“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” James whispered, holding her body as close to his own as he could manage without crawling inside of her. “By the way, baby, every memory I have of you is great. You don’t need to go out of your way to create them.”
“Maybe I like to be artistic. Did you ever think of that?”
“We’re going to be so artistic tomorrow you’re going to lose your mind,” James promised, sleep encroaching on his weary brain. “Now go to sleep. All I need right now is to hold you.”
“You’re going to be here when I wake up, right?” Mandy asked, her voice drifting. “This isn’t a dream, is it?”
“Every moment with you feels like a dream,” James replied. “I’ll be here, though. I’ll be here for the rest of our lives.”
JAMES woke to a heavenly feeling. Something warm and wet was teasing his morning erection, and he had a pretty good idea what that something was. He wrenched his eyes open, the morning light causing him to blink rapidly.
Mandy was no longer on his chest. A quick glance at the clock told James he’d slept for nine hours straight. He felt relaxed and … stimulated. James lifted the covers and smiled as he saw Mandy, her mouth sucking him as she rubbed the inside of his thighs.
“Good morning, wife,” James murmured. “I … ugh … this is the best way to wake up ever, baby. I … good grief … wow … if you keep doing that I’m going to last for exactly thirty seconds.”
Mandy pulled her mouth off of him and graced him with a sultry smile. “That’s the plan.”
“I was hoping to make things last a little longer.”
“If I’m not mistaken, you’ve gone without sex for two straight weeks,” Mandy said pragmatically. “Sure, we’ve played a little over the Internet, but it’s not the same. You’re not going to last long the first time anyway. This is just foreplay for the second time.”
“I see,” James said, grinning. “I thought I would get a chance to play with you first.”
“You overslept and lost that chance,” Mandy replied. She was almost giddy. “I get to do what I want since I woke up first. That’s the rule.”
Mandy rarely woke up before James. While James was known to wake her with similar measures, Mandy always basked in the joy of what she was doing on the occasions she got to play queen of the mattress.
“What about what I want?” James asked. “I’ve had very specific plans for you in my head since we said goodbye two weeks ago. How come I have to bow to your whims?”
“You can still do all of those things,” Mandy replied, unruffled. “I’m just doing this first so we have more time to enjoy the things you want to do. Unless … are you saying you haven’t gone without my specific brand of loving for the past two weeks?”
James narrowed his eyes. “Ha, ha, wife,” he said. “You know very well I … .” James didn’t get a chance to finish his admonishment because Mandy’s mouth was hot when it descended on him again, causing him to cry out. “Okay, baby, you win,” he moaned. “I … do to me what you will.”
After a year and a half together, Mandy and James both knew exactly what the other liked. Mandy sucked James’ entire length into her mouth, rolling her tongue across the underside of his pulsing erection. She used one hand to cup his testicles, massaging them in the manner that drove James crazy.
“Oh, baby,” James grunted, grabbing the sheet as his back arched. He orgasmed swiftly, exploding in Mandy’s mouth as she continued to massage him. When she was sure he was done, she swallowed and crawled up his body, contentedly resting her head on top of his heart as he fought to catch his breath.
“Welcome home,” Mandy whispered, pressing a kiss to his well-muscled chest. “I missed you so much.”
James cradled the back of her head, giving himself a moment to regain control. He brushed a soft kiss against her forehead, the act soft and loving. Then, without giving a hint that things were going to shift, James tossed her off of him and onto her back, rolling on top of her and pinning her beneath his weight.
Their eyes met, and Mandy was laughing at the turn of events. “You got me there,” she said, giggling. “I thought you wanted to bask in the afterglow for a few minutes.”
“Oh, there’s going to be basking, wife,” James said, kissing the tip of her nose. “It’s not basking unless we’re both doing it. By the way, that thing you do with the squeezing down there … that’s pretty much inspired. I would buy you a new car every time you do that. May I ask where you learned that?”
“Well, I dated this guy … .”
“That will be enough of that,” James interrupted. “We both know you were a virgin when we got together.”
Mandy sighed. “If you really must know, Ally rented an instructional video,” she explained. “It was a tutorial on how to drive your man wild. I took the lessons to heart.”
James knit his eyebrows together. “Are you joking?”
“Kind of,” Mandy conceded. “Ally did have a video once. I’m not going to tell you about watching that together because that’s going to totally ruin your mood. As for the squeezing thing … well … I was reading a naughty book and I thought it was worth a try.”
“I’m going to buy you a thousand naughty books, baby,” James said, licking her cheek. “In fact, if you ever find something in one of those books you want to try, I’m more than willing to take one for the team and read about it. Just … don’t ever tell my brothers.”
Mandy giggled and then her eyes clouded over. “God, I missed you so much.”
“I’m not leaving again,” James promised. “I can’t be away from you. Please, don’t cry, though. The only crying I want you doing is when you call out my name in about five minutes.”
Mandy forced the tears from her eyes and replaced them with a smile. “And how are you going to do that?”
“Oh, well, now it’s my turn,” James teased. “I get to unwrap my present.”
