CelebrationAfterDarkKobo

by Marie Force

  “That’s one thing we could do.”

  He rested his hand on her belly, letting his fingers tease the strip of bare skin below the hem of her T-shirt.

  One caramel-colored eye popped open to gauge his intentions.

  “Hi there,” he said with his biggest, most charming smile.

  Maddie cracked up laughing. “Subtle.”

  “Never been my strong suit. You wanna get naked?” To his dismay, her smile faded, and her eyes went glassy with unshed tears. Propping himself up on one elbow, he asked, “Was it something I said?”

  “No.” She looked away, her mouth set in an unhappy frown.

  “Maddie, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

  “If I tell you, it’ll make you mad.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “I feel disgusting! All I do lately is puke, and I’m flabby and my boobs are huge—and how is that even possible when they’re huge to begin with? One of these days, you’re going to start to wonder how you ended up shackled for life to a breeding sow who stinks like sour breast milk half the time and is throwing up the other half. And if you laugh, I swear to God, Mac, I’ll punch you.”

  “I’m not laughing.” He wanted to, though. Dear God, he wanted to. “Are you for real right now? A breeding sow? What the hell, Maddie? Why would you ever think such a thing?”

  “Because! Look at me! I’m a mess. My boobs are everywhere, and my belly will never be flat again, and my ass is huge and…”

  He simply couldn’t bear to listen to all things she thought were wrong, so he did the only thing he could think of to make it stop—he kissed her. And when she opened her mouth to protest, he took full advantage, using his tongue and teeth and every bit of love he felt for her to quiet and calm her protests.

  He knew he had her when her body went limp and her arms encircled his neck to keep him close rather than push him away. Mac kissed her until he was certain he had her full attention. Then—and only then—did he break the kiss.

  “I don’t ever want to hear you say such things again, Madeline,” he whispered against her ear. “You’re talking about the woman I love more than life itself. I worship her every minute of every day, no matter what she looks like or smells like or how amazingly awesome her boobs are or how flat or not flat her belly is. My baby is in there. My other babies were in there, too. If your belly is never flat again, what the hell do I care?”

  He worked her T-shirt up and over her head and unhooked her bra, releasing those spectacular breasts that were the stuff of fantasy—to him, anyway. He knew she didn’t agree.

  “You’re always going to be hot and sexy and desirable to me.” Taking hold of her hand, he laid it against his hard cock. “You feel that? That’s what you do to me just walking into the room and lying down next to me. That’s what happens when there’s even a possibility that I might get to touch you and kiss you and make love to you.”

  Gathering her large breasts into his hands, he slid his tongue over one nipple and then the other, taking care to be gentle because she was so sensitive when she was pregnant. He loved that he knew that about her. He loved that in the second trimester, when she started to feel better, pregnancy made her super-horny.

  “What’re you smiling about?” she asked.

  “I’m thinking about what happens in the second trimester when you spend three months basically begging me to fuck you.”

  “Mac! I’ve never said it that way.”

  “But you could.” Looking up at her, he said, “You could say anything you wanted to me, no matter what, and I’d still love you as much as I do right now. You could gain a hundred pounds and the only thing I’d see is more of you to love.”

  She shook her head. “No way.”

  “Yes way. You don’t want to talk trash about my wife, Madeline. Not to me, anyway. I love her way too much to listen to that silliness.”

  “It’s not silly. I look totally different than I did when you first met me.”

  “Yes, you do. You look even better than you did then, and you looked pretty damned awesome. You know what’s better?”

  Eyeing him skeptically, she shook her head.

  “You were too thin then because you never took the time to enjoy a meal or a glass of wine or a decadent dessert the way you can now. You were worried about everything—money, taking care of Thomas, your job, your mom. Now you’re not worried about any of those things, and there’s a sparkle in your eyes that wasn’t there then. Three more pregnancies have made you even sexier than you were then, curvier, more lush.”

  “I didn’t need to be curvier or more lush, as you put it.”

  “I adore your curves, and I absolutely love your lushness. The curvier the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “You must think I’m fishing for compliments, and I swear I’m not, even if you give really good compliments.”

  “I never thought that for a second. I think you’re feeling a little down on yourself for some unknown reason, and you think because you’re down on you I must be, too. And now that you mention it, yes, I’d love to go down on you, thank you very much.”

  Her sputter of laughter made him smile as he helped her out of her yoga pants and panties to make good on his statement. With her legs propped on his shoulders, he set out to show her how much he loved her. He wanted to drive her so crazy with desire that she had no time to think about all the ways he should find her lacking.

  She was perfect to him in almost every way that mattered. Sure, they butted heads from time to time about silly things, such as how he drove and where he chose to leave his work clothes, but in all the most important ways they were on the same page.

  Take now, for instance, when she writhed in reaction to him sucking on her clit as he drove his fingers into her.

  Mac’s cock throbbed with the need to get in on this, but not until he’d made her come at least once. Maybe twice for good measure. He got his wish when her first orgasm rolled right into a second one, and he worried that her cries of pleasure would wake Hailey before he finished showing her how much he loved her.

