Under the Mistletoe With Me by Kristen Proby
It looks like Santa is going to walk through the front door at any moment, kick off his big black boots, and cop a squat in a chair by the fireplace.
“We had it professionally done. There’s no way in hell Nat’s getting on a ladder, pregnant or not.” He rubs her belly and kisses her cheek, making her blush.
We’re all gathered here again, the same crew as at Thanksgiving, adding my brother Caleb who just got back from a mission in God knows where, Brynna and the girls, and Brynna’s parents.
There’s a hell of a lot of us.
Brynna and Matt have their heads together at the kitchen table, talking seriously and quietly, most likely about whatever in the hell the situation was that made her run from Chicago. Matt shakes his head and Brynna slams her fist on the table in frustration and then stomps away from the table.
Caleb’s head snaps up at the loud sound, and he watches Brynna leave the room, his eyes narrowed and trained on her curvy ass.
Fuck, I’m not getting mixed up in it.
Stacy is sitting in the rocker with Sophie, cooing and laughing at our sweet baby. God, I go all soft when I see them, all soft skin and auburn hair – I swear, Soph’s hair is going to be auburn like Stacy’s. I wander over to them, hand the hot apple cider in my hand to Stacy and lift them both, sit in the chair, and settle them on my lap.
“Wow, Uncle ‘saac is strong! He lifted two people!” Josie exclaims, her sweet dark eyes wide, and I chuckle.
“He is,” Stacey responds and kisses my cheek. Mmm… she smells good. I bury my face in her neck and take a deep breath.
“Let’s go home,” I whisper in her ear, smiling as she shivers.
“We just got here,” she giggles and pushes me playfully away.
“I don’t care.”
“Get your nose out of the poor girl’s ear, Isaac. She’ll go deaf.” Jules is glaring at us, so I decide to taunt her. I am, after all, her big brother. It’s my job.
“Nat?” I ask, not taking my eyes off my gorgeous wife.
“Yeah?” I can hear her smile.
“Take Sophie for a sec?”
“Sure.”
Sophie is lifted out of our lap and I fold Stace into my arms and look into her sexy hazel eyes. They’re glowing, in that way they do when she’s turned on, and it makes my cock twitch. She gives me a sassy little smirk.
“You love pissing Jules off, don’t you?” she whispers.
I just grin and kiss her, deeply, teasing her lips with my own, dip my tongue in her mouth, and then pull back, kiss her nose and her forehead and settle her against my chest.
“Puke,” Jules mutters.
“What is it with you and PDA?” Brynna asks, walking back into the room from the deck. Matt’s on the phone in the kitchen, in the middle of a heated discussion, eyes on Brynna.
I wonder if something’s going on there?
But then Bryn glances at Caleb and flushes pink when he catches her gaze and offers her a grin.
I’m so not getting mixed into that. No fucking way.
“I don’t mind PDA if I’m the one receiving it,” Jules responds casually. “I just don’t need to see my family doing it.”
“Prude,” Nat murmurs and kisses Sophie on the cheek.
“Don’t be a bitch, Nat.” Jules responds.
Natalie sticks her tongue out at her and everyone chuckles.
“How have you been feeling, Stacy?” my mom asks from the floor, where she’s coloring with the twins. “Isaac mentioned that you’d been having headaches.”
Stacy tenses in my arms, and I feel her inhale sharply.
What the fuck?
“Oh,” she nuzzles my chest with her cheek. “I’m fine. No headaches for a few days now.”
“Good.” Mom nods and goes back to the girls, but I’m not buying it. I grasp Stacy’s chin with my thumb and forefinger and tilt her head back to look at me. She looks a bit apprehensive and bites her delicious bottom lip.
“What?” she asks.
“You and I need to talk,” I mutter and kiss her again.
“Oh, we’ll talk,” she mutters under her breath.
Before I can pick her up and carry her out of the room to demand some answers, dinner is served by the catering crew that Luke hired. He decided, and I agreed, that cooking for this many people was too much to ask of any of our women. They should enjoy the holiday too, so from here on out, family gatherings will be catered.
