Always (Family Justice Book 1) (48 page)

“I should get going,” Calder murmured. Draining the end of his wine, he sat the empty glass on the side table between their seats and reached out a hand to her.

“What?” she asked.

“Come here,” he growled.

Um, what? She was confused but she put her hand in his and let him pull her from her chair.

“Sit on my lap.”

Sit on his lap? Sit on his damn lap? What?
She wasn’t a lap sitter and couldn’t recall ever having done so before. Maybe once or twice with her husband in the early days, but she’d adopted a respectable ladylike and dignified manner over the years and would struggle to feel at ease perched on some man’s lap.

But Calder was proving to be significantly more than simply
some man
.

She hesitated and quite literally dragged her feet, pulling away from his grasp. “I, um…no.”

“No? Why not?”

She stared at his lap like it was a torture device. What in the hell was wrong with her? What was the big deal, anyway? She knew the answer. Stephanie had a hard time surrendering. She’d managed on her own all these years because she knew how to maintain control. Doubt that she’d be able to hang on to that control from his lap shook her up.

He smiled at her, not a leering grin, but a gentle, knowing smile that told her he knew exactly what was causing her conflict.

“Stephanie.”

She looked at him and held her breath.

“It’s time for me to hit the road. I want you to sit on my lap for a bit so I can kiss you goodnight. Properly.”

Oh.
Well then. In that case, she might as well. A proper goodnight kiss was definitely in order, right?

She chewed on her lip and wondered just how one went about this lap sitting. Did you just sort of drop or lower carefully? Was there a certain spot to aim for? Jeez. Was she really obsessing over how to get her ass on to his lap?
Yes.
Yes, she was.

“Um, I don’t know how,” she blurted out. “Is your thigh the target or do I just close my eyes and take a dive?”

He laughed. His chuckle was deep and sexy. She watched as his head shook with wonder, and he reached for her hand again.

“Drop that beautiful ass right here,” he snickered while patting his thigh. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

He gave a gentle tug that was just enough to propel her onto him. Oh my. She didn’t know what she expected, but the big, muscular thighs that felt like tree trunks wiped her mind clear of further thought.

Putting both hands on her waist, he lifted and shifted her butt until it was where he wanted. The obvious bulge she was sitting on completely scattered her brain. Until now, each time they’d kissed, it had been while standing, and though she’d been aware of that portion of his anatomy before now, there was something about mapping his manhood with her backside that started an unexpected blaze of need inside her.

“Put your arm here,” he gestured as she curled a trembling hand in the space around his waist. “Now, this other hand,” he told her in a husky voice. “That one you put on my heart.” She was melting as he pressed her fingers on the spot.

“And now,” he murmured. “I hold you safe with one arm and with the other, well…that beautiful long hair of yours is calling to me.”

He fisted the hair at the back of her head. The grip gave him total control over how her head moved and was angled. Stephanie blinked slowly, mesmerized.

He held her inches away from his face. Their breaths turned into heavy pants that sounded like need. She was a quivering mess within seconds. The anticipation was killing her. Why didn’t he just kiss here already?
Fuuuuuck
.

“Good,” he grunted. “I have your complete attention now.”

Oh. My. God.
Yes
. He. Did.

In a deep, gravely voice, he solemnly told her, “I had a lovely evening, Stephanie. Thank you for dinner and for the conversation. And the wine, of course.”

She’d sigh if she weren’t holding her breath. Yes,
this
. This was what she fantasized about. Someone with impeccable manners who also had a bad boy streak a mile wide. Someone who knew what he wanted. Someone she could surrender to.

And then he kissed her. It was everything a goodnight kiss should be. Long. Unhurried. Deep. Deliciously wet. Tongues swirling, licking. Teeth nipping. His lips caressing her entire mouth. A soft moan slipped from her throat.

It was over far too soon for her liking. Dammit.

“You taste divine, m’lady,” he husked as he kissed the sides of her mouth then sat her back just a bit. She kept her hand pressed against his chest. Why? Because she liked picking up the beating of his heart with her fingers. It grounded her in some way and made her response to this unexpected man’s invasion of her life feel genuine. This, whatever
this
was, was more than pre-menopausal hormones.

“Don’t want to, but I have to go.”

She surprised them both with a whimper and a pout.

“If I stay, we’re going to get into something that I don’t think you’re ready for.”

What she experienced next was the imagined sensation of ice-cold water being thrown on her internal fire.
Shit
. He was right, of course. She wasn’t ready.

“Don’t look so glum,” he teased with a light tap on her nose. “Tori does that, too, you know. Make a face that gives so much away.”

This time, she did sigh. And let him move her from his lap so he could stand. The minute he was upright and in front of her, she saw the unmistakable evidence of arousal not just on his face and in his eyes but pressing against the zipper of his jeans.

He held her hand as they made their way silently from her suite to the front door where she reluctantly let go in order to haul open the enormous wood door. They stepped out onto the porch together and finally, she found her voice.

Stephanie was playing with fire, and she knew it, but nothing could stop what came out of her mouth.

“Will you kiss me when we meet at the Villa for Thanksgiving?”

He arched an eyebrow at her. Calder wasn’t dumb. He knew she was giving permission for their fledgling relationship to go public.

“Do you want me to?”

“Yes.”

Such a simple word. He smiled broadly, put a hand on her waist, and pressed her lower body onto his.

“You
do
know that they’re matchmaking, right?”

“Alex and Meghan?” she asked.

“Mmmm hmmm.” His hand drifted slowly across her bottom, his touch so light she shivered with delight.

She thought for a minute. Then with a shit-eating grin and her pelvis pressed firmly against the erection he wasn’t hiding, she cooed, “Well, in that case—I think two kisses might be in order.”

