by Liliana Hart
“No! Of course not.” But the way she said it made him think she wasn’t being completely honest.
“The best way for Jayden to know that this is permanent is for us to make it permanent. We’re so careful not to show too much affection and love around him because of what he’ll think, but he needs to see that we love each other. I need it too. I want the world to know that you’re it for me. MacKenzies only love once, you know.”
“So I’ve heard.” She smiled and finally came to join him on the bed, crawling up to him and straddling his hips. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. But she didn’t respond to his plea to change things, and that worried him more than anything.
“Char—“
She cut him off with another kiss, and he felt his blood begin to heat and pool in his lap. As a distraction, it was a hell of a plan. Her laugh was like a siren’s song as she felt him harden beneath her, and her fingers fumbled with the ties on her robe.
“I came in to wish you Merry Christmas. It’s after midnight.” Her robe gaped open and he saw she was naked beneath it. “Aren’t you going to unwrap me?”
“God, Charlotte.” His hands came up to touch. He couldn’t help himself. Her breasts were full and swollen and her nipples puckered into tight buds when his fingers caressed them. “So beautiful.”
She nipped at his lower lip and he dropped his hands and fisted them in the sheets to keep from flipping her over and taking her the way he wanted to. All the pent up frustration and anger he felt kept building inside of him, ready to spew like lava, and he closed his eyes and breathed deeply to get himself back under control.
“Don’t you want my Christmas present?” she asked, her voice husky with desire. She moved her hips against him and he could feel her heat through the cotton sheet.
“I’m actually a little tired.” He gritted his teeth and bit back a groan when she cupped her breasts and held them up like an offering. “Why don’t we just go to sleep? We have to be up in a couple of hours to play Santa.”
“A little tired?” Her lips twitched and she pulled the sheet back and reached down to find him hard enough to drive nails. “I don’t think so.”
She squeezed him tight and he sucked in a breath, his hands fisting even tighter into the mattress. He trembled as she tossed her robe to the floor and then kissed her way down his chest and stomach.
“I could be wrong, but I think this part of your body is wide awake.”
Her hair brushed across his thighs as she leaned down and licked the tip of him, tasting the salty essence that beaded at the end of his shaft. He groaned and his hips came off the bed involuntarily, probing at her mouth until she opened and took him in. There was no use holding back. He’d never been able to where she was concerned.
“Last chance, Charlotte,” he said.
Her tongue swirled around him like a dare and he snapped.
His groan was low and long. “Fuck it then. Take me in. All of it.”
Her laugh was triumphant and she did as he demanded. Her mouth surrounded him like a wet glove and he lost control. His fingers threaded through her hair, holding her still, as he gave short thrusts into her mouth. Her nostrils flared and her cheeks hollowed, and his cock glistened from her moisture. Her tongue flicked the tip of him with every stroke, and the pleasure was so intense he thought he’d lose himself then and there.
Charlotte’s hand disappeared down the front of her body and he knew by the way she tilted her hips and the way her mouth tightened around him that she was pleasuring herself even as she pleasured him.
But he wanted to see. Wanted to taste. And if she kept going as she was he’d spill himself down her throat instead of in the depths of her womb like he wanted.
He tightened his grip on her hair and pulled her back, and she let him go with a soft pop. Her lips were swollen and red and her eyes glowed bright with arousal. His balls drew up tight and he knew he could come just by looking at her.
“I don’t want to stop. Come in my mouth.”
The temptation was great, and he growled as she leaned back down to take him again. But at the last second he flipped her to her back, ignoring her gasp and the sudden reversal of power. He shouldered her thighs apart until his lips were just a breath away from the swollen folds of her sex. The scent of her arousal was potent and he took his cock in his hand and squeezed tight to keep himself from coming all over the sheets.
Her juices gleamed on the bare folds of her sex and he pushed her legs up high, so her heels rested on his shoulders and she was completely bare to him. He licked slowly, lapping up her cream and avoiding the plump bundle of nerves that would shoot her over the edge.