“I’m kind of already unwrapped,” Mandy said, gesturing toward the ribbon, which had dipped down to expose her breasts during the night.
“You’re not unwrapped all the way,” James said, playfully tweaking a rigid nipple. “As much as I like these … .” James lowered his mouth and sucked the nipple in, rolling his tongue over it and causing Mandy to whimper. “There is one other thing I love more,” James said, flicking his tongue over the hard nub one more time. “That’s what I’m going to visit now.”
“Oh, really?” Mandy’s sea-blue eyes lit up. “What are you going to do when you get there?”
“I’m going to play a little game,” James said, sliding down her body. He stopped at her belly button long enough to kiss it and then moved down until his fingers were at the lip of Mandy’s tiny panties. “These are cute, by the way. I’m sorry I didn’t get to see the full effect last night.”
“I bought a few more Christmas outfits. You can spend more time with those.”
“Sold,” James said, licking the bare skin above the panties.
Mandy pressed her eyes shut as James hoisted her rear end up enough to pull her panties down. He took care not to rip them, even though he was desperate to start playing his game. He wanted to see the full outfit again before the first of the year. Then he was going to unwrap her the right way.
James massaged the inside of Mandy’s thighs, inhaling deeply and then blowing the air out on her sensitive core.
“Oh!”
James held Mandy in place as she shifted. “Don’t move, wife. I need you just like this to … .” James extended his tongue and licked her, taking a long and deliberate swipe – like she was an ice cream cone and he just had to have her before the heat melted her away.
“James.” Mandy’s voice was barely a whisper.
“I love you,” James said before attacking her with gusto. He considered teasing her, making her beg until he gave her what she really wanted. That was a game they regularly played. If Mandy was as keyed up as James, though, he knew she needed immediate release be
fore they could enjoy a full afternoon together.
Instead of making her suffer, James sucked her small pleasure bud into his mouth and held her thighs firmly so she couldn’t move away from him. It didn’t take long. James knew Mandy’s body as well as she knew his. Mandy bucked up as she orgasmed, crying out his name and grabbing his hair as her thighs shook.
James made sure she was done before climbing back up, taking care to untie the rest of the lingerie set before settling on top of her and licking her neck. “You taste just how I remember you.”
“You’re feeling pretty good about yourself, aren’t you?” Mandy’s eyes were still closed as tingles washed over her.
“Not yet,” James said, rolling back so he was sitting on the bed with his knees bent. He tugged Mandy’s arm until she moved of her own volition, climbing on top of him so they were facing each other.
Mandy slid down his length, enveloping him inside her velvety warmth. James kissed her deeply, moving his hands down to her rear end to help her get the rhythm they preferred.
Their breath came out in mingled gasps, and James kept one hand on her rear end as he moved the other around to the front so he could rub circles against her sensitive core. He captured her mouth again when he felt her increase her pace, rubbing vigorously until her body went stiff in his arms. James met her body from beneath and joined her over the edge seconds later, moaning her name as they collapsed back on the bed.
“Now that was a welcome home, baby.”
Four
“Tell me every single thing you did while I was gone,” James instructed, lifting Mandy’s legs so he could settle underneath them on the couch in her reading nook an hour later. After their first “welcome home” round, the duo decided breakfast was in order. Pajamas were the only clothing allowed for their day together, and James was trying to negotiate a way to make those go away – even though Mandy insisted it was too cold to go naked because of the snow.
“You want to know every single thing I did while you were gone?” Mandy asked, arching an eyebrow. “That seems a little … time consuming.”
James smirked. “I have other plans, too. I just want your breakfast to have a chance to settle.”
“Good thinking.” Mandy scooted closer to him so she could rest her head against his shoulder. She wanted to touch him every second. Two weeks of not being able to touch him made her realize just how much she missed the constant contact they had when they were around each other. She inhaled deeply, the remnants of their sweaty sex session mingling with his breakfast. “I even missed how you smell.”
“Did you just sniff me?”
“I … .”
“It’s okay, baby,” James said, brushing his lips against her forehead. “I smelled you, too.”
“We seriously can’t go two weeks without seeing each other again,” Mandy said. “I … I know you’re going to think it makes me sound needy and pathetic, but I don’t care. I ached for you.”
James’ expression was earnest as he regarded his wife. “Every part of me hurt I missed you so much,” he said. “I know you don’t want to talk about leaving your job right now, but I’m serious. I’ll give you a job in the office. You can work as much as you want and take whatever time off you want to paint. Just … quit your job at the courthouse. Now would be the perfect time.”
“You know I can’t do that, James.”
“I don’t know that,” James argued. “If you quit, baby, we could take all the trips together. You want to travel. We both do. Think how great this could be.”
“It sounds great,” Mandy admitted. “I still can’t.”
“Tell me why.” James was serious. “Give me one good reason why you can’t turn in your letter of resignation Monday. Hell, if you agree, I’ll let you get dressed long enough to drive into the courthouse today and do it. We’ll pack up your stuff and send your office out in style.”
Mandy barked out a coarse laugh. “I see you’ve given this some thought.”