“WHAT IN THE HELL ARE you wearing, wife?” Cam choked on a laugh when he strolled into the kitchen after taking a shower. Expecting to find Lacey doting on his son, he found instead one very naughty-looking housewife dressed in a black ruffled apron tied around her waist, thigh-high stockings, and a wicked pair of fuck-me shoes, with her hair in a high, tight ponytail, the dazzling necklace he’d given her dangling between her tits and a wicked smile. Oh and no panties.
Holy shit.

“Humph,” she rumbled. “Tradition,” she added silkily. “I seem to recall this get-up worked out pretty well for me last year.”

Jesus. She was one in a bajillion.

“You planning on wearing that to the Villa later?” he smirked.

“Oh yeah, like that would ever happen! No, my handsome, hunky husband—this little tradition is most definitely for your eyes only.”

Really? Well, fuck-a-luck-a-ding-dong. Thanksgiving was his new favorite holiday.

Pregnancy had changed the shape and size of Lacey’s already beautiful breasts. Now they were heavier, fuller, and her nipples, which she diligently massaged and tended with some delicious smelling herbal cream that kept them supple and soft, taunted him with their mouth-watering perfection.

“Where’s Daddy’s big boy this morning? Did I miss the daily morning suck?”

Lacey giggled with merriment at his words. What in the hell was she up to?

“Sir Poops-a-Lot has been fed and cleaned up and is miraculously sleeping it off. He got up early and I made him wait for the milk maid this morning so he’s out like a light for now.”

“Is that so?” he chuckled, reaching for his sexy Ponytail and moving her in close. Nuzzling her neck, he asked, “What do you have in mind for breakfast?”

He watched, amused as she squinched up her face so he knew she was gearing up to say something raunchy. It was one of the things he adored about her; Lacey’s steadfast determination to not have a filthy mouth.

But sometimes, when they got down to the naughty playtime, a few dirty words were necessary. In fact, it was his mission in life, one of ‘em at least, to get her to beg him to fuck her. She found a dozen different ways to say just that without the words, “Fuck me,” coming from her mouth.

“Breakfast will be in two courses this morning, husband.”

“Two?
Humph
. Sounds…yummy. Care to elaborate?”

She cleared her throat and he smiled when she toyed with the buttons on his shirt.

“I hope this is better than last year’s menu,” he teased with a quick swat on her bare ass when she didn’t immediately answer. Her innate shyness turned him on. Big time.

Lacey’s first attempt at a romantic Thanksgiving dinner just for the two of them had been an epic failure. He intended to never let her live that moment down when she slid the turkey from the oven and discovered it was half cooked at best.

“Yes, well…” she scolded, “I planned better this year.”

“Okay. So what’s first?”

Without any further discussion, she started unbuckling the leather belt on his slacks. As the zipper was peeled down, she looked at him, her sexy blue eyes sparkling with naughty pleasure.

“First course—your cock, my mouth. And I’m extremely hungry so no skipping the final nibbles. They’re the best part.”

Uh, what the fuck? Was she messing with him? The way her hands were efficiently divesting him of his pants and underwear as she forcefully pushed both down his legs suggested she was not.

His lovely wife had been a blank slate sexually when they got together which afforded Cam the opportunity to tutor her, over time, into the delights and techniques for satisfying him with her mouth and hands. And she’d been an avid and devoted pupil, telling him many times of her surprise by how turned on she got from pleasuring him that way.

If how wet she got was any indicator, sucking on his cock was at the top of his wife’s sinful pleasures list.

When his pants were down around his ankles, she unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He saw her eyes go immediately to the tribal looking tattoo that wrapped around his bicep. The same one Drae had. There was something about the dark pattern inked into his flesh that never failed to make her expression burn with need.

“Will there be kissing in this first course,” he asked.

Her eyes flared as they turned to his. “No. There will be sucking. And licking. And some nibbling but any kisses that happen are reserved for your dick. Got a problem with that?”

He made a face and shook his head. “I do have one question, though,” he drawled. “If my dick is the first course, what’s the second?”

She smiled at him, her fingers mapping every inch, each rippling muscle on his chest.

“See that table over there?”

“You mean the one where we eat every damn day? Yeah, I see it.”

Scraping her fingernails over his nipples made him growl at her while she smirked, then glanced over her shoulder at the table.

“Second course is you in your chair at the head of the table with my bare ass at your place. Those wicked heels on the arms of your chair, legs spread wide while you eat a good, hearty meal.”

“Ah, the breakfast of champions, I see.”

By now, her hand had snaked into the thatch of hair that crowned his manhood. Jesus F. Christ. Her fingers felt so good. She quite frankly excelled at stroking his dick. There was something so deliciously earthy and explicit about standing there watching as her hand gripped his erection and languidly fondled his flesh.

“Tell me,” he groaned. “Say it out loud, love. I need to hear you say it.”

She started pressing soft, wet kisses all over his neck and face as she whispered, “I love your cock, Cameron. Love how big and hard it gets—for me. Love feeling it sliding against my palm and through my fingers.”

Motherfucker. It was great to be him. After all those long, empty, lonely years, to have this incredible woman at his side, transforming his entire world with her gentle smile and naughty ass—it just blew his damn mind. And by giving him a son and the chance at a real family for the only time in his life, my God—she was everything to him.

While he’d been having that thought, she’d gotten rather determined in her stroking. As he came back to the moment, she glided elegantly to her knees, those damn heels and sheer stocking making the visual a feast for the eyes.

Fisting his cock, she held it out straight then placed an open-mouthed, wet kiss right on the tip. He felt the groan that rumbled up through his throat from the bottoms of his feet to the very top of his head.