“Touch your breasts. Let me see you play with your nipples while I taste you.”
She groaned and her hips lifted, searching for his mouth, but she did as he asked. Her hands skimmed up her stomach until they palmed her breasts and her fingers toyed with her nipples.
He watched her out of hooded eyes and then put his mouth against her fully, giving her open mouth kisses that had her writhing against him, and then finally licking and lapping at the sweet bud at her center. The taste of her exploded against his tongue as she came and he dipped his tongue inside of her and felt the flutter of her release.
“Oh, God. Please. It’s too much.” She moaned and her breathing came faster and faster, her hips pushing against his face while her hands squeezed at her breasts.
“You can take it. Go up for me again.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
He spread her legs wider and pushed a finger deep inside her while he flicked his tongue furiously over her clit. He added a second finger and found the bundle of nerves deep inside her that had her hips pistoning off the bed and mewls of pleasure escaping from her lips. Her internal muscles clamped around his finger and her flesh quivered beneath his tongue. Her mouth opened wide to let out a scream and he clapped his hand over it to mute the sound.
Dane tasted her cream as it slickened her folds even more and he knew he couldn’t wait another second to be inside her. He removed his hand from her mouth and moved up her body until her legs were draped across his thighs and his cock pushed at the entrance of her pussy. He sat back so he could watch her. So he could see every moment of her pleasure as he entered her.
Her hand moved down between her thighs and her fingers skimmed across his cock before they settled over the taut bud between her folds.
“That’s it, baby. Touch yourself for me. Let me watch you.”
He pushed inside her slowly, and every time her fingers flicked across her sex he felt her muscles clamp around him tighter and tighter until he was gritting his teeth with the effort not to come.
“Ah, hell. It’s no use.” He slammed home, all the way to the hilt, and his mouth silenced her cry with a kiss that was deep and carnal. Her silken flesh trembled and tightened around him and his balls drew up so tight it was almost painful. Her heels dug into his hips as he pumped hard and deep inside of her, his semen coating her inner walls. She arched against him as she came again in a long silent shudder.
His orgasm left him wrecked. Their skin was slicked with sweat and his muscles were limp and useless. He rolled to the side and realized they’d somehow ended up at the opposite end of the bed. He didn’t care. He could die like this and he’d be okay with it.
He dropped his head down on his arm because the weight of it was too much to hold up, and he realized he’d never gotten the reassurance from her he’d needed—for her to tell him she believed him when he said he’d never leave again. That she trusted him to stay and be everything she needed him to be.
Dane looked over to ask her the question again and saw she was dead to the world. He sighed and pulled her close before he joined her in sleep.
CHAPTER FIVE
When the alarm went off a couple of hours later, Charlotte was already out of bed and had dressed in a pair of his old sweats and a T-shirt. His mind was foggy with lac
k of sleep and he needed coffee in the worst way. If the toys he had to put together had as many pieces as he thought they did, he’d probably need several cups.
“I’m going to check and make sure Jayden’s really asleep and not hiding around the corner somewhere,” she said, not looking him in the eye. Something had shifted between them during their lovemaking, and she wasn’t hiding her nerves as well as she’d been. “He’s been trying to see if Santa is real for the last couple of years, but he can never stay awake long enough.”
She slipped out of the room before he could say anything and he grunted as he dug in the dresser for a pair of jeans. He pulled them on and then saw the small black box sitting in the corner of the drawer he’d hidden there earlier. On impulse, he plucked the box out and stuck it in his pocket. No time like the present, he thought, though his hands were suddenly damp with nerves.
Dane made his way to the kitchen to make coffee and didn’t know how long he stood and stared at the coffee pot in a sleep haze before he remembered how to put the grounds in. But then Charlotte’s worried voice cleared his mind and snapped him back to reality.
