Happily Ever After: A Day in the Life of the HEA (Rook and Ronin #3.5) (3 page)

“Yes,” she whispers.

“You want tender?”

“Yes,” she giggles. “I want slow and tender.” Her hand slips down my shoulder, dipping and rising along the curve of my biceps. Her nails dig into my skin and I grow harder just at the thought of making her feel loved.

“Should we go on a date today?” I ask, sliding the other bra strap down so her full breasts begin to spill out of the cups. I squeeze them gently and kiss her mouth. “Should we take a ride on the gondola for old times’ sake? Or get a room at the Travel Saver Motel and fuck like teenagers?”

She nips my lip as I talk and then her tongue slides in. “Maybe.”

“Should we go eat at the diner and risk bumping into people who will tell you about my atrocious childhood?”

“That’s an idea.”

“Should we say fuck everyone and get on the road and drive to Vegas so we can hold hands in the aquarium?”

“That was the best week of my life,” she sighs, pulling back a little.

“Me too. I mean, we’ve had a lot of great weeks, but that week was so special.”

“Sometimes I wish we could go back, you know? Back to the beginning and redo all those things that brought us together.”

“I don’t need to go back to feel that way, Ashleigh. I like our present. I like you, and the kids, and the house, and the jobs, and everything. It’s all perfect. Why go back and start again?”

“I don’t know,” she says. But she’s sad for some reason, I can tell.

“What’s on your mind?”

She pauses, looking me in the eyes. Her mouth opens like she has something to say, but whatever it was that was going to come out stays put. Something else comes out. “I’m not sure.”

It’s a lie. I can see right through her like she’s glass. But I’m not pushy and Ashleigh knows how to talk about things. She’s a psychologist. She knows what she wants to say, she’s just not sure how to say it yet. So I just give her time. This is how we do things. We give each other time to think before we talk. There are no fights in our house. There’s no drama, or yelling, or name calling. We are very careful with each other.

So I let it go until she’s ready and pull her bra down to release her breasts. I squeeze them a little harder and she sucks in a breath of air. But at the same time, her hand reaches down and she wraps her fingers around the bulge in my pants.

It’s my turn to suck in a breath. Even after all these years one touch is all it takes. I stand up, holding her to my chest as she wraps her legs around me. I place her on the bed and crawl up next to her body, stopping when my knees are on either side of her hips.

“Do I bore you?” I tease.

“Never,” she says through her smile. “You are the farthest thing from boring, Mr. Aston.”

“Mmmm,” I growl as I unhook the front-closing clasp on her bra and slide it down her arms. Her breasts are still perfect. I lean down and bring one nipple to my mouth, sucking on it and kneading it at the same time. Her head tilts back and her hands clasp around my neck, her fingertips threading their way up into my hair.

I place my body over hers, rubbing my dick against her belly, and then reach down and slide her panties aside so I can slip a finger into a pool of wetness. Fuck. She turns me on. I ease back and hook my thumbs underneath the elastic, and then move off her legs so she can lift her knees and slip them down her legs. She bunches them up in her little fist and throws them across the room.

“Now you,” she says, giving me a little wink.

I chuckle as I get off the bed and stand, then let my pants drop to the floor. Her eyes never leave my cock and that shit turns me on so bad. I wrap my hand around my shaft and pump myself a few times, eager to be inside her.

“Slow and tender?” I ask.

She nods. “Yes. I want it like that right now. I just need the love.”

Why? I wonder if I’ve been missing some signals lately and that’s why she feels needy. I hate the very idea. But she doesn’t want to talk right now, I can tell. So instead of asking her, I kneel back down on the bed and place my body over hers. My arms are on either side of her head and I slip my fingers into her hair as I kiss her mouth. She responds by dragging her fingernails down my back in a way that makes every touch receptor fire in my skin.

I close my eyes, that’s how much I like slow and tender Ashleigh this morning.

I lift my hips as she opens her legs, letting my cock find the pool of wetness. And then I ease inside her and she lifts her knees up, allowing me to push deeper.

“God, I love how you feel,” I say.

“I love how you make me feel,” she says back.

We get our rhythm going. And it’s slow, just like she wanted it. It’s better than having her on her knees looking up at me from the floor, that’s for sure. It’s so much better than giving her spankings or binding her wrists.

I like all that. And even though it’s fun and sexy, this is so much more.

This is love.

I open my eyes and kiss her as we move, her lips fitting perfectly against mine. I hike one of her legs up towards her shoulder and turn her on her side a little, letting me hit that spot that makes her come as I rock against her. One of her hands squeezes a breast while the other slides down her belly and begins to rub her clit in small circles.

She drives me crazy when she does that. She knows she drives me crazy. Especially when her eyes are open when I fuck her.

“Ashleigh,” I moan, pumping her harder because I want to come and then flip her over and do it again from behind.

“Ford,” she says, arching her back, on the verge of release. “Ford,” she says again.

Just the sound of my name coming out of her mouth is enough to push me over the edge.

I come inside her, squeezing her calf as I hold her leg up.

She moans out that seductive moan that has been driving me crazy for years and lets go at the same time.

I release her leg and lie down next to her, pulling her up to my chest, gently kissing her shoulder. “I will never get tired of this. Ever. Each year it gets better and better, Ashleigh. Each year I love you more and more.”

“We’ve built a great life, Ford. I’m so happy I met you out on that freeway fifteen years ago. And I’d love to go to the diner today. And take a ride on the gondola. I’d love to relive it all again. Go back to the beginning and remember.”

