Page 28 of Rock Chick Bonus Tracks

“Do I have to ask what you have in mind?” she inquired.

No. She didn’t.

He moved his hand at her ankle to hook her behind her knees and lifted her off the counter.

Holding her against his chest, Roxie slid her arms around his shoulders, and Hank carried her to their bed.

Shamus followed, and Hank waited until the dog made it into the room before he kicked the door shut behind him.

But Shamus knew this drill very well, so he didn’t even try to hit the bed.

He collapsed with a doggie groan on Hank’s side.

Hank put his woman on the bed and then covered her with his body.

This was an occasion. One of many. Their first Christmas together.

And their first Christmas night together.

So he was going to make it memorable.

And if Roxie didn’t want the day to end (even if it already had), he’d give her that too.

Therefore, he took his time. He let her take hers. It was touch and taste and sighs and moans and scratches and tickles and whispered words and soft laughter and sucking and biting and finally, grasping and panting and urgency.

And a whole fuckuva a lot of love.

After, curled close into Roxie’s right side, with Shamus sprawled on her left, Hank splayed his hand on her belly and thought of what it’d look like after he planted babies there.

“I hope your worst is always having to admit your mom is right about something,” he murmured in her ear.

She covered his hand on her belly. “We still have Luke, Ally, Mace and Hector to get through. Maybe Darius. I’m thinking that time won’t be for a while.”

It sucked, but he knew she was thinking right.

“We’ll make it through,” he promised.

The second these words came out of his mouth, her fingers curved tight around his, almost like a reflex.

He knew what that meant. She didn’t need to say it.

He knew it. He felt it in his gut, his bones, his heart.

That was who he was. It was what he was always meant to be.

What he didn’t know, until he laid eyes on Roxanne at Fortnum’s the first time she walked in, was that all of it was in preparation, waiting for her.

To be her shoulder.

Her rock.

Her sounding board.

Her protector.

Her man.

It was just good to know she knew it too.

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