“Jayden, this isn’t funny. Where are you?”
Dane ran down the hall and stopped when he almost bumped into Charlotte. “What’s wrong?” he asked, taking her by the shoulders. Her face was white with panic.
“Jayden’s gone. His bed is empty and his shoes and jacket aren’t where he left them. I’ve looked everywhere.”
“Let’s look again, just to make sure. Maybe he fell asleep some place else while he was waiting for Santa.”
She nodded, hope blooming in her eyes, and they started a search through the house. They weren’t bothering to stay quiet any longer and soon doors were opened all through the house.
“Everything all right?” Cooper asked
“Jayden’s not in his bed.” A cold fear gripped around Dane’s heart and the thought that crossed his mind was almost enough to paralyze him. “Oh, God.”
He ran to the family room where he’d left the Bible and skidded to a stop. The folded piece of paper was gone.
“Jesus, he didn’t,” Cooper said from behind him.
“Check and see if anything is missing from the supply box while I get dressed. Hopefully he went out prepared.”
Dane threw on extra layers of clothes, a jacket, scarf, and hat that covered his ears, and he pulled on thick socks and his warmest boots. Things could get rough during this time of the winter and he needed to be prepared. By the time he got back to the kitchen Cooper had gotten things organized. He handed Dane a pack with extra blankets and a thermos of hot chocolate, as well as flashlights and flares if he needed help.
“Charlotte says his backpack is gone, and there’s a flashlight and some matches missing from the supply box, as well as one of the thermal blankets.”
Dane breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s something then.”
“I checked outside and it’s starting to snow again, but you can still see his tracks for now. We’ll take the snowmobiles to save some time. Cade and I will ride with you until the ravine and then we can split up on foot. Everyone else will wait here in case he comes back.”
Dane saw Charlotte shaking her head. She’d gotten dressed and was ready to walk out the door, and she looked like she was ready to flatten Cooper if he suggested otherwise.
“He’s right,” Dane said, stepping in front of Cooper so he was the target of her anger instead. “Jayden needs someone here in case he comes back.”
She pushed at his shoulders, but he didn’t budge. “I’m going. You can’t stop me.”
“I’m asking you to trust me, Charlotte. I promise I won’t come back without him.”
Tears welled in her eyes and he wasn’t sure she was going to give in. But she finally nodded. “I trust you to bring him back. But hurry.”
Dane nodded and kissed her once, and then grabbed the pack Cooper had made up for each of them. Then he set out with his brother and his cousin to find his son. He only hoped they could find him before the snow covered all his tracks and made conditions even more treacherous.
They followed Jayden’s rapidly disappearing footprints for more than a mile until they hit the ravine. Dane knew in his gut where Jayden was headed, but it was dark and the landmarks on the map wouldn’t be easy to see, even with a flashlight. It would be easy to get turned around, especially someone who wasn’t familiar with this particular area.
He cursed himself for not taking the time to show Jayden basic survival skills. What kind of father was he? It was a miracle he at least knew enough to take dry matches and the thermal blanket.
The three of them parked the snowmobiles at the ravine and then set out on foot, each going in a different direction. Visibility was getting more difficult as the wind and snow picked up in speed and strength, and he only hoped Jayden had the sense to find some protection from the elements and stay put.
Dane knew the area by heart. He’d roamed the land his entire life and knew the easiest paths to take. The flashlight was powerful and the high beam spread wide over boulders and the occasional fallen log. The footprints were easier to see under the canopy of trees because the snow hadn’t gotten to them yet, but they disappeared altogether when he got to the creek.
“Jayden!” he called out over and over again, but there was no answer in return.
With every sector Cade and Cooper marked off they sent a signal to the satellite phone on his belt, and he did the same with them. Jayden was nowhere to be found and dawn was fast approaching. It was a hell of a Christmas morning, but he’d told Charlotte the truth. He wouldn’t stop searching until he found their son.
