Snow Days (The Hope Falls Series)

by Shawn, Melanie

  Watching the snow fall down covering the streets, the cars, and the trees while she sipped on hot chocolate had always been a very relaxing activity for her. Normally, she could happily sit for hours observing the white wonderland that heavy snowfall transformed her little slice of the world into. Relax, calm, and tranquility were not on the agenda for today, however.

  Early this morning she’d been contacted that, due to the harsh weather front that had blown in overnight, the school would be closed for a snow day. Amy had always included the five snow days that were allotted to the school district every year into her lesson planning preparation so she could enjoy the inevitable school closures without worry or stress that she would fall behind on the curriculum. She’d always just bundled up, caught up on reading, and vegged out the entire day. In her book, snow days were her re-charge, lazy, do-nothing days.

  Until today. Now she knew that she would never think of a snow day the same way again. Right after receiving the email notification alerting her that she would have the day off, her smart phone beeped again. She’d assumed it was just another update. She’d been wrong.

  Matt had texted her, suggesting that they use this unexpected day off to their advantage. Getting together had been quite challenging and was made doubly difficult because of not only their busy schedules but also the fact that they were trying to keep their arrangement private in a town where everyone knew everyone else’s business. Matt thought that a day where no one was expecting them to do anything but be holed up in their own homes and most people were staying off the streets was the perfect opportunity.

  Amy, of course, had immediately agreed. He’d said he would be over at nine a.m. She’d told him that she would open the garage for him so that he could hide his truck in there. Which, although she knew that some nosy neighbors could still see him pull in, was the best option they had for disguising the fact that Matt would be spending the day at Amy’s house.

  The thought made a shiver run through her, and Amy took a sip of her delicious hot chocolate, letting the hot liquid spread throughout her, warming her from the inside out. Setting her mug down, she turned her wrist to check the time—it was eight forty-five. So here she sat. She knew that Matt had a habit of being early. Which was just another on the long list of attributes Amy was cataloging in her mind, titled ‘Why Matt Kellan is the Perfect Man.’

  She’d heard her friends talk about how the men in their lives were “perfect,” and she’d always taken those statements with a grain of salt, but Matt really was perfect. Well, except for the whole totally-completely-not-emotionally-available part. That wasn’t exactly perfect.

  But not only had he been more than upfront about the fact that he was not looking for nor was he ever planning to be in a relationship again, he also had a very valid reason for feeling the way he did. It really wasn’t Matt’s fault that Amy had begun to develop deeper feelings for him. She was trying desperately to compartmentalize Matt her coworker, Matt her friend, and Matt her friend-with-benefits. Keeping each “Matt” in its own emotional box in her psyche was proving to be much more difficult than she’d thought it would be.

  They hadn’t even had real sex yet. Once they’d crossed that line, Amy feared that sex-god-Matt would be the only box her brain would put him in. The pleasure and excitement she’d already experienced while she’d been fully clothed from his talented lips, tongue, hands, and words was more than Amy could have ever hoped for in her wildest dreams.

  She pulled at the strings of her robe and the terrycloth fabric brushed against the lace bra she was wearing. Her friends hadn’t been wrong when they’d said that wearing pretty lingerie really did make a person feel sexier, more confident. It absolutely did. Under her white robe, she wore only a black lace bra and panty set she’d recently bought at Scantily Clad, a new boutique that had just opened up in Hope Falls.

  Matt hopefully wouldn’t have a doubt in his mind of how ready Amy was when she dropped her robe. As much as she appreciated him taking his time with her up until now, she was definitely ready. Well, at least physically. Physically, she was more than ready. Emotionally, she was just going to try her best to stay disconnected.

  Her phone vibrated loudly on the table. For a split second, the thought flashed in her head that it was Matt and he was canceling. Disappointment flooded her. As she reached for the vibrating phone, she noticed her hands were shaking. Picking it up, she saw her sister’s face on the screen. She blew out a tuft of breath in relief.

