was on active duty overseas. And the idea of being given away as if she was someone else’s property rankled her. So, she’d traveled to the wedding alone and would walk herself down the aisle so she could join Reid at the altar. And joining him felt like a much better way of describing it than being given to him.

  With a deep, grounding breath, she stepped out of the limo. She didn’t want to miss a single moment of what happened next.

  “Auntie Lia, Auntie Lia. We both have buttons on our dress,” Petal said, running up to her. “We are matching.” She twirled around over and over. Her excitement was contagious.

  “Yes, we are. Are you ready to do your very important job?”

  Petal’s face switched from joy to solemn. “I am. Timing is very important, and Daddy says I am good at timing.”

  “Very good. And what else are we going to do?”

  Petal pulled her shoulders back. “I’m going to walk like a young lady and not be silly like a baby.”

  “And?”

  Petal’s brow crumpled in thought. “Oh, be my super-special self and smile.”

  “Well done.”

  Trent and Cujo walked down the stairs to meet her. Cujo pulled out his wallet and removed some cash before handing it to Trent. “He said it would be red. I guessed black.”

  Lia laughed. “How do I look?” she asked. She wasn’t fishing for compliments. It just suddenly mattered that the two men she loved above everyone bar Reid approved.

  Trent kissed her cheek. “Glorious, as always.”

  Once upon a time, she’d thought Trent was the man for her, but as she glanced towards the open doors of the church, she knew the man inside waiting for her was the one she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with.

  “Better than I expected, to be honest,” Cujo said.

  Lia laughed and slapped his arm. “You are such a dick.”

  “Ready to do this?” Trent asked, offering her his elbow.

  Willingly, she took it. The combination of the spectacular red Jimmy Choo’s covered in crystals, the huge layers of underskirt to the dress, and the stone steps up to the entrance was a recipe for disaster.

  Once at the top, Lia let Harper take over. The details would be what they would be, at this point. It was too late to change a single thing. She ignored the number of white rose petals already thrown over the carpet thanks to Petal’s exuberant swinging of the basket.

  Reid was waiting for her.

  “Ready?” Harper said, and Lia became aware that Cujo and Trent had gone to their places with Reid.

  Lia took a deep breath and nodded.

  The organ music soared through the church. Oh, Holy Night. Her favorite Christmas carol. And she heard the shuffle of feet as people stood.

  Petal went first, her little head nodding to the beat. Lia couldn’t help but be touched by the dedication with which the nearly five-year-old was carrying out the task. Step, stop, throw petals. Step, stop, throw petals. Her little head bobbed in time as she counted out her routine. A quick glance up the church showed all five men of Preload, exaggerating the nodding of their heads to show Petal when to step.

  Harper and Drea followed Petal together. The two best friends turned to smile at each other.

  “I love you,” Pixie said over her shoulder before starting her solo walk as Matron of Honor.

  “I love you, too,” Lia called out.

  And then it was just her in the cavernous stone entryway.

  A slight pang of being alone hit her. Her mom was there, down at the front with her new friend, Fredrick. They’d met at an art class.

  But the church was filled with the people she’d made her family.

  And Reid was waiting for her so they could make their own.

  Yeah, she was really blessed.

  She straightened her shoulders and stepped into the church. It was too full to see Reid immediately, but she knew he was down at the front somewhere. Of course, she smiled, taking in the gasps of response to her dress. The layers and layers of tulle swished as she walked.

  She felt it, the moment his eyes were on her, and she looked toward the altar and found him. Damn, he looked so unbelievably handsome in his black suit it took her breath away. All fears and worries about whether she would be a good wife fluttered away. He was hers and she was his and that was all that mattered. He wanted to marry her regardless of whether she could cook a pot roast or clean a toilet. The only thing that mattered was getting through every day of the rest of their lives, being happy, loving each other.

  Tears glittered in Reid’s eyes as she arrived at the front of the church. He reached out his hand for her and she took it, giving herself to him as he gave himself to her. Equal partners in marriage and life.

  “Damn, Babe,” he said, gruffly.

  “You like?”

  He raised an eyebrow, the one that meant, isn’t it fucking obvious?

  She grinned and turned to face the priest.

  While the church was la
rge, she felt as though she were cocooned in a snow globe. Lights and sprays of white flowers surrounded them as they said their vows in front of their friends.

