A Love Like This (30 page)

When Christmas Eve rolled around, I was
jumping out of my skin to get home to her. She wasn’t expecting me,
so I’d screwed myself out of whatever meal she would have made if
she’d known I was coming, but I didn’t care. She worked hard and
deserved to relax as much as I did.

The subway was crowded with people jostling
packages as they made their way through the turnstiles and onto the
trains. It was interesting to watch them and listen to the
conversations of those near me, the expressions ranging from
contented joy to weary skepticism. The movement of the train on the
tracks and the many conversations was loud. A black woman was
sitting across from me, her arm wrapped around a little boy about
five or six. He was noticing my scrub pants beneath my parka, and
when his eyes met mine, he shyly hid his face in his mother’s
side.

I smiled at the woman and she nodded in the
boy’s direction with a chuckle. “He’s shy now, but when we get
home, whoo-eee! Beneath that sweet face? He’s a terror to
behold.”

My lips quirked. “But not tonight, though,
right?” I directed my comment to the boy. He peeked out from his
mother’s side with one eye. “Santa Claus is coming.”

He nodded and regarded me more openly. “You
a doctor?” he asked bravely.

“I am. My name’s Ryan. What’s yours?” I held
out my hand to shake his.

“Christopher.” His dark eyes darted to his
mother, and when she nodded her approval, he placed his little hand
in mine.

“Nice to meet you, Christopher.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Ryan.” He shook my
hand hard, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at his serious
expression, like he was trying to be so grown up. “Do you have
kids?”

“Not yet, but I’d like to.”

After that, he lost his shyness and spent
the remainder of the trip next to me telling me about what he
wanted from Santa and firing a hundred questions about the hospital
and my job. His eyes lit up with exuberance up when he described a
remote-control helicopter that he wanted. I glanced at his mom, and
she nodded imperceptibly to the affirmative.
Santa
was going
to deliver as hoped. The trip flew by and I found myself hoping I’d
encounter them again. When I was about to leave, I shook his hand
again.

“If I get sick, can you fix me?” Christopher
asked.

“It would be my honor, Christopher.” I
patted the side of his cheek and told his mother the name of the
hospital seconds before the train was pulling to a stop at my
station. “Merry Christmas!”

Minutes later, I was rushing the last few
blocks to our apartment building. It was snowing lightly. I felt
great; excited to surprise Julia and anxious to give her the gifts.
It didn’t matter that we weren’t having a huge Christmas, I was
happy as hell. The only thing that could have made it better was
seeing some of my family, but on the other hand, it was nice having
this first Christmas as a married couple alone.

I didn’t bother sneaking in, and burst
loudly through the door, startling Julia in the kitchen. The
apartment smelled wonderful, all ginger and some sort of roasting
meat. The clatter of something dropping in the stainless steel sink
interrupted White Christmas playing on the stereo.

“Ryan! You scared the crap out of me!”

I shrugged out of my coat and rushed to her,
gathering her close. She had some sort of light green glop
splattered on her face and in her hair. Her eyes were wide as I
licked at a spot of the stuff on her cheek. It was sweet and hinted
slightly of almonds.

“Yum,” I said devilishly before my head
swooped and I took her mouth in a deep kiss. She was still and
slightly stiff in my arms, frozen by the shock of seeing me,
holding tight to a wooden spoon filled with more green stuff. She
relaxed instantly, her lips parting and coming alive with mine. I
alternated between hard kisses and light teasing ones, enjoying the
luxury of taking my time.

“As much as I want to,” she said between
kisses. “I can’t stand here and make out. I’m in the middle of
something,” she protested, less than convincingly. A bright smile
split her face. “What are you doing home?”

I held her in the circle of my arms,
unwilling to let her go. Her green eyes sparkled up at me and her
cheeks were flushed nicely. “I begged to have part of the evening
off to surprise you. You look beautiful.” My eyes roamed over her
face and landed on another big glop of the frosting in her hair. I
smiled down at her and squeezed her ass playfully. “Merry
Christmas.”

Julia giggled and hugged me back. I glanced
over my shoulder, looking for the spoon and wondering if she was
going to do something mean with it. “Don’t even think about it,” I
snorted.

