Two weeks into their role as new parents, Dalton realized they were getting a new routine. They'd both been peed on, spit up on, cried at, and they'd had lots of sleepless nights. For a while, he was almost sure Walker hated both of them. But tonight, he seemed pretty happy."You think he's getting used to us?" Mandy asked as she had a seat on the couch next to Dalton.Walker lay in his car seat—where he seemed to be the most content—on the coffee table. They were looking at the creation they'd made together, both amazed they'd managed to make it two weeks."I hope so." Dalton yawned, scratching his beard growth. Shaving was one thing gone by the wayside as they figured out their new parent routine. "I'd love to get some sleep." He put an arm around her shoulders.A knock at the door interrupted them. She got up and went to open it, exclaiming with excitement when she saw her mom and dad. "What are you two doing here?" she asked, escorting them in."We came bearing food." Her
VOLUME TEN: A HEAVEN HILL CHRISTMASAuthor's Note: These Christmas Novella's are in no particular order – they aren't even in chronological order of the series. It's just one Christmas I picked out of every couple's lives and wrote about it.JESSICA & LAYNELayne O'Connor parked his bike in the back of his wife's downtown office. It was dark, but the snow falling against the brick building and the accumulation that had already gathered on the pavement, lightened up the night considerably. Wanting to make sure he wasn't too far off-base on what he was about to accuse her of, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Twenty-two hundred hours. This was getting fucking ridiculous – especially since it was the fifth night this week. Using the keypad lock Travis had installed, he entered his code and waited for the dead-bolt to disengage. He ducked inside, out of the cold, and gave himself a moment to acclimate to the dim light of the stairwell. The soft glow was still brighter than t
"This is really good," Jessica moaned as she tore into the second half of her sandwich. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but forgetting to eat wasn't unusual when she got deep into the flow of her story and hated to let it go. Seeing and hearing her characters wasn't always the easiest part for her – she was more of a storyteller – so, when the characters spoke to her, she had to run with it as long as she could."I'm glad to see you actually eating something."Layne's condescending tone caused her to stop chewing and lift her eyes to his. They were shadowed in the muted light of the studio, and she didn't necessarily like what she saw there. Where she normally saw love and understanding, tonight there was barely leashed anger and possibly a little fear and frustration."I eat," she defended herself."Not when you're holed up in here for days at a time," he raised an eyebrow, daring her to argue with his words.Confronted with a truth she didn't really want to face, sh
Jess cocked her head to the side as she listened to Layne talk on his cell."Well, just call us and let us know when it's safe out there, or when they've reopened. We should do all right here," he glanced at Jess, giving her a wink.Her cheeks heated at the wink. The heat went straight down her body to the tips of her toes. He'd gotten more handsome over the years as he'd gotten more comfortable in his skin. It'd taken them a long time to get here, where he was relaxed enough with her for the little touches and gestures. They still weren't where he was completely uninhibited with her, but a Layne that wasn't selfish with his affection was a sight to behold."We'll sit tight here, Jess usually keeps it pretty well-stocked, and in case you haven't forgotten, I'm ex-Army. I think we got this," Layne rubbed his hand over his head, seeming to forget for a moment he had hair, when he dug his fingers into the strands.His hair had grown out a bit over the past few months. Instead of k
Layne pushed Jessica's head forward, letting it hang from her shoulders as he again grasped her by the hips, and pulled her back towards him. This time it was with enough force to make her stumble against him and instead of stopping her, he pulled them further into the middle of the room until the back of his knees hit the bed.Using the tips of his fingers, he ran his hands underneath her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. Before she could say anything to him, he'd done the same with the sweatpants she wore, leaving her in nothing but her bra and panties.Letting his eyes run over her back, he felt a surge of adrenaline as he realized she had on a matching set. The matching set meant she was horny and Lord above, so was he. Stress affected her in different ways, and this was one of the more enjoyable ones he'd discovered."Matching set huh?" he questioned in her ear as his hands cupped her tits, the pads of this thumbs strumming her already hard nipples. "Were you hoping to
When Layne woke up the next morning, Jess wasn't in bed; she was sitting perched at her desk, fingers flying over the keyboard of her laptop. He wondered how long she'd stayed in bed with him last night. But for the life of him he couldn't remember when he'd gone to sleep, he only knew that in the end she'd worn his ass out instead of the other way around.He lay back against the sheets for a few minutes, wondering if he should interrupt her. It was then he noticed she wore earbuds, so he decided against it. With the rapid pace her fingers were keeping on the computer, he knew she was deeply into a scene and if he ruined it now by interrupting, he'd feel bad. Especially since he'd kind of thrown her off her game when he'd come to chew her out for getting stuck in a snowstorm.Fifteen minutes later he'd done his morning business, taken a quick shower, and put on into some pajama bottoms and a t-shirt he kept there for times just like this. Jess still hadn't noticed he was awake, so
STEELE & CHRISTINETravis Steele, resident tech geek of the Heaven Hill MC rolled his head on his shoulders, hoping to loosen the tension he felt in his neck. People were driving him insane. Two days before Christmas and all of the guys were trying to surprise their wives, which meant he was keeping tabs on people more than usual. When really the only person he wanted to be keeping tabs on was his own wife. He looked down at his cell phone, sitting beside his mouse and saw he had a message from her.Client is taking longer than I thought. I probably won't be getting out of here until almost eight. Should I go to the house or meet you at the clubhouse?He wanted to tell her to head to the house they'd bought in the past year, but he still had some things he had to do for the club. He sighed, running his hand over his chin, sucking harder than he needed to on the sucker in his mouth.C'mon here. I still have some things I have to take care of. Let me know when you're leaving so I
Steele glanced at the outside camera. He knew Christine should be getting there soon, and breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her get out of her car and make her way to the front door of the clubhouse. He finally felt like he could breathe again. She was in the same building with him and he didn't have to worry about her being on the road or downtown by herself. Clicking on the other cameras he made sure everyone was in for the night, ready to spend a few hours with his lady.As he was about to shut the computer down, he heard a small knock on the door. He left it half ajar most days because he didn't want to be disturbed, but wanted people to feel like they could come in if they needed to. He'd know that knock anywhere though."C'mon in, babe. I'm just shutting everything down in here."She was quiet as she came through the doorway and he wondered if she'd had a bad day. Normally she was bursting with stories to tell, ready to clue him in on the hair she'd done, and the goss