Spicy with a Side of Cranberry Sauce

by Rachell Nichole

  She pulled the soft silk on and tied the dress closed.

  “I wish Elly was here,” Martha said, a wistful note in her voice.

  Amy’s gut clenched. She knew the feeling of wanting to share the shopping experience with someone who wasn’t there. But she couldn’t help the lance of pain that came with the knowledge that Martha wanted her daughter there instead of Amy. She glanced at her reflection, trying to wipe the disappointment off her face before she opened the door.

  “You’d really like her, Amy. And she would have you trying on half this department store right now. Be glad I’ve only put you in one dress. She would’ve had a lot of fun with us today.”

  Amy grinned and threw the door open. Martha wanted Elly with them. She imagined the three of them shopping and laughing together. What would it be like to have this kind of closeness, this kind of motherly support all the time?

  “Oh, honey, you look wonderful.”

  Amy blushed. “Thanks. Do you think Elly will like it?”

  Martha nodded. “It’s perfect.”

  Amy slipped back into the dressing room and closed the door, emotions warring within her. Martha was a good woman, and Amy now understood how conflicted Mason must have felt deciding between lying to his mother and leaving Amy alone.

  And he’d chosen her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Saturday night, Mason ran his hand through his curls as he sat in the middle of his bed, watching the clock. It was almost eleven. Amy was probably just as exhausted as he was after a day playing outside in the fall leaves. That girl could play some ball. She was definitely her father’s daughter. And as much of a tomboy as he’d first thought. The image of her diving after a long pass that was clearly out of her league made him smile.

  Would she be too exhausted or too scared to come into his room tonight? Things had been going well since Thursday night. Amy had come back from her day of shopping with Mom happy, though she’d confessed to wanting to blurt out everything to his mother. Luckily for them both, she’d held her tongue. And today had gone better than he could have hoped. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  This would be his last night with Amy. Even if she stopped by in Denver next week for her interviews, this would have to be the end of the sex. They’d agreed that the more they saw each other, the greater the chances were of his mom finding out. He should have been used to the final night with a lover. To saying good-bye. He’d done it many times before, but this felt different.

  Mason froze as footsteps creaked in the hallway outside his door. They were hesitant, and he was sure they belonged to Amy. He fought the urge to leap up from his seat on the bed and rush the door the way she’d rushed him in the backyard when he’d had the football. It had been damned near impossible for him to keep his hands to himself the first time she’d tackled him. It had only gotten worse through the afternoon. Being close enough to touch but terrified of what his mother would say if he did had wound his nerves in knots.

  Finally the door opened, and Amy came in. She closed it behind her with a soft click and sat on the bed beside him.

  “My dad’s an asshole,” he said. The words just popped out of his mouth. He didn’t want to talk about his dad. Or his mom, for that matter. He just wanted to feel Amy in his arms again. Even if it would be the last time.

  “That was a really random thing to say,” she said. She turned on the bed to look at him, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders.

  “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…” Now he had to tell her everything. “My dad being an asshole is kind of why we’re all in this mess.”

  She took a deep breath and reached over to smooth the hair back from his forehead. “You never answered me when I asked how many women he’d slept with. Why don’t you start at the beginning? Eventually we’ll get to the part that you clearly don’t want to tell me.”

  How’d she know?

  “You’re nervous. The only other time I’ve seen you nervous the past four days was during our first meeting at Hanson’s, when you were falling all over yourself looking for something intelligent to say.”

  He laughed. Leave it to Amy to get straight to the point. No bush beating where this woman was concerned. Would she think less of him after the whole story was out in the open? He hoped not. But maybe it would be better if she could see him for the heel he was. She’d said she was okay having nothing more than a fling, but something told him that just wasn’t true. When she’d shared her fears and insecurities about the perfect holiday, he’d known this was a woman looking to settle down. Looking to build a family she’d never really had growing up.

  And still, he’d pursued her. She’d shared so much about herself that first night that he’d be ashamed if he couldn’t do the same.

  “My father cheated on her.”

  Amy nodded. “I guessed that much when you were explaining Lewis’s reaction.”

  “She doesn’t know that I knew it was the reason she left him, or that I knew long before she did.”

  She didn’t condemn him right there on the spot. Instead she sat quietly and waited for the rest.

  “I was sixteen when I found my dad in bed with another woman. I was horrified, disgusted, and pissed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry before or since that afternoon. And you know what that jackass told me? That my mother knew. That she knew and wanted to stay with him anyway. I shouldn’t have believed him. I should have gone to my mother right then and told her. But I did exactly what my father wanted me to. I stayed quiet. I said nothing. And I hated him for it. Every night at the dinner table when he would smile across at Mom like she was the only woman in the world made me hate him just a little bit more. Until I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him.

  “Every late night he worked, I wondered if he was off with another one of his whores. Two years ago, when I was home for Easter, I heard my father admit it, and I knew he’d lied to me just like he’d lied to Mom. After he left that night, I went in to tell her. I wanted her to know. But she was shattered. The look on her face terrified me. I’d never seen my mother so lifeless. You’ve seen her; she’s like her own personal sun.”

