Christmas from Hell

“Where are we going?” she asked, once he climbed into the truck and threw their stuff in back.

“New Hampshire,” he said with a firm nod that really didn’t tell her all that much except apparently that he’d lost his goddamn mind, because there was just no way that she was going to drive to New Hampshire tonight of all nights.

Not just because it was Christmas Eve, but it was also snowing pretty badly out, but apparently he was oblivious to the dangers of given into the voices in his head at this moment.

“There’s a blizzard going on right now,” she said, gesturing towards all that large fluffy snow falling down around them.

His eyes narrowed accusingly on the snow before turning on her, which she might add was a little creepy. “This truck has four wheel drive.”

“Yeah,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt and threw her door open, “and I’m sure that will make the collision super fun, but I’m all set.”

“Where the hell are you going now?” he demanded, jumping out of the truck and followed her.

“To bed in a locked room while you search for your medicine that you so desperately need,” she snapped back as she made her way towards the door in what would have been a really great departing scene if it hadn’t been for one slight little problem.

Her inability to walk and talk at the same time, especially when ice was involved.

*-*-*-*

“No, seriously put me down!” the woman that he loved and adored demanded as he chivalrously carried her inside the small cottage.

“As soon as I get you to the bedroom where I can check on that knee,” he said when really, it should have been more than obvious what he was doing especially since his cute little jinx had taken a header in the snow, scraping up her knee in the process.

“Or,” she said, giving him a super sweet smile that didn’t bode well for his precious balls that loved her so much, “you can put me down right now so that I can hobble my way to the bedroom and safety.”

He shook his head. “Nope, sorry. No hobbling for you.”

“I want to hobble, damn it! So put me down!” she bit out dangerously.

“Sorry,” he said, pausing long enough to kiss the tip of her nose, “but there will be no hobbling for you, sweetheart.”

“I want to hobble!”

“Not happening!”

“Put me down, sir, so that I may hobble to safety!” she snapped, making him chuckle, because she really was so fucking cute.

Fuck cute, she was incredibly sexy, he corrected a moment later when she reached up a few seconds later, threaded her fingers through his hair, pulled him down for a kiss that had him stumbling to stop, looking for the closest surface and cursing when he suddenly found the tables turned on him.

Chapter 36

“Okay, fire boy, start talking,” Necie said, just barely holding back the urge to do a victory dance.

Not only had she escaped his, admittedly loose hold, but she’d also managed to distract him long enough so that she could tie him to the chair where he would be staying until she got all of her answers.

Duncan sighed heavily as she heard the unmistakable sound of a rip. “Fire boy?” he asked, cocking a brow as he shook his head in disgust.

“Well,” she said, defensively as she stood there trying not to put too much weight on her right leg since her knee still sort of stung, “it’s fitting.”

“Uh huh,” he said with another one of those long-suffering sighs that the men in his family seemed to love so much as he shook off the tape, stood up and scooped her up in his arms.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, wishing that she’d been able to find something better than that damn painter’s tape that he’d been using.

“We already talked about this,” he said, heading towards the bedroom.

“And I’ve already vocalized my wish to hobble there, sir.”

“Let the fucking hobbling go,” he said with exasperation as he carried her into the room they’d been using and dropped her ass in the middle of the bed.

Before she could get up and hobble away, he pointed at her and said firmly, “Stay.”

She would have jumped up and hobbled away on principle, but a couple of things stopped her, her knee really stung now and there was no where to hobble to thanks to the snowstorm. So, instead she laid there, pouting, glaring, she wasn’t really sure which one she was doing and she really didn’t give a damn, as she sat there with her arms crossed firmly over her chest and waited for him to finish tending to her wounds so that she could kick him out until he stopped playing these damn mind games with her anymore.

So, when he came back with that emergency kit that he seemed to love so much, she just lay there and pointedly looked away while he inspected her knee. After a moment he apparently decided that he couldn’t clean her wound with her pants on, so she stubbornly sat there while he pulled her pants, socks and shoes off.

“I really hope our children don’t get your sense of balance,” he said with a boyish smile and chuckle as he cleaned her wound, taking her by surprise.

“I’m sorry, what’s this now?” she asked, sure that she’d misheard him.

“Our kids,” he said with a shrug like it was no big deal. “I’m kind of hoping for two boys and two girls, but I’d pretty much be happy with ten kids if that’s what you wanted.”

“Umm…,” was the only rational response that she could come up with at that point.

“Danny and Jodi are moving out. They wanted a smaller, one level house to help keep the twins in line so I’m buying the house off Trevor and Uncle Jared. Once we get home you can decorate the house however you see fit, but I think we should put the nursery next to our room to make things easier,” he continued to explain while she sat there, staring at him, terrified that he’d lost his damn mind even as her lower lip started to tremble.