Chapter 4
Chapter Four
The next day, I’m groggy and disoriented as I realise with a queer smile that we never actually made it to the bedroom. Or, at least, I didn’t.
I peel my eyes open, and instead of waking beside my hulking lumberjack of a husband, his heavy snores making his hairy chest rise and fall next to me … I find a very different and very not hairy chest attached to someone who, right now, I can only describe as a real life Sleeping Beauty.
Juniper rests her head peacefully on a cushion in my lap. After a whole night on the sofa, her fringe—or bangs, as she’d probably say—still somehow fall perfectly over her eyebrows as she sleeps. And with her wavy chestnut brown hair swept back from her face, she looks angelic.
I frown. Her fringe really is perfect. I tried cutting one exactly once in my adult life, and was only ever able to achieve such perfection with the aid of a heated curling iron – which also gave me a wicked burn on my forehead. My fringe did cover it, but I was too scared to ever try again.
She shifts slightly in my lap, and her button nose twitches like a rabbit, making her septum ring wiggle in place.
Damn. She is so much cooler than I’ll ever be. I blink. Not that I care. Not that I fancy her or anything …
Of course Juniper had not intended on staying over last night, so I offered her my spare pyjamas after slipping out to grab my own.
We settled in for movie number two, while Ethan lasted to the credits of Moulin Rouge then opted to go to bed and “leave us to it.” But when I returned in my cosy but very unsexy and unromantic Christmas pjs—a matching button down shirt and lounge pants combo with little reindeers all over them—Juniper told me, “I usually just sleep in underwear and a top.” And she had stripped down to just that.
I ended up leaving my other extremely sexy and romantic two-piece set—this time with little candy canes on them—to one side, then promptly rejoined her on the sofa, where she kindly pulled the blanket over us both.
And it wasn’t weird.
Or sexy.
Or anything out of the ordinary at all …
Though I really should have brought sexier pyjamas. It is our honeymoon after all.
I run my fingers through Juniper’s hair. I stroke her hair once or twice more, absentmindedly, then—
What am I doing?
I carefully shift my weight from beneath her then slip out and off the sofa, gently laying the cushion back on the space where I’d slept.
I pad across the living space, my fluffy socks softening my footsteps as I creep towards the huge front windows.
Then I gasp.
The remnants of last night’s storm blanket the ground in an expanse of pristine white. Long fingers of warm morning light stretch towards the cabin, filtering through the crowding firs. Everything sparkles. Everything is merry and bright.
I can’t tell how thick the snow has settled, and I don’t want to chance opening the door in case I wake Juniper, but I’ve got a feeling we won’t be going anywhere by car today.
I glance back at her, smiling yet unsure.
We’ll likely need a shovel and a shit tonne of grit to get her back to her campervan.
I bite my lip. To be honest, now we have the chance to get Juniper out of here, I’m not so sure I want her to leave.
Making my way down the corridor to our room, I linger at the door, left ajar.
Ethan has certainly made himself at home.
Lying face-down, diagonally across the mattress, his long legs form a mound beneath the covers while sunlight dapples his wide back, casting playful patterns from the gently stirring trees.
His head rests on his hands, elbows splayed out, as his snores rumble into the pillow.
I have never loved him more.
I leave him to sleep and head over to our little cabin kitchen, where I make our morning coffee. I wonder how Juniper takes hers? Maybe she doesn’t even drink coffee. I guess I’ll have to wait to find out.
I pad back to our bedroom and set the steaming mugs down on the small bedside table.
“Good morning,” I say softly, perching beside Ethan on the bed. I trail my fingers down his bare back, and he rolls over, his long lashes fluttering as he opens his eyes to gift me his first smile of the day.
“Good morning,” he says, all sexy and gruff. He shifts back to lie on his side, making room for me to slide in beside him. “And where were you last night?”
My cheeks heat. “Sleeping with Juniper,” I say, and he barks a laugh.
“Shh!” I put a finger to his lips, a playful scold. “She’s still asleep!”
He grins. “Well then, it must be my turn.” He kisses my neck and I melt back into the mattress.
I gaze up at the twinkling fairy lights above as he unbuttons my shirt, planting kisses all the way down.
“Your turn for what?” I ask breathlessly.
He looks up at me with burning desire. “To sleep with my gorgeous wife,” he croons. Then he discards the lower half of my pyjamas.
Goodbye reindeers, hello heat.
I lie back, legs spread, eagerly awaiting his touch.
It’s been so long. Too long.
