Christmas With Nathan (7 page)

Letting out a groan, Nathan’s hips began to tremble slightly, his rhythm faltering as his climax neared, but instead of pounding out his finish, he collapsed forward onto me. ‘Together, Stella, I want us to come together,’ he murmured, his lips going to my neck for a heated kiss as he continued to build my release with smaller, more direct thrusts.

Grinding his hips against my clit in a series of circles, I gasped for air, tugging at the hair on his nape to pull his head up. ‘I’m close, Nathan.’

Looking deep into my eyes, Nathan nodded his agreement, his hands finding my hips again and pinning me down as he began to use longer, firmer, deeper thrusts. It took just four to send me cascading over the edge and into an orgasm so powerful that my legs looped around his hips, my hands dug into the skin of his shoulders, and I clamped down upon his shaft so fiercely that he yelled out a harsh curse as he came inside me before collapsing onto me, breathing raggedly.

Wow-oh-wow. That really had been a good Christmas present. A bloody
great
Christmas present. In fact, we’d both yelled so loudly that the neighbours had probably heard just how much a good Christmas Day we were having too, I thought with a smug, gratified grin.

EIGHT

NATHAN

I’d deliberately picked Stow-on-the-Wold for our long weekend away because as well as being conveniently close to London, I happened to know that it was one of Stella’s favourite places in England since she had frequently holidayed here as a child. I didn’t really care where we went as long as Will and Stella were with me, but if it made it special for Stella then I was happy to oblige.

The roads were exceptionally clear today and our journey took just under two hours before I was pulling into the driveway of the farm we would be staying in. It seemed that Nicholas and Rebecca had only just arrived from the Lake District too, as their car was already parked but they were only just climbing out. Perfect timing.

For once, the photographs on the website
had
done the destination justice, and as I looked around the small cluster of stone cottages just the other side of the wall, I nodded my head in contentment. I’d done well picking this place; it looked amazing. Three stone buildings sat around a central courtyard that contained a seating area and wishing well (it was sealed to avoid anyone accidentally falling down it – in a state of new-parent phobia I’d checked before booking), and I knew from the website that two were cottages and the third contained a small indoor swimming pool and gym. The outdoor facilities were just as impressive, but given that it was the middle of winter I highly doubted we’d be making much use of them.

Climbing from the car, we all shared pleased, excited glances and greetings before I slammed my door and stopped Stella from pulling William from his car seat. ‘You go inside with Rebecca and Nicholas and get our key, I’ll bring Will.’ I couldn’t help but smile at the excited glimmer in her eyes as she readily accepted my offer, and then leaned up to place a quick kiss on my cheek.

My cheek? What was I, her grandmother? One of my eyebrows quirked at Stella’s chaste move and I instinctively slid a hand into her hair and caught her before she could move away. Her eyes widened in surprise at my speedy manoeuvre before I crashed my lips onto hers in a brief, but passionate example of how I expected her to kiss me. ‘Kisses on the cheek are for grandmothers and aunts,’ I murmured. ‘I am certainly neither of those.’ Then, flashing her a wink I stepped back in time to see the amused expression on my brother’s face and the flush of embarrassment growing on Rebecca’s.

The three of them set off through the gate towards the houses while I dipped into the car to get Will. Unclipping his seat beat, I paused and pulled his woollen hat down lower. I didn’t want his little ears getting cold – they were tiny, and it was bitterly cold out today. Could babies get frostbite in the UK? I suppose they could if it was cold enough. Frowning at the idea – one of many farfetched panics I’d had since Will had been born – I gently tipped him forward and pulled up the fleecy hood on his tiny jacket. Zipping him in, I nodded my satisfaction. Two layers of ear protection, much better.

Cradling him in the crook of my left arm I closed the car door, locked it, and set off toward the gate. It looked like Nicholas and Rebecca were in the cottage to the right, because I saw them going inside as a young man in a red jacket began to walk with Stella toward the other house. Pausing as I lifted the gate latch, I narrowed my eyes as I watched them. He was smiling broadly, his arms moving in an animated fashion as he chatted away with Stella in a way that looked decidedly flirtatious. Just as I wondered if I was being paranoid, I watched his eyes dart to her left hand in the briefest of moves, one so quick that Stella probably hadn’t even noticed, but it was enough to send a scowl to my brow and hasten my legs through the gate. Jesus, we’d only been here less than two minutes and the cheeky fucker was checking for a wedding ring and outright coming on to my woman.

