Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
HOLDEN
I ’m so fucking livid, there’s a red haze over my eyes. Millie’s gaze is wide, her brows pulled down in a frown, and she’s holding coffee.
“I just grabbed breakfast.” She stares at me with one cocky eyebrow lifted until I step back to let her inside. She sets the tray on the coffee table, then turns to me, her hands on her hips. “What the hell?”
“ What the hell?” Jesus, I want to shake her. I have to pace away from her, raking my hands through my hair. “I didn’t know where you were, and you’re fucking injured!”
“I’m feeling a lot better today, actually.”
I spin and glare at her. She doesn’t look sorry at all. In fact, she looks like she might laugh.
Fucking laugh.
“This is not funny.”
“What? I didn’t wake you so you could carry me into the coffee shop, so now I’m in trouble? Jesus, Holden, calm down.”
“That’s enough.” I cross to her and take her shoulders in my hands. “Don’t you stand there and fucking mock me because I’m freaked out that I woke up to find my injured wife gone. I called. I texted. You didn’t answer.”
“I forgot my phone.” She tips her chin up, not looking sorry or intimidated in the least, and I’ll be goddamned if that doesn’t turn me on.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“I laid down the ground rules, baby girl.”
“You listen to me, husband. I’m not an invalid. I woke up feeling damn good and wanted to do something nice for you, so I did. I won’t apologize for that. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
My heart is hammering. It hasn’t stopped since I discovered her gone from the bed and realized that she wasn’t inside this goddamn house.
I had a bad moment, forgetting that my fucking father is dead, and thought he might have—I swallow hard and let her go, stomping away from her.
“Listen, I know that you’re obsessed, and?—”
“For fuck’s sake.” I spin back around and stare at her. “You think I’m pissed because I’m obsessed with you? Christ, Millie, I’m not seventeen. I don’t have to be attached to your hip just because I’m smitten. I was fucking worried . You’re hurt, and I didn’t know where you went.”
“Well, now you know.” Her voice is like ice, and she shrugs as if she doesn’t give a rat’s ass, then shakes her head and reaches for her coffee. I have to take a long, deep breath to calm the fuck down. “Don’t be a dick about it.”
My eyes narrow, and I tilt my head to the side, my hands in fists.
Her gaze flicks down to my fists, then back to me.
“You won’t hit me.”
“FUCKING FUCK!” I yell and pace away, completely appalled. “Of course, I won’t fucking hit you! What has happened in the last few hours, wife? We went from fun, middle-of-the-night sex to this?”
“I’m mad,” she admits with a scowl. “And I don’t fight fair when I’m mad. I’m mean, and I talk back.”
“ You’re mad.”
“Yeah, I’m fucking pissed.”
“Looks like we’re on the same page, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Don’t call you sweetheart.”
“No.”
“Why?”
She’s still scowling at me. “Because you don’t call me that.”
I’m a foot away from her now, unaware that I was slowly stalking toward her. She’s not afraid of me because she hasn’t backed away. My hand circles the column of her throat, my thumb pressed to her pulse point, which is thrumming hard.
“What do I call you?” My voice is quiet but hard, and while her eyes are still spitting fire at me, she licks her lips.
“You already know the answer to that question.”
My little spitfire. God, I fucking love her.
“You want to tell me to fuck off, don’t you?”
“More than anything.” She swallows hard, and the movement under my palm urges me on.
“Then do it.”
“Go fuck yourself, Holden. ”
My lips immediately tip up into a wide grin. God, I love it when she does that. She looks so angry, so brave.
But her pulse gives her away.
“I’d rather fuck you , little rose.” I lean into her, not touching her anywhere but her throat, and she lets out a little whimper as I press my lips beside her ear. “My baby girl. My Rosie. My obsession.”
My thumb drifts up over her jawline, and now my lips hover over hers.
“My wife. ”
“Don’t kiss me.” There’s no strength behind her words, and her eyes are pinned to my lips.
“You don’t want my mouth on you, sweetheart?”
Those fierce eyes snap up to mine and almost knock me on my ass. “No, honey .”
“Too fucking bad.”
She doesn’t push me away when I cover her mouth with mine, urging her head to the side so I can devour her. No, she doesn’t try to get away; she leans into me, grips my bare sides, and pulls me to her.
I’m still mad, and we’ll be having a conversation, but first, I want her to submit to me.
I want all of her.
“On your fucking hands and knees, wife.”
She blinks at me, her jaw drops, and I narrow my eyes.
“I didn’t stutter.”
She frowns and looks like she’s going to argue, but then she smirks up at me and gets on the floor, on her hands and knees, her ass in the air.
