by Amy J. White
My phone chimes, putting me into action to get to it as fast as I can.
Joy: Meet me at Blazer’s Pizza tonight. 7pm.
Relief pours into me. I puff my cheeks, blowing air out through my lips. It’s the moment I’ve waited for. The moment I’ve spent the past few weeks deciding on how I wanted to go about expressing my feelings for Joy.
The clock on the wall reads 4:30. Time never feels more nauseatingly nerve-wracking than it does right now.
Going up the stairs, I move to the master bedroom to choose some of the most provocative and seductive clothes I can think of.
All throughout my getting dressed, my cock makes its opinion involving the thoughts racing through my head known. Dreams of having Joy beneath me increased since she stopped acting so shy at the store and actually spoke to me.
If I had the time, I’d take it to do anything to relieve the ache between my legs the more I think about having my cock inside her.
My eyes close, breaths coming heavier the more I let the thoughts drift through my mind. I’m bringing her home tonight. I’m showing her a taste of what I can give her.
One last run of my hands through my hair and I bolt out the door to my truck.
If I’m going to meet Joy, I’m going to make about more than work and business.
I pull up to Blazer’s pizza, the only pizza place in Buchanan where you can get the full New York Italian style I love the most. The owner was a good friend of my father’s before the old man passed away.
Memories of watching the two talk over beer and discussing business between their two places ignited a passion in me that led me to the Marines in the first place.
Not many know, but while I served in Corps, I got my degree in Culinary school with the full hopes I could open my own restaurant.
Maybe I’ll share that dream with Joy too and see what she says. I go through the large wooden door into a wide open room with wooden floorboards and brick walls.
In the middle in a large brick fireplace where a fire crackles, warming the entirety of the medium-sized dining area. High-sitting tables litter the main portion of the room while booths line the walls on either side.
If it wasn’t snowing, I know the outside patio would have patrons enjoying the delicious culinary delights wafting into my nose.
“Marcus!” The owner greets me with a solid hug. “It’s been too long. How have you been my friend? I hear you’re courting a lovely lady.”
He waggles his brows, the thick Italian accent making it difficult to understand some of the things he says. I understand him in that instance.
Coming from Brazil, my accent is heavy and I have to repeat myself to some of the people who visit my store.
I greet him with a handshake. “Rumor gets around fast. Mind if I have a table close to the fireplace? I have a feeling my ‘lovely lady’ would like it there.”
He nods - a beaming smile on his face.
I follow him through, thinking about how I’m going to do what I can to help Amanda get the help she deserves.
It doesn’t take long after I’m seated for Joy to come through the door and look for me.
Instead of waving right when she enters, my eyes roam the length of her small body. Where she barely reaches five-foot-two, I tower at six-three.
Makes it perfect since I tend to like women smaller than me.
Those perfectly thick thighs are caressed by denim blue jeans leading up to a perky ass I long to knead the soft cheeks of.
Get it together, man. Dinner now. Dirty later.
When Joy sees me, her eyes light up, mouth formed in an open mouthed smile. She makes her way over to me, setting her purse in one of the chairs.
“Sorry I’m late. I know this is becoming a horrible habit,” She says. Her eyes lower, focusing off to the side.
I reach for her chin, using my thumb and pointer finger to make her look at me. “That’s not a problem, sweetheart. I know your mind is swimming with stress right now.”
Which is exactly why I have the intention of getting her to a place of euphoria, I think. “You wanted to talk about booth set-up?”
She nods, pulling out a sheet of paper.
Joy tells me she’s late because she’s been spending the day taking donation pails around, leaving them with anyone who would take them. She lets me know she found a place for the booth at the festival, voicing her concerns about the weather.
“Relax. I’ve already done my part. Turns out some of the guys at the base are able to help.”
“What do you mean?” She asks.
I inform her I called the base, asking if they could spare some Marines to show at the festival for the kids to meet. “Apparently, they do this sometimes over the holidays. The kids will have plenty to talk about.”
The festival is tomorrow. I hope against hope, the weather behaves and we’re able to get everything set.
Chapter 8
Joy
Marcus’ smoldering eyes burrow into me the rest of the dinner. My heart pounds, not only because of how beautiful he is, but also how willing he is to help make the festival something spectacular.
We come up with a way to make sure Amanda still gets her snowman building contest, something I don’t plan on divulging to her father until it happens.
Dinner is surprisingly silent once we stop talking about work and I wonder if Marcus is bored. I’ve never been much of a conversationalist. Never knew what to say amidst the group of friends I once hung out with in school.
What if he doesn’t want what I want? Am I pushing this too fast? All the questions and doubt whip around in my mind like water through a waterwheel.
The whole afternoon I spent thinking about Marcus and how badly I hoped he wanted to take me home with him after dinner.
Marcus reaches out to take my hand in his, placing a kiss on the back of my knuckles. “Come home with me tonight.”
My eyes widen larger than dinner plates. Did he really just ask ….?