“And give up the mansion for the Travel Saver too?” I ask, smiling as I kiss her shoulder again.

“I liked back then when the kids were small and things were new. I liked it. So I’d love to relive that time in our lives, but I told Veronica I’d help her with dinner and baking.”

I am just about to close my eyes and take a post-sex nap when she says this. I hear all her words, but the only ones that matter are
new again
. We’ve had this conversation before. A few times at least over the years. And it only ever went one place. Children.

She wants another baby.

Chapter Four

“Hey, Ronnie?” I ask, little Cindy fussing in my arms. “Rons? I think she needs some more medicine for her teeth. Should we give her more medicine? It’s been like eight hours.”

“I just gave her some three hours ago, Spencer. You’ll have to—” She sighs, then drags herself into a sitting position in bed. “Never mind, I’ll do it.”

“No,” I say, stepping back as she reaches for Cindy. “I got it. I’m not new at this, I just needed to ask so I didn’t give her too much.” Cindy wriggles in my arms. She’s been the crankiest of all the kids, and it figures, right? The early ones were easy. Ronnie had all kinds of energy with Rory and Belle. Jasmine and Ariel were a little tougher because when you’ve got a few kids it’s hard to keep up. And when you have six, well, yeah, that shit gets downright challenging.

“Maybe…” Ronnie rubs her temples and closes her eyes. She’s so damn tired. “Maybe go get that frozen teething ring from the freezer downstairs.” She opens her eyes again and looks up at me. “I can get it.”

“I got this, Veronica. Just go to sleep. You were up half the night. Cindy and I can kick it today. Ford’s gonna take all the kids skiing, so you don’t have to do anything but rest.”

“I have to get dinner started.”

“Stop,” I say. “It’s seven in the morning. Whatever you’re cooking doesn’t take ten hours.”

“I wanted to make cookies…” She looks down as she places a hand over her stomach and then scowls. “But the last thing I need is cookies, so maybe it’s better if I just skip it this year?”

“What?” Did she just body-shame herself? “You really need some sleep, Bombshell. Pronto. Go back to bed and I’ll take care of things.”

She doesn’t even fight me, just drops her head back to the pillow and lets out a long sigh.

I ease out of the room quietly and take the baby downstairs. The house is big and the kitchen is far, but I can hear the bustle of kids and dogs before I even make it downstairs. When I walk in, it’s a madhouse.

I love this fucking madhouse. My girls are all laughing and talking a mile a minute. Belle is stuffing her face with pancakes, Jasmine and Ariel are clinking their OJ glasses together like they are having a secret toast, and Rory is…

I squint my eyes at Rory. She’s talking to Five, but that’s not what makes me squint my eyes. She’s wearing a Shrike Trikes t-shirt and sweat pants, but it’s the way… it’s the shape of her…

“Daddy,” Rory squeals, getting up from her stool at the breakfast bar and coming towards me. “Five wants to know—”

“Absolutely not.”

She stops short. “What?” Her smile falters.

Cindy smacks her little fist into my eyeball, and I have to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, what were you going to ask?” I eye Five suspiciously. I know he’s always liked her, but he’s so weird. Like Ford, just weird. Always wearing those suits. Always on that computer. And he’s been in and out of different college programs since he was ten or eleven. He’s gone a lot and that’s the way I like it.

But today he looks… different. Different in the same way that Rory looks different in her innocent nightclothes. He almost looks normal in his flannel pajama pants and Shrike t-shirt. Add in the fact that his normally perfectly coiffed hair is messed up a little like he just rolled out of bed, and I get flushed with anger.

In fact, Rory’s long blonde hair is all messed up too. Flowing over her shoulders like an unruly waterfall. And Five is looking at her the way I look at the Bomb.

“But Daddy,” Rory pleads. “I need to go shopping.”

“Shopping?” I ask, ratcheting down my suspicions and getting a hold of my paranoia as the seconds tick off.

“Yeah, we don’t want to ski today. We want to go shopping in the Village.”

Shopping. I mull it over in my head. Lots of people there. Crowds of people, actually. Not private, in other words. “Maybe,” I say. “But I’m pretty sure Ford is counting on you to help him, Five.”

“Mr. Shrike,” Five starts. “I’ve already cleared it with my father. Kate’s helping him today. Right, Kate?” He looks over at his sister and there’s… there’s some kind of secret look going on between the two of them.

“Yup,” Kate says. She is as normal as Five is strange. And she’s been Ford’s little sidekick since day one. But she’s smarter than people give her credit for. I think she secretly likes it that way. Like being underestimated is the best gift she ever got out of being Ford’s adopted daughter. “Ford and I are skiing a double black once the kids are finished.”

“Well,” I say, eyeing my brood. Rory needs a chaperone. Belle, Jas and Ariel won’t go shopping. They love Ford too much to skip out on a whole day with him on the slopes. And there’s no chance in hell that Rook and Ronin will have time to shop today. Sparrow has ballet rehearsal before
The Nutcracker
tonight. “Oliver,” I say, smiling. “Ollie, my boy. You don’t want to ski today, do you? You hate skiing.” He does too, he can’t ski worth a shit. “Will you go with Rory and finds something extra-special pretty for Mommy today? She’s tired and needs a pick-me-up present before Santa comes.”

“Yay!” Oliver says. “Yes, yes, yes! I want to go shopping with Five. He’s the best, Daddy.”

I roll my eyes. “OK, good. You can go, Princess, but…” I look at Five. “But…”

“But what, Daddy?” Rory asks.