by Lexy Timms
Drawing her eyebrows together, Erica tipped her head slightly to the side. “Hmmm… it seems we only have two options, then,” she said, and waited until Mark nodded to go on. “The first is that we plant bugs. Microphones hidden in various golf features or whatever. That means that we won't be able to hear everything they say, but we should get a lot of it. Hopefully enough to do something with. The other option, which is probably a lot simpler, and a lot less illegal, is that we pay whichever caddie’s carting Nicholas' stuff around to watch him and report back to us if he says or does anything interesting.”
It sounded like something out of a spy movie. More like complete idiocy, and Mark laughed despite himself. “Really? An informal spy network recruited from golf caddies. Yeah. That definitely sounds like an opportunity to save the day.”
Erica punched him in the shoulder, and Mark sucked in a quick breath through his teeth. She didn’t hurt him, but her touch also shook him.
“Listen to me,” she said. “I'm being serious here. I know it's a bit weird, but I don't see what you have to lose by trying it.”
“Well, we could lose a lot of things. Starting with all of our customers if they find out that we’re recording people, or having their conversations brought back to us.”
“Who's going to tell them?”
Mark shook his head. “It isn't that simple. No one will have to tell them. All it will take is one slipped audio record, and they find out. It’s illegal. Maybe the caddies, though… they’d be harder to catch and then prove anything, so they might actually be the best choice if we want to be discrete. But there’s also the chance that one of them might decide to tell Nicholas what’s going on. Then we’re screwed. No matter how we do it, what you’re suggesting we do is definitely too illegal.”
“Well, there’s always the ‘Do nothing and get rid of your best chance at finding anything out’ method, which you’re about to employ to great success, I’m sure.”
Part of Mark was starting to wonder if he’d made a huge mistake when he decided to date Erica, because she obviously either didn’t know the law or didn’t care at all about following it. The other part was wondering if maybe she was right. What if he’d been right all along and the best way to help Alex was to keep Nicholas here?
“You’re telling me to break the law,” Mark said.
Erica looked at him and shrugged matter-of-factly. “What’s more important? The law, or your brother?”
Chapter 12
Alex was still awake when Jamie got home from her night out with Christine. He was sitting on the couch and watching TV with an expression that said he didn’t really care what was on.
Jamie carefully sat down next to him. “Alex,” she said, her voice quiet.
He turned to look at her, and she was surprised by the amount of pain in his eyes. Almost without realizing that she was doing it, she reached out to brush her hand against his cheek, and he leaned into it like he couldn’t live without it. They’d been hurting each other so badly by not speaking.
“Turn off the TV,” Jamie whispered, “and come upstairs with me?”
Alex reached for the remote, and clicked the television off. Silently, he followed her up to their bedroom. She checked the twins and headed to the bedroom. Alex followed her without speaking.
“I’m sorry,” Jamie said as soon as they were both sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry that we fought.” Her voice caught in her throat. “I hate things being like this between us. I know that you’re dealing with a lot right now. I also know that you love us, even if you have to spend some extra time at work. I shouldn’t assume anything. I can’t assume anything, it’s not fair.”
“I’m sorry, too, Jamie,” Alex said almost as soon as she’d finished speaking, his voice rough like he’d been crying, or was on the edge of tears. “I shouldn’t have treated you the way that I did the last couple days.”
“I forgive you,” Jamie said immediately. “Of course I forgive you, Alex.”
“And I forgive you,” Alex said. He smiled. “Even though there’s really nothing to forgive. I have been spending too much time at work, and maybe a bit of it is that I’ve used this issue with Nicholas as an excuse. It’s hard to let go of something that you’ve been building for so long. But family is more important. You are more important, Jamie.”
Jamie wrapped an arm around his shoulders and leaned up for a kiss that was long and slow, his tongue claiming her mouth again, their bodies relearning each other after a few days apart. When they sat back again both of them were smiling, their breaths coming a little quicker. Alex reached out and took one of her hands, twining their fingers together.
