Home for the Holidays (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  “Eventually Jenna’s folks came around, mostly because we had gotten married, so the ‘scandal‘ was reduced. But I was working long hours, and she was stuck with a baby in a small apartment.”

  “Couldn’t you have stayed with your parents or hers?” asked Nelly.

  “Yeah, but I was a husband and father and I was going to provide for my family, so we got a little apartment. It was my pride that kept me from asking for help from the family. My stupid pride. I didn’t see how it was affecting Jenna. She was bored and tense all the time. Maybe even some postpartum depression. But I refused to listen to her when she wanted us to move in with her folks.

  “By the time Tyler was three, it was clear that it would be best for all if we separated.”

  “You don’t have to tell me this.”

  “I want to.”

  She hugged him tight and his arm tightened around her.

  “We decided to stay together through the holidays, Thanksgiving with my family then Christmas with hers. Only she and Tyler wouldn’t leave after the holidays. They would stay there and I’d go home to my small lonely apartment alone.

  “But then the tobogganing incident. He’d had a bit of a tumble and I stuck on a Ninja Turtles Band-Aid and he was good to go. But when she saw it, she went ballistic. She screamed she couldn’t do it anymore. She was leaving for her folks’ home now.

  “She picked him up and carried him to the car. I can still hear him screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy.’” His voice was bleak and thick with unshed tears. Nelly sat up and pulled his head to her, cradling him against her chest as she ran her hand over his back.

  “I just stood there, paralyzed. I wanted to grab my son back and make a run for it, but I knew he was better off with her. I knew she’d be generous with the visitation. And she loved my parents. She wouldn’t deprive them of their grandson. So I let her go. I stood there and watched her buckle Tyler into his car seat and back down the driveway. I walked to the end of the drive to wave at Tyler until the car was out of sight. I watched her drive to the four-way stop sign at the end of the street. I watched her stop and signal her left-hand turn. And then I watched her start the turn and then I watch the drunk driver in the SUV plow into the passenger side. Poor little Tyler didn’t have a chance. That side of the car was absolutely crushed.

  “So many people came rushing to the car. They pulled me away when they saw me cutting my hands trying to pull the door open when it was clear there was nothing to be done for my little boy. Some others got the driver’s door open and pulled Jenna out. But I could tell from their faces she was gone, too.

  “And then he came staggering out of the SUV. Not a scratch on him. He looked at the destruction he had caused and tried to get back in the SUV. I was on him, pulling him out and pummelling before anyone could stop me. It took six of them to pull me off or I’d be in jail for manslaughter.

  “It’s been more than ten years, but sometimes it feels like it was yesterday.”

  She cradled him tighter. He pressed his head against her breasts and sobbed until he could cry no more. She made soothing noises and held him tight. Eventually, he quieted and the tension seeped out of his shoulders and seemed to have moved lower.

  “I’m sorry for getting your top all wet and stuff.” He was clearly embarrassed by his weakness, talking to her breasts since she still had a tight grip on his head. She loosened her hold slightly. He turned his head slightly to stare at one of the nipples poking through the thin fabric. He suckled the nipple through the fabric, biting down slightly.

  Nelly moaned. He moved his mouth to her other nipple and repeated the action.

  “You know, Jack, I think you have just gotten my top even wetter. Maybe I’d better take it off?”

  Before she could even move, before she could change her mind, Jack had her, top off, and she was on her back with his head buried in her breasts again. If his mouth had felt great through the top, the sensation of mouth on base skin was toe curling. He gave each nipple equal attention. He looked up at her. She saw the desire in his eyes, and he must have seen the same in hers, because he dipped his head and worked his way lower.

  She felt desire curling in her stomach as he reached down to remove her panties. Once he was done, he stood at the foot of the bed, staring enigmatically at her. She spread her legs to give him a better view and better access. He stared, pushing down his boxers, letting his erection spring free. It was an impressive sight in both girth and length. Her first thought was if she could accommodate him. Her next thought was that she’d give anything to find out.

  He crawled back into bed, settling between her legs, spreading her folds and going to work with his tongue. He licked up and down each side of her clit. She moaned and tried to manoeuvre her lower body to get him to lick where she wanted him to, but he just laughed. She could feel the puff of laughter against her private parts, and she moaned. He hesitated.

  “Don’t you dare stop,” she threatened.

  He laughed again and resumed his activities, moving lower to the entrance to her pussy. First he rimmed it with his tongue, tasting her arousal that was leaking out of her. Then she almost shot up off the bed when he stuck his tongue inside her. He mimicked the sex act, flicking his tongue in and out of her. Then he replaced his tongue with one large finger. She groaned and clamped down on it with her pussy. He wiggled it and then pulled it out. Before she could react, he was pushing two fingers back inside her and his tongue had moved again. While he fucked her with his fingers, he licked her clit. Once. Twice. She moaned, fluid leaking out of her as she felt the flutters begin. Then her pussy started convulsing. He curled his fingers toward the front of her pussy, rubbing hard on her G-spot while sucking hard on her clit. She had to stuff her hand in her mouth to keep from screaming her release.

