Ribbons Not Included Read Online Free Page A

Clause is Coming to Town played on my cell phone, letting me know I had ten minutes till he arrived. Pressing my palm against my tummy, I tried to soothe the fluttering sensation. I hadn’t felt like that since the first time I had sex.
    Sitting on the edge of the couch, I finished off my Baileys. With my hands leaving a permanent imprint on my midsection, I waited, poured a new drink, finished it, and waited some more.
    He was late, and the camera was recording. What if it ran out of juice before we were done? What if he was still mad at me?
    We hadn’t talked about the baby since the morning after our amazing marathon, but we hadn’t made love either. In a massive expression for my conviction to our marriage, I’d thrown away the ovulation test. If we were meant to have a baby, we would. The doctor had said everything was okay and that we should enjoy the process.
    But, how the hell was I not supposed to worry? We’d been together for ten years and there had never been a false alarm. We’d been trying for months, and still nothing. Covering my face, I allowed myself a single whining sigh. I had to trust in us and what we had, otherwise nothing would be right. Ally was correct; bringing a child into a strained marriage was not healthy. I had to focus on strengthening my relationship with Christian before I considered any thing else.
    He was over an hour late, and he wasn’t answering his phone. I carefully unwrapped the box with the camera, changed out the battery, angled it so the lens was clear of the cardboard and paper, set it on standby, rewrapped the darn thing, and placed the remote control on the table. Since I blew out the majority of the candles, I programmed the tree lights on a steady illumination rather than flashing, and hoped between the tree lights and the candles in the glass jars there would be enough lighting to capture us on tape.
    The news was on, so I pulled a throw over my shoulders and lay on the couch.
    When the jingle indicating the end of the program woke me, Christian was sitting in the red chair by the tree, a towel wrapped around his middle, grinning at me.
    “You’re so beautiful when you sleep,” he said, tucking a tendril of hair behind my ear. “When we started living together, I used to watch you for hours.”
    “No, that’s impossible.” I sat up and took a watered down sip of Baileys. “How could you have been watching me, if I was watching you?”
    His laughter warmed my chilled bones, reminding me how much I loved the man before me. He held out his arms and I walked into them, sitting on his lap. Every Christmas Eve, at midnight, we opened a special present we had for each other. It was just after eleven-thirty, so I still had time to prepare his gift.
    “I made sugar cookies. Can I get you some?” I snuggled against him and kissed the side of his neck. Freshly shaven, he smelled clean and spicy. Our plans must have coincided, for the twinkle in his eyes was brighter than the tree lights.
    “I have all the sugar I need right here,” he said, lowering his head and capturing my lips. His tongue gently caressed my mouth, stoking my desire and heating every cell in my body.
    “Love the new baby doll,” he said, lifting the see-thru fly away material which was separated down my middle. “Very festive.”
    “It’s red. Your favorite color.”
    His lips trailed down my neck, around my collar bone and directly to my chest. Taking my nipple into his mouth, his tongue twirled over the sheer material, raising my excitement and making my pussy ache for his touch.
    But, it was time to make his present. I’d done a lot of research on male sexual fantasies and one thing that topped all the lists was them receiving oral sex. With his face still against my chest, I reached for the remote control and turned the camera on, then looked at it and licked my lips like I was parched.
    Christian pulled the satin ribbon holding together my lingerie and the material fell to either side of