Christmas With The Houstons (Acceptance #4) (8 page)

Even if the thought did fleetingly cross my mind, I’m mostly worried about him leaving me.

“Eat, babe, we’ll talk later.”

He’s still choked up and I’m not even sure what to say, so I do as he asks and eat.
It’s delicious.
When we’re finished, there’s no way I can eat another bite, but I know I’ll be hungry in a few hours for cake.

Jake walks around the table and takes me by the hand, leading me to the couch. After I sit down, he drops to his knees between my legs and lays his head on my belly as his hands caress it in a circle.

“I’m sorry, Jaxson. Daddy was an asshole. Don’t ever treat your wife the way I treated your mom yesterday. It isn’t cool.”

I’m not happy in the slightest that Jake is so miserable, but I’m glad he realizes he was in the wrong. Perhaps we both were.

Instinctively, my fingers go straight to his hair while he lies against my belly. As he releases a sigh, I relax. Things might not be perfect but we’re going to be okay. When he rises, he leans across me and brings his lips to mine.

Those lips.

They were made for me.

His kiss is firm, commanding, and yet soft and non-intrusive. It’s also entirely too short.

“We have a lot to discuss,” he says as he laces his fingers through mine.

“We do.”

“April, we’ve been together a long time. I’m trying to figure out how to say some of the things I need to say without making things worse. I’m also
really
trying to keep in mind your pregnancy hormones make you a little more sensitive to things.”

“Thank you,” I answer softly.

“Yesterday, I said some ridiculously mean things and I was wrong in saying them. I’m not sure if you’ll understand this but I’m going to try and explain the best way I can. This might be a man thing, or maybe it’s just a
me
thing, but all I’ve ever wanted is to give you the world. I never want
you
to
want
for
anything
.”

“Jake, I don’t,” I say, trying to interrupt him, but he’s not having it.

“Maybe not now, but I don’t want you to
ever
want for anything. There are times when I’m overprotective and assertive but it’s because you’re perfect, April.”

“Ha! I’m hardly perfect.”

His hand cups my chin and he turns my face to his. “You are. You’re perfect to me. Maybe you’ve never felt the need to give someone the world, and perhaps that will change once you give birth.”

Mia. I want to give the world to Mia.

And suddenly, I understand what he’s saying and why he does some of the things he does.

“When you adamantly refused to quit your job, I was pissed and I said hurtful things I didn’t mean. You are a beautiful, extraordinarily sexy, voluptuous woman with a heart of gold.  The stroller patrol girls are pretty but they don’t compare to you. Not only are they not my type, they
aren’t
my wife. The vows I made to you were for life, April, and no one is worth breaking my vows to you.”

“Okay.”

“No, not okay, April. You are my wife.
Mine.
I understand you don’t want Derek just like you have to understand I don’t want Trina. We’ve
never
let anyone get between us before and we
are not
going to start now.”

“These lips,” he says, tracing them with his finger, “are meant for only me.”

“These beautiful breasts,” he whispers huskily as he cups them in his hands, “are here for
our
pleasure and for nourishing
our
children.”

“This belly,” he says reverently, caressing it with his hands, “was meant to be the place where
our
love grows into a miracle.”

His hand slides down until he’s cupping me in my most intimate place. “And this pussy… Oh, baby, this pussy is
mine.
It gives
my
cock a home where he’s welcomed in a tight hug whenever he needs one. The only visitors allowed in my home are ones I use to give you pleasure.
My pussy, April.”

“Yours, Jake,” I agree breathlessly.

He takes my hand and leads it to his cock. “Your cock, April. This is a ‘no stroller zone.’ This cock only comes for you, or while thinking of you. It doesn’t rise for anyone else, it doesn’t try and find a home anywhere else, and it sure the
fuck
doesn’t get a hug from anyone else. The only housewife
anywhere
who gets to experience
my
majestic fucking cock is
you
.”

Fuck him for making me horny when we have so much to discuss.

“Daniel seemed to be under the impression you thought I didn’t want you anymore, that I’m not attracted to you anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth. If I had one wish, it would be for you to never doubt your attractiveness to me, not
ever
again.”

I’m speechless. Seriously, I don’t have any idea what to say to him. Jake has never shied away from letting me know how he feels, good
or
bad. Fortunately for me, I don’t have to say anything… yet.

“I fucking love you, April.
All
of you. Your ass, your hips, your personality, your smile, the way you make love to me… the way you
fuck
me,” he growls with a wicked gleam in his eye. “I love every single part of you, but mostly I love your heart. The depth of your love is astounding. I chose you to be my forever. Let me be that, April, but you have to choose me, too.”

“Oh, Jake, my heart chose you thirteen years ago, and I
do
choose you, every single day.”

His answering kiss is everything I need to know we’re going to be okay. This was just a bad fight, one of our worst, but that’s all it was. We’ll get through this; we can get through anything. After he pulls away, I lay my head against his chest and listen to his heart beating steadily. I’m so sleepy all of a sudden and my yawning clues him into that.

“Come on, let me put you to bed,” he says, pulling me up off the couch. My eyes flicker over to the kitchen and everything that still needs to be cleaned up.

“But there’s still…”

“I’ll come back and do it, but you need to sleep.”

When we enter the bedroom, Jake immediately begins removing my clothes,
all
of my clothes. He then walks over and turns down the bed for me and pats his hand against it, motioning for me to lie down.

I’m tired, but I’m also horny and when I move to take off his shirt, he backs up.

What the hell?