“I missed you,” he said, and dipped his head to breath in Jamie’s scent from the curve of her throat. He groaned. “Damn, Jamie.”
Jamie shivered a little with the pleasant, teasing sensation of his nose brushing against the thin skin over her pulse. “I missed you, too.”
She had. It had been far too long since they had touched each other like this, since that stupid fight had come between them. There was always the chance that one of the twins would wake up, although they’d been sleeping through the night for quite a while, and Jamie intended to take advantage of every second they had.
Alex’s lips brushed soft and warm against her skin. Jamie’s fingers curled a little tighter around the ones that were linked with them, letting her breath out on a careful sigh. Alex kissed her throat again, nipped gently at the curve of it. Then he pulled back enough to meet Jamie’s eyes.
“How much time do you think we have?” he asked. “How long before we activate the universal law that says parents can only have sex for x amount of time and then a child must wake up and interrupt them?”
Jamie laughed. “I’m not sure, honestly. Why don’t we just start and see where we go?”
Alex obviously took that as a signal that Jamie was ready and willing to get started, because an arm slid around her waist and pulled her right into his lap. Jamie, still laughing, wasn’t particularly upset about the change. She released Alex’s hand to wrap her arms around her husband’s neck and leaned into his chest. His warm hands settled on her hips.
“I missed you,” Alex said, though he’d already said it, this time with his nose skimming along Jamie’s collarbone through her shirt. “Missed you quite a lot, in fact.”
Jamie let her head tip back a little to give him more space, her fingers sliding up to tangle gently in the curls at the nape of Alex’s neck. She smiled.
“You should show me how much you missed me,” she suggested, her voice dropping a little lower, coming out breathy.
“Oh, I should, should I?” Alex smiled against her skin, even as he nipped sharply at it in playful reproof. “I think you’re greedy, wife of mine.”
“Might be,” Jamie agreed readily. “Or maybe I just want you so bad.”
That won her another kiss, deep and hungry and claiming, and Jamie pressed close against Alex’s chest, arms tightening around him. She loved the way Alex kissed, like there was nothing better he could think of doing. Like all that mattered was the moment and Jamie wrapped up in his embrace. Alex always kissed her like she meant the world to him, and Jamie couldn’t get enough of it.
“In that case,” Alex said when the kiss broke, “maybe you should show me how much you want me.”
“Doesn’t that make you greedy, too?”
Alex laughed. “Maybe I just want you, too.”
Jamie gave him a look that said quite clearly that she was on to him, but she gave in to the suggestion with a soft laugh.
Sliding from Alex’s lap, Jamie sank easily to her knees on the soft carpet. Alex slid to the edge of the bed, and Jamie reached up to open the button on his jeans. She heard Alex’s intake of breath and smiled, letting her tongue slip out to wet her lower lip. Her eyes lifted to his face as she pulled the zipper down, and she smiled at the expression there, at the hunger in his blue eyes.
Her hands skimmed Alex’s jeans do
wn his hips to his mid-thigh, out of the way, and he lifted up to help her. Alex was already getting hard in his briefs, and the outline of him was obvious. Jamie reached up and slid the palm of her hand along the hard curve, pressing down just enough to make Alex hiss softly and rock into the touch. She loved watching him come apart under her hand. Her fingers. Loved knowing that she could turn him on so easily. After days without, they were both almost desperate for it.
Jamie rubbed Alex too gently through his underwear until a hand reached down and caught her wrist, just hard enough to leave a little ache behind.
“Stop teasing,” Alex growled, looking down at her with a stern expression that she was pretty sure was half faked, but that growl wasn’t. The words shuddered down Jamie’s spine and straight to the little pool of growing heat at the bottom of her belly.
“Got it,” Jamie answered, lowering her eyes and turning her cheek so it brushed against his still-clothed cock. She hid her smile when she saw Alex’s hand curl in the blankets and heard the groan that caught in his throat.
She pulled down the tight-fitting boxer-briefs and wrapped her hand around hot, naked flesh. Alex moaned, and Jamie let her breath out on a sigh. She licked her lips again, this time unconsciously. Fuck. Alex was beautiful all over, and she was reminded of just how much every time she got his clothes off.
