“As you said, you’d miss my little girl, as well as your son.” He asked her if she thought he’d miss her. “You don’t know me well enough to miss me yet. And before you say that you would, I’m talking on the same level as you would miss Xander and Penny.”
“I’d miss you the same. If not more. You done went and put a big part of my heart on hold just for you. And every time you come around or I get to have a conversation with you, like this one here, I feel like your part of me just deepens. The others, the other girls, they sure have a hunk of me too, but you’re more.... I want to say that you’re more protective of me and my ticker.” He looked at her, wondering if he was fudging things up with her. “I’m a man of simple needs, Addie. I love like it’s my business. Hug like I’m never gonna see you again, and when I’m happy, which is pert near all the time now, I want all those around me to feel the same way. And you and the others, you give me that.”
“Kelley Winchester, I think you’re about the sweetest and most wonderful person, shifter or otherwise, that I’ve ever met in my life. And since you know that’s a very long time, you know that it’s true.” He nodded and pulled out his big hankie. “You and your handkerchiefs. I swear, they get bigger all the time.”
“Well, I tell you. I have two.” He pulled the second one out that was smaller. “This one is for my nose. I get me a powerful nose full of snot when I’m working. And this one is for my happiness. I have them in different sizes for a reason.”
He waited on her to get it. And when she did, he nearly fell off the porch with her when she just threw back her head and laughed like she meant it. Kelley was sure enough that it was the best sound that he’d ever heard. Besides his wife telling him that she loved him.
Getting up, he gave her his hand and helped her to stand. Entering the house, he was pleased to see his granddaughter standing there in the prettiest pink flowered dress. The boots, the poop kickers, weren’t his idea of matching the mood, but he was happy that she’d done this for him. Hugging her tightly, he kissed the top of her head and told her that he loved her.
“You really do?” He touched his finger to her nose and told her forever. “Oh Grandpa, that’s the best news. I’m going to go out to dinner with you. Grandma said that you and I needed girly time.”
“She did, did she? Well, hot dog with mustard, I’m thrilled as I can be.” He looked at her boots and then at her. “Go on now, get your coat. Do you have a purse? Get that too if you do.”
When she ran up the stairs, he pulled out his large hankie. When he was finished with it, he handed it to Addie. Yes, sir, he was surely going to love having these women and little girls around him for the rest of his life.
“Kelley, I’ve given her some money.” He told his Sara that he’d pay. “I know that, poop head, I mean for her to buy you dessert. And don’t you dare say a word about her not paying for it either. She needs to feel free.”
He wanted to protest, but he closed his mouth when he looked over at Xander. He was shaking his head, little like, and he told his Sara that he’d not say a word. Walking to his son, he asked him if he was all right with that and Xander hugged him. When Penny came back down the stairs, Xander stood on the third step with his love and cleared his throat. Kelley didn’t know what was going to be his announcement, but whatever it was, he could see the happiness all over his face.
~*~
Xander pulled out the press release that he’d received yesterday via courier. He cleared his throat again and looked over at Addie when she laughed. He told her that he could do this, announce to his family, but now that he was here to do it, he just shoved it at her and let her do the honors.
“The book, Talking with a Dead Man, written by Xander Winchester, will start production soon to be a full-fledged movie for the big screen. The story is about a man, Charles Winston, and his adventures during a time in our lives that no one has written better than Mr. Winchester.”
“Whoa your ponies there, girl. What do you mean, that dead man book is in production?” She grinned at him and Xander looked at his dad as he continued. “I didn’t even know that you’d done and finished it.”
“It’s hitting the markets tomorrow, as a matter of fact. I had them release it on Penny’s birthday.” Everyone looked at the little girl, his little girl, and she buried her head in his side. “My publisher said it was the best book she’d ever read, and after making a few calls and sending out scripts of it, a big Hollywood producer called her back and I was made a deal.” No one said a word and he explained more. “I haven’t cashed the check yet. I was worried that she’d say that he’d changed his mind and that it would have to be returned. Besides, I wasn’t even sure how to cash the check. I’ve never seen so many—”
“How long have you known about this?” His mom sounded so disappointed that he felt his heart race. “I’m not the least bit surprised that it’s going to be a movie. You did write it.”
“Yes, well, I had to make sure that she wasn’t doing this because she’d been paid to do so.” Again, the silence was too loud for him. “She told me that had it come across her desk for her to publish, even without Mr. Cartwrights asking her to do so, she would have published it anyway. She told me that it was that good. As for the movie rights, she said that it was really a great book and she is working on getting the best possible deal for me. For us. And she did.”
He held out the check, and told them that it was only a portion of what he was going to get for the book. Xander was also going to get a percentage of the movie profits, as well as the DVD rights. This was the best possible deal, he told them.
“I’m so proud of you that I could just about bust.” He was relieved when his mom came to him and hugged him. Then it was like a sign had been held up for everyone to speak. But he thought that Dominic had summed it up about the best way.
“For a dummy, you sure did good.”
