Victoria stepped back, pointed to her mouth, and made a frowning face.
“What? You’re not a mermaid?” Hannah asked. “Or you are not going to swim?”
Still pointing to her mouth, Victoria made expressive faces like she wanted to say something but couldn’t.
“Oh! You’re Ariel!” Hannah smiled and knelt down on the kitchen floor. “Has the Sea Witch stolen your voice?”
A nod and a flurry of hands was the little girl’s answer.
“And you want me to get it back for you, right?”
Victoria nodded again, more emphatically this time.
“Okay.” Pretending to have Victoria’s voice in her hand, Hannah stretched it out. “Try that and see if you get your voice back.”
“Hello? Voice?” Victoria said, speaking into her hand and then looked at Hannah, wrinkling her little nose. “That’s not my voice!”
Putting a horrified look on her face, Hannah asked, “Did I give you someone else’s voice instead?”
“Yeah!”
Nearly laughing out loud at the girl’s creativity, she said, “Maybe Santa will bring it back tonight.”
Victoria’s face lit up and she all but danced out of her reach and around the hall. “Yup! Santa!”
Markus watched the scene, marveling at the little oasis of innocence and joy; Hannah and Victoria aglow in the winter morning sunshine, giggling and laughing, totally clueless of how the two of them looked perfect together, and how much he loved them.
He approached them and said to Victoria, “Go up and change into warmer clothing while Hannah eats her breakfast. I’ll take you sleigh riding before your grans arrive.”
“Yay!” Victoria skipped out of the kitchen shouting out her happiness as Hannah accepted his hand to stand up.
“Morning, Cupcake.” Markus pulled her into his arms and kissed her, soft and long. “How is the shoulder?”
“Fine.” Her recovery had been swifter than even the doctors had expected and although she barely felt pain anymore, Markus was ever caring and mindful of her.
“Hmm, I’m not sure what is better, the smell of what you’re cooking or the taste of you,” she murmured.
“The gall!” He swatted her butt. “I’ll let that pass as hunger.”
“What are you cooking?”
“Turkey with a lightly smoked and truffled stuffing with Madeira flavored jus,” he answered, not without pride. “Fondant potatoes and chestnuts to go along.”
“Oh, dear! That must taste better than you!” She laughed at his faked shocked expression. “Don’t get mad.”
“I don’t get mad.” He flashed her a dark smile and added, “I get even.”
She sauntered to the refrigerator, picking up a Greek yogurt. Then looking over her shoulder, she answered sassily, “And I can’t wait.”
As soon as the doctors gave Hannah the green light about her shoulder, they made love constantly—in the shower, on the couch, the dressing room, the kitchen. He’d even managed to get her into the gigantic Jacuzzi on their bedroom veranda while she complained about the cold air.
Choosing fruits from a bowl, she sat at the table, smiling at the memory of how the air had suddenly seemed to turn from cold to overly hot as her body rode over his, covered with soap, while she was caressed by water and his hands at the same time.
“You have a naughty look on your face.” He sat beside her at the table and put his chin in his steepled fingers.
“All your fault.” She popped a cherry in her mouth and stared at him. Oh, no. Not today.
Markus smiled more. He laughed and joked. He was affectionate, almost sweet. He was an insatiable animal in bed.
But there was still a certain reservation and loneliness surrounding him sometimes and she had just glimpsed it. “You seem…upset?”
Awkwardness of having my parents for Christmas dinner. He breathed deep and exhaled. “It’s nothing.”
She put her hand over his. “What is it?”
“When your family get together at Christmas, do you find yourself feeling as though you are going to re-experience childhood dramas?” he asked. “As if you are expected to fill in a place you never really fit in?”
Oh, Markus. “You don’t need to fill in this space. Any space. You can create your own script for tonight.”
“Our first script,” he corrected, pulling her onto his lap and passing his arms around her.
“Our.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “I’ve always loved Christmas. Even if there wasn’t many gifts, Mom always made me feel the most important and loved kid in the world on Christmas Eve. She was the best.”
