#Holiday: A Hashtag Series Short Story (Hashtag #6.5)

by Cambria Hebert

  Toward the back of the home was a huge kitchen with an island that could probably seat twenty people. The kitchen cabinets were cherry, and the granite counters were light. Even though the island was large enough for a small army, there was a large wooden dining table nearby that could seat eight.

  All the décor in here was rustic and simple. Basically, it looked like a cabin to me. Hell, I didn’t care as long as there was heat and the place was secure.

  The girls seemed to like it, though. Ivy declared it had Christmas spirit, whatever the fuck that meant.

  Drew carried the baby over to the couch and pulled the bottle out of her mouth to put her up on his shoulder. It never ceased to amaze me how easily we all learned how to take care of her.

  She fussed, wanting the bottle back, and Drew gave her a lecture about not being a pig.

  “Hey, man,” I said. “You mind hanging with the critter a bit? I want some time with my girl.”

  Ivy made a sound at the use of the nickname I’d given Nova before she was even born. I admit one of the reasons I still called her that was because it drove her crazy.

  “Are you kidding?” Drew said as Trent dropped down beside him on the couch. “I was hoping you two would leave.”

  “She needs a diaper change,” Ivy said.

  “That’s what Trent’s for,” Drew quipped.

  Trent rolled his eyes but nodded. “Go. We got this.”

  Ivy put the diaper bag I’d brought in from the car on the large stone-topped coffee table, and Trent winked at her. “Only for you, Ivy, would I change a diaper.”

  Ivy laughed, and I reminded myself that Trent wasn’t flirting with her. He was just being her family.

  I grabbed Ivy around the waist and towed her back toward the stairs.

  “If you need anything…” she hedged, watching the baby.

  “We won’t,” Drew said, not even looking up from Nova. Trent was already leaning over him to stare at the baby, too.

  “C’mon, Blondie,” I said gently. “She’ll be fine. We’re only going upstairs.”

  I felt her hesitation, but I pulled her along anyway. Time alone wasn’t something we got very much these days, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized what a problem that was.

  We were still newlyweds, and I fucking loved my daughter more than my own life, but I couldn’t allow Ivy and me to become just parents. We had to be husband and wife, too.

  Our bedroom was a big square room with a big king-size bed with a wooden frame. There were matching wooden nightstands on each side and a large patterned rug on the floor. Near the door leading into the bathroom was a stone fireplace, a smaller version of the one downstairs. I had the wood and kindling already laid out, so I took a few moments to get it lit.

  When I turned back, Ivy had taken off her hoodie, hat, and boots, leaving the clothes in a heap on a nearby leather club chair. She was left in a pair of black leggings, knee-high purple socks, and a long-sleeve white T-shirt.

  I pulled off my jacket and long-sleeved T-shirt and dropped it on the floor. After I kicked off my shoes and unbuttoned the top of my jeans, I prowled across the room.

  I could feel Ivy’s gaze. I knew she wanted me. I liked feeling her desire. I liked the way her eyes turned dark and just a little hungry. The way her tongue jetted out and wet her lower lip made me want to suck it into my mouth and never let go.

  I stopped just shy of our bodies coming into contact. I bent, my lips hovering inches above hers, and held her blue gaze with mine.

  I could take her right then. She’d open up for me. The longing and anticipation in her stare erupted a private war inside me.

  Fuck, I wanted her.

  I wanted her just as much as I had that first night on the beach. The night I practically attacked her with my desperation.

  But I didn’t just want her now.

  I loved her, too.

  There wasn’t a single part of me that wasn’t wholly hers. Ivy was everything. She was the past I’d always run from, the future I desperately wanted. She was my present, my heart, and the sight my eyes craved most.

  It was because of that I didn’t take her.

  I would.

  But first. First, I was going to get to the bottom of the feeling I got earlier in the car.

  With no rush at all, I lowered my lips a fraction closer. Her eyes drifted shut and a small sigh parted her lips.