“Joy, I want you to come home with me. Let me show you the man behind the man you know.” He winks, his mouth curled into that adorable devilish grin.
I want that, I think. I want that so bad. “Yes. I would love to.”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a virgin. My first time was embarrassing because I had no idea what I was doing and he had to spend the first hour getting me to relax.
Of course, I was a dumb college girl with less experience with men than with textbooks.
Marcus stands, directing me off my chair. He leaves some money in the black book left behind by the waiter, asking the young man to keep the change as we walk out.
“You can bring your car if you want,” He says.
“Oh, um, I had Ryley drop me off on her way to the bar.”
That same grin flashes followed by a laugh. “Well, well, planning ahead. That’s one of many things I like about you.”
My cheeks heat.
He opens the door to let me in, closing it once I am, making his way to the driver’s side.
We pull up to Marcus’ house. The snow whispers in a tame, quiet comfort I’ve come to love about Buchanan.
Once inside, it doesn’t take long for me to find myself in the arms of the man I’ve pined for since high school. That was the way it was here. A girl often found herself a crush and it never left.
Marcus slowly takes my purse and coat, leaving them at the door. My heart pounds to the point of dizzying me when his arms reach around and pull my body against his hard chest and abdomen.
Something clicks inside me, and I crane my neck so his lips can trace a path from behind my ear to the bend where my shoulder meets my neck.
The moment is slow, passionate, loving and sensual. Nothing is wild. No clothes are torn off in an attempt to rush.
It’s perfect and how I imagined it.
“Let me take the stress away,” He whispers. “Even if just for a little while.”
I moan, letting him turn me around, his mouth taking mine. The tip o
f his tongue traces my bottom lip, parting them to my teeth and beyond to taste every inch he can reach.
Marcus works on the buttons on my shirt, his intrusion into my mouth never wavering. He eases it down my shoulders to the floor, starting work on my bra.
My hands move to the hem of his turtleneck, pulling it up, stopping when my eyes see the bullet hole I’ve heard so much about. “Does it hurt?”
He shakes his head. “Burns sometimes, but no, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Aching floods my heart. Marcus never talks about what happened, even with those closest to him. I won’t be the one to push, believing he’ll tell me if and when he’s ready.
“You are beyond beautiful,” Marcus says on a breath.
“Take me to the bedroom.” My hunger outweighs my patience. “I want you. Marcus, I want you so bad.”
This is all he needs. He hauls me on his hips, making me squeak.
We make our way up the stairs to his bedroom where he unleashes all of the control I saw in him every time we met.
True to his nature, he remains gentle, yet passionate, combining tenderness and demand.
His hand takes my breast, his mouth torturing my flesh with his teeth, tongue and lips.
With a free hand, he works on the buttons of my jeans, pulling them apart and reaching in to run a finger through my sex.
“Ah.” I push my hips up when he pushes a digit inside me, pumping it in and out in a leisurely pace.
Marcus says nothing, moving his mouth mine to swallow each gasp, his cock rubbing against my stomach.
Hazing in my brain takes over and I move my hands to work on his jeans, pushing them down to free his leaking cock.
“You want this in you, sweetheart?” He says in that delicious accent. Leaning next to my ear, he says, “You want me to fill your womb?”
Damn, I think. My eyes squeeze shut at the underlying hint he gives me. He wants me to carry his children, to be someone more to him just like what he hinted at in the hospital.
“Yes.” The words sound more like a breath. “In me. Fill me.”
Marcus removes both of our jeans, leaving us naked. With a single graceful move, he lines himself up with my sex.
I feel the tip of his cock teasing it, spreading it.
“Then get ready, baby. I’m about to give you just what you want.”
All of the sexual dreams I’ve had about this man come true when in one solid thrust, he lodges himself inside me. The pressure brings tears to my eyes, the pleasure I feel, however, is worth every moment of ache with each dominating thrust.
Epilogue I
Marcus
We do indeed get a miracle when the snow lets up enough for the snowplows to clear the streets, allowing cars to fill both sides of the main road cutting through Buchanan.
The fellow Marines I contacted managed to talk the Army into getting some of their vehicles into town thus getting the attention of screaming children who are excited to see men in uniform.
Joy has shaken many hands of those who stop at the booth to offer their aid to Amanda and the donations fund for the new equipment for the hospital.
I watch her smile, full of hope and joy as she moves around the booths, making hot cocoa for the patrons, talking to them about any number of subjects.
Between everyone who pitched in on such short notice and the friends they called, we’ve managed to raise an impressive amount of money.
As Joy flutters like butterfly across the booth, I make sure fresh cocoa is made and get the popcorn machine we borrowed from my store to keep dishing out warm popcorn.
“Well, well, looks like things are going pretty good over here!” Ethan’s voice breaks into my thoughts.
I turn to see him walking forward without Ryley. “Where’s the wife and kids?”
Ethan gestures his chin towards the bouncy houses and military trucks. “My son already thinks he’s going into the military. You didn’t have to make it worse.”
We both laugh.
