It had taken four dress changes, a hair stylist on a last minute appointment when she figured out that she wouldn’t win with her hair and several applications of eye makeup before Kara was satisfied with her general appearance. None of that had settled her stomach, it had only made it worse, and not even the ginger ale in the back of the town-car on the way to get James from the airport had taken the edge off this impending evening.
She watched the countryside pass as they went into Manchester, this was going to be faster, or at least he had promised her it would be. Her weekend bag in the trunk, on the way to have Christmas with his family. Something she’d never really experienced, other than that one time when she’d been little and went to her father’s parents house up in Boston. One blurry happy memory of her childhood with little Josh, one that now made her wince.
The car rolled to a stop in traffic and she swallowed.
“I think we might be late, ma’am. There’s a lot of traffic to get into the city.”
Kara lifted her head from the leather and looked around. “Oh…”
“Perhaps you should let him know,” the driver suggested.
“Yeah, okay…” Kara found her phone in her purse at her feet and flicked it on. The plane shouldn’t have landed yet but she sent a text anyway to James to explain their potential lateness. She tapped her way through the glass screen of wonders and sent off the message. That’s when she put her head back to shut her eyes. Lately she’d enjoyed the need to sleep and it often hit at random. This was one of those times and a good way to pass the time.
His kiss on her forehead woke her in what seemed like no time at all.
Her eyes opened with a slowness when he stayed close.
“Happy Christmas Eve, my love.”
Kara smiled and took his cheek to give him a kiss. “How was your flight?”
“The longest flight ever,” he admitted, keeping close as the car rolled forward. “You look… perfect.” His hand took hers from his cheek and he looked over her just done burgundy nails. She’d never had her nails shaped, polished and looking so nice in her life. It left her catching herself staring at them more than she realized since getting them the day before and he seemed to fall under their spell too.
“I tried really hard.”
His eyes lifted and she inched closer to him.
“Do you like them?”
“Mm… yes, you’re stunning.” His finger traced her collarbone and down her chest, where he stopped on her exposed thighs under the soft but tight material of the black dress she’d worn.
She hummed from his touch and leaned closer, kissing him and not caring if the driver caught a glimpse of them either. It didn’t matter much either way, they’d had the same driver for months and though she’d never asked James why, she assumed there was a reason for it.
His tongue met hers and his hand wrapped her waist. He didn’t have a seatbelt on and she wanted to tease him about it, but never got that far.
Her lips broke his with a giggle. “Are you ready for our first official Christmas together?”
“Entirely ready,” he mumbled and kissed her again, making their lips and happiness the focus the majority of the drive to his family’s estate.
When the car finally pulled through the rod iron gates, Kara caught the design of the two entwined wolf silhouettes between the many rails. As the heavy security system rolled across the frosty white gravel, she kept her focus on the detailed and mighty looking beings welcoming them.
She let out a tight breath and made herself look away, brushing away her thoughts of how Tom could go from a human form into that same wolf form at a moment’s notice. He was gone though, it had been months and this was just a final reminder of it she hoped.
Her eyes moved to the driveway in front of the car as it rolled slowly around a frozen pond and onto the main focus of the landscaped pruned bushes and trees. The looming three story brick exterior and vine covered walls were a testament to its true age and Kara knew that couldn’t have been a home made in this century. She’d never seen a building so meticulously cared for and groomed but along its edges in the shadowed points, she felt it’s darkness, it’s unworldly demeanor as it stood stark in contrast against the rolling lawn around it.
James got out first and offered her his hand as she stepped out on her heels. He stood close, giving her a kiss on her cheek. “Welcome to Blackwell, my love.”
Her eyes went to the large brick front steps that led to the even larger oak front doors.
She swallowed the hard thump building in her throat. Calm down. Calm down. Calm…
James took her hand and led her forward. “Alright?”
“Y-yeah.” She grimaced at her own nervousness. Get it together, Kara.
Their shoes crunched in the light dusting of fresh snow over the gravel. The brightly lit entry shone with its white Christmas lights and fresh wreaths.
“This is insane,” she breathed and saw his smile as he helped her climb the stone steps. “And these doors are massive,” she commented quickly as he reached and opened one of the two. It swung inward to reveal an expansive marble entryway with a deep red carpeted horse-shoe staircase and an iron and glass chandelier that hung twenty feet above it all.
Her feet had froze mid step as she stared inside.
“Kara?” James waited at her side, the graze of his hand along her waist broke her out of her trance.
She stepped in the door ahead of him, no matter how uncomfortable it was and scooted to the side as he closed it behind himself. The smell of firewood, boughs and cinnamon hit her, making the expansive entryway inviting and less deathly looming.
“Hello?”
Kara heard a faint woman’s voice to the left. When she appeared, Kara instantly had her pegged as his aunt. The tall, beautiful woman in a violet purple silk dress with her hair and face done to the nines.
This has to be his Aunt.
“Evening. How are you?” James stepped beside Kara and put his hands on her shoulders, removing her jacket after a small bit of coaxing. She slipped her arms out for him and stayed close, needing his support more than she realized.
The woman’s heels on the marble echoed her approach. “Oh, very well, thank you,” she said. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” The presence of the woman was enough to put Kara in her place. Beneath them.
“No, you haven’t,” James confirmed. “Millie, this is Kara. Kara, this is my Aunt Millie.”
Kara smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
Millie stared her down. “Yes, how nice it is to meet you.”
Kara’s stomach flipped when the woman didn’t give her an edge of warmth.
“James doesn’t usually bring guests.” She snapped her fingers at someone nearby and a woman dressed head to toe in formal black clothing bustled to life. “Take their coats.”
James handed the woman Kara’s jacket and then took his off next to give to her, all the while holding a conversation with his aunt.
“What?” James smiled. “Becky and Andrew didn’t tattle on me?”
Millie looked at him with an arched brow. “I’m afraid they didn’t, but they have been at the university with their studies.”
“Right.” James nodded with a look at Kara. “Drew’s studies always come first.”
Kara shifted her weight in her black pumps and went to slip them off on the entry rug but James’s grip on her waist made her pause. Her eyes went to his shining black shoes and she realized she didn’t have to take off her heels—which meant she had to wear them all evening. The thought made her sigh. She’d have blisters by the end of the night all over her poor feet.
“Well.” Millie lifted a hand in the air and turned away. “Come into the sitting room. You are a tad early though. Just your grandmother is the only one to have arrived so far.”
James pressed his mouth to her ear. “Did you bring another pair of shoes?”
“In my bag…” Kara almost whined.
“Mm. You’ll have to suffer, I’m afraid.” He pulled her along across the marble, her step lagged and her fingers laced between his when she didn’t keep up. They stepped into a room that housed the largest, most beautiful Christmas tree Kara had ever witnessed right beside the oldest stone fireplace she’d ever seen. It’s worn and heavy wooden mantle let on to its age but it didn’t stumble in comparison to the fine furniture and lavish decor.
