Page 31 of Kiss and Makeup
An hour and forty-five minutes later, we had a good Christmas meal completed. The dressing, the beans, two casseroles, and rolls sat out on the counter with serving spoons, butter, gravy, and anything else to complement the meal.
“Emma!” Her head poked out from beneath the living room table. “Come eat, Honey!”
She had been in and out of the kitchen the whole time we prepared the food, refusing to leave until we gave her little tidbits like a green bean or a little handful of crispy fried onions, so I only made her a small serving of each dish. “I want more!” she complained loudly, looking from her plate to mine and then to Xavier’s.
“You can have more after you eat this,” I promised. She wouldn’t be coming back for seconds. Large yawns devoured her face every couple minutes, and she sat down quietly and ate when I told her to.
Sure enough, by the time Xavier and I got about halfway through our plates and finished off our first glass of wine, Emma had nodded off in the reclining chair. I tucked her in tenderly with a soft blanket Xavier supplied from inside an ottoman before taking my plate into the kitchen.
“Making dinner was a great idea.” I took Xavier’s plate from him so he could hold my waist and gently pull my hair back away from my face while I rinsed dishes. “You’re still a great cook.”
“I don’t know about great, but I dabble.” Deliberately, I fluttered my eyelashes and tossed my head.
The rag slipped out of my fingers as Xavier trapped my upper arms to my sides. Tickly, soft kisses started at my ear and moved slowly down my neck. “Leave the dishes. Let’s go upstairs.”
The rag swirled in the soapy water. I didn’t retrieve it. “With the wine?”
“With the wine.” His confirmation grew softer as we approached the living room. “Will she be okay down here?”
“Definitely. She’s had a long long day and she’s a sound sleeper. She’ll be out from now until tomorrow morning,” I promised. “Let me just…” I located my bag near the door, selected a stuffed bear, and tucked it underneath the blanket with Emma. “I think she wakes up sometimes if she moves in her sleep and can’t find something to hold,” I explained on the way upstairs with our wine glasses and the two bottles. “Like a reflex, or something.”
“Huh. I don’t know a lot about kids. I know how to interact with them, but other than that…” Xavier set the wine on a small round table at the end of the bed and sat on the bench beside it. “The day to day, what they need—Emma’s taught me a lot of that already.”
“Oh, she’s not afraid to let you know what she wants, and she’s best on a schedule. She’ll even let you know when her schedule is being changed or messed with.”
Xavier held out his arms and I sat between his legs, letting him hold me from behind and bury his face in my neck like the most handsome, comforting blanket of all time. “I’m not disturbing her schedule by having you over, am I?”
“No, she’s used to going out and doing things when school is out. Weekends, holidays—we always try to do something together besides hang around the house.”
“You’re incredible, you know that?”
My heart fluttered at the pure note of sincerity. “What do you mean?”
“You have a kid.” His lips sucked little warm wet spots into my skin. “You’re head of marketing at a company with worldwide presence.” Hands slipped under my sweater, cupping my breasts underneath my bra. “But you still find time to get out and do things. You’re not just incredible. You’re inspiring. How could you think my parents wouldn’t love you and Emma just as much as I do?”
“I—” My nipples rose to meet searching fingers, and my hips shifted just a little. “I have no idea.” I giggled a little as I turned to face him, turning the one-sided teasing into a reciprocated embrace.
I think I would have added onto that statement if Xavier’s lips hadn’t made speech impossible. My body decided it liked this new development and I kissed him back, forgetting I should be surprised at all. Locked together with passion, my eyes closed to heighten every sensation. When they fluttered open, we were horizontal on the bed and I was dragging my nails along powerful abdominal muscles.
I tugged off his shirt, and those muscles tensed to help me. They didn’t all jump at once. From the defined V of his hips to the broadness of his chest, they clenched in a ripple motion that created mountains and crevices then let them fade into smooth skin just as quickly.
Wow.This blanket was super soft. I only noticed that once I was on my back, looking up at those rippling muscles.
Caught between a soft and a sexy, muscular hard place.
He unclasped my bra underneath my sweater while I unzipped his pants, but Xavier had slipped his tongue into our breathless kisses and we couldn’t pull ourselves apart long enough to lose the clothes.
Until, as usual, Xavier got impatient with the layers between us. I knew exactly when that moment hit. A low growl resonated in his throat. The was sound somewhere between lust for my body and irritation at our clothes. My top and bra slid off with one quick pull, and I hungrily grabbed his strained erection when it sprang free of his pants as he discarded them.
Feeling his arousal strengthened mine, I kicked off my own high-waisted pants.
Xavier trapped my legs under his chest. His chocolate eyes met mine, and his teeth settled around one corner of my underwear, slowly pulling them down my legs. So slowly. Too slowly. My hips wriggled and begged him to touch me. Every kiss he pressed to my thighs brought his mouth closer, closer, closer to the damp mound between my legs—
Then he skipped over my pussy, turning throbbing anticipation into teased, simultaneous pleasure and displeasure.
Wrapping my fingers in his hair, I pulled his head between my thighs. “I want you. I want your tongue between my legs. I want it now.”
He obeyed and began to lick, first long and slow along my dripping slit, then zeroing in on that perfect spot. The more his twitching, tireless tongue focused, the less I could focus. I could only moan, quiver, shake, grip the swell of his bicep, and tell him, “Right there, oh, right there….”
