Authors: Lexy Timms
“How was the visit with your dad?” Alex asked, looking up from the laptop he'd been staring down at as Jamie walked in the door.
She sighed and set her purse down on the counter. “Honestly? He seemed fine. I should probably just live with it, but I can't help feeling like he's going to end up getting hurt in the process of all this.”
“I'm sure he knows how to take care of himself, baby,” Alex said, standing up and offering his open arms. Jamie came gladly into them. “He's a grown man. And he's dealt with your mother before.”
“When he dealt with my mother before, it took him more than two decades to actually face her and tell her that he wasn't going to put up with her crap anymore.”
“And now he's done that, and he knows how good it feels.” Alex held her a little tighter. “I'm sure he knows exactly how to handle it now that he already has once, and whatever he can't handle his lawyer will.”
Jamie nodded against his chest, but she didn't really seem convinced.
“What all did you tell him?” Alex asked. “Did you mention your mother stopped by for a friendly chat?” he teased.
“I didn’t exactly know where to start so I told him she was back in town, and that she wanted to make sure the separation and divorce were all finalized. He was happy about that. But I warned him about her threat. He told me not to worry about it.” She sighed. “I didn't mention she was going to go after his money so she can get married to the cougar hunter she picked up from who the hell knows where.”
“He probably wouldn't care even if you had told him,” Alex said. “But I don't blame you for keeping that out of the conversation. It's not exactly an easy topic to handle.”
“I'm not sure any of it is an easy topic to handle.” Jamie tipped her head back so that she was looking up at him. “I'm an adult. My parents’ failed marriage shouldn't be some kind of big, traumatic ordeal, but it still feels wrong. Even though I know exactly how horrible she is.”
“I don't think that anyone wants their parents to get divorced or to fight or have it come down to lawyers and an inability to communicate, baby.” Alex's hand slid up and down her back. “Whether they're adults or not. But your dad will get through it. And you'll get through it. And I'll help any way I can.”
Jamie knew, deep down, that Alex was right. What was happening would be better for her dad in the end, and it definitely wasn't the end of the world. She had Alex, Christine, and her dad to help her get through it. They all had each other. More than enough support. They would all come out okay on the other side. Not for the first time, she was incredibly grateful for the man she stood beside. He had asked her, out of all the women he could have had, to be the one to stay with him, and she had never regretted saying yes. He was everything that she needed.
“Have I mentioned lately that I love you?”
Alex looked down at her, head tilted slightly like he was giving the question actual thought. “You know,” he teased, “I'm sure you have. But I think you could always mention it again. I'm never going to object to affection from a beautiful woman.”
Jamie laughed at that. “I love you,” she said. “So much.”
“And I love you.” Alex leaned down with those words, and Jamie tipped her chin up to meet him as his lips pressed gently against her own. She opened her lips for the kiss, his tongue slipping between them, and they lingered there for a while, exploring each other until the need for air made them break apart.
“What do you say,” Alex said, his hands sliding further toward the curve of her backside, “to me taking you upstairs and thoroughly distracting you?”
Jamie shivered a little at the shift in his tone and the want that started low in her core at the thought. “I think that would be an absolutely fantastic idea.”
He smiled. “Good. Because I would be sad if you didn't like it.”
Strong arms scooped her up into a princess carry before she could say anything about it, and Jamie reached up to wrap her arms around Alex's neck, laughing as he started toward the stairs. “You're going to hurt yourself one of these days, trying to lift me,” she warned.
“Are you calling me old?” Alex stopped walking to stare at her. “Because if you're calling me old, I'm going to have to correct that assumption. I'm far from old.”
“I'm not calling you old at all,” Jamie protested. “Just telling you that if you don't want to throw your back out, maybe carrying an adult person up a set of stairs isn't the best idea.”
“Carrying you up the stairs is a perfect idea,” Alex said, starting toward them again. “And nothing you can say will convince me otherwise.”
Despite the teasing, when Alex laid her out on the bed in their room he was gentle, handling her as though she was something precious.
She sighed contently and shifted so she was completely open to him.
“Tell me what you want,” he said as he stripped her out of her skirt and then her blouse, fingers trailing exposed skin as it was revealed. “I want to make you feel crazy good, Jamie.”
“I don't think you actually have to try that hard to do that,” Jamie answered. She already wanted him, heat coiling in her belly. It was as easy as breathing, wanting Alex. She looked up at the face above her, the strong line of his jaw and the startling blue of his eyes, and she considered just dragging him down to her and having him fill her, but he wanted to go slow, and she wasn't against the idea of a long, lazy night of pleasure. They were easier to have now that the twins were older and sleeping all the way until morning. There was no guarantee that she wasn't going to regret being up so late when she had to get up at six to get them breakfast, but that was a risk she was more than willing to take.
“Just because you're easy for me doesn't mean I don't want to put forth some effort,” Alex said, leaning down to kiss her again.
The weight of his body blanketed hers, and Jamie wrapped her arms around him, holding him close and relishing the warmth. He was still fully clothed, but that could change.
“Get undressed for me?” she ventured.
Alex chuckled. “I think that's something I can definitely manage, baby.”
He slid off of her, and for a moment Jamie regretted asking if it meant that he was going to be that far away, but then he started taking off his shirt, baring the smooth skin and rippling muscles that she liked to trace with her hands and tongue, and she thought that she could deal with him being out of arm's reach for long enough to bare the rest of his beautiful body to her.
Shirt tossed aside, Alex unfastened his pants, tipping his hips up so that she could see the hard line of him through them, obvious evidence of how much he wanted her. It made her even hotter, just made her own desire that much stronger. The pants slipped off, and he put them with the rest.