  He wiped his face on his T-shirt and then whipped it up and over his head. His basketball shorts ended up around his thighs in his haste to get inside her to ride the last waves of her release.

  Ah, sweet Jesus, that feels incredible. The contraction of her internal muscles nearly finished him off far too quickly.

  “Look at me,” he said gruffly, waiting until her gorgeous caramel-colored eyes opened to meet his gaze. “Don’t ever think you’re anything other than beautiful to me. Do you hear me?”

  She nodded.

  “This, us… it’s everything. You’re everything to me. It kills me that you think I’d ever feel anything other than crazy love for you.”

  Her hands coasted over his back to cup his ass, drawing him deeper into her. “Even after all this time together,” she said, “sometimes I’m still surprised that you picked me.”

  “You crashed into me. What choice did I have but to pick you? And P.S., I’m still surprised you picked me.”

  “You barreled your way into my life whether I liked it or not. And P.S,” she said, raising her hips to meet his thrust, “I like it. I like it a lot.”

  Lost in her, he said, “Mmm, me too, baby. I love you so much. You’ll never know just how much.”

  She sighed with pleasure this time. “I think I know.”

  “Biggest and best thing in my life,” he whispered as he kissed her again, “is my love for you and our kids. Don’t ever doubt it.”

  After that, no words were needed.

  Chapter 9

  “I have something for you, too,” Linda said to Mac as they lay in bed watching the snow fall outside. The day had grown dark early due to the thick cloud cover that had hung over the island all day.

  “We said no gifts,” he muttered without opening his eyes.

  “And yet I have a sparkly new ring and a trip to Europe to look forward to.”

  “You didn’t have to
get me anything.”

  “Yes, I did, because I knew you’d go crazy the way you always do.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you don’t. So you want your present?”

  His eyes opened, and his lips curved into a smile. “Well, yeah.”

  “We have to go to Luke’s.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me, so get your lazy butt out of bed and get dressed.”

  “Let’s grab a shower first.”

  “Just a shower. I can’t take any more ‘celebrating’ today.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  “No, I really can’t.”

  “Yes, you really can.”

  Their “argument” continued in the shower and as they bundled up to brave the elements. They took his truck because it had four-wheel drive—and because he would rarely be caught in her yellow Volkswagen Beetle that had been another thing he’d surprised her with a few years ago.

  “So what’s this present you have for me at Luke’s?”

  “I’m not telling you, so don’t try to get it out of me.” Linda couldn’t wait to give him the gift Luke Harris had helped her procure after months of searching for just the right one.

  “I can’t believe Luke has been keeping secrets from me. I’ll have to give him a piece of my mind.”

  “You’ll do no such thing.” She had called Luke to let them know they were on their way. It was hard to say who was more excited about this surprise—Linda or the young man who’d been like an extra son to them.

  After a ride that took twice as long as it should have due to the snow, they pulled into Luke’s driveway.

  “Go on back to the barn,” Linda said, referring to the building where Luke did his boat restoration work.

  “Curiouser and curiouser,” Mac said.

  “Just hush and do what you’re told.”

  His grunt of laughter made her smile. “You’ve always been such a bossy little thing.”

  “You’ve always needed to be bossed.”

  He placed his big hand on her thigh and squeezed. “Oh baby, boss me. Please boss me.”

  Rolling her eyes at him, she said, “I keep thinking one of these days you might actually grow up.”

  “That ain’t never gonna happen.”

  Which was fine with her, not that she could say so to him.

  Luke waited for them with the doors to the barn open. The surprise was covered with a tarp, and Linda couldn’t wait to see Mac’s reaction when he realized what was under the cover.

  They got out of the truck and went into the garage.

  Linda gave Luke a quick hug, and he shook hands with Mac.

  “Happy anniversary, you guys,” Luke said.

  “Thank you, honey,” Linda replied.

  “What’re you two up to?” Mac asked.

  Luke looked to her. “You ready to show him?”

  “So ready.” They’d been working on this surprise for almost a year.

  “It’s under there,” Luke said, gesturing to the tarp.

  Mac approached the tarp like it was wired with explosives, tentatively lifting it.

  “Oh, for crying out loud, Mac,” Linda said. “Just pull it off, will you?”

  He did as directed and gasped at the sight of the gleaming boat. “Is that a…”

  “Nineteen thirty-six Chris-Craft five-five-seven,” Luke said.

  Mac had a smaller classic Chris-Craft runabout that he loved, but they couldn’t sleep on that one.

  “Holy moly,” Mac said, running his hand over the shiny brightwork and creamy white paint. “What a beauty.”

  “It is now,” Luke said with a chuckle. He’d been working on the boat for six months, ever since Linda located it rotting away in a boatyard in Wisconsin. “You’ve got the pictures?”

  “I sure do.” Linda produced an album from her purse that documented the boat’s journey from broken down to fully restored.

  “Wow,” Mac said as he flipped through the photos. “This is incredible. What a great surprise.”

  “I figured we could do some cruising on this one,” Linda said.

  “We sure can.” He hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much, Lin. And Luke, you did an amazing job, as always.”