He heard the longing in her voice and that was something he had promised himself he would keep at bay the best he could. He said teasingly, “Best? Most? I thought your childhood was made of ishes.”
“A great part of my life was made of ishes,” she confirmed with a smile. “Exactly because of that, my bests and mosts were so enjoyable, so special.”
He gazed into her emerald-green eyes for a long while, musing about how lucky he had been to find this amazing woman. Quietly he whispered, “I will give you all the bests and mosts you dare dream of. Would you give me your ishes?”
Moved by his words, she closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, there was a resolute light in them. “Markus, my love, I’ll give you so much more.”
7:00 p.m.
“Knock, knock!”
Hannah turned to see Judith standing in the door way of the bedroom.
“I am not interrupting, am I?”
“No, of course not.” She smiled and motioned Markus’s mother forward. “Come on in.”
Judith crossed the ample bedroom done in earthy-brown and off-white hues to kiss her. She stepped back and pursed her lips, looking Hannah over. “Nice choice. Green is your color. Definitely.”
“Thanks. But there are those five annoying small buttons at the back I can’t seem to manage…if you could help me with them?” Hannah said, turning her back to Judith. She brushed her long hair out of the way so Judith could assist her with the long dark-green wool dress. “Did you bring the special gift for Victoria?”
“I did.” Judith sighed. “Are you sure Markus won’t be mad about it?”
“Mad? Markus? Noooo.” she said. “Why would he be? It’s a gift for Victoria, not for him.”
“I don’t know. Isn’t it too personal? Or meddlesome? Perhaps, I should have gotten her a new doll—”
“Of course not,” Hannah interrupted. “It’s more than appropriate, especially considering it’s Christmas. What better time to show how much love you have inside yourself?”
Judith sighed deeply and patted Hannah’s back. “There. You’re set.”
“Thanks.” When she turned there was a weird look on Judith’s face. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Yes…no.” Judith’s hand fluttered over her heart. “No, I’m not. My heart—”
“Judith!” Hannah pulled the older woman to sit in a buttery leather armchair and knelt in front of her. Her future mother-in-law didn’t look ill—she was not even pale—but there was a strain on her normally composed features which Hannah had never been there before. “What are you feeling? Do you want me to call a doctor?”
“No, no. I’m just…nervous.” Judith made a gesture of helplessness as tears filled her eyes and a small sob left her mouth. Then impulsively she reached out and hugged Hannah. “Thank you.”
Startled, Hannah returned the embrace. “What on earth for?”
“For helping me. With Markus. With Victoria’s gift,” the older woman said when she pulled back from the embrace, staring at Hannah through the tears that crowded her vision. “With…everything.”
“Hey, none of that on Christmas Eve!” Hannah said, stroking her fingers over Judith’s cheeks and smiling at her. “Besides, it’s I who have to thank you for all the help during these last two months.”
“Bah. I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter-in-la
w.” Judith sniffed and fluffed her messy short blonde hair, a gesture that told Hannah the woman was already returning to her usual politician’s wife grace. She stood up, smoothing her hand over her long skirt and adjusting the sleeves of her jacket. “Do I look okay?”
“No, you look beautiful and elegant,” Hannah said with a smile, as she brushed a non-existent lint from Judith’s burgundy Chanel suit. “As always.”
“Humph.” Judith waved her hand in the air dismissively. “Come. Guests must be arriving at any minute.”
“And we, Blackthorns, are never late,” Hannah complemented.
Judith smiled. “Never.”
CHAPTER 32
Thursday, December 25, 2014
7:55 a.m.
Hannah’s hand found only cold sheets in the place were Markus’s body should have been. Then the sound of cascading water told her Markus was taking a shower.
She stretched her arms over her head and sighed contently.
Everything had gone smoothly on Christmas dinner, and despite Markus’s previous anxiety about his parents’ behavior, nothing awkward or tense occurred. Much on the contrary; and she was ridiculously pleased by the contentment and coziness which had filled the night.
