Damaged and the Knight

by Bijou Hunter

  “I’m waiting,” I said softly,

  “Hell,” he said, truly unable to form other words.

  My laughter died as he stripped down and began to explore. The thin matching panties were soon slid over, so his tongue could get a taste. Gasping, I spread my legs wider and we sighed in unison once he filled me completely.

  “Best Christmas ever,” I moaned as he started thrusting.

  Judd groaned. “What you said.”

  Later, we cuddled under a blanket on the couch and watched the tree. With a little smile on his face, Judd glanced at Pearl who was fascinated by the flashing lights.

  “This is nice,” he finally said. “Not smothering, but comfortable and relaxed.”

  “Tomorrow, we’ll go to Farah’s and do the family thing. Are you ready for that?”

  “As long as I don’t have to sing or do a lot of smiling, it’ll be fine.”

  “Your mom is coming for Christmas dinner. Will you sing then?”

  “Only if she gives me her disappointed mom look.”

  “Vaughn is coming too. I hope that’s okay.”

  Judd exhaled hard. “Maybe you ought to have asked me that before you invited him?”

  “But you might have said no and I wasn’t looking for a disagreement. He has no one to spend Christmas with.”

  “I know he gets lonely during the holidays, but he’s always weird around you. If that happens on Christmas, I’m beating his head in with a pipe.”

  “Where will you get the pipe?” I asked, licking his shoulder.

  Judd grinned. “Let’s keep the sexy Christmas presents stuff to ourselves, okay?”

  “What if your mom asks what we got each other?”

  “We lie.”

  “Yeah, honesty is for suckers.”

  Judd cupped my face in his strong hand. “Are you happy, angel?”

  “I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

  Judd pulled me closer. “Just remember that when I act like an asshole and you want out.”

  “Roger that, stud,” I said, kissing his jaw. “You could also not act like an asshole. It might save us some time.”

  “You’d think, but nope.”

  Laughing, I relaxed against him and soaked in this new life we were building. Here in our home with our girly tree and fascinated cat, we prepared to share our first Christmas together.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Arriving at the house for Christmas Eve dinner, I was surprised when Farah opened the door and lunged into my arms. I held her against me as she nearly smothered me with affection. Even without saying a word, I knew she felt overwhelmed by her first great Christmas. Finally achieving a life like Mrs. Prescott’s, Farah worried she’d ruin her good fortune.

  “We got a tree,” I told Farah as she finally eased out of my arms. “A little one, but it’s pretty. Girly too. More proof that I own Judd’s hot ass.”

  “Fuck yeah, you do,” he said, giving a sly grin.

  “Don’t cuss in front of baby Jesus,” I warned, gesturing towards the lawn ornaments.

  Sighing, Judd shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “This is going to be a long night.”

  Ignoring him, I held Farah’s hand and entered a house smelling of cookies. As Christmas music played quietly overhead, Cooper leaned against the fireplace mantle while talking to Aaron. In the kitchen, Bailey waved me over to where she and Sawyer baked cookies.

  “Look, I’m domesticated,” Bailey announced, handing Sawyer a cookie to add to the sheet.

  Giving her a hug, I grabbed a warm cookie. “I’m helping Zaria make Christmas dinner. You and me are both Holly Homemaker now.”

  Smiling, Bailey gave Judd a head nod. “We have to leave in an hour because Sawyer needs to get to bed early so Santa can come.”

  The wild haired little girl grinned up at me. “I barely made the Nice List, but squeaked in at the last minute.”

  Laughing, I fiddled with her ponytail and wondered about having a kid. When I glanced at Judd, he might have been thinking about the same thing because his expression was one of horror.

  “Two or three years from now,” I said and his blue eyes lit up.

  Kissing the top of my head, he grinned. “Look at my angel reading minds.”

  “Ew,” Sawyer muttered, jumping off the stool and running to Cooper who scooped her up into his strong arms.

  Farah appeared next to me and leaned against my shoulder. Her gaze on Cooper, she sighed. “He wants one soon. We’ll likely start trying after the wedding.”

  Hugging her against me, I glanced at Judd who again looked like a cornered animal.

