Chapter 1 #2
Resisting the temptation to open the oven door and check on the cookies, a bubbling sound and the scent of something not quite right pulled his attention back to the stovetop.
He jerked the pot of hot chocolate to a different burner and stirred rapidly, leaning down to give a cautious sniff.
“Thank God.” He hadn’t burnt it.
Another quick peek out the window followed, even as Caleb tried to ignore the rising sense of panic caused by the approaching quartet.
It was just a holiday snack, for heaven’s sake. Surely he could manage this for his family.
By the time the mudroom door opened and the cold rushed in, he had successfully poured the hot chocolate into everyone’s favourite mugs and lined them up on the counter.
Tamara peered at him over the top of her glasses that had gone foggy after coming in from the cold. “Something smells delicious.”
Twelve-year-old Emma kicked off her boots then flung her coat toward a hook. Sasha knelt to help her little brother out of his coat, the fourteen-year-old calling out a protest when Tyler escaped and stomped across the kitchen floor still wearing his boots. “Tyler. No boots in the house.”
His news was too big to wait. Tyler threw his arms around Caleb’s leg. “Daddy. We saw puppies.”
Caleb scooped up the three and a half-year-old, carefully holding him so his dirty boots aimed toward the mudroom and away from the treats. “Puppies. Really?”
“Patchwork Annie is having her babies. Two, so far,” Sasha informed him. “Uncle Dustin’s taking care of them.”
“Well, then, she’s in good hands.” Caleb passed Tyler to Tamara as the timer went off on the oven. “Everybody with freshly washed hands can have a treat in the living room in two minutes.”
Tyler squirmed to be put down, catching hold of Emma’s hand and tugging her toward the bathroom. “Emma help,” Tyler ordered.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Emma gave Caleb a wink, her blonde curls bouncing as she accompanied Tyler down the hall. Meanwhile, Sasha used the sink in the mudroom, whistling a tune softly as she stared out the window, lost in thought.
At the kitchen sink, Tamara finish washing her hands as Caleb used a spatula to move fresh and gooey chocolate chip cookies to a cooling rack. “This is a nice surprise.”
Caleb lifted his shoulders in an easy shrug before leaving his task to come cup her face with both hands. Between the heat of the kitchen and the cold outside, it was a sharp contrast to have her skin against his palms.
He leaned in close. “Sometimes I need to make the world a little sweeter for the most important people I know.”
Then he kissed her, warm lips to cool, the heat between them steady and sure. And after the kiss, they spent the next hour together as a family enjoying the treats he’d made. Talking about everything and nothing. Plans for the coming year, puppies and kittens, and baby goats—dear God.
As the children before him laughed and Tamara’s eyes sparkled at him, Caleb counted his blessings.
He truly was a lucky man.
The wind increased in volume as it carried a lingering warmth across the lake, snowflakes whirling in circles, swooping left and right.
The lights of the newer home on the far side of Big Sky Lake shone off the clear icy surface while freezing temperatures crept frosty fingers around the edges of the bathroom window.
A steam-covered window that suddenly had a hand pressed to the middle. Palm sliding down the foggy surface as a low moan rattled the glass…
“Holy hell, that was amazing.” Kelli twisted, separating their bodies for long enough to spear her fingers into Luke’s hair and pull him to his feet. He went reluctantly, still tasting her pleasure on his lips.
He crowded her against the door, her naked skin pressed to his fully clothed body like a wicked daydream come to life. He’d caught her in the middle of taking a shower, and watching hadn’t been enough. Thankfully, she’d laughed as he’d hauled her from the shower stall and into his arms.
Going down on her in the bathtub area had been a spectacular natural progression.
Kelli stroked her fingers through his hair. “Thanks for that lovely interlude.”
“My line.” He kissed her gently. “Damn, I can’t get enough of you.”
“You’re like a wild man tonight.”
“Construction is officially finished. You said we should celebrate,” he reminded her, his gaze drifting over her body as he let every bit of his fiery need for her show. “Which means sex. Against every wall, every door, on every fucking floor.”
And then he wasn’t talking because his mouth was on hers, the hand behind her head capturing her in place so he could consume her.
Even as she kissed him back, wild and wet and sweet, Kelli dug her fingernails into his shoulders. The sharp bite sent a lightning zap along his nerve endings and upped the urgency to move. He needed her as much now as he had in the beginning.