Ethan kneels before me, using his knees to spread my legs further apart. Then he lowers himself, hooking his arms under my thighs to grip my hips while he continues his trail of kisses.
I shiver with rapture. He drives me crazy. I need him. I need him now.
Ethan tortures me with kisses and caresses, his breath hot as his beard tickles my inner thighs.
I close my eyes as his tongue finds my clit, tasting and teasing until I’m wet with pleasure. “Oh, God.” A moan escapes me as he slips in one finger—and then two, so it’s like he’s fucking me and eating me out at the same time.
Yes! This is what I’ve been waiting for. This is what I’ve been yearning for. This is why we’re here.
He steadies me, stopping and going, teasing me until I grow rampant with want.
Take me. I beg. Take me now.
My legs tremble and he grips my bucking hips as he laps me up then lingers there, blowing cool air over my raging heat.
“I want you,” I breathe, looking down at him, brimming with desire.
I fist his hair, and his gaze flicks up at me, arrestingly hungry. “I know,” he says with a cheeky smile. Then he drops back down to thrill me some more.
Holy fucking shit.
He edges me, bringing me closer and closer, until I’m looking up, way up, past the fairy lights and beyond, past the sky to the stars above.
“Oh. My. God.” I writhe and moan. “Yes,” I say. “Fuck you’re hot.”
I come apart, losing myself in the moment, in this sudden overwhelming bliss. I take it all in, an urgent, sensual joy rippling through my body before I find my calm once more.
“Fuck.” I eye him, beckoning him up and over, and he gladly obeys. I reach for him and take hold.
“Yes, baby.” He kneels over me, surrounding me, his hands either side of me, his strong arms a cage of my own making. He wipes his mouth with a grin, and I chuckle.
I’m all over his face.
I give him a squeeze, grinning back. I’m all over his cock too.
He holds himself over me, panting and groaning as I work his shaft up and down, applying just enough pressure to make sure he sees the stars too.
“Fuck. Mia.” He groans some more, and I delight in coaxing out his most carnal calls.
I can’t remember the last time he said my name in such a way.
I work him until his frenzied moans seem to near their peak, and then I guide his swollen tip to my clit and work us both until we’re gasping together, reaching for that climax.
But no. I ease back. Not yet.
“Fuck me,” I say with a wicked smile, and Ethan flips me over then drags me back to the edge of the bed. I giggle and squirm, rising up to all fours, then push back to meet him as he stands to take me from behind.
“Oh, fuck you’re gorgeous.” He grips my hips and I look back at him, my hair falling over my shoulder as his gaze devours me. “You’re incredible.” He pants as I rock back against him, gasping with pleasure and ecstasy.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I tell him as he thrusts into me, and I meet him there with an unrestrained fervour, the pleasure consuming us both whole.
We shift and grind, our bodies entwined, my mind a blur of fucking bliss.
“Come for me,” I tell him, arching my back in that way I know he loves.
He grins, pumping into me harder and faster while I suck my fingers then reach underneath to circle myself and come again with him inside me. “Yes, baby,” he calls as I come apart with a groan of pleasure. “Just like that.” He groans, losing himself in our touch.
I tighten around him, taking him with me, taking us all the way.
“I’m gonna come.” He moans, and I look back at him again, pushing him right over the edge.
He grips my hips and shudders, pouring into me.
I push back, taking him in as he unravels, gasping and groaning, until we both collapse in the mess of covers.
Yes.
We lay there a while, eyeing each other, sharing our smug, satisfied smiles as we try to catch our breath.
I’m positively buzzing with delight, but, as I am wont to do, I turn to him and ask, “Do you mind if I …?”
“Go for it,” he says, his eyes shining, his gaze pinned to mine as I reach down one more time.
I play with myself, feisty and fast. Then I finish and smile, taking my bonus hit before we lay there in bliss, surrounded by each other and the snow-covered forest, in this perfect place at the perfect time.
Yes. Oh, yes. I one hundred percent needed this.
Our coffees are stone cold by the time we gather enough energy to reach for them, and Ethan offers to get us fresh ones while I shower—an offer I readily accept.
He shoves on his grey joggers and a t-shirt then moseys out while I lay there a moment longer, lingering in that happy, fuzzy place between lust and all-consuming love.
I should probably get up too. I roll out of bed and cross the hallway, completely naked, still half-mindless, floating on that yummy post-sex high. I reach for the bathroom door then pause. There’s someone at the other end of the hall.
Juniper. Fuck!