That totally puts my tree to shame. Kara went over the jaunting memory of her three-foot twinkling tree in the apartment that James had deemed modest. In other words, it was small and pathetic and he’d likely been picturing this monster of beauty against her straggly thing.
“It’s James!”
Kara looked away from the beautiful decor to a young girl who looked to be about eight or nine years old, dashing away from an older man who stood near the crackling fire deep within the hearth.
James’s hold on Kara eased and he crouched down to meet the girl.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I have missed you so, so much.”
He hugged her. “That is an awful lot of missing.”
“That’s what happens when you move so far away.”
He chuckled. “London is not that far.”
She parted from him with a roll of her eyes. “But I saw you on the tele and you looked smashing.”
James kept his smile. “Well, I don’t know about that, depends on the game you were watching.”
“We’ve watched all of them!” she informed him. “Every single one. Right?” She turned and looked to the man still at the mantle as he sipped a drink from a crystal glass, he nodded in reply.
Shifting her weight, Kara continued to watch the loving out-pour of the young girl on her boyfriend. Always such a popular commodity, James Dray.
“Alright.” James looked to Kara. “I want you to meet someone, Brianna.”
The little girl beamed. “Is it her? Is she your girlfriend?” Brianna smiled at Kara, giggling.
James nodded. “Yes, she is my girlfriend.”
The girl jumped away from him and took Kara’s hand. “You are so beautiful!”
Kara smiled at her, taken aback by the bubbly welcome. “Oh, thank you.”
Brianna held her hand firm, staring at her. “But you talk sort of funny.”
Kara nodded. “I guess I do.”
“Anna, she’s American.” The older man walked over to them finally, hand extended. “Are you not, my dear?”
Kara shook his hand. “Very.”
James stood back up and his hand rested to her lower back. “This is Garrett, my uncle.”
“Nice to meet you.” The man was warmer than Millie had been, but still stiff. “You’re rather early, Jim,” Garrett commented.
“This is surprising, apparently.”
Millie sat to a high back chaise with a red fabric so dark, it could have verged black. “That’s because you are generally late for family gatherings.”
James’ fingers etched her spine. “Not all.”
“Most.” Millie eyed him.
Kara tucked herself into her long cardigan that, underneath, hosted the tight little black dress she’d almost not worn.
“Then perhaps to pass some time, I should show Kara the house?” James suggested.
“Go say hello to your grandmother on the way, she’s in the kitchen,” Garrett instructed.
James nodded as Brianna came to his side.
“Can I come too?” she asked with a pout.
“Mm.” James thought, testing her patience. “I suppose.”
“Thank you!” Brianna beamed and they left the front sitting room for the marble floors again.
Reaching out, he caught Kara’s hand as they walked across the entryway to a large door frame, which opened up into a kitchen of dark cabinets and granite so spectacular that Kara thought it had been transplanted from a magazine article.
The smell of hot dessert and dinner in the ovens made her mouth water on top of it.
“Jamie!” Rose stood from the table across the room, dressed festively in red velvet.
Kara smiled as the woman hugged him, taking his cheeks as she had the last time she’d seen him. He appeared to be his grandmother’s favourite, even if it wouldn’t be said aloud.
“How have you been?” Rose prodded, looking him over carefully. “They don’t seem to let you have one game off, do they?”
“It’s a good thing, Nan, trust me. If they side-lined me, I would be a bit concerned.”
She eyed him up and shook her head.
“I’m fine,” James assured her, not stepping back until she let him go.
Kara stayed quiet, she found it easier to smile and wince, than to speak.
Rose studied her almost as closely as she had James. “And you, Kara? You look… well, you’re glowing.”
“Oh…” Kara hadn’t expected a compliment but she figured it was all the makeup, her done hair and painted nails all neatly wrapped up in the tight black dress making her look the part. “I don’t know about that.”
“I thought so too when I saw her this afternoon,” he agreed with his grandmother, leaving Kara to work through the delicate admiration. She felt the blush heat her cheeks though. Her eyes found his and his subtle smile got to her, making her step into his side so his arm could go around her. She tugged gently on the back of his sweater as her fingers dropped to the rolled-edge of his leather belt, enjoying the momentary thought of helping him undress later that night.
Brianna giggled, running around the island in the middle of the kitchen as one of the cooks dodged her, cursing under her breath.
“You should not be in here, Anna, we’re cooking.”
Brianna made a face at her and ran out of the kitchen.
“Anyway,” James continued, “I’m showing Kara the house.”
Castle. Kara corrected in her mind.
James smirked, taking her hand again.
“Yes, of course, enjoy Blackwell, my dear.” Rose smiled at her as James led her forward out of the kitchen.
Once he’d taken her through the whole entire eight thousand square feet of the ground floor, he showed her the stone and brick balcony that overlooked an impressive tailored garden and grasses, covered in the fresh blanket of snow as it started to fall around them.
She shuffled to the edge of the balcony in her heels and looked out. “This is amazing, but… it’s crazy.”
James came up behind her and put his arms around her. “Do you like it?”
“What’s not to like?” She smiled, enjoying the warmth of his chest along her back.
Brianna hadn’t followed them out and it allowed a moment of complete silence, a moment for her to take in who he was, where he was from, who he might become. With or without her.
“It goes quite far back. I’ll show you it tomorrow.” His palm moved over her belly.
“Seems like it could turn into a hike.”
“A stroll,” he corrected, the rest of his words not forming.
She bit her lip and turned her cheek to him, feeling him press against her in a not so subtle way. “If it wasn’t so cold, I might let you…” her giggle ended her sentence.
“Let me what?” He’d gotten the memo though, kissing her neck.
“Nothing,” she whispered.
His mouth brushed her with a few more kisses. “I grew up here.”
“I know,” she breathed through the torture of his hot mouth on her.
“And it will be ours.”
She swallowed and turned in his arms to look up at him. “When?”
He watched her for a moment. “My aunt and uncle are in trust, until I turn twenty-five.”
“That’s two years…” She began to bud with an emotion she didn’t know how to deal with. “And you never thought to say anything to me?”
“It’s my inheritance,” he said with a shrug.
“It’s a castle!” she corrected.
He smiled. “It’s not a castle, I assure you. Castles are much larger and pointy.”
She blinked through the falling snow, her nose cold, cheeks red, “James.”
He took her chin. “Just like I do, this house will protect you. I promise.” He kissed her. “Come, I’ll show you upstairs…”
She followed him back inside, attempting to reason with herself that it was not a big deal but it was. It seriously was.
He led her down the dimly lit hall towards the sitting room they’d started in, before continuing up the horseshoe staircase to the upper level. That’s where it broke to hardwood and not the marble like downstairs. The main hallway ran the length of the house as bedrooms branched off it and portraits hung to the decadent papered walls.
