Son of Krampus (Holidays of Love)

by Ellen Mint

  “Good,” she spat out like a great debate occurred just below her skin. Fishing into her purse, she extracted a pile of bills and what looked like two basketball tickets. Before stepping away from the overpaid bill, Nadire snatched up her wineglass and downed it in one throw.

  Wait. She couldn’t possibly mean for them to… Again? After their arguing and bickering, not to mention the threats against his family. His own father. Why would he even wish to bed her? After all, she was a…

  Warm, tender skin slid down his forearm, delicate fingers cinching between his. Gulping, Emeric turned into her pools of light—Nadire’s eyes bouncing back and forth as if she was trying to read his thoughts. As if it both unnerved and thrilled her that she couldn’t.

  “Engel,” Emeric murmured, dropping to her lips for another kiss. The sparkle of the wine faded to a taste of rich spices bottled with lightning. Holding her cheek, Emeric tilted her head, her lips parting as he licked the tip of his tongue over hers.

  “Where is it?” Nadire whispered into his mouth.

  “It’s at…” he began to tell her the address, but she kissed him harder, silencing his words.

  “Just think it.” She chuckled, both her hands locking around his. With a gleam in her eye, she turned to take a step towards the door.

  “Very well, but I suspect I will have to tell a driver…” was as far as Emeric got before his body imploded into a fall of snowflakes.

  CHAPTER NINE

  A SINGLE FLAT snowflake whipped on a wind traveling at the speed of the light. That was all the sense Emeric had, a chill coating his body in frost as he tumbled without a tether through the nothing. A great pressure grew along his side and instinctively he pressed a foot to the ground.

  Rather than fall through the void, it landed against the Persian rug beside a dead fireplace. Gobsmacked, Emeric found the mantle of his rented house. Two sets of sooty footprints stood upon the rug, his gaze swinging over to whoever held his hand.

  “What was…?” Emeric began when Nadire enveloped his face in her hands. She pulled him to her famished lips, kisses erupting against not only his slack mouth but down his throat.

  As she brushed her bottom lip through the looming five-o’-clock shadow on his chin, she said, “No talking.”

  “Just…?” He tried to stare into her captivating eyes, but they were shadowed in the near dark living room of some too wealthy businessman.

  The daughter of Saint Nicholas, the growing thorn in his side, the woman that boiled his blood circled her hands around his chest. She seemed to weigh the same thoughts as he did. How foolish it was to give in to this primal lust. It was forgivable when they didn’t know who the other was, but now?

  “Yes,” Nadire whispered, her hand cupping up his arm. “Just this.”

  Emeric raised his hands from her satiny waist to those breasts that taunted him the entire night. When the tips of his fingers danced in her fiery cleavage, Nadire’s mouth parted, her pant rolling down his throat. She shifted on her heels, her hands finding their way to excise his shirt from its industrial tuck.

  Even as she squirmed in his grip, her lower belly bouncing into his hips as if she knew precisely what she was exciting, Nadire quickly undid every button. “Oh sweet lord,” Emeric gasped. Her burning palm flush to the naked skin of his chest ignited the oil in his veins.

  A smirk played about those lips still sporting most of her crimson stain. Slowly, she drew her hand downward, her fingertips casting ripples through his body. Emeric tossed his head back, trying to funnel air and common sense into a body quickly slipping beyond his grasp.

  He needn’t check to know he was at full attention in his trousers. It happened the moment her lips pressed to his, and he wondered if it could even deflate in her presence. Certainly not while she was drawing her palm towards his fly. His hands were filled with her breasts, Nadire’s skin flushing from the joy radiating out of the touch, but she had him fully under her control.

  At the sound of his zipper tugging apart, Emeric shook off the humming trumpets in his head. Ripping away the sentinel of chivalry inside his soul, he gripped his hands to her ass and hauled her into the air. Nadire’s hand fell off his fly, his pants barely tugged to his hips as he carried her through the living room. Not far, though he could handle the strain on his arms. It was the one in his pants that had both his concerns and attention.

  She laughed as her body flew through the air, her naked legs gliding around his waist. Tender lips brushed against his forehead, trying to find his mouth, but Emeric was dead set on his path. At a sturdy end table, he swiped off the priceless lamp not caring when it bounded against the floor with an ominous crack.

