by Jax Hart
“Baby…,” he groans as I slowly lower my mouth inch by inch on his smooth, hard shaft. I take him in deep. Bob my head slow, then let him go only to swirl my tongue over the broad tip of his cock. I read in some magazine once, that men have a sensitive spot at the base of their cocks where their balls are. I take two fingers, rove south and find it, pressing down.
His hips buck off the floor. “Fuck baby, I just saw Jesus and he wasn’t in the manager.”
Smiling, I take him back into my mouth while keeping pressure on the base of him. I move faster and faster, loving the musky taste of him. He comes hard, gushing into my mouth. I don’t stop until he’s done then quickly get up to use the restroom.
He’s still laying back on the blankets as I come back. “Not a finisher, eh? We’ll have to change that.”
Shrugging, I lay back down in his arms. “Maybe one day I will. But only for the man who puts a ring on me.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do you want to finish our board game?”
“Nah, I think we both won tonight.”
“I’m glad I met you.”
“Me, too.” He kisses the tip of my nose and we both snuggle close, drifting off…
“What’s that?”
“Nothing baby. Just the wind blowing branches into the window.” I relax in his warm embrace but then I hear something again.
“No. It’s not that.”
“Shhh, Roque has drones watching this place as well as Creed. There’s cameras and motion sensors everywhere.”
“But there’s no power.”
He yawns, pulling me closer, “the backup generator will have it covered.”
“There’s a generator?”
“Busted. I knew the power might go out, so I disabled the transfer switch to the main house. Any excuse, to get you to sleep naked in my arms…”
“That’s so …premeditated and romantic.”
“I’m pulling out all the stops for you.”
“Why? When our romance is just for Christmas?”
“Maybe it doesn’t have to be?” He murmurs in the dark. My heart leaps, waiting for him to notice it jumping by his feet.
We move at the same time. Our lips crash together. This time when we kiss it’s more than white-hot heat, it has promise, hope and so many things I’d never find myself believing when it comes to him.
“Wait! There it is again.”
“I hear it too.” He frowns. “Stay here.”
But of course, I don’t. I follow him to the mudroom and slide on my winter coat and boots.
He scowls, reaching high on a shelf above the window and takes down a gun. He check the clip and slides it back.
“Dare?”
“I told you my past is dark and deep. I know how to do things…” I shiver, seeing him for more than I wanted to these past few days. “I’ll keep you safe. Always. Stay here. Stay quiet. Do you understand.”
I nod my head. He moves to slip out the door, but I yank him back. “Be careful,” my plea coming seconds before I press a hard kiss to his lips.
“Aww, fur baby. I knew you were falling hard for me.”
Rolling my eyes, I move away. “Not you just your gorgeous dick.”
“It is pretty nice…and you haven’t even taken him for a ride yet.” He slips out the door leaving me a mess of want and nerves. Wringing my hands, I wait but I can’t see more than a foot through the frenzy of thick snow.
“Oh, fuck this.” I grab a thick pair of gloves and a broom thinking I can at least bang someone on the head with it and open the door. Squinting as the wet flakes pelter my face, I try to follow his footprints that stay close to the side of the main house.
“There, there. Come here pretty girl.” Dare’s hushed voice comes from behind a thick holly bush.
“Dare?”
“I told you to wait.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t.”
“She needs our help.” I round the bush just in time to see him take his coat off and place it on the ground. “Ouch! You little She Devil!” he hisses, putting a bloodied finger into his mouth.
Bending, I peer under the bush. “Oh baby. You’re safe now. Come here.”
The calcio cat, shivering with fear and cold meows pitifully. Then darts out and over to the corner of the side porch.
Dare rolls his eyes. “Let her go.”
“We can’t.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
He trudges forward and I grab the back of his coat, ducking my head but his big body shields me from the icy wind.
He pulls a small flashlight from his pocket. “Hell. She has a litter.”