Except barbeques in the summer because my dad would have a stroke if he didn’t man the grill himself.
And I can’t blame him.
Dinner brings more chaos of brothers ragging on each other and stealing each other’s food, kids spilling drinks, and women discussing shopping, spa treatments, movies and fashion. At least, that’s what our women discuss because the whole lot of them are girly girls, and honestly, I wouldn’t have them any other way.
Stacy smiles sweetly up at me as I pass her another roll. She likes to dip the bread in her gravy. Fuck, I’ll give her any damn thing she wants. I may not be Luke Williams wealthy, but my girls will never want for anything.
“Stacy, would you like a glass of wine?” Jules asks. “I brought your favorite.”
“Oh, um,” she pauses and wipes her mouth with her green napkin. “No, thanks. I’ll take some more hot cider, though.”
“No wine?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
Huh.
Finally, dinner is done, and everyone moves into the living area to exchange gifts and relax. My mom grabs Soph and settles into the rocker Stacy and I vacated earlier.
I’m so excited for this. I was going to wait to give Stace this gift tomorrow morning at home, for our first Christmas as a family, but I just can’t wait.
“Okay, so, I’m the oldest, so I get to give my gift first,” I announce to the room.
“Yeah, you better go first, old man, ‘cause in about ten minutes you’ll forget what holiday this is,” Will quips, earning a high-five from Caleb. I glare at them and pull a small box, wrapped in gold with a cream bow, out from under the tree and hand it to my wife.
“We didn’t bring this from home,” she says with a smile on her pretty lips as she looks down at it.
“Nope,” I respond. “Open it.”
She gently pulls the ribbon off the box, and begins to ever so fucking carefully pull the tape off the sides.
“For God’s sake, woman, just open it,” I growl at her, making her laugh. She knows I hate it when she does this.
“I like the paper,” she murmurs.
“I’ll buy you a whole roll of the shit, open the damn thing!” Will yells from across the room, stuffing more pumpkin pie in his mouth.
“Jesus, man, didn’t you just have two pieces of that?” Caleb asks him.
“Shut up. Christmas.” He mumbles from around the food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” Mom yells at him, and Stacy and I laugh with each other.
Yep, it’s a Montgomery Christmas.
“Open it,” I whisper.
She pulls the paper off and frowns at the soft blue Tiffany box. “Tiffany?” she asks.
“He’s got good taste,” Natalie boasts.
“Yes, he does,” Stacy murmurs and opens the box. Inside is a platinum pendant and chain. The pendant is in the shape of a heart.
She pulls it out and smiles softly.
“Turn it over.”
“What is this?”
“What is it?” Samantha asks. The girls are all straining their necks to see.
“It’s Sophie’s fingerprint.”
Stacy’s hazel eyes meet mine as they fill with tears. “This is her fingerprint?”
“Oh, what a lovely gift,” Luke’s mom sighs.
“Yeah, I thought you’d like to always have a piece of her with you, even if she’s not with you.” I shrug, feeling kind of silly, but she gives me that wide, special smile and I know that she loves it.
“It’s wonderful! Thank you.”
“We didn’t bring this from home either.”
“No, we didn’t.” She fidgets, not looking me in the eye, and looks suddenly very nervous.
“Do I get to open it?” I ask dryly.
She glances nervously around the room. Brynna gives her a discreet thumbs up and Natalie smiles brightly at her, and now I’m dying to know what’s in this damn box.
“Maybe we should wait until we’re home.”
“Oh hell no!” Caleb and Luke yell out together. There are moans and boos, and she winces and looks back up at me, biting her lower lip.
“Hey,” I cup her face in my hands and smile down at this amazing woman that I’m lucky enough to call mine. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, I’ll love it.”
She swallows hard and whispers so low I can barely hear it, “I hope so.”
She hands me the box and, because I’m a smart ass, I start to slowly unwrap it the way she always does and she giggles.
