The office is too quiet today. My wife packed up our son from the on-site daycare and took him home a few hours earlier. Said she had some outside business to attend to, whatever that means. I frown in the direction of my office door, thinking about how a few years ago, I hated any form of disruption here at work. This place was cut-throat, but ever since Alice and Juniper came along, our culture has changed as much as our client base. Hell, I just signed a damn approval for a holiday party at the indoor trampoline park.
Juniper’s idea, of course. Right before she leaves us for the judge’s robes. I should be happier for her. Our profits have increased and we all seem to enjoy our jobs a little more. This is why we need her. I'm thrilled for Juniper as my sister-in-law. She's going to kick ass in this election and make a fair judge. I'm damn proud to have her in the family.
But as her boss? I'm going to be screwed. I'm losing an amazing lawyer. She's helped me diversify and build my empire here at Stag Law. At least I still have my wife working here, keeping me sane. And fed. My stomach rumbles and I realize I missed lunch today. If Alice had been here, she would have come and found me. Made sure I tasted whatever she was making.
I hired her as the corporate chef here at Stag Law, but I had no idea she would transform my entire life. I used to think I only lusted after her, that once I slept with Alice she’d stop driving me to distraction. But actually, Alice taught me how to trust. How to let someone love me. Now, I can’t think straight when she’s not around.
I can count on one hand the number of times I've left work before 5, but I'm not getting anything done here and I'm just making myself grouchy. I decide to go home and find Alice. I stop by my assistant's desk on my way out the door. Donna raises an eyebrow at me and says, "You don't have any outside meetings on your schedule today. What's up, Timber?"
"Donna," I say, rapping her desk. "I'm going home early today."
Her mouth hangs open for a second, and then she shakes her head and pulls herself together. "I'll have a briefing on your desk for your key cases and clients in the morning."
“Thanks, Donna.” I pause. “You should go home early, too. I can do the briefing from home.” She smiles and shakes her head at me as I take the elevator to the parking garage.
I realize Alice has left me without a car, so I call up a ride. This shit makes me nervous. I hate letting other people drive me around. My mother was killed in a car accident, and while Alice is helping me work on letting go of my tendency to control everyone, I'm pretty stuck on needing to control the steering wheel, especially with my family on board. I pull up my case notes on my phone to take my mind off the driver.
There’s a note from Ty’s agent—coach is concerned Ty has lost his edge. I wonder what’s going on there. I think about calling him to take my mind off this ride, but we pull up to my house just as I finish reading my email.
I can see my front door is hanging open even though it's freezing outside. I also hear a ruckus in the house, so I know Alice's sister Amy is over with her 3 boys. I exhale deeply, wondering if they've shoved Petey down the laundry chute again or flushed my best neck ties down the toilet.
My home life used to be a lot more orderly, too. I have to remind myself how miserable I was with my tidy corners and clean countertops. But shit, do all these kids have to leave the door hanging open?
I close the door behind me and try to yell out that I'm home early, but the boys are shrieking and running up and down the stairs. "Ouch!" Something hits me in the neck. I hear my nephews cackling and see that it's just a foam bullet from a toy gun. Little snots. I walk toward the kitchen rubbing my neck, and I freeze in my tracks when I see my wife.
Her back is toward me and she's holding her wild, curly hair to the side. Her sister Amy is leaning close to check out something on Alice's back. I can see the skin is red and raised. I walk closer as Amy meets my eye. She smiles and I peer down. My wife has a tattoo.
I touch the warm skin of the fresh tattoo and Alice yelps. She turns around in my arms and her huge, violet eyes look up into mine. "Damn it. It was supposed to be a surprise."
My wife got the Stag family tattoo on her shoulder blade. I'm speechless, touched. I just never considered that she'd want to be part of that with me and my brothers. “Alice,” I breathe. “I’m definitely surprised. Can I see it again?"
She nods and turns around. When I see that she added a baby deer to the image, I am so overcome that I have to grab the counter to steady myself. Alice bites her lip and looks at me, eyes wide. "Tim, you have to say something. You're glowering."
"I'm…not glowering, Alice." I run my fingers through her hair. "I'm just so happy you did this."
"Really?" she asks, licking her lower lip now. Fuck, if she keeps doing that I'm going to have to go back outside and stand in the cold air until my dick calms down. "You like it, Mr. Stag?"
I nod and she extends up on tip-toes to give me a kiss. "Good," she says, picking up her sweater from the counter. "I was going to do this whole big thing and show you, make you dinner. Since when do you ever come home early?"
