Winter Miracle Page 8

  Haley laughs. “Are you actually eating your food there or inhaling it?”

  I wipe my mouth. “I’m sorry, but it’s god-damn delicious.”

  Andy gurgles from the end of the table, clearly sharing my opinion.

  “Anyone would think you’ve never have a home-cooked meal,” continues Haley.

  “Does frozen pizza count as a home-cooked meal?”

  Haley dips her head to the side, scooping up a pile of peas from her plate. “I don’t know if technically counts as ‘food’ at all.”

  By the time I’m done—after seconds, and thirds—I can almost see my reflection in the plate.

  Haley helps Andy down from his chair, cleaning his face before letting him crawl-slash-stagger back to his beloved toys with a bottle of milk.

  She bends over to take my plate, her cleavage dropping low beside my head. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t make dessert.”

  I lick my lower lip taking her in. “I’m sure we can arrange something of the sweet variety later… just like last time.”

  She rolls her eyes again. “You’re out of control, a horny boy masquerading as a man.”

  I give her a playful tap on the ass, unsurprised to find it as firm as ever. “And you proved today you’re very much in control.”

  “I did?” she questions.

  I pull her into my lap, let her feel how hard she’s making me. “It was sexy as fuck seeing you stand up to those yokels.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck. “Are you saying you like a woman in control?”

  “If you’re asking do I like to be tied up and spanked…” I shrug. “I’m open to it. Hell, I’m open to anything in the bedroom.”

  “Anything?” she asks.

  “Anything.” I wink back.

  She swings off me. “I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Carr.”

  She clears away the rest of the table and takes her seat again, watching Andy. “What happened at the food drive…”

  I take her hand, so delicate in my own. “You don’t have to explain yourself.”

  “This is the town I grew up in,” she says, eyes glassy. “Everything I know is here, and I don’t want to leave it, really, but…”

  “But?” I press.

  “There’s so much baggage here I keep hoping will go away. I was always taught that if I was just… good, then things would work out, but that…” She looks down to the table. “That hasn’t been the case.”

  “Being good’s overrated,” I tell her.

  “Says the big bad city boy.”

  I look to my arm, lifting my sleeve. “Is it the ink, or my giant cock that gave it away?”

  She laughs. “Your… manhood… is impressive, but apart from that I’m betting you’re all marshmallow inside.”

  Now it’s my turn to laugh. “I assure you I’m many things inside, but marshmallow ain’t one of them.” I take her other hand, pull her closer until I can make out the color of her lips, the way they part in anticipation. “Recently, it seems like you are taking the alternate path, Haley Walker, and it seems to be working out for you, wouldn’t you say?”

  She looks past my shoulder to Andy. “I won’t deny there have been some unexpected surprises…”

  I kiss her once, just a taste, and pause by her ear. “And there’s more to come—the latter being the operative word.”

  Haley stands. “I look forward to it.” She nods to Andy. “Can you burp him while I do the dishes?”

  I actually jerk back like she’s jabbed me with a cattle prod. “Burp who? Andy? What does that even mean?”

  She laughs, hands on her hips. “You’ve never burped a baby?”

  “He’s hardly a baby.”

  “Your point?”

  I look at the kid. “Isn’t he too old for this?”

  “He had some gastro-intestinal issues when he was younger, still needs a helping hand in that department, I’m afraid.”

  “Don’t you need some sort of degree for that?” I protest. “I’m afraid I left my doctorate in my luggage.”

  She drags me over to Andy, hauling him up like he’s a sack of flour belly-down on her knees, his arms hanging down her legs. “And now you just pat him on the back, like so.”

  It looks more like child abuse than patting, but okay. “Are you supposed to be that rough?” I question.

  “He’s a toddler, Dane, not a Ming vase. You think I’m rough? You should see the nurses at the hospital.”

  Haley lifts Andy up under his arms and passes him over.

  For a moment he hangs between us, a quizzical expression on his face like ‘Dude, what the hell’s going on here? You’re going to give me to him?’