  “It was fun. The best part was pulling one over on you.”

  Big Mac laughed. “Which is not easy to do.”

  “No, it isn’t. Hope you guys are having a really great day. You surely deserve it after not only raising your own family but also helping out with a few special cases.”

  Big Mac released Linda to put both hands on the shoulders of the man who’d showed up at the marina as a fatherless fourteen-year-old looking for a job and had become one of them in the ensuing years. “You’re family to us, Luke, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Luke swallowed hard. “Thank you,” he said softly. “You’ve both meant more to me than you’ll ever know.”

  Big Mac hugged him, and then Linda did the same.

  “We love you,” she said.

  “Same,” Luke said.

  Sensing they were about to reduce him to tears, Linda took Mac by the hand. “Luke has graciously agreed to keep the boat here for the winter.”

  “You can keep it here every winter. I’ve got plenty of room for it.”

  “Thanks again, you guys,” Mac said, taking another long look at the boat. “I love it.”

  Smiling at Luke, Linda gave him a giddy thumbs-up, thrilled that their gift had been such a hit with the man who was almost impossible to surprise.

  It was still snowing when a car service delivered Adam and Abby to the Westerly airport for the late-afternoon flight home to Gansett. Since their conversation earlier, Abby had been quiet and withdrawn. Though she’d agreed to his plan to get married on New Year’s Eve, he knew their accord was fragile and could shatter at any moment.

  The same could be said for Abby. He was afraid to touch her for fear that she, too, might shatter.

  While Abby went to use the restroom, Slim Jackson, his pilot friend, met him with a bro hug. “Good to see you, buddy.”

  “You, too,” Adam replied. “How’s Florida treating you?”

  “Oh, you know, nonstop sun and fun. It gets a little boring after a while.”

  “Sure, it does.” Adam gestured to the snow that continued to fall. “This is so much better.”

  Slim laughed. “It does make things interesting.”

  “We’re okay to fly to the island?”

  “Absolutely. It’s barely freezing, so we’ll de-ice and go. I wouldn’t want you to miss your parents’ party. Hell, I don’t want to miss it, either.”

  “Are Evan and Grace here yet?”

  “They’re about fifteen minutes out.”

  “Oh, good. When I heard the ferries were canceled, my heart sank. Months of planning and two of us might miss it?”

  “I’d never let that happen.”

  “Today I’m thankful for old friends who know how to fly.”

  “Who you calling old?”

  They were laughing and joking around the way they usually did when Abby joined them, giving Slim a perfunctory hug.

  “Nice to see you,” she said in a dull, flat tone that had Slim raising a brow in question to Adam.

  He dodged the inquiry and put his arm around her.

  “Good to be home,” Slim said.

  “Are you sticking around after the holidays?” Abby asked.

  “I’m not sure yet. Depends on a few things.”

  Adam wanted to pursue that further because Slim always had the best stories, but the arrival of Evan and Grace a few minutes later had them all heading for Slim’s Cessna Citation for the flight to the island.

  Grace was worried about flying in the storm, but Slim assured her they’d be fine.

  “I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t sure it was okay,” Slim said.

  “He’s the best pilot I know, baby,” Evan said.

  “He’s the only pilot y
ou know,” Grace replied with a saucy grin that made Adam smile. He looked over to find Abby gazing out the window, a blank expression on her face that reignited his earlier worries.

  Though she’d agreed to marry him, her heart wasn’t in it, and that killed him after everything they’d been through to get to this point in their lives together. Both of them had overcome failed relationships and heartbreak to take a chance on each other, and he’d never been happier than since the magical week they’d spent together last summer.

  That had been the start of everything, and their wedding needed to be a celebration of their love, not a Hail Mary play to save a relationship that hadn’t needed saving before yesterday.

  As they taxied to the runway for takeoff, Abby sat right next to him, her thigh touching his, but she was a million miles from him, the gulf between them so wide it was frightening. What would he do if she permanently checked out of their relationship? Adam shook off that thought as quickly has he had it.

  He wouldn’t let her do that. Reaching for her hand, he linked their fingers and held on tight as they hurtled down the runway, lifting off into the cloud-filled sky on the short flight home to Gansett. The thick clouds made for a bumpy climb.

  Abby tightened her grip on Adam’s hand. She was unnerved by the bumps and hung on to him for comfort. How sad was it that such a small thing filled him with hope?

  He released her hand to put his arm around her, encouraging her to rest her head on his shoulder, which she did. “Everything’s going to be okay, Abby.” Adam hoped she knew he was talking about far more than the bumpy flight.

  She released a deep breath and relaxed against him.

  Adam ran his fingers through her long, dark hair. He loved her silky, shiny hair, and the thought of her losing it killed him. But that would never change the fact that his heart belonged to her, completely and absolutely.

  In front of them, Evan and Grace giggled like high school kids on a first date. And then they were kissing like two people who’d spent most of the last month apart and were thrilled to be back together. Good for them. Adam would never begrudge his brother the happiness he deserved. He just wished that he and Abby could go back to yesterday morning, before they had real problems, before they knew the results of tests she’d had two weeks ago.