“Unless you want to die, speed it up, brother,” Caleb growls.
I make quick work of the bow and paper and open the lid.
And my world stops.
It’s a black and white photo of Sophie. She’s sitting up on a hardwood floor with Christmas lights all around her. She has a Santa hat on that’s just a little too big. Her big eyes are laughing happily at the camera. But propped up next to her is a piece of paper, and on it are the words:
I’m going to be a big sister. Merry Christmas!
My eyes shoot to Stacy’s and she’s got tears flowing down her cheeks.
“What?” I breathe.
She just nods.
I shake my head and look at the photo again and feel my own eyes fill. We’re having another baby? Now?
But how?
“But…”
“I know, it’s soon, but the doctor confirmed it the other day.”
“Is this…?” I don’t even have to finish my question before she’s nodding frantically.
“Yes.”
“Oh my God.” I look up at our family, all staring at us with a mixture of curiosity and wonder. Brynna is crying – of course she already knew – and Natalie is rubbing her own belly serenely. “We’re having another baby!”
“Holy shit, I’m getting the beer!” Will runs for the kitchen for the celebratory beer and everyone else rushes around us, pulling us into hugs, slapping me on the back. It’s a blur of smiles and tears and hands and hugs.
Finally my wife is back in my arms and I’m kissing her with all I have. Jules doesn’t even dare say anything about this public display of affection.
I pull back, and wipe her tears off her cheeks with my thumbs. My God, after all these years of praying and hoping and trying so fucking hard to add to our family, it’s finally happening.
“I love you,” she whispers in her sweet soft voice.
I bury my face in her neck, breathe in her sweet Stacy scent and murmur, “God, I love you too. Merry Christmas.”
THE END
The WITH ME IN SEATTLE series continues in Book Two, FIGHT WITH ME, Jules and Nate’s story. This book releases on January 4, 2013.
As a special treat, here is an exclusive look at the prologue of FIGHT WITH ME…
*Please note; this is not the final version. Content may change in final editing.
Prologue
Summer
My back hits the wall with a light thud, and Nate’s face is buried in my throat, his hands on my ass, skirt hiked up around my waist, pulling me up so he can cradle his still-covered erection in the apex of my thighs. I pull the hair-tie out of his thick, inky black hair and run my hands through it, holding on to him. I’ve never seen his hair down before; he always ties it back at the nape of his neck, and it’s so sexy. It falls just above his shoulders, framing that impossibly handsome face of his that makes my insides quiver and my mouth go dry every time he looks at me.
But he’s never looked at me the way he is right now, in the semi-dark hallway, in the middle of his apartment, just outside his bedroom. His gray eyes are burning as he rocks his pelvis against mine.
“Do you know how beautiful you are, Julianne,” he murmurs. “I need you naked, now.” He picks me up, hands still braced on my ass, and I wrap myself around him. He carries me into his bedroom, and I’m suddenly standing before him, and we are a tangle of arms and greedy hands, pulling and grasping clothes, flinging them haphazardly about the room. He doesn’t turn the lights on, so I can’t see him anymore, but oh, those hands. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat in a meeting, watching these beautiful, large hands, and now they’re on me.
Everywhere.
His mouth is on mine, his hands in my blonde hair, and he’s kissing me with a fervor that makes my knees week. He’s a really good kisser. Excellent.
Fucking amazing.
He picks me up again, cradling me in his arms this time and lays me down on the bed. The sheets are soft and cool against my naked backside, and I wish I could see him in all his naked glory. I’ve been daydreaming about a naked Nate since he became my boss almost a year ago. I have a feeling there is a fine, fine body lurking under all those expertly tailored business suits.
Nate follows me onto the bed, and I run my hands up his stomach, over his chest, and up to his shoulders.
Holy fuck, he’s built, and his skin is warm and smooth and … oh my. His hands are cradling my face, kissing me tenderly now, biting and nibbling my lips, and then he leans on one elbow at the side of my head and sends his other hand down my neck, over my breast, teasing the taut nipple with his fingers, and farther south, slowly finding his target.
