A McLendon Christmas (McLendon Family 2) Read online

  by D.L. Roan

  Copyright © D.L. Roan

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Description

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Description

  Grab another box of tissues and join Gabby and her three favorite cowboys at Falcon Ridge for a special Christmas holiday. Meet the newest tiny members of the McLendon family, and laugh out loud at Grey in the delivery room. Catch up with all your favorite characters from DL’s ‘McLendon Family Saga’, and get a sneak peek at all the fun and excitement in store for their future.

  HEAT WARNING: Contains three sexy cowboys who are still very much in love with their wife, love making love with her—together—and spare no details when doing so...every chance they get. Grey still has a dirty mouth, but thanks to Gabby’s efforts, tries to keep it clean in front of the children. It doesn’t always happen. Recommended for adult readers only.

  Author Note: A McLendon Christmas is not a standalone novel. The Heart of Falcon Ridge should be read first to fully appreciate the McLendons’ Christmas story.

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  More Books by D.L. Roan

  Survivors’ Justice Series

  (Grant and Thalia’s Story)

  A McLendon Christmas Copyright © D.L. Roan, 2015

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior written permission of the author and publisher.

  Published by D.L. Roan. First eBook edition, November 2015

  Previously Published as Second Christmas 2014

  www.dlroan.com

  All characters, events, and locations in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, dead or living, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover Design by D.L. Roan

  Interior eBook Design by D.L. Roan

  Photo contributor HotDamnStock.com

  Editing by Julie Roberts

  Chapter One

  Mason pressed his foot a little harder against the gas pedal as the freeway stretched out in front of him. The new trucks Grey had bought for the ranch ran a lot smoother and faster than the old ones they’d scrapped, but they still weren’t fast enough for him. Not tonight.

  Raising and training cattle horses was a big chunk of the McLendon income, but breeding was where the real money was. Every few months he’d ride down to Billings to check out the stock auctions for any new blood that might have potential. That was how he’d found Magic, their prize roan stallion. That big guy was about to make the McLendons a hell of a lot of dough.

  Unfortunately there hadn’t been much to look at this go round, but if he were honest, the last few trips hadn’t really been about buying horses anyways. He’d spent the last month in knots waiting for tonight. The closer he got to the hotel downtown, the more his stomach tightened. It had been a while since he’d felt this kind of excitement. Not since his last trip down before Gabby had the twins. That was months ago and his body was strung tight with need.

  Thirty minutes later Mason walked, freshly showered and shaved, into the lounge near the hotel lobby. A higher class establishment, the room had the feel of a refined martini or jazz bar, rather than a hotel lounge; decked out in dark hardwoods and shadowed in soft lighting. Someone played a string of soft notes on the piano in the corner as Mason stood at the door and took it all in. It sure as heck wasn’t the Rusty Saddle back in Grassland, with its two-for-one drafts and busy pool tables, that was for sure.

  His weary eyes scanned the room, his heart ker-thumping to a grinding halt when they snagged on the singular reason he was there. His body reacted instantly, his breath seizing in his lungs as it did every time he laid eyes on her. God help him. It felt like an eternity since he’d seen her. His chest ached, his stomach tightened in time with his groin. What was he thinking wearing those damn tight jeans? He wasn’t thinking about wearing them. Not at all. That was his problem. All he could think about was shucking them off and rolling around naked with the woman who sat before him, sipping idly on her drink.

  As if sensing him standing behind her, she turned in her seat at the bar. Her searching eyes softened the moment she picked him out of the small crowd that had gathered at the door, and she waved him over. His feet answered her call without a moment’s hesitation. Sure, he could have stopped, could have said no, but why would he? This was what he wanted; what he needed. He’d dreamed about this very moment for months.

  “Hi, stranger.” Her familiar honeyed voice floated into Mason’s ears as he approached. The first twinge of nervous energy bled into his excitement, creating an arid desert inside his mouth. It had been so long since he’d done this, he wasn’t sure where to begin.

  “Hi.” His voice suddenly sounded ridiculous. It certainly hadn’t matched the seductive tone he was aiming for. “Wanna dance?” He didn’t know why he asked. All he really wanted to do was get her upstairs and get her naked.

  The excitement in her eyes mixed with a little bit of gratitude as she smiled and nodded. Maybe she was feeling a bit nervous too. He took her offered hand and led her to a small alcove carved out near the piano, where two other couples were lost in the slow melody that played around them.

  His next breath seemed trapped in his chest as she turned in his arms and his hands found her curvy hips. Instinct, or maybe it was old habit, had him pulling her closer. She giggled and the sound traveled along his spine straight to his balls. Mason knew then he would never be free of the hold this woman still had on him.

  “Marriage looks good on you,” she said. Mason swallowed, hard. She tilted her head back to look up at him. Her long hair tickled his fingers, taunting his memory of how soft and silky it felt against his rough skin.

  “Thanks,” he choked out, staring up at the ceiling. He knew better than to look directly at her. He’d be a goner the second he looked into those hypnotizing eyes. The same eyes that could make a man’s soul cry out for mercy.