  “We’ll babysit the kid sometimes when it’s not teething or gassy or stuff.”

  Laughing, Farah hugged me tighter then whispered, “What if I’m a bad mom?”

  “Why would you be?”

  “We were raised like shit. Coop says I’ll be good at it, but I’m scared. Seeing Maddy take to everything so easy makes me think I won’t.”

  Cupping her face, I smiled. “You took care of me. You take care of Coop and his family. You have a good heart and you’ll be a great mom. You’ll just need to practice at it like you do everything. Maddy is good with kids because she’s had practice. She’ll help you learn. I’ll help you by looking worse at things than you do and that’ll feed your ego.”

  Laughing again, Farah hugged me. “This Christmas is so beautiful, but I just keep waiting for something to ruin it.”

  “Those men are dead,” I whispered in her ear. “Mom is gone. Dad wouldn’t come here because he doesn’t know you have money. If he does show up wanting to hassle you, Cooper will take care of it. Nothing can ruin Christmas or our lives here. We’ve started over and the world will just have to get used to that fact.”

  Farah gave me a weird look. “Grandma is coming to the wedding.”

  “Good. She’ll see you’re successful and tell all of our loser family about it. They’ll hate us, but she’ll also tell them how you have a scary rich husband. They might want to sponge off our good fortunes, but they’ll know not to. Having Grandma come is a great thing.”

  “She can also see how good you’re doing,” Farah said, grinning.

  “Yeah, she might even remember my name and everything.”

  “Oh, Tanya, don’t be like that.” Giggling, we realized our men were waiting for attention. “They get so needy.”

  “Wait until Coop sees the Christmas gift I bought you,” I said, giving her a wink. “He’ll be needy all night long.”

  Bursting into laughter, Farah looked ready to shove everyone out of the house and open her gift. Instead, Cooper appeared with my gift.

  “Open it,” he said, crossing his arms and trying to intimidate me.

  “No.”

  “There’s a speech that goes with the gift and I can’t do it on the phone. Open it, employee.”

  Rolling my eyes, I unwrapped the gift, careful to avoid tearing the beautiful snowman themed paper. I stared at the laptop then at Cooper.

  “Thank you, but what do I need a laptop for?”

  “You’ll use it to finish high school. This is the beginning of my speech, by the way.”

  Frowning, I turned to Farah for support, but she only smiled. “It’s okay, Tawny. You can finish high school online, so there’ll be no classes to go to. No pressure either. You can take your time and do one subject at a time. We’ll even hire you a tutor, if you want.”

  “Why?”

  Cooper looked ready to wrap an arm around my shoulders for his big brother speech, but Judd sent out a male signal indicating how violence would result from any touching. Rolling his eyes, Cooper sighed.

  “To be part of my organization, you need to be fearless. I saw how badass you can be when you dealt with the mole. You also put up with this asshole, so I know you’re a brave little bitch,” Cooper said, grinning at Judd. “High school beat you though. You need to defeat that fear you have of school. Get your diploma and know you can do whatever y
ou want, even if you fucking hate it. If I can do law school, you can finish high school. Besides, if you don’t promise to work for your diploma, you’re not working for me. I can’t have you afraid of anything.”

  On the spot, I glanced at Judd who shrugged. “Say yes and weasel out of it later.”

  Cooper snorted. “You’re not helping.”

  “Wasn’t trying to, man.”

  Farah stepped closer. “You can take your time, so it doesn’t have to be stressful. I know you hated school, but this isn’t school. This is just courses on a computer. You are plenty smart enough to handle that, Tawny.”

  Sighing, I nodded. “Thanks for the laptop. I can use it for other stuff too, right?”

  Cooper rolled his eyes. “I’m not monitoring your computer use. Do what you want with it. Just promise you’ll give school a chance. That way, you can look at your kids one day and seem fearless to them. Trust me that having fearless parents is fucking awesome.”

  Breathing easier now, I hugged Cooper. Once I did, I felt Judd tense. As Cooper hugged me back, I had no doubt he was glaring at Judd. Finally, Farah cleared her throat and pulled me into a hug with her.

  “Men are stupid sometimes.”

