“Just watching the tree, trying to store every minute of this holiday away so I don’t forget any of it. Nothing ever stays the same.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Most of my life, I yearned for everything to be different than it was. And now that it is, now that I have you and our friends here and Lion…I don’t want anything to change.”
“Doesn’t work that way. Just know we’re solid. From here out, we’ll be changing together as each new thing comes along.”
“Or slips away.”
“You’re in a mood.” Max squeezed her shoulders. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh? What?”
“Come see.” He took her hand and led her down the hallway through the main house, then over to the gym building and into the pool room. The lights were dimmed to almost nothing, but flickering candles lined the hot tub behind an old screen.
“I’ve locked down the pool room for just us. I’ve shut off the cameras. Lion and Hawk have the boys settled for the night. And I stole a screen from the basketball court so no one can see us getting nasty if they look through the windows on the locked doors. Half the candles, too.”
Hope laughed. “It’s a major production getting alone time here.”
“It is. But now we have it, so let’s put it to good use.”
Max pulled his T-shirt off, baring his muscular torso and lean waist. He shucked his jeans. He wasn’t wearing his boxer briefs, so he was completely nude, already rigid and hot for her. She smiled at him. He came over and helped her remove her henley and tee, then knelt to untie her boots while she pushed her jeans down her hips. She sat in one of the two chairs near the hot tub. Max finished pulling her jeans off, then her socks. She stood and removed her bra and panties.
The air was cool. She felt exposed and a little decadent as she followed Max into the steaming water. In the middle of the small pool, she knelt, letting the water wash over her shoulders. Max floated on his back next to her. The water wasn’t quite three feet deep. Benches and built-in recliners lined the outer rim. Water jetted in from several points around the side walls and up from the bottom. It spilled out into the bigger pool, making a deep, roaring waterfall. The candlelight danced and sparkled on the water, casting shimmering lights on the screen. She could almost believe they were worlds away, in a hot spring, somewhere forgotten or undiscovered.
Max sat on the floor of the hot tub and pulled her onto his lap. She cupped handfuls of hot water and spilled them over his wide shoulders. His eyes were hungry as he looked her body over. She smiled at him as she said, “I didn’t like you when we first met.”
“I tried my damnedest to scare you off. The biker compound was no place for a girl like you. I thought you were the bravest, most stubborn female I’d ever met.”
“I thought you’d be rough and cruel in bed.”
“I am rough.”
“But not cruel.”
He lifted her and drew her down over his thick cock, working his apadravya just where she liked it. He was as hot inside her as the water on her skin. So delicious. She arched her back, letting him move her body over him, up and down. When she opened her eyes to watch him, his face was hard. That scar on his eyebrow stood out.
He caught her watching him and growled. Without warning, he lifted her off him, tilting her back so that he could bring her hips to his face. She was torn between trying to stay afloat and surrendering to the sensations of his mouth on her clit. She could only take so much. She was going to drown. He took pity on her and bent his legs, letting her hold on to his knees as her orgasm hit. Of course, it wasn’t one peak, but a string of them as he kept teasing her. When he penetrated her with his fingers, she cried out at the sensation of being completely undone.
He eased her hips back into the water. Hope felt like she was floating on air, separate from her body. They might have to make the hot tub a nightly experience.
Max pushed himself up to the bench seat. He tugged her toward him. She knelt between his legs. Did he know that he’d positioned her right in front of a jet that blew between her legs? She was still aroused from his mouth, and now that wicked stream of water did what his tongue had just done. Her lips parted. He smiled at her. He knew. He was a devil.
Well, she could give as good as she got.
She wrapped her hands around his cock. Holding her breath, she ducked her head under water and took the tip of him into her mouth, just to his apadravya, then nibbled the sensitive line below that. Every few seconds, she’d come up for air. Each time she broke for air, she smiled up at him. She could tell his tension was deepening by the tightness of his face. When neither of them could take any more, he lifted her over him and entered her.
The rough concrete of the bench hurt her knees. She must have whimpered, because he lifted her knees, making her squat on him. He leaned back against the edge of the hot tub, watching her move, and then his hands were on her thighs, her hips, her ribs, moving upward to cup her breasts. He rolled her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, sending little thrills through her nerves.
After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her back and took over their tempo, moving in her, deep and fast; she was close to another orgasm, so close. His thumb touched between her legs, pressing against her clit, setting her free. Again, she cried out as she ground against him, taking all of him in her, until the ripples slowly faded.
She leaned back in the water, still connected to him, drifting, anchored, limp.
He pulled her into his arms and settled in the deeper part of the tub, his back near the jet that had toyed with her. “Good idea?”
“The best. You can always surprise me like this.”
“I plan to.”
She leaned her face against his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him to keep her in place. He moved her around to sit on him with her back against his chest. With him holding her, she could relax, which felt divine.
“Everything ready for the wedding?” he asked.
“It is. We’ll already have the basketball court set up for Christmas. Just a change of tablecloths and we’ll be ready for the party.”
“You scared?”
“No. You?”
