"Like I said to the guys, it's not like we can do much at this point anyway. Just take this opportunity to get some rest, yeah? Spend time with the family and all that shit."

I nod, even though Coach can't see me, sighing. I keep my eyes trained on the residential road and reply, "Yes, sir. I'll see you next week then."

"Yep. The missus is telling me to send our regards to your wife and kid."

"I'll do that, sir. Bye." I end the call, chuckling in amusement. Then I grin when my destination comes into view, the orange glow of the front porch light acting as a beacon home. I flick the blinker down before turning into the familiar driveway, maneuvering my truck to park behind Justine's silver SUV.

For a moment after turning the engine off, I take a second to myself, breathing in before slowly letting it all out. Our team just suffered a massive loss and I haven't seen my family in almost a month. At first, it was a conflict of bittersweet emotions, but now I just really want to cuddle my wife and give my daughter a kiss.

"Right. Let's see what's waiting for us," I mutter to myself as I unclipped the seat belt and reached for my duffle bag in the passenger's seat.

What was waiting for me, apparently, was Ava's tricycle in the middle of the walkway nearly making me fall flat on my ass.

"I haven't been gone long enough for her to want to kill me, have I?" I question the night sky. Of course, I received no answer so I continue on my merry way after setting Ava's deathtrap aside, of course.

I'm not keen on having a rematch in the morning. I barely won this time, after all.

Walking up the porch steps, I shift through my keys in search of the right one for the front door, but before I could find it, said front door swings open to reveal my wife and I freeze. She's wearing my favorite sleep shirt, the faded gray one that falls past her thighs and used to have our university's logo on it, and...nothing else. Her hair's also down, gathered over one shoulder while the shirt's neckline fell off the other side.

Justine's soft smile turns knowing when my gaze sweeps down to her bare legs and up again to meet her heated gaze.

I finally manage to move, stepping forward until our chests are all but touching. Justine exhales sharply. She doesn't budge, though, staying perfectly still even as she's forced to crane her neck to maintain eye contact, keeping her hand on the doorknob as I lean against the jamb and shift my duffle so it's out of the way.

For a moment, I just stare at her, at my wife, and I smile. I reach up to brush my fingers over the curve of her cheek and say, barely above a whisper, "Hi."

"Hi," she says back, leaning into my touch as her eyes flutter close for a second before she returns to pinning me in place with her gaze. "I thought for sure I'd be going to bed without you again."

"Is it really that late?" I ask, briefly consulting my wristwatch. 11:23 PM. "Huh, would you look at that? No wonder the little madam hasn't made her appearance yet."

"Oh, she didn't go down without a fight." Justine rolls her eyes, belying the fondness in her tone. "Trust me, she tried so hard to stay awake for you. She was very determined to be the first one to give daddy a hug."

"Honey, be honest with me," I laugh quietly, "did you lose another argument with our five-year-old."

She's quick to avoid my eyes. "I do not argue with our kid. Unlike you, I'm a mature adult. I tell her what to do, and she does it."

"Uh-huh." I nod, biting down on my tongue to stop myself from laughing and completely unconvinced. "Did you travel to another dimension where five-year-olds actually listen to their parents?"

I nudge her chin to look back to me, smiling when she does with a small pout. Mature my ass. "Well?" I prompt.

"Wouldn't you want to know?" she says, turning her nose up at me with a sniff.

"I would, actually," I tell her, laughing, finally breaching the small space between us as I drop my head into the crook of her neck and wrap my arms around her waist. I feel her own arms slide around my torso, settling a hand between my shoulder blades and the other at the back of my head where she runs her fingers through my hair.

I groan into her skin before I start to walk her backward into the foyer, kicking the door shut behind me and dropping my duffle to the floor.

Justine quickly shushes me. "You'll wake sleeping beauty up, then none of us are getting any sleep tonight."

I pull away from her neck, prepared to say something, but I pause and turn my eyes up to the ceiling, listening for the familiar patter of our daughter's running feet. When nothing but silence follows, I turn back to the woman in my arms and say, "Who said I'm letting you sleep?"

For a second, Justine stares at me blankly before she bursts into giggles. "Bold of you to assume I have more than one round in me. I'm so friggin' tired I can fall asleep right here right now."

