Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) (55 page)

Janie was feeling the excitement and joy of the season even more
that year.  Standing in the bedroom with Luke getting changed for Christmas Eve church service brought home how different things really were. 

They kept throwing each other side glances.  He would help with her zipper, she would help with his collar around his tie.  They were quiet, but there was an energy there, as if they were both anticipating the night to come with contentment yet a sweet emotion that she couldn’t put her finger on.  Poignancy?  Tenderness? 

“Let’s start our own traditions this year,” he said, touching her face.   

“Okay,” she said, her blood warming from his look.  She put her arms around his waist and gazed up at him.  “What are you thinking?”

“I think we should exchange gifts tonight,” he said.  “Is that okay with you?”

She nodded, almost shyly. 
I’m starting a new life with Luke.  Holy shit.

He leaned down to nuzzle her ear.  “And I believe if I’ve done my calculations correctly, tonight’s the night.  With nothing separating us.”

She flushed, her chest rising and falling quicker at the timbre in his voice.  No more condoms.  “I think you could be right,” she whispered with a smile.

“That’s another tradition we can start,” he chuckled. 

“Yup, right after church,” she teased.

He cupped her face and smiled softly.  “This is the perfect time, I guess, right?  We celebrate the beginning of new life in church on Christmas, and the two of us are celebrating the same thing in our own lives.” 

She was completely overcome with love for him at that moment and grabbed him to kiss him more soundly.  He groaned, then kissed her more aggressively.  When they stopped, he was rubbing her lip with his thumb. 

“The sooner we get out
of here, the sooner we get back,” he breathed while cocking an eyebrow.

“Let’s go, Mr. Daniels.”

They grabbed their coats and walked to the car in their Christmas finery looking forward to the night to come.

……

They lay on the comforter in front of the fireplace, the only light in the room coming from the dancing flames and the twinkling lights around the small Christmas tree.  Now after midnight, the crackle from the fire and the soft music playing cocooned them where they were, entwined and naked, touching and loving each other slowly, their kissing more precious, more tender, more meaningful.

Janie was ready for him, running her hands over the contours of his muscles, mesmerized by the controlled strength of him, but Luke took his time.  Stroking her arms, running a finger down her side, letting his hand skim over each curve. 

“
Mi dulce tesoro
,” he murmured while kissing her.  “I want you, Janie,” he looked down into her eyes while his lips rested on hers, his body nestled between her legs.  He dropped his lips to hers.  “I want you all the time.”

She touched his face and ran her fingers through his hair, her heart pounding at his words.  “Why am I your sweet treasure?” she smiled, nipping at his chin, and trying to swallow around the lump forming in her throat.

“You’re getting better,
dulzura
,” he praised, impressed that she interpreted so quickly.  “My tutoring lessons are paying off.”

“I told you.  It’s that new incentive structure.”

“You’re my sweet treasure because I’ve never had a woman mean more to me than you.”  Before she could respond, he slipped inside her so smoothly, so unexpectedly, she groaned.

They both breathed out with relief and took a second to look into each other’s eyes.

“Don’t move yet,” he gritted out.  “It’s too good,” he moaned then closed his eyes.  “I just need a sec.”

She couldn’t help herself and pushed her hips up.  “Oh, wow.  This is really nice,” she whimpered.  “You’re so smooth.”

“God, baby.  I have to move,” he breathed.  He did and she swore she almost saw stars before her eyes.

“Luke, don’t stop,” she said, pushing up into him again.  He placed his hand under her butt cheek and slid his hand until it reached under her knee, where he lifted it high so he could go deeper.

The sounds escaping their mouths mingled into the air, adding to the heightened pleasure they were now experiencing.  He turned them quickly so she was on top, straddling him.  His hands went to her waist, creating a rhythm while their eyes burned into each other.

Janie gasped as he went deeper and deeper.  Throwing her head back she closed her eyes, feeling the intensity grow, his hands now touching her breasts.  She covered his hands with hers and rocked into him. 

He leaned his body up to kiss her and brought a hand to her ass, quickening their moves and causing the familiar tingle to start at the base of her spine.  She dropped her head to his shoulder.  “Luke,” she said, letting him determine the pace.

“We’re never using condoms again,
mi reina
.  Never again.”  He put both hands on her ass and pushed into her with force, holding her down tightly to him causing her to yell at his depth.  “You’re so warm, so wet.  God, and you’re so tight, baby.”

She rocked faster into him, grinding her clit every time she moved.

“That’s right,
dulzura
.  Feel what you do to me,” he whispered.  “Who’s doing this to you?  Who makes you feel this way?”

“You,” she moaned out.  “You, Luke.”

“Rub your nipples into my chest.  That’s it,” he encouraged.  His fingers moved to between her butt cheeks.  She automatically clenched, feeling his finger get closer to the rosebud of her ass.  He groaned when she clenched around him.  His sexy gaze hit hers, a million questions lit up there.  His finger got closer to that area where no man had ever touched her.  “Are you okay?”

She knew what he was asking.  Was she okay with trying something new?  She was.  She wanted to be with him in every sense of the word.  She nodded, her face flushed. 

He pushed up even faster, continuing his rhythm which was keeping her hot and close.  His middle fingers created teasing circles around that forbidden opening, massaging it and making her react in ways she hadn’t expected.  It was dark and naughty, and made her control snap.  She clenched around him again and quickened her pace, now bouncing faster on his lap, gripping his hair, and wanting to growl and scratch at him. 