She moved out of my arms reluctantly. “Come
sit in here with me while I finish. Unless you’d like to take a
shower?”

I went behind her, sliding an arm under hers
so I could stick my finger in the bowl and get more of the sweet
stuff. “I’ll shower later,” I mumbled, putting my laden finger in
my mouth. “It tastes like almonds, so why is it green?”

“Duh! It’s Christmas, right?” she scoffed,
glancing up with a smile. “I wanted to try something different. The
frosting has almond paste and I used a little Amaretto in the
simple syrup. I’m doing a slight variation on Red Velvet. Too bad
my dad’s not here,” she said with a sigh. “He’d love this.”

I sat down on the stool nearest her and
watched her deftly slice the two deep red cake layers into four and
pile the frosting between them. “Yeah. Have you talked to your
parents tonight?” I watched her work to finish the cake, my hand
reached out to rub up and down her back.

Julia shook her head, and a lock of hair
fell forward from behind here ear. “Not yet. It’s early there. I
have plenty of time to call, and I wanted to wait for you. Mom,
especially, will want to talk to her
son
.”

I huffed softly, a half-smile lifting my
lips slightly. “It’s really great that they’re back together. You
could have gone home, you know. Just because my schedule is
merciless, it’s no reason for you to miss your family.”

She frowned and shook her head, not
bothering to look up from finishing the cake.

“You know I’d never leave on our first
Christmas.” Julia’s expression was wistful as she set the finished
cake aside.

“But… it’s not our first Christmas,” I
voiced her thoughts aloud.

Julia turned toward me and laced her arms
around my neck. I pulled her closer between my knees and pushed the
hair back from her face, my fingers lingering in the soft
strands.

“Right, it isn’t, but we’re married, and I
wouldn’t think of leaving you on any Christmas.” Her eyes were soft
and full of love. “Got it?”

I nodded and kissed her temple. Her skin was
warm, the scent of her shampoo and her skin filled my nostrils.
“Yes, ma’am.” Her arms tightened and I allowed myself to just enjoy
holding her. “I’m sorry for all the shit with Jane.” I felt it
needed to be said but wondered if this was the right time.

Julia’s arms tightened and her lips found
the pulse at the base of my neck. I kissed the side of her face and
then the top of her head. No other words about the subject were
necessary. “When do I get my present?”

Instantly, she pulled back, her face full of
amused skepticism, her eyebrow shooting up. “Have you been snooping
under the tree, Matthews?”

I shook my head, my lips flattening
together. “Who… What? Me?” I grinned, and she shoved my shoulder
with her hand and moved away from me to open the oven. My stomach
grumbled.

“Yes,
you
. You’re worse than a
kid.”

I moved up behind her to look into the pan.
It was a perfectly roasted beef tenderloin covered with some sort
of herby crust and sitting in about an inch of dark au jus. “That
looks amazing. I thought I’d show up unannounced and be faced with
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

She lifted the beautiful roast onto a wooden
cutting board, leaving it to rest. I started to pick at it, but she
tapped the top of my knuckles with the metal tongs in her right
hand.

“Hey!” I protested, pulling the stinging
appendage back.

“I made this for the coming week. I will be
busy with the last minute details of the gala and I don’t want you
to starve. I have several meals planned with the leftovers;
stroganoff, barbeque sandwiches…” she paused and looked at me,
waving the tongs around. “What will you survive on if I let you eat
it all tonight?” Her voice was teasing.

“I can’t have any of it?” I wrapped my arms
around her from behind, blocking her from removing the potatoes
from the oven. I moved the curtain of her hair to one side and
nibbled on the cord of her neck. “Not even a little taste?” I
smiled when she arched to allow more access to the skin I was
kissing.

“Not until I finish the sauce. Open the
wine, please.” I ran my hands up and down her arms, not really
wanting to stop touching her, but went to do her bidding.

Dinner was delicious. Julia made some sort
of sauce with shallots, cognac and butter that oozed in rich
goodness over the meat and the roasted potatoes were amazing. I
wasn’t a fan of spinach, but she did a quick sauté of some sort,
and I had to admit, even that was delicious.

I was finishing a second helping of the
beef. “So speaking of the gala… will Turner be there?”

