“Hi, baby,” Kyle said as he came into the room.
“Mmmm. What did I do to deserve that?” she asked dreamily after he’d kissed her thoroughly.
“You simply exist, Red. There’s plenty more where that came from after we get home.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Did you buy me lots and lots of presents?” He grinned, looking around her at the boxes she’d just put under the tree.
“You’re bad, Kyle Chase. Spoiled-rotten bad.” She laughed. “By the way, speaking of always getting what you want—I must have bumped into a dozen women who all pretended to care about me in order to ask about you. Checking on your availability.” She snorted.
“I’m taken. Too bad for them. They’ll have to deal with it.”
Kyle knew it’d been a hard thing to deal with how women looked at him every time they were out but she’d done it. He showed her every day how much he loved her and wanted her and her only. She was finally in a place where she felt secure. That made him proud. And glad she knew she could always trust his commitment to her.
“Maggie, honey? Did I hear you come in?” Polly called out as she came around the corner.
“Hey, Mom, what’s happening?” Maggie asked, getting up to hug her.
Polly shot her son a huge grin. Kyle knew it tickled her no end that Maggie had started calling her Mom. She was also over the moon about Kyle’s plans to ask Maggie to marry him. Edward had asked Polly to marry him on Christmas Day. In fact, several Chase and Landry marriages started with a Christmas Day proposal.
Polly told them of the complicated chess game of organization of who slept where on Christmas Eve and Maggie volunteered her air mattress and trundle bed to help. She also offered to sleep in separate rooms from Kyle but he vetoed it and Polly refused, saying she was just fine with them in together. Polly wanted them both there together to celebrate her first Christmas with them.
It would be a stretch, but everyone would fit somehow and it would be lovely to share the morning together.
* * *
On Christmas Eve morning, Maggie woke up and stretched. Taking her time, she looked at the long naked lines of Kyle’s body with a lazy smile. He was all hers. She got up quietly to run down and turn on the coffee maker before coming back up to shower.
“Hey, I think you missed a spot,” Kyle said, stepping into the shower stall behind her. He took the sponge from her and soaped her back and down over the curves of her ass. He licked the cinnamon freckles of her shoulders and up her neck to her ear. He brought the sponge around and abraded her nipples with it, while tonguing her ear. Her eyes closed and she leaned back into him.
In her life she’d never felt so cherished and loved. His hands on her, his words in her ear wrapped around her heart. To belong to someone like Kyle had just never entered her imagination. Being loved like that was the finest gift life had ever granted her.
Rinsing herself off, she moved him around into the spray so she could do a bit of pampering herself. Stepping on the edge of the tub so she could reach him well, she washed his hair, gently massaging his scalp as she did. He held an arm wrapped around her waist to keep her steady. Afterward she scrubbed his back and legs and everything in between. And the in-between seemed quite pleased with the attention.
Her soap-slicked hands wrapped around his cock. Gaze locked with his, she watched his lips part and his pupils dilate as he thrust unashamedly into her grip. His free and easy acceptance of his sexuality turned her on immensely. He never hesitated to voice what he wanted or take what he needed.
Hot water rushed over them both, over her hands and arms and his cock until suddenly he picked her up and plunged inside of her. She cried out at the slice of sensation as he filled her up. He placed a foot on the edge of the tub to support her ass. Needing more of him, Maggie wrapped her thighs around his waist, opening herself up for him.
He slid in and out of her and she lost words for long moments. Her body arched, hands clutched his shoulders.
“I. Love. You.” He spoke each word succinctly with his thrusts.
“Ohmigod. Iloveyoutoo,” she rushed out in a gust of breath.
She looked into the sea green depths of his eyes and he felt like he was falling into her whiskey-colored ones. She opened herself to him, made herself vulnerable. It was raw then, tender and ferocious and what she was to him clutched his insides. He snaked a hand between them to find her clit, pressing a thumb over it in the way he knew she liked so much.
“Oh yes,” she moaned out, her hips arching, moving on him. While he watched her face, he saw her eyes glass over. Her pussy rippled then, clutched him in that slick-hot embrace and climax hit, quicksilver from the base of his spine. He thrust and thrust and thrust as he poured into her, his forehead resting against her collarbone.
He stood there, muscles twitching, breathing hard and not noticing the passage of time until he felt the water run cold. Reluctantly, he pulled out and put her down.
“Oh God.” He realized why she’d felt so good, so hot and tight.
“What?” she asked, turning off the water and grabbing a towel and drying his skin.
“I didn’t put a condom on. I forgot. I brought one in here. It’s on the counter. It’s just when you ran your slick, soapy hands over me, I just lost it. I’m so sorry.” He searched her face expecting her to be upset.
She sighed and smiled at him, slapping his ass. “It’s all right. I wanted to make it a Christmas present but I went on the pill three weeks ago. It takes two weeks to work so I didn’t want to say anything until the time was up. We both got tested for STDs, it’s okay.”
He exhaled in relief. “Oh God, you feel so good without a condom. I’m so glad we won’t have to use them anymore. I wasn’t sure how I could bear to go back to being covered while inside of you once I’d been there bare.”