  “Hey,” she answered brightly.

  “Heard it was a snow day. Since you’re playin’ hooky, I thought we could have a movie marathon,” Nikki excitedly suggested.

  Okay, first she wasn’t ‘playing hooky.’ It was a snow day, but Amy didn’t have the time or energy to address that issue. Secondly, she didn’t want to lie to her sister, but if she didn’t, she had no idea how to get out of having a ‘movie marathon.’

  Think, Amy. Think, think, think.

  “Um, I’m not really feeling like myself.” Which was one hundred percent the true. Score one for honesty. “I think I’m just going to stay in bed today.” Again, totally true—she hoped, anyway.

  “Do you need me to bring you anything?” her sister offered sweetly.

  Nikki could be self-absorbed, but if Amy ever needed anything, really needed something, Nikki was always there for her.

  “No, I’m okay.” Amy tried to regulate her tone to sound as casual as possible so she didn’t raise any unwanted suspicion.

  “Okay.” Nikki did not sound completely convinced. “But if you need anything, don’t go out in this weather I can bring you soup or medicine or whatever.”

  Great. Now she’d worried her sister, who was offering so selflessly to go out in bad conditions just to take care of her.

  “Okay, I will. Love you.” Amy tried not to let guilt creep up.

  “Love you.” Her sister disconnected the call just as Amy saw Matt’s truck turn onto the street.

  Any niggling of guilt dissipated as adrenaline started racing through her veins. She hurried across her living room, her bare feet padding along the hardwood floor, and opened up the door that led to the garage by hitting the garage door opener. As the metal door pulled up and Matt drove in, she shivered. Not just from the blast of cold air coming from outside but also from the look of heat in Matt’s green eyes.

  Yep, she was definitely spending the day in bed.

  --- ~ ---

  As Matt walked into Amy’s house, he was struck by a couple of things. The first was how sexy she looked in her terrycloth robe. She made that robe look hotter than most women could make the lacy ensembles from Victoria's Secret look.

  The second thing he was struck by, quite literally, was a gigantic Great Dane that came barreling down the hall and then jumped up, placing his paws on Matt's shoulders and throwing himself at Matt with vigor, wagging his tail and licking Matt's face for all it was worth.

  Matt heard Amy gasp and rush toward them, but Matt had already laughingly disentangled himself from the dog's ecstatic embrace and placed his paws back down on the floor to continue to pet him. “So this must be the famous Scooby!” he smiled as he scratched behind the dog's ears.

  At the sound of his name, Scooby jumped up and tried to give Matt another enthusiastic embrace. Man! When the dog stood on his hind legs, he was taller than Matt was!

  Amy, an embarrassed tone in her voice, said, “Sorry. He's usually not quite that ebullient when greeting new people. Although he is a lover, not a fighter, I do admit. He's certainly not guard dog material. I usually have him go visit my friend Amanda when you come over so I can be completely focused on what we’re…um…doing. But today was kind of spur of the moment. So…well…I didn’t have time to get a dog sitter.”

  Matt grinned to himself. She was starting her little nervous-rambling bit he thought was so cute. Damn. He loved that he had that effect on her. Of course, he realized as he continued to pet the dog and scratch his head, it did mean that it
was going to take a little bit more work to get Amy relaxed enough to move forward and enjoy the encounter, but that didn't really bother him. After all, Matt had never been the kind of person who was afraid of putting in effort.

  He heard a rustling of fabric and looked up to see what was making the noise. What he saw there caused his jaw to drop, and he knew that he was going to need to rethink a couple of his previous assumptions.

  The first thing he was going to need to revisit was the idea that Amy was too nervous to comfortably move forward. That was clearly not the case. The other thing he was going to need to rethink was his idea of the terrycloth robe being sexier than lingerie, because Amy had dropped her terrycloth robe to the floor and was standing before him in a black lace bra and panty set that was scorchingly sexy.