Kara looked at the photograph on the wall as they passed by. “Is that your dad?”
“My granddad.” James corrected.
She stopped to stare at the man that looked to be in his twenties in the black and white photograph, wearing a fitted suit. “He’s handsome.”
James glanced at the photo. “Is he?”
She smiled at him. “Obviously where you get your good looks.”
“Right.” James coaxed her forward. “Come along.”
Kara looked around for the girl, and asked, “Is Brianna really Millie and Garrett’s daughter? She’s so young, I mean, did they mean for that to happen?”
“No, she’s…” He paused his step and Kara stopped with him. He sighed. “When Andrew was seventeen he got a girl pregnant.”
“That’s his kid?” The information came as a shock, Andrew from all the interactions she’d had with him seemed less than capable of being responsible for a child.
James stepped into her and in a low voice said, “Brianna doesn’t know.”
The situation shocked her, even if she felt it was wrong of her to judge it all. “So… he just pretends she’s not his?”
“Ten years ago my parents had just died and there was a lot of press around it, then some woman out of nowhere showed up claiming the child was Andrew’s and, well, Millie and Garrett, they just took care of it once the DNA test cemented it all.”
“Meaning?”
He grunted. “Brianna is a Dray, and that has to be protected and her mother just…”
Kara waited for his next words but they never quite formed.
“She just couldn’t take care of the child properly and Andrew wasn’t even done school yet, nevermind going to University. They just did what they had to in order to make the issue fade.”
Kara stared at him. “She’s a kid, not an issue. They just let him get off the hook, just—”
“Kara…” He attempted to form his next words and they came out carefully, calculated, “if I were Brianna, I’d rather think my parents are Millie and Garrett over Drew. Trust me.”
Kara swallowed.
“This isn’t general knowledge but that’s what we do to protect our family.”
She stared up at him and he returned her stare, she understood some of his loyalty to her suddenly. It had been bred into him to be dutiful and it made a lot of sense how he’d promised her things and had so far kept those promises even given her circumstances.
“I understand.” Kara put a hand to her stomach. “And… it’s nice that Brianna seems to like you.”
“I suppose.” He didn’t spend any longer on the subject and took her toward a nearby door. “It’s mostly just empty rooms but thisroom…” he opened the big wooden door to reveal a dark room with tall ornate windows and more cumbersome papered walls.
Kara paused before going into the shadowed bedroom. “Someone’s bedroom?”
“My bedroom.”
That information amused her. “Your bedroom?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t hesitate to walk in after that announcement and he flipped on the lights for her. They provided minimum light once they reached the floor beneath their high perch on the ceiling. She stared up at the two chandeliers and big crown moldings, it was as exquisite as the rest of the home. However, the mantle of another large brick fireplace proved he really had grown up in the bedroom.
She walked over to see trophies, medals, awards, photographs and one in particular that she knew were his parents. Her fingers almost reached to it as she studied the picture. “Wow, nevermind, you really look like your dad. That’s where you get the crease in your forehead.”
James stopped behind her. “What?”
“This…” She turned to him and pointed out the line that appeared between his eyebrows when he frowned, or even disapproved of something, a line Kara had seen so many times it made her smile more often than not now.
He wore it at that moment too and she giggled, bringing her attention back to the awards as a distraction. “So, were you good or something?”
His hands cinched along her waist playfully. “I don’t know… am I good or something now?”
She enjoyed his mouth on her neck. Moments into it her eyes started to flutter and her core got that lovely tingle only he could give her. She spun in his arms and caught his lips with hers.
He went along with it for a few moments, before stopping and putting a kiss on her forehead. “Are you in need of some attention, my love?”
“You keep teasing me and…” She kept her eyes shut as she enjoyed his mouth on her. “I missed you this week.” Her hands ran up his chest to feel his muscle beneath the sweater and dress shirt he wore. It was too much clothing, she preferred him naked. She got antsy. “You’re not allowed to make me take a car to the airport and pick you up, just so we can arrive somewhere else without any alone time ever again.”
He smiled, letting her grind against him with the sway of her hips. “We were alone in the car on the way over here.”
“It wasn’t enough. All we did was make out a bit,” she mumbled.
“Alright. I apologize.” He gave her. “Tonight you’ll feel more satisfied.”
‘That’s so long to wait,” she huffed with her bottom lip in a pout.
“There is no appropriate place to do what I want to do to you right now,” he hummed in her ear, making it worse on her. He stepped back. “I’ll show you the office. It has a rather impressive library.”
“Cause,’ you know…” She rolled her eyes, following him as he tugged her. “Books are my strong point.”
He chuckled. “Maybe one day they will be.”
“I’m going to go with doubtful.”
He led her down the hall as Brianna appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Oh, I found you!” She giggled.
James closed his bedroom door and turned. “Were we hiding?”
The girl skipped up to them. “Andrew and Becky are here!”
“Alright, I was just going to show Kara the office. Would you like to help me?”
Brianna nodded. “Yes! Do you like books?”
Kara smiled down at her, seeing how happy and content the girl was and that maybe the whole situation made more sense the way his family had kept the situation closed up. “Sure.”
Brianna took her hand and led her from James, down the opposite hall and to the very end where she swung the door open on yet another pair of huge double hinged doors.
Kara stepped inside. The remnants of a burning fire crackled and flicked shadows across the leather furniture and glass coffee table. The vastly tall room flowed with two levels of hundreds of shelved books and in the middle of it all sat a solid desk with a few minimal stacks of paperwork.
Kara neared a shelf to her right and scanned the book titles. Old titles. Things that made no sense to her. It had a soft sense of delicate extravagance but it possessed a dominating presence that held the heart of the home captive. It sent the oddest of scents her way; musks, tobacco and the way dust smelt after sitting for too long. She could only guess the age of some of those books from the smells flying at her.
Brianna let her go. “Isn’t it marvellous!”
Kara walked forward, looking to the mantle and it’s few trinkets but this time noticing the canvas framed painting hung directly above. It’s large footprint in the room had made it hard not to notice. The dark oil paints of deep greens, browns and reds made up a startling image of a pack of wolves, surrounded by a leader in the middle and he was black as night. She swallowed the panic it stirred inside as it reminded her of the wolf that had saved her from the dimension.
“That’s one of the oldest paintings in the house.” James came to her side and his touch on her wrist made her flinch away.
“It’s terrifying,” she admitted.
Her eyes went back to it for one last look of the wolves and their jaws as they drooled blood to the forest floor. Their eyes, almost so lifelike she could feel them watching her, made her want to run. It had a deeper meaning, almost like a war had been won and she didn’t care to question him on it. Demons didn’t scare her as much as those creatures did.
Brianna ran to the couches and bounced on them. “No one lets me do this!”