Julia gave an amused snort. “Of course, do
you really need to ask? We’ll have a feature in the February issue,
so he’ll be taking pictures most of the evening. Why? Are you
missing him?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, yes, definitely.
Can’t wait,” I said dryly.

“He’s really turned out to be a good guy,
Ryan. You and Mike should be friends.”

“Sure. I’d make time for a dude that’s seen
my wife almost naked, if I can work him in between the patients.
Oh, wait, I’m already busy using those five minutes to make love to
my wife. Sooorrrryyy, Turner!” I lifted my shoulders in an
over-exaggerated shrug.

Julia removed my plate and took it along
with hers to the kitchen, as I reached for the cabernet to refill
our glasses. “You’re impossible,” she muttered. “Maybe we could
introduce him to Jane, now that she’s unattached.”

I paused, mulling it over. She wasn’t
interested at all in Caleb, despite his crush on her. Maybe she’d
be more receptive to someone flashier like Turner. I didn’t comment
because I thought the subject of Jane was taboo and was surprised
that Julia would mention her.

“Come here,” I called. Julia came to me and
straddled my lap, her arms slid around my neck and her feet dangled
on either side of my legs. I smiled wide as she wiggled on my
lap.

“Time for dessert,” she giggled. I pulled
her hips flush with mine and wrapped my arms around her in a tight
hug, turning my face into the curve between her shoulder and
neck.

“You feel really good,” I murmured, letting
my hands lightly roam the contours of her hips and up her back. I
stared into her face. She was glancing down, then lazily lifted her
eyes to meet mine in a hooded gaze and all of the amusement
vanished. Her teeth came out to bite her lower lip and she rubbed
against me; my body sprang to life. My nose grazed the side of her
face and I opened my lips over the fine bone in her cheek. “I can’t
even touch you without getting hard.” I pulled her flush again and
could feel her heat radiating through our clothes.

“I miss you… and hard works well for me
right now,” she whispered. I covered her mouth with a groan,
letting my tongue dive in to taste her sweetness. I pressed her
groin to mine, one hand behind her hips and one sliding up the
center of her back to cup the back of her head under her hair.
Julia responded by sucking on my tongue and rocking her hips into
mine. My dick throbbed and pressed against her, seeking something
to relieve the ache.

It felt like we were two kids in high school
making out at the kitchen table between algebra and social studies
homework, both of us trying to communicate all the frantic urgency
we were feeling through our hands and mouths, and grinding of our
hips. We took turns giving and receiving, something we’d become
masters of. When I sucked on her top lip, she sucked gently on my
bottom one. My heart rate increased, and I could feel Julia’s pulse
push against the soft skin at her throat. It didn’t take long, and
we were both panting. I sat up straighter and cradled both sides of
her face in my hands. I didn’t even care if we had sex. I just
wanted to keep kissing her for hours.

A few minutes later, Julia lifted her head
to rest her forehead against mine, her breathing coming in soft,
rapid pants. My mouth wandered along her jaw. “Is this my present?
Because I love it.”

“You know there’s another one. It’s not
much. It was hard not buying you something big.”

I pulled back then and looked up into her
face. “This,” I wrapped both of my hands around her butt cheeks and
squeezed, “is my big present.” Her eyes widened, and I laughed.
“That’s
not
what I meant. Your ass is perfect. Perfect fit
for my hands. See?” I squeezed again, and Julia’s expression
softened into a smile but mine sobered. She was so beautiful in the
soft glow illuminated from the combination of the fire, candles,
and the tree. “I meant just being with you,” I said seriously. “How
about a game of Truth or Dare, later?”

“Why not now?” Julia asked before her mouth
closed hotly over mine. She writhed against me again, and our
kisses grew more heated. When her tongue swirled around mine in a
passionate dance and she moved on me with practiced rhythm she knew
drove me mad, I thought I’d come right there. I smoothed back her
hair with both hands, my thumbs coming to tilt her mouth up so I
could kiss her more deeply.

The doorman buzzed into the apartment and
broke into our bubble. We were both startled, and Julia jumped in
my arms. I let out a low groan in protest. “It’s probably something
from my folks. But the timing blows.”