Two Purple Gloves (A Pear Street Christmas #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“That was awkward for everyone involved, dude.”

HARRY

E veryone pitches in to help clear up the colossal mess left by the gift exchange and then the kids are hounding us to play game after game after game. I can’t complain, it’s good fun and after everyone—except those underage and poor Rhiannon—has had a few drinks, it does become a bit raucous but ridiculously fun. My father-in-law and his brother are crazy competitive with each other and insist on being team captains for every game, building rivalry between teams and getting the kids involved in some trash talk that sounds like it’s come directly out of a bad gangster movie.

I watch my wife across the room, sat between her mother and cousin, the three of them having quiet chats between the name calling and questionable hand gestures. Sometimes I feel I want to capture her like this. Completely relaxed now that all the food has been eaten and cleared away—except for the party food she insists we buy to have later at night if anyone’s hungry, but no one ever is. She smiles widely at everyone, that beautiful smile that brightens every room she enters, and she kisses Mary’s head every so often as if on instinct. Bright blue eyes catch me looking at her and her smile turns soft, secretive, just for me. I love this woman with all of my heart and in this moment, surrounded by everyone we love, playing games and enjoying each other’s company, having had three drinks more than I normally would, I’m feeling so thankful .

“Right,” Lisa declares loudly over the sound of her dad and uncle arguing over who won the last round. “That’s it, bedtime.”

Lucas and Oscar both whine and moan and beg for more time. Mandy’s little boy, Andrew is fast asleep on her lap and her daughter, Billie—a couple years older than Lucas—leans on her shoulder, yawning. Mary is wide awake, giggling at Luke as he pulls faces at her, and the twins were put to bed an hour ago.

“No more bedtime extensions,” I back my wife up—because I’m ready to be child-free for the evening. “Up you go, teeth cleaned, pyjamas on, and we’ll come up and say goodnight.”

“I think we’re going to head back to the hotel,” Mandy says, gently nudging Andrew awake.

“Yes, I think it’s time I get Pamela back,” Glenn looks to his wife with bemusement.

Pam is sat between Hen and Cami, the three of them have been talking and drinking and my best friend’s mother is smiling and laughing in a way I’ve never seen before. It’s disconcerting. The gin glaze in her eyes is a sure indication that she’s ready to head out.

The Partridge family all start gathering up their gifts and belongings to load into Glenn’s car for him to drive them home, they say goodbye with much more love than they’d greeted everyone. When Glen drives away, Jake and Nel are still here.

“Uh, you guys seem to have missed your ride,” I say with a frown as they stand staring at me in the hallway, like the creepy twins from The Shining . “What?”

“Where’s Lis?” Nel asks.

“Upstairs, putting the boys to bed,” I say with suspicion, hoisting Mary further up in my arms where she immediately starts grabbing at my cheeks.

“Dadadadada,” she garbles.

“That’s right, Mama’s putting your brothers to bed and then she’s coming back for you, you gotta sleep. ”

She slaps my cheeks and giggles. This girl’s a psycho. Footsteps have us all turning to the stairs to see two gorgeous legs on their way to meet us. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee cornered me, asking where you were.”

As Lisa comes to stand next to me, Nel and Jake with those conspiratory smiles again. They’re an annoyingly cute couple.

“We have another gift for you,” Nel says.

“You guys already gave us the theatre tickets,” Lisa complains.

“That’s why we said another gift,” Jake adds and Lisa and I both glare at him for his snarkiness, making him bite down on a laugh. He reaches into his pocket and hands over a small black card that looks like a credit card. I know it can’t be though, with all due respect to Jake, I make more money than him.

“What’s this?” Lisa asks taking the card.

“It’s the key to your hotel room,” Nel answers.

We both look up at them with wide eyes. “You what?”

“We spoke to reception and they agreed to clean the room even though it’s Christmas day—”

“Because Jake flirted with her.” Nel nods in agreement to her own statement.

“Baby, I told you I wasn’t flirting.”

“Mmhmm,” Nel hums an unconvinced agreement but the smirk on her lips tells me she isn’t all that bothered by my friend’s methods of persuasion.

“Anyway, they’ve cleaned our room out, we’re staying here tonight and you two should go and…” He waves his hand between us, lost for the word he’s looking for.

“Get busy,” Nel helpfully fills in for him.

There are a couple moments of silence as Lisa and I stare down at the golden ticket…I mean, black card. “But Mary,” Lisa says as I’m already handing off the little cherub to Nel.

“Mary loves us,” Jake says. “She will be just as happy with us feeding her tonight as she would with you. ”

Ouch. But true.

“I’ve got to do breakfast in the morning—”

“You’ll be in a hotel a whole five minutes away, in the morning you get up as you would normally and you just drive down the road,” Nel placates my panicking wife.

“Seriously, will you stop worrying and just go enjoy yourselves?” Jake rolls his eyes.

It’s the heat of the moment, the excitement at the best Christmas gift Jake’s ever given me. That’s why I grab my best-friend’s face in both hands and plant a kiss right on his lips.

Jake stares at me with horrified eyes. “That was awkward for everyone involved, dude.”

“I love you,” I tell him before grabbing Lisa’s hand and hauling her up the stairs.

“Harry, we can’t leave in the middle of Christmas!”

“Lis, it’s one night and the kids will be fine.” We get to our room, and I practically throw her in. “Pack an overnight bag, no pyjamas, but definitely that angel costume from the photos.”

For a second, I think she might argue again, but she smiles excitedly and rushes to the wardrobe to pull out an overnight bag. We rush around, throwing things in like eloping lovers too giddy on each other to care if we really need everything we’re packing. It takes all of three minutes before we’re opening the bedroom door again to find Nel and Jake with a now sleeping Mary waiting patiently the other side.