  When the service was over and photographs taken, Reid helped her climb into the limo and then walked to the other side to join her.

  As soon as the car pulled away, his hand coiled around the back of her neck and he pulled her to him. Their lips met, his tongue searching hers. The speed at which he was able to turn her on never ceased to amaze her.

  “Do you remember what I said to you in Vegas before Cujo and Drea’s wedding?” he asked.

  She did. The words made her shudder. But she played dumb, willing him to repeat them. “You said this would be us one day.”

  Reid grinned. He knew she remembered. “I said that, but I also said that when we got married, somewhere between the church and the reception, I'm going to lift that dress over your hips and take you in that goddamn limo, and I'm going to call you Mrs. Kennedy the whole time I'm doing it."

  Lia checked over his shoulder to make sure the privacy screen was raised between them and their driver. “It’s a fifteen-minute drive to the reception.”

  Reid pressed a kiss behind her ear. “You should know I asked the driver to make sure it was at least thirty minutes.”

  “I like the way you think.”

  “So, are you ready, Mrs. Kennedy, because I’d really like to fuck my wife?”

  Her insides turned liquid. Lia loved nothing more than when Reid was at his dirty-talking best.

  His hand reached for the hem of her dress, his calloused fingertips slid along her calf, paused at the back of her knee, and attempted to slide further. The tulle bunched up between them.

  “Babe, you look great in this, but it’s a lot of fucking dress.”

  Lia laughed. “Help me get the underskirts off.”

  “This thing is detachable? Fuck, I should have asked the driver for an hour.”

  She lifted the skirt of the dress to reveal the waistband of the underskirts. “Pull this off,” she instructed.

  Reid reached for them as she lifted her hips. “Good thing this is a fucking limo and not my truck,” he grumbled.

  “Good things come to those who wait.”

  “Babe, I’ve been waiting an hour to come since I saw you walk down the aisle, taking in the fucking light you are.” He battled with the underskirt, ending up on the floor of the limo between her legs as he wrestled with the yards and yards of tulle. Once he’d got it free of her heels, he flung it down the length of the limo. He ran his hands up her calves, and when he reached her knees, he pushed her legs apart. “Now, where was I, Mrs. Kennedy?”

  She loved the glint in his eye and bit her lip. “We were talking about coming.”

  “Right. As much as I love this lingerie, I’m going to have to take some of it off. Should be easier than the fucking skirt, though.”

  Lia laughed and raised her hips again. She slid the underwear over her hips, and Reid did the rest. He folded them and slipped them inside his jacket pocket. “You won’t be needing those again, today, Mrs. Kennedy.”

  Before she could respond, he tugged her toward the end of the seat and pressed his face between her legs, his tongue lapping her clit before circling it gently.

  She grabbed his hair, holding him against her, her pulse racing. “Just like that, Reid.”

  When he slid a finger into her, she opened her legs even wider. She didn’t give a shit what happened to her dress, to her make-up, or even her hair. All that mattered was that she got to orgasm before she had to smile for another photograph.

  Lia ground her hips against his face, relishing the way his scruff burned against the sides of her thighs.

  “Fuck, Babe,” Reid groaned. He batted her skirt out of his way. “I can’t wait.”

  He unzipped his pants and lowered his underwear. Lia reached for his heavy length, all hard and aroused. “Neither can I,” she said, huskily. Quickly, he pulled a strip of condoms out of his jacket pocket.

  “More than one? You’re a regular Boy Scout, always prepared.”

  “Have you seen how good you look, Mrs. Kennedy? You think I don’t want to hit this at least three times before we get home?”

  Lia smiled at his gruff tone.

  “Ready, Babe?”

  Lia nodded. “Ready, Husband.”

  “That sounds so fucking good coming from that mouth of yours.” Reid lined himself with her entrance and inched slowly inside.

  “Reid,” Lia gasped.

  His lips met hers, his hands sliding between her ass and the cream leather of the limo, holding her exactly where he wanted her. Once seated fully inside her, stretching her deliciously to her limit, he broke the kiss and studied her face. His eyes shone with the love he had for her, she could feel it filling her.

  “You made me the luckiest man on the planet, Lia. I can’t believe I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Hopefully, we spend it doing just this,” she gasped, grasping the headrest behind her.

