“Can we light the fireplace, even though it’s not that cold tonight?” she asked as he shuffled her out of the room after one last kiss on the baby’s head and one more long kiss for Jared. “I feel bad for leaving him.”
Kendry kissed her cheek. “Don’t feel bad. Even mamas need attention and time alone. Whit’s in great hands.”
“Do I need to pack—”
“We have an extra toothbrush. You don’t need to bring anything.”
She removed the sling and put her coat back on and followed him out of the cottage. “I feel naked, or like I forgot something.”
He squeezed her cool hand in his grasp. “You’re an all or nothing girl sometimes, you know that?”
“I am?”
“Yes. You think if Whit is not with you or his caregiver he’s being neglected, like you’re not supposed to spare any time just for yourself. And if you do, then you must be a bad mother.”
“I’ve got to keep a handle on my responsibilities. If I let my guard down—if I let things slide…”
“You’re afraid you’ll fall back into old patterns?”
Her silence spoke volumes. He knew from past discussions that she hated the person she’d been prior to Whit coming into her life. She couldn’t see past the black and white of the good mother-bad mother myth to accept that there was room for her to care for herself and have a private life as well. He and Jared were determined to change that. The fact that he’d saved all the cardboard boxes from her move in the garage to hopefully be used very soon testified to that hope.
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m not grateful.”
Kendry held the back door open for her and then kept her moving toward the bedroom. “I know, and I don’t want you to think that I don’t understand how you feel. I don’t want you to feel guilty…I want you to feel good.” The fact that she was genuinely concerned about the issue told him she was a good mother.
She smiled at him as he tugged her into the bathroom and her concerns were silenced as he pulled his sweater over his head. He grinned when he caught her ogling him in the mirror. “Maybe I should’ve taken my shirt off sooner.” He turned the handle on the tub faucet and reached for the glass jar of lavender and eucalyptus bath salts he’d purchased when they’d gone Christmas shopping for her and Whit.
As the herbal scents flooded the steamy air he listened to her breath in and caught the shakiness in her inhalation. Sitting on the edge of the big tub, he reached for her and waited. The tension and fatigue still rolled off of her.
With a tender smile on her face, Presley Ann came to him and cupped his cheeks. “You are really something special, you know that, Kendry McCulloch?”
His cock swelled as he pulled her against him and nuzzled her breast bone. Her scent invaded his nostrils and he nudged aside the overlapping V-neck of her blouse to press his lips against her silky, abundant flesh hidden beneath. She trembled beneath his lips and he looked up at her. “Come into the tub with me.”
She slipped her shoes off and reached for the hem on her top but he stayed her hands and removed it for her. He rubbed his lips against her lace-covered breasts as he slid the elastic waist of her long knit skirt and the shaping garment she wore beneath it down, past her hips. With a chuckle, he removed the hand she tried to slide over the stretch marks on her abdomen and kissed her soft flesh before nibbling at her hip. Her fingernails grazed his scalp as she slid them through his hair, and he growled softly as she teased gooseflesh and shivers to ripple down his spine. No other woman had ever made him feel the way she did. In no hurry, he eased her clothing past her knees and helped her to step from them before sliding his callused palms up the backs of her legs. She let out a needy, shaky whimper, and he chuckled when he felt the goose bumps travel over her skin as well.
He slipped her panties down her legs, his mouth watering as the sensual, earthy fragrance of her arousal filled his head. The temperature of the room seemed to rise as she gripped his shoulders. “You make me shake all over.”
“Good. The feeling’s mutual.”
Her hair was a platinum halo around her head as he looked up at her while unhooking the clasp of her bra. He released the plackets at her back but didn’t rush to reveal all her bounty, drawing the moment out as she watched his face. Her skin was like satin under his palms as he traced them over her shoulder blades, gathering the straps of her bra and drawing them from her shoulders. Her sweet scent carried in the garment as it slid down her arms, and he closed his eyes as he kissed the underside of one breast and then the other, loving the firm, silky weight of her flesh against his lips.