After his dad and Penny left for dinner, he took his family to the basement to show them what he had to fix now. It wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be. Nor was it going to be closed soon. The police had asked him to wait.
“What are you saying to Penny?” He told Caleb that she’d known her mother was going to be found. “Yes, but there is a child involved. She will need to know that as well. And not only that, but the other items there as well. Otherwise, she’ll see it in the paper. Maybe not today or this year, but she’ll need to know.”
Xander agreed, but he wasn’t sure how he should go about it either. He looked at his mom when she said his name. She was crying.
“She knows about the baby. And that her mom is at peace. She just told her grandda. They’re pulled to the side of the road now so that he can hold her. I’m so glad that the old fool was able to do this for her. They’ll be closer than ever now.” He wasn’t sure if his mom was slightly jealous of that, but he hugged her. “I tell you, there are days when I’d gladly strangle the man, then there are days when I just want to hug him to my heart and keep him there.”
“I know, Mom. I know just how you feel.” He held her while she cried too. It was difficult for them all, this emotional rollercoaster ride they were on. What with all the crap going on and something new every day, Xander was beginning to feel like the ride was too much for him and he needed to step back. “Mom, I have an idea.”
She looked up at him. “Whatever it is, I’m for it.” He kissed her cheek. “Now I know that I am. Please let it be good. I need something good right now.”
“It’s going to be epic. Let’s see.... It’s six weeks until Christmas, and two until Thanksgiving. We’re going to have a huge dinner party with friends, every week for the next seven weeks. At each of our homes.” She was nodding, and he could see her mind already working. “It doesn’t have to be a meal each time.”
“Oh, but it does. And at each house, the staff from the others will come and have a meal with us too. No, no, no. We’ll hire someone to come in and serve. The staff will cook from each home, and then be ser
ved at the house. Oh, I love this.” She walked away, then turned back when she was on the first step to go upstairs. “Well? Come on. We have a lot to plan if we’re going to make this work.”
And work they did. Each of his brothers had their own home and a cook. Before they started on how to cook it, they got with his cook, Skyler, and asked him what he thought.
“Oh, my Lord, this will be great. We were just wondering how we were going to plan meals. What day of the week would you like to have it on? I would suggest Saturdays. That way no one misses the shopping day for that Friday, and we can be with our own families on the big days.” Xander asked him to get with the others and find out. In half an hour, he was back and beaming. “Yes, Saturday would suit us if it does you. And Ms. Snow said that each of us should make a meal that we enjoy the most.”
Before they left for the night, his brothers had their assignments. Xander thought for sure that Tyler was going to not want to do this, because of his comments about not having a wife, but he soon joined in the hullaballoo and was putting in suggestions too. Then it came to order of dinners.
“I’ll start. That way I can enjoy my sons’ meals much better. And I’ll have time to put up my tree afterwards. We’re still meeting at your dad’s and my house, correct, for Christmas morning?” In unison they said yes to Sara. “Good. This will be my first Christmas with grandchildren, and I aim to spoil them rotten. This first time.”
Xander, as well as the rest of them, knew that Mom and Dad were going to spoil all the kids every year, but it didn’t seem to bother them overly much. They’d not harm them with their spoiling, that he was sure of.
“You guys acted like this was a statement of war you were putting together.” Xander laughed when Addie joined him on the couch. “Your dad just called. Your mom is going to meet him in town and they’re going to take Penny to the movies before coming back here. I guess Penny and Kelley had a wonderful time. And she was able to buy him ice cream afterwards. I had no idea your dad liked ice cream so much.”
“Yes. Even when we were dirt poor, we’d find a way to have it, mostly it was homemade. Mom would barter with the man who lived down the street for some of his cream, and she’d give him a pie or two. It was a good deal for us all.” He thought about ice cream. “In the spring we’d have strawberry, summer would mean blueberry. And in the fall, she’d fry up some apples and freeze them before dumping them in the creamy mixture. Sometimes we’d just have vanilla, but there was usually some kind of fruit to go with it.”
They sat on the couch until their bodies seemed to entwine. He was never sure if it was her or him that kissed first, but almost as soon as their mouths came together, so did their bodies ignite.
Making love to Addie was never just sex. It was a marathonic race to see who could come the hardest and the fastest, while satisfying the other partner several times before the bell rang. And boy oh boy, did his bell ever ring. There were times when he was sure that she’d killed him. Or at least she was giving it her best shot.
When they tumbled to the floor, she sat over him, their clothing once again in tatters all around them. She had a way about her that made him want her to tear into his body, and he supposed for them both, it was safer for her to rip apart jeans instead. When she was riding him hard and fast, Xander sat up and roughly pulled her nipple into his mouth. When she cried out she was coming, he suckled at her harder, wanting to give her a little bit of the overwhelming sex that she gave him.
“Xander, Christ, you’re going to make me come again like this.” He laughed and told her to go ahead. “I want to come with you in my mouth. You have no idea how satisfying that is for me.”