“Nothing wrong with that. I got my degree while serving.”
We talk about my vision to open up a small bistro where I want to share some of the different dishes I learned overseas.
“Within the next year or two, I’d like to get that done. For now though,” I look at Joy who stares back at me with longing eyes, “I think I might focus on getting a certain woman of mine taken care of and settled.”
Ethan wishes me luck before his son runs over, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him away.
Once the booth is empty, Joy settles next to me, nuzzling into my shoulder. “This has been the most amazing festival. I can’t believe how much of a holiday miracle we’ve gotten.”
I grin her favorite crooked grin. “Careful - that sounds awful cheesy.”
She sticks out her tongue and I move in to take her mouth in a sultry kiss.
It seems to baffle her.
“What? You didn’t think I’d miss a chance to get another taste of you, did you?”
That adorable blush runs over her cheeks. I kiss her one more time on her forehead, waiting in anticipation for the moment I can get her home.
The fire crackles in the fireplace in an otherwise dark living room. Its orange flames cast flickers of shadow across the walls and floors.
I’m not sure who is making more noise; me or Joy while my lips tease and taste the round globes of her breast.
We got home around one am after the tree lighting and booth breakdown, both thinking we were too tired to do anything until I had Joy on the couch next to me.
My hand moved down her arm to the middle of her legs, teasing the area over her jeans where the small, sensitive nub hid.
It led to me taking her to the floor on the soft rug, her arms held above her head as her delicious body writhes and flexes underneath me.
“Marcus,” She says in more of a coo than words.
God, I love my name on her sweet lips.
When she’s aroused, the smell of her drives me insane.
My thumb and pointer finger pinch and tease one of her nipples. My mouth works the other one over, making Joy arch her body into me.
Joy spears her fingers through my hair, trying to push me lower, but I don’t let her. She is mine tonight and I want to take as much time with her as possible.
“Ah!” She gasps at the light bite I give to her tender nipple. “Dammit, Marcus. Would you quit your teasing?”
Oh no, not tonight, sweetheart. Tonight I want to taste and savor, suck and bite until you’re begging.
I shift to take her mouth, pushing my tongue passed her teeth as deep as it can go; tasting the mix of hot cocoa and peppermint combined with the kettle corn she ate before we left the festival.
It’s such a sweet taste; I delve deeper, accidentally clicking our teeth together.
Pulling back, I stare into the eyes of the woman I know I want in my life forever.
“Marry me,” I say.
Joy blinks a couple of times. “What did you say?”
“I said marry me. You’re beyond amazing, Joy. I can’t think of a more nurturing, kind and hard-working soul than you. I need you in my life, babe. Will you be mine?” I keep my eyes soft, offering the grin she loves that I know makes a dimple appear on my cheek.
Her lips purse while shifting into my favorite beaming smile. “Yes.” She nods her head as she says it. Her arms go around my neck. “Yes! Oh my gosh, yes!”
My heart pounds like a kettle drum, arm wrapping around her to pull her deeper into me.
Amidst the overwhelming happiness, I still have a couple of things to take care of.
A throbbing cock and the warm entrance my fingers slide into.
In a whisper, I say, “You’re so wet, baby. Lie back down and let me give this warm vagina of yours a good filling.”
Joy lays back and I don’t wait until I thrust into her with a good solid thrust.
Epilogue II
Joy
Marcus and I make our way through the h
ospital a week after the festival. Working with a few of our friends and Amanda’s dad, we manage to work out a way for Amanda to have the snowman building contest she wanted so badly.
Her condition has deteriorated, the doctor now knowing she doesn’t have much longer past New Years’ to live, making me determined to give that little girl one last holiday miracle.
Prior to coming, I call my father to make sure he received all the funds we raised and had made arrangements for the deliveries of the new equipment. He informs me he is so proud of me that he will be sending some extra to help the hospital and personal funds for Amanda’s dad.
I love my dad. He has always been the rock for the family since my mom and little brother died.
Amanda waits for us in the children’s play area with Ben.
All around the floor we’ve scattered torn pieces of cotton like those one might find under their trees or a pillow.
The nurses worked together to paint snow on the windows and walls with temporary paint. Marcus has offered some of the snowman decorations and fake snowballs from his store to make the moment more real.
When she sees us, she smiles a weak smile, sending a shard of glass through my heart. Her skin – once lightly tanned – is now pallid and pale.
The brightness in her eyes no longer gleams like it used to, reminding me of my little brother’s last moments.
I guess that’s why I attached to this family as quickly as I did. I understood what a devastating effect such terrible news can inflict on a family.
Marcus lets go of my hand and offers a curt nod towards the little girl. I kiss him and go to her.
“Amanda,” I say, putting my hand on her knee. “We’re so sorry you couldn’t go to the snowman building contest, but we wanted to bring you one of your own.”
I look back at Ethan, Casey, Chaz and their wives and kids. “These are some dear friends who helped us get the money we needed to help you and your dad. They’re here to give you one more holiday gift.”