Fuck me, she’s gorgeous.
“I’m not taking my clothes off,” she tosses over her shoulder, a smirk tugging at her delectable lips. “But you can get all the pervy satisfaction you want out of staring at my ass.”
How did I go eight years of my life without this woman?
I shake my head and walk away from her, and when she moves to get up, I simply say, “Stay.”
“Okay, Holden, that’s enough.”
“Stay,” I repeat, glaring at her, and march into the kitchen, taking an ice pack out of the freezer, then a single ice cube from the bucket, and return to her.
“You’re a bully.”
“No, I’m a pissed-off husband, and you’re about to be punished. Take your fucking clothes off.”
“Fuck you.”
“Oh, you will.” I lean down so her ear is level with my lips. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll never hurt you. Take your clothes off, little rose.”
She sighs, almost in relief, then takes off the cargo pants and panties, tossing them aside. Next, she pulls the sweater over her head and drops it onto her discarded pants.
She’s not in a bra, and I have to swallow hard. I’ll never get used to seeing her like this.
Naked and mine . She’s staring at me defiantly, but there’s trust there, too, and that fills me with satisfaction.
“Back where you were.”
She moves back to her hands, and I carefully drape a hand towel over her ankle and then place the ice pack over that.
“This got a little swollen this morning.”
She sighs, her shoulders droop, and I pop the single ice cube into my mouth before I kneel behind her and plant my face in her pussy, moving my cold tongue through her slit, and she jerks against me.
“Oh, God!” She pushes back against me. “It’s too cold.”
I don’t reply. I just keep going, licking and sucking and nibbling. When the ice has melted, I don’t slow down. I’m devouring her, making her crazy, and when I push two fingers inside of her, I can tell that she’s getting close to an orgasm.
So, I stop, pulling away from her completely, not touching her at all.
Millie gasps and stares back at me, her mouth wide.
“ Holden .”
“That’s not my fucking name.” I push my sweats down low on my hips, and my cock springs free. I palm it, gliding the crown through her slit and feel that it’s still cool from the ice. When the metal brushes her clit, she groans. “I’m going to fuck you hard, wife.”
“Yes,” she says with a sigh, hanging her head and pushing back against me. “ Yes. ”
“And you won’t come until I say you can.”
“Holden.”
“ That’s not my fucking name. ”
Her face is flushed, her lips shiny and pink, and I push inside of her, not stopping until my hips meet her ass and she’s moaning.
“Yes , husband. Fuck, yes.”
“Good girl.” Her pussy clenches around me at the praise, and my hips start to move. My hand glides from her ass, up her spine, and then fists in her hair. “You want to know why I’m so fucking mad?”
“Mmm.” She’s panting, rearing back against me.
“Wife, answer me.”
“Tell me.”
“Because I was afraid. ” I pull out all the way when I feel her start to come, and she shudders, glaring at me over her shoulder. “I was fucking scared, and not much in this life scares me anymore. I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t get to you.”
“It was j-just coffee.”
“No.” I lean over her and kiss her shoulder, sliding back into her. “It wasn’t just coffee. It was my world . You are my center of gravity, the reason my heart beats, the only thing that matters. You, Rosie.”
“Husband, please.”
I feel her starting to convulse around me, and I won’t stop her orgasm this time.
“I need you,” she says, reaching back for me. “Please, let me see your face.”
Pulling out of her, I gently turn her onto her back, then push back inside of her, and she cups my cheeks as I cover her, resting on my elbows at either side of her head.
“I’m sorry,” she says with tears in her eyes as I turn my face and kiss her palm. “I didn’t mean?—”
I cut her off, kissing her hard as I reach down and cover her clit with my thumb, rubbing over that little bundle of nerves until she’s writhing once again.
“Come for me, wife.” I suck on one nipple, loving the way her fingers feel clenched in my hair. “Come, baby girl.”
That’s all it takes for her to go over, her pussy rippling around me. My balls tighten, and then I’m coming with her, pushing over and over again, riding her through my orgasm.
“I’m sorry,” she says again, and when I open my eyes, I see that she’s watching me with wonder. “I really just wanted to get you coffee.”
“Next time,” I kiss her lips softly, “leave a note, little rose. Please.”
She grins and then laughs. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Where are we going?”
“This is the fourth time you’ve asked me that since we left the house.” I open my mouth when she offers me a bite of a muffin and take the lemony goodness from her. “We haven’t even made it through town yet. Impatient much?”
She smirks and takes a bite of her own sweet treat. She managed to warm up our coffees after we got dressed. How, I have no idea, but she’s the coffee expert, so I don’t really have to know.