A second later he had her swung up into his arms.
She curled her arms around his neck. “Which wall first?”
Fuck that. The truth was he didn’t have the patience for gymnastics tonight. “Walls later. Now I want you under me, screaming my name.”
“Fireplace?”
Hell, yes. Luke all but jogged to the area, Kelli laughing the entire time.
They’d been brilliant when they’d designed the house, even though some had questioned why they basically had two living spaces almost on top of each other.
One was a living room, a place for family and friends to gather. This cozy space to the side, with two easy chairs and a more intimate setting, was for him and Kelli. They had a fire in the airtight stove every morning, with quiet conversations and plenty of time to grow together.
Bonus? It had turned out to be a fantastic spot to get down and dirty.
Kelli’s amusement was clear, but so was the heat in her eyes as he carefully lowered her feet to the floor in front of the fire he’d lit after supper.
She curled her fingers into the material of his T-shirt and tugged him toward her. “You need to be naked.”
“Only parts of me,” he pointed out, waggling his brows.
“All of you,” she corrected, brushing her lips over his with a promise of more. “I want to see everything. The way firelight looks on that sexy body of yours should be illegal.”
“Oh?” Luke ripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest. “I hope you need to look really close.”
“Absolutely.” Kelli traced a finger down his chest, lingering on his stomach muscles.
A shiver rolled over his skin. God, what this woman did to him.
She undid the button on his jeans, unzipping them just far enough to slip her hand under the fabric and cup his cock.
Luke moaned. “Fuck.”
A soft laugh escaped her as she magically kept hold of him and eased his jeans off his hips. They fell to the floor, and he somehow kicked them off even as Kelli adjusted her grip to stroke more firmly.
Pleasure jumbled through him at her touch, at the soft stroke of her skin under his palms as he filled his hands with her breasts. Kelli threw the soft quilt off her chair to the floor, and they ended up on it in a tangle of limbs and lips.
Need and desire, heated touches and passionate kisses, all bathed in firelight glow. Kelli straddled him and eased herself onto his shaft.
They both groaned. Then their gazes met, and they laughed.
Luke’s hands fisted on her hips as Kelli undulated over him. The feel of her sex surrounding him was everything physical sensation could offer, but it was the more that made this perfect.
The laughter in her voice, the care in her touch. The little sounds that escaped her as he rocked upward and met her stroke for stroke.
The trust between them. Growing bigger and bigger every moment, every day, every year.
“I love you.” He said the words while staring into her face.
Her eyes brightened just seconds before she gasped, head falling back as her pussy tightened down on him with a demand he couldn’t ignore. He gave in to the release that tore out of him with a heat that all but melted his bones.
Kelli draped herself over him, the fire crackling nearby. Their breath still ragged, but contentment a blanket that covered them with as much heat as the fire.
Sparks flew up the chimney and out into the night. Caught by the wind, they danced for a few brief moments before dying. The ashes were carried on the wind toward the small cottage across from the other two homes. Here the mood was far more somber…
Tucker stirred the soup in the pot on the stove and tried not to get caught constantly peeking at Ginny. It was tough, though. So tough.
She looked as if she’d been run over by a herd of horses.
His Ginny, always so full of vim and vigour, sat curled up in the corner of the couch. She held a book in her hands, but during the last ten minutes her head had tilted sideways, eyelids falling closed.
She’d barely eaten any supper, and she’d been sleeping terribly. Nothing made a man feel more powerless than not being able to help the woman he loved.
Tucker stuck his finger into the soup to check it for temperature before pouring it into a mug. Also, nothing was worse than catching a cold over the holiday season.
Of course, that’s if it was a cold…
Mug in hand, he settled on the coffee table in front of her, staring at her face, the warm lights of the fire reflecting off the reddish tinge in her hair. Yeah, she looked exhausted.
He’d never been more in love with her. More convinced that she was beautiful, through and through.
“I can feel you staring at me.” Ginny cracked one eye open. She watched him silently for a minute then wiped a hand across her lips. “If I was drooling, you’re not allowed to tell me that.”
He reached forward, exchanging the warm soup for the book he stole from her fingers. “If you had been drooling, I would tease you mercilessly. But alas, nothing from you but the cutest little snores.”
Ginny snorted. “Get out.”
“Not so little snores?”