Chapter Five #2
In an instant, his hands were on either side of my head, his body heat enveloping me as he backed me into the counter, his lips slamming down on mine.
I let out a surprise moan against him, my hands immediately fisting the sides of his shirt as he pressed his long body against mine, making me feel small, towering over me, caging me in.
His lips moved against mine feverishly, his tongue stroking the seam of my lips.
He pulled back a centimeter. “Give me a taste of what’s mine, Enchantress,” he commanded roughly.
I opened for him and as his tongue entered my mouth. The panic, the stress, the pressure…it all faded away. It was just him and me, in our home, our children safe. Nothing could touch us here. Nothing could hurt us here.
All too soon, he ripped his mouth from mine, his eyes scanning over my face, searching. “I better not ever see another speck of fear on your face when you look at me.”
“Honey,” I protested.
“I am your husband. Your provider and protector. If you’re afraid of me, we have a problem that needs to be rectified immediately,” he said, not listening to me. “Don’t you ever look at me like that again, or I’ll bend you over and fuck you until you cry.”
My core clenched, needing him as desire curled low in my belly, my nipples puckering.
“Understood?” he clipped, his fingers going into my hair.
“You’re going to mess up my hair,” I mumbled as a knock sounded at the door.
“Baby, I have half a mind to shove you to your knees and ruin that red fuckin’ lipstick. I don’t give a shit if your hair looks like you were freshly fucked. Answer my question.”
My voice was thick as I uttered out the words he needed to hear. “I understand. I’m sorry. My fear wasn’t—isn’t directed at you, my love.”
His next sentence had the power to destroy me altogether. “You shouldn’t be scared in your own home.”
I nodded.
“What are you scared of, baby?” he asked softly, his thumbs stroking my cheeks.
Tears stung my eyes and behind Denver, Caleb answered the door. “Of unintentionally hurting you.”
His brows furrowed. “You could never hurt me.”
“I want to give you the Christmas you never had. That’s why everyone is walking on eggshells around you.
Because we’ve been planning a huge dinner for tomorrow with the entire family,” I explained, tuning out Beau and Abbie as they came in, calling out for us.
Denver had us tucked into the corner by the coffee maker, hidden out of sight. “Mason stayed because I asked him to.”
Realization dawned.
“Valerie,” he murmured.
“I just hope you’ll let me give this to you, not because it’s a tradition I’ve always wanted, but because you deserve happiness. Every single day of the year.”
He shoved my face into his chest, his arms around my waist. “Fuck me,” he muttered as my body began to shake.
“I’m sorry,” I rasped, my hand sliding up to cover his heart. “I just wanted to give you something special.”
“Every breath you take is a gift to me, Valerie.”
His words, spoken in agony long ago, echoed in my head now.
Breathe for me, Valerie. Breathe for me because I’m breathing for you.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Uh, Val?”
“Just a minute, son,” Denver called out as I focused on the steady rhythm of his heart.
“Is she okay?”
God, that boy and his concern for me. He was just as protective as his father.
“Yeah, buddy. She’s okay. We just need a minute. Can you send Beau and Abbie into the living room for me?”
“Oh they’re already there. Abbie mentioned something about kidnapping NJ,” he said, chuckling.
A grunt came from my husband then. On the surface, he knew it was a joke, but deep down, I knew that he wouldn’t let anyone take our baby girl from us. Not even Abbie. As Caleb walked away, I wiped a tear at the corner of my eye.
Denver’s finger slid underneath my chin. “Give me my green, beautiful,” he whispered.
I tipped my head back. The look on his face made my chest want to cave in. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”
His lips twitched. “You have to stop apologizing for shit all the time. Been telling you that for years.”
“It’s because I am. Sorry, that is.”
“You don’t need to be sorry for being human. You don’t need to be sorry for loving me in ways I never imagined getting. You don’t need to be sorry for trying to make me happy.”
“Stop it,” I warned, my bottom lip trembling.
“From the moment I saw you snooping in the barn, I knew you were a force of nature,” he recalled, wiping another tear away before it could ruin my makeup.
“All you do is love, baby. From sunrise to sunset, day after day. That love is what keeps me going, Valerie. You’re my lifeline. Even when you don’t realize it.”
“You’re going to make me cry.”
He ignored me.
“I came home, ready to put on a show for you in order to keep you happy. Now I know that wouldn’t have been right. I thought if I faked it, it would make you happy.”
I shook my head.
“All right, baby.” He pressed his lips to my forehead before stepping back. “What’s happening tonight? How can I help?”
My heart was about to leap out of my chest. “You don’t need to do anything,” I assured him.
“Is everyone else going to be working?”
“Well, yeah. Everyone has assignments.”
He stared at me. “Assignments?”
“It’s Christmas, Denver.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, mirroring what his son did in the living room an hour ago. “Uh-huh,” he drawled. “Well, okay. Has anyone been assigned the turkey or ham? I can get that going.”
I cleared my throat. “That’s already been assigned, honey.”
He blinked. "Uh, who got assigned the ham?"
“Uh, your brother.”
My husband tipped his head back to the ceiling. “She wants a perfect Christmas but gives that fucker cooking responsibilities,” he muttered.
“That’s what I fuckin’ said.” Denver turned, giving me a view of Beau as he crossed the foyer. “The Christmas miracle will be him not fuckin’ that up,” the golden cowboy said with a smirk.
Den was all business now. “Do we have a backup plan?”
Backup plan?
For…a ham?
“It’s just a ham,” I chimed in. “How can anyone mess up a ham?”
The cowboys said nothing, exchanging a look.
“Boys, are y’all going to bring this tree in, or should we just let the snow have it?” Abbie called from the living room.
“Tree?” Den parroted, looking at me. He jerked his thumb to the living room. “Baby, we already have a tree.”
My sweet friend came into sight a second later, dressed in leggings and an oversized Home Alone sweatshirt, my daughter perched on her hip. Her long brown hair was thrown up into the most glorious messy bun I’d ever seen.
“How do you manage to get a perfect bun every time?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.
Abbie smiled at me, a bubble of laughter escaping. “Jigs is the one who taught me.”
My jaw hit the floor. “J-Jigs? Our Jigs?”
NJ laughed with Abbie as she came to stand by Beau. “Yeah, when I was sixteen. My ponytail kept falling out during our horse rides. One day he told me to ‘come here,’ and he twisted it up.”
I looked at Beau. “I need to have a conversation with your dad.”
He chuckled. “He’ll be up here later.”
“Yeah, sorry we’re early. The snow wasn’t letting up, and we just wanted to get the tree into the house as soon as possible.”
“We already have a tree,” Denver repeated.
My eyes bounced over to him. “This isn’t for the living room, honey.”
His mountain of a chest rose and fell slowly as he sighed through his nose. “Fucking hell,” he muttered before addressing Beau with a jerk of his chin. “Let’s go.”
Abbie shot me a wicked grin as Denver brushed by her to put on his hat and coat.
“Caleb! Get your shoes and coat on and come help.”
“Yes, sir.” As the men headed onto the porch, Caleb dashed up the stairs.