Lifting her eyes to Alex’s face again, Jamie leaned in and pressed her lips to the head of Alex’s cock, slow and almost reverent, just to hear the way that it made Alex’s breath catch in his chest. His fingers tangled in her hair, just tight enough to pull. He dragged Jamie gently forward until she had no choice but to open her mouth wide and let his cock slide between her lips, heavy against her tongue.
Jamie let her eyes fall shut, tipping her head back a little to give Alex a better angle, moaning as her mouth was filled completely. She didn’t always want it fast and hard, but sometimes she did, and it turned her on when Alex was too worked up to take it slow, when he just demanded what he wanted. They weren’t quite to that point yet. Jamie lifted both of her hands to curl around his thighs for something to hold on to. Alex pulled her back and then forward again, a little faster, though never hard enough that she couldn’t have pulled away if she’d wanted to, filling her a little deeper. Alex’s cock hit the back of her throat, and Jamie let it slide deep, breathing in through her nose.
“Fuck,” Alex said above her. “Jamie...”
Jamie moaned around him again and was rewarded with a shudder and a gasp. Alex’s fingers tightened in her hair. Jamie’s hands on his thighs squeezed gently, giving silent permission.
Alex’s hands slid down so that they framed her face, guiding her back, and this time when he pulled her down again he didn’t seem to be giving any thought to whether Jamie could take it, only to what he wanted, and what he wanted was Jamie’s mouth wrapped around him. Jamie groaned around her mouthful, her fingers curling in the denim of his jeans.
“Beautiful,” Alex was saying. “Perfect. Fuck, Jamie.”.
Another thrust, and Alex’s thumbs stroked gently over her cheekbones. Jamie reached up and curled her fingers around one of his balls, rippling them gently and listening to Alex curse. If she had been able to smile, her expression would have been just a little bit smug.
Alex’s hips hitched, and Jamie moved her hand to the other, repeating the roll of her fingers. Alex groaned, and that was it. His come spilled over the back of her tongue, down her throat, and Jamie drew slowly back, licking her lips.
“Alex,” she breathed.
Alex was slumped on the bed like his bones could barely hold him up, and his hands still against Jamie’s cheeks. They tugged upward, and Jamie shifted higher on her knees and leaned in for the kiss Alex claimed. His hands held her close. His mouth opened her own, tongue claiming every corner.
When he pulled back, his hand slipped down between them, and the palm of it pressed against Jamie through her jeans, making her hips buck and his breath catch.
“Fuck,” she gasped. “Alex, please.”
One of his hands wrapped around her arm, helping her to her feet, and then both of Alex’s hands were fumbling with her jeans, and Jamie helped him slide them down and off, kicking them away.
“Yes,” Alex was saying, panting a little still. “Damn, Jamie. Can’t wait to get you out of these clothes.”
Her pants were off then, and her underwear followed quickly. Alex pulled her down to the bed, then curled a hand around her thigh and yanked her legs open. Jamie fell onto her elbows against the mattress with a moan, head tipping back. Alex leaned in like he couldn’t resist the arch of Jamie’s neck and licked up the curve.
“Please.” She hadn’t meant to say the word, but she knew Alex liked to hear it. “Fuck.”
“What do you want, baby?” Alex nipped at the curve of her jaw. “You want my fingers?”
Jamie nodded a little too quickly. “Hell yes. Please.”
Another kiss, this time pressed to the hollow at the base of her throat, and Alex’s hand slid between Jamie’s thighs. She gasped as they slid over her sex, pressing between her lips to where she was ready for him.
“So wet for me already, Jamie,” Alex growled against her shoulder. “Exactly what I want.”
Jamie arched into the touch, and her own fingers curled against the sheets when Alex slid one inside her. It pulled back, and then there were two, stretching her, sliding in easily on the slick evidence of her need.
“Fuck. Alex. Come on.”
