King & Lily Christmas 10 Years Later

King & Lily

10 Years after King’s Reign

 Lily

 “I love Christmas, but I think I’m done with it,” I say to Tatum as we finish cleaning the kitchen. We’ve spent the day making shortbread, rum balls, gingerbread cookies, fudge, and rocky road. In between all that, I’ve wrangled kids who won’t stop fighting and a husband who keeps ignoring my texts. I’m trying to finalise our Christmas Day and Boxing Day plans and I need King’s input on some things. He insists he doesn’t need to be involved. At the rate he’s going, he may not even make it to Christmas Day.

Tatum laughs at my declaration. “We all know you’ll never be done with Christmas, Lil. You love it too much for that.”

I hang the tea towel on the stove and exhale a long breath. “I’ll tell you what I’m done with, and that’s men who won’t answer their phone or reply to a text.”

“That would drive me crazy too.”

“Right? I get it if he’s too busy, but we both know that none of the guys are busy today.” This is the first Christmas in years that the club isn’t demanding King’s attention. Things are good and he hasn’t been called away or kept out late at night to take care of club business for weeks. He could at least reply to my message.

Tatum starts to say something but is interrupted when Meredith comes running into the kitchen with a look of pure terror on her face. “Travis is bleeding!”

Shit.

Tatum and I follow Meredith outside to the treehouse King built the kids a few years ago and find Travis, my six-year-old son, chasing his older brother around like nothing has happened. But I see why Meredith looked so worried when she announced that her brother was bleeding; Travis’s face is covered in blood.

I don’t panic, though. Twenty-six years of raising children has taught me that keeping calm is always the best way of dealing with kids. Also, my boys are always hurting themselves in some way; blood isn’t necessarily a sign that I need to worry.

“Travis!” I call. When he doesn’t stop chasing Cade, I raise my voice and call his name again.

That gets his attention. He comes to a dead stop and looks at me.

“Come here,” I say, “and tell me what happened to your face.” I eye Cade. “You too.”

The look in Cade’s eyes tells me all I need to know. These two have been fighting a lot lately, and Cade often escalates their arguments to a physical fight. Out of our boys, Cade is his father’s son, whereas Travis has more of me in him. He’ll fight when pushed, but he prefers not to.

The one thing that Travis is exactly like his father in, though, is his refusal to dob on his brother. His brother may annoy him often, but he’s loyal to the end.

They both come to me, but neither offer an explanation.

I run my gaze over Travis’s face, immediately noting the gash on his forehead. It’s nasty, but it won’t require a trip to the doctor. Thank God because I don’t have it in me to pack the kids up and take them anywhere, let alone to a busy doctors surgery where we’d probably have to wait hours to get looked at.

Tatum’s phone rings and she steps away to take the call while I deal with my boys.

Crouching, I eye them both. “One of you better start talking, and whatever you tell me better be the truth.”

“I tripped over,” Travis says.

I arch my brows. “Tripped?”

He nods.

“Over what?” I ask.

He points at a rock. “Over that.”

The rock is big enough for this to be true, but I don’t believe that this injury came from simply tripping over.

I look at Cade. “Is that what happened?”

He shrugs.

I love my son, but that defiant shrug of his frustrates me. It’s something he’s started doing a lot lately. “Answer me, Cade. What really happened?”

He shrugs again and says, “He tripped.”

I glance between them. “No, I don’t think he did, and until one of you tells me the truth, there won’t be any more playing out here.”

“That’s not fair!” Cade says angrily, knowing what I mean. He and his brother will go to their rooms until they answer me honestly.

“It is fair, Cade.” I stand and look at Travis while nodding my head towards the house. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Cade scrunches his face into an angry scowl before stomping into the house ahead of me and Travis.

Tatum meets me on the way. “I’ve gotta go. Is Travis okay?”

I nod. “Yeah. I’m going to clean him up and then send him to his room until dinner.” Experience tells me that’s how long it will take for the boys to start talking. What’s also highly likely is that it’ll take their father coming home and sorting this out for me.

“Thanks for today,” she says. “We need to have an annual Christmas baking day every year.”

“I agree. And maybe next year I’ll send the kids to Mum’s for the day.” When she laughs, I say, “Honestly, they’re lucky to still be alive.”

“It’s the heat, Lil. It drives us all a little insane.”

“Trust me, it’s not just the heat. Cade has been stirring Travis up a lot lately. I think King needs to have a big talk with him tonight. He’s almost ten and knows better.”

