“Yes you did. I’m quite glad about that too.”
“Why?”
“Because less time getting here means…?”
She stopped walking and looked up at him, her brows furrowed. Cort took pulled her closer and pressed her hand to the aching rock hardness in his pants. Within moments, a smile lit her face. She tightened her hand around him, pulling a groan from his throat. “Less time getting you inside me?”
Cort laughed and nodded. “Exactly,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her. His lips met air when she wiggled away from him, flipping out of her flip-flops as she ran toward Decker’s front porch. There would never be a dull moment with her. There would never been a lonely moment with her either.
He popped the button on his pants and strode toward the house. His boots clomped on the wooden steps and mingled with her giggles as he moved in on her until she was backed against the wall.
He loved her, ever naked, beautiful inch of her. He’d loved Alicia, but it was nothing like this, had never been anything like this. No women he’d ever been with compared to Blue. She consumed him and had since the moment he met her. Every second he’d been without her, she’d consumed him those times too.
His mouth dropped to hers, his tongue pressing his advantage when her lips parted. She was his, had been for five long years, and—
“Hey, y’all…”
Cort couldn’t fucking believe it. Neil. Again.
He lifted his head and closed his eyes, counting to ten, then twenty, then as high as he could.
“Rosie said you forgot your…pie. Uh-oh. I interrupted, huh? I’ll just, you know, go back the way I came and uh… Yeah.”
Cort waited a few seconds until he felt the shaking of the body against him. He looked down to find Blue laughing. She was naked, and he had his ass hanging out of his pants, and she was laughing. “That man is a menace, and you are gonna get it now, missy. It’s not funny.”
It wasn’t, but at the same time, it kind of was. He did his best to keep from laughing as well and was grateful when she pulled his mouth down to hers to continue the kiss they’d started before.
Rain. Laughter. Her wet, naked body and her love for him. What more could a man ask for?
He surrendered to the feel of her mouth, to her moans, to the feel of her heart beating against his chest. As much as he felt that she was his, the truth of the matter was, was that he was hers. For always. Forever.
Epilogue
Seven Months Later
“Really? Decorating the tree naked? It’s forty-something outside.”
Blue turned her head in the direction of the voice and grinned. God, the man was hot all bundled up like he was going out into a blizzard. Black wool coat on top of a deep red sweater on top of a soft gray pullover. Black jeans that she’d fought him into getting, black boots. He even wore a scarf she’d found on one of her many shopping trips as an early Christmas present. How could a man look that good without a bit of skin showing other than his face? “But it’s not forty-something inside since you had that new heating system installed.”
“We’re expecting guests soon.”
“Well, soon isn’t right now. I have a little time. Besides, I’m not completely naked.” And she wasn’t. She wore a red and white Santa hat on top of her head, little bell earrings in her ears along with little bell non-piercing nipple rings on her nipples. She had bracelets of every sparkly Christmas color on her wrists.
She climbed down the ladder and with each step gave new meaning to the movie line “every time a bell rings.”
“My little elf,” Cort murmured as he leaned down to steal a kiss from her glittery lips. “Come on. I have something to show you.”
“A surprise?” She liked surprises, good ones, at least. She liked his surprises, his romanticism. Coffee in bed. Breakfast in bed. Being breakfast in bed. His desire to never go to sleep without her in his arms, even if that meant having to drive hours to get back home to her. And when he had to go out of town, he took her with him.
“Yes. You’ll need a jacket, though. You really should put on shoes and pants, but you need a jacket.”
“Okay.” She grabbed her own winter wool coat from the rack in the hallway and shrugged into it. Hers was a deep red that matched his sweater almost perfectly. One might think they tried to match when they dressed, but they didn’t. It just so happened they had the same taste in style. It was odd the things they were learning about one another as they’d lived and worked together over the last few months.
He took her hand and once in the kitchen turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Close your eyes.”
“Oh, it’s one of those kinds of surprises.”
She was excited. Christmas was her favorite time of year, and she had him. She couldn’t ask for more. Well, okay, maybe she could. His surprise.
She closed her eyes and he led her forward. At the backdoor, he opened it and a gust of wind rushed in. She stumbled back as the cold bit into her bare legs and feet.
“A few more steps out. There, that’s it. Now, just stand there and keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them, all right?”
“All right.”
If it were possible, she might have frozen on the spot. Her fingers trembled against the lapels of her jacket. She held it closed as tight as possible and shifted her weight from foot to foot. Next time, she’d listen to him when he tells her she might want to put some clothes on. She was only naked now because she’d been hoping for a little naughty elf time before their dinner guests arrived. She’d been hoping to surprise him, but he’d come home later than she’d expected.
“Ready, baby?”
She yelped, not having heard him come up the back steps. “Yes.” She would have smiled and giggled, but she was too damned cold, and she was afraid her face would crack if she did. It had to be colder than forty-something. Had. To. Be.
Cort wrapped his arms around her, pulled her back into the warmth of his own coat and body heat and she sagged against him. His coat was slightly longer than hers, coming to her thighs, and she welcomed the additional heat.