  Placing her upon the now empty tabletop, Emeric stole the kiss this time. His palm cupped her cheek as his tongue entwined with hers. The feel of her arm tugging up and back drew his eyes to find her trying to unzip her dress.

  “Wait,” he spoke, breaking their rule. Those candle flames burned at him, but she froze in her undressing. Emeric’s palm grazed her risen elbow and began to fall to her wrist. As he circled his fingers around it, easily plucking her hand away from the zipper, he whispered, “Keep it on.”

  “Okay,” she said, her lips parted, her eyes staring at where his fingers touched her wrist. Emeric placed her hand down, letting her resume control. From the periphery, he watched her other arm rise as if to pull him flush to her lips, but he had other plans.

  Emeric took a knee.

  “Are you…?” Nadire sputtered, her thighs parting as her body realized what he wanted. It was always nice to be invited in.

  Starting at the carpet, Emeric cupped his palms to the back of her heels. The rubber tips snagged on the rough calluses and cuts, but as he began to trail his fingers higher, the soft shape of her shoe and her silky skin eased the pain. At her ankles, he reversed course, dragging his palms down the outside of her calves, then up at the inside.

  “Shh,” he whispered, caressing her knees and canvasing her outer thighs. The dress’s sharp crinoline hung above, hiding away the silky skin he ached to nibble on. To scrape his claws over. To cover in petal-soft kisses and knead with his palms.

  Glancing into her eyes, watching the anticipation burn over her face, Emeric wrapped his fingers around the thin band of her panties and tugged. A gasp rolled from Nadire, her legs rising to give them passage to the man rooting around under her dress. As they slipped to her knees, Emeric darted forward, his lips pressing a kiss to the tender flesh right above them. Just before leaning back, he breathed a warm whisper watching goosebumps erupt from that gentle touch.

  “Sweet mother Mary.” Nadire gulped, her head thrown back as she suckled upon the air struggling to get to her lungs. With a smirk of pride, Emeric smoothed the back of his hands up her inner thighs and dove forward.

  His tongue lapped clockwise around her delectable dish, Nadire’s succulent lower lips tasting both sweet and salty. While he smiled at the flavor, it was her scent that enflamed his blood. No perfumes to mask it, no confounding pureness that nearly sent him to his rosary—it was arousal. That slick, musky arousal of a woman aching for the right touch to send her spiraling out of control.

  He needed it all. He needed her. Wrapping both hands around her ass, Emeric tugged her right to the edge. Scratchy crinoline cut across his forehead, the crimson fabric mashing into his hair as he dove tongue first into her. Licking a gentle circle around her excited clit, Emeric took his time reveling in the impossible.

  Warmth enclosed around his head, her thighs sliding together as Nadire scrabbled to try and get a hold with her feet dangling off the floor.

  Gripping to her ankle, Emeric dug those heels he couldn’t stop dreaming about into his thighs. The force of them bunching against his hard muscles, the near pain, revved him so hard he broke free of his boxer briefs. Even as his cock, ravenous for its own attention, swiped through the air he dove to her.

  Sucking his hot lips around her clit, Emeric slid both palms under her flexing ass to p
ush her tighter to his tongue. Wily, it flicked a rapacious beat against her clit. Nadire’s heels jammed deeper into his thigh, her loins bucking as she tried to roll with the pleasure he arced through her body.

  “God’s…” she gasped above, her beautiful face sadly hidden by the dress he refused to let her remove. “That…that’s…” A panting breath swallowed her words. Emeric’s rhythm slipped, a proud smile twisting up his lips, so he pressed a kiss to her most tender and perfect area.

  The heels lashed off his thighs and wrapped around his back. Hungry for more, for the release he promised, Nadire’s legs tugged Emeric so deep he knew nothing but her muff. Licking and sucking, his acrobatic tongue swirling as if she was the tastiest treat on the planet, he was pleased to give into his work.

  “Yes!” The back of her heel kicked into his spine, rattling Emeric. Not from the pain or shock, but the immediate reaction it brought to his famished body. He slurped her hard, another “yes” and kick answering. His cock begged for the warm embrace his tongue refused to leave, Emeric following her lead as each kick earned her another deep slurp.

