Understood (Unspoken #1)(13)

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“No,” Ellie said shaking her head. “That one’s not quite right either.”

Jake shook his head in exasperation and set aside yet another tree. He dug around for a moment before pulling out another. He stood it up and slowly rotated it around for her to see.

“How’s this?”

She drew her eyebrows together in thought. It wasn’t bad. No large holes. And the symmetry was good. She was a freak about symmetry. It was tall without being too tall, and it looked fresh and green.

“I like it.”

Jake cocked an eyebrow. “You sure? Because we can keep looking.”

She smiled at his patience. They’d been looking for an hour, and he’d been a good sport as she refused tree after tree.

“No, that one’s perfect, I think.”

He hoisted the tree up over his shoulder and headed for the cashier stationed outside the home improvement store in the lawn and garden section. He leaned it against the register and then dug around in his back pocket for his wallet. He flipped the cashier his credit card then looked back at Ellie.

“Wait here and I’ll pull the truck around.”

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Jake let out a grunt as he righted the tree, the stand firmly affixed to the base. Ellie stood back and stared intently.

“Is it straight?” he asked.

She nodded when he looked to her for confirmation. They’d gotten the tree through her front door. Barely. Jake had set it up in the far corner, and she had to admit, she was glad she’d gotten it now. She couldn’t wait to see it all aglow with the tiny white lights they’d bought.

“I like it when you smile.”

She blinked and looked up to see Jake staring at her.

“I didn’t realize I was,” she said sheepishly.

He grinned. “Okay, hand me the boring ass lights and I’ll get them strung.”

“They are not boring,” she protested as she reached for one of the boxes.

“They’re white. And white. Oh, and white,” he grumbled. “No fun at all.”

“You’re still stuck back in your childhood,” she teased.

“When it comes to Christmas, everyone should be a kid.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Sometimes being an adult hurt too much.

She took one end of the lights as Jake began unraveling them from the box. “Let me guess. When you were a child you had lots of colored, blinking lights.”

“Damn right.”

She giggled.

Thirty minutes later, her tree was aglow with over nine hundred lights. She stood back to admire their work and realized how much she’d missed the look and feel of Christmas. She’d been so determined not to observe the holiday, not to remember.

“You like it?” Jake asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, I do. Thanks for making me get one. It makes me happy.”

“I want very much to make you happy,” he said softly.

She cocked her head to stare sideways at him, but he looked straight ahead at the tree. He reached up to hang one of the wooden ornaments they’d purchased as if he’d never uttered such a provocative statement.

An hour later, they stood back to admire their work. A glimmer of delight rushed over Ellie as she took in the brightly decorated tree. It did make her happy. She felt lighter than she had in a long time.

Jake slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “I’m starved. You wore me out. When are you going to feed me?”

She looked up into his eyes, her stomach doing a series of flip flops at what she saw there. “What would you like?”

“Now that’s a loaded question,” he drawled. He checked his watch. “It’s too late to go out and get anything, and to be honest, what I’m most hungry for is you.”

She swallowed as her ni**les hardened. “I could fix us something. Or you could just…”

“Fuck it,” he growled as he swung her into his arms. “We’ll eat later.”

He hauled her toward the bedroom and dumped her onto the bed. His hands went to his jeans, and her gaze fastened greedily on the area he was about to expose. She licked her lips.

“Goddamn, woman. Stop that or I’ll never get my damn jeans off.”

“Need some help?” she asked innocently.

He crooked his finger at her in answer.

She slid off the bed and sauntered over to where he stood. He let his hands fall to his sides as she reached for the zipper. His c**k strained and bulged against her fingers as she worked the zipper down.

Finally she reached in and gently drew out his erection. As she palmed the rigid shaft, he yanked at the waist of his jeans until they slid the rest of the way down his legs.

Not waiting to see if he’d take over, she sank to her knees until his c**k was but an inch from her lips. She placed her hands on the front of his thighs and slowly took him in her mouth.

He uttered a low groan, and his hips jerked spasmodically as he thrust forward. She loved that she gave him so much pleasure. It gave her power in a way she’d never enjoyed before.

She closed her eyes and let her lips and tongue glide over the smooth head. Fluid spilled on her tongue, and she moaned in reaction.

“You’re killing me, sweetheart. I swear you make the sweetest sounds.”

He tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her closer. His hips worked back and forth, driving deeper into her mouth. Finally he pulled away, his chest heaving with exertion.