I didn’t want to accidentally squash William because I was having a minor meltdown, so as I strode in their direction I did a quick countdown from five to zero to ease the tension in my muscles. A brief check showed my son still fast asleep in my arms, blissfully unaware of the fuckwad that was currently flirting with his mother.

They paused by the front door, the man holding the key out to Stella and somehow managing to slide his hand across hers as she took it from him. I saw her tense briefly before taking a small step back and continuing to talk to him. My woman was too bloody polite for her own flipping good.

Luckily, the same couldn’t be said for me and as I reached her side I immediately slid my free arm around her waist, pulled her closer to me, and bent my head to land a sizzling kiss on her mouth. It was practically X-rated, and certainly not fit for public observation, but Stella seemed almost helpless to resist and as I pressed my tongue against her lips she willingly parted them for me, allowing our tongues to briefly duel.

Pulling back a centimetre or so, I kept my entire attention on Stella as I took in her dilated pupils and flushed cheeks. I’d place money on the fact that the blush on her face had absolutely nothing to do with the cold weather and everything to do with the fire I had just lit in her knickers. God, I was good.

Glancing – or perhaps I should say glaring – back at the man, I found him shifting awkwardly on his feet, his cheeks almost as red as Stella’s. Now I was up close I saw that he was far younger than I’d thought, barely out of fucking puberty if the stupid goatee beard and pimples were anything to go by, which just added to my annoyance. Stupid young buck thought he could charm my woman, did he? A dismissive grunt left my lips as I continued to stare him down while holding my family tightly against me.

‘I … uh … well, I’ll be off. Call the number by the phone if you need anything, it’s my mum’s. She usually deals with the cottages but she was out this morning …’ His words faded off when he saw that I clearly didn’t give a fuck what he was saying, and with one more quick, embarrassed glance at Stella, he scurried off.

Letting out a long, calming breath, I licked my lips and nodded to myself. That was probably the most blatant claim over Stella I had ever made, but it had certainly done the trick. The kid’s legs could barely carry him away quick enough, and I couldn’t help but smirk as I watched his hasty retreat.

‘That was mean, Nathan,’ Stella chastised, but when I looked down I saw shared amusement in her twinkling eyes. I think she actually rather liked it when I got a bit possessive. Which was just as well, really, because it happened quite frequently.

‘It was no more than he deserved. He was actually checking for a wedding ring, did you notice?’ I asked, seeing the surprise on her face. How she could be so intelligent and yet so oblivious about her appeal to the opposite sex still completely stumped me, but I decided to let the subject drop for now. ‘Come one, let’s get you both inside. It’s freezing out here.’

As we entered the cottage, we both hummed our appreciation at the warmth radiating from the wood burner in the fireplace. It was exactly what we needed after being out in the cold day. The interior of the cottage was lovely, a nice mix of old features like exposed beams and flagstone floors, tastefully combined with modern furnishings which gave it a clean but cosy feel.

As nice as the room was though, my mind was still stuck on the events of just a few minutes ago, as one image kept revolving in my mind – that arsehole checking out Stella’s ringless hand, and the look of pleasure that had crossed his face when he’d assumed she was single. Stupid fucker. That had not been a nice thing to observe, and as I stood there cradling Will, I tried to plan how I could avoid similar occurrences in the future.

There was one obvious way, but I was still very unsure about it. Observing my parents’ fucked-up marriage as a kid had distinctly put me off ever wanting that for myself. It was this aversion to marriage, plus my history as a Dom, which had led to Stella and I instead being joined by the collar she wore around her neck, but that was a very personal statement of our commitment to each other, and not obvious to those around us unless they were in the know about that sort of lifestyle.