“Open your eyes.”
She did so, slowly and her breath caught. “Oh God, Cort,” she whispered. The sight before her was no less than breathtaking, no less than the most romantic thing anyone could have ever done for anyone else, and he’d done it for her.
Lights sparkled in every pecan tree in the orchard. White lights and multi-colored lights together twinkled against the winter night sky. The gazebo she’d had Buck build in the center also glittered. Cort left nothing untouched. She’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
“Do you like it?”
His question was tentatively asked, and she nodded emphatically. Words escaped her when she tried to speak, so she didn’t. She just nodded and cried and laid her head back against his chest.
“Merry Christmas, baby.”
Merry Christmas, indeed. He had no idea what it meant to her. “Thank you,” she whispered. She turned and burrowed into his coat, and he turned them both so she could look at the lights. What a perfect night. Christmas was still a couple of weeks away, but it seemed the right time to give him the gift she’d been hiding from him for months.
A shiver shook her as a gust of wind blew by.
“Let’s get you inside. You can look at them all you want from the warmth of the kitchen.”
Once inside, she took both his hands and leveraged herself up to kiss him. Her lips lingered against his until his parted, until he wrapped his arms around her, effectively trapping her arms behind her back. His tongue slid inside her mouth and she savored the sweetness and spice of the apple cider he’d had earlier.
She still marveled at how her body fit against his, at how he fit inside her, at how his lean strength complimented her full, soft curves.
“I have a surprise for you too,” she said softly against his mouth.
“You being naked wasn’t my surprise?”
“It was part, but not all.
The rest is upstairs.”
Buck fixed the back staircase for her, and she led him up it now. It wound upward in a very tight spiral, but it was the only way to get to the third floor.
“When did you get this repaired?”
“While we were in Texas.”
“Where does it lead?”
“Up.”
She yelped at the stinging smack to her ass but smiled inwardly. The way they teased, the way they were able to laugh and chat with one another no matter the situation, be it sexual or serious or just casual, was something she’d always wanted. It’s what happened in movies, in television, but never in her life with the men she’d dated, but then, she’d never wanted to get that close with anyone. The idea that they could be taken from her was too great, so she’d opted for surface, for fun.
Not anymore. Not since Cort.
At the top of the stairs, she opened a door. There was no landing per se, just a top stair and a door. She tugged him through the opening and pulled his arms around her from behind, letting him take it all in.
“What do you think?” she whispered, laying her head back against his chest.
“I’m not quite sure.”
Blue smiled. She had a feeling that that would be his reaction, and she didn’t blame him. Half of the third floor was attic space, and a doorway in wall to the left led to it, but this half of the room, she’d had recreated into a private suite away from all the other rooms in the house. She’d planned it long ago, long before Cort had arrived, but once he had, she’d known exactly how she’d decorate it.
“It’s the Savannah room. A honeymoon suite, I guess you could say.” The room was painted a deep purple, like twilight. Neil had taken a trip with his camera to Savannah and brought back some amazing shots. They’d taken a couple of them and blown them up, and they now graced the two solid walls. One was of the river at dusk, and one was of row houses surrounding one of the squares. In the background of it could be seen the pub where she and Cort first met.
Sconces hung on the walls along with a large iron chandelier overhead. It’d been sent to her about a year after her aunt had died, oddly enough from a friend of Aunt V’s who had died and willed the light piece to her. Blue had thought to use it in the dining room, but it worked better up here.
There wasn’t a balcony off this room, only two dormer windows at the front so she’d arranged a small seating area there. During daylight, the Blue Ridge mountains could be seen. A small private bathroom had been installed as well.
The wall to the right boasted a king-size walnut sleigh bed. Most of the wood in the house came from either walnut, oak, or pecan, and she wanted to keep with that when she’d had the furniture made for the room.
“There were a lot of antique furniture pieces in storage, but I wanted this room to have something new, something that was different and unique.”
Cort kissed the top of her head and slid his arms from around her. He walked toward the chest of drawers and ran his fingers over the edges and top. It was incredibly smooth, she knew, from having done some of the sanding work herself.
“Who made it?”
“An old family friend of Aunt V’s. I went to see one of the sons about making the pieces for the room, and though he charged an outrageous amount, he got it done just last week and brought it while you were in Asheville.”
He slanted her a look. “That’s why you couldn’t come with me.”
“Yes.”
“Naughty, sneaky girl. I didn’t wire this floor, though.”
“No. I had your friend do it. He’d work up here when you were on lunch breaks or on errands.”
Cort tsked her. “You are a very naughty, sneaky girl. It’s a beautiful room. Guests will love it.”
“Well, that’s just the thing. It’s not for the guests. It’s for us. A retreat. A chance to stay in the mansion once in a while. I love this house, and I always took every chance I had to sleep in it. It’s always where I ran away to when I felt like running away. Now I can run away with you, here.”
“You did this for us?”