  Matt straightened and his hands dropped to his sides, all thoughts of petting the dog immediately fleeing from his brain, much to Scooby's dismay. Matt was so entranced by the sight of her standing before him in the erotic ensemble that he did not even register the dog's whimpers and barks until he felt Scooby's massive paws pushing into his shoulder, causing him to stumble a few steps to the side.

  Amy gasped and laughed, rushing over and grabbing Scooby's collar. "Scooby! No! Come on, silly boy. You’re going in the spare room. I’ll give you a bone and treats. Okay, come on, good boy."

  Matt smiled as he watched her attempt to wrangle the large dog into the empty bedroom as Scooby struggled against her, obviously not having gotten his fill of greeting his new friend. While it was amusing to watch Amy in her delicate and sensuous lingerie ensemble tangle with the wriggling dog, Matt also found that he was getting quite turned on by the sight.

  When she had gotten Scooby settled down in the spare room, with many admonitions to be a good boy, toys, bones, and treats, Amy came back into the living room, shaking her head in embarrassment and flushed with the exertion.

  “Well, dang it,” she said with regret. “I had this whole sexy entrance thing planned and Scooby ruined it.”

  “No, he really didn't,” Matt said sincerely.

  Dipping to pick up her robe and toss it on the couch she sighed, shrugging her shoulders in good natured defeat. “Yeah, he did, I was going to do the whole robe dropping thing and then I was going to—”

  Deciding that this was definitely one of those times when actions would be more persuasive than words, Matt simply crossed to her in two long and decisive strides and sealed his lips to hers while she was still speaking. She did not hesitate in the least or even take any time to switch gears. The instant their lips touched, she rose to her tiptoes, returning his kiss with vigor. He felt her fingers thread themselves into his hair, pressing his lips even harder into hers.

  The electric thrum of arousal flowed through every cell in his body, and he knew that—without a doubt—today would be the day that this was finally going to happen between them. Nothing could stop it—not nerves, not an oversized canine—nothing. He was finally going to make love to Amy, touch every inch of her body, kiss her, taste her, bring both of them to the edge of ecstasy with the power of their bodies, and then drive them, shuddering and screaming, over the edge of that precipice.

  Yes. Today was the day.

  Matt traced his fingers gently up and down her sides, loving the way her soft velvety skin felt under his fingertips. She moaned into his mouth. He loved hearing that sound of her very visceral reaction to his touch. It gave him an external clue to what must be going on with her internally, and he got a thrill from seeing the very real evidence that he was giving her exquisite pleasure already—and they had barely even started.

  Matt leaned down and picked Amy up, carrying her into the bedroom, never breaking contact in their kiss. Her legs instantly wrapped around his body, causing her core to rub intimately against him. As they moved down the hall, he could feel the vibrations of tiny moans in her throat and sense the increased intensity in their kiss. She seemed about as far from nervous as she could get.

  When they got into the bedroom, Matt laid Amy down on the bed and stood to look at her. He took in every inch of her form as his eyes raked down her body, from her eyes that were shining with lust and excitement, down to her heaving breasts, and even farther down to her long, smooth torso and legs. She was perfection. That was all there was to it—and not just physically. No, Amy was truly a magnificent creature in every way possible. She was brilliant, adorable, hilarious, gorgeous, sexy... Oh, God, so sexy!

  Matt climbed onto the bed next to her and began to kiss her again, this time letting his hands wander over her flesh much more aggressively than they had before. His entire body was strung tight with need at the feel of her smoother-than-silk, soft, curvy flesh beneath his hand.

  He needed more. He needed to taste her. He began to pepper her neck with hot kisses, tracing curlicues over her sweet flesh with the tip of his tongue. As he moved his head down, he simultaneously moved his hands up until they met her lovely breasts. He cupped them from below and captured first one nipple, then the other, in his eager mouth. The flimsy lace of her bra was no impediment to Matt's exploration. In fact, he found the rough texture of the material against his tongue as he swept it back and forth over her rapidly hardening nipples to be quite exciting.