“Don’t pout. You need to rest and I need to go clean up the kitchen. If I let you take my shirt off, it won’t get done and I’m not leaving the mess for you to clean up. I’ll make it quick, I promise.”

With a soft kiss against my lips, he leaves me in bed, naked and alone. The sounds of dishes being arranged lulls me to sleep.

The sound of Jake getting ready for bed wakes me up. The bedside clock tells me it’s only been an hour since he left. When I feel him slide up against my backside, I sigh in contentment. This is the best feeling ever.

“Are you awake?” he whispers softly.

“Mmhmm,” I murmur as he traces my neck with his tongue. His hand trails gently down my arm, across my hip, and onto my thigh. He pulls my leg back over his and slides his finger inside of me.

“You’re so fucking wet,” he groans.

“Only for you,” I reply as a second finger circles my clit.

“Always for you, Jake,” I whimper breathlessly as he removes his finger and slides inside me. The feeling of him inside of me—moving in and out so smoothly, so lovingly, so
erotically
—has me calling out in pleasure with my orgasm just a few short minutes later.

“Fuck, April, so fucking good.
God, I love you
.” His words are drawn out as he continues making love to me. That amazing tongue of his trails across my shoulder, his teeth bite my neck gently, his lips kiss every inch he can reach, and I build up again.

“Come with me this time, Jake… please… come with me now.” And as I cry out again with my release, so does he. This is my favorite part of sex with Jake—the two of us climaxing together, so absolutely in sync with each other, where only he and I exist as one.

When he pulls out of me, he turns me toward him, capturing my lips with his. His tongue meets mine—softly, sweetly, in the most graceful of dances—and I’m lost. Jakes kisses spin my world on its axis and when he finally pulls away, we both quietly try to catch our breath.

How could I ever doubt his love for me?

As he pulls me into his embrace, I feel his heart racing against my skin. His fingers weave though my hair which relaxes me even further. He’s not relaxed, though. He’s worried about something; I can tell from the way his heart is still racing.

It doesn’t take too long before I know what’s bothering him.

“I’m going to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me. No spinning the negative into something positive. Just be straight with me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Daniel said you hate our home. Do you?”

With a sigh, I try to pause so I can figure out how to say this without hurting him.

“Don’t think about it, April, just answer the question.”

“I don’t hate our house… I hate where it is.”

“I’m not sure I understand. We searched forever for a great house in a great neighborhood. What’s changed?”

Everything.

“Well, there are a few things. I’m not a fan of our neighbors, and not just because of the stroller patrol. They’re all very self-centered people. It’s like we live on a cul-de-sac of Stepford families.”

At least that gets a chuckle from him.

“All the wives stay at home. They all have blonde hair, perfect manicures, two point five children, two pets, and housekeepers. They’re perfectly content to stalk my husband while they ignore theirs. It pisses me off, Jake… to no end.”

“So you want to move because our neighbors find me sexy? Babe, that’s going to happen wherever we go. I can’t help that I’m hot and they all want me,” he replies with a sexy smirk.

“Shut up, big head, that’s not the only reason. I love this house but when we bought it, I thought kids were a lot further off in our future. And while it’s the perfect house to raise a family, it’s missing something very important.”

“What could it possibly be missing?” He’s genuinely confused and I completely understand since I’ve always been happy to be far away from our family.

“Family, Jake, we’re missing family.”

“I’m so lost.” And his tone definitely confirms it.

“I know, babe. The further I get into this pregnancy, the more I realize I wish I’d had a better relationship with my siblings growing up. Haven, Zayden, Hope, Lucas, Grant, and Hailey will all have that. They live within a couple of blocks of each other. There will be bike rides, and sleepovers, and all sorts of fun stuff Jaxson will miss out on.”

“So you want to move there? It’s so far… and it was so hard for Daniel and Kate to get their house. We’d have to get really lucky to find anything in that neighborhood.
And
it’s out of our budget, remember?”

I’m going to have to swallow my pride big time on this but hopefully, it will be worth it.

“I know,” my words come out really soft, “but it’s not out of
your
budget, Jake, and I really want this.”

The way he bolts up in bed, you’d think I’d gone into labor, and when he hops out and pulls me with him—both of us completely naked—you’d think he was delirious.

Deliriously happy.

How in the world he manages to pick me up and spin me around, belly be damned, I’ll never know. But when he sets me back down gently on the bed and places a long, lingering kiss on my lips, his excitement bursts through.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment!” he exclaims happily as he climbs back into bed with me.

“So that’s a yes?”

“No, babe, that’s a hell fucking yes!” His enthusiasm is contagious and I can’t stop myself from laughing.

“What in the world could have possibly changed your mind? Aside from location? You’ve never willingly wanted to take anything from me even though everything I have and everything I am is yours and always has been.”

All I’ve ever wanted is to give you the world.

“Promise you won’t think I’m crazy?”

“Never,” he answers, pulling my hand to his mouth and kissing it.

“I’ve never really understood why you’d want to give me the world, until now.”

He nods in understanding. “Because of Jaxson.”

“No, well… yes, but no. You and I will be great parents. I’ve never doubted that, and I know Jaxson will have everything he could possibly want or need.”

“Then what is it, April? What has you suddenly changing your stubborn-ass mind after all this time?”

“Mia, Jake. It’s Mia.”

“The little girl from the mall?” he asks, perplexed.

“Yes. I want to adopt her, Jake. I want to give her the world, but even more than that, I want to give her a home.
Our home
.”