James watched her. “For good reason.”
“Don’t be a grouch, James.” Kara forced herself to move past the gruesome painting and smiled.
“Are you an advocate of abusing furniture?”
She turned to him. “What sort of abusing?”
He smiled. “Fair point, my love.”
“So, why did you move in with Carter if it’s so impressive here? I mean, how old is this place anyway?”
He looked to Brianna as she continued to bounce on the couches. “Millie and Garrett drive me mad. They like to stick their nose in everything that’s not necessarily their business.”
“I can see that cramping your style.”
“Yes, it does and Blackwell was built in fifteen thirty-three.”
Kara blinked a few times to register that date. “Are you joking?”
“I wish I was,” he chuckled and walked over to the girl. “Alright, cut it out, Anna. You’ll get me in trouble.”
“No one gets you in trouble.” Brianna laughed at him.
James grabbed her off the couch and walked towards the door, the girl over his shoulder as she laughed. “No jumping on the furniture.” He dropped her back on her feet.
Brianna sighed. “Fine,” she said, leaving them behind as she ran out of the office and down the hallway.
He waited for Kara at the door. “Coming?”
“Oh…” She shook her thoughts and walked over to him. “So, it’s like four hundred years old?” She stepped out onto the wood floor and it squeaked.
“Four hundred and eighty something…” He thought it over and grabbed the door.
She gulped as the light from the office was shut away. “For real?”
He turned to her and stepped closer to whisper, “for real.”
“Is it haunted?” She finally asked.
He smiled at her. “I don’t think my relatives-past have much interest in haunting us.”
“Your relatives? Are you saying they built this?” She couldn’t believe it so she just giggled at him.
“The land was given to our family in fifteen thirty-three. Blackwell as a whole has been rebuilt several times from numerous damage, even a couple fires.”
“Jesus!” Kara exclaimed. “That’s insane!”
James watched her freak out. “Want to know something else a bit weird?”
Kara bit her lip and then nodded, because now she’d become invested in the romanticism of the four hundred and eighty-seven year old home around her.
“I was born in that room there.”
She looked to her right at the shut door directly across from them.
“On my granddad’s funeral, my mother fell, it put her in labour and she didn’t tell my father until it was too late. So she just delivered me in their bed.”
Kara stared at him. “That’s insane.”
“The greater bane of my existence is held in these walls. I’m tied to this house like it’s tied to me.”
She nodded with understanding, no matter how insane it all was. Then he took her hand and she looked down to their fingers as he squeezed.
“There’s really no better time than to meet Blackwell at Christmas, and that’s why I brought you here for it. You’re the only woman I’ve ever brought here for it. You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted to bring here.”
Kara reached up and took his cheek as the excitement budded inside her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He leaned into her and gave her a soft kiss before leading her forward down the hall and to the stairs. At the bottom, Becky greeted them, wearing a beautiful red dress, tight in every way. It fit perfectly.
“Hello!” She hugged James. “So dapper.” She patted his chest, referring to his grey and black mix knit sweater and white dress shirt beneath.
He smiled. “Really? I thought it was a tad preppy.”
“No, it’s festive.”
“That was the least thing I was going for. ”
“You’re awful.” Becky waved a finger at him. “Festive isn’t a bad thing.”
“Right.” James grunted as Becky hugged Kara.
“I like your dress, Becky.”
Becky drew back from her. “Oh, thank you! You know, I’ve had it forever, I just never wore it before and here I was, trying to be festive.” She gave James a sly teasing.
He chuckled. “Don’t let me stop you.”
“Ha!” Becky took Kara’s arm, tugging her towards the sitting room. “What did he get you for Christmas?”
“Oh.” Kara blushed. “Um—”
“I haven’t given it to her yet, Rebecca.” James walked behind them within easy earshot of the conversation as they stepped back into the formal sitting room.
“Fine.” Becky leaned into her and attempted to whisper away his ability to hear them. “What do you think he got you?”
“I really… don’t know.” She glanced at James as she sat down on one of the nearby champagne couches.
He sat closer than she expected him to with an arm behind her on the back of the couch. “Suppose you’ll have to wait and find out, won’t you?”
She smiled. “Exciting.”
“Is it?” His hand came to the back of her neck, brushing beneath her dark hair, where his fingers gripped her. She spiked with anticipation.
Her smile grew as she leaned close to him. “A bit.”
“Well, I hope you’ll like it but you have to wait till tomorrow morning.”
“I left your present at home.”
He didn’t seem bothered by the information and she was thankful for it.
“What is it?”
“I’m not telling,” she shot in a whisper, putting her nose near his, wishing he would kiss her again like he had up in the hall.
“James…” Andrew walked in with two glasses in hand, containing some form of alcohol on ice.
James looked away from her, greeting Andrew.
“Scotch?” Andrew smiled.
“Thank you.” James took the extended drink, poured and framed with a sharp edged crystal tumbler.
“Dad donated it to our drinking.”
“Drew…” Becky eyed him.
Andrew sipped his drink. “I mean, donated it to our Christmas festivities.”
James smiled and drank. “By the way, that really is a festive jumper.”
Andrew looked down at his red cable knit sweater with black buttons along the collar. “Well, Becky said I looked fit.”
James kept his smirk. “This is very good.”
“I told you.” Andrew sat across from him on the adjacent couch so he could continue the conversation with just James. “Finally got him to open it. Stubborn old man.”
“Well, let me try.” Becky sat right next to Andrew and snatched it from him, sipping it. Andrew glared at her. “It’s really good. Try it, Kara!”
“Oh.” Kara paused as James offered up his glass and to avoid causing a potential scene over refusing a drink, she took the smallest of sips.
Kara let out a cough and shook her head. “That’s gross…” She coughed again as James smiled at her and took back the glass.
“That’s eighteen year-old scotch,” Andrew snapped at her.
Kara coughed once more and looked up to him. “Sorry, I don’t have an acquired taste, I guess.”
“Clearly.” Andrew grunted and stared at her. “Suppose you’d prefer wine… all women like wine. I think there’s some cheaper ones on the bottom cabinet.”
Becky stared at him in shock. “Andrew.”
“What?” He laughed and took another sip. “Go get you both some wine and bring me back a cigar.”
Becky got up with a roll of her eyes. “Kara, do you want wine? I promise, I’ll pick a good one.”
Kara shook her head. “I’m good, thanks.”
Becky nodded and walked out of the room.
James leaned into her and kissed her cheek. “Feeling alright?”
She smiled at him and gave him a nod.
He pressed his mouth gently to her ear. “Little one too?”
“Yes,” she whispered to him as Andrew cleared his throat rather loudly to break them apart. It worked and James pulled back as Andrew started in on conversation Kara had no interest in. Her eyes wandered back around the room to the many glass Christmas ornaments. Everything around her was a picture of money, style and everything she lacked.