  “That’s why God made these two so hot,” I said, grinning over her shoulder at Judd. “He knew their good looks would offset the dumb.”

  Cooper waved off my words and returned to Aaron who entertained Sawyer. I knew Farah wanted to hang out more, but she had to play hostess. While I cuddled with Judd, Bailey helped Farah in the kitchen until everyone was ready to head home to wait for Santa. Well, Sawyer waited for Santa. Judd and Cooper just wanted to enjoy those sexy Christmas gifts.

  ***

  Christmas morning was a picture of laziness. Judd and I woke up around seven, worked up a sweat then returned to sleep. At ten, we woke up and messed around in the shower. Soon, we were in bed, giving each other oral gifts. Finally, we made it out of the bedroom for a leftover pizza breakfast.

  Even knowing what was in the dozens of gifts surrounding our little tree, I was giddy while unwrapping. Since the gifts were as much for his pleasure as mine, we took turns opening them. Twice, we were so happy with our presents that we stopped unwrapping to enjoy them. Eventually, I walked around in a white and pink hearted babydoll while Judd threw on a pair of boxers. We finished with our gifts then enjoyed a glass of wine in front of the fire. Based on Pearl’s shock at how the gas fireplace roared to life, I suspected Judd didn’t use it often.

  By the time Vaughn and Zaria arrived, I had a dumb grin plastered on my face. This was the best damn day of my life and Judd was perfection especially after agreeing to adopt a kitten in the New Year.

  As the guys watched football in silence, I helped Zaria in the kitchen. Days earlier on the phone, we decided to bake a ham because it was easier than a turkey.

  “I used to hate cooking,” Zaria said, grinning while glancing at her son. “So now I only cook for holidays and special occasions.”

  “Farah is learning to cook, but I’d be happy to microwave everything.”

  Blue eyes bright, Zaria smiled wider. “A girl after my own heart.

  “Judd would probably like for me to cook,” I said, studying him as he stared blankly at the TV.

  “Oh, I don’t think he cares. Judd is easy to please and he lives a simple life. Sharing that life with you is the biggest thing I’ve ever seen him do.”

  Glancing at her, I was surprised to find her sad.

  “There were years,” she said quietly, “where I’d thought I lost him. Months ago before he met you, Judd and I would have dinner and he was a shell of a man. He wanted nothing from life, almost like he was just wasting time until his death.”

  Looking at Judd, I found him still lost inside himself. Yet, he must have felt my gaze on him because he turned towards me. At first, his eyes were emotionless. Vaughn noticed and stared dead eyed at me too. Giving them a big smile, I waved.

  “Hey, guys!” I cried and they laughed. “Why are you two pouting?”

  “It’s a good look on us,” Vaughn said, crossing his arms and staring at the television. “Makes us look deep.”

  While Zaria and I laughed, Judd just smiled at me as his gaze was warmer. The coldness hiding behind those walls thawed and he was with us again.

  “I’m making potatoes,” I said, just to say something.

  “We need to get you one of those fancy aprons.”

  Immediately, I imagined wearing nothing under the apron. Judd was likely imagining it too because he twisted uncomfortably on the couch.

  Noticing Zaria frown at her son’s discomfort, I shrugged. “He’s got hemorrhoids.”

  Vaughn burst into laughter. “Smooth.”

  Zaria grinned at her son then turned around the work at the stove. “Men.”

  Winking at an annoyed Judd, I glanced down at my breasts and he followed my gaze. His eyes returned to my face and narrowed.

  “Stop,” Judd warned while fighting a grin.

  Ignoring him and his pants problem, I helped Zaria finish dinner and talked about Farah. She even offered a discount on hair and makeup at her salon for the wedding party. Though I knew Cooper didn’t care about saving money, Farah loved a good deal.

  Dinner tasted great, mainly because I helped create it. A small ham, cheesy mash potatoes, steamed broccoli, and a pie from the store was the nicest Christmas dinner I’d had outside of the visits to my grandmother’s house. Those visits involved an angry tension with relatives who hated each other. Now, I was surrounded by the man I loved, a woman who treated me like a daughter, and a guy I viewed as a cranky cousin. Even without Farah at dinner, I felt like I was home.