“I don’t love surprises. They’re not usually good ones, honestly.”
I glance over and notice that she’s twisting the paper koozie on her cup, fidgeting.
“Hey, it’s nothing bad. I’d warn you if it wasn’t a good surprise. I don’t like those either.”
“Promise?”
I take one of her hands and lift it to my mouth, kissing that delicate spot on her wrist, just below her thumb. “Promise. I will tell you that we’re going out of town.”
“Like, to the ranch out of town, or to Sweden out of town?”
“I don’t have my passport on me.” I grin over at her. “You want to go to Sweden, baby girl?”
“Not really. It just popped into my head. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?”
“Maybe somewhere tropical in the winter.” I lift a shoulder. “It always sounds like a good idea to go somewhere warm in January.”
“That would be nice,” she agrees. “Get some vitamin D, sit by the pool, eat my weight in fresh seafood, seduce the cabana boy.”
Now I bite her wrist, making her laugh.
“Don’t worry, I was picturing you as said cabana boy.”
“Mm-hmm.” I kiss her wrist once more as I pull onto the freeway.
“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Guess.”
She scoffs and shoves more muffin into her mouth, and when I glance over, her eyes are narrowed. “We’re headed west, so…Missoula?”
I choke on my coffee. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t, I just guessed. What are we going to do there? Are we staying overnight? I didn’t pack a bag.”
“Not overnight.” I eye her and then turn my gaze back to the windshield. “Since you’re a mind reader now, you tell me what we’re doing.”
“I don’t know.” She deflates against the door with a dramatic sigh, making me grin. “Maybe it should be a surprise.”
Once my heart settled down this morning, and I made her sit with her ankle up on ice for at least thirty minutes, I told Millie to get ready to leave the house for the day.
She smiled like she’d won the fucking lottery.
I know she’s been getting cabin fever. She’s not used to being stuck at home for days on end. If she’d left a note or taken her phone so she could reply to me this morning, I wouldn’t have been angry in the least that she went to get coffee. But waking up to a still, empty house, and not being able to find my wife, was a moment I don’t want to relive any time soon.
“I think this morning is the first time I’ve seen you really pissed off,” she says. There’s no meekness there, no hesitation.
“I suspect that’s the maddest I’ve ever been at you.” I switch lanes, passing a truck. “It’s probably as angry as I get.”
“I was going to say, you’re usually pretty even-tempered. Not much riles you up. Now I know what does.”
I sigh, and Millie reaches over to lay her hand on my thigh, and I cover it with my own hand. “I have always been careful to keep my temper under wraps. My dad…well, there aren’t words for what a piece of shit he was, but his temper was legendary, and I don’t ever want to lose it the way he would.”
“You are not that man.” Her voice is hard. “Look at me.”
I glance her way and see her jaw set and her eyes narrow. “I see you, wife.”
“Listen, I probably would have been pissed, too, if the roles were reversed. Especially after what happened a few days ago. I still won’t apologize for going out, because that wasn’t wrong, but I am sorry that it scared you, and I promise that from now on, I’ll make sure to leave a note and remember my phone.”
“Thank you.” I squeeze her fingers. “That’s all I ask.”
“However, I can’t guarantee that I won’t try to rile you up again, because you’re intense when you’re mad at me, and in a sexy way, so…take that as you will, husband.”
My heart kicks up a notch, and I raise her hand to my mouth. “Are you just begging for me to find a back road out here in the middle of nowhere so I can make you come, Rosie?”
She snorts and pulls her hand away from me. “No. Ew. Some weird redneck would see us and get off on it, and that’s disgusting . ”
“You have quite the imagination, you know.”
She laughs and pulls her hair back from her face. “Oh, I know.”
The drive to Missoula doesn’t take long, especially on a beautiful, late-spring day, and just a few hours later, we’re pulling into the parking lot of the place where we have an appointment.
“A tattoo shop,” she says, and when I look at her, she’s grinning, practically dancing in her seat. “Is this where you go?”
“Usually. Rich, the owner, has done 90 percent of my work.”
“What about the piercings?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, those, too.”
“Fun. Let’s go.”
She waits for me to open her door, and I lift her out of the truck and gently set her on her feet.
“I’d prefer to carry you.”
“It’s okay, caveman. It’s not so bad today.”
She grins when I narrow my eyes at her, but she takes my hand and threads her fingers through mine.
“Come on, let’s go have some fun.”
For the first time in my life, I’m walking into Rich’s shop, Vintage Ink, when my heart isn’t broken and I’m not looking for a way to hurt my body so I can ignore the organ pumping in my chest.
It’s a completely different experience.
