Page 6 of Lyrical

“You got it.”

We went to the stand and I bought her a cup, testing a sip to make sure it wasn’t too hot before handing it to her. She sucked off all the whipped cream first, reminding me of Perry.

I waved to Chase, catching his attention so he’d know about our little pit stop. He was out there owning that ice, and I had one of my bouts of disbelief. He looked like he was doing hockey drills, and I knew firsthand how powerful those leg muscles were to handle himself that way. I was the lucky one who got to feel them crush me.

I was less than a year from forty, and I had Chase. A man with an erection I could chip a tooth on and a twenty-four-year-old body that didn’t quit until I was a puddle. Every day I got a little more comfortable with the age difference, although I still had my moments. Like now, watching two twentysomethings standing on the sidelines, giving him a triple-take.

Hazel tugged on my jacket. “That’s my friend Sarah over there.” She pointed to a girl in a neon yellow snowsuit sitting at the edge of the rink. That was one way of never losing them. “Can I go say hi?”

I took her over and chatted with the mom for a minute before leaving them to toss snow at each other. I skated back to Chase, nodding towards Hazel. “She wants to hang out with Sarah for a while.”

“Okay.” He grabbed me, almost knocking me to my ass, but quickly righted me to his lips. His deep kiss warmed more than just my nose. We detached, my breath forming puffs of clouds around us.

“What was that for?”

“Do I ever need a reason to kiss you?” I shook my head, and he took my hand. “Good. Let’s skate.”

We glided around the perimeter of the rink, hand in hand, the icicles forming on my eyelashes no match for my heated insides.

“You’re so good with her, Jillian.”

“You tell me that every time we’re with her.”

“Because it’s true every time. I can see how much she means to you and vice versa.” He was quiet for a minute, the peals of kids’ laughter moving front and center. “And every time I see you with her, I become curious.”

“Curious?”

“Did you ever want to give Daniel a brother or sister?”

This was something we’d never really talked about before. I glanced at him, then back ahead, letting our momentum slow. I could understand how he’d be curious. Mike and I had been married seventeen years. Wow, it was crazy to think in those terms… Chase had already blown that away in eight months.

“When Daniel was about five, I went off the pill for a year, but nothing came of it even though I was assured to be very healthy and fertile. And obviously, Mike was fine. Then we tried again when I was off the pill for good at thirty. It just was never meant to be, I guess. I did want more children, but it’s good that things happened as they did.” I shrugged. I’d accepted it long ago. I was already blessed to have Daniel. “And then it just got too late.”

“If it were too late, you wouldn’t make me wear those damned condoms.”

I laughed, stopping suddenly, smashing us together. “I’m still fertile, silly. That’s why you have to wear them.”

He gave me a lengthy stare, his irises a deep forest green, bordering on black. He looked like he wanted to devour me, and I couldn’t wait to get him home.

“Hmm… don’t like condoms, huh?” I double-checked my internal fertility calendar. Yep, that egg had shriveled and sailed off yesterday. I was safe. “Then you’re in luck. Instead of coming down my throat tonight, you can do it deep in my pussy. I’ll be feeling you on my thighs all night long.”

I knew I got to him by the flicker in his eyes, or maybe it was the way his hand palmed my nape and brought his mouth to my neck. Whatever it was, I just loved that it happened. He turned me on all the damn time, so I needed to return the favor whenever I could, just to keep things from getting too far off balance.

I heard Hazel calling his name, and before he responded, he moved closer to my ear, his breath hot against my skin.

“No, you’re in luck, Wild Horses. I’ll not only finish what I started, I’ll go one better. I’m going to make you feel so fucking good you’ll never want anything between us ever again.”

And with that, he skated off to get Hazel, leaving me there to melt the ice. Before I could analyze exactly what he meant, I noticed the women again, pointing and whispering to each other as he soared past.

Back off bitches, he’s mine. I had his heart and his body.

You should be so lucky at half my age.

We pushed open the large double doors of Heritage Manor, fleur-de-lis etched into the glass, the scent of high society wafting over us. The historical décor was upscale and chic, and I prayed that Perry would find it acceptable.

“This looks nice,” I said. “It’s fortunate that Stephen has connections through work or else they wouldn’t have even talked to you on such short notice, much less considered your reception. I bet they book out at least two years.”

“Yeah, it looks weird.”

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