Both fingers stroked over the place inside her that made pleasure spark along her nerves, and Alex chuckled low and pleased when Jamie’s back arched. Her toes curled. Another slow, teasing stroke, and then Alex’s fingers curled upward, pressed hard, rubbed slow circles that made Jamie gasp for air between stuttering moans. Fuck. It was almost too much and Alex knew it, knew just how to take Jamie to pieces.
“How’s that feel, baby?”
“Good,” Jamie answered, breathless. “Really good, Alex. Fuck.”
“Going to come for me, baby? I want to see it.”
“Yes. Yes.”
Three fingers then, still stroking, circling, pausing to tap against that sensitive place and make her whimper. Jamie clutched at nothing, nails scraping against the sheets with the motion of her desperate hands. It was good. It was perfect. Another stroke, Alex leaning down and nipping at her shoulder, her collarbone. His teeth tugged at her nipple, and Jamie cried out softly.
“That’s it. Make some noise for me, baby. Let me hear you.”
Another firm stroke, and Jamie let the noise that wanted to escape come out unmuffled. Her hips rocked against his fingers, pleading the same way her mouth was. Her eyes opened, and she stared up at the blank white of their bedroom ceiling without really seeing it.
“Come on, baby. Come for me.” His voice dropped to a growl. “Come for me, Jamie.”
That was all it took. Pleasure arced through her and Jamie came with a sob, legs trembling and arms sliding out from under the weight of her body. She lay against the blankets and tried to remember how to breathe properly while Alex’s fingers slowed and gentled their stroking, taking her slowly down.
“Damn,” she breathed when she knew how to make words again. “Alex...”
Alex gathered her up and pulled her in close, and Jamie lay her head against Alex’s shoulder with a sigh. A warm hand stroked up and down her back. Jamie turned his head and brushed her lips against his neck.
“Feel okay?”
“Me?” Jamie laughed. “I feel amazing. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to walk again, but I feel great.”
She was answered with a chuckle, and Alex’s fingers sliding through her hair.
“I think I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Well, you should, because it was one.”
Jamie shifted a little on Alex’s lap, maybe more than was necessary, her backside rubbing deliberately against his cock, and Alex groaned.
“Are you serious, Jamie? You want i
t again after that?”
“I always want it again,” Jamie answered, turning herself in his arms so that she straddled him, her arms wrapped around his neck and her breasts pressed to the firm warmth of his chest.
His hands dropped to curl around her hips, and she rolled them, sliding herself against his cock and feeling him start to get hard again underneath her.
“See?” she said, smiling up at him. “You want it again, too.”
“Fuck. Yeah. You’re irresistible, baby. If I ever have you writhing naked on my lap and I’m not getting hard, you might want to take me in to a doctor.”
Jamie laughed, and rocked herself down again, slipping a hand between them so that she could stroke him to full hardness. It didn’t take long. She held him in place, rubbing her clit against the head of his cock until he was swearing, his hands curling tighter on her hips.
“You’re a tease,” he said as he lifted her, Jamie shifting so that he stroked down the length of her sex to press against her entrance.
“Am I?”
“Yes,” he growled. “A terrible fucking tease, Jamie Reid.”
And then his hands were pulling her down onto the length of him, and Jamie gave up on teasing entirely, arms wrapping around him for support as he filled her. She lifted with the pull of his hands, and then slid down again, picking up a rhythm they both knew from so many other nights spent like this. Her head rested against his shoulder as she moved, and one of his hands moved up so that it pressed against the space between her shoulder blades, holding her close.
“Jamie,” he said, and this time there was no growl in his voice. It was low and aching with want, and Jamie felt the echo of his desire coil through her. “Fuck. I’ve missed you so much.”
His hands tightened, trying to pull her even nearer.
“We’ve been sharing the same house but we’ve been strangers in it for days, and I hated every minute.”
“I missed you, too,” Jamie answered, still rocking against him. “Let’s not fight like that again. Ever.”
He laughed, and if there were tears hidden in it, Jamie didn’t call him on them. “I don’t know if that’s possible, but I promise you that I will always do my best to make up with you again. Preferably before the day is even over.”