Married for Christmas (Willow Park) (19 page)

She drew up her legs, bending them more at the knee. She
clung to his back and rocked her hips up toward him, trying to match his
frantic motion.

“It’s good,” she gasped, as she felt jolts of pleasure shoot
through her with each stroke inside her. “Daniel, it’s so good.”

“Yeah,” he panted, too far gone to say anything very
coherent. He was still cupping her head in his hands, his fingers occasionally
fisting in her hair. “Good, Jessica, good.”

She had waited so long for this. For this intimacy to be
whole, complete, to unquestionably mean love. 

She started shaking beneath him more frantically, trying to
claim the orgasm that was mounting too slowly. “Daniel,” she choked, reaching
up in an attempt to hold his face in her hands. “Love this. Love you.”

He was moving urgently now, with so much momentum that the
bed was knocking against the wall. He muttered a series of words, in rhythm
with his thrusting. It was mostly under his breath, but she occasionally caught
the sound of her name and the word “love.”

And it was his love as much as his body that pushed her into
climax. She arched in a sudden wave of pleasure, her mouth falling open in a
silent cry.

He was right behind her, and he met her eyes as he came
inside her, filling her with all that he had.

Jessica, coming down from her own release, almost had to
look away from what she saw in his eyes. It was so raw, so naked, so completely
vulnerable. So rich, so loving, so close to pure joy.

She couldn’t stop herself from crying again. He collapsed on
top of her but manage to wrap his arms around her tightly. She sobbed noisily
into his shoulder, feeling overwhelmed and blissfully satisfied and absolutely idiotic.

Finally, he muttered into her ear dryly, “You keep that up,
you’re going to give me a complex.”

She made a burst of sound that was half laugh and half sob.
“I love you, Daniel.”

“I love you too.” He gave her a teasing grin. “Should I be
flattered that my extraordinary talent at sex has reduced you to tears again?”

She laughed again, this time without any crying. “I can’t
believe I didn’t realize how arrogant you were before we got married. Just
remember that you didn’t have that amazing sex all by yourself. You didn’t do it
alone.”

His grin and mocking expression faded in an instant, and he
gazed into her eyes with naked tenderness. "I know that, honey. You have
no idea how deeply I know that I could never have done it alone.”

She knew he was talking now about so much more than sex, so
she got choked up again. This time, however, she managed to maintain her
control.

But then he tilted his head until his cheek was pressed
against her hair. “Thank you, Jessica.”

Her shoulders jerked a little. “Stop,” she whimpered, her
voice muffled by his skin. “You’re going to make me cry again.”

“Thank you,” he repeated, low and husky, burying his fingers
in her hair. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“Shut up,” she demanded desperately, too afraid to even look
at him. “No more sweetness. I’m already a puddle of mush. I can’t take any
more.”

He lifted his body off hers just slightly, enough to expose
her face. This time he didn’t say anything, but his eyes were adoring. She
surrendered, sighed, let the tears come, and momentarily reveled in the
sappiness.

Life didn’t often offer moments of almost perfect bliss, so
she might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

It lasted a long time. It lasted until Christmas morning.

***

The next morning, Jessica woke up
feeling blissfully happy.

She knew she was blissfully happy, even before she opened
her eyes.

She instinctively rolled over toward Daniel until she
realized with a grunt that his side of the bed was empty.

It was then that she opened her eyes.

She sat up abruptly.

The bathroom was empty too.

It was Christmas today, and he’d told her he loved her the
night before.

But he’d left her alone again this morning.

Slammed with a surge of outrage, she jumped out of bed and yanked
on flannel pants and a sweatshirt.

Bear jumped up from her bed too, evidently believing
something exciting was about to happen.

They both ran downstairs and down the hall to the closed
door of Daniel’s study.

Jessica pounded on it. “Daniel!”

“Don’t come in.”

“I
will
come in.” She tried the doorknob, but it was
locked. She pounded on it again. “I know you love me, and I’m not going to
believe anything else. You can’t hide from me again. If you’re upset about
something, then you have to tell me what it is!”