  “Does she know you’re here?”

  “What?” What kind of question was that? He did it. Mason glanced down and found her staring up at him like he was her entire world. The same look he’d craved for so long, he didn’t think he’d survive to make tonight a reality. The playful gleam in her eye calmed the nervousness he’d felt earlier as he caught the point of her question and they fell into their familiar, comfortable rhythm. “I don’t want to talk about her.”

  “Fair enough,” She nodded, her hands tucking deep into the back pockets of his blue jeans. A strangled growl clawed its way up his throat as she clenched his ass and ground herself against his hips. “What do you want to talk about?”

  The grip he had on his control was tenuous at best. It threatened to snap altogether at her teasing tone. She could play all the games she wanted next time, but he’d waited too damn long to get her alone in his arms to exercise this kind of restraint. His hands fisted into her hair, holding her head at the perfect angle to taste the bit of salt on her neck as he spoke against her heated skin. “I didn’t come here to talk,” he said. Damn, she smelled as good as she
felt. His tongue snaked out and flicked at her delicate earlobe before he pulled it between his lips and gave it a long hard suck. She tasted even better.

  “Mason?”

  “Yes,” he hissed, squeezing his eyes closed as her fingers clenched harder into his ass. If he didn’t get this woman to his room soon he was going to bust a nut.

  “I didn’t come here to dance.” Her breath panted out in hot puffs against his chest, his thin shirt soaking up the heat like a sponge.

  He pulled back, tilting her head to make her look into his eyes. Lust. Hot flames of molten lust flicked at his resolve like one of his riding crops, leaving behind a delicious sting of desire. The heavy weight of too much time and unsatisfied longing was too much to bear. Mason crushed his lips to hers. Her tongue met his in a hungry kiss and her familiar taste burst over his taste buds like a fourth of July fireworks show. The room around them disappeared. The piano was silent. The only sounds that could be heard were those of their desperate breaths and the beating of his heart against his eardrums. For a few split seconds only the feel of her in his arms existed.

  “Room. Now,” Mason ordered. Ripping himself away from her, he tugged her from the bar towards the bank of elevators. The doors opened automatically and he rushed her inside, pushing the button for the correct floor before he hiked her knee over his hip and crushed her against the corner.

  “No,” she said and swatted at his hands. “Let me.” She sunk to the floor and wrenched open his fly.

  “Damn.” Mason’s cock sprang free, hot and heavy. He fed the hard length to her an inch at a time, her hungry moans reminding him of why he craved her; why he craved this.

  The elevator slowed to a stop at his floor. He tried to pull out and button up, but her hands grasped his ass and held him in place. The doors opened. A quick glance over his shoulder showed an empty hallway and no threat of discovery. Her hand joined in with her mouth in that way that had always made him crazy. “Oh hell.” The feel of her mouth, hot and hungry, felt too good to ask her to stop. She’d even remembered that little hook thing she did with her tongue that always made him want more. His whole body rocked with the rhythm she found. The doors closed and Mason slapped at the button for the top floor. A few more seconds with her mouth on him wouldn’t hurt. Thanks to his excellent negotiation skills with his brothers, they had all weekend to play.

  The elevator stopped again, and again Mason pressed another button, this time for his floor. They’d already pushed their luck far enough. Getting caught would mean getting kicked out. While he had the weekend with her, he knew all too well that time would fly and he’d be headed home soon. He wanted to spend every minute he could inside her, not looking for another hotel room during convention season.

  “Mmmph.” Mason guided her up to her feet and crushed his mouth to hers. Their mouths clashed and parted several times as they stumbled to the room. He fished the plastic key card from his front pocket then pulled her into another kiss, aiming blindly for the slot with the card. Lost in her taste, he wasn’t sure how many tries it took, but eventually he heard a beep and the door handle gave beneath his palm.

  “God, I’ve missed you.” Hands, frenzied and demanding, groped and pulled at his clothes. His were just as desperate to feel her.

  “I’ve tried not to need you,” he said, toeing off his boots as he finally shucked his too-tight jeans. He was only able to pull one leg free before she pushed him onto the bed and straddled his hips.

  “I need you to need me.” Her mouth was on his again, demanding his desire. She flexed and canted her hips, pushing the limits of his control, making his cock ache so hard for her heat it left him breathless.

  “I need to be inside you.” After weeks of waiting he was beyond starving. He was desperate. His hand worked between them, moving her lace panties aside until he found the spot he knew would make her burn.

  “Oh!” She pressed harder against him, trapping his hand between them. “I won’t last long.”

  “Neither will I, sweetheart.” He rolled her beneath him, tugging her panties down her legs before he crawled between her thighs. He wanted those gorgeous legs wrapped high around his waist when he finally sunk deep inside her.

  He pumped his hips a few times, relishing the feel of her slick heat. Before he pushed inside, she cradled his face in her palms and pulled him nose to nose, lips to lips. Her dark chocolate eyes drew him in. There was so much love there. Love he still couldn’t believe was meant for him. He almost lost it, before a loving smile pulled at her lips and she winked at him.

