Unwrapped Read online

  “God,” she breathed, using her hand for the moment instead of her lips and tongue, “that was good.”

  He couldn’t really formulate a reply, not when his brain was a haze of sensation centered solely in his dick and nuts. And when she lowered her mouth to him again, adding both hands, one on his shaft and the other stroking his balls, everything became a blaze of white-hot pleasure, blocking out everything else.

  He thought he said her name, sort of a warning, but Leah didn’t pull away, didn’t stop. She took him deeper, if that were possible. At least it felt that way. And it felt so fucking good, it didn’t matter how far she had him, all that mattered was the hot, wet sucking and the stroking and the sudden firm pressure in the spot just behind his balls from her fingertips.

  He cried out when he came, jerking, spilling into her mouth. He hadn’t realized he’d tangled his fingers in her hair as tight as he had until the motion of her head tugged at his hand. It was too late, though, he was coming, hard, hips pumping, cock throbbing.

  When he was finally able to focus, looking down on her, there was no sign of tears. She kissed his belly and leaned back in her chair, head tilted to watch him as she wiped the corner of her mouth with a fingertip. She was smiling so smugly he had to laugh.

  “Very nice,” she told him.

  He wasn’t going to argue. He did glance at the clock, though, as he pulled his pajama bottoms up to his hips again. They’d slept in, and it was already close to noon. “See? We couldn’t have done that at my parents’ house.”

  “Certainly not now that they’ve put a queen-sized bed in your old room instead of putting us in the basement,” she told him. “Which was actually better.”

  “Sure, with all the kids down there playing foosball,” he laughed. “Knocking on the door, asking when Uncle Brandon and Aunt Leah are going to wake up. See, it’s a good thing it’s just us. Once the kids show up, there’s no more random dick sucking at the kitchen table.”

  She gave him an odd look. “Obviously, people with kids still have sex, Brandon.”

  “Well…yeah.” He shrugged. “But not like they did before they had kids, right? I mean…the stuff we do…”

  She raised a brow. “What about it?”

  He ran a finger over the tattoo on his biceps. To most anyone it would look like a simple band of color, but he knew where to look to see the buckle that made the design a belt. Sort of a joke between them, since one of the first times they’d ever been together she’d used his belt to restrain his hands. Leah had a matching one on her belly, low where only he could ever see it.

  “These sorts of things,” he said.

  “You mean kinky things.”

  He hesitated. “Well…yeah.”

  His wife chewed her lower lip for a second. “I imagine nothing is the same after you’ve had kids.”

  There. He knew it. She wasn’t ready for baby talk. And, not wanting to get the conversation headed in the wrong direction, he changed the subject. “What do you want to do today? I can run down to the main lobby and rent some movies.”

  “You’re going skiing,” Leah said firmly. “I’ll be fine here by myself. And I don’t want you to miss out on anything. It’s a ski trip, remember? And besides, you’ll have a better time without me holding you back.”

  “That’s not—” he began but bit off the protest when she gave him a look.

  “You’ll have a good time by yourself. No sense in staying in with me, I can’t go anywhere, anyway. I mean it, Brandon.”

  That sealed it for him. “Okay. Great. Well…can I get you anything before I go? It won’t take me very long to run down—”

  “Brandon.” Leah’s brow furrowed.

  Oops. She loved it when he did stuff for her, but he had to remember that despite that, she was a strong and independent woman who also liked it when he didn’t. He bent to kiss her, lingering until she poked him.

  “Go,” she said. “I want to read my book!”

  He snuck another kiss anyway. “I’ll only stay out a few hours.”

  “Really, baby, it’s fine. You go and have a good time. I’ll be okay. I promise.” She tipped her face for another kiss, then tweaked his nipple just hard enough to show she meant business. “Go.”

  * * *

  Leah had meant what she said when she’d told Brandon to go, but it had been a few hours and she’d finished her book. Figuring she’d be spending the days on the slopes and the nights drinking, dancing and making love, she hadn’t thought to pack more than the one she’d been halfway through. It had taken her only an hour and a half to whip through the rest of the book, a decent suspenseful thriller that had ended too predictably but kept her interest, at least. Now she’d flipped through the condo’s impressive and extensive selection of cable channels, predictably finding nothing to watch.

  She was bored.

  She glanced at her phone but decided against texting Brandon. He’d come home early if she wanted him to, but she didn’t want to ruin his ski time any more than she already had. It was only a little after three, and before he’d left he’d promised to be home by five.

  She looked out the window, which overlooked the center courtyard of the condo complex. There was a nice little restaurant and lodge just past it, along with the small convenience store that sold magazines, paperbacks, snacks and rented DVDs. The question was, would she be able to hobble her way there and get something?

  By that point she was sort of desperate enough to do anything. She stood, testing the pain in her twisted ankle. It was tolerable, especially if she rested it frequently. She figured it would be worth a shot, anyway. Get down there, pick up something to read, maybe a movie or two for tonight, head back. They could order in.

  Unfortunately, in this whole scenario she hadn’t imagined the part where she made it down the condo’s stairs and across the courtyard, only to set her foot wrong on a patch of ice and twist her ankle again. Fortunately, she didn’t scream, though the pain was instant and agonizing enough that she wanted to. Somehow, though, she managed to get herself into a chair next to the big fireplace. So much for not being bored—now she was still without a book and stranded, to boot.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to spy a familiar number. “Hi, Caroline.”

  “Hi, honey. It’s me.”

  Leah smiled. Brandon’s mom always said that. “How are you?”

  “Oh, fine. How’s everything out there?”

  Leah looked around the lodge, so festively decorated, and felt a sudden and extremely unexpected pang. The tree in the corner twinkled, the presents underneath assuredly fake. She’d only spent one Christmas with Brandon’s family, but it had seemed so much more like what the holiday should be than this did. She and Brandon had given each other this trip instead of presents, which meant there’d be nothing to open on Christmas Day. No tree or stockings stuffed with trinkets.

  “It’s okay, I guess.”

  “Just okay?” Caroline sounded concerned. “What’s wrong?”

  Brandon was just like his mother in that way—honing in on the slightest hint of trouble. Leah tried to be annoyed and failed. “Oh…I twisted my ankle and so I’m not skiing, I’m just here in the lodge. Bored.”

  “Where’s Bingo?”

  Leah rolled her eyes, but fondly, at her mother-in-law’s nickname for Brandon. “He’s skiing.”

  “Well…” Caroline didn’t quite seem to know what to say to that. “Why? Why isn’t he with you?”

  “I told him to go and have fun, Caroline. It’s okay. Really. I’m just sort of bored, that’s all. He’ll be back soon. Then we’ll go to dinner.”

  “Ooh, good food out there?” And then Caroline was off, rattling away about recipes and the grandkids and Brandon’s brothers and their wives and what they were making for dinner or what they’d already made. She talked for a good ten minutes with Leah needing to do nothing but murmur in response, and just like that, she was finished. “I just wanted to check in, honey. Make su