  I reach out timidly with my hands. “Here, Andy-Andy.”

  Haley bursts out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “It’s just, get a baby near you and the bad boy routine drops real fast, doesn’t it?”

  I take ‘the package,’ placing him carefully belly-down on my lap as Haley demonstrated. He’s warmer than I expected, kind of soft and flabby. I pat him lightly at first.

  “Harder,” instructs Haley.

  This feels so fucking stupid, but I increase the pressure of the patting.

  “You got it,” says Haley, standing. “I’ll be back soon.”

  I hear the water running, the dishes shifting in and out in the sink as I continue to ‘pat’ Andy.

  I almost leap off the chair when he actually belches, but I guess that’s why they call it ‘burping.’ The little prick seems to find it amusing, giggling away in my lap. I can’t help but smile along, that cold, hard heart of mine maybe turning to marshmallow after all.

  “By the way, your mom’s hot,” I tell him, whispering, “real MILF material.”

  “MILF!” he squeaks.

  I watch as he grows heavy and limp in my lap, his eyelids slowly shuttering closed like he’s completely wasted, and god damn it, but it’s fucking adorable, this droopy little creature before me.

  Suddenly, he seems to jerk awake. “Cuddle,” he yawns, getting up on my lap and curling into a ball against my chest. I wrap my arms around him. “Is that what you want, little man?”

  His eyes close again, a thin smile left on his lips as he begins to snore.

  I dare not move, simply watching his tiny chest rise and fall, the way his tiny hand holds my arm for support.

  I don’t know how long it is before I notice Haley standing beside me, a dish towel thrown over her shoulder.

  “I’m impressed,” she says. “Normally it takes him a while to fall to sleep. I guess you’ve got the touch.”

  I keep watching him, spellbound. “I guess so.”

  Haley extends her hands out. “I’d take him, but my hands are all soapy. Can you take him upstairs and put him to bed?”

  “Sure,” I reply, keeping my voice low and level. “No big deal.”

  I stand carefully, cradling him in both arms. The smile is gone, his mouth open and features relaxed, deep in sleep.

  It’s funny how removed I am here from my regular world yet how at peace, how at home I feel. Maybe it’s all starting to get to me. They say the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and that meal was amazing, but I know it’s far more than that. I’m being seduced—by Haley, by her son, by a strange tugging inside me that’s got nothing to do with being stranded here.

  It’s slow progress making my way upstairs, but I get there eventually, taking my time placing Andy down in the center of the cot mattress and pulling the blanket up to his chest, his arms having splayed out either side of his body. I take one of his soft toys, a well-chewed elephant, and place it in his arms, his stubby fingers closing around it.

  I brush his cheek with the back of my hand, don’t know if I’ve felt anything so soft before. “Sweet dreams, little buddy.”

  I head downstairs on a high.

  You’re fucking losing it.

  Haley’s adding fresh wood to the fire, poking it into position,
her ass up and out.

  She stands up, brushing her hands together. “You did it.”

  I nod, oddly proud with myself. “I suppose I did. Nothing to it, really.”

  She stalks towards me, placing her hands on my chest. “I thought you said you weren’t any good with kids. You said you were, what was the word, ‘allergic’ to them?”

  “I say a lot of things, but Andy ain’t so bad.”

  “Is that so?”

  “He’s too small to be irritating yet, I suppose.”

  “How nice of you to say so,” she laughs sarcastically.

  “Give it time, though.”

  She prods me in the chest. “I’d say he’s growing on you.”

  I pull her closer, my hands snaking around to squeeze her ass. “The only thing growing right now is my cock.”

  Her hands slide down to my hips. “I must say, there is something very sexy about a man who knows how to put down a child.”

  I nuzzle into her hair, breathe in the soapy scent of her shampoo. “You’re particularly sexy yourself right now.”

  Our lips brush together.

  “So what are we going to do about it?” she purrs, the arousal heavy in her voice.

  The fire crackles behind us, the low lighting adding to the mood.