She pulls me in for a hug. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow night.”

I nod. Devil and Hailee are having a Christmas party at their place. “See you there.”

She grabs her baked goods from the kitchen and leaves while I direct Travis into the bathroom.

Once I’ve cleaned up his face, I send him to his bedroom. After trying once again to get him to tell me the truth (he doesn’t), I stop at Cade’s room and ask him for it too. He also refuses to talk, so I leave them in their rooms and make my way out to the lounge room where Meredith, my seven-year-old daughter, is watching the television.

“Are you hungry, baby girl?” I ask. It’s just after 3:00 p.m. and she’s usually looking for a snack by now.

She shakes her head. “No.”

“We’ve got apples and bananas if you change your mind.”

Meredith loves fruit more than any of my other children. She gives me a smile before going back to her show. She’s watched a lot of TV today, so I feel I should find something else for her to do, but I don’t have the energy for that. Leaving her, I walk into the kitchen in search of my phone.

I call King again. This time, he answers.

“What’s up?” he says, sounding distracted.

“Tell me you’re not intentionally ignoring me.” I know I sound needy; that’s because I feel needy where King’s concerned this week. Between the kids, Christmas, and the heat, and the fact he’s been preoccupied with something I’ve no clue about, I need my husband.

“I’m busy, Lily.”

The way he says this like he’s frustrated with me causes my temper to fray a little. “We’re all busy, King,” I snap. “It’s three days before Christmas. All I’m asking for is five minutes of your time to help me sort out our Christmas plans. Plans, mind you, that involve your club.”

“Fuck,” he mutters and I imagine the exact expression I know is on his face right now. After ten years with this man, I know all his expressions and the situations that inspire them. When he’s frustrated with me, his brows pull in and his nostrils flare. They do this when he’s pissed off with others too; the difference when he’s annoyed with me is that his frustration doesn’t reach his eyes like it does with everyone else. With me, his eyes still hold affection. It’s only when we have the kind of fight that makes me try to force him onto the couch at night that his anger touches his eyes. “You know I don’t give a fuck about this shit. Whatever you decide will be good.”

“I will hurt you, King. I swear I will dream up ways to inflict pain when you least expect it if you say that to me again. You might not give a fuck about this shit, but you better give a fuck about me. And if you do, you’ll help me right now because I am slowly losing my sanity over here, and if you don’t help me, you may come home tonight to a wife who refuses to let you near her.”

He exhales a long breath before saying, “I’ve got ten minutes.”

Some days, my husband is smarter than others. Today is one of those days.

I run through my list of things I need him to help me with. One of King’s strengths is his ability to make quick decisions; something I’m not always good at. This is why I need him on this. He doesn’t let me down. He makes all the decisions I haven’t been able to and six minutes later, I’ve got everything worked out in my head and feel like a weight has been lifted.

“See,” I say after he makes the last decision I need him to, “That wasn’t painful, was it?”

“Are we done?”

I ignore his tone. If I don’t, we may end up in one of those “he can sleep on the couch” fights. “With that, yes.”

“What else is there?”

“Your son. You need to have a talk with him tonight.”

I don’t even need to elaborate as to which son I’m referring to; King knows it’s Cade. I’m almost certain it will always be Cade who gives us the most hell. “What’s he done?”

“I think he initiated a fight with Travis today. I found Travis with a gash on his forehead and blood all over his face.” I pause before adding, “He’s too rough, King, and I don’t want this to continue.” I don’t have to say the words “he won’t listen to me.” King knows that when it comes to Cade there are times when he has to step in. Cade respects me when it comes to most things, but this is definitely something that will have to come very strongly from his father.

“I’ll talk to him tonight,” King says.

“The boys are both in their room until they tell me the truth of what happened.”

“Okay, I’ll try to get home early.”

“Thank you,” I say as I release some of the breath my lungs have held hostage today. Honestly, there are just some days I need King more than others and today is one of those days.

We end the call and I make a coffee. I don’t normally drink caffeine after lunch, but it’s going to be a long night and I’m fairly certain I’m going to need it.

 

King

I arrive home just after 7:00 p.m. Later than I’d intended. Later than Lily needed me if the sounds coming from inside the house are anything to go by.

“I’m watching TV!” Cade yells from the back of the house as I step through the front door.

