Page 66 of Welcome Home for Christmas
“Inside me.”
A slow grin settled on his mouth. He ran a hand down her inner thigh and pulled one of her long, smooth legs open to make room for him. Then he lowered his face to the soft ridge of her hip bone, sprinkling one kiss, two. “I love to be inside you,” he said, his voice heavy with need. “My tongue loves to be inside you.”
A little gasp left her as he scraped his jawline up the inside of her thigh, bringing his mouth to her peak. He ran his tongue over and inside her, finding the one spot that made her buck against him, and not because it tickled. No, he was guessing this spot burned through her with each slow, rhythmic stroke. Each stroke burned through him, too.
“Please,” she said breathlessly above him a few minutes later.
He didn’t want to stop, though. This felt as good to him as it seemed to feel to her. He loved pleasing this woman.
“Please. I want to feel you inside me,” she begged.
“Iaminside you.” Relenting, he crawled over her body, slowly, until his mouth finally found hers again.
“You know what I mean,” she said, as he pulled back and looked at her.
In the moonlight he could see her eyes, hooded with desire. He wanted to meet that desire. Every night, just like this.
He lifted off her and grabbed a condom from the pocket of his pants. “You’re staring,” he said as he ripped the wrapper and rolled it on. He didn’t take long. Settling back over her, he pressed himself between her legs and slid in as if he had been made just for this purpose.
Allison’s eyes closed, her lips parted. He nibbled on her bottom lip and thrust himself, slow at first and building to a speed that made him ache. He resisted his release, wanting to continue just like this all night and well into Christmas morning. Well into forever.
Allison’s nails bit down into his lower back. She arched, sending her body flush with his, pressing him so damn deep inside her that his release came sudden and unexpectedly. He groaned as he came hard. Harder because he could hear her moans as she came with him. After a moment, their bodies softened together.
Troy fell back on the bed beside her. “That was pretty perfect, if you ask me.”
“Mmm.” Allison turned her head and smiled. The hooded look of desire was replaced by a sleepy satisfaction now. She lifted her head and propped herself on his chest, her hair disheveled around her face. “I need a shower. Care to join me?”
He lifted a brow. Then he pulled her up as he sat. “A shower sounds good.” He held her tighter as he stood with her legs curled around his waist. Carrying her to the bathroom, he closed the door and worked on improving upon perfection.
The next morning Troy found himself humming an upbeat holiday tune as he drove the short distance from Allison’s to his house. It was Christmas. He thought he’d be skipping the holidays this year. Instead, he was oozing cheer, all because of a certain redhead with long legs, green eyes, and a smile that he’d seriously consider taking a bullet for. He’d meant it when he’d told her she needed to start putting herself first more often. But since she was too busy caring for everyone else around her, he was going to put himself in charge of taking care of her today.
And he was going to start by getting her a Christmas gift. Something fun. Maybe lingerie.
He parked, walked inside his house, and started the coffee brewing. Then he sat at the kitchen table. It was both regrettable and for the best that he hadn’t been able to stay in Allison’s bed all morning. She was going back to her parents’ home for breakfast and gifts, and he had business to take care of as well. Allison had changed his mind about Christmas. And family. Family took care of one another. They loved each other unconditionally. Even if they hated your choices in life.
An hour later, after coffee and a shower, Troy pulled into his mother’s driveway. He’d thought about borrowing that Santa suit from Mercy’s Place again. He was going as himself this morning, though. No apologies for who he was, whether his brother David liked it or not.
The house was quiet as he walked in. His mom liked to sleep in on Christmas. Knowing her, when she finally crawled out of bed, she’d spend the rest of the day cooking like a crazy woman. Troy walked to the Christmas tree in the living room, remembering what Allison had told him about staring at the lights without blinking, until the colors merged and blurred. He stood there, holding his breath, thinking of her as a child needing to escape to someplace magical.
“What are you doing here?” a deep voice bellowed behind him.
Troy blinked. He knew the voice before he turned around. “Hey, David.” It’d been a year since he’d spoken to his brother. Almost to the day.
David didn’t smile, didn’t walk up to hug him. Not that Troy had expected he would. “Mom said you weren’t coming this year.”
Troy stood and faced his brother. “You told me I wasn’t welcome.”
Something crossed David’s expression. His mouth twitched. “Since when do you listen to what I have to say?” He stared at Troy for a long moment before a small smile curved the corner of his mouth. “Back in the day we would’ve handled things with an old-fashioned rumble in the dirt, rather than going silent for a year.”
“Those were the good ol’ days,” Troy said.
“What I’m trying to say is I, uh, said some things I maybe regret last year.”
This was news to Troy. “Yeah?”
David nodded. “Listen, this is your home. I had no right to tell you not to come back.”
“Yeah,” Troy agreed. “You didn’t.”