“Hello!” Sophie walked in, gift bags in hand and a bright smile on her face.
James stood right away and Kara watched him greet her with a warmth she hadn’t witnessed before. He kissed her cheek and took the bags from her arms.
“Happy Christmas!” Sophie put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. Her fingers paused along the knit. “Oh, I got you this one for your birthday.”
“Mm.” James nodded and walked the presents in his hands over to the tree, adding to the pile of gold wrapping and extravagance of sparkles.
Sophie’s eyes went to hers and paused. “Kara, nice to see you again.”
James sat back down and took another sip of scotch.
“Yeah, you too.”
Sophie stared at her, longer than Kara knew what to do with. “You look different.”
“I do?” Kara breathed between the tension.
Sophie nodded and sat down in one of the chairs. “Fuller…”
Kara’s heart sank with the comment as James gave his sister a slight glare.
“In the cheeks,” Sophie finished. “Healthier.”
“Oh.” Kara nodded. “Thanks.”
Sophie looked at Becky as an escape as the blonde showed back up with wine in hand. “I need one of those.”
Becky giggled. “I’ll go get you one.”
No matter how hard Kara tried, Sophie’s arrival brought a new sense of unattainable class, and though Kara joined in with the conversation that bounced between each family member, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she did not belong. Not even once Andrew had dragged James away and left her with Becky, Millie and Sophie. She said nothing as she drank some spritzed cranberry juice—something James had brought her with an apology as he’d left her again to fend for herself.
Some hours later but what seemed much longer, James stepped into the room and her eyes slowly rose, seeing him out of the corner of her eye.
“I’m supposed to come get women for dinner.” He smiled at her and only her, walking over to help her stand. She stepped into him and his hand adjusted to her lower back.
“How are you doing now, Jim?” Becky patted his shoulder as she walked by.
“Barely buzzed,” James answered.
“And I’m sure Andrew is…” Becky trailed off.
“Not quite wasted yet,” he told her.
She shook off her annoyance and smiled instead. “I would expect nothing less.” Sophie joined her and they walked out of the room together.
“Where is everyone else?” Kara asked as she turned into him.
“In the dining room already.” He took her hand, lacing their fingers together in the process and stepping in so close it made her heart beat a bit faster. “I want you to give me something for Christmas.”
She smiled at him as their eyes met. “But I told you, I left your present at home.”
“Not that,” he whispered to her. “When we go to bed tonight, I want you to do as I say. Everything I ask, you will do for me.”
She felt his words as they ignited inside her.
“Understood?”
Kara nodded to him. “Yeah.”
“It’s yes,” he corrected her.
“Yes,” she repeated between her breathless lips.
“Good.” He kissed her cheek and led her forward into the hall and across the entryway. “I’m sorry I left you so long. I started talking to Garrett about football.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving.” She followed him down another hall where it met up for the archway of the massive dining area. Kara had briefly noticed it on the tour, with its fifteen-foot table in the middle of the room that was elegantly dressed with a long gold runner and more festivedecor. Each place setting had beautiful white china plates and crystal glasses filled with red wine with an option of water. It was exquisite and pristine. Kara couldn’t imagine being in charge of setting a table like that, ever but according to him—one day she might.
James helped her to her seat. He seemed to know where to sit and that was next to Garrett at the end. She felt him sink into the chair next to her as she looked down at the multiple forks and spoons. The sudden intracy of the meal overwhelmed her and she looked around the table as a distraction. If hundreds of years of his family had eaten in that room, with that many utensils and fine plates, then there was no better way to make her feel like the odd-one out. Afterall, she was from a poor genetic bloodline of Hunters from the east coast of America, where one utensil was generally good enough.
James picked up his glass of water as they waited or she figured they must have been waiting for something, as everyone sat silently pensive.
Two women walked in, dishes with a salad in hand, placing one in front of everyone.
Garrett stood. “So nice that we could all be together this evening and tomorrow morning. Now, let’s eat.”
That was uplifting. Kara stared at the fork options again as she tried to make up her mind. Definitely not that one, but maybe that one?
James leaned into her. “Smallest fork first, love.”
She picked it up in relife. “I kinda feel like you should have given me a lesson on how to eat here.”
He watched her for a moment. “You’ll learn.”
Easy for you to say, Mr. Dray… She then ate the next course to the point where she couldn’t fit much more food in her but that hadn’t stopped her, because the food was great and rich in flavour. However, none of them seemed to eat as much as she did. In other words, they didn’t eat like it was their last meal but what they didn’t eat in food, they made up for in wine. Kara watched James finish his second glass and Becky poured herself another.
The table was host to the amusements of James and Andrew as the dinner ended, sometimes Garrett. Becky was quick with her exerts and Sophie stayed mute and placid in expression, looking more bored but still drinking wine like it would go out of style. When it came to James’ aunt, her glares were strict enough to kill, yet James and Andrew seemed immune to it. More than used it, Kara guessed.
Andrew poured himself another drink. “And then there I was, in the library, when wham!”
Millie’s eyes shot up to him. “Someone was killed?”
James laughed. “No, he probably fell.”
“How’d you know that?” Andrew slurred, sitting and sipping the drink.
“Because you’re always drunk in your bloody stories, Drew, or else they wouldn’t be interesting.” James laughed.
Andrew paused. “Am I not interesting normally?” He glanced around the table for a few seconds before James started to laugh again.
Andrew sneered at him. “Why don’t you tell us a story then, Jimmy, since mine aren’t any good?”
“I didn’t say they weren’t good,” James protested. “And, no, I don’t tell stories.”
Sophie sipped her wine. “Oh, but don’t you have so many stories, brother?”
James looked at her. “Not one.”
Andrew slapped the table. “I don’t believe you!”
Brianna copied Andrew’s obnoxious example and hit the table as well. “Yes, we don’t believe you!”
“Brianna.” Millie scolded her with a frown and Brianna whispered an insincere apology.
“Right.” James looked around him. “Pick your topic.”
Andrew groaned. “You make everything so engrossing.”
“You started this,” James blamed him.
“Kara.” Brianna beamed.
James looked to his youngest cousin. “What?”
“Yes, something about Kara.” Brianna nodded.
Kara felt her cheeks heat. His stories about me are either too depressing or inappropriate.
James leaned back in his chair and smiled, his hand lifting. “Well, I don’t know about that. You see, Kara’s a very good girl.”
Becky started to laugh. “What does that have to do with a story, Jim?”
Kara’s face was red and she wished the topic would shift as quickly as it’d come.
James looked to his inebriated cousin. “For one, she never gets drunk and falls down.”
Andrew let out a sturdy grunt. “Are you accusing your girlfriend of not being interesting enough to warrant a story?”
If looks could kill, it would seem his cousin’s words had actually bothered him. Whichever the case, Kara wanted the torture to stop.