  My heart skipped a beat. I held myself there for a few seconds, just reveling in the closeness.

  Her eyes snapped open when I pulled back. Confusion made her forehead wrinkle. I took her hand with a light laugh.

  “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  I led her the short distance into the bathroom where a huge claw-foot tub sat beside a large glass window overlooking the acreage. It was totally black out, but the falling snow looked sort of like a screensaver on a computer. The movement against the still backdrop was somehow soothing.

  It also brought the outdoors in.

  Ivy and I seemed to always be better in the outdoors.

  I turned on the faucet and adjusted the handle until the tub was filling with very warm water. On the counter, there was a bottle of bubble bath Ivy had brought along but had yet to use. I snagged it up and dumped like half the bottle into the tub.

  “That is way too much!” She gasped.

  “Hush, woman,” I told her and set it aside. The light scent of whatever the bubbles created swirled around. There weren’t any candles in here, so I turned on the light in the water closet and pulled the door around and hit the switch for the bathroom.

  The room plunged into shadows. The small amount of light filtering from the partially closed door was just enough to see, but not enough to disrupt the sight of the falling snow at the window.

  “The baby,” Ivy whispered.

  “She’s fine, sweetheart,” I murmured and stepped up to her. “It’s just you and me right now.” I kissed her forehead and then her temple. Her hand splayed out across my bare side, and I made short work of my jeans and boxers, kicking the fabric away.

  She lifted her arms when I tugged at her shirt and then deftly unclasped her bra. I murmured something I didn’t hear when my eyes focused on her breasts.

  They were perfect, slightly larger since she gave birth to Nova, and I’d learned more sensitive. Her nipples were tight, having puckered the instant I pulled away the bra. I filled my palms with their silky weight and squeezed gently.

  Ivy moaned and her head fell back a little, her eyes closed. I rolled both nipples between my thumbs and fingers, gently pinching and pulling.

  A shudder moved up her back, and I realized something.

  “You’re so hungry,” I murmured, sinking a little low in my stance and hunching myself a little closer.

  “What?” She lifted her head, her voice thick with desire.

  “Ivy, baby, why didn’t you tell me you were so hungry for me?”

  She looked away.

  Even though I wanted to demand an answer, even though impatience slammed through me, those feelings were eclipsed by the sensation of her flesh in my palms. I’d never hurt her. I’d never be rough with her out of frustration or even out of greedy desire.

  I didn’t acknowledge her silence. Instead, I continued to play with her breasts. The way her thighs pressed together and her hips rotated unperceptively told me how much she liked it.

  I glanced over my shoulder, making sure the water level on the tub wasn’t too high, and then turned back. I used my nose to nudge her chin up and then I trailed my lips down her neck with hot, wet kisses. My hands kept kneading her breasts, which felt heavy with desire. She pushed them into my hands for more, and I increased the pressure, causing her moan to fill the bathroom.

  Holy shit.

  She was fucking turning me on and she didn’t even have her pants off yet.

  I traveled across her shoulder, down her chest, and licked between the valley of her breasts. I knew she wanted me
to linger there, to pull a nipple between my teeth, but I didn’t. Not yet. I kept going, sliding down her body until I knelt before her.

  When my hands hooked into the waistband of her leggings, she stilled. “Braeden…”

  Was that apprehension I heard in her tone?

  What the fuck was that about?

  “Baby?” I asked.

  “I…” Her answered faltered when I pressed my mouth against her core. I let my hot breath blow out against the cotton of her pants, and her thighs shifted, spreading a little apart.

  I smiled and pulled the pants down, removing her socks and panties at the same time. When she was completely naked in front of me, my palms dragged up her calves and around to the back of her thighs.

  I could stare at her all damn day and never get tired of looking at her curves.

  “Braeden,” she whispered and tried to tug me up.

  I stood, palming her hips and staring down.

  Ivy slipped around me and shut off the water to the tub. There were so many bubbles they took up half of the room and hung over the top like whipped cream on a mug of cocoa.