“Let me come deep inside of you, love. Fill you with all that I am.” When he got no answer, he rolled her to her back and looked down at her and stopped moving. “You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. And I love you with all my heart.”
“I love you as well.”
Slowing down his body, making his hands touch instead of grab, he told her what he was feeling, how her skin felt in his hands. How much he loved her taste.
“Xander, you’re almost too much for me when you make love to me like this, it’s like you’re consuming me, and while I enjoy it immensely, it’s almost too much.”
“Well, that’s too bad.” He kissed her before she could protest. “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love the way you make me laugh at myself. The way that you only need to look at me and I can tell what you think of what I have on.”
“You do the same to me. I love you.” She said it over and over as he continued to tell her things, touching her softly and with reverence. “I want you to marry me, Xander. Forever. I want to bear your children, have your name, and let everyone know that you and I are together forever.”
He had proposed to her several times over the last few days, but her answer had always been the same. Later, when we have time. Or that they didn’t need to marry, they were content the way things were now.
“Yes, I’ll marry you.” She laughed, then bowed up from the floor, her nails dug deep into his back so hard that he felt blood trickle down his body. And when his own climax took him, he came hard enough that he was sure that not only did his eyes roll to the back of his head, but that they might have ended up someplace where his feet were. Throwing back his head, he howled out his release as his wolf seemed to know that she’d taken them both to levels that they’d never been before.
“I love you.”
He picked her up when he could walk. The stairs were too much tonight, he thought with a small grin. Xander finally had enough that he simply threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried her up that way. Tossing her on the bed made it shatter beneath her. Laughing harder now, he joined her on the broken wood and closed his eyes. If he never woke again, he’d be thrilled with that.
Chapter 7
Jamie knew she was being followed, but who it was, she didn’t know. Her dad had left the day before yesterday with the promise that he’d be back soon. Well, she wasn’t going to let people bully her again. Today, she was going to make sure that everyone knew that she was a fucking CIA agent, and they were not going to fuck with her. Channeling Addie, Jamie turned to the man and asked him what the fuck he was doing.
“You knew I was following you?” Taking someone to the ground had never been more fun. She didn’t know him or why he was following her, but there wasn’t any way she was going to be a sap again. “Miss? You don’t seem to understand. Ouch, that fucking hurt.”
Making him cry out again made her feel good. Then she felt terrible when he begged her to allow him to speak. Letting him go, she stood over him when he put his hands on his head and didn’t stand. Something made her think he was waiting for someone to help him when he grabbed her around the waist suddenly and pulled her under him.
Struggling to be let go, she heard the glass shatter just beyond where they were. When he begged her again, this time to stay down, she nodded. It wasn’t until she saw his gun that she remembered that she was armed as well. With a quick kiss to her mouth he left her there, thinking.... Well, she wasn’t thinking, that was what was wrong.
Kneeling behind the car about ten yards from where she was, Jamie pulled out her gun and shot the man who had fired at her. When he screamed she heard another shot—this one felled a man in the second story window of the office building across the street. When the man who had followed her came back, he put out his hand then jerked it back before she could take it.
Standing, she glared at him. “Are you this rude all the time?” He told her he wasn’t normally, no. “So, it’s must be just me.”
“Yes. And who you are. I’m Taylor Warren. You’re the leap leader’s daughter, Jamie Riddell.” She nodded. “I didn’t want to touch you just yet, because you’re my mate. I’m sorry about that.”
“Sorry that you didn’t touch me, or sorry about being your mate? Because from where I’m standing, I’m not sure I�
�d like being your mate any more than you do me. You’re a rude bastard, and don’t you think I won’t tell my father about your ill treatment of—”
She was jerked to him and kissed like he meant to mark her. Wrapping her arms around him as he deepened the kiss, Jamie held onto him for dear life. It was that or melt into a puddle of over-sexed hormones. When he pulled back, holding onto her, she did the only thing she could think of. Jamie pulled him close again and kissed him right back.
The kiss was more than she’d ever had. Not that many men had kissed her. She was the type to have men eating out of her palm simply because she had made them afraid of her. It was the way she liked it, the way that she wanted it. Until this man came along.
Letting him go, she still stood in his arms while he looked down at her. Taylor was much taller than her own six-foot frame, and that, for odd sexual reasons, pleased her greatly. She asked him if he was all right when he continued to stare at her.
“I think so. Are you?” She answered him the same. “Yeah, that’s about right. I was supposed to help out the leader by keeping an eye on you. It wasn’t until you stopped and turned that I caught your scent.”
“I’m usually very careful about always wearing too much perfume, but my dad, it makes him sneeze and I forgot.” He asked her why she’d do that. “To make it so no one knows that I’m a cat. I just...it’s dangerous in my line of work.”
“I would imagine. Can I kiss you again?” She nodded, and he did so, this time pressing his erection into her softer fold. “Christ, I had no idea that you’d be the one. Not that I care who you are, but your father, he’s going to murder me.”
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