James opened his mouth but Kara cut him off.
“I cheered for the wrong team, the first game. Well, I—the team scored and I thought it was James’ team but it wasn’t.” The table stayed silent and she wallowed in her pathetic attempt at a story.
James looked at her, “You did what?”
Kara shrugged. “The colours were too similar. Carter thought it was funny.”
“No, that really is funny, Kara!” Becky let out a giggle as she sipped back more wine.
Garrett lifted his glass of wine. “To colours that are too similar.”
James’ glance swept to his uncle as everyone else joined in on the toast and even Kara sipped her water. His hand found her bare thigh under the table and he leaned into her, glass in hand.
“Do you need me to go over colours, love?”
She blushed. “No, I got it now.”
The wine ran out and the men moved back to harder liquor once dinner had wrapped up. The plates had been cleared and there was then a shriek of excitement from Brianna at the promise of presents.
James stood as everyone began to clear to the sitting room, and he held out his hand for her. “Are you full?”
“I never want to eat again.” She took his offer and stood, shimmying around her chair and into his side. “I mean, I’m sure in an hour or so that will change when I start craving something…” she rambled and he listened quite patiently to her.
“Mm. Maybe some chocolate,” he suggested.
“That or chocolate ice cream.” She giggled when he frowned at the suggestion. “Why do you hate ice cream so much?”
“It’s disgusting,” his mumble came with his need to make her walk forward.
“What if you had to lick it off me?” She made sure to keep her voice low.
“You’re already sweet enough to lick. This way…” He motioned out of the room.
She took his face and leaned in to lick his cheek quickly. “You don’t taste like anything.”
He paused his step. “Have you had nothing to drink?”
“It’s all the fat loaded food.”
“I see.” He took her hand and pulled her with him this time, all the way to the sitting room as she held her amused smile.
“Alright, let’s get this over with, shall we?” Andrew walked to the tree of gold-wrapped presents and silver bows. At that time, Kara sat where James put her, between his grandmother and him.
Andrew picked up a couple presents and filled the empty space in front of Brianna. “Here’s a few, Anna. Pace yourself.”
The little girl looked at the gifts with a fiendish grin and ripped one open, no pacing needed in her eyes.
Andrew read the tag on another. “Mum, I had nothing to do with it. I’m sure you’ll appreciate that.”
Millie smiled and Kara swore it was the first time that evening. The woman thanked her son as Andrew passed Sophie the next box. “Again, nothing to do with it.”
Sophie laid it across her lap and picked off the card first.
Andrew moved on once his mother had opened the box where a cashmere sweater was revealed, Becky’s good taste all over it.
Millie nodded. “Very nice. Thank you.”
Andrew scooped up more and handed them out. “Kara.”
She snapped to life, not expecting a gift of any kind. “Oh, thank you…” She took the outstretched gift and put it in her lap. Jesus, why did they do this?
Inspecting the tag, she found it was from Rose. Her chest tightened. She’s too nice. She pulled the paper from the bag and looked into the contents, appreciating the wrapping as she did. She finally found a lovely knitted scarf in a deep red, made of the softest wool she’d ever felt. She loved it.
“Thank you, Rose.” Her heart was in pieces. It made her think of Lauren and John and how much she genuinely missed her grandparents and briefly, even her home.
“Of course.” The old woman nodded to her.
Brianna jumped up as Kara folded and touched the scarf.
“It’s a… It’s a… It’s video games!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Brianna!” Garrett snapped.
James got up and walked over. “Who got you this?”
Brianna giggled. “You did!”
He sat down on the ground across from the girl. “That’s right, and to think I almost bought you socks.”
“You did not!” Brianna laughed at him.
Millie was shaking her head. “James, she doesn’t need that junk.”
He didn’t give Millie a glance as he focused on ripping apart the packaging with Brianna. The little girl seemed to like him more than she liked anyone else and Kara had started to notice how he gave her more attention and meaningful interactions. He didn’t treat the girl like an issue, at least not the way he had explained it all to her earlier. Brianna was part of their family and she could see that but James appeared the most invested in seeing that through.
Andrew continued the present giving, some more to his mother, and to Becky before handing Kara another present. “You’re getting lucky, it would seem.”
Becky rolled her eyes. “Andrew, stop talking.”
He grunted and Kara pulled the wrapping off the box, this one had no tag. The beautiful silver and red paper perhaps hinted otherwise though and she had a slight inclination of the giver. Once she revealed the well-constructed box, she stopped to stare at the tiny logo on top. Swallowing, she lifted the lid and inside was a quilted leather purse with silver accent studs. A purse so expensive, she wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Becky smiled. “Do you like it?”
Kara pulled it from the box. It was beautiful, yes, but acceptable, no. She’d got Becky nothing, after all.
“Oh, it’s—”
Becky nodded. “I saw it and thought of you. Had to get it.”
Kara looked at her. “Thank you…”
“You’re welcome!” Becky smiled and looked down to the present in her lap that needed opening.
Kara looked over the bag again as James walked back over to her. He had freed the gift for Brianna and she already had it turned on, loaded with a game.
Millie looked annoyed. “Ten minutes, Brianna. That is all.”
Garret grumbled. “Filling her mind with rubbish, James.”
“Oh, she’ll live.” He sat back down next to Kara and looked over the bag in her lap. “Nice bag, love.”
Kara put her hands over it possessively—it was easily the most expensive gift she’d ever received for Christmas. “Becky got it for me.”
James looked it over. “Mm.” He had a few presents to open now that he was done helping Brianna with hers. His was in the form of clothing; a new pair of runners, more bright white socks to add to the extensive collection he already had and a few expensive workout shirts. His family knew him and they knew him well it seemed.
“James,” Garret called him once the wrapping paper was strewn about the room and every present had been opened. “One more.”
“I really thought the new runners were sufficient,” James commented.
“It’s more a congratulatory gift.” Garrett pulled keys from his pocket and threw them to him.
James caught them, opening his palm to look over the fob in his hand.
Andrew jumped into the conversation once he’d caught onto what was going on. “Want to see it then?”
“Let’s go.” James got up quicker than Kara expected.
Garrett, Andrew and James left the room in a strict line as they followed each other towards the front door.
Becky walked over and took Kara’s arm. “Come see it. It’s actually really beautiful.”
Everyone then followed, putting on shoes and coats, the hush and silence making her feel this was a special moment.
“What kind of car is it?”
Becky giggled. “Oh, I guess you don’t know the story, so over a year ago… Garrett said to James if he made Elite football, he would buy him a car—this was a bit of a joke, then James didn’t let him forget it the closer he got to a contract. He told him he wanted a Jaguar, you know, one the ridiculously expensive ones… Here we are!” She laughed.
Kara swallowed. Holy shit.