“Holden,” Rich says with a smile. The man is forty-five and the size of a football linebacker, and aside from his face and scalp, he’s covered in ink. He has a beard that a gang of bikers would be jealous of, and he looks like he could kill someone with his bare hands.
Because he probably could.
He’s also the kindest man I’ve ever met.
“Is this her?” His eyes move from me to my girl, and his gaze doesn’t leave her face. He doesn’t leer at her or check out her body.
Because he’s my friend, and he’s not a piece of shit.
“If by her you mean his wife, yep. That’s me.”
Rich’s gaze whips back to mine in surprise. “Wife?”
“This is Millie,” I confirm with a nod. “My wife.”
“Holy shit, that’s a turn of events. Does this mean I just lost your business?”
Rich knows why I spent so much time under his needle, and I can’t help but grin at him.
“Nah, I’ll just be in here for different reasons.”
Millie tucks herself against my side and gives me a squeeze.
“Well, slap my ass and call me Susan,” Rich says. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“You, too. Holy cow, you are one big work of art.”
Rich blinks at her, I frown down at her, and she shrugs.
“You are . Is that weird?”
Rich starts to laugh, and I join him, and Millie grins at both of us.
“What can I do for you, Mrs. Lexington?”
Millie’s cheeks darken with pleasure, and it makes me want to puff my chest up.
“Well, I’d like to have both nipples pierced, please. Wait.” She holds up a hand while my heart stutters to a stop. “Do you have a buy-two-get-one deal? Because if so, let’s throw in the clitoral hood, too.”
Again, he stares at her, and I lean down and press my lips to her ear.
“If you think this morning was intense, just wait until we get home, baby girl. Absolutely fucking not. ”
Millie bites her lip and then busts up laughing. “It was too easy! The looks on your faces. I don’t know, I’ve heard good things about the nipples, but?—”
“ Fuck no. ”
She smirks and then turns back to Rich, who’s folded his arms over his chest, watching us with a wide, amused grin.
“I just want a little heart with a date on the inside of my left wrist.” She glances up at me, and then back to him. “With an H.”
With an H.
“We can get that designed easily,” he assures her before turning to me. “And what about you? You said when you called that you’ll both be getting work.”
“I want her name on my left ring finger.”
“No.” I stare down at Millie’s horrified face. “No, Holden.”
“It’s my finger.”
“They’re my tits, and you won’t let me pierce them.”
Rich snickers. “I’m gonna go get the design going for your missus. You two work this out while I’m gone. Here, write the date on this for me.”
Millie complies, and Rich saunters away. I close my hand over Millie’s throat.
“I’m getting the ink, Millie.”
“It’s too much pressure.” This comes out as a whisper, and I frown.
“What do you mean?”
She licks her lips. “My name on that finger. Forever.”
Moving closer, my lips hover just inches over hers as she looks up at me with those gorgeous eyes.
“You’re all over me, baby. Every single one is you. The rose was just the start. There is nothing on this arm that doesn’t represent you . ”
Her jaw drops, her eyes widen. “What?”
“Every single image represents you or how I feel about you. So putting your name on me is nothing. Because you’re permanently printed on all of me, including my heart.”
“Fuck.”
I grin and brush my lips over hers lightly before I sink into her and hear her groan as she wraps her arms around me.
“Do you really want your nipples pierced?” I don’t know how I feel about that. At the end of the day, it’s her body, but I love it just the way it is.
“Fuck no. I hate needles. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Grinning down at her, I take her face in my hands. “I fucking love you.”
“I know. I’m a brat.”
“You’re my brat.”
“Okay, this is what I worked up,” Rich says as he returns to the reception area where we’ve been waiting by the glass counter. He sets the paper down for Millie’s inspection.
It’s dainty. A simple, small heart with an H in the middle and the date is one side of the heart. There’s even a little rose worked into the piece, and Millie’s breath catches as she stares down at it.
“Oh, this is perfect, Rich. Can you make the rose pink, to match Holden’s?”
“Duh.” Rich winks at her and then turns to me. “Do you want the same font on the name as in hers?”
“Yep.”
“Can do. Okay, come on back.”
He gestures for us to follow him back to his workroom. A place I’ve spent many hours in. Millie has her lower lip caught between her teeth as she walks through the door, and I reach out to tug the soft flesh free.
“We’re obsessed with sanitation here,” Rich informs her, busily putting on gloves, cleaning surfaces that he’s already cleaned, and then unwrapping new needles and getting them ready in his machine. “Everything sparkles. I already put your art onto a transfer.”
Millie sits in his chair and watches closely as he sets the image on her skin carefully, with her help to guide him exactly where she wants it.