“You’re not,” Lily says calmly. “You’re finishing your dinner and then you’re going back to your room until your father comes home.” She might be speaking calmly, but her tone is lethal. It’s the tone I receive when she thinks I’m being a complete asshole. The tone that is one step away from pure anger.

“I hate you!” Cade roars. This is followed by the sound of what I suspect is his chair being shoved away from the table and then the back door sliding open and being slammed closed.

“Cade King! Get back inside now!” Lily yells before sliding the door open again.

I stride down the hall, through the kitchen, and into the dining room. “I’ll go,” I say, drawing Lily’s attention.

Her wild eyes meet mine and I see just how close to losing her shit she is. She widens those eyes as she says, “I thought you were going to come home early.”

“I tried. Shit came up.”

Still with the wide eyes, she says, “The next time shit comes up, ignore it if I’ve told you that day that Cade is acting up. Seriously, we are this close to me doing jail time.”

“I can see that.” I glance at the table that has none of our other kids sitting at it. “Where are Travis and Meredith?”

“Safely in their rooms.”

“Okay.” I jerk my chin towards the hallway. “Go and get in the bath. I’ll handle the kids.”

She looks outside briefly before giving me her stormy eyes again. “Cade’s out of control. You need to fix that.”

“Lily,” I say with some force, because fuck knows she’s past the point of taking note of anything less than force. “Go. I’m handling this.”

She pushes a long breath out, giving me that look of hers that says “you better fucking handle this”, and then leaves the room.

Christ.

I step outside in search of my son while working to control my temper. Out of all our kids, Cade’s the one who never fails to stir it. He’s too much like me with his temper and preference to deal with his problems physically rather than to sit and talk them out rationally. Raising him is teaching me all kinds of shit I’m fucking sure nothing and no one else could have because it’s like looking directly in a mirror when I’m with him.

“Cade,” I call as I walk down the stairs. “Come here.”

I’m down the stairs and halfway across the backyard when he meets me. The defiance written all over him is a trait I know well. One I feel in my bones. One that I’m learning is a fuck of a trait to deal with as a parent.

When he crosses his arms and glares up at me, I lift my chin at the wooden bench I built Lily years ago and say, “Sit your ass down. We’ve got a long conversation to have.”

Keeping his arms folded and his glare in place, he fires back, “I don’t want to talk.”

“Yeah, I get it, but neither of us are going to bed tonight until we’ve had this talk, so do me a favour and sit.”

His nostrils flare as his brows pull in. Those arms of his appear to hug his body harder, like he’s doubling down on refusing to budge. Cade’s a smart kid, though, so he knows this shit has to happen. After a few more moments of defiance he caves.

I follow him to the bench and sit next to him.

We sit in silence for a couple of minutes before I look at him. “Did you start a fight with Travis today?”

If there’s one thing I can count on from my boys, it’s loyalty to family to the end. They may argue and fight daily, but they’ll always be the first to stand up for each other and will never throw each other under the bus. Travis may only be six, but it’s clear to me that he’s already learned this. Just like Cade did from his older siblings. And while loyalty is something I value fucking highly, it makes conversations like this hard because no one wants to own up to anything or blame anyone else.

Cade stares straight ahead and doesn’t answer me.

“I asked you a question, Cade, and I expect an answer.”

He sits in silence and I watch as his brain works like fuck to figure out how to get out of this. I give him the space to think, even though giving anyone space in this way does not come naturally to me.

Finally, he meets my gaze. “We both started it.”

“How so?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“You do know.”

“I don’t.”

“Well, you better figure it out because neither of us are leaving this bench until you do. And let me tell you, I’m not a fan of sitting on this seat.”

He stares at me. His glare is still in place, as is his scowl. Christ, he’s my fucking son, that’s for sure. “I didn’t start it, but I finished it.”

And fuck if words I’ve said a thousand times, that Cade has probably heard, don’t come back to bite me on the fucking ass.

“You pushed him over?”

He nods but doesn’t give me the words I’m looking for.

“Say it, Cade. Own what you did.”

He doesn’t hesitate this time. He knows I won’t let this go. Taking ownership of their actions is something I’ve drummed into my kids. They don’t always do it straight away, but I always help them get there in the end. Even when it’s painful as fuck to do so. “Yes.”

“Why?”

He knew that question was coming next and he continues glaring at me because of it. Cade hates to admit the why. He’d rather stab himself in the eye than tell us why he did something he shouldn’t have. He gives me one of his shrugs instead of an answer.