Through the snow, they walked across the front yards to a four-car garage and entered on the side door. Where they found the men and where she found James, staring at a sleek car with a perfected black paint job and spoiler on the back. The tires were thin and on matte black rims, the whole air to it, dark and fluid.
Kara cringed from how expensive it looked.
“Well, get in already!” Andrew slapped James’ shoulder and he moved towards the driver’s seat, pulling it open.
“I really didn’t need this. It was a joke.”
Millie stepped up beside them, brushing the snow off her shoulders. “Some men make scholars, you’ve managed to make yourself four million a year playing football of all things.”
James stared at her, and after a few tense seconds, he opened the door. “Thank you…” His eyes went to the inside, before his expression hindered, but as he ran his hands over the steering wheel and dash, he lost it.
“The best part…” Andrew walked over and stuck his head inside. “It goes from zero to a hundred in three point seven seconds.” His cousin’s laugh was full of excitement and Becky rolled her eyes from it.
“Well, we hope you like it.” Garrett announced.
James looked up to his uncle. “I do, thank you.”
Millie pointed at him. “Promise me though, no speeding.”
James kept his smile. “I don’t speed, Millie.”
Andrew scoffed. “It’s a sports car, Mum. It’s not meant to putt around like a bloody caravan.”
She narrowed her eyes on her son.
“Well…” Garrett started. “Let’s go back inside, sure we’re all freezing. You can drive it tomorrow, when you’re sober.” They all began to leave but Kara stayed put, waiting for James to get out of the car. She walked over when he failed to leave it.
“Are you in love?” she joked.
He looked over the dash and console with a laugh. “I think they’ve lost their bloody minds to be honest.”
Kara’s smile didn’t fade. “Maybe they’re just thatproud of you.”
He stepped out of the car. “Having a football career wasn’t something they ever supported. They just put up with it because my parents had. They told me after Eton to give it up and go to university for something useful.”
Kara stepped against him and put her hands to his biceps. “So naturally, you proved them wrong.”
“Perhaps a bit of luck was involved.”
She shook her head. “Talented men like you don’t get lucky.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Thank you. Let’s get back to the house.” He took her hand as he shut the car door, taking one last look over the sleek vehicle. As dark and as hot as him, Kara also gave it one last glance before they left the garage together.
After the monotone chime of a clock hit midnight, everyone seemed to take that as the cue to retire for the night. That’s when Blackwell became more ominous to her. Its placid silence wrapped them in what she felt was the prestige only his family knew, the solitude, the safety, how it belonged to their name and only theirs.
They stopped at his bedroom door and he let her in ahead of him, closing and locking it once she was inside. The room was now warm from the fire, making it more inviting than it had been earlier.
“There’s something for you on the couch.”
“Oh.” She walked over to the chaise near the fireplace where a red box sat with a satin ribbon. “What is it?”
James had stripped his sweater and began to undo the buttons of his shirt beneath. “Why don’t you open it and see?”
Her stomach tightened and she sat down next to the long, rectangular box and pulled the ribbon, releasing the satin along the sides.
She peeled the paper back slowly as he walked over, watching her.
“Perhaps you won’t like it.” he suggested.
She glanced up at him, his dress shirt hanging off his shoulders, untucked, undone. Her fingers dug into the paper and it shredded along the box.
He smirked. “Well, don’t be too anxious, love.”
She looked away from his chest back to the box and tugged the lid open to reveal deep red tissue paper. Her finger snagged the little black sticker in the middle and pulled back the tissue paper to reveal red lingerie.
She picked it up by the thin straps and inspected the satin and lace. “Do you have a thing for red all of a sudden?”
“I have a theory.” He crossed his arms. “That it will look good on you.”
“So…” Kara inspected it further. “You expect me to put it on now? I don’t know if it’s Santa-approved.”
James chuckled but she couldn’t ignore the bit of excitement in his eyes. “It’s approved. Do as I say, put it on.”
Kara’s eyes met his as she remembered her promise to him earlier in the night. “Okay.”
He watched as she stood and turned away from him.
“Can you undo the—”
His hands were already there, unclipping the button on the black dress and tugging down the tiny zipper.
“You’re being proactive.”
“Mm.” He bit into her shoulder and helped slink the garment down her body with her underwear, undoing the clips on her black lace bra. Stepping away from her, he waited behind her naked frame. “Now, my love, before I decide waiting isn’t worth it.”
He’d already taken the liberty of removing the tags, she supposed if it didn’t fit, he didn’t have a problem not getting his money back.
I hope it fits.
Her heart raced as she slipped the red silk dress over her bareness. “Good?” She tugged a strap into place and turned towards him as he stepped back toward the small lounger. The satin floated against her upper hip and she pulled at the side to make sure it laid flat for inspection.
He sat down, leaning back into the couch while he looked her over.
She blushed from his stare. “Well, do you like it?”
“You are utterly perfect.”
That hard lump in her throat returned with the sputter of her heart. “You have so many compliments, James, one day you may run out.”
“Those aren’t compliments.” He kept a cool composure she wished she had. “They’re the truth. Now…” He pointed to the ground in front of him. “Come here.” It was a command, not a question and her feet moved faster than she realized.
“There.” He reached forward to stop her from coming into his lap and instead held her firm on her feet.
She looked away with a blush as his hands settled the fabric along her hips.
“Turn around.” His warm grip left her.
Her eyes met his as he waited with all the patience in the world for her to do as he said. Her feet inched along the rug to face away from him.
“That’s it.”
She felt him behind her as his breath teased along her exposed thighs.
“Lift the nightie.”
She started to pant, feeling a bit light headed as her knees threatened to buckle. She leaned forward for him as her hands came to the satin and edged it over her bottom.
“Show me more, love,” his voice grew with desire.
She pulled the fabric and popped it over her waist, where it bunched. She shut her eyes from the embarrassment and excitement she felt all at the same time. Never in her life would she do this for anyone other than him. She wasn’t even sure how many men had the balls to ask a girl to stand for them like he had asked her to.
He let out a satisfied hum and she looked over her shoulder to him. He stared at her ass, her thighs, the way she moved her feet to keep her balance. His concentration as he mapped out her body made her drip down her thigh.
Her cheeks burned. “Do you like the view?”
His eyes locked on hers in an instant and he dropped his jaw with his reply, “You’re bloody amazing, you know that.”
She smiled from how good that made her feel. He leaned forward in that moment and bit into her ass cheek.
Kara tensed up, giggling as his bite got harder. “James!” She swatted at his face and he grabbed her wrist. Pinning her movement so he could bite her ass uninterrupted. “Oh my god,” she moaned aloud.
His mouth dropped away and he stood, in the same moment he spun her onto the couch under him.
She let out a squeal as she settled on the furniture with a bounce.
His mouth came to her shoulder and he kissed her there. “You must not be too loud, or else it may be awkward in the morning.”