She kissed his chest and quickly dried herself off. “You do say the most unique but wonderful stuff, baby.”
Laughing, he took the lotion bottle from her hands and applied it to her skin himself. “I won’t be able to share a shower with you until we come back home so let me do this to tide myself over.”
“It’s just one night, Kyle. Sheesh.”
He backed her into their bedroom. “But not being able to hear you scream out my name is going to be hard to live without. Even for just one night.” His eyebrow went up and a frisson of lust twisted through her.
They ended up back in their bed for another forty-five minutes before stumbling up to get dressed.
* * *
The crowd at Polly and Edward’s was insane. Kyle took their bag upstairs to their room while she headed into the family room where people covered every possible surface. They were all going to a Christmas Eve service at church and then coming back for dinner.
Nan and Pop were gushing over their new great-grandbaby and looking at Maggie and Kyle with sly smiles of expectation. Nan and Pop were Edward’s parents. Pop was something of a local legend. A war hero in the Pacific who lost an eye, there were no less than three buildings and a street named after him. They took to Maggie right away. Pop was a terrible flirt and Nan just grinned at her and made unsubtle hints about great-grandchildren until Kyle just burst out laughing.
After the service, they laid out a huge buffet dinner of cold cuts and salads and then got down to the very serious business of game playing.
They cleared the dining room and set up some card tables in the family room. Two fast and furious games of canasta started. Kyle and Maggie were partners and their unspoken communication enabled them to kick butt. She saw that the Chase boys were as competitive at cards as they were in billiards.
In the end, after Kyle and Maggie won every round, Shane and Matt made a rule that they weren’t ever to be on the same team at cards again.
* * *
Christmas morning was total chaos. Despite the fact that everyone there was in their
mid-twenties or older, the rush to the tree was reminiscent of a bunch of seven-year-olds. Maggie’s dad came over and settled in on the couch while Pop played Santa and handed out presents. The process took well over three hours as they waited while each person opened their present until the next one got distributed.
“This one is for Maggie, from Kyle.” He brought a large box and sat it before her.
She ripped it open only to find another, slightly smaller box inside. Unwrapping that one, she saw yet another smaller box inside that one. She did it five more times until a small box remained. She looked down at it and saw the card tied to it. “Open Me First.” She read it to herself.
Maggie, my heart never truly beat until the first time I touched your lips with my own. You are my everything. The air I breathe, the blood in my veins. You are my heart and my soul and I love you.
With tears welling up in her eyes she unwrapped the final package and saw the black velvet ring box. Stilling for a moment, she cracked it open with trembling hands, exposing a pear-cut solitaire diamond that was at least a carat. Her eyes widened and the room remained totally silent.
Kyle, who was already sitting at her feet, came up on one knee and took her ring from the box and then her left hand. “Margaret Elizabeth Wright, my sweet Red, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Her hands shook as she looked into his face and saw everything she’d ever wanted and dreamed of, sitting right there.
She nodded, tears running down her face. “Yes. Oh definitely,” she said and he slid the ring on her left ring finger and a whoop of joy sprang up from several people around the room. Kyle hugged her to him tight and she saw he was crying, too.
“I love you so much, Kyle,” she said into his ear.
“Ditto, sugar,” he answered with a grin.
“Hot damn!” Matt exclaimed, a goofy smile on his face. “I’ve got the loveliest sister-in-law-to-be in the entire state of Georgia.”
“Polly and I couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law. You make our boy the happiest we’ve ever seen him. Thank you, sugar.” Edward kissed her cheek and Polly, who stood at his side, weepy, nodded mutely.
She was on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Kyle loved the watch as well as his new golf club and the clothes and music she’d gotten him. She couldn’t stop looking at how her ring sparkled on her hand as she sat outside on the porch after dinner watching the guys play a very rough game of football in the yard.
Shane came and sat beside her on the glider swing. The game had gentled a bit as they all had a few aches and pains. Many of the others had gone for an after-dinner walk.
Shane reached out and squeezed her hand. “Hey, Maggie, congratulations. I hope you and Kyle will be very happy together. He’s a very lucky man to have a woman like you. I’m jealous.”
“I think she’s out there. The one for you. Waiting for you. When you find her, I hope you can open your heart enough to let her in.”
“You think?”
“I really do.”
He smiled and kissed her cheek and then yelped when the football Kyle had been throwing hit him in the head. “Hey!” He came up off the glider and headed down the steps.
“Hey yourself, lover boy. Keep your lips off my woman,” Kyle taunted and then got tackled.
“Excuse me! What am I? A chew toy or something? Shane, get up off of him. Kyle...oh never mind!” she snapped and turned and stomped back into the house.
“You’re in trouble,” Marc taunted and got tackled in turn.
She was shoving her clothes into the overnight bag when he came upstairs. “Hey, are you really mad at me?”
“Last night you made that crack to Shane when we were playing cards. And I know you and your brothers joke a lot but the whole history between Shane and me is uncomfortable enough. When you make comments like ‘you had your chance’ or you tell him to keep his lips off me—when, by the way, he was congratulating me on our engagement—it just makes me feel like a thing instead of a person. You guys are competitive enough. I don’t want to feel like I’m something to be fought over. And I don’t want you disregarding what I have to say because you feel like you need to get even. It’s not fair and it’s not respectful.”