“She will probably only take half the bottle,” Lisa says even as I pull her along.

“We’re fine, Lis,” Nel assures her.

“Oh, and there’s a couple of spare onesies in the top drawer of the dresser if you need them.”

“You will be gone less than twelve hours.” Jake rolls his eyes. “Will you just go already?”

I do not need to be told twice, with the duffle in one hand, I throw my wife over the other shoulder and carry her down the stairs, ignoring the little yelped protest she gives me. There’s a car idling by the curb outside our house. The bearded driver gives us a friendly wave and I hop in the back.

“Your friends told me to take you to The Orchard Inn?”

“Yes please, and put your foot down, we’re in a hurry,” I say, making Lisa giggle.

There’s no one at reception when we get to the hotel, but that’s okay, we don’t need to check in. I lead my wife along the hall and into the lift up to the second floor, where our key unlocks the last door on the left. Throwing the duffle into the room, I slam the door closed behind Lisa and have her pinned against it in less than a second.

“Harry,” she gasps as my lips suction over the pulse point in her neck. I can smell her sweet berry and vanilla perfume, taste the saltiness of her skin, hear her needy little pants, and feel the way her body melts against mine.

When we were packing, Lisa divested herself of those pesky tights so now I’m able to stroke up her bare thigh and feel the silky softness of her skin. Her dress rides up as my hands continue to traverse up her slender legs to grip her hips, pressing myself into her, letting her feel my desperation for her.

“You feel that?”

“Mmhmm,” she whimpers.

“You feel how fucking hard I am for you?”

“Yes.”

Keeping her pinned with my hips, I pull her wrists from where she’s gripping the front of my shirt, and gather them above her head, holding them there in one of my hands. With the other, I tug her dress up until it’s gathered at her waist, her plain black cotton underwear is soaked where it covers her pussy and I trail a finger over the soft fabric.

“I’m fucking you tonight,” I tell her, and I feel her smile against my lips. “I’m giving us both what we’ve needed for too long, wife . I’m going to make this ache go away. You want that?”

“I want you, husband ,” she breathes, capturing my mouth and fucking her tongue against mine in a show of dominance I rarely see from Lisa. Oh, my wife is desperate for it.

“Are you ready for me, Lis?” I yank her underwear down until she’s able to kick them off. “Let’s just take the edge off, yeah? Let me fuck you real quick, then I’m going to worship you all night. You’re not going to sleep tonight, wife, and you’re going to feel me all day tomorrow. Sound good?”

“Oh god, yes” she groans.

Unbuckling my belt and undoing my trousers with one shaking hand is not the easiest of tasks but I manage. My chinos fall to the floor with a metallic clunk of my belt and I’m pulling myself out from my black Calvin’s. When the swollen head of my dick brushes against the front of her pussy, Lisa sucks in a loud breath, I pull her leg up, hooking her knee over my hip and lining myself up at her entrance. The first inch of me slips in and we both moan. Her wet heat is sucking me in, wanting more of me, but despite my earlier words, I don’t want to rush this. I don’t want to take for granted the sweet, sweet feeling of her tight cunt clamping down on me.

“Harry,” she begs. “More, please.”

“You know I love it when you beg me, Angel,” I strain out between clenched teeth.

“Please, husband, please fuck me. Hard. Fast. I want it. I need it.” She blinks up at me with those big, blue eyes.

Still, I hold steady. “What is it you need exactly, hmm? Give me the words, babe and I’ll give it to you.”

“Your cock,” she cries and that about does it.

I slam into her, lifting her until she’s balanced on just the toes of the foot still on the ground. Allowing myself only a moment for my head to fall back and a long groan to rumble from my throat, I tilt my head back down to look at her, keeping eye contact when I start to move. My mouth hovers over hers a mere inch between us, but I don’t move to kiss her, I just let our hot, panting breaths mingle in the small space.

She feels sublime, tight enough to feel like a fist around my cock, wet and silken. I feel her clench and contract over my length, her fists tighten above her head, all the while I lose myself in the depths of her blue irises.

“God, I’ve missed this. Missed you.” Her eyes close and I stop, buried as far in as I can be until she looks at me again. “Eyes on me, always.”

She nods, gasping when I pump my hips against hers once more. “Always,” she repeats like a mantra. “Always yours.”

“That’s fucking right.” I’m close, so close. Finally, I bend to kiss those soft lips, swiping my tongue against the seam and plunging inside. She whimpers and her hands struggle against my hold, her leg tightening around my waist as her inner walls squeeze me so tight I’m surprised I don’t blow straight away. I need her to come but my hands are all busy. Pressing in deep, I move my hips to give her the friction I know she’s craving.

“Oh god, Harry.” Her head falls back against the door, and she momentarily closes her eyes before remembering herself and catching my gaze.

“That’s it, Angel, come for me.”

And she does. Such a good fucking wife. With the pulsing heat enveloping my cock, I’m helpless to fight it off anymore and I come, hard. My forehead rests on hers as I paint her insides, breathing heavily against her wanting mouth.

“Kiss me,” she begs, and I couldn’t deny her if I wanted to. We kiss hotly but sweetly as I release her hands and lower her back to the ground so I can hold her beautiful face in my hands and feed her all the love I have. “That was—”

“A good start.” I smile against her, and she returns it, biting down on that plump bottom lip and nodding in agreement.

I bend and lift her by the back of both thighs, taking care to step out of my trousers that were still around my ankles, and head to the bathroom.