I don’t say a thing. I simply arch my brows and wait.

His lips press together before he says, “Because I was angry with him and I knew Mum would take his side.”

This is something new and it causes me to frown. He’s never mentioned anything about Lily taking sides, and as far as I know, she’s never done that. Lily always tries to be fair with the kids.

“Okay, let’s start with why you were angry with him. And we’re not dobbing here, we’re just talking about the facts.” I’ve learned it’s important to differentiate this shit for him if I’ve ever got a hope of getting him to open up.

He pushes up off the bench and kicks the grass as he says in an angry rush of words, “He broke my Batmobile!”

Cade loves Batman and anything to do with Batman. He and I spent hours building a Lego Batmobile last month and it’s his favourite thing at the moment. Travis wanted to help us, but for the first time with this kind of thing, Cade wanted to build it with just me. He also wouldn’t allow Lily in on it.

“By accident?” I ask.

A look flickers in his eyes, signaling that he’s struggling with the answer to this question. I know he’ll give me the truth, though, because if there’s one thing Cade King is not, it’s a liar. He may withhold information for as long as possible, but he never outright lies to us. “He was playing with it when he shouldn’t have been.”

“So, it was an accident?”

He kicks the grass again, his jerky movement showing me how angry over this he is. “He shouldn’t have been playing with it!”

“He should have asked you if he could play with it, I agree, but accidents happen, Cade. This isn’t something that warranted you hurting him.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Why did you think Mum would take his side?”

“Because she always takes his side.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

He pushes his shoulders back. “She does. She always says I have to watch out for Travis. I have to let him win because I’m older. It’s not fair.”

“Win at what?”

“At everything! Games, who gets the TV, fights.”

I process what he’s saying and can understand why he thinks this. Lily does make allowances at times for Travis while not making the same ones for Cade. It’s a new thing she’s started doing over the last year since Cade turned nine. Since deciding he needs to learn more responsibility. Cade has misconstrued it to some degree, but I can see how he’d misunderstand her intent.

I reach for him, taking hold of his arm and bringing him closer to me. “Your mother loves you. You know that, right?”

He nods, his eyes intense with all the emotion running through him. “Yes, but she never wants to spend time with me anymore like she does with Travis.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. She was supposed to take me to the museum last week but she didn’t.”

“That was only because I had stuff come up at the club and couldn’t get home for her to take you. She’s still planning on it. She told me she wants to take you on the weekend.”

That gets his attention. “When?”

“Saturday morning. I’m going to stay at home with Travis and Meredith while you two go by yourselves.”

“Will she buy me ice-cream?”

And just like that, I realise Lily and I have work to do here. We’ve been trying to give Cade some space and not treat him like a little kid still, but I can see now that he needs us to go slower on this.

“Yeah, buddy, she’ll buy you ice-cream.”

“Good. And a toy?”

I smile at him as I nod. “And a toy.” An ice-cream and a small toy are the two things we’ve always treated the kids to when we take them somewhere special. It doesn’t happen often, and clearly it means a lot to Cade. “But you’re going to have to pull your socks up and stop treating your mother the way you did today and stop fighting with your brother.”

He looks down at the ground, not responding to that.

I reach for his chin and tilt his face back up. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

He nods and says, “Yes.”

“Tell me what I mean.”

“I have to stop pushing Travis over and I have to stop backchatting Mum.”

“It’s not just pushing Travis that you have to stop. It’s any kind of physical fight. Hitting, kicking, anything that might hurt him. It has to stop, Cade. That’s not how you treat the people you love.”

He nods again. Remorse fills his eyes, so I know I’m getting through to him.

I stand and look down at him. Using the firmest voice I ever have with him, I say, “I won’t be happy if I find out you ever do any of these things again. Am I clear?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now, go inside and get ready for bed. I’ll be in to read with you soon.”

He does as he’s told and I follow him inside before making my way to where Lily is in the bath.

She lifts her head and opens her eyes when she hears me come in. She doesn’t say anything, though; she waits for me to speak.

I sit on the edge of the bath and run my eyes over her. Ten years with Lily and some days it’s still like looking at her for the first time. I still discover something new every now and then. Or maybe it’s just that I bring a new perspective to our relationship every now and then, like I am tonight after talking with Cade, and see her in a new way. Whatever the fuck it is, there’s no denying that Lily always has every ounce of my attention, even when she thinks she doesn’t.