Dane switched his flashlight off as the sun peeked over the mountains and fear like nothing he ever knew clawed at him as he saw a piece of cloth snagged on low lying brambles just at the creek’s edge. The current was fast moving, and if he’d been swept downstream there was no telling where he was. Not to mention how fast water that cold could shut down the body.
“Jayden!” he called out again, his voice beginning to go hoarse.
He stepped up his pace until he was practically running, and he had to remind himself to slow down and be methodical. Panic wouldn’t help anyone. It was that reminder to himself that had him pausing at the sight of a fir tree that didn’t look quite right. It was thick and full, and the branches hung low so they almost touched the ground, but several of them were broken and bowed down, and they seemed to be precisely placed. He moved closer and looked around the base, proceeding with caution in case a wild animal was using it for shelter. Then he saw the tip of a shoestring and his heart almost stopped in his chest.
“Jayden.” He wasn’t sure if he said the name aloud or just in his head. He ran to the tree and pushed the branches aside, and then he fell to his knees at the sight of the small body curled up beneath the limbs. He’d used the fir branches to protect him from the cold ground and he’d cocooned himself with the thermal blanket on top, and Dane had to admit he was impressed with his son’s ingenuity.
He tore his gloves off with his teeth and reached under the neck of Jayden’s coat to feel for a pulse, and he almost burst into tears at the feel of the steady thump beneath his fingertips. He was sleeping.
“Come on, buddy. Time to wake up.” He shook the boy’s shoulder until eyes that matched his own stared back at him. They registered fear first, then surprise, followed by worry.
“Are you hurt?” Dane asked, giving Jayden time to get his thoughts together. He ran his hands lightly over his arms and legs and saw the tear on his jacket where he’d run into the brambles. Other than a few scrapes on his face he seemed to be fine.
“Just cold. And hungry. It started snowing and I had to stop.”
“I see that. Smart thinking using the tree for cover.”
“I read about it in a book once.”
Dane dug in the backpack and pulled out another thermal blanket to wrap around him. “Don’t shrug me off. I need to do this.” And th
en Dane wrapped his arms around his son and held on for dear life. “You scared the hell out of me, kid. Don’t ever do that again, okay?”
He felt the small head nod against his shoulder and pulled back to look into Jayden’s surprised face. “Don’t give me that look. You’re my son. I love you.”
“You never did before,” he blurted out. “Not all that time when me and Mom were by ourselves.” He looked embarrassed at the outburst and tried to pull out of Dane’s arms, but Dane wouldn’t let him.
“If I’d known about you, there is nothing in this world that would have kept me from being with you. You can believe me or not believe me, but that’s God’s honest truth.”
Dane let Jayden go and sat down beside him, putting his back to the trunk of the tree. He dug in the backpack again and came up with the thermos and a couple of power bars and handed them over. And then he used the satellite phone to signal that he’d found Jayden.
“You really worried your mom taking off like that without telling anyone.”
Jayden’s lip quivered, and he busied himself pouring cocoa into the thermos so Dane wouldn’t notice.
“I didn’t mean to,” he finally said. “I just thought—” he stopped talking and Dane waited for him to go on, but he stayed silent.
“Tell me what you thought,” he said. “Whatever you say is just between the two of us.”
Jayden shrugged. “It’s stupid. I just thought that maybe if I was the one who found the gold—“ he paused and looked up at Dane. “Then maybe it would make me a real MacKenzie.”
Dane felt his heart swell in his chest. “I hate to break it to you, but you are a real MacKenzie. You’re mine in every way possible. I could show you pictures of me at the same age you are now and you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart.”
“That’s what Uncle Riley said. He said you were hell on wheels when you were a kid and that I shouldn’t lead with my left like you do because it’ll leave me wide open. I’m not really sure what that means.”
Dane arched a brow. “Uncle Riley needs to watch what he says.”