He was quiet for a few moments, thinking over what she’d said. “I’m sorry, Red, I hadn’t thought of it that way. I don’t mean it like that. Although I do suppose I like to rub his nose in the fact that I could see you for the fabulous woman you are when he acted like a dick. I’ll try hard not to do it anymore.”
She looked at him and let go of the smile she’d been holding back. It was nearly impossible to stay mad at him. “Fine. See that you don’t. Now, I was thinking that I’d go and swing by my house. I haven’t been there in a week or so and I want to make sure everything is all right. We’ve had such cold temperatures that I want to be sure the pipes are okay.”
“Maggie, you and I need to have a discussion about the house and our living situation. I’d like to set a date for the wedding, too.”
“Okay. But not here.” She held up her hands to quiet him. “No, it’s not negotiable. I love your family but this is something I want to talk with you about alone. Why don’t we talk about it tonight at your place.”
“Our place. Move in with me, Maggie. You’re practically living with me now. Sell your house and we can buy a place together. It’s silly to have that great big house just sitting there empty and my place is going to be too small for us in the long run. We could live in your house but you seem to be a lot happier when you don’t live there.”
“It’s true. I suppose that house has a lot of bad memories lurking around inside of it. Let’s talk about this later all right? Honestly, you know someone is bound to come in here within the next three minutes and I don’t want this to be a discussion by committee.”
“Okay, sugar. Take my car over to your place and come back by to get me when you’re done. I’ve got a game to finish with my brothers. Unless you want me to come to your place with you?”
“No, it’s no big deal. I’m three minutes away, for goodness’ sake. I need to grab some more clothes and check the pipes. I’ll be there and back in less than an hour.”
“Okay, Red.” He kissed her and they walked out to the car.
Chapter Ten
She whipped into her driveway and gave a quick look around the outside of the house. The pipes looked fine but she got the insulation out of the garage and wrapped them, anyway. Especially as she’d already made the decision to accept Kyle’s invitation and move in to his place so she wouldn’t be around.
That done, she went inside and ran upstairs to grab some more clothes. She was zipping the garment bag when she heard steps behind her.
“Jeez, it’s only been half an hour, couldn’t live without me?” she teased and turned around. Only it wasn’t Kyle, it was Alex standing there and a chill of dread slid through her gut.
“I can’t live without you, Maggie. You’re mine and I’m yours. Can’t you see that? Why aren’t you home anymore?”
“What the hell are you doing here! Get out of my house now or I’ll call the police.” She tried to edge her way closer to the phone on the bedside table.
“I’m here to take back what’s mine,” he said in a strange singsong voice, inching toward her. “What is that?” He grabbed her hand and stared at the ring. “No!” He pulled it off and threw it on the bed.
“Stop that!” She reached for her ring and the world went black for a moment. When she came to he was dragging her out of the room. A surge of strength and will to survive surged through her and she grabbed the wall near the door and tried to hold on but he yanked her loose. He half dragged her, half carried her down the stairs. Reaching down he slapped her across her face, hard, when she kept grabbing the spindles on the banister to stop him. Her head hit each stair, and her world hovered gray as she fought to keep cons
cious. She tried to yell but all she could do was moan and hoarsely whisper at him to stop.
“I’m taking you away from here, away from those meddling Chase boys. Now be a good girl and walk out of here. I don’t want anyone getting suspicious.” He yanked her upright and held her by the hair and she tried to kick him but got the leg of the table instead and knocked it over. Weeping now, she tried to grab at the doorway to hold on but he elbowed her in the face and the darkness fell over her again.
* * *
After two hours Kyle began to really get worried. “What could be taking so long? She said she’d be back in less than an hour and it’s been nearly two,” Kyle grumbled to Matt and Shane. Most likely she’d bumped into Liv and they were chatting about the engagement and he was worrying over nothing. Still, he had a strange feeling about it that only got worse as the minutes passed.
“Why don’t we take a drive over there? Maybe she had problems with the pipes. If so, you know how she is, she’s probably trying to do it all herself,” Matt said laughing.
“Yeah, let’s. It’s not like her to not call if she’s going to be held up.”
They pulled up and saw the Saturn in the drive. “She’s still here.”
“Stay here,” Shane said and was out of the car before it had stopped. Kyle, sensing that something was wrong, got out too, following his brother. The front door was wide-open and the table near the entry was on its side, the glass vase and bowl that sat upon it broken, pieces all over the place.
There was blood on the doorjamb. A bloody handprint. “Jesus. Where is she?” Kyle meant to yell but it came out as a whisper. He was suddenly cold.
“Go back to Matt’s car. Call the station on your cell phone and tell them I said to send out a car with two officers. On the double.” Reaching back, he took his gun out of the shoulder holster he had on.
“No, I’m coming in.”
Shane turned and shoved Kyle, hard. “No you are not, damn it. This is my job, Kyle. Do what I tell you and do it now. You’re endangering me and her by not listening.” He turned away, closing the discussion, and slowly walked into the house.