She turned her cheek to his mouth. “What are you saying?” Her stomach tightened and clenched as he rearranged her under him.
“That it might be hard not to scream.”
She stared into the darkness beyond the warmth and light of the fire. “How should I stay quiet?”
He reached around her and his grip wrapped her throat. “Every time you get too loud, I’ll squeeze.”
Her eyes widened, grabbing his wrist and trying to tug him away. “James.”
“I won’t hurt you…” His other hand caressed her side. “Do you trust me?”
She took a few staggered breaths and let her grip on him go. “Yes.”
He kissed her behind her ear. “Pick a color.”
“Em,” she cleared her throat as she got antsy. “Why?”
“Pick one,” the demand etched his voice.
“Black?”
“That’s a bloody shade but fine. If you need to stop. Say black and I’ll stop right then. Do you understand?”
She swallowed her bit of panic. “Yes.”
He kept his hold on her neck and with one hand undid his belt. The sound alone of the leather letting off made her shove her hips against him.
God, just—
He reached between her thighs and drew her wetness out.
She moaned into the air around them. His hand pulsed against her throat as a reminder and she quieted.
“Sorry…” She whispered to him.
He took her hip and filled her, slowly, testing her. She bit her lip to hold her noises in as he met the top of her cervix.
Her eyes fluttered open while he hovered above her and took his first thrust.
She wanted to scream, because once he set his sights on an angle, he became precise and quick with his hips.
Her body caved and broke within just minutes of his controlled fucking but he withheld, not letting her slip off the precipice of pleasure, and he enjoyed her.
He full-on bit into her neck, teeth and all, taking her sensitive skin with it. The searing of his bite and the movement of his hips made her scream but before she could get to a point of little return, his grip moved around her neck until she couldn’t take a breath. The lack of air made her brain dark but felt sublime. The sensation of his cock in her only heightening the choke.
“That is exactly what I was meaning about you being too loud.” He let up on her.
“I’m-I’m sorry,” she mumbled to him as the oxygen filled her lungs and her body became a bundle of excitement for more.
He sunk her forward onto the couch, his one knee bracing against the furniture, and he continued fucking her. “No more biting then, apparently you cannot take it.”
But she wanted it again, it had ignited much more than she expected in her, much more than she knew she could desire; his mouth, his bite, tearing into her soft flesh while he restricted all ability for her to breathe.
What’s wrong with me? She shuddered as his mouth ghosted over the last place he’d bitten and she shoved her shoulder into his mouth.
That amused him, and he fucked her harder. “No more.”
It’s not fair! Kara’s nails dug into the couch.
His hand left her hip and she felt his long fingers move between her thighs.
She arched back into him with a moan and his hold tightened on her neck again. “God, I’m…” she began to say.
He came hard and fast into her. “Yes, say it,” he moaned.
“I’m…” she tried again.
Crushing his bare chest against her back, he buried his mouth into her ear and nipped as his hand withheld her ability to breathe yet again. The violence of his thrusting made her break and her muscles were met by every pounding constriction they could possess. She came hard, not even needing the air and falling forward to invite all of him inside her. Ass up, head down.
His hand left her throat and her eyes opened with her gasp of air.
“I’m yours,” she moaned out.
“That’s right, you are,” he growled, taking advantage of that fact and thrusting deep inside her, filling her like she’d never felt before. His final thrust bred her into submission and she molded into the couch, crushed by his weight but loving every moment of it.
He grabbed the couch for support to remove himself and stepped back, needing to catch his breath and struggling a bit to do so. Kara slipped onto her back along the chaise, looking up at him as he stayed standing.
“Bloody hell.” He grabbed the waist of his pants to hold them up as they continued to inch down his sides.
“What did you do to yourself?” She giggled as she watched him pant.
He looked down at her and took a deep breath, but his attempt at composure failed. “That was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
Kara blushed, biting down hard on the inside of her cheek. “What?”
“God, yes.” He nodded with his admittance.
“It was really good,” she finally gave him.
“Mm.” He helped her stand and pulled her against him. “If you weren’t already pregnant…”
She giggled from that thought. “Yeah, no condom would have survived. I mean, I hardly did, so…”
He studied her. “You were just fine. Besides, I restricted the blood flow to your brain more than anything else.”
“What?”
“Right here.” He lifted his hand back to her throat to show her the pressure points.
It made her all kinds of messed up, but kind of in the way of her wanting him to keep his hand on her neck.
“You still squeezed hard though.”
“It’d be no fun if I didn’t and perhaps some of your inhuman traits are sometimes convenient.”
She smiled as her body tingled. “It was fun.”
“Mm.” He looked satisfied to hear that.
“But is my neck red?” She lifted her head for inspection.
He dropped his chin to look and with it, his mouth and tongue ran up, down and across where he’d had his hand seconds before.
“James,” she laughed, moving away as he tickled her with licks and kisses.
He took her hand and laughed. “Come lie down.” Then lead her over to the bed.
“So, I guess all this means is… you like the nightgown?” she teased.
His amused eyes went to her as he put her down on the bed. “I think it meant a bit more than that but yes, it’s very nice on you.”
“It seems you have a decent opinion on lingerie.”
“We can get you more.” He stripped his pants and pulled back the blankets to invite her under with him.
“You don’t like my cow pyjamas?” She pouted, crawling over him as he coaxed her forward.
“Of course, you could always stick with the barmy flannel that you’re so attached to.” He grabbed her when she didn’t move fast enough, pulling her onto his chest.
“But I like them,” she giggled as she settled on him.
His hands grazed her thighs that had started to rub over his lap. “And I like the way you feel through satin. Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement?”
“Maybe.” She nuzzled her cheek into him, tracing her fingers along his solid, lean frame.
He kissed her forehead. “In the morning, we’re going to get up and go for a walk.”
“That sounds cold.” She breathed in contentment, closing her eyes.
His arm wrapped around her waist. “You’ll be fine.”
“I’ll freeze.” She yawned.
“You won’t.” He kissed the top of her head. “And… I’m also going to tell my family in the morning that you’re pregnant.”
She tensed on him and went to sit up but he didn’t allow her.
“I’m going to tell them it’s mine.”
She stared at him. “James, no.”
“Yes,” he said in a tone of no negotiation. “Unless you profusely object and have a good reason for it—it’s better this way if they believe it’s mine. My name can protect you and this baby. You won’t ever have to worry.”
She sunk back on his chest with his direction. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because, you mean everything to me and I hope that in the morning, if you don’t already know it, you will.”
She shivered and snuggled herself against him.
“I love you, Kara.”
Her eyes shut with her exhale as her mind went over the way he’d been with her. Rough, controlled, taking her how he wanted and now, a gentle, calm man who was lulling her to sleep with just his deep breaths and the beating of his heart. She knew then, she didn’t need any more reassurance than that.