Pursing my lips as I followed Stella through to the kitchen, I narrowed my eyes as I tried to plan a way forward. We already shared the same surname, and now we had Will, so maybe I should get Stella a ring as a more public statement of her relationship status. It would certainly make it very clear that she was spoken for. The idea still freaked me out, so wasn’t something I needed to rush into, as my raised, slightly panicky breathing testified, but it was certainly a consideration, I suppose.

Joining Stella by the patio doors, we gazed out at a beautiful view of the valley and I supressed a laugh that was brewing my chest – wedding rings might scare the shit out of me, but one would absolutely thrill her mother.

NINE

STELLA

Rebecca had insisted that they babysit Will for the
whole
night, and by the time I had given in to my worries and agreed, it was just beginning to get dark. As I walked Will across the small courtyard to the cottage Rebecca and Nicholas were staying in, I couldn’t help but grin as I looked around me. This place was gorgeous. The outside was just as amazing as the finish inside the cottages, complete with cobble stone driveway, a seating area with gazebo, wishing well and fire pit, and even two swimming pools – one indoor, and one out. It really would be a great place to re-visit in the summer when we could spend more time outside, and I made a mental note to keep the business card in my diary as a reminder.

As it was, I was freezing my arse off lingering to look, so quickly bundled Will closer to my body and hurried towards Rebecca, who was waiting impatiently at the door to her cottage.

‘Come on, slowcoach. Get my nephew indoors, it’s freezing out there,’ she chided, holding out her arms for Will as I stepped inside the warmth of their hallway with a relieved sigh.

Nicholas appeared in the lounge doorway with a small smile aimed at Will, then the three of us, and Will, bundled up the stairs to their bedroom where he would be sleeping tonight. Once we were in the cosy room I turned to her with a worried frown. ‘Are you sure you’ll be OK having him overnight?’ I asked nervously, indulging myself in a quick, anxious chew on my lower lip – well, Nathan wasn’t here so he’d never know I had broken his silly rule. Besides, I had a right to express my anxiety, because this was the first time we’d left William overnight since the birth. Even though Nathan and I would literally be next door, it still felt strange.

‘Of course,’ Rebecca reassured me, smiling down lovingly at William, who was already dozing in her arms. ‘You said he’s an amazingly good sleeper, and it’s his bedtime anyway so he’ll most likely just be asleep.’

Nicholas wandered over and gently looped a finger through Will’s little fist, his hand dwarfing Will’s tiny digits. Nicholas wasn’t the most expressive of men, just like his brother, but the soft smile that lit up his face when he looked at William made my chest compress.

‘With the amount of equipment Nathan has set up here it’ll practically be like you’re in the room with him anyway,’ Nicholas observed wryly, giving me a knowing look. Although Nathan had been looking forward to us spending the night together, he had been just as worried about our separation from William as I had, and had gone to the extreme measures of setting up a wireless baby camera and speaker in the room so we would be able to see and hear Will from next door.

I think Rebecca had been a little offended at first, feeling Nathan didn’t trust her to look after her own nephew, but after a few charming words Nathan had reassured her and wrapped her around his little finger. For a once closed-off individual Nathan could certainly turn on the charm when he wanted, that was for sure.

‘OK, well, I think you have everything you need,’ I added, feeling torn by the emotions of not wanting to leave William but also wanting to get back to Nathan for a nice evening together. ‘Oh yeah, I expressed some milk earlier for his night feeds.’ Handing the little cool bag to Nicholas, I leant in to place a kiss on William’s lovely warm head and then stepped back. ‘Call if you need anything, OK?’

‘Stop fussing, Stella, we’ll be fine,’ Nicholas said firmly, guiding me towards the bedroom door.

‘Go and enjoy your evening,’ Rebecca added, with a naughty twinkle in her eye that firmly suggested that they were well aware of exactly what Nathan and I would be up to.

Flushing bright red, I flashed Rebecca a narrow-eyed glance then gave Will one last touch on the head before heading back downstairs and out into the cold of the night with tears stinging the back of my eyes. It was stupid to cry – he would be barely ten metres away from me – but I suppose it was instinctive to feel this way.

Nathan was waiting in the doorway of our cottage when I got back, his face looking marginally concerned. ‘You were gone a while. Everything, OK?’