  Ivy kept her gaze averted and climbed quickly into the tub. I stared at her bare ass until it disappeared beneath the bubbles. I watched her hand scoop at them, pulling them close to pile around her…

  Almost like…

  “Are you hiding from me?”

  Her eyes widened a fraction and a look of being found out filled her features.

  Memories of the last few times we’d made love flooded back. Us in bed with the blankets, us in the dark, catching an hour before Nova woke us up. Ivy wearing my T-shirt and me pulling up the hem.

  She was totally hiding herself from me.

  I wanted to know why.

  “Ivy,” I growled.

  “I was cold,” she rebutted.

  “That never mattered before,” I shot out. “Remember all those nights in the bed of my truck, you totally naked with the blankets shoved around our feet? Out there in the open… The cold never bothered you then.”

  She turned to stare out the window.

  But I wasn’t going to be put off. I was like a damn dog with a new bone.

  “I know we haven’t been able to have sex like we used to with your body having to recover from having the baby, then the nights we never got any sleep…” Hell, I craved her almost every second of every day. I craved her the minute I left her body. I didn’t push it, though. She’d just had a baby, for Christ’s sakes. Between that and my football schedule, we were both exhausted.

  I hadn’t realized until a few moments ago that maybe she’d craved me just as much. Did she think I didn’t want her anymore? Was the break I was trying to give her body being received as a rebuff?

  I walked over to the side of the tub and crouched down so we were almost eye level. “Ivy, you know I still want you, don’t you?”

  Since her face was turned away, I watched her reflection in the glass. Her lower lip wobbled.

  Aww, fuck.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “What’re you sorry for?” I gripped the rounded edges of the tub.

  “I’m fat,” she burst out.

  Wait. What?

  It took me a minute for the statement to sink in. “You think you’re fat?”

  She turned toward me abruptly. “I don’t look the way I did before I had Nova. I don’t look like the girls who throw themselves at you all the time, like the ones in the parking lot tonight. I have stretch marks on my stomach. It’s not as flat as it used to be, and my hips…”

  I laughed.

  I laughed so hard it had to be an ab workout.

  I didn’t stop until I got a face full of bubbles. “Hey!” I sputtered as warm water and white fuzzy soap clung to my face and chin. I wiped away the water from my eyes and blinked. “What the hell was that for?”

  “Don’t you laugh at me, Braeden James Walker.”

  “I can’t help it, baby. You’re being ridiculous.”

  Her lower lip wobbled again.

  That wiped the humor out of me.

  “Blondie,” I said, serious.

  “Sometimes I miss us,” she said, so softly I had to strain to hear. “I love our little girl. I love her so much.” She met my eyes so I could see she meant the words. But I knew. I knew how much she loved our daughter. “But there are times I don’t like sharing you. I can’t compete, Braeden.”

  “Compete with what, sweetheart?”

  “With the young, sexy girls. With our baby daughter who has totally stolen your heart. Sometimes I worry I’m not enough.”

  Swiftly, I climbed into the tub and sank down into the overfull, warm water. It was so full some of it splashed over the sides and splattered onto the floor, but I ignored it. Ivy’s knees were drawn up against her chest, and I spread my legs and slid her body in between them.

  I tried to push down the sense of giddiness that overwhelmed my chest. It felt a sense of welcomed pressure over my heart, like a balloon that was about to burst.

  I liked it.

  But I didn’t want Ivy to see that.

  Clearly, she’d been torturing herself with these thoughts, and it hurt her. I wasn’t about to let on that her possessiveness over me was something I fucking loved. Besides, she really had no reason to feel this way. She was it for me.

  “What kind of mother feels jealous of her own daughter?” Her voice was hoarse.

  “One who needs some lovin’ from her husband,” I drawled and hooked my hands beneath her elbows. The way I saw it, this was completely and totally my fault. She wouldn’t feel left out if I was giving her everything she needed.