“Yes. Do you like it? I tried to… Is it corny?” She’d never had to plan anything of this scale for anyone, not anything with such meaning. At least not for a lover. She’d done things for her friends before, but recreating a scene from her past, a scene with pleasure and pain mixed, she wasn’t sure she’d pulled it off.
“Corny?” Cort moved across the room and took her face in his hands. “No, baby. It’s not corny. It’s beautiful. It’s sweet.”
His lips on her signified sweetness. Just a touch, though lingering. A mingling of breath, of warmth, of connection.
“I am more than willing and happy to run away with you anywhere you want.”
“Even now?”
“Even now. I’m more than willing even now, actually.”
Her hand grasped the ends of his scarf and unwound it from his neck. “Do we have time?” As she asked the question, she went to work on the buttons of his coat, her fingers trembling slightly. She fumbled with a few, slapping him on the shoulder when he laughed at her.
“You’re nervous?”
“No, of course not,” she answered softly. “I don’t have any reason to be nervous.”
“Of course you do. We still have guests coming very shortly. It’s our first Christmas together. You’ve given me a wonderful surprise in this amazing room. Nervous is understandable.”
“I’m not nervous.” And in truth she wasn’t. “I’m excited, happy. We have dinner guests coming shortly, and it’s our first Christmas together, and you liked my surprise,” she repeated his sentiments back to him as she finally finished unbuttoning his coat. “I just still get all fluttery with you, and I shake sometimes.”
She curled her fingers under the edges of his sweater after he shrugged out of his jacket and pushed it up until he could pull it off his head. His long sleeve gray shirt came next, and she laughed as he jumped back slightly.
“You’re hands are fucking cold.”
She took a step toward him and he took one back. “They’re not that cold.” She rubbed them together trying to warm them.
“They’re cold enough. Damn, woman.”
Blue sighed. “Well, you’re the one who took me outside in nothing but my coat.”
“I wasn’t about to suggest you put on clothes. I like you naked too much, but I thought we’d been inside long enough that your hands wouldn’t still be icy.”
“They’re not. You’ve just had too many layers on.”
“And I need them back before you touch me.”
“Baby,” she teased.
She’d advanced on him, one step at a time until his knees hit the back of the bed and he had nowhere else to go. He inched himself up, and she reached for him. “Not on your life.” He grabbed for the blanket and held it against his chest.
Her hand landed on the bulge between his legs. She squeezed. He was as hard as she was wet. She rubbed him through the denim, and after a few defiant moments, he moaned and loosened his hold on the blanket.
He pulled her to him, astride his thighs, and she guessed he was no longer concerned with the temperature of her hands. Her body ached, and as she spread herself over his lap and settled down on him, the first bit of friction teased her clit, and she surged. Wetness would stain the front of his jeans, but his hands on her back, his mouth at her throat, and she didn’t care in the least. She didn’t think he would care either.
His arms around her encouraged her to ride him this way, to take her pleasure from his body. The very tip of her orgasm was within seconds of crashing over her, and she pressed her nipples to his chest, the little bells singing an erratic melody.
Blue gasped for breath and sucked in another one. She had no words for the feelings she felt in that moment with him here, in this place she’d created for them, this little sanctuary away from the rest of the world, this room she—
“What was that?” she whispered, still moving on his fully covered, fully
erect cock.
“What?” His hands dropped to grip her ass and aid in her movements.
She heard the sound again and then… “Oh God,” she groaned. Car doors. And the next sound she would hear was the chiming of… “The doorbell.”
“Menaces. All of them,” Cort muttered.
“I’m so close, Cort, please.” She bucked forward. “You can…you can go down and distract them while I go get dressed and… Please help me,” she pleaded, looking up into his eyes.
“You want me to let you come but have to wait myself until everyone leaves? Oh no, darlin’.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I may love you but not enough to suffer like that alone.”
Blue couldn’t believe he’d let her hang like that. “You’re mean, and I don’t like you.” She pouted, tried to do it convincingly pretty for him, but he just smiled and shook his head.
“C’mon, up. They’ll come barging in the door and up the stairs if I don’t go down there.”
He urged her off his lap and settled her on the bed. She was grateful because she didn’t think she’d be able to stand on her own just yet, the adrenaline from the near orgasm still flowing through her. She watched him put his shirt and sweater back on.
“I can always wait up here for you.” She laid back on the bed and slowly spread her legs. “You can go let them in and settle them with drinks then excuse yourself to come find me.”
“Tempting little elf but no. We’ll wait until later.” He did, however, draw one finger through the engorged lips of her sex and tease her clit with the tip of one. He withdrew, then wiped the moisture across her mouth. “Go get dressed.” He winked, flicked one of the bells dangling from her nipple, then headed for the door and the stairway just as the doorbell rang out again. It was followed by a loud bit of unruly knocking.
Blue sighed and licked her lips. Her taste would linger on her tongue, and she’d make sure to kiss Cort with it before drinking it away. She stared up at the light fixture with its pretty lights making diamond patterns on the ceiling. This room was a mix of old and new, as her relationship—and yes, it was a relationship—with Cort was a mix of old and new.
Forever in Blue Jeans Page 18