  When he pressed his thumb to her clit, she bucked against his hand. “I’m all for that, Babe. I want to see you cream up my cock, want to see your eyes glaze over like they always do when you’re about to come. I want to hear my wife cry out my name as she wrings my cock dry.”

  His voice was breathless as he thrust against her, a deliberate pace determined to drive her wild.

  And it worked.

  “Reid,” she gasped.

  “What, Mrs. Kennedy? Want a little more of this?” He rolled his hips against hers, pulling her closer to the edge of the seat in the limo.

  “Yes,” she cried. “Just like that. Make me come, Reid. I need to.”

  If the service that had taken place in the church was their marriage, then this was their real vows. The purest of moments when they pledged their bodies as well as their hearts to each other.

  “Fuck, you’re squeezing the hell out of my cock. So wet.” He took some of her wetness and spread it to her clit so he could stroke it without friction. The pressure increased.

  “Kiss me,” Lia whispered, teetering on the edge.

  When his lips met hers, she gasped as the orgasm ripped through her. A blinding light flashed behind her eyes as her stomach clenched in pleasure. “Reid,” she cried.

  “Yeah, Babe, I’m right there with you,” he grunted just moments before his motion turned jerky. His cock pulsed, his hips moving frantically as he tried to bury himself deeper and deeper.

  She placed her hands into his hair as he pressed his face into the side of her neck as they sucked in deep gulps of air.

  “I figured it would be,” Reid said.

  “What would be?”

  “Married sex. It’s way fucking better than unmarried sex.”

  Lia laughed. “That sounds so wrong.”

  “Nah,” Reid said, lifting his head. “Not like the judgmental abstinence shit. Just. This. It’s sex with you, with the benefit of knowing it’s really forever.”

  There was a hint of vulnerability in his dark brown eyes. “You weren’t ever worried about that, were you? That you and I wouldn’t make it?”

  He shook his head. “Just the occasional bad dream where I’d wake up to find you were no longer in my world, and man, was that a fucked up shitty place. I love you, Lia. I love loving you. I love fucking you. I love laughing with you, Mrs. Kennedy. That’s all I got.”

  Lia kissed him deeply. “It’s all we need.”

  10

  Trent looked at his son, Travis, who was on his grandma’s lap fighting a losing battle with sleep. At nearly two and a half, he’d partied like it was 1999 for the first two hours of the wedding reception. He’d schmoozed every attractive young woman in sight, leading Harper to drolly note that Travis came by it honestly given Trent’s proclivities before they’d met.

  The kid hadn’t talked at all until he was two years old. Now, he was a chatterbox with a smile to charm the pants off everyone he met. Sure, he was doing everythi
ng on his own timescale, but that was the amazing difference an extra chromosome made.

  As he watched his son finally close his eyes, he thought back to those moments when they’d been told that Travis had Down Syndrome. For a moment, he and Harper had held on to each other as they absorbed the shock of the news. But then Harper had looked at him with tears swimming in her eyes and asked him if it made any difference to him.

  And the answer was no.

  With no debate. He didn’t need to think about it for a millisecond.

  The wave of protection he felt for the child they’d made was almost frightening and surprisingly instantaneous. It wasn’t just that they had the resources to give their child whatever support it needed.

  It was that his wife was a fucking rock star. A teacher with unlimited patience. And between the two of them, they were muddling through. Some days were filled with blessings and firsts. Some days were filled with more appointments than either of them knew what to do with. Some days were filled with things that were terrifyingly unknown as other health problems associated with Trisomy 21 revealed themselves.

  But they’d never let each other down, not once. And they’d certainly never let Travis down.

  He looked over to where Harper was dancing with Cujo, who dipped her low. With Harper being six months pregnant, he wasn’t sure it was the safest move, and would likely punch Cujo if he dropped her. Her long brown hair was down now as he preferred it, rather than the fancy up-do she’d had for the wedding. And the cream satin dress showed off her bump to perfection.

  Dred walked over and slumped down into the barstool next to him. He tilted the top of his beer bottle in Cujo’s direction. “Five and a half years I’ve known him, and he still hasn’t changed.”

  Trent laughed. “I’ve known him more than thirty, and unfortunately, can say the exact same thing.”

  “Are you going to sign the contract for season six?” Dred asked.

  Their show, Inked, had been running for five years. “Only if you are. Does the timing work with the tour you’re thinking about?”