“Where’s your coat? It’s freezing out here.” He curls the edges of his thick Carhartt jacket around my sides, though there’s absolutely no hope of it meeting in the middle between Cormac’s bulk and my fluffiness.
I appreciate the gesture, though.
Too much.
“I like the cold. It helps me think.”
“Don’t think too hard,” he gently reprimands. “It’s too early to start worrying about the future again. We’ve done all we can to secure custody of Jesse. He’s my son. The court can’t deny it.”
“That’s not what—” I cut myself off.
If only Jesse was my main concern.
But no, I’m more focused on his dad.My husband.The man whose kiss still lingers on my lips, despite it happening yesterday. It doesn’t help that Linnea sent a photo of the moment with capitalH.O.T.“Never mind… You’re right. It’s too early to stress about things out of my control.”
Cormac hums in his throat and carefully turns me in his arms until I’m facing him. “You’re thinking about us.”
A hot blush rises to my cheeks. There shouldn’t be anus. There was aCormac and Jessica, and that should have been enough to crush these wayward feelings.
“How about a distraction from the spiraling, hmm?” A rough fingertip drags down my cheek and throat until his callused palm encircles the vulnerable column. “I’ve always dreamed of waking up and kissing my wife good morning before chores. What do you say we start the tradition today?”
I gulp at the heat in his eyes, secretly reveling in the danger of his hand around my neck. My fingers tangle around his belt loops as I sway closer.
“Is that smart?” I whisper.
“Baby, it’s fucking necessary.”
We both lean forward until our lips meet in the middle of the chilly air, unable to resist temptation any longer. The fog of our mingled breaths wafts over my cheeks as Cormac’s tongue tangles with mine, and I give myself twenty seconds of blissful freedom.
Freedom to enjoy kissing my husband.
Freedom from thoughts about Jessica.
But then reality sets in like an icy pick to the heart, and I break the hold Cormac has on me—running inside the house and away from my taboo feelings.
15
CORMAC
Davie shuffles into the kitchen like everything is normal, rinsing out her empty coffee mug then placing it in the dishwasher beside the sink.
She keeps her eyes low and focused on each task. Each movement reveals a slight tremble in her hands as if the pressure of maintaining a calm veneer needs that small release, or else she’ll lose control.
“Are you thirsty? You’ve been up for hours, right? I can pour you another coffee or?—”
“Davie.” She flinches at the sound of her name, and that’s the last straw. Rounding the kitchen island, I herd my nervous wife backward until she bumps into the marble countertop.
My hands sink into her hips before lifting her onto the counter. The cotton sleep shirt and cardigan bunch under her ass, exposing thick, pale thighs that naturally fall open to accommodate my wide girth.
“What… We shouldn’t…”
My finger lands on her parted lips. “Shh… It’s my turn to talk now.” I let the digit pull on the soft flesh, the wet, pink gleam inside her mouth stirring all sorts of fantasies of other wet, pink parts of her. “You’re scared, I know. That’s why I’ve let youdictate our pace, but we’re married now, and I think it’s time I’ve made myself clear.”
“C-Clear?” Davie gulps, and I gently trace the subtle action. Down her vulnerable throat. Over the strain of a peaked nipple through her shirt. Past her round belly.
Until my palm rests on her trembling thigh, my thumb dipping into the crease where smooth skin meets cotton panties.
Cotton shirt. Cotton panties. Practical.