Hannah plopped herself on her elbows and her eyes were greeted with the sight of Markus’s wet body under the shower, which was separated from the bedroom by a transparent glass.
He’s magnificent to say the least. She couldn’t help but let her eyes roam over him; it was simply impossible not to. Big and splendidly proportioned—and powerfully muscled, a man with a physique like that demanded one’s attention and drew it everywhere. She became intensely aroused watching his arms and back muscles flex as he lathered his hair, and extremely jealous of the suds gliding down his tanned skin.
Getting out of the bed, Hannah crossed the room and entered the shower, stepping straight in front of him. Passing her arms around his neck, she planted a kiss on his mouth. “Merry Xmas.”
“Hmm…merry Xmas,” he whispered.
Markus always tasted so good, so addicting, she kissed him again, this time letting her mouth linger. She felt his body lurch against her stomach, becoming hard and full.
He leaned in and deepened the kiss.
A jolt electrified Markus’s body as he felt Hannah’s soft hands tracing his shoulders, inching their way down his pectorals and abdomen, and ultimately to hold his manhood in her grip.
“That feels so good,” he groaned on her lips.
“I have been thinking of a gift for you…” She craned her neck to look at him and licked her lips, letting her fingers and palm explore his velvety soft skin wrapped over steel-hard thickness. “Want it already?”
“Oh, yes.” His breathing increased when she knelt before him and he fisted her hair when her tongue licked over his hardened arousal, swirling languorous circles along its tip. He sucked in a breath when she took him fully in her mouth. “Ah, God, Hannah.”
She glanced up, his flesh still between her lips, to find his head thrown back and his torso rigid all the way down to the base of his manhood.
“Let me deeper,” he rasped as her head steadily bobbed up and down, her mouth taking in every hard inch of him. “Fuck, yeah.”
A tiny spurt of liquid seeped onto her tongue. For a moment she savored its woodsy taste. Then she slid her tongue over the tip and sipped.
“Ah. Fuck!” Markus rocked up on his toes, straining forward as his fingers tightened on the sides of her head. “Again. Just like that. Take me whole.”
She swallowed against him and sucked him deep. For a moment she struggled to breathe, but he adjusted the angle and pulled her flush to him and he was all inside her. All she could taste, breathe or feel was him.
When he retreated, he breathed so raggedly that the tortured sound was loud in the shower stall.
For a long moment he stood there, panting, holding her hair in his fist and looking at her with a raw and sexual need in his dark eyes.
A grunt left his throat. He blindly shoved his hand on the water knob, shutting the water off and he yanked her up in his strong arms. With a few strides he put her on their bed not caring how wet they were and then rolled over her, gripping her hands over her head with one of his hands.
When he swept a glance down her wet glistening body, she arched her back, tempting him.
With a growl, he leaned over to put his lips on her nipple, sucking it almost painfully until every pull of his mouth was felt coursing between her legs.
She spread her thighs eager for his invasion but only his hand trailed down her belly. His fingers parted her and he held her sex, just stirring the tip of his finger in her.
Her hips lifted wanting more of his hand. “Markus, please.”
“So wet for me,” he rumbled against her breast as he fondled her, making her moan low. “So perfect.”
“Don’t tease,” she whispered, raising her hips again, more, in an offering.
He pressed first one then two broad fingers inside her. His whole body was tight—he was about to explode.
“Oh, yes,” she gasped and shuddered. She could feel her body squeezing around his clever fingers. “Markus, please.”
He looked down to see her staring at him. She couldn’t be more alluring to him, with her emerald green eyes bright and her fiery red hair all wet and strewn across his pillows. And he wanted her with a ferocity that alarmed him. He didn’t want to make love to her. He wanted to devour her, making her come beneath his lips before he pinned her hands over her head and rode her furiously. If he ever gave in to it, he worried that he’d hurt her in his desperation.