  Amy took his hand in hers, and he tried to pull back from her. She still didn’t see. Didn’t realize that his father’s choices had ruined him from ever having a relationship. But she held tighter to him, and when he looked into her eyes, compassion stared back at him. Understanding. Was this how she looked at her kindergartners? They must think she walked on water.

  “She’s come back to her old self slowly over the past year, and I knew that if I told her, it might ruin all the progress she’d made. And I promised myself I wouldn’t bring the others into this. They have no idea why my parents split. Which is why Lewis was so up in arms about your dad being here. He hasn’t got a clue that Mom deserves any kind of happiness she can find. All he knows—all any of them know—is that it was Mom’s decision to end the marriage. They blame her.”

  “Why don’t you tell them?” She sounded so logical. So sure that it would help him to unburden himself of the secret he’d been carrying since adolescence.

  “Because they should continue to have the same relationship they’ve had with my dad since we were kids. He doesn’t deserve it, but they do.” His shoulders slumped, and she crawled across the bed to sit behind him, her legs stretched out on either side of his hips. She ran her hands through his hair, down the back of his neck, and over his shoulders. He sighed at the comfort her hands brought. For tonight, he could let her console him. But tonight was all he would allow. Anything more was pure selfishness.

  “You can’t blame yourself,” she whispered as her fingers pushed deep into the bare flesh of his shoulders. The muscles relaxed beneath her touch, and he moaned. “You have to let it go. You can’t change the past. And besides, you were just a kid. You’re not to blame for your dad’s indiscretions. He is.”

  She leaned in and pressed a kiss just behind his ear, and he shivered at the contact. He co
uldn’t respond. He couldn’t really argue with her assessment, but he couldn’t accept it either. She continued to massage the tension from his neck and shoulders and then moved down his back. She didn’t say anything, but she began to hum. It was a song he vaguely remembered from his childhood. Leaning forward so she could reach his lower back, he cocked his head to the side.

  “What are you humming?”

  She grinned and rolled her eyes. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

  “Of course.”

  “I do teach kindergarten, you know…so it’s a song I do with the kids a lot. Or did before I got laid off.” Her fingers hit his spine in just the right place, and he melted into her touch.

  “Mmm-hmm. I recognize it. But I still can’t really place it.”

  “It’s called ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ It’s always been one of my favorites. My mom used to sing it with me when I was little.”

  “Yeah, I remember it.”

  Her fingers stilled, and she moved back from him. He turned to face her, and she crossed her legs on the bed. Curious, he did the same.

  “Hand out like this,” she said and pointed at him.

  There was a dance to go with the song? He smiled and then did as she said.

  “You are my sunshine,” she sang and moved her pointed finger up above her head and touched one hand to the other in a symbol of the sun.

  He followed the movements, and she continued, “You make me happy when skies are gray.” She hugged herself, and he did the same.

  “You’ll never know, dear.” She wagged her finger, and he followed suit.

  “How much I love you.” She spread her arms wide before her, and so did he.

  “So please don’t take my sunshine away.” She lifted her arms for the sun again and swayed side to side. A sad smile spread across her face as her arms drifted back to her sides. He took her hands in his and bent to kiss her knuckles. She laughed.

  “I haven’t sung that in a lot of months. Thanks for not thinking I’m an idiot.”

  He winked. “Who said I wasn’t?”

  She slapped his hands away and stuck out her tongue.

  “You teach your kids that kind of behavior?”

  She laughed again, and the sadness lifted from her hazel eyes. “Nope.”

  “I didn’t think so.”

  It was good to tease her. Right. He’d shared more with her in the past few days than he’d shared with most women in weeks. But the road only ended in disaster for them if they continued down this path. He had to end it. And soon. Once he went home, he would be able to put her from his mind. He was sure of it.

  But for tonight, he was determined to enjoy the time they had left.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Amy sank back against the pillows, her body still trembling, sweat running in tickling rivulets over her skin. Mason huffed down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. It had been so different tonight, both more and less intimate than the times before. Maybe because Mason had allowed himself to talk to her about a secret he’d been carrying for so many years. Or maybe because it was their last night.

  She rested her head on his upper arm and kissed him deeply. He relaxed into the kiss, holding her close as his tongue slid against hers. Wrapping her leg around his hip, she held him tight. He pulled her lower lip between his teeth and sucked on it. She moaned and rubbed her hand up and down his back. He released her lip.

  “Maybe I should teach you children’s songs more often,” she whispered. He’d left the bedside light on, and she could see all his features in the dim light. The bruise under the reddish-brown stubble on his chin, the crinkles of laugh lines around his bright blue eyes, the curve of his neck as it merged into his shoulders. She’d always had a thing for strong shoulders, and Mason didn’t disappoint.

  “How come?” he said. “You like making me look like a fool?”

  “No, because the post-sing-along sex was incredible.” She smirked, and he tapped her lightly on the ass. His wide hand roamed over her right butt cheek and cupped her. He ground his pelvis against hers.