In just his underwear, he looked down at her. “You want me to take these off, too?”
Jamie shook her head, wetting her lips with her tongue. “No,” she said. “I want you to come here and let me.”
He crawled back up the bed, the powerful muscles of his shoulders moving under his skin like a hunting cat's, and Jamie felt her heart beat a little faster. Damn, he was so beautiful.
“Here,” she said, tugging him closer when he was within reach, so that he knelt over her waist. She lifted up enough to drag one of the pillows behind her, letting it support her weight while she slid both hands into his boxer briefs and freed his thick, hard length from its prison. Her fingers curled around it, stroking the soft, hot skin, and he moaned. Another stroke, and then she let her hands fall away again. “I want to feel you.”
Alex reached out and slid his hand through her hair, then lowered himself over her again. Jamie curled a leg around his hip and he let his full weight rest on her there, the hard length of him pressed to her through the thin barrier of her panties. She knew he must be able to feel how wet she was already, even through the fabric, and if the way he groaned was anything to go by he was enjoying the obvious evidence of her desire.
His hands slipped into her bra, pulling her free of the cups so that she was on display to him, and then he leaned down and pulled a nipple into his mouth, licking it and gently nipping at the tight little bud. When she was gasping and breathless, he moved to the other side and did the same thing. His hips rocked against hers, and Jamie rolled up against him, trying to get more friction.
Deft hands unfastened her bra; she didn't see where it went. Then he was moving down, until his hands were on the waistband of her panties. “You want these off?”
“Yes,” Jamie answered. “Hell, yes.”
Alex skimmed them down her legs, palms stroking her thighs and calves all the way down, and then he settled between them again. This time, his cock rubbed against her, skin to skin, and Jamie moaned.
“Tell me what you want, baby,” he said again as they moved against each other.
“Kiss me,” Jamie answered.
Alex did, leaning down and claiming her mouth, the flavor of him on her tongue.
“Touch me,” she said when they parted long enough to get a little air.
“Touch you how?” Alex kissed her again. He reached down between them, and instead of rubbing his fingertips against her he curled his hand around his length and rubbed the head of it against her clit. They were both slick and hot and Jamie tossed her head back against the pillow, biting her lip to hold back the sound that wanted to escape. “Like this? Like something else?”
“Fuck. Just…Anything you want, Alex. That feels...”
“Hell, yeah.” His own voice was ragged. “It feels good. You feel so good, Jamie. Always. I don't know how you always drive me so crazy.” He pulled back, and then it was the pad of his thumb on her clit, rubbing circles while one of his fingers slid inside her. A pull back, and then it was two, stroking and teasing and knowing exactly where to find the place that would leave her breathless and shivering with need.
“Not any crazier than y-you drive me,” Jamie retorted. “Alex.”
“No?” He slid his fingers out and guided himself into her, gliding in on one long, slow thrust until he couldn't go any deeper.
She moaned and growled at the same time.
“I love you,” he breathed against her neck as he pulled back and then slid in again. “Fuck, Jamie.”
Jamie pulled him closer, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. “Yes,” she panted. “Yes. Love you, too, Alex.”
This was exactly what they needed, to be wrapped up in each other's arms and making love. Reminding themselves of what they had between them. Alex had known that it was what would give Jamie rest from the worry swirling around in her head without her ever needing to tell him, because he knew her in a way that no one ever had. Moving there together, bodies rocking to the same rhythm, Jamie thought she might be falling in love with her husband all over again.
“Do you think...” She cut herself off to catch her breath, tried to remember the words that she was looking for as Alex moved in her. “Do you think this will be it?”
“You still want a baby, sweetie?” Alex brushed her hair back off her forehead and brushed his lips against the skin there.
“Yeah. Yes. I do. Alex.” She clutched at him, her fingers curling, and rocked into the stretch of him. He kissed her, harder this time, deeper.
She could tell that he was getting close, his rhythm speeding up. Her own orgasm was just out of reach, drawing every muscle in her body tighter, sparking along her nerves.
“So perfect, Jamie. So fucking perfect.”
One more thrust, and then he was crying out against her shoulder, his body shuddering over hers as he came. Jamie followed him over the edge. Colors spilled behind her eyelids, and the world dissolved into white light. The only thing there, the only thing that mattered, was Alex wrapped around her and inside her, holding her together.
They were still tangled together when Jamie opened her eyes again, her body lax. Alex was looking down at her like he was trying to memorize every line of her face. He reached up and traced the curve of her cheekbone with his fingertips.
“I don't know how I ever got along without you.”
“Badly, probably,” Jamie quipped, but the joke seemed like it wasn't quite right for the place that they were, and she took a breath and tried again. “I know. I feel it, too. I'm so glad that I don't have to know any more.”
“Never,” Alex promised, kissing the backs of her knuckles. “You'll never have to know how to get along without me, because I'm not going anywhere.”
Not quite able to help herself, Jamie reached up and traced the scar that Stephen's bullet had left behind. Alex caught her wrist gently in his hand. “I made it through that. And we'll make it through anything else that life throws at us, baby. I promise that we will, just like we always have.”
“Tell me that life doesn't have too much more to throw at us,” Jamie said, the words escaping on a sigh. “I could use a little break from the curveballs for once.”
Alex laughed softly. “I think with two kids in the house and one hopefully on the way someday soon, that's not really a reasonable request.”
“Okay,” Jamie admitted, smiling. “Maybe I just hope that whatever else life has in store isn't going to be the kind of stuff that it's seemed to be dumping on us over the last year or so. I don't want any more Stephens, or Zanders, or Nicholases.”