Petey zooms by in pursuit of his cousins, and I snatch him up into my arms. "It was too quiet at work," I say, nuzzling his curly hair with my nose.
Amy explains that her role in this plan was to take Petey over to her house until bedtime, and I raise my eyebrows as Amy whistles “Santa Baby” and starts gathering up the boys. Alice shoves a huge container of lasagna into Amy's arms and helps with the assembly line of coats and sneakers. They're gone in a whirlwind before I can even process Amy's mischievous wink. When I turn around, Alice has disappeared.
"Babe? Where'd you go?"
"Come and find me, Mr. Stag," she yells, and then she giggles. I loosen my tie as I climb up the stairs.
Our bedroom door is ajar. "Is my grandma home, or did you send her away, too--" My words catch in my throat when I see Alice fully nude, on hands and knees on our bed.
"Come here," she says, looking over her shoulder. Her wild curls fall over the tattoo and her round ass points up, begging me to massage it. So I do. "This is how you were supposed to find me," she says, "and then I was going to ask you to kiss my back." I comply, planting a row of kisses up and down her spine, just like she likes. Soft and gentle.
"Then what," I ask, licking a line down to the curve of her hip, peppering kisses along the silvery stretch marks from where her belly stretched growing Petey. I love tracing the fine lines on her body, the reminders that she grew our baby, forever altered our lives by making this beautiful combination of both of us. Her body changed forever to give me my son, and I fucking love that. I keep licking and kissing, massaging her ass just how she likes.
Alice moans softly in appreciation and tells me, "You were supposed to gather up my hair like you always do, and then you were supposed to notice my tattoo, and say, 'What have you done, Mrs. Stag?'"
Once I do as she asks, I can't control myself anymore. I'm so overcome. My dick is like steel, bursting to get out of my suit pants. I've got her mass of curls twisted in one fist and I hastily unfasten my pants with the other. My cock springs out, begging to be inside her. I reach down between my wife's legs and find her slick with wanting. She sighs as I massage her folds and I lean forward to kiss her shoulder where the skin is still slightly pink around the edges of the tattoo. I line myself up and thrust. When I ease inside her, I whisper into her ear, "You're mine, Alice Stag. And I’m yours."
I move slowly in and out, savoring the feel of her body. My hands are everywhere, massaging Alice's peachy skin while she practically purrs. I love making her feel good. I love how she takes me out of that anxious space in my head, keeps me present in the moment. Suddenly, I need to see her face, and I pull out, flipping her over. Alice squeaks and giggles and nuzzles my nose with hers as she wraps her short legs as far around me as she can. "Come back inside me, Tim," she says. "I need you."
I capture her mouth in a kiss and she reaches down to guide me back home. Our eyes meet and I can feel her pleasure building. I know I won't last much longer. This is too intense to draw out, but I have to get her there first. "Alice," I gasp. "Come for me, baby." She nods as I reach between us, rubbing her clit how I know she needs it. I increase my pressure and slow my rolling fingertips until I feel her start to pulse around me.
"Oh god, Tim! Fuck, yes. I'm coming!" Alice's hips roll into me, drawing me in deeper. I swell inside her and, locked in her violet gaze, I lose myself. I spill inside Alice and, just like the very first time, I am lost to her. Amazed at what she and I can do together.
"Alice, god, I need you so much," I say when I can talk again.
"I'm not going anywhere." She wraps her arms around me and kisses me until my heart slows.
A bit later, Alice gets up to take a shower and finish the special dinner she promised she was making me before Petey comes home. I hear her singing to herself as she moves through the house and I stretch back on the bed, arms behind my head. It's still so strange to me to feel content. For so many years, I held my breath. On edge, worried all the time about keeping my family safe. I still have a family to protect, but Alice is really helping me see that I don't have to do it all on my own.
I'm about to nod off when I hear my phone buzzing from somewhere. At one point, I had kicked off my pants and I look around the mess of blankets until I find it, Thatcher's face coming up on the screen. He usually doesn't call--Thatcher's more of a text guy. "What's up, brother?"
"Tim!" he gasps, sounding panicked. "I don't know what to do."
I sit up and start to get dressed, flying into action mode when I hear the concern in my brother's voice. "Ok, I’ll help you. Thatch--what happened?"
"It's Emma," he gasps. "We're in the emergency room."
I'm walking to the car before he gets the sentence out. I mouth "Emma's in the hospital" to Alice, kissing her cheek. She clicks off the burner on the stove and pulls out her phone to call her sister.
"Hang on, Tim. I'm coming with you." As soon as she says it, I'm relieved. Alice always knows how to talk to Thatcher, reassure him. Together, we head to the hospital.