  “Oh, really?” he said.

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “I agree. Ready for round two?”

  She could feel he was already getting there, the flesh against her hardening. “You are insatiable,” she said.

  “I know.”

  She was the same way for him. She’d been counting the minutes until they could be alone again. But she could use a few more to catch her breath, and she knew just how to get the time she needed. She shimmied away from him, swatting at his hands when they grabbed for her. His eyes widened just a bit, and she pushed him onto his back.

  He moved to sit up, and she gave his shoulder a shove. “Lie down,” she said.

  He complied, and she crawled down to the end of the bed. She took one foot in her hands and gently ran her fingers along his arch. He squirmed under her touch, and she laughed. If it had an evil edge to it, she couldn’t be blamed. He’d tortured her enough like this the night before last.

  “Remember, now, you have to be quiet.”

  “Vixen,” he said, the word barely a breath of air from his lips.

  She tickled one foot and then the other, delighting in the way his cock bobbed and jerked in response. Soon his whole body was shaking with the strain of staying still and quiet. She worked her way up the backs of his calves to the fronts of his thighs. He spread his legs just slightly, and she straddled his shins, her ass resting against the soft sheet between his open legs.

  She squeezed his thighs, and he thrust his hips up, his erection begging to be touched.

  “Amy,” he said. The word was a plea. How long could she torture him before he made so much noise that someone heard them? Finding out would prove to be so much fun. She remembered the buzz that coursed through her every time they’d almost been discovered. Toying with that edge of danger thrilled her, even though she didn’t really want to get caught.

  She leaned forward and blew cool breath across the head of his cock. Air whooshed from his lips in a rush. She rewarded his silence with a slow lick along the tip’s slit. He moaned.

  “Hush now,” she whispered, then spread her wide tongue around the corona. He bit off the next moan, and it came out muffled. His hips jerked again, and she opened her mouth, taking in the first inch of his cock. She wanted to grab the base of his dick and caress up and down, but that would add too much sensation. It would be over too quick. And she wasn’t done yet.

  So she clenched his thighs with both hands and used them to steady herself. She pulled back, letting him slide out with a soft pop. She licked her way from tip to base on the underside of his shaft, and he shivered. She smiled and placed a soft kiss on each of his balls.

  “You’re killing me.”

  If he could still talk, he wasn’t far enough gone. “Well, that’s too bad, because I’m not finished.”

  “Oh, God,” he said.

  She’d have to work to keep him from speaking. She pulled the tip into her mouth and sucked hard. Covering her top teeth with her lip, she sucked him in deeper, and deeper still, sucking until her cheeks hollowed.

  His cock hit the back of her throat, and she hummed. His hands clenched the sheets beside his hips, and his thighs tensed beneath her hands. Cool air caressed her slit as she folded forward over his legs. She could feel the heat pulsing between her legs as she brought him to the edge. She slid her mouth slowly up and down until he was begging her in a wordless stream of syllables and his hips were thrusting up to meet her mouth.

  She pulled back, leaving him with no sensation. His hips continued to thrust into the air, but she held herself off him, only touching his thighs with her hands. Her heart pounded in her ears, along with the sweet sound of Mason’s low cries of pleasure. She wanted him to come back down before they went any further. She sat, straddling his hips, and gazed down at him.

  “Don’t look so smug,” he said through pants.

  She couldn’t help it. Knowing he was so hot for h
er was such a turn-on. After a few moments, his hips stopped undulating, but the veins in his cock still throbbed. She sat for another thirty seconds, just looking at him.

  “Ready?” she said.

  “God, yes.”

  Good, because so was she. She wrapped a hand around the base of him and pulled up strongly. He groaned as she tugged him gently again and again. With her other hand, she grabbed a condom and tore open the packet with her teeth. She freed the latex from the foil and rolled it down his length. Then she stopped touching him. She sat up, her knees resting on either side of his shins, her thighs dripping with wetness.

  She thrust her hips against the air, and Mason’s gaze zeroed in on her movements. He watched the golden curls between her legs as she moved for him. She leaned back and held on to his ankles as she pushed her breasts forward. His arms reached up.

  “No touching,” she said.

  His hands stilled and fell back to his sides. She could feel the edges of an orgasm building as she continued to thrust against nothing. Feeling his gaze glued to her center as she moved made desire unfurl within her. He clutched the sheet beneath his fingers but didn’t try to touch her again.

  She let go of his ankles and straightened. She inched her knees up one at a time until she hovered over his lower abdomen. She reached behind her and circled his covered cock with her fingers, then angled it toward her entrance. She thrust back and down, and they both cried out. She froze as a little shock wave went through her.

  He sucked his lips into his mouth to keep from making any more noise, and she rested her palms on his pecs. She waited, holding him captive with her sheath.

  “Hear anything?” he whispered.

  She shook her head. No one was coming to investigate the screams. Thank God. Because if she tried to scramble off him and hide now, she’d no doubt explode. And she wasn’t sure she could be quiet about it either.

  “Plan on moving anytime soon?” he said.