  After we ate, I pulled out a deck of cards and we played for a few hours. Vaughn was cranky in the beginning, but perked up after he won a few games. Those wins were my Christmas gifts to him.

  “If we went bowling,” I said to Vaughn who shuffled, “could I have those things up that keeps the ball from rolling into the gutter?”

  “The bumpers? Sure. You want to bowl with me?”

  “Yeah. Hell, we could even bring along Judd.”

  A grunt from my man caused me to laugh, but Zaria ruffled Judd’s hair.

  “Jealousy is adorable on you, kid,” she teased.

  After the cards were handed out, I smiled at Vaughn. “I’ve never bowled before. If I like it, maybe we could make a habit of it? Like have a bowling night every week.”

  As Judd frowned, Vaughn shrugged at the suggestion. “We’ll see if you like it first.”

  “I like routines,” I continued, ignoring Judd’s irritated stare. “Each week, Judd and I are having dinner at Farah’s. We’re barbecuing and playing pool. On another night, we’ll have dinner out with Zaria.”

  “When did this all happen?” Judd muttered.

  “I planned it out in my head while I peeled potatoes.”

  Judd sighed. “Well, thanks for sharing.”

  “Are you saying no?” I asked, pulling out my sad eyes for extra effect.

  Judd gave me a grin. “You’re doing the eyes.”

  I jumped up and hugged him. “You love those eyes.”

  “They do make me crazy.”

  “You two are distracting me,” Vaughn grumbled. “Knock it off.”

  Zaria opened her mouth to say something to Vaughn, but decided better of it. He seemed cranky again.

  “Why are you such a whiny bitch?” I asked while returning to my seat.

  “Holidays put me in a shit mood.”

  “Now, who’s the drama llama?” Judd said, grinning.

  Vaughn rolled his blue eyes, shook out his shoulders, and put on a fake smile. “Happily ever after, peace on Earth, and all that crap. Whose turn is it?”

  “Zaria’s. I think we should do this every year.”

  “Not if you two breed. I can’t deal with whiny babies.”

  “Unless they’re looking back at you from the mirror?” I said and Vaughn laughed. “Chill, bro. We�
�re all cool here, right?”

  Vaughn glanced at Judd then at me. Finally, he sighed. “As Christmases go, this one was pretty stellar. Thanks, angel.”

  “No fucking way,” Judd growled, sending me into hysterics while Zaria sighed.

  “My boy is so possessive lately. I don’t know where that came from. He was always good at sharing when he was little.”

  Judd grinned at his mom then took my hand gently. “Let’s all shut up and play cards, okay?”

  “Agreed,” Zaria said, winking at him.

  Even with the grumpy guys, we had fun especially after everyone enjoyed a few beers. Vaughn even showed us a magic trick. Though it was pretty awful and he nearly fell of his chair in the process, we enjoyed the trick nonetheless.

  By the time the evening ended, we were all relaxed and happy. A cab ride for both Zaria and Vaughn later, I was alone with Judd who celebrated our first Christmas together by having me try on a few more of my sexy gifts.

  Chapter Thirty

  Arriving first at the salon for the wedding hair trial run, I was surprised by the number of mirrors in the place. Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to me that stylists and clients would want to actually see themselves. As I freaked out, Zaria appeared from the back of the salon.

  “You’re early,” she said, stopping at a workstation. “The salon is closed this afternoon for everyone except your sister and her group. Jodi said you’d like to get a mani pedi too.”

  Stepping closer to her, I summoned the courage to admit my phobia to a woman I wanted to impress. My therapist said admitting what I needed from people was a sign of strength. I just hoped Zaria felt the same way.

  “Zaria,” I whispered as the other stylists goofed off nearby.

  “Don’t be nervous, Tawny. I’ve done lots of hair for weddings.”

  “It’s not that. Can I have the chair near the corner and have my chair turned away from the mirrors?”

  “Why?” she asked, noticing my expression.

  “I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror.”

  Staring into her eyes, I prayed she didn’t ask too many questions.

  After a moment, Zaria smiled. “We all have our little things. You can sit wherever and however you want.”