Bear snuffled loudly at the crack between the door and the
floor as Jessica kept pounding—with the flat of her hand now since her knuckles
started to hurt.

She gasped in surprise when the door suddenly swung open.

Daniel was still wearing his pajama pants, although he’d
pulled a sweatshirt on as well, and his hair was sticking out in all directions
from going to bed last night sweaty.

“I’m not going to let you pull away from me again,” she said
with all the authority she could muster, trying to push past him into the study,
since he was blocking her entrance.

He grabbed her and kept her from forcing her way into the
room. “I’m not pulling away. Jessica, would you stop pushing. I’m not pulling
away.”

He was stronger than her so her attempts to fight his grip
were futile. When his words registered, she blinked up at him. “You’re not?”

“I’m not.”

“Then what are you doing in here with the door locked?”

He gave her a longsuffering look. “I was working on your
Christmas presents.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. Oh.”

He was looking far too smug now, so she frowned at him,
merely out of principle. “Well, I woke up and you weren’t there. And then the
study was closed. It happened before, you know, so I thought…”

“I know it happened before.” His expression changed. “I’m so
sorry it happened before, honey. It’s not going to happen again.”

“It’s not?”

“It’s not.” He leaned forward to kiss her, but she ducked
her head.

He frowned. “I said I wasn’t pulling away. Why aren’t I
allowed to kiss my wife?”

“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

He chuckled and pulled her into a hug. “Well, go brush your
teeth while I finish your presents because I’m definitely going to want to kiss
you later.”

“Presents? You got me more than one?” She tried to peer past
his shoulder into the study. He couldn’t have hauled the desk into the study
this morning all by himself.

His strong arms stymied her attempts. “No peeking.”

She huffed, mostly for show, and let him close the study
door again. Then she went to brush her teeth, make coffee, and drag the present
she’d bought him down the stairs and into the living room to put under the
tree—which was no small feat.

Then, feeling so happy she was almost trembling with it, she
poured her energy into trying a scratch recipe for cinnamon buns she’d found
last week—one that didn’t take forever to make or look too difficult for her to
manage.

She drank coffee and sang Christmas carols and mixed up her
dough and rolled it out until Daniel finally emerged from the study, carrying
an armful of presents.

“Oh,” she gasped, running over to inspect them. “How many
did you get me?”

He turned his body to keep the presents away from her hands.
“They’re not all for you, so don’t get too excited.”

“They’re not? Who else did you get presents to open for today?”
She managed to catch a glimpse of the tag on one of the presents. “You got a
present for Bear?”

She was so astonished and delighted at this fact that her
voice squeaked.

Daniel attempted to look dignified, which was a challenge
lugging an awkward stack of presents and with his hair sticking up straight on
end. “You will find out about the presents at the appropriate time.”

She giggled and returned to her cinnamon rolls, wanting to
hug herself.

He would have had to buy the presents before this morning,
which meant even before last night he’d gotten a present for Bear.

She got the rolls in the oven and was heading for the living
room when she saw Daniel emerge from the study carrying one last enormous gift.

“Oh, that’s a huge one! What is it?”

“Mind your own business.”

“It
is
my business. Isn’t that my present?”

“No. This one isn’t for you.”

“Oh. Is it for Bear?” She twisted her head to try to read
the tag.

“I’ve never seen a nosier woman. Can’t a man put presents
under the tree in peace?”

“Of course not. Can we open them now, or do we have to wait
until after breakfast?”

He set the big present under the tree and then turned back
to her. His face softened when his eyes rested on her face. “We can do anything
you want.”

She clapped her hands, too giddy to contain it. “Let’s open
presents now. But I have to warn you, I only got you one present.”

“Well, that works out well, since I like giving presents
more than getting them.”

“It’s a really good present, though.”

“It better be.”

“You can open yours last. Bear wants to open hers first.”

