Naughty Before Christmas (Decadent Delight Series #3) (5 page)

They
were discussing the Christmas menu when she heard the side door open followed by the rush of chilled air that caused her to shiver. Berlin looked over her shoulder to find Reggie standing at the end of the counter. He was wearing nothing but black sweatpants and a matching hoodie, which he obviously hadn’t used to cover his head. There were snowflakes in his hair, making his chocolate skin look even darker and sexy. “Mom, Reggie just walked in.”

“Hi
Mom!” he called as he reached inside the refrigerator for a carton of orange juice.

She laughed softly.
“Tell my son I said hello.”

Berlin
moved her mouth away from the phone. “Mom said hello.”

“L
il’ Bit, I’ll let you two go,” she heard her say.

Still f
rowning, she replied, “Okay, Mom. I’ll call you later.” Berlin walked over and returned the receiver to its base then swung around with a hand propped at her thickening waist. “Reggie, why don’t you have on a jacket?”

“Last I checked my mama’s name was Hazel.” Reggie
winked then took a long swallow from the carton, even though he knew it annoyed the hell out of her.

Walking over to him, Berlin
brushed her hand across his cornrows, knocking snow and water to the floor. “Reggie, I’m not playing. Why were you outside without a coat and something on your head?” She gave him a hard glare as he took another swallow then lowered the carton to the counter. “It’s pneumonia weather out there.”

“
Babe, I told you. I can’t jog in a jacket.” Swooping in, he gathered her in his arms for a kiss that started with cold lips and quickly turned hot.

“Ewww, you’re all
wet!” Berlin cried and gently she pushed him away causing him to chuckle.

“My bad.” He stepped back and stripped off the
hoodie. “How’s that?” She noticed the way his t-shirt clung to his sculpted body. Damn, that man was fine.

“
Better,” she mumbled and had to clear her throat. “You want some coffee?”

“Nah, what I want is a
nother kiss.” He rested his hands on the counter, caging her in. The gesture brought his body within inches of hers.

“What you need is a shower
,” she replied with a sniff.

With light kisses, he traveled around to her lips. Berlin opened her mouth to protest
. “Reggie—”

“Shhh.” He then slipped his tongue inside and stifled
any further objections. With a moan, Berlin brought her arms up around his neck.

While Reggie deepened the kiss, his long fingers parted her bathrobe and skimmed
up her long legs, until his hands were resting at her ass. He drew her closer and buried his face in the soft velour bath robe.

Reggie’s tongue was hot and dominating, ripping the air from her lungs.
Shivers rippled through her. Berlin locked her arms around his waist and rocked into him, feeling the evidence of his arousal. Things quickly got out of control. The kiss deepened, tongues tangling, moving at a desperate pace. One would have thought they hadn’t seen each other in days. When he reached for the belt to her robe and unfastened it, the cool air instantly hardened her bare nipples.

Reggie pulled back and she swallowed hard as he stared down at her naked body.
His hand skimmed across her neck and down along her breasts causing her to flinch with every touch, and when he reached her swollen belly, the lust in his eyes turned to something so overwhelming and power, her breath caught, and then their eyes locked for a long intense moment.

“I love you,” he said.

“And I love you,” she replied.

“Now I
gotta taste you.”

He brought his hands around her waist and lifted her onto the
center island. She watched as he grabbed a barstool and brought it over and straddled it, bringing him right smack between her thighs.

Reggie
sprinkled kisses on the insides of her legs that were light as a feather yet sent shivers up her spine. Moans slipped from her lips and made her body weak. Berlin leaned back on the island resting on her elbows and watched her husband go to work.

Shoving the robe out of his way, he slipped his hands up under, cupping her ass and dragged her toward his mouth.

“Oh,” she whispered as he tickled her with his tongue, swiping across one inner thigh and then the other moving closer but still not close enough.

“You okay?” he asked like he didn’t already know the answer.

“I’m fine,” she said voice quivering.

“Good,” he replied then reached up and spread her damp folds, causing her to gasp. He started to lean in then paused and looked up at her. “Did I hear you say no?”

Berlin gave an impatient sigh
. “Reggie, quit playing,” she snapped. That man kept her sexually frustrated.

He chuckled, his warm breath causing her aroused kitty to meow. His lips were like a bowl of milk, barely within reach. Reggie took his time
, blowing on her clit and driving her mad before he finally gave her what her kitty-cat needed. To be stroked.

“Awww!”
Berlin cried as she jerked off the granite countertop.

Reggie st
roked, licked and flicked his tongue along her creamy folds. Berlin moaned, groaned and whimpered while she rocked her pelvis forward meeting his moves. When he slipped his tongue inside her kitty, she draped a leg over his shoulder and pumped her hips in a steady rhythm. He set the pace and she followed his lead that grew faster and heavier with each move. And when he caught her clit between his lips and sucked, her entire body stilled for a moment before her juices gushed into his mouth. “
Yesssss
!” she cried out in ecstasy. Before she even had a chance to get her breathing under control, Reggie rose, lowered his sweats and boxers then dragged her hips off the island and down onto the barstool.

Berlin
spread her legs as his dick plowed inside her wet core. He slipped in easily and she held onto his waist, keeping the two of them joined together. He pounded hard, sliding in and out, filling her over and over while he gazed down into her eyes. Then he finally groaned, dragging her hips higher and lifting her off the stool with the power of his orgasm.

“
Awwww
!” he growled. He pumped into her again and again. Berlin squeezed her vaginal walls, draining him of every drop until Reggie sighed and finally released his hold.