“A little. I haven’t had much in the way of role models as far as spouses or parents go. I already pissed you off a few weeks ago and wasn’t even aware I’d done so. I don’t want us to ever go to bed angry.”
“I like that, but I can’t promise it’ll work out that way—only because it sometimes takes me a while to understand why I’m upset. I do promise to always talk things out.”
“Fair enough.”
“I wish I’d gotten to meet your family,” she said.
“I do too. They would have loved you.” He kissed her cheek. “We’ll make our own family, yeah?”
She twisted around to look at him. “Do you want kids?”
“I do. Owen was right about us not putting our lives on hold forever. And Mandy and Ivy have already broken the ice in the baby department. Another one here or there would hardly be noticed.”
Hope laughed. “Do you have any idea how much work a baby is?”
“A lot, I imagine.”
“Are you ready for that?”
“I might be.” He shrugged. “I am. I think.” He grinned.
She returned his smile and kissed him. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I’m glad we’re getting married. I’m looking forward to a lifetime with you. My old lady.”
She twisted his nipple bar. “Call me that again and die.”
He laughed. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
12
A knock on Max’s bedroom door jolted him awake. He checked Hope, who looked up at him sleepily. It was still dark outside. He checked his phone—0530. Fuck. He stomped to his door and yanked it open. Owl stood there, jumping around like the carpet was full of hot coals.
“It’s Christmas!”
Whoa. The little fucker had a set of lungs. �
��Yeah?”
“Yeah! And there are presents for all of us! It’s a room of presents downstairs. Hurry! Everyone’s heading down.” The boy darted out of the doorway and rushed down the hall.
Max looked over to see Greer and Val standing at their doors. Val grinned at him. Greer cursed and slammed his door. “We doin’ this now?”
“It would seem so,” Val said. “We better not keep the little terrors waiting.”
Max went back into his room. Hope stretched and smiled at him. Any other morning, he’d help himself to her bed-warm body. He kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close.
“Merry Christmas,” she said, her lips against his cheek.
He looked down at her. “It is now.” He smoothed her rumpled hair from her cheek. “I have your present. I’ll give it to you afterwards.”
Hope moved her hips against his. “Why wait?”
Max chuckled as he ground against her. “Because the cubs are waiting for us.” He rolled off her before they lingered too long and missed everything. They both dressed quickly. Hope put her hair in a ponytail. Before they left their suite, he pulled her close. “My present for you isn’t under the tree. We’ll exchange our gifts afterward.”
“Okay.” She showed him the small box that contained his present. “I’ll save this until then.”
A few of the other couples, their kids, and all of the cubs were already in the living room when Max and Hope got there.
“Anyone wake up Russ and Jim?” Max asked. Kit shook his head. Max pulled out his phone and texted them that the day was starting. “They said they’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”
The door from the kitchen into the dining room opened. Jim came out carrying a big coffee urn. “I didn’t say we’d be here in fifteen minutes. I said we’d be ready in fifteen.” He laughed. “We’ve been up for an hour already. It ain’t easy staying ahead of you guys.”
Max nodded at him. “Sorry. Not usually up this early.”
“Can we start already?” Robin asked.
“Not until everyone’s here,” Kit said. “That coffee hot?” he asked Jim.
“Steaming hot,” Jim said.
“I would kill for a cup of coffee,” Ivy groaned, making Mandy chuckle.
“I made a small pot of decaf for you ladies,” Jim said. “Tell me how you take it and I’ll bring it to you.”
Mandy gasped. “Jim, you are my very own Santa!”
Max led Hope over to the buffet table that was slowly being loaded up, and filled mugs for both of them. “We can sit up here and have a clear view of the free-for-all.”
Over the next two hours, the cubs and team kids opened their gifts, each taking a turn. There were stacks of board games, books, tools, and science kits once everything was opened. One of the cubs discovered candy canes and other special treats hanging on the big Christmas tree. The boys broke into groups to play with their new toys.
Russ was hard at work on their Christmas dinner already. Jim said they were planning on a big breakfast, then a midafternoon feast. Nothing did a full reset like feasting and playing for a whole day, Max thought. It was good to see the team on the floor with the kids, helping them with their new toys. It made everything feel normal—picture-book normal, not the kind of normal that most of them really knew.
* * *
Hope took hold of Max’s hand as they walked from Ty’s house over to Mandy’s place. The wind was crisp. It was nice having alone time with Max, but odd that he didn’t drive them over to Mandy’s. But as with everything he did, she was sure he had a good reason.
Inside Mandy’s house was a small artificial Christmas tree with a few presents under it. Hope knew he’d stashed her present over here to keep her from snooping. He needn’t have worried; it wasn’t as if she would have opened and rewrapped her gifts. Probably.
He turned the tree on, then smiled at her. Mandy’s grandmother’s antique ornaments sparkled in the colorful lights. Hope imagined the tree looked much as it had when Mandy was little.
“I’m glad Mandy was able to put her tree up,” Hope said.