Freeing her hands, he knelt between her legs, seized her thighs, and brought her to his mouth. He worshipped her with his mouth, in long, luxuriating strokes of tongue and fingers until she was writhing on the bed and her body trembling in his arms on the brink of the orgasm. “So sweet.”
“Please!” she cried, pulling on his hair as he kissed, licked, sucked her without stopping. Aching so much it hurt, she panted, “Love me, please.”
He positioned himself and ran the head of his cock up and down her folds. “I’m going to ride you so hard.”
“Yes.” The warning in his eyes excited her. But he didn’t move. His eyes closed tight and a deep grunt left his mouth. “Markus?”
“I can’t. I feel like…” Then he leaned down, covering her with his massive frame and heat, and, in a tortured voice, though he hung on to control by a mere thread, he growled in her ear, “I want to fuck you like a beast.”
The way he spoke to her—the ferocity, the desire so clear in his voice.
She wanted this man so much—with all his kindness and intelligence; his strength and stubbornness; his brooding depth and passionate heart. With all his tender loving and his beast-like fucking. She wanted him all the way.
“I won’t ever dream of taming you.”
“I’m going to drive so deep into this wet little sheath of yours until you don’t know where I end and you begin,” he whispered. His tongue wet his lips in an action so carnal she felt the caress on her skin and when his black eyes opened again they were heated with a dark promise. He took a deep breath and the tip of his cock bumped against her entrance, then moved away. “Ready?”
She opened her mouth to tell him she was but his palm suddenly covered her mouth just as he thrust into her hard and deep, his body smoothly gliding in her damp heat as he buried himself to the hilt, stretching her.
She threw back her head and screamed out in rapture, his hand muffling the sound.
“Shh,” he soothed on her lips, his voice hoarse and raspy as over and over his hips pumped fast, hard, and deep.
She was lost in pleasure, in the dark world of the passions. She was lost in the scent of him and the low sound of his voice, so rough. She arched her back, breasts pushing against his chest, pulling his head down to take his lips in a frantic kiss, need mounting with each hard push and withdrawal, the sensations combusting inside her.
She felt full to bursting with the need for climax spiraling in her as he drove in and out of her with a wild abandon.
Her body clenched around his, her passage tightening around him as he rode her to the edge of her desires. Until she peaked and finally shattered in pleasure, tightening spasmodically around him. “Ah, Markus!”
“Fuck,” he growled and shuddered in ecstasy. Yet he didn’t stop. One of his hands trapped her thigh up against her chest while he hammered himself inside her. His release boiled in his loins, rising like a tumultuous storm. Building, burning. “You’re so fucking amazing.”
As her back arched and her body spasmed, his hand slid from her thigh to find her slick heat and stroked her firmly, “Again. Come for me.”
Unbelievably pleasure notched higher, nearly unbearable, and she knew she was going to come again. “Ah, yes.”
“Hannah,” he whispered against her neck, thrusting in and out, hard and fast and deep. “Ah, Hannah.”
Their pants and moans mingled in the bedroom, growing louder with each torturous plunge of him inside her. Her body tensed, arching beautifully before him as the tremors of release took over her again. And this time the pleasure strengthened and seemed to rise inside her like a rocket. Higher and higher it went. And then it struck the top of the heavens and burst, and its remnants cascaded down, through her and around her, sparks of happiness trickling down in the darkness.
He felt her milking him, almost painfully, forcing all his pleasure from him. With a last pounding shove and her name on his lips, he exploded into her, his orgasm pumping on and on, relentless.
When he was finally spent, thoughts began to slowly emerge from the haze and as though clawing their way from a dream. He realized he’d been tightly squeezing her in his arms.
“You killed me,” she whispered lazily while his body still languorously pushed inside her, staring at her like she was the only woman in the world, the only woman ever.
As she gazed into his eyes with a dreamy expression, the thoughts and daydreams he’d had since his youth of a lifetime of sharing his life with a special woman unfolded with vibrancy again. His eyes mapped out every inch of her face. “You are so beautiful.”