“I have given this a lot of thought and the only reason I haven’t pushed you on it until now is because I knew you were going to put up a fight. There’s no reason to fight now, baby. The company is growing. There’s a lot of work you could do for me.”
“First off, you know we can’t work together,” Mandy said, her expression rueful. “You would get bossy and then I would get belligerent because I don’t like you ordering me around. Things would get ugly.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.”
“You’re just basking in a happy homecoming,” Mandy teased, pressing her finger to his chin. “You know very well we would end up screaming at each other if we worked together. Do you really want to risk our marriage because you don’t like my job?”
“No,” James said, although the word chafed coming out. “I wouldn’t risk our marriage for anything. That doesn’t mean you need to stay at the courthouse. I hate you going there. Half of the truly horrible things that have happened to you have occurred there.”
“Only half? Are you keeping score?”
James ignored the dig. “Troy stalked you there. You were almost shot there. You were blown up in the parking lot there. Someone tried to shoot you up outside the courthouse. I … baby, it’s not safe there and you know it.”
“Given my track record, is anywhere really safe for me?” Mandy challenged. “I’ve been attacked here, too.”
James scowled. He didn’t need to be reminded of that. “I love you more than life itself and I want to be able to take you with me on jobs like this. More and more of them are going to start popping up. I can’t send Finn. He’s going to be a father. Grady will be willing to take some of them, but he doesn’t want to be away from Sophie any more than I want to be away from you – and she refuses to take time off work because she’s a freak about stuff like that.”
“What about Jake?”
“We both know that Ally is going to wear me down if I try to send Jake out of town,” James grumbled. “She’s mean and vicious when she wants to be.”
“Oh, my poor husband,” Mandy cooed, kissing his cheek. She sobered after a moment. “I want to be able to travel with you. I can’t quit my job until I can replace the income, though. I told you that.”
“I don’t understand why,” James pressed. “I make more than enough money for the both of us. You don’t have to work.”
“I need to work,” Mandy argued. “I’m never going to make the same kind of money you do, but I still need to feel like I’m contributing to the household. I know you probably laugh every month when you tally up the money I put into our accounts but … .”
“I don’t laugh,” James cut her off. “It makes me angry that you work so hard and get paid so little. Baby, being a clerk is not your dream. Your dream is to be a painter. You have a studio here. Why can’t you do that?”
“That’s my goal,” Mandy replied. “I’m not making money at it yet, though.”
“I don’t want to fight about this,” James said. “You’re not going to back down. This isn’t the last time we’re going to talk about this, though. I’m going to give you until after Valentine’s Day and then we’re going to have a serious discussion.”
Mandy bit her lip and nodded.
“And then after you ignore the serious discussion, we’re going to have a huge fight,” James added, causing Mandy to purse her lips to keep from smiling. “And then after the big fight, we’re going to have a huge round of makeup sex. I think there’s going to be whipped cream involved.”
“I see you’ve given this some thought, too,” Mandy said, grinning.
“You’re all I ever think about, wife,” James said, kissing the tender spot behind her ear. “I want you with me. I can’t tell you how horrible it was being away from you for two weeks.”
“You don’t think I missed you, too?”
“I know you did,” James replied. “I also know you had Ally, my brothers, Heidi, Emma, and Sophie to distract you. I had an empty hotel room. Every night I saw
something fun I could be doing with you.”
“And instead you went back to your hotel room and cried,” Mandy said. “That must have been awful.”
James grabbed Mandy around the waist, causing her to giggle as he wrestled her down and tickled her ribs. “It was awful. Just … think about it.”
“I promise.”
“Good,” James said, lowering his mouth until it was an inch from hers. “Now that your breakfast is settled, I have an idea.”
“I can’t wait to hear this.”
“Oh, I’m not telling you, baby,” James said, his smile slow and seductive. “I’m showing you.”
“THIS had better be life or death,” James growled, stalking into his Sterling Heights office at Hardy Brothers Security two hours later. “I have a naked wife at home and I wasn’t supposed to have to do anything but her for the entire weekend.”
Grady, the middle Hardy brother, glanced up from the laptop he was working on behind James’ desk and fixed his brother with a saucy look. “Nice.”
“Don’t make me pound you, Grady.”
Grady flipped his shoulder-length hair behind his ears and regarded his brother with an impish grin. “You haven’t seen me in two weeks. I thought you missed me.”
“I didn’t.”
“Lies,” Grady said, making a face. “I know darned well you missed me. You called me every other day to see what was going on. That was a total chick move, by the way.”
“I called you to make sure the business was running smoothly and to check that you were stopping in and visiting with Mandy so she wasn’t lonely. That was the only reason I called.”
“You are such a Grinch,” Grady said, rolling his eyes. “How did your reunion with the blonde of your dreams go?”
James fought the urge to smile – and lost. “We were having a great time until you called. What do you want?”
Grady’s amusement faltered. “I really am sorry I had to call,” he said. “I figured you would rather get it out of the way now than deal with it after dark.”
“I still don’t know what it is,” James pointed out.
Deadly Christmas Page 3