“They’ll die in this storm.”
“I know.”
“Stay here. I mean it. I need to get a screwdriver and take off this lattice so we can get under there.”
“You’ll need a box too. Put some gloves on before she scratches you again.”
“Damn, there’s at least nine kittens.”
“We need to be quick.”
“I’ll have to turn the power from the generator to the house back on.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll still sleep with you, big guy.”
“You better.” He smacks my ass as he walks back to the house. Shivering, I bend low, staring into the cat’s wise but tired eyes. “He’s not that bad, you know. I hated him at first too. But he kind of grows on you…” She meows and lays down next to her kittens. Slowly, I take off my coat and lay it down. “Come here. I won’t hurt you. I just want to help.”
Inching forward, I manage to get one arm in the hole and carefully wrap it around the cat’s waist. She hisses but lets me pull her out. I settle her on my coat and go back for the kittens. By the time Dare comes out I have them all in my arms.
“Damn, she likes you.”
“I know.”
“Here I’ll take them.”
“No. I can’t. She trusted me.”
“I get that.” He guides me by the elbow as the wind picks up, howling something fierce.
“Is this a blizzard?”
“No, babe. It’s just a normal winter up north.”
Once we’re safely inside. Dare takes my coat, places it in a laundry basket and carries it to the great room where he places it by the warm glow of the fire. “I better get the heat and lights back on.”
“Don’t worry…I’ll still sleep next to you?”
“Naked?”
“Don’t push your luck.”
I place my precious bundle down by the fire and rummage through the mudroom for an old box and some towels. After making a better bed for my new friends, I gently transfer them.
“There. You’re all safe and snug now.” The momma cat settles in, licking her little kittens and I envy her. I long for that. To love a child in the way I always yearned to be loved; in the way my mother never loved me. I know I chose teaching as my profession for a reason. My grown-up heat aches for the forgotten kids. The ones whose parent’s saw right through them. I don’t do that. I make sure every child who enters my classroom door is seen, not just by me but by everyone in the class.
“They all set?”
“I think so.”
“The lights will come on any second.”
I glance at the clock. It’s barely past ten. He’s been so nice all night. Too nice. Not at all the cocky guy who practically threatened to make me his sex slave. Not that it would take much arm twisting to have me naked and kneeling by his feet.
He sits on the couch, patting the seat next to him. The wicked gleam in his eye, warning me the dominant man from last night won’t be patient for much longer.
“Chicken?”
“Ha,” I scoff. But my knees are a bit wobbly as I scoot between him and the reclaimed wood table to take a seat next to him.
“Good.” He lifts my legs, placing them across his lap, then picks up the remote and scrolls through movies.
“The Grinch?”
“It’s a classic.”
�
�Well, you were kind of a grouch Grinch when we met.”
He cocks an eyebrow, “Oh, yeah? Who am I now, baby?”
“I-I’m honestly not sure.” The soft confession comes out in a rush of whispered words.
His eyes darken.
My heart picks up speed.
It was easy to momentarily forget the dangerous and deliciously dark under currents running through him until his eyes communicate all kinky kinds of dirty shit to me. The kind I’ve only read about but never dared asked any man to do to before. But he can’t. At least not tonight. Not in this moment where all the hope in my heart just went freefalling over the edge of a cliff. Because tonight was more than I thought it would be. Tonight’s been more than the crazy chemistry between us. I’ve started to like the man and keeping this just about sex might be impossible for me. Clearing my throat, I grab the remote, turning the movie up. “Popcorn?”
“How about White Russians with a side of sugar cookies, instead?”
“You had me a sugar cookies.”
“I had you the moment we kissed,” he winks, moving my feet so he can stand. “Don’t go anywhere,” he wags his index finger and winks.
“As if I could. We are snowed in.”