I grin down at her. "Wanna bet?"

"Oh no," she says, shaking her head and poking a finger at my chest. "I'm not falling for that one again. Fool me once, mister. Plus, I came up with this melody on the piano earlier that I want you to listen to."

"Or," I reach down and wrap my fingers around her hand, pulling her arm just high enough for me to press my mouth to the inside of her wrist and say against the soft skin there, "we could use your conveniently soundproof music room for something else that could be...loud."

For a second, I seem to have won when I hear Justine's breath falter, but it's short lived. She snaps out of it with another shake of her head.

"Or you could use the conveniently large couch for the night."

I narrow my gaze at her, the smile dropping from my face. "You wouldn't dare."

She smiles, cheeky and tempting all at the same time before throwing my own words right back at me: "Wanna bet?"

"You bitch," I say with no heat. Indeed, I'm more reluctantly awed than anything else.

Justine laughs. "I love you, too, sweetie. Now, come."

I sigh, dragging my feet across the floor at the beckoning crook of her finger and following after her into the music room. Her music room, really, completely soundproof for late night melody inspirations or the occasional lover's spat. I hate fighting with my wife, but the room has helped keep our disputes from Ava and strictly between us.

I leave the door a crack open so we can keep an ear on the little tyke before sliding on the bench next to Justine as she plays a quick warm-up scale on her mini grand piano. Being the good husband that I am, I press one of the keys in front of me and grin as innocently as I can at my wife when she slants a disapproving look my way.

"I'm sorry," I say to her, leaning forward to nuzzle at her cheek.

"No you're not," she grumbled but leans in when I start to pepper kisses down her jaw.

I slide an arm around her waist to pull her closer to my side while I place my other hand on her bare leg, trailing my fingertips down the length of her thigh and back up again, stopping just short of slipping under the hem of my shirt. I tug at the clothing while tracing a line with my lips back up to the shell of her ear to whisper, "I want this shirt back now."

I feel her huff out a breath, hearing the fond exasperation in the action before she flicked my fingers away and reached down to pull the shirt over her head in one fluid motion. She hands me the shirt and I absentmindedly take it.

Pleasantly surprised that my wife had gone along, I can only appreciatively run my gaze down the expanse of bare skin that she has revealed to me. The matching blood-red lacy underwear set she had hidden under my shirt hides nothing from my imagination. I know every inch of her skin—have mapped every freckle and mark with my hands, lips, and tongue—but this is the game she wants to play, so I'll behave...for now.

"For me?" I ask when I return my eyes to hers, a small smile turning one side of my mouth up.

"Maybe," she cheekily replies, her own smile spelling nothing but trouble. The kind I like. "Now, hush and listen."

"Yes, ma'am," I say, dutifully doing as I'm told and not at all thinking of how I can easily bend my wife over the piano keys and have my way with her.

"You're not listening," Justine observes after a while, fingers still dancing across ivory and ebony without missing a beat. Or, at least, I think she's not missing a beat.

"I am listening," I reply with a tilt of my head. "But I'm also thinking that I could better take this in if I get hands-on experience."

Justine laughs. "Oh, really? How so?"

"Like this." I grin and stand, making my wife pause as she follows me with her gaze. Then she starts when I scoop her up into my arms, taking her former seat before settling her onto my lap. I wrap my arms around her waist and hook my chin over her shoulder so I could see the piano keys. "Just like this. Perfect."

"You are insufferable," she huffs.

I hum, pressing my lips to her shoulder. "Yes, but you love me."

"Unfortunately." Justine laughs before resuming where I had abruptly stopped her, the notes filling the silence. Then, she shifts in my lap, and I suppress a groan against her skin when her ass rubs against the growing erection in my pants. She doesn't even pause as she hooks a foot around my calf, sliding down until she locks her ankle around mine.

I smile.

Finally.

Slowly, as to not jostle her, I move my captured limb, spreading both our legs apart. Her breath hitches when I release one of my hand's hold around her to trail my fingers down her side then along the waistband of her panties. Still, she shows no sign of faltering, her own fingers remaining steady in their movements.

That won't do.