  He moved up her body, massaging her lightly, soothing her as the remnants of her orgasm still fluttered through her. When he was face-to-face with her, he kissed her lightly and then, looking straight into her eyes, he pushed his cock into her pussy. She wrapped her legs around his hips, trying to make him go faster, but she couldn’t budge him. Slowly, inch by inch, he entered her, until he was all the way inside and they were fully joined. She had never felt so full, so stretched, so desperate to be fucked. She started moving her hips again. He chuckled and started slow, measured strokes out and back in, out and back in, gradually picking up speed. She could feel another climax building. She tried to urge him faster, deeper. He grasped her legs and put them over his shoulders so he could go deeper inside her. She grasped the bedclothes beside her, gathering them in her grasping fingers as she felt her orgasm get closer. Without warning, she felt it rippling through her. Her body arched, and her pussy clamped down on his cock, milking it as he pounded into her. Suddenly he went still between her thighs, his cock buried deep in her. Then she could feel his hot cum shooting deep into her pussy as he grinded his pelvis against her, rubbing her tender clit with his pelvic bone, causing new shudders to run through her like a series of aftershocks.

  When he was spent, he collapsed, careful to keep most of his weight off her.

  “I’m sorry,” he began, and she started to die a little inside. “I’m sorry, I should have used a condom. But I swear to you, I’m clean. I had a physical last month and haven’t been with anyone since.”

  She relaxed. “It’s okay. I’m on the pill. I have the most erratic periods otherwise.”

  He relaxed, too, moving to his side. He pulled her close and she rested her head on his shoulder. In moments, they were both asleep.

  Chapter Eight

  It was the heavy arm across her back that woke her up. She found herself sprawled half on and half off his body. She tried to get more comfortable, but he was rock hard and sound asleep. Poor baby had done more of the work last night. In fact, he had woken her up twice more that night to make love and once to fuck. She was so tired that the last time, he was already inside her and moving before she was fully awake. It was a wonderful way to wake up.
>
  Hmm. She should return the favour. She looked down his body. He was sporting what the guys called “morning wood.” She slid down, under his arm, and positioned herself over his cock. It was truly an impressive sight in daylight. She leaned down and licked it from root to tip like an ice cream cone. Then she swirled her tongue around the head and across the slit. He groaned, and his cock seemed to grow before her eyes.

  She looked up. “Good morning.” Then she lowered her mouth over the head and sucked, hard. He groaned. She sucked again. Then she opened her mouth wide and took as much as she could inside. Between his size and the angle lying down, she couldn’t get much inside. So she grasped him with her right hand, just below her mouth, and as she suctioned and pulled up with her mouth, she pulled down with her hand.

  He groaned harder, his back arching. And then his cock twitched and he was coming, his seed shooting into her mouth. She swallowed it all and then delicately cleaned his cock with her tongue.

  When she finished, she kissed her way up his body, ending with a kiss on his mouth. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard on her mouth. He reached down and squeezed her butt cheeks.

  “Have you ever had a cock in your ass?” he whispered.

  She shook her head. She shivered at the thought. It was so naughty, yet exciting. She could feel the cream leaking between her thighs at the thought, and he could feel it, too, as he moved his hand between her legs.

  He smiled broadly. “You’ll love it. We’ll start working it. In the meantime…” He gave her a light smack on the ass and hopped out of bed, walking to the bathroom and whistling to himself.

  She leaned back in the bed, smiling. She must have been daydreaming, because it only seemed like a few minutes later that he swept back into the bedroom, picked her up, and carried her into the bathroom, where a steaming bubble bath awaited. He stepped in and sat down carefully, positioning her on his lap. Then he picked up a bottle of body wash, poured some in his hand, and started washing her. He washed her arms and legs and between her legs until she was moaning and writhing. He then positioned her so she was straddling him and lowered her gently onto his cock. She tried to move, but he held her in place. He took a soapy finger and rubbed it between her ass cheeks. Then he pressed his finger against her rosette. She tensed, but he rubbed her back with his other hand.

  “Relax” he whispered in her ear as his finger slipped in to the first knuckle. It felt…weird. A little dirty, a little hot. She moved almost involuntarily, and he pushed his finger in deeper, swirling it around. With his cock inside her pussy, she felt full, and his finger seemed to trigger nerve endings she didn’t know existed. She felt an overwhelming need to move, so she lifted herself up and down his cock, which also had the effect of fucking her ass on his finger. She held on to his shoulders as she moved faster. He took the opportunity to insert a second finger and at the same time manoeuvred his free hand between their bodies and pinched her clit. She felt like she was breaking into a thousand pieces as her orgasm slammed through her. He pulled his fingers from her ass and used both his hands to grasp her hips and hold her still as he slammed up hard into her before shooting his cum deep inside her.

  She slumped against him. He whispered in her ear, “If you liked my fingers, wait until you feel my cock in your ass.”