“Oh, God.” My body bows off the soft sheets as he slips two fingers into my pussy, and his thumb gently circles my clitoris.
“Oh, you are so wet. And so fucking tight. Jesus, how long has it been for you honey?”
Really? He wants to know this now?
“Longer than I care to think about,” I respond and lift my hips up into his hand. Oh, God, what this man can do with his hands!
“Shit, I want you. I’ve wanted you since I first laid eyes on you.” His lips find mine, demanding and probing, licking and sucking, his tongue mirroring what his delicious fingers are doing down south, and I’m completely swept away. I’ve wanted him just as long.
“We shouldn’t do this,” I whisper unconvincingly.
“Why not?” He whispers back.
“Because… Oh, God, yes right there.” My hips are circling and I skim my hands down to his ass. His hard, muscular, oh-so-sexy ass.
“You were saying?” He’s nibbling down my neck.
“We could both be fired. No frat policy.”
“I don’t give a fuck about anyone’s policy right now.” His lips close over my nipple, and I lose all conscious thought. Nate licks and sucks his way down my belly, paying close attention to my navel, before heading farther south, kissing my freshly waxed – thank God! – pubis and finally planting that tongue right there.
“Fuck!” My hips buck up off the bed and I feel him grin before he pulls his fingers out of me, spreads my thighs wider and kisses me, deeply, his tongue pushing and swirling through my folds and inside me. I push my fingers into that glorious thick hair and hang on, and when I think I just can’t take any more, he licks up to my clit and pushes a finger inside me, making a “come here” motion and I come undone, shuddering and digging my heels into the mattress, pushing my pussy against Nate’s skilled mouth.
As I surface back to Planet Earth, I hear Nate rip open a foil packet and he is kissing his way back up my body, sucking on each nipple, and then kisses me. I can taste myself on his lips and I moan, wrapping my legs around his hips, lifting my pelvis, ready for him to fill me, but he doesn’t. He’s just braced on his hands above me, his cock cradled between my thighs. His breathing is ragged, and I wish with all my might that we’d turned on the lights so I can see h
“Nate, I want you.”
“I know.”
“Now, damnit.”
“You are so fucking hot,” he whispers and lowers himself to brush his lips on my forehead.
“Inside me.” I reach between us and grab his erection. Holy hell, he’s hung. He’s hard and smooth, and he hasn’t rolled the condom on yet. I pull up the length of him, to the tip, and … “Holy, shit, what is that?”
He chuckles, and leans down to gently kiss me. “It’s an apa,” he whispers.
There is a metal bar with two small balls, one at the top and one on the underside, in the end of his penis, and I’m completely thrown. Nate, my suit-wearing, conservative-looking except for the long hair thing boss has his penis pierced?
“A what-a?” My fingers trace it, and then I run my forefinger around the tip of him and he sucks in a breath through his teeth.
“An apadravya. Fuck, honey.”
“Why would you get this?” I ask, unexpectedly turned on and curious. I wish I could see it!
“You’re about to find out.” I hear the smile in his voice and then feel him reach between us and roll the condom down his impressive length. He kisses me again, more urgently, and buries his hands in my blonde hair. I raise my hips and feel the tip – and those metal balls – at my entrance, and he slowly, oh so slowly, eases inside me.
Oh. My. God.
I can feel the metal rub against the walls of my vagina, all the way deep inside me, and he stops, buried in me, his mouth continuing to move over my own.
“Fuck, I love how tight you are.” His words make me squeeze him, and hold him, my legs wrapped around his lean hips, hands in that glorious hair.
He starts to move his hips, sliding in and out of me, and the sensation is unlike any I’ve ever known. I feel the metal, his impressive cock, his mouth is doing crazy things to mine, and I feel my body quicken as a thin coat of sweat covers me. He picks up the pace, and rotates his hips, just enough to make me completely lose my mind.