Bear was snooting around the wrapped gifts, pushing a couple
aside until she could snatch one that was in the shape of a bone.

She held the wrapped present in her mouth with obvious
satisfaction and wagged her tail, expecting praise for her accomplishment.

Jessica unwrapped the bone, with some help from Bear who
kept nosing at the paper, and then the dog settled down to happily chew her big
bone.

Then Jessica got to open her presents. Despite Daniel’s
protests, most of them were for her. He’d gotten her pair of gorgeous earrings that
were way too expensive, cozy fleece pajamas with big white dogs wearing Santa
hats on them, a hardback novel about hijinks in a church choir, a beginner’s
cookbook for people who could barely boil water, and a set of computer-printed
“coupons” for free car repair, performed by Daniel, of course.

Jessica was laughing so hard she was almost in tears as she
opened the coupon set.

“You’ve got two more to open,” Daniel said, looking adorably
pleased with the reception of all of his gifts.

She knew one of them was the desk out in the workshop, so
she looked at the large wrapped present under the tree. “The big one?”

“No, not the big one.” He got up to grab a small box she
hadn’t noticed behind the larger one.

Jessica immediately unwrapped the box and then lifted the
top. Inside was a folded sheet of paper.

Frowning in confusion, she unfolded the paper and stared at
it for a minute before the words registered in her mind.

It was a trip itinerary. For a trip to St. Lucia in March.

She blinked a few times and then lifted her eyes to Daniel’s
face.

He looked just slightly diffident. “I thought maybe we could
have a honeymoon. But, if you’d rather go somewhere else—”

“No,” she cried, throwing herself at him. “It’s perfect!”

He laughed, obviously unable to doubt her response was
utterly sincere.

“But can we afford it?” she asked, reason returning to her
once her excitement had settled slightly.

“Yes, we can afford it.”

“Because I don’t need an expensive—”

“I said we can afford it.” He gave her a stern look. “I’ll
let you inspect the budget for it, if you must, although it’s a gift so you’re
not supposed to ask about the price.”

She hid a smile. “Okay. Just checking.” She leaned over to
kiss him. “For a rather infuriating man, you really might be the best husband
in the world.”

“I’m glad you recognize it.”

“Now what about my other present?” There was still the large
unwrapped gift on the floor, and she had the sudden anxiety that the beautiful
desk hadn’t been for her after all.

But it had to have been for her. It had three platforms for
three computer monitors.

“You can’t have your other present. I have to wait until
Micah can get over here to help me bring it in.”

She let out a sigh of relief at this affirmation. “Can’t we
just go out and look at it?”

Daniel narrowed his eyes. “You know! You went around peeking
and found it in the workshop.”

“I didn’t mean to peek,” she admitted. “I accidentally
stumbled on it Sunday morning. It’s the most beautiful desk I’ve ever seen. I
had no idea you could make something like that.”

Leaning back against the couch, he smiled over at her. “I’ve
never made anything so hard before. You have no idea how long I worked on that
thing. But I had to channel all my feelings for you into something, and the
desk was the only thing I allowed myself to do.”

She smiled back at him sappily. “It means so much to me that
you made it.”

They kissed for a minute until Bear set down the remains of
her bone to come investigate her owners’ inexplicable distraction.

Jessica pulled out of the kiss and stroked the dog’s head. “Now
what about the big present?”

“I told you that one isn’t for you.”

“Who is it for?” Jessica got up to look for herself, and
Bear came with her.

The dog figured it out before Jessica could inspect the tag.

Bear stepped onto the present and started scratching it up
enthusiastically.

“Hey,” Jessica said, trying to get the dog off. “You’re
going to mess it up.”

“She’s not going to mess it up,” Daniel admitted resignedly.

Jessica pulled away the torn wrapping paper to discover the
present was a huge, luxury dog bed.

Delighted, Bear turned several circles on it, scratching up
a good place to flop down on it.

Jessica was laughing hysterically as she went to give Daniel
a hug. “I knew you secretly liked my dog.”