I use the time he’s in the kitchen to wrap the blanket around me like a shield; hoping the soft cotton will keep him out, all the while knowing it won’t. With my legs tucked under me and my body curled into the far corner of the couch, I pretend to be engrossed in the movie instead of so in tuned to the movements of the man moving toward me.
“Here.”
He hands me a tall glass of Kahlua laced with milk and vodka on ice. I take a small sip. “Bailey’s too?”
“Just a tinge.”
“You make a damn good drink.”
“I learned from the best.”
“Roger?”
He nods. “That man practically raised me. I’d be nothing without him. Hell, I’d either be dead or doing time behind bars.”
Curious, I pause the movie and nibble on a cookie while studying him. Sure, he’s built as big as a man could come and I might be able to picture him dressed in a leather cut and on a Harley but he’s just not quite the mold. He’s wild underneath but refined on the surface. “How does a wealthy CEO living in a penthouse on the most affluent city corner of Chicago have roots to a backwoods MC?”
He sips his drink. “I tried to bury my past. Pretend it didn’t exist. But then I realized, it’s defined me. I no longer run from it. I embrace it and use it as a tool to move on. I’ll never be hungry again or live in fear the heat will go off because I can’t pay the bill.” His eyes are steely, as he recalls his past.
I place a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to reopen old wounds. I shouldn’t have pried.”
“No darlin’, you didn’t.” His lips meet mine and our tongues dances in the soft firelight. The warm flavors mixing in our mouth are fire and warmth. His kiss is surprisingly tender and thorough as it goes on and on until we’re both out of breath.
He pulls back, but stays close, placing his large forearms on the couch behind me. “I want to know why a pretty thing like you is all alone on Christmas. Why hasn’t some asshole put a ring on it yet?” He picks up my left hand, turns it over and draws lazy circles on my palm.
Laughing I take another sip of my drink, “You said it. They were all asses…,” I trail off staring into the flames of the crackling fire.
“What’s wrong?” He asks, softly, his hands still toying with the locks of my hair.
“I don’t know if I can stop myself from falling for you…”
He sighs, “Look I have a lot of things on my plate right now, even if long distance wasn’t a factor…other things in my life are. I can’t get in deep with a woman right now.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
His eyes apologize but his mouth says nothing. My hands shove him back. “Forget it. The whole thing. Keep your hands to yourself. This was a bad idea.”
“I’m glad you said so now before it was too late. Because if we became lovers I doubt either one of us would be able to stop.”
“I’ve never had a crazy, vacation fling before. Maybe it was stupid of me to think I could.”
The buzzing of his phone interrupts whatever he was about to say. He frowns as he checks who’s calling and quickly answers. “Freddie?” His voice is almost panicked as he stands away from me to lean against the mantle. “Did he hurt you? I’ll kill him. Where are you baby? I’ll leave right now and be there by morning, nothing will stop me from coming to you. You’re the most important girl in my life, baby doll.”
Tears of hurt well up and choke me. Of course, a man like him would have somebody else. Somebody else who was already in his heart. Probably some ex who misses him on Christmas. Every single person feels the sting of their relationship status the most this time of year. Whoever this Freddie woman is just stabbed me to the back without even knowing. Before he can see how hurt I am, I get off the couch, pick up my glass of wine and peer into the box of sleeping kitties before heading up to my room and bolting the door.
I stay up, watching the flames in the fire I lit in my hearth hoping he’d still come to me while hating him if he still did.
I fell asleep sometime in the late hours past midnight. Something needs to change in my life, something needs to give. I won’t be a woman who pines for approval and affection from the male sex. I crave it so bad knowing it’s because I’ve never had it before. How easy it was to fall under the bad boy’s spell who’s sleeping three doors down from me.
Finally, sleep comes, taking me away to a fantasy land where my sexy stranger reappears. This time he pins me against an old tree. We’re in a glen so green it can’t be earth. Thick moss tickles my toes as he presses me into the rough bark.
“Say you want me.”