  I squeeze her ass harder. “Get naked.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  HALEY

  I press myself against him, the fire warming my back. I breathe him in deeply, my nose placed against his chest.

  When we kiss, it’s with a new tenderness, a softness that belies the hardness of his body.

  He watches me when I pull away, his eyes half-lidded before a grin spreads across his face.

  It’s so strange to think this is the man I loathed only days ago.

  He stops.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “You,” he says. “You’re just so god-damn beautiful. You’re beautiful and you don’t even know it.”

  We shed our clothes quickly, our breathing ragged, random articles of clothing strewn over the sofa and floor until we’re completely naked, standing before one another.

  He sheaths himself quickly, procuring a condom as if from thin air.

  I look down, mesmerized by how hard his cock is as it bobs between us, the low light highlighting its full length.

  He reaches forward, filling his hand with a breast, my nipple pressing into his palm.

  I reach out and wrap my fingers around the thick base of his shaft. I’m tentative at first, almost as if this is new, but I’m also eager, the anticipation hanging heavy, pulling at my core.

  Our mouths come together again hot and needy as Dane drops me to the floor, the sheepskin rug under my back warm from the fire crackling beside us.

  I break away panting enough to see how every rippling muscle on Dane’s body is now glowing, the hard lines of his abs, shoulders and arms cut out by the firelight, his tattoos wet. He is perfection.

  He looks down at me with glazed eyes filled with arousal, and it’s with this silent teasing my body begins to hum.

  He slips his hand between my legs, leaning forward to take my lower lip, tugging on it lightly with his teeth.

  I can’t help a small moan escape my lips. This is the same man who’s teaching me to stand up for myself, who’s putting my son to bed and making dinner. It’s almost too good to be true.

  Ah, but it is. It is true.

  Dane finds my wetness and applies more pressure, his cock tapping against the side of my leg. Fresh sensation fans out from my core.

  His lips shift to my neck. “Spread your legs,” he commands.

  I let them fall apart. He removes his hand, lowering himself to run the length of his cock up and down my slit, sawing there in my heat and wetness until I’m gasping for breath, my eyes closed and body thrumming with latent desire.

  No one has been able to get me this wet, this ready so fast, not even myself on the handful of occasions I’ve dared to.

  He continues to tease, kissing his way back across to my mouth, his tongue darting past my lips as he draws back until the very tip of his cock is poised against my opening.

  When he pushes in, I feel every inch of his member, the beautiful friction of it sending tendrils of pleasure looping up my spine.

  I suck in a breath and drag my fingers down his back, clawing at the muscle and sinew there as he bottoms out in the slick glove of my pussy.

  “Breathe,” he tells me, licking up the side of my neck, nibbling on my earlobe as he draws back.

  I pull in air, raspy, eyes closed, his cock running forward and my mouth so wide and open my jaw strains from the effort.

  The fire continues to crackle and pop, growing hotter and hotter with every moment that passes by.

  Dane strokes forward and back leisurely. This is slower, tender love-making at odds with the man above me. His actions belie his hard appearance.

  I let out more breath, feel him expand inside me, filling me completely.

  The pressure on my clit brings with it an aching, hollow burn that’s desperate to be quenched.

  I slide on the rug, using my ankles to push off his buttocks, needing more of him inside me, unable to ever get enough of him.

  “Jesus,” he groans, head resting against my shoulder. “You’re so tight.”

  I wish I could reply, but I’m too focused on my breathing and the dark light behind my eyes. My worries are gone here. They do not exist in this space of pleasure.

  He strokes into me harder, faster, cradling me in his strong arms. He pumps away in controlled, short thrusts, mixing them with longer, drawn-out strokes until I’m shaking beneath him, fluttering there hot and sweaty, my hips jerking and bucking for more.

  He thrusts in and out, grunting against me, and it’s so good, so, so good I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to reach these heights again.