“Jesus, King, are you going to tell me what happened?”

I bring my gaze back to hers. “He’s feeling left out.”

She frowns. “What? Why? That makes no sense.”

“It does make sense. He thinks you want him to always step aside for Travis.”

More frowning. “Step aside? What does that mean?”

“He said he thinks he always has to let Travis win at everything.”

“But he doesn’t have to. Where is this coming from?”

“We have to go slower on treating him as the older brother. He still wants to be treated in some of the ways we treat Travis.”

She thinks about that for a moment, slowly nodding. “Okay, that makes sense.”

I hold her gaze while I ready myself for the hell that what I’m about to say to her will likely cause me. “You’re too soft on Travis, Lily.”

This is a topic we’ve discussed before. It’s also a topic she doesn’t care for. Tonight is no different. “I’m not too soft, King. You’re too hard.”

“Yes, I am. I agree.” I take in the widening of her eyes. This is the first time I’ve ever agreed with her on this, and I’m only doing it now because Cade has helped me see this clearer.

“Did I just hear you correctly?”

I nod. “I don’t always stop to consider where the kids are coming from when I want them to change their behaviour. Talking with Cade tonight has shown me that I need to dig deeper and think about shit differently.” I pause. “You can’t go soft on Travis at Cade’s expense. Yeah, Cade is old enough to learn about making allowances for his brother, but at the same time, he needs to feel your love. When you go soft, he takes that as a sign that you’re choosing Travis over him. That’s where this shit is coming from.”

She stares at me for a long moment.

She then sits up in the bath and leans forward to bring her hand to my neck. Pulling my face to hers, she kisses me. When she’s finished with my lips, she says, “You might be an asshole at times, but you’re a smart one and I love you.”

“Fuck,” I growl, needing a lot fucking more than one kiss. “I’m going to read to the kids while you finish in here. I’ll be half an hour at the most. When I get back, I want you spread out on that bed ready for me.”

Her eyes blaze with heat and she kisses me again. Then, letting me go, she says, “Make it twenty minutes. And King? The first thing I want is your tongue inside me.”

Christ, my wife is almost as filthy as me these days. I still haven’t decided if that’s a good or bad thing. It’s distracting as hell when I’m away, so I tend to lean towards it being a bad fucking thing.

I leave her so I can put the kids to bed.

It’s going to be the longest fucking twenty minutes of my day.

 

Lily

I spend fifteen more minutes in the bath before getting ready for King.

After drying myself and spraying his favourite perfume on, I do as he ordered and spread myself out on the bed.

He takes longer than he said.

After another twenty minutes have passed, I throw one of his shirts on and go looking for him, finding him lying next to Cade on Cade’s bed, talking with him.

They’re so engrossed in their conversation that they don’t see me at the door. Not wanting to interrupt, I go into the kitchen and clean the dinner dishes away.

I’ve just finished loading the dishwasher and turned it on when King’s strong arms circle me from behind. His mouth comes to my ear. “I fucking like that shirt on you, but it needs to come off.”

I turn in his arms and take hold of his face so I can drag his mouth down to mine. Kissing him, I slide my tongue over his and deepen the kiss, giving him everything I’m feeling.

Love, lust, frustration, impatience, annoyance, happiness, anger, gratitude, all of it.

This man who has been by my side for a decade can bring it all out in me in under an hour when he tries. Hell, even when he’s not trying, he can make me feel every feeling under the sun in a short amount of time. Just like I know I can do the same to him.

I never want him to change.

“Fuck, Lily,” he rasps as we grow frantic with hands everywhere and the kind of kiss that makes me breathless in all the right ways. Lifting the shirt of his I’m wearing over my head, he drops it on the floor and bends his face so he can take one of my nipples into his mouth.

I grip his hair and arch my back as pleasure takes over my body.

King and I never have sex in the kitchen when the kids are home, so he’s caught me by surprise. I’m helpless to stop him, though. I need him. Now. Right now.

Moving my hands to his belt, I undo it and then his jeans as fast as I can. He hisses when I wrap my hand around his cock. He’s dedicating time to my breasts, but he stops that as I stroke him.

His eyes come to mine. He looks at me like he always does, like I’m the only woman in the world. There’s so much desire in those eyes of his that it only makes me need him faster, sooner, harder.