  Before she could respond, he picked her up and set her down beside the tub. He pulled the plug so the water could drain out and grabbed a big fluffy towel to dry her with. They were interrupted by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead and went to answer it.

  When she finished and walked into the bedroom, he was already dressed and didn’t seem to be in the mood to fool around anymore.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Is there anyone you’ve pissed off enough that they might want to kill you?”

  Chapter Nine

  She felt her knees buckle as she sat down on the bed more abruptly than she meant to.

  “What are you talking about? What makes you think someone was trying to kill me?” She was puzzled and scared. What the hell was going on?

  Jack sat down beside her and took her hand.

  “There’s something I didn’t tell you before. I was following you Wednesday. No, don’t interrupt. When you pulled out of the service bay, I saw some liquid on the ground. It wasn’t just water. I could tell it was a mix of brake and steering fluid. So I want after you, trying to catch up before anything happened. As you know, I was too late, but you managed to save yourself from potential harm.

  “I called one of my guys, and he went out to look at your car yesterday morning. He called the police motor vehicle accident division to come out and see the car before he towed it back to the shop so you could have a proper report for the insurance folks. And to make sure that all the evidence on site was collected in case the problem with your brakes and steering wasn’t some kind of bizarre accident.

  “The cops took a report and gave him permission to move the car. So he towed the car to the shop and left it there for the night so everyone could go home for Thanksgiving. But first thing this morning, he started on your car.”

  Jack sat down beside her and looked Nelly in the eye. “Your power brake and steering fluid lines were cut. It was clear they were only partially cut so you’d have control for a while until enough of the fluid leaked out. Presumably whoever did it figured the evidence would be lost in the inevitable crash since most of your drive was by highway. But you made good time and didn’t lose control until you were on the county road, and with your driving skills, you managed to stop safely.”

  Nelly sat in silence.

  “He called the police and showed their expert, and they agree. They’ll be sending their own team and possibly towing your car to their facility. And they want to talk to you today. I said we’d call them back with a time and a place.”

  Nelly was in shock. The accident wasn’t an accident? “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

  “And freak you out before I knew anything for certain? I figured I’d stick close and be able to protect you, but then I thought it was unlikely anything would happen while you were surrounded by family. You’re shaking.” He pulled her close, running his big hand over her back. “The cops will find out what’s going on and get whoever did this. And I won’t let you out of my sight until they do.”

  “Crap. The cops can’t come here. My family will freak out. Can we meet them somewhere neutral? Maybe we can go to your shop. I want to see for myself what happened to my car. I completely forgot I have some files in the trunk. I was going to do some work this week at my folks’. But I guess I’ll rent a car in town and drive home. If the cops let me. Double crap. But I need those files and that laptop.”

  “Leave? Where’s home?”

  “Not far. I work for a large legal firm in the city. I have a ton of research to do on a case I’m working on. I figured I’d spend some time with the family and then lock myself in my condo and get the work done without the interruptions I’d get at work.

  “All I really need for that is a computer that connects to my company’s network. If the one in the trunk is broken, I’ll just swing by the office and get another. But those files. They are confidential work files, and it would be violating client privilege if the cops see them,” she fretted.

  “I’ll call and arrange to meet them at my shop this afternoon. The trunk didn’t seem damaged. I’m sure everything is fine in there. I’ll have my guy remove the boxes and put them in my office. You can have a leisurely breakfast with your family and then you can tell them we’re taking some alone time and leave with me. I’ll drive you to the shop. And I can even arrange a temporary car for you. Your family doesn’t have to know anything until we know for sure.” He put his arm around her. “Don’t worry.”

  She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks.”

  * * * *

  The leave taking went better than she’d anticipated. At least partly. It was c
lear her family really liked Jack and thought the couple wanted to get away for some romantic time and heartily approved. She could see her mother was already mentally planning her wedding. She groaned out loud.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You know my mom is already planning our walk down the aisle. And my dad is constantly going to call you about cars and invite you over as often as Mom will allow. And my brothers will start dropping by your shop. And if they see you with another woman, they’ll get very upset. I’m so sorry. You were just a Good Samaritan, and now I’ve dragged you into my crazy family, and the cops think someone was trying to kill me…”

  Abruptly Jack pulled onto the shoulder of the road and cut the engine and undid his seat belt and turned to face her. Then he leaned over and kissed her thoroughly.

  “Why’d you do that?” she asked. “Not that I’m complaining or anything…” She trailed off at the expression on his face.

  “Stop it. Stop it right now. I’m involved in this because I wanted to be. I could have dropped you at your parents’ door and driven away, but I didn’t. And you know why?” Her eyes opened wide as she shook her head. “Well, you should,” he thundered.

  “From the moment our eyes met as I walked toward your car, I felt something, and I thought you did, too. It was all I could do to not throw you on the hood of your car and take you right there.” She coloured because she had had the same fantasy.

  “I’ve kept ice around my heart for the last ten years, but it started to melt when I met you. In the last decade, I’ve fucked women, but I never made love to anyone until I met you. And I love your family, and no matter what happens with us, I want to have them in my life.