Smiling, Berlin slid up
right onto the stool then tilted her head as Reggie leaned in for a kiss. “Mmmm, that was better than breakfast,” she purred.

“Hell yeah,
although… right about now some pancakes would be great.” He kissed her again then yanked his clothes up over his thighs and hips.

“Coming right up,” Berlin said softly as she
lowered herself to the floor and pulled her robe tightly around her waist again. She made the mistake of meeting her husband’s gaze and immediately she felt heat blaze across her face, coloring her cheeks.

As she was moving toward the stove, Reggie swooped down and lifted her into his arms. “
On second thought, I can wait on breakfast. Right now we need a shower.” Draping her arms around his neck, she gave a soft laugh as he carried her up the stairs to their room. They took a shower together that lasted until long after the water ran cold then they moved back down to the kitchen and made breakfast together.

Berlin was making up the bed, when Reggie stepped into the
bedroom and turned on the television.

“
My mother called. She got a bill from the assessor’s office saying the taxes haven’t been paid.”

“
Aren’t they rolled up in their mortgage?” he asked without bothering to look up as he flicked through the channels.

“
Their house has been paid off for years. You know that.”

Reggie
frowned as he lowered onto his favorite recliner. “Oh damn! That’s right.”

Berlin reached for the decorative pillows on the chai
se lounge and spread them on the bed as she spoke. “They usually mail off a check at the beginning of November but Mom thinks Daddy forgot.” She finished making the bed as she explained. “Anyway I’m going to log on and check it out, and if not, I told her we would just pay the taxes. No point in upsetting Daddy. You know how confused he’s been lately.” She then added with a look of concern, “Mom really needs to talk to Dad’s physician about his behavior lately.” While visiting for Thanksgiving, Berlin noticed how often her father repeated the same thing and was looking for glasses that were already on his face. “My grandfather had dementia. Maybe Daddy is suffering from it as well.”

“
He could be. Umm, babe, I need to talk to you about something.”

Berlin
knew that tone anywhere and immediately she turned and looked at her husband. “What’s wrong?”

Before he could respond,
Reggie’s cell phone rang. She determined by the look on his face that it was a business call. While he talked, Berlin padded out the room and down the hallway that was covered with a blue wool runner. The walls were decorated with custom framed photographs of the two of them. Pushing the door open, she stepped into a small bedroom she had converted into an office. She slid behind her desk and quickly logged onto her computer. She needed to pay a few bills so she decided it was as good a time as any to log onto their joint accounts and make a few online payments. While she waited for the website to load, she placed a protective hand over her belly. Reggie’s mom was planning to spend the entire holiday with them and she was eagerly looking forward to helping Berlin shop for her first grandbaby.

S
he could hear Reggie still in the other room talking to someone about a bid he was submitting to renovate a daycare center in North County. During the winter, business was slow so any work was better than none at all.

Berlin
logged onto their checking account and noticed the balance was running low so she decided to do a transfer from their saving account. She clicked onto the link and what she saw made her scream. Springing from her chair, Berlin was ready to race down the hall when Reggie appeared at the door.

“
Babe! There’s money missing from our savings account!” she exclaimed.

“I know.”

The look in his eyes caused her body to still.

“
Boo,” Reggie began. “You know we’re always flipping houses, right?”

Her frown directed toward him was suspicious
.

“
Well, Dereon stumbled upon diamond in the rough and we all invested.”

Berlin
studied his face for several seconds before bringing a hand to her waist. “You didn’t.”

As he leaned against the doorframe, h
e gave her a sheepish grin. “I did.”

“
What is it that you did exactly?” Because she needed to hear it for herself.

Still holding her gaze
, Reggie replied, “Me and the boys all invested in this mini-mansion.”

She stared at him blankly for a moment and shook her head.
“How much?”

Reggie
hesitated then rattled off the exact amount missing from their savings account.

“
Reggie, that’s almost all of our savings! How could you do that before consulting me?”

Reggie
noticed the panic in her eyes and knew he needed to say something to reassure her.

“
It’s a great neighborhood in Chesterfield. I’m sure we can have the house renovated and ready to flip right around Christmas.”

She didn’t look at all convinced.
“But who buys a house during the holidays?”

Berlin
was right but he wasn’t going to admit it. “Boo, this house is worth every dime. I’m sure we’ll have it sold before spring.”

“
You said that about the last building you wanted to invest in and every month you have to call the tenant just to collect our rent.”

Oh
, he hated when she was right. The duplex was in a less than desirable neighborhood but it had been too cheap of a deal to pass up. Unfortunately, the people who occupied the units couldn’t seem to hold onto a job.

“
Babe, it’s gonna be okay,” he said although suddenly he was starting to feel that maybe he hadn’t made the smartest decision.

Berlin
blew out a long frustrated breath. “Reggie, you can’t keep investing into things without consulting me first. We’re a team and our savings is
our
savings.”

Thinking out
loud he said, “I guess like you buying that five hundred dollar purse last month.” That was a low blow and he knew it.

“
That’s no comparison, and you know it!” she snapped back. Angrily, she turned her head and without touching him, slipped out from around him and headed back to the master bedroom.

Reggie groaned.
He knew when he’d made the decision to invest in the property, Berlin was going to be angry but he had done it anyway. And it wasn’t the first time. Last year he’d bought a classic Mustang that he restored and sold for three times what he paid for it. He didn’t tell Berlin about that until it was already parked in the driveway. He could have gotten a loan but they had decided the first year of marriage to invest in themselves.