  Guzzling in air as if she emerged from the sea, Nadire’s panting suddenly froze. Her entire body knotted up, thighs squishing Emeric’s cheeks, her hands enveloping his head as she curled up around him. Still, he kept his nose pressed to that clit pulsing in joy at the orgasm rolling through her.

  He ladled in her pleasure, his ego inflating at how the crisp businesswoman crumbled into a panting, begging, satiated angel at his touch. Watching a woman reach her plateau was always a favorite pastime of his, but Nadire was beyond understanding. He didn’t realize he too was grinning in ecstasy until she folded her body around to butt her lips against his. The smile fell as he tried to return her kiss gently, but Nadire wadded her fingers through his hair and tugged him as if he was her puppet.

  A creak of the not-as-sturdy-as-he-thought end table caused Emeric to glance down. The lamp he might be able to explain or fix. A broken table on top of it… Nadire seemed to sense the same, her body sliding to the edge as if she intended to slip off it. Rising to his feet, Emeric locked an arm around the small of her back, keeping her heaving chest pinned to his as he stared down into her eyes.

  With his trousers caught around his ankles, and the boxer briefs losing their fight when he’d licked his way around her, Nadire could press her satin-wrapped stomach against the crown of his cock. A sly smile fumbled around her lips, her body gently undulating so that her sinful dress rode him. The need transformed into an ache, Emeric whipping wildly around to find any available spot. There was a sofa but covered in crass pillows. The rug? Take her up to his rented bedroom?

  Nadire’s fingers slipped to the waistband of his remaining underwear, playing with the elastic as if she intended to snap it. Sliding her warm palm inside, she cupped against his hip bones, toying with his dark pubic hair as if she wanted to get a good grip and yank him into her.

  Any sense of planning fled from Emeric’s mind, his arms enveloping her body. Hands dug into her taut ass, Nadire’s lips found his, her fingers finally tugging his boxer briefs down. As that final barrier slid to his knees, he hefted her into the air. Her laugh trembled against his lips, Emeric walking the woman not to the couch, it couldn’t survive what he wanted. Not up the stairs, he couldn’t wait.

  Spinning around, his lips sucking against that delectable décolletage he got to gaze at all night, he planted her against the wall beside the fireplace. When her spine struck the cool brick, she gasped in shock but smiled wickedly while wrapping her legs around his waist. His cock lost itself in the mountains of crimson tulle, Emeric licking his way up and down her neck. God, he needed to be in her. Now.

  “Do you…?”

  Waving her fingers like a magician pulling a card, she appeared a condom from thin air. Or perhaps a pocket on her dress. Emeric’s vision sparkled at the taste of her, so he couldn’t be certain. While she tore it free of the same candy cane colored wrapping, her hands behind his back, Emeric’s body raced at the thought of him once again returning to the plunge. A moan rolled off his tongue, his nerves arcing at the promise as she managed to sheathe him with one hand.

  “I need you,” he whispered, his begging words breaking against her thin neck as she guided him in place.

  Deep brown eyes burrowed into his and she said, “No talking.”

  Emeric hung upon that precipice, the beckoning warmth of her tantalizing his every thought. But he remained locked in place, a fear twirling through him that this could be the last time. Best to savor every moment.

  The rubber edge of her heel dug into his right buttock, Emeric roaring as he thrust forward. Nadire tossed her head back against the wall, her chest rising as she arced back in his arms. It was the perfect position for his cock to slip deep inside.

  Merciful sins and tempting saints.

  He tried to start slow, his hips bucking with shallow thrusts, but Nadire’s heat pulsed around him. It begged for him to drive deep into her core and back out. Matching her internal rhythm, Emeric picked up speed. His hips bounced against her splayed thighs, both of them knocking into the wall and causing a stranger’s picture frames to rattle.

  “More,” she commanded, giving another tap of her heel. Snorting, Emeric did as ordered. His arms strained as he thrust all of himself into her welcoming embrace. The heat. The strength. The purity. All of it pulsed through her to him, his chin dipping to his chest as he whispered a prayer.

