Vivian Arend - Turn It Up

She had to finish. Had to make it clear she wasn’t just dropping platitudes in a flush of excitement. “There is nothing I want more than to have you and this little one in my life, and whatever else our family becomes. But it starts with you.”

He didn’t speak for a second, but she felt the brush of his lashes against her skin, wet with emotion. “I love you so much.”

They sat and stared at the miracle in her arms while the miracle in her heart finished its magic.

“Are you serious? A blindfold?” He stared at it with suspicion.

“Hey, I’m the boss of this. You want your surprise, you wear the blindfold.”

Max shrugged. He stopped en route to kiss Samantha who lay sleeping in her bassinette. He grabbed the baby monitor, clicked it on and stuck it in his back pocket. “Fine, but there’s something about closing my eyes that makes me very nervous.”

“Hmm, you like it when I ask you to close your eyes.” The lusty sound in Tasha’s voice infused a little extra life into his groin, but he was too tired to follow up right now. Maybe when Sam started sleeping better—hopefully before she turned twenty.

Thinking back over the past weeks made Max grin. While Samantha’s early appearance had been unexpected, her dramatic entrance had ushered in only the start of the celebration.

Tasha loved him. She’d accepted his love, and turned around and poured herself back into him ten-fold. It was like she couldn’t stop saying it, or showing it. The woman he’d fallen in love with so long ago had not only arrived, she’d arrived in style and was a willing participant in every single moment they spent together.

The wait for her to come to terms with her past had been tortuous, but she seemed to be making up for lost time. The intelligent, funny and caring woman he’d always seen had an extra twist to her smile when she looked at him these days, and he planned to enjoy it.

Especially if it involved blindfolds.

He let Tasha lead him through the house, the floor plan automatically scrolling through his mind. “If you plan to toss me off the back deck, aim me in the direction of the compost pile. That would be a soft place to rest.”

“Do we need to get a dog so you can have a doghouse to sleep in?” she teased.

He slipped the hand that rested on her shoulder lower until it covered her breast. “I’d much rather sleep with you. Even if all we do right now is sleep.” What he wouldn’t give for a solid eight hours. At seven weeks, Samantha was a good baby, but she still had her days and nights mixed up.

Tasha twisted under his hands, rotating in a circle. He brought his other arm up to embrace her, savoring the fullness of her breasts, lowering his grip as she continued to turn. He smoothed his palms over her slimming waist and firm ass. He enjoyed touching her body, but even better was having her playful and flirty again. Last week they’d made love for the first time since Sam’s arrival, and other than going slow at first, Tasha had been fully online.

“I have no idea what you’re doing, but it’s totally working for me.”

She laughed. “I planned on spinning you in circles to get you disorientated, but maybe a little distraction will work just as well. You know where we are in the house?”

“Who cares?” He caught her against him, cupping her butt firmly and dragging her up his body. Perhaps he wasn’t too tired after all. Warm, soft lips met his, and he shuffled backward until he felt something solid against his back. One twirl placed her between his body and the wall as he ravished her mouth.

Okay, he was definitely not too tired anymore. The constant rhythm of Samantha’s breathing sounded through the baby monitor and while she slept, he wanted to play.

Tasha scratched his back and bit his lower lip, sucking it into her mouth hard before releasing it with a smack of her own lips.

“Hmm, this is fun, but it’s not what I had in mind.”

She wiggled and Max reluctantly lowered her feet to the floor. “Rain check?”

Her fingers threaded through his as she tugged him forward again. “Definitely. And can we talk about your tendency to pin me against walls? I’m not sure when you picked up the habit…”

He could picture the smirk on her face. The tone of her voice revealed her amusement, and her delight in being with him.

There was no doubt anymore. They were in love—they were both in love—and it was so good. That cloud hovering over them had dissipated and while he imagined they would still have their struggles, right now things were pretty damn perfect.

Well, nothing that a good night’s sleep wouldn’t fix, anyway.

She pulled him to a stop and pressed against him, the swells of her breasts brushing his chest as she kissed him quickly, then undid the blindfold. She stepped aside and he swore softly.

“The secret room? You’re finally letting me look in the secret room?” The off-limits area had been driving him nuts since the midway point of the construction project. He had no idea what the space was to be used for, and any teasing attempts on his part to find out had been waved off.

“It’s time. You ready?”

She twisted the knob and pushed the door open, letting him enter first.

It was an office. Natural light poured in, but the computer desk sat in such a way to allow a monitor to be easily visible. Shelving and storage lined one wall, a comfy chair—one of his favorites from back at the cottage before they’d moved in together—tucked into the corner of the space with a small coffee table next to it.

The desk itself was larger than the foldout table he’d been using in the makeshift space he’d set up back at the apartment. Way roomier than the corner he currently had his things wedged into in the office he was sharing with Tasha, one door farther down the hall. There was more than enough room here for all his monitors and screens, but for now, the only thing resting on the smooth surface was a picture they’d taken of the three of them—Samantha in Tasha’s arms, him holding them both.

“It’s beautiful, Tasha.” He paused. “Is it for me?”

“Of course it is.” She grinned at him.

Minx . “You had me believing we were going to keep sharing office space, or that I was going to have to find another spot in the house to work.”

“I thought the suggestion for you to work at the kitchen island was my best—you know, so you could do all the cooking as well as your designing.”

Max stepped up to the window and peered out. The space they’d set aside to build a playhouse for Samantha was directly in his line of vision. He turned back to Tasha. “I love it. It’s perfect, but where did you get my chair? I thought we’d gotten rid of it when I moved in with you.”

She grinned. “Remember I went to go see your Gramma the day I went into labor? I was sure she’d taken some of your things, and I wanted her to save that chair for me.”

He laughed. “You’re kidding. That’s the big secret reason you went over there? You’re a nut.”

“I guess the nesting instinct hits me harder than most.”

Two steps brought her back in his arms. “It means a ton that you arranged this for me.”

She slipped against him tight, burying herself against his chest. “I wanted a way to prove to you that I…want you around. All the time. That you belong in my life.” Her voice skipped for a second, and he lifted her chin, surprised to see tears in her eyes.

“Tasha?”

“It’s okay, it’s just that…” She wiped her eyes quickly. “There’s more to our relationship than being friends. Or being lovers. I understand better now that it’s going to take work, even if everything goes well.”