Without warning, I run my fingers down to the heat gathering in her core, briefly pressing against her swollen clit before settling on the dampness that's seeping through her panties. Her body jerks when I rub her slit through the lace of her underwear and I grin. She's quickly becoming wetter with each swipe.

Grinning to myself, I release my other hand from her waist to run my palm across the expanse her stomach and up to slip under her bra to fondle at one of her breasts. Justine drops her head back to fall against my shoulder, moaning when I pay special attention to her pebbled nipple and finally slipping up on a note, the dissonance standing out among the upbeat melody.

I tear my eyes away from watching Justine's own fingers scramble to correct her mistake and glance at her profile. Her eyes are heavy lidded, her cheeks flushed down to the tops of her breasts, and she's practically panting, but still, she's managed to continue playing. I press a smiling kiss to her neck, the only warning I give her before finally pushing her panties aside to slide my fingers between her wet folds.

Justine moans on a sigh as I suppress my groan against the crook of her neck, sucking marks into the skin there and biting down when she bucks her ass more firmly into my clothed erection.

Not yet.

I dip a finger into her opening and her hips snap forward, taking the digit in completely to the knuckle and finally, finally she stops playing the piano, the music cutting off abruptly to give way to my wife's sweet moan of pleasure.

"Good girl," I rasp into her ear, releasing her breast to wrap firmly around her neck and nudge her jaw to the side so I can capture her lips into a long overdue kiss.

I waste no time licking into her mouth as I add another finger into her pussy and she moans into the kiss. We find our rhythm pretty quickly as I pump my fingers into her wet heat and she rolls her hips back and forth in my lap. Forward to take my fingers in deeper and back to rub her ass against my swollen cock.

I pull away from her enticing lips, chuckling when Justine leans forward to chase, but I tighten my hold on her neck. She whines her discontent but her eyes flash rebelliously at me. I grin and add a third finger, teasing her clit with my thumb. "You're gonna have to ask for it."

If a look could kill, I'd be a dead man, but my wife knows the rules to my games. "Will you please just fuck me already."

I smile triumphantly. "As you wish."

In a single move, I manage to get Justine on her back across the piano bench, pulling her panties off and coaxing her legs to wrap loosely around my waist as I undo my pants.

As soon as my cock is freed, Justine licks her lips and sends me a look from beneath her lashes that promise nothing but a good time. My straining cock gives a twitch but I shake my head at her, gently nudging her hands away. "Later."

She nods, relaxing as much as she could on her bench and reaching up to grab hold of the edge when I tease her pussy with a slide of my dick between her wetness. She moans when I nudge her clit, the bundle of nerves glistening from my ministrations.

"Please," she whispers in the quiet. "Please..."

Groaning, I shift one of her legs to dangle over my shoulder before finally pushing in, ending the torturous wait as I bottomed out, falling forward until my nose is nearly brushing hers to stare into her closed eyes. I watch the pleasure on her face as I began to move, long and steady, studying every minute detail and savoring each expressionI could coax out of her. Then I began to pick up the pace, unable to keep up the game I set as my own carnal pleasure began to build up.

Our mutual moans replaced the earlier piano melody, and when I feel myself near the end, I reach down to where our bodies connect and circle the tight nub of nerves with a finger. Justine's hips jerk up, her back bowing off the bench as she reaches out with a hand to reel me in for a filthy kiss of tongue and teeth.

I nip at her lower lip as she cums, squeezing my cock almost painfully that I had to stop for a moment and keening high in the back of her throat as tears pool at the corners of her eyes.

She slumps back down and I press a chaste kiss to her lips before straightening back up to slam into her tantalizing heat over and over, thoroughly enjoying the view she presented beneath me—hair askew, skin flushed a pretty shade of pink, and mouth open to silent moans. I relentlessly chased after her over the edge, buried to the hilt and nearly boneless before falling forward to rest my cheek between the valley of her breasts.

Our quiet gasps for air fill the silence.

"Welcome home," Justine says a few quiet moments later, petting the back of my head while I nuzzle beneath her chin. "Love you."

"I love you, too," I reply, though it probably sounded like gibberish to her as I had tucked my face back in the crook of her neck.

I'll tell her properly later.