Page 45 of Stolen Holidays
Jace pats me on the back. “You did good, brother.”
“Thanks. I knew I had to get her here for Christmas Day.” I was scared Diana wouldn’t take the risk. I think having Silla behind bars is helping Diana find her voice too. Mother and daughter need each other, now more than ever and especially during the holidays.
“Good choice. She looks beyond happy with her present.” Jace’s observation has me watching Callie.
She holds onto Diana’s hand like she’s afraid her mom will disappear. But her smile does me in. Callie’s entire face is lit up like a Christmas tree.
“She does, doesn’t she?”
“It’s always the sentimental gifts.” Jace winks at me before taking off to welcome our parents.
I’m hit with a bolt of electricity straight through the heart as Callie’s eyes find mine. She blows me a kiss just as the lightshow on the inn kicks on. The dancing lights sparkle in her abyss-colored eyes, taking my breath away.
Callie is hands down the best Christmas present I’ve ever received, and I plan on cherishing my gift until my last breath.
nineteen
Emery
Two Days Until Christmas
Itietheredribbon under my breasts and take one last look in the mirror.
Hair smoothed to perfection? Check.
Sexy red nighty and matching panties? Check.
Lips painted red the way Mason likes? Check.
For some wild reason, tonight I’m nervous about seducing my husband. It’s probably because I look and feel like a beached whale ready to pop. I’m due after Christmas, but my OB/GYN has said babies arrive when they want to, and since I’m past thirty-seven weeks, this little man can make his appearance any day now.
A pain stabs me in the ribs as my son moves and kicks, reminding me of his presence.
“Hey now, none of that. It’s bedtime,” I croon as I rub my hands over my swollen belly. “I need alone time with Daddy, you hear me?” He settles at the sound of my voice, and I hope that for the next thirty to forty-five minutes, he doesn’t move.
This last week has been a flurry of holiday activities, family time, and secret wedding planning. I’m looking forward to an evening alone with my sexy man.
These pregnancy hormones are no joke. Since I entered my third trimester, I’ve been slightly hornier than usual. While Mason and I are as intimate as ever, there is something missing, and I’ve finally figured out what.
Mason has been the best husband, catering to my every need since we found out I was pregnant, but that thing I said was missing…well, it’s a piece of Mason. He’s been holding back from me, and I hate it. I wish he would just be my grumpy, growly man and throw me onto the bed and have his way with me like he used to. Lately, he’s been over-the-topprotective, treating me like I’m made of glass, and I’m over it.
From the moment I agreed to plan Eli and Callie’s surprise wedding, my husband has been insufferable. He’s attached himself to my hip since we’ve arrived at the inn, and he refuses to let me decorate the barn alone. I think the attempts on both Eli and Callie’s lives have rattled him. But he doesn’t need to worry. The baby and I are perfectly healthy. There is nothing lurking in the shadows waiting to get us.
Tonight, I plan on reminding him just how safe we are. I want him to be here in the present with me. We need this before our son flips our world around and we become a family of three.
Grabbing my toiletries bag, I pull out the gift my brother, Chris, gave me before we left the house. Chris—who is beyond inappropriate—gifted me a new battery-operated boyfriend when he found out Mason threw my old one away in a fit of jealous rage when he busted me using it in the shower without him. It was one of the last times he let go of his restraint and made love to me like he did that first Valentine’s weekend, when we fell in love.
The memories of him bossing me around make my clit throb. I cross my legs to ease the ache at the apex of my thighs and take a deep breath.Now or never.
I pull open the bathroom door and lean against the frame—the toy hidden behind my back—waiting for my darling husband to notice me. I don’t have to wait long. Mason is as attuned to me as I am to him. Like extensions of the same soul, we gravitate towards each other.
“Holy fucking shit,” he hisses from where he’s lying in bed, wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and nothing else. His eyes linger on my chest a little longer, appreciating the fullness pregnancy has given my breasts, before he finishes taking in my outfit. Or lack thereof.
In a voice as seductive as I can make it, I ask, “Like your present, Mr. Bossy?” then bite my red lip and wait.
The red teddy I picked was a last-minute purchase at the lingerie store. The sheer red lace top has spaghetti straps, opens under my boobs, and flows down in a satin curtain around my swollen belly. One tug on the bow beneath my breasts, and I’d be topless. Instead of the thong, because being pregnant made a scrap of material up my butt beyond uncomfortable, I chose a pair of lace cheeky panties.
I watch in satisfaction as his pajamas tent before my eyes, his erection growing at the sight of me.