He keeps his gaze on mine for a few moments while I stroke him. I know he’s thinking about how he wants to fuck me. The anticipation I always feel while I watch him think works its way through my veins. Sex is the only time I hand over control fully to King, and this is why. I love how the power fuels him. How it brings out his darker, dominant side that makes the kinds of demands on my body that I feel for days.

“I want you sitting on my face,” he says, his voice husky with desire. Then, without waiting for my response, he lifts me over his shoulder and carries me to our bedroom.

He strips out of the rest of his clothes, not removing his eyes from me. A minute later, he’s lying on the bed, pulling me to sit over his face with my knees either side of him.

I grip the headboard while he grips my ass and tongues me.

“Oh God,” I moan, riding his face. I fucking love how much my husband loves eating me out.

King could do this for hours.

I’m convinced of it.

He loves using his tongue, his lips, his teeth, and his fingers to fuck me.

And often, like he does now, he brings my fingers in on the job too.

He guides my fingers inside me and orders, “Fuck yourself but stop right before you’re about to come and let me finish the job.”

I look down at him and do as he says, keeping my eyes on his as he watches me finger myself.

I grip the headboard tighter as my orgasm teases. “I’m about to come,” I say as I rock my hips above his face.

Pulling me back to his face, he fucks me with his tongue and fingers, growling deeply, sending the very best kind of vibrations through me.

“Oh God, oh…fuck, King,” I moan as I come.

I’ve barely orgasmed when he grips my hips and moves me off his face so he can sit. A moment later, I’m on my hands and knees on the bed and he’s slamming his dick in me.

“Fuck,” he roars, thrusting in hard and fast, wiping all coherent thought from my mind.

We’re all skin slapping together, fingers bruising, hearts joining as we both chase the release we need with each other.

My first orgasm stretches out into multiple orgasms as King fucks me. He doesn’t come quickly, and by the time he finally does, I’m completely lost to the pleasure.

When he pulls out of me, I collapse onto the mattress, spent. Exhausted.

He lies next to me and pulls me into his arms. I need to go to the bathroom to clean up, but first I need this moment with him.

We lie quietly for a beat and then I say, “I never want to do this with anyone else.”

His arm tightens around me possessively. “Trust me, I won’t fucking allow that. Ever.”

I look up at him. “I wasn’t referring to sex, King. I meant I never want to do life with anyone else.”

He keeps his hold tight on me as he looks at me. “I won’t allow that either.”

I smile, tightening my arm over him too. Then, exhaling a long breath, I say, “Raising kids is hard work. I’m not sure I can make it.”

He frowns. “Make what?”

“All the years we still have left to go. Also, Christmas is hard work. And so is summer. I’ve run out of energy for it all.”

He contemplates that for a few seconds. “I’ve got you covered.”

“How? I mean, seriously, King, you’re always so busy with—”

He presses a finger to my lips and silences me. “I’m home for a week. You can put your feet up.”

I stare at him. “What? How?”

“The reason I wasn’t replying to your calls and texts today wasn’t because I was ignoring you, Lily. I was taking care of shit so I could have some days at home. I hope to fuck you’re ready for me, because you’re gonna have to put up with me for an entire week.”

Holy shit.

I move so that I’m straddling him. “You never take time off at Christmas.”

He brings his hands to my thighs. “Yeah, well I am this year.”

Holy. Shit.

I smile. This smile is far bigger than my last one. “You know what that means, right?”

King knows me well after all these years together, so he knows I’m going nowhere he wants me to here. “I fucking shudder to think.”

I laugh and bend to kiss him. “It means we can do five fucking questions every day for the next week.”

“Christ,” he mutters before slapping my ass and saying, “Get ready for round two. And get ready for a lot of fucking sex the next week. If I have to answer your questions, you’ll be sucking my dick a fuckuva lot.”

I kiss him again, smiling into it before murmuring, “You forget how much I like sucking your dick. Even after all these years, it’s still one of my favourite things to do.”

I leave him to clean up, thinking about the next week and all the things I can get him to do around the house and with me.

When I return to the bed, I slide in next to him and say, “This is the best Christmas present you’ve ever given me.”

He moves so that he’s on top of me. Looking down at me with love, he says, “Surely we’re fucking done with five fucking questions after a decade of them.”

I grin. “Baby, we’ll never be done with that. I would have thought you’d know me well enough by now to know that.”

“A man can fucking live in hope.”

With that, he proceeds to make good on his promise of a lot of fucking sex.

This is turning out to be the best Christmas of my life.