“Are you going to
come,
mi reina
?  You going to come for me?” he growled and continued playing with her, encouraging her, making her race to the finish even faster.

He finally rolled them once again so he was on top and slammed into her, making her scream out.

She came with an explosion of senses, letting out a high pitched noise and pulling his hair while he let out his own sound of completion and came inside a woman for the first time.   

They lay there, gaining their breath and staying connected at their cores. 

“I’m throwing away every fucking condom in this place,” he murmured into her hair.

“And the ones in my loft,” she chuckled.  “I run a respectable establishment over there, Daniels.  Could you imagine clients finding those things when they’re over there for tastings?  And what would my
backers
say?” she asked, her eyes laughing at him. 

“Your
backers
would say the owner of
The Local Yokel
is a one hot tamale.”

She ran her hands over his back, scratching it lightly.  He twitched inside her and let out a sound of pleasure.  She continued her light scratching until he finally picked his head up to look down at her, a satisfied smile on his lips.

“Merry Christmas.”

She smiled back, saying, “Merry Christmas.”

“Was everything okay with you?” he said, an expectant expression hovering over his lips.  She knew he was referring to his surprise touching.

“Yes,” she purred, feeling wonderfully used.  “Let’s keep trying new things.  What
are you going to throw at me next?”  She snuggled into him.

“I’ll have to see if I can pull out some more tricks.  Meanwhile, we still have presents to open,” he said, rubbing his nose to hers. 

“Yes, we do.”

He disengaged from her, taking the hand towel he’d brought with him to the living room so they could clean up.  Once done, they grabbed their gifts from under the tree and sat on the comforter, wrapped in the blanket in front of the blazing fire. 

“I want to give you mine first,” Janie said, all of the sudden giddy.

He laughed, “Okay.”  Watching her happiness, he winked then tore open the paper wrapped around the cylindrical object.  Then he let out a gut laugh.

It was a fire extinguisher. 

“I’ll have need of this for years to come, I’m sure.”

“I didn’t know what to get the man who had everything.  I promise we’ll make chocolate chip cookies together.  Tomorrow night after Christmas dinner.”

He gave her a heated look.  “I would love to make cookies with you.  Then we’ll make the chocolate chip ones too,” he said wagging his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes.  “There’s one more present.” 

He looked down and saw a small wrapped square shaped object.  He opened it and she could tell the emotion of the moment had caught up with him when he realized what he was looking at.

He stared down at his old monogrammed handkerchief, the one he had used on her tears when she was a bruised and hurting 17 year old after she’d been crying from the insensitive remarks from Chaz.  Eventually he looked up at her, his own eyes now glistening with feeling.

Without speaking, he lifted his hand and cupped her face. 

“You’ve always been my hero, my protector.  I don’t know if I’ve ever thanked you for how wonderful you’ve been to me over the years.  You always knew,” she stopped, blinking back her tears, “you always knew when I needed a little extra care.”

“I hated knowing you had to put up with assholes.  If I could’ve gone to school with you to beat them all up, I would have.”

She smiled, sniffling.  He made a funny face and carried the handkerchief to her nose, as if to say
it’s a good thing we have this thing
.  She laughed then leaned forward to kiss him.

“Okay,” he said breaking away.  “Now it’s your turn.”

There were two gifts before her.  She took the rectangular one first and tore open the paper.  She clapped her hands together as she looked at the beautiful frame encasing three different photos.  She’d never had any framed photos of just the two of them, but now she had three.

Two of the photos were of them caught unaware; the first with them walking into the café the day they had gone shopping for her dress, holding hands, and the second with them kissing
on the sofa under the mistletoe at the holiday party.  She laughed at the irony of it.  What Weston had intended to hurt Luke, Luke had used for the good.  The third picture was their posed photo of both of them smiling for the camera outside the
Dovetail
restaurant.

She wiped at her wet eyes then looked at him.

He shrugged.  “It’s our journey.  Best month of my life,” he said quietly.  Before she could respond, he said, as she had moments earlier, “There’s one more present.”

She reached for the next one, also square in shape like her second one had been to him.  She opened it and saw that it was another framed picture, but this time it was of an object.

She looked down onto an artistic sepia toned rendition of…her boots.  Her old beat up boots that had traveled the world with her and that he made her get rid of.  They were arranged on an outdoor brick stair covered with snow.  Everything in the background was blurry, but the boots were in sharp focus, one lying on its side, the other standing upright and the tongue of the boot flap out.

She giggled with glee.

“If you remember, I
did
say I wouldn’t throw them away but that I would shelve them,” he said giving her a lopsided grin.  “Now you can always look at them.”

“I love it,” she laughed, and kissed him again.  As she was about to put it down, she noticed there was writing on the back of the frame.  She looked up at him in question and he continued looking at her intensely.  Her heart beat a little faster as she read the words on the back:

It’s been said that love is friendship set on fire.  You’ve set me on fire, Janie.  For twenty years that fire has been banked and has now been set ablaze. 

So, Janie, we already have our friendship.  The question remains:  will you now take that final step with me, and set our friendship on fire again and again? 

Will you be my queen of hearts? Queen in my life?  Queen in my bed? 

Will you walk through this world with me, and be at my side forever?   

Will you be my queen, my heart and treasure, my sweet Janie? 

Will you say yes?

Will you marry me?

Her hand flew to her mouth, the tears now flowing from her eyes.  A sob hit her just then and she met his gaze, his beautiful wolf eyes which were also shining.  In his hand he held up a ring box.