“Is Luke asleep?” I ask as I pull down the covers on my side of the bed and slide in. Ava was already sound asleep when Shane arrived.
“Yeah. He didn’t even make it through one book. I’m not surprised. He was exhausted from his Arctic adventure earlier today.”
Shane switches off the bedside lamp before he rolls onto his side to face me and strokes my cheek. “I’ve been looking forward to this moment all day,” he admits. “Just you and me, alone.” He leans in and kisses me lightly.
It’s a gentle kiss, not demanding anything, not asking for anything. “How did you make out playing poker?”
“I won two hundred bucks.”
I laugh softly. “Does Jake still think you’re cheating?”
“Nah. He knows better. He just likes to razz me when I beat him.”
I press my hand to his chest, right over his heart, and he covers my hand with his.
“Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?” he asks.
“Not since dinner.”
“Well, I do.” He kisses me again.
I scoot closer to him and slide one of my bare legs between his. He groans quietly as he reaches for me.
“Both kids are asleep?” I ask once more, wanting to confirm.
“They were when I left them.”
But we both know that’s not a guarantee. Ava, especially, has trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep when she’s in a different bed. And Luke’s still a bit worked up over the events of this afternoon.
I feel Shane’s warm hands clutching my hips as he draws me closer.
“Do we risk it?” I ask. We’ve been interrupted on numerous occasions since we had kids. It’s nothing new.
Shane chuckles quietly against my temple. “I say yes. I’ve been waiting all evening to get you to myself.”
He kisses me then, tasting like peppermint toothpaste.
“You stole my toothpaste again.”
He laughs, his breath warm against my throat as he moves down to press his lips against my pulse point. “I forgot to bring mine.”
He trails kisses down my neck, past my clavicle, to the swell of my left breast. His warm hand slides down my torso to the junction between my legs. Automatically, I open them for him, and he quickly finds what he’s looking for.
I moan when his finger slides between my legs. He rims my opening first, gathering my slick arousal, before he zeroes in on my clitoris and begins teasing me with gentle circles.
When his lips part over my left nipple, and he draws the peak into his mouth, I gasp as I arch my back.
And then he freezes when we hear Ava whimpering in the other room.
Shane lifts his face, pausing to listen, and when her cries grow louder, he presses his forehead to my chest and groans. “This is not my day.”
“Daddy?” Luke walks up to the side of our bed. “Sissy’s crying. She woke me up.”
“Of course, she did,” Shane mutters as he quickly pulls the bedding up to my neck. He kisses my cheek. “I’ll see if I can get her settled down again.”
Fortunately, Shane still has his boxers on, so he slips out of bed and leads Luke by the hand back to the kids’ room. Just before they pass through the doorway, he glances back at me with a rueful smile on his face. “Please wait up for me.”
Nodding, I smile, but I know our kids. This isn’t going to turn out the way he hopes.