  “Make love to me, Mr. McLendon.”

  “Yes ma’am, Mrs. McLendon.”

  Chapter Two

  A full moon’s light filtered like fairy dust into the upstairs nursery, giving Gabby just enough light to see the love in Grey’s dreamy eyes as he stared down at the fussy infant in his arms. Daddy’s little girl.

  Danielle Grace McLendon; born at exactly two-twenty-three in the morning, four months and eight days ago. Two minutes before her twin brother, Jonah Stephan. Love, pride and a sense of belonging that still seemed so foreign all knotted together inside Gabby’s chest every time she thought of that day. One of her hands was drawn to the place they’d once rested inside her, caressing the bump that stubbornly lingered, as the other stifled her sleepy yawn.

  Her pregnancy had been largely uneventful. She’d had some problems with her blood pressure early on, but everything seemed to level out during her second trimester. By thirty-five weeks she was as huge as a hot air balloon, with three husbands who constantly hovered. She would admit, she loved their hovering; except for Grey. Grey made her a nervous wreck.

  When she reached thirty-six weeks—who knew a week could go by so slowly—Gabby’s doctor gave her and the twins a clean bill of health and told her to try to keep as active as possible. Grey was fit to be tied. Overnight his anxiety level ratcheted up from a bit spastic and overprotective to psycho-reactive nuclear levels. Given what had happened with their first wife, Grey wanted her wrapped in bubble wrap, encased in cotton and strapped down to their bed with every vital sign on around-the-clock surveillance. He’d been impossible!

  Within an hour Gabby found herself in a vacuum devoid of all sharp objects and anything that resembled a laborious task. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out their game. They never asked her not to do something. They simply took away her choices by leaving her nothing to do. Absolutely nothing.

  At five every morning, Matt made the coffee and started the prior day’s laundry before he left to start his work on the ranch. School was out for summer break, so Mason would wake Car and Con and get them dressed before she woke. He cooked breakfast and took them out to work with him in the corrals. Sometimes Matt would take them on his run into town, but they liked helping Mason with the horses. They weren’t old enough to work around the breeding stock yet, but they were riding on their own now and able to help Mason with some of the training and exercising.

  Grey was the last to rise and the last to bed. He’d do the breakfast dishes and finish the laundry Mason had started, along with whatever else needed cleaning, leaving her to sleep in until her bladder would nearly burst. Most of the time Con and Car’s room was cleaned and their beds were made by the time she walked past their door in the morning. For that she was truly grateful. Those two were like twin tornadoes without a warning siren.

  Whatever time it happened to be when she waddled down the stairs into the kitchen, Grey would prepare her breakfast then retire to his office, where he conducted the day-to-day ranch business until lunch. He’d fix her whatever she was in the mood for with a glass of apple juice, and then hover until he knew she’d finished it before rushing off to clean something else. If she hadn’t known his true motives she’d have guessed he had a terminal case of nesting syndrome.

  Since Matt’s job on the ranch had more physical demands, most days Grey and Mason would flip a coin to see who made dinner and who got to clean up. Bedtime was the only time Matt got wit
h Con and Car most days, so he would get them bathed and tucked into bed. There was nothing left for her to do and, truthfully, she’d been too exhausted to argue.

  For the last week and a half of her pregnancy Gabby had been completely managed and bored out of her ever-loving mind. Now, a little more than four months later, she took a deep breath and fingered the locket that lay against her heart encapsulating the picture of her growing family. If she’d known what lay ahead, she would have appreciated those days a lot more.

  Gabby knew by the sound of Dani’s escalating fussiness that she was on the cusp of an all-out scream. She was hungry again. Only a couple of hours had passed since Jonah had gone to sleep. Knowing he would wake every bit as hungry as Dani, Gabby abandoned the rare serenity of the moment and walked to Grey’s side to comfort her daughter.

  “Let me take her. You need to sleep.”

  At the sound of her whispered voice Grey turned his head and caught her with eyes so intense her knees nearly buckled. One corner of his mouth turned up into his signature proud papa smile. He placed her in Gabby’s arms then gathered them both into his. “I love you so damn much.”

  Gabby’s eyes closed in a sense of awe as Dani suckled against her breast. Grey placed a loving kiss to her forehead then another on Dani’s. “It’s almost time for Matt to wake up. I’ll go start the coffee for him.”

  Gabby nodded with a yawn and settled into the rocker by the window as Dani consumed her usual four a.m. breakfast. What she wouldn’t give for one of those pre-two-sets-of-twins mornings to sleep in. She was flirting with a quick nap when Matt tiptoed into the nursery. Freshly showered and shaved, he leaned down to give her lips a kiss, but she turned her head and offered her cheek instead. She’d been so tired the night before she’d forgotten to brush her teeth until after she’d crawled into their bed. Once tucked in between Mason and Grey there was no way she was getting back up just for that.