  Spinning his supporting hands, the son of the Krampus dug his claws into the exposed flesh of Nadire’s ass. She gasped in joy and it sent Emeric tipping over into his unending cascade. Even with the orgasm ripping through his body, his heart threatening to crack through his ribs, he maintained his pumping as if he need not ever stop.

  But this time she caught on, her eyes snagging his and a smile rising. He should put her down. Certainly let her gather up her underwear and go about her day. Life.

  Straining forward, Emeric caught her slack lips in a deep, pure kiss. It wasn’t the fervent pleas that erupted in the restaurant or the hungry appetizers for what was to come. He kissed her as tenderly as a man of his nature could.

  And in doing so, he slid out of her, losing that last connection even as his palms remained locked safely around her ass, holding her steady.

  “Well.” Nadire gulped, her moratorium on talking broken with both spent.

  “Well…” he repeated, lost in her eyes.

  “We should, um.” She gazed past him to the end table, or perhaps the lamp he broke for her. Or maybe she was planning her exit.

  A string of guilt twanged through his voice as Emeric brushed his lips to her cheek and whispered in her ear, “Yes?”

  He didn’t want to let go. Not now. Not with the blood still pounding in his veins and her delectable scent smeared over every inch of his body.

  Nadire stared into his eyes and a smile played with her lips. “We should find a bed.”

  Chuckling, Emeric kissed her as he rose away from the wall. Nadire laughed in surprise from his arms keeping her safe to his chest, and his legs marching her to the stairs. Kissing her deep on the lips, Emeric eased the way up to his bedroom for a very long night.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  SOFT LIGHT FROM the table cast an ethereal glow over her skin, Emeric lost in Nadire’s curving hip as she lay upon her side. Her mahogany hair nestled in the pillows, but rather than drift off to a sleep their bodies craved, she remained staring at him. Nadire’s satiated smile wound around his heart like string over brown paper packages.

  Emeric shifted on his weary legs, bending over from his sit to peck a kiss against the topmost crest of her hip. A sigh rolled through her naked chest, fingers flexing into his hair. The slow tug of his locks caused his body to shiver at the thought of her yanking harder.

  The pecks grew more insatiable, Emeric’s lips dipping lower down her belly. Her nails scratched from the nape of his neck down, a moan her response to his touch. He wanted to respond in
kind when his stomach answered for him instead.

  Nadire’s wandering paused at the loud gurgle, her eyebrow lifting as she rose up on an elbow to inspect his empty gut. “Was that…?”

  “Yes,” he admitted, not proud of his stomach interfering with the rest of his body’s wishes.

  Instead of leaping to her feet, her red-stained lips pursed in a contemplative smile. “Are you…?” she pointed at his stomach as if uncertain it was there. “I don’t really know, um… Do you have to eat?”

  Emeric snorted at the assumption he was free of such constraints. Trying to not growl, he answered back, “Do you?”

  Her tongue rolled through her mouth as she weighed his biting response. “Yes, and I only now realized we both skipped dinner.”

  Right. Plates of room-temperature sushi were left behind because they couldn’t keep their differences out of their desires. Or vice versa.

  Which was why Emeric’s eyes shrouded while he watched the naked woman slide off the bed to her feet. If she insisted on leaving to get a meal, this intoxicating, confounding spell would sunder. He knew with pants in the way, they’d be right back to bickering. The idea should be enough to cool his blood to a woman that set his teeth on edge, but…

  God’s bones, that ass.

  The perfect heart undulated as she scampered not to the door but a random dresser. Emeric had no idea what was inside. He preferred to keep his clothing in his bag or hung up when necessary. Smiling, she reached into the drawer and pulled out a…

  He had to blink a few times, even rub his eyes to make certain. But there was a sandwich on rye in her hand. Turkey and ham by the looks of it. “How…?” He tumbled off the bed, his eyes never leaving the magic sandwich. Nadire was laughing at his confusion, her hand pressing the food closer.

  While fear at the idea of eating a sandwich found in a dresser tried to knock sense into him, the rampaging hunger in his empty stomach won out. Accepting the gift, he took a great bite, savoring in the gift of protein and carbohydrates to rejuvenate what all of that rutting burned away. “How did that…? Where did that come from?”