  Every time he thrusts forward his cock hits the same spot, lifting me up onto a higher and higher plane of pleasure, the darkness turning into a shimmer, my eyes closing tighter and my core begging to be unwound and uncoiled.

  It’s a strange sensation. I feel so exposed, so naked, but I feel alive too, energized, all my troubles banished during this one, perfect moment.

  All that exists is us, together, in this place in time.

  Dane places a hand beside my head, lifting himself up. His chest comes free from my breasts, my nipples hard and strained. He stares right down into my eyes, the fire flickering inside them, a heated tempest burning me up from the inside out.

  We’re both breathing hard, rough as he continues to slide in and out, sluicing through my wetness faster and faster, drawing us both to release.

  His eyes don’t break from my own as the pressure builds, the friction and the heightened sensation I’ve come to know.

  It rises sharply, my hands slapping down onto the ground for support. I think I’m going to suffocate, or hyperventilate, I’m not sure, but consciousness is definitely drifting away as the fall becomes too great.

  “Oh, oh,” I pant, crying out. “I’m… I’m coming.”

  He grunts, eyes snapping tightly shut as he thrusts as deep and long as he can, the pressure on my clit too much to take.

  I let it all out, groaning loudly with completion, my legs convulsing against his sides as everything slips away. He pumps forward against my rump and finds his own release, quietly cursing against my ear, shuddering and jerking against me.

  I float, drifting in a star-filled sky, the fire nowhere to be seen in this place—one filled with nothing but joy and exultation, the very deepest pleasure imaginable.

  My senses are drawn inwards again as I continue to rail through my orgasm, squeezing and milking him from the inside, taking everything he has.

  And just when I think I’m done, that I couldn’t possibly come any more, it continues—endless and infinite.

  My head falls back against the rug, my mouth ringed wide and dry, his length continuing to pulse inside me.


  A soft kiss follows as he draws from my body.

  He lies beside me staring at the ceiling, his chiseled chest lifting and falling. “You’re incredible,” he pants.

  I throw a leg over him and draw in to his side, letting my fingertips tap against his chest. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

  I’m blissfully sensitive. Even my skin seems lit.

  Dane turns his head to me, eyes drunk. “You’ve got to get out of this town, Haley.”

  Now it’s my turn to stare at the ceiling. “You haven’t seen the best of Merit; only the worst.”

  “I’ve seen it before, trust me.”

  “And how’s that?” I sound oddly defensive.

  “I told you. I grew up in a town just like it, where everyone thought they knew one another, where any little mistake would follow you your entire life.”

  I face him again, no longer feeling exposed lying naked here beside him. “I know what you’re saying, but there’s more to this town than gossip.”

  “Is there?” he laughs. “Gossip’s the fuel a town like this runs on. I mean, what mistake did you make to put everyone here on your case so much?”

  I swallow hard, staring back at the ceiling.

  “It’s got to do with Andy, right?” Dane continues.

  “My son wasn’t a mistake.”

  Dane pushes up onto an elbow, looking down at me. “I know. That’s not what I meant, but you can tell me, whatever it is. I won’t judge.”

  Should I? Should I open myself up to him?

  I’d be exposing myself in a far different way, making myself completely vulnerable.

  I want to, but I’m cautious. Plus, there’s an odd sense of déjà vu I can’t seem to shake.

  Still, I draw in a breath and tell him. I tell him everything. “I was popular at school,” I start, “as weird as that seems now.”

  “What?” laughs Dane. “You dated the quarterback?”

  “I did, actually. Go, Raiders,” I state, no enthusiasm in it.

  Now I have his attention. “You’re serious?”

  “I am. He was the town golden child, the one who was going places, who would put Merit on the map. Everyone knew he was going to be in the NFL.”

  “How long did you date him for?”

  “Two years before he went to college. We started a long-distance relationship. We did everything right. We told each other we’d wait… Well, wait for marriage. It wasn’t easy, though. When he came back for the holidays he wanted to have sex, begged me for it, telling me how all the girls at college were putting out. I listened, we did it, and the next thing I knew I was pregnant.