“Me too. Gave me a nice place to hide your gifts.” He handed her a big square box. “Go ahead. Open it.” He bit his bottom lip as he watched her.
Hope carefully undid the tape at the folded corners of the wrapping.
“Oh, hurry up!”
“No. I’ve had very few presents in my life, Max. I want to savor this.”
“Well, you have lots more to open.” He nodded to the stack of presents under the tree. “So you can rush through a few of them.”
“Are those all for me?”
“Yup.”
“Max.”
“I wanted to spoil you.”
“I only got you one thing.”
“And I’m sure it will be awesome. I can’t wait to open it—but I’ll have to wait until you’re finished, so get a move on.”
Hope went a little more quickly, but the box was taped shut. Before she could get her knife out, Max was already cutting the tape. He removed the paper stuffing, then held the box while she pulled out the protective Styrofoam surrounding the package contents. He set the box aside then waited impatiently while she exposed what he’d given her—a motorcycle helmet just like his.
“Max! I love it! Now we can both be protected on your bike.”
He grinned but didn’t say anything more. He handed her the next box. She opened it, revealing a pair of boots that were perfect for protecting her feet if he ever had to lay-down his bike.
Next up was a pair of chaps and a matching leather jacket. She shrieked with joy and yanked the jacket on. It fit perfectly.
“I went up one size with it just to be sure you could fit some warm gear on underneath. Here’s the last gift.”
This one was smaller and slimmer than the others. She opened it to discover a pair of black leather gloves with wide cuffs that would fit over the wrists of her jacket. “I love these. I love everything. Does this mean we’re going to go on a ride soon? God, I hope so.”
“Oh, we are. Look under the gloves.”
Hope curiously lifted out both gloves. There, in a bed of cotton, was a set of bike keys. “What’s this?” she asked.
“You’ll see. In a minute. I want my gift first.”
“My gift to you seems so small compared to all of this.”
“Your gift will mean the world to me. And we aren’t comparing gifts to gifts.”
“Okay.” Hope reached next to her and handed Max his present. “Here it is.”
Max smiled at her. He looked curious about what was inside as he shredded the wrapping and saw the smartwatch it held.
“It’s just out of its prototype phase,” Hope said. “It’s fully programmable, so you can customize it into exactly what you want it to be. The links on the band are flash drives, so you can connect the modules you’re interested in from whatever already exists.”
Max looked at her. For a minute, she couldn’t tell if he loved or hated her gift. “You get me. You totally get me. I fucking love this!” He kissed her, and she knew he meant what he said. “Thank you, babe.” He slipped it on his left wrist.
“You’re welcome.”
“I have one more thing to show you. Bring the keys. You know how we agreed to let me handle our wedding gifts and our honeymoon plans?”
“Yes.”
“You trust me, right?”
“I do, but I haven’t gotten you anything as a wedding gift.”
“Yes you have. You just don’t know it yet. My gift for you is a gift for me.” He took her hand. “Come see. Wait, close your eyes.” He led her into the garage. He guided her down the steps from the house and moved her in front of him. “Okay. Open your eyes.”
Hope gasped and rushed forward to run her hands over it.
“It’s the new Heritage Classic 114 Softail,” Max said.
“She’s beautiful.”
Max went over all the specs for the bike. “You like her?”
“Love her!”
“She’s all yours. I thought we’d freestyle somewhere, anywhere you wanted to go. We can ride west or south out of the cold weather and see what we see.”
Hope yearned for that unstructured freedom. “Just take off. No plan. No itinerary.”
Max nodded. “Yeah. Just go. You and me. Two weeks. No team contact—except maybe for some things I put on my new awesome superhero watch.”
Hope ran toward him. He caught her up in a tight hug, then leaned back to look at her. “You sure you’re okay with taking off after the wedding? You’ll miss sending Lion off.”
“I know. And I’m sad about that. We had a good talk about it. I think being here when he leaves will just make me crazy. Besides, he and Hawk will be with Fiona just down in Colorado. He won’t be too far away for me to visit or for him to come home on a weekend sometime.”
“Then the morning after the wedding, we’ll head out.”
Hope smiled up at him. “I love you, Max.”
“Good, ‘cause I love you like crazy.”
13
Hope heard a knock on her door. It was time. Lion said he’d come for her when everything was ready. She shot Fiona a nervous look, but Fee just smiled at her as she went to open the door.
“Hi, Lion,” Fee said, letting him in. “You look handsome.”
Hope agreed. Lion filled out a formal black tux as if he was born to it. Her brother was a chameleon, looking as if he was made for whatever environment he found himself in.
Another knock sounded on the door. Fee opened it. Val came in, smiling at Hope. She blushed. “Did you think to have a meeting of the siblings without me?” he asked.
“No,” Hope answered. “We were just about to call you to come escort Fee to the ceremony. Just tell me someone’s downstairs keeping Max calm.”
“Max is cool—well sort of. He’s anxious to make you his wife. I told him he’d have to chill a little longer. I wanted to wish you a happy wedding day, because, you know, you’re my half-brother’s half-sister. That has to make us related somehow.”
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