“Yes, I moan as his lips run along the veins in my neck.”
“You’re so wet,” he moans, as his fingers delve between my thighs. The soft skin of my seam hairless and wanton, begging for more of his touch.
“Only for you. Only for you,” I moan as three digits slide in and pump in a maddening rhythm.
“So sweet. Always surrender to me. You’re mine, my love. Only mine.”
“Yes. I swear it,” I gasp as he lips tug my tender nipple into his mouth. His tongue and teeth work it over as his hands delve deeper, faster, harder.
“Come for me.”
“Ah…,” I gasp, convulsing into a symphony of pleasure as my orgasm flows through me from my core, rippling outward.
“Who are you?”
For some reason, I’m unable to see my lover’s face. It’s hidden against my body and he never raises his head.
“You already know who I am. I’m in your soul and you’re in mine.”
Desperately, I grab the back of his head in an attempt to lift his face from my breasts. Just as he’s about to look me in the face…I’m ripped from my dream by the sound of a plow beneath my window.
“Shit.”
I’m jarred from my dream, again horny as all hell, wet and aching for sex. The hard kind of a fast fuck that will make this pain go away. I’m temped in my dazed state to go down the hall, sneak into Dare’s room and ride him like a cowgirl.
But I know the sweet ecstasy will be replaced by pure pain and humiliation shortly after.
Instead, my hands creep down feeling my freshly waxed, pussy. Damn, it is soft as silk and ready to go. But I won’t waste it on Dare. Maybe, it’s time to find my sexy Santa and give him a ride.
Grinning, I pinch my nipples with my free hand and let go, half-hoping Dare will hear my satisfied moans as I take care of my own business.
When I finally venture downstairs after a long shower, I feel refreshed but in desperate need of coffee.
“Ooh, hello!” I bend down, stroking the soft fur of the mama cat nestling her babies in the box on top of fresh blankets. My bitterness wants to relent just a bit because as much of an arrogant ass he can
be he definitely has a soft spot. The large den is silent. The board games we played all stacked neatly and put away. The blankets are all folded. The pillows fluffed. The cozy, intimate scene that unfolded the night before has been erased. Like it never happened. Sighing, I move to the window.
Will my stupid heart ever learn?
My eyes are overwhelmed by the beauty outside. White, fresh snow as far as I can see blankets every direction. Some of it clinging to giant evergreens across the fields.
Letting the curtain fall back, I walk on light feet to the kitchen. It’s empty but a full pot of coffee is still on next to the pot is a note written in crisp, bold writing. It’s from Dare telling me he went into town.
I’m half disappointed, half relieved that I won’t have to face him yet. After fixing myself a cup, I check on the kittens and go back up to my room to get my leather journal. I have the entire inn to myself and I decide to explore the large, old rooms; really appreciating the cozy furnishings and bold artwork on the walls. One in particular catches my eye, it’s autumn here at the Maple Tree. I recognize the orchard trees I gazer at from the window in my room. But in fall, they blaze with fire as the setting sun’s rays reflect from the turning leaves. Whoever painted it captured the scene perfectly.
With a sigh, I move back into the main room where the cats still slumber by the fire. I place a few more logs on and settle into a cozy chair by a window. In no time, I’m lost weaving words together on a page; sewing the seams of a story. Hours roll by as I write the movie in my mind down by pen.
I write past the cramp in my hands. Past the need for more coffee. The mama cat leaves her litter to twine around my legs. But I can’t stop to pet her, if I do, I’ll lose the words.
Whoosh.
A set of paws lands on my page. A blinking pair of green eyes stare up at mine.
“Fine. You win.” I blow a lock of hair from my eyes as the cat tries to communicate with me.
“Do you need to go out?” My fingers scratch the top of her head. I take her “meow” as a yes and reluctantly leave my chair, stretching my arms wide as I do. She follows me to the mudroom where I collect my coat and stuff my feet into warm boots.