Page 25 of Home For Christmas

I drove through the deserted streets of San Diego, over the bridge to Coronado, and snaked my way past the base entrance, then down the road to our house. Pulling up to the house, it was still lit up with Christmas lights, and three windows had brightly lit trees in them. I swore the outside lights were bright enough you could see our house from space. Every year I’d been surprised our neighbors didn’t complain.

With my SUV parked in the garage, I headed into the silent house, turning trees off as I went. I checked on the kids, surprised to find them both sleeping soundly. Creeping back down the steps, I made it to our bedroom, slowly stripping out of my clothes along the way. Ty was spread across the bed, the blankets at his feet, with a soft pink nightshirt bunched around his midsection and his ass sticking up in the air. The soft swell of his cheeks was covered by a pair of pink panties that he insisted constituted “sleep panties.” I preferred buck naked but still found Ty’s panties—cotton, satin, or lace—to be perfect.

Ty never moved as I brushed my teeth and stripped the rest of the way, depositing my clothes in the hamper in the corner of the room. He didn’t budge as I pushed the covers down to climb in, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I had a koala attach himself to my side.

“Smell good. Sleep. Nice. Yes. Home, love you,” Ty mumbled into my neck before he fell back asleep. I smiled, kissing his head softly before drifting off to sleep beside him, the tension from the day seeping from my body just feeling him snuggled against me.

Chapter 3

Ty

December 17th

“Jesus, I’ll never get tired of coming home to a view like that.” I’d been so engrossed in my personal packing hell I hadn’t even heard Declan arrive home, and I jumped sky-high.

It couldn’t have been that late in the evening. I’d only just gotten the kids down for the night. He’d been working so hard this week that we had rarely seen him unless we stopped over at the office. Declan, whether he’d admit it or not, hated to think he’d disappoint Oscar, so he worked his ass off to make sure Oscar never doubted his abilities or regretted his decision. No matter how many times Oscar told Declan he was blown away with how well the office was doing, Declan didn’t seem to believe it. Personally, I blamed his shit family for his insecurities and fear that people would drop him, but I kept that belief to myself.

Declan walked forward and wrapped me in his strong arms. My heart was still beating wildly in my chest, but Declan’s familiar feel and woodsy scent had my heart slowing. I took a deep breath and hummed as stress left my body. “Hi.”

We’d definitely missed him the last handful of days, but it was nothing compared to the months at a time he used to be gone when he was in the navy. I couldn’t remember the last time he hadn’t been in bed with me at night, but that didn’t always help when I was juggling bedtime routines with two toddlers. Most nights that week, I’d gotten Mason and Meadow to bed then sunk into a bath of my own, just trying to get their dinners out of my hair and hoping to not smell like a dirty diaper by the time my husband arrived home.

Of course, there’d been one night I’d collapsed on the bed, food and smells be damned. Thankfully Declan hadn’t seemed to notice when he’d crawled into bed after I’d been asleep. Even if he had, he’d put in nearly sixteen hours at the office and wasn’t going to care if I smelled, or had food in my hair.

That afternoon, we’d had a playdate with the parents group we’d joined right after the twins were born. They’d played so hard at the playground that it had been a struggle just to get them through dinner without them passing out in their high chairs. It had given me time to shower and slip on something a little more comfortable before I’d jumped into packing suitcases for the two-week trip to Oklahoma for Jasper’s commitment ceremony.

I was still struggling to believe that my brother was getting married. Well, as close as he could to marriage when three people were involved. I never thought I’d see the day. I just hoped we made it through the flight from California to Oklahoma with two two-year-olds. They were normally good fliers, but when you added a flight that started past their bedtime, there was no telling what would happen. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any other options since Declan still needed to work and the hours for the flights that weekend weren’t any better. Given how rare it was for the entire family to be able to get together for an extended period of time, we didn’t want to wait until Monday to fly out.

Strong hands rubbed down my sides, skimming over the satin nightie I’d put on after my shower, and firm lips met the tender skin where neck met shoulder. “It looks like a bomb went off in here.” He chuckled, his voice not much more than a whisper, sending chills down my spine.

“Have you met our children?” I responded, looking down at the suitcase I’d been working on. We were standing in the room I’d dubbed The Staging Area. Packages of diapers, sippy cups, a few bottles, toys, and clothes littered every surface.

Declan’s hands came to rest on my hips, his thumbs tracing small circles on the satin. “I have. I’ve also met their dad, who tries to be prepared for every possible situation.” He kissed my cheek, the day’s stubble grazing my jaw. “Your mom probably has an entire wardrobe for them there already. If we forget anything she doesn’t already have, there are plenty of stores around to pick things up at. It’s not like we’re going into the wild, uncivilized West.”

I snorted at his statement. Growing up, Pleasant wasn’t far from it, but he was right—it had changed a lot since we’d left. I sighed and leaned back into Declan’s solid frame. “You are radiating tension, I’ve got just the thing to help. Come on, Doc, let’s go to our bedroom.”

I wiggled my ass into his crotch, feeling his length thicken in his jeans. When Declan changed careers two years earlier, there had been times I’d seriously questioned his decision to manage a security firm here in San Diego. He’d put in more hours than he had on base for months, but over the last year, he’d been working more normal hours. I especially liked the nights when Mason actually slept through the night and we had a few hours just to ourselves.

My parents, Derek, and Jasper all told me Mason was exactly like I was at his age and this was simply my payback. I loved my family, but they were taking far too much pleasure in Mason’s monkey-like ability to get out of his crib and over a series of baby gates at midnight.

Declan leaned forward and nipped at my earlobe before whispering into my ear. “Let me take you to bed.”

Turning in Declan’s arms, I finally kissed his lips, letting out a loud moan when I tasted the peppermint and chocolate, probably the absurdly priced hot chocolate from the store down from his office. It was his guilty pleasure all winter long, and I wasn’t complaining. “You taste good,” I murmured against his lips as I pulled back.

Declan leaned forward and stole another kiss before taking my hand. “Come on, we’ve got limited time before the Monkey Hour is upon us.”

I groaned as I followed him down the steps and toward our bedroom. “Don’t remind me.”

Declan didn’t release my hand until we were in the bathroom and he was adjusting the temperature and spray setting on the pad outside the shower. It was a feature I’d thought was ridiculous when we’d bought the house but had quickly become my favorite—gone were the days of stepping into a cold shower.

Declan pulled his shirt off then turned to me, tugging gently at the red satin nightie I’d been wearing. There were days we had intense, need to replace my panties afterward sex, but I could already see that tonight wouldn’t be like that. Declan had that gleam in his eyes that meant he wanted to enjoy my body and our time together. Not that I could blame him. It would be the last time for two weeks we’d be alone in any sense of the word.

My breath caught in my throat when the rough pads of his thumbs grazed over my nipples as he worked the nightie up. Goosebumps rose on my skin and a shiver raced down my spine. Coming together with Declan never got old or routine. Each time was special and different; even missionary sex wasn’t boring.

He nipped at my neck and a giggle escaped my mouth. “Where the hell did you get those?” Declan asked as his eyes landed on the sheer lace pouch of my red panties.

There was a chance I’d been hoping Declan would make it home early enough to enjoy my newest find.

Declan let out a low whistle and spun me around. The lace gave way to intricate straps that crisscrossed across my ass and joined around a small ring that rested at the top of my crack. “Holy fuck, Doc.” Declan’s tone was reverent and my skin heated under his intense scrutiny.

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