I love that my girl isn’t shy.
“Okay, go look in the mirror, move your hand around, and do all the things to make sure it’s exactly where you want it because once we start, there’s no moving it.”
Millie nods and walks to the mirror. She holds her left hand down at her side and moves her hand around, watching the way it looks with the movement. Then she holds it up. Over her head.
Jesus, I can picture holding her arm over her head like that while I’m inside of her, staring at that tattoo.
I have to take a deep breath.
“Come here, Romeo. Let’s get yours set, too.” Rich smirks as I hold my hand out to him.
“Just above where the band goes. I want to wear both.”
“Facing you, or facing out?”
I narrow my eyes, thinking about it. “Out.”
He nods and carefully lays the transfer on my skin. As soon as he moves away and I look down, my heart stops.
I’ve been wearing the ring for weeks, but fuck, the ink makes it real.
She’s mine.
Forever.
“I like it,” Millie announces as she walks back to us. “I don’t want to change it.”
“Good deal. Have a seat, and we’ll get started.”
She follows his command, but I notice that her hands are shaking, so I take her free one in mine and sit next to her.
“I’m scared,” she whispers softly.
“It’s okay.” I lean in and kiss her cheek. “Because I’m not. Rich is the best. It’s going to sting, but he’s quick. You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to.”
“Okay.”
Rich turns on the machine, filling the room with a loud buzz , and her wide eyes fly to mine.
“Deep breath, Millie,” Rich says.
She takes that breath, and in the corner of my eye, I see him lower the needle.
“Oh.” She frowns at me. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Maybe I’ll get my nipples pierced after all.”
That makes us all laugh.
“Hurts about a thousand times worse than this,” Rich informs her. “And takes months to heal. It can be the right thing for a lot of people, but it’s not a walk in the park.”
Millie wrinkles her nose. “I’m good. Wait, do you have yours done?”
“Of course I do, honey,” Rich says with a chuckle. “I have just about everything done.”
“Yikes. Do you love needles?”
“Can’t stand ‘em.”
I grin at her, still holding her hand. God, I love her.
“How long did yours take to heal?” she asks me.
“Months. Hurt like a son of a bitch.”
She smirks, squeezes my hand. “But so worth it on this side of things.”
I lean in and press my lips to her ear. I don’t really care if Rich hears me; I just like to whisper at her because it makes her shiver.
“Every moment was worth it, for you, wife.”
“Aww, precious,” Rich says, his voice dry. “We’re almost done here, Millie.”
“Already?” She looks down and frowns. “I don’t mean to question your job skills, but it looks like a big, black blob.”
“That’s because I haven’t cleaned it up yet.”
“How can you even see what you’re doing?”
“I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive, little girl.” He grabs a paper towel and sets to work cleaning her up. “I know what I’m doing. Maybe I’ll come into your coffee shop and tell you how to make a mocha.”
“You know that I have a coffee shop?”
“I know a lot.” He winks at her and then says, “Have a look.”
Millie looks down at her wrist. I’ve already stopped breathing. It’s fucking gorgeous. But Millie starts to cry.
“Shit,” Rich grumbles. “I hate it when women cry.”
“It’s so…perfect.” She sniffs and then, to Rich’s horror, launches herself into his arms and hugs him around the neck. “You’re the best, Rich. This is so perfect . Thank you for being Holden’s friend.”
Tentatively, with his eyes on me to make sure it’s okay, Rich gently closes his arms around her and gives her a little squeeze.
“I’m glad you like it, honey. Now, get your butt out of my chair so I can work some magic on your man.”
“Okay.” Before she can move away, he covers her ink with some plastic, and then we switch places. Millie takes my hand in hers. “Are you nervous?”
I chuckle and give her a squeeze. “Terrified. Hold me.”
She laughs and presses a kiss over my tattooed knuckles as she clings to my right hand. My left arm is clean, no ink, until today when I’ll get her name on my finger.
“This is gonna go quick,” he tells me. “But the fingers hurt like a fucker.”
“I remember.” I nod. “It’s okay.”
The buzz starts again, and I turn back to Millie. Yeah, it hurts like a fucker, but I don’t mind.
“Is it really bad?” she asks.
“I’ve had worse. Did yours hurt really bad? The inner wrist is tender. I figured you’d squirm more.”
“I mean, it wasn’t a walk in the park, but it wasn’t too bad. Next time, maybe I’ll do my shoulder.”
That has me raising my brows in surprise. “Next time?”
“I’ve heard they’re addicting. It seems that might be true.”
“I didn’t lose a client. I gained one.” Rich grins up at me. “Score.”