  She glanced up, and I caught her eyes and held. Even though I didn’t grip her chin, she didn’t look away. My stare was like a net she’d gotten caught in.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling this way?”

  “No guy wants to hear his baby mama drama.”

  I laughed. “Baby mama drama?”

  “Sounds like something you’d say…” she muttered.

  I couldn’t stop the wide grin from splitting my face. “I fucking love you so goddamn much.”

  Her eyes snapped back to mine. “You better not cuss like that in front of our daughter.”

  “I only cuss like that for you, baby.” I released her elbows and hooked my palms beneath her arms and lifted so she could straddle my waist. I leaned back against the porcelain of the tub and let my eyes roam her sudsy body.

  I felt her shrink a little beneath my gaze, so I reached up and softly brushed away the bubbles, revealing all of her. “Your body has changed since Nova, but I like it more.” I brushed a little more, deliberately skimming my knuckles over her already pebbled nipple.

  I felt her listening even though she didn’t say a word. She was weighing my words, the way my voice sounded when I said them. She was trying to decide if I was being honest or just telling her what she wanted to hear.

  I weighed the fullness of her breast in my palm. “You fill my hands with softness when I touch you.” I released her breast. My hand roamed down her side to her waist, where it dipped in, then gave way to the curve of her hip. “My hands never get bored when they explore your body, the peaks and valleys, the way your hips flare out and the roundness of your ass.” As I spoke, my hand went to her middle, rubbing over the smooth skin. I felt her flinch slightly. I knew then this area was the place she was most insecure about.

  No, it wasn’t as flat and tight as it used to be, but I didn’t care. In my eyes, Ivy was perfect, and nothing would ever change that.

  “You carried my child in here,” I whispered and pressed more firmly against her middle. “You accepted part of me into you, and you nourished it for nine long months. The stretch marks—hardly noticeable by the way—that cover this area are reminders of what you did for me. For us. Every time I see them, I’m reminded of the way you looked with a rounded belly and the way it felt to feel our daughter kicking just beneath your skin.”

&n
bsp; Her posture became less rigid. Her breathing became deeper, and her fingers found the sides of my waist and dug in.

  She believed me.

  I knew she would because I spoke nothing but the truth.

  “I don’t even notice the girls at the field, Blondie. I smile and wink because it’s my job. But in the back of mind, I’m thinking about you. About getting you beneath me. About filling my mouth with your taste and filling your body with my cock.”

  “Really?”

  I swiped my thumb along her lower lip. “You are the sexiest woman I have ever seen. There is no competition. You’re my number one and you always will be.”

  “I’ve missed you,” she said for the second time tonight.

  “I’m so sorry, baby. I’ve missed you, too.” I rotated my hips so my erect cock could nudge against her.

  Because she was straddling my waist, my swollen head slid against her bottom, slipping between her cheeks just slightly.

  I moaned because it felt good, the way my tip slipped in just right.

  Her fingers tightened on my skin, and she rocked a little, pushing herself back into my cock a little more.

  I gripped her hips at the sensations rippling through me.

  I wasn’t close to entering her. The way she was sitting made that impossible, but I was so hard. I wanted her so bad just sliding my sensitive cock between her cheeks made me shudder with pleasure.

  “You like that,” she murmured and lifted herself up just a little and slid back so my rod slipped all along her crack.

  My head fell back and my hips jutted up. My dick was so hard it stood upward, and when she moved, the head brushed over her puckered, tight hole.

  She sucked in a breath and stilled. But she didn’t move away.

  I cracked one eye and studied her. Her teeth were chewing her lower lip and her eyes were unfocused.

  Interesting.

  I moved again, repeating the same movement.

  Ivy moaned.

  This time, I delved my hand beneath the surface of the water and found her swollen clit. I rolled it between my thumb and finger at the same time I moved against her ass again.

  I didn’t enter. I didn’t even try. I just let my head nudge the nerve endings in that spot.