  “Oh,” Amy gasped as her fingers threaded through his hair, pushing her breast into his hot, open-mouthed kisses.

  He was growing harder and harder by the minute, his member demanding to be freed from the confines of his pants. But he was determined to explore every single inch of her before he got undressed. He knew that, as soon as she touched him, his mind would be so engulfed in passion, so lost in the sensations she was causing in him, he would no longer be present enough to fully grasp the wonder of her body—and he wanted to grasp it. He wanted to explore every last inch of her, to memorize her look, her feel, her taste. To commit it so deeply to his memory that it would be lodged there forever. He wanted to fully enjoy the wonders of her glorious, naked body before rivers of uncontrollable lust carried him away.

  As Matt continued to let his tongue work on her lace-covered nipples, he reached his hands smoothly behind her and unhooked the clasp on her bra, sitting up slightly and pulling the flimsy garment from her body.

  He looked down and, for the first time, saw Amy's naked breasts in front of him. Her smooth olive skin rose in lovely, round mounds to perky, dusky-brown nipples, which were, at the moment, hard and distended numbs that virtually cried out to be suckled.

  Dipping his head, he bent down and pulled one nipple into his hot, wet mouth, suckling it as he trapped the other between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it back and forth, feeling it grow even bigger and harder under his touch.

  “Oh, God, yes, Matt!” Amy exclaimed, arching her back toward him.

  Matt smiled inwardly. Nope. Definitely no nerves on the horizon whatsoever.

  --- ~ ---

  Amy could not fathom the pleasure that was crashing through her body so intensely that she wondered at her ability to even maintain consciousness. Oh, lord...this was so far beyond her imaginings.

  When she had initially begun the experiment, one of the things she had bemoaned about her sexual life was that she had never had a sexual experience—or an orgasm—with a man who was even close to as satisfying as those she was able to have alone. Then, the other night, she had shared an experience with Matt that had blown every other sexual encounter she had ever had out of the water, as well as every orgasm—solo or assisted. And he hadn't even taken her clothes off for it!

  Now, when they were—finally—making love for the first time, that fully-clothed orgasm of the other night was even being put to shame—and the only erogenous zone Matt had so far concentrated his energies on were her breasts.

  Amy could not even imagine the sensations that were sure to overwhelm her when he did turn his attention between her legs or when he was finally inside of her—and even the thought of this made her groan in ecstasy.

  Amy knotted her fingers in his
hair and pushed down desperately on the back of his head as she frantically arched her back. Oh, God, this overwhelming desire she felt every time he touched her, the one that screamed insistently that she needed to get closer to Matt, do anything in her power just to get closer, couldn't be ignored, but she couldn't seem to satisfy it either. It seemed that no matter what she did, no matter how close she got, she could not seem to get close enough to satiate this overwhelming desire.

  Looking up at her, Matt raised his head slightly, his hands wrapped around her flushed breasts, his fingers erotically manipulating her sensitive peaks. “Does it feel good when I touch you?” Matt’s deep voice sent a flutter directly to Amy’s core.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “Does it feel good when I lick you?” Amy watched as Matt flattened his tongue and laved her protruding nipple.

  “Yes,” Amy gasped.

  Matt’s lips pulled up into a wicked smile as he asked, “Does it feel good when I suck you?”

  “Yes,” she whimpered as his bold words sent tingles bursting at her center.

  A slow, devilish smile spread across Matt’s face and his dimples made a sexy appearance. “Good. Just checking.”

  Matt continued to lavish attention on each breast. Touching, squeezing, licking, sucking them until Amy thought she was going to explode from the exquisite ecstasy. Just when she thought she couldn’t take a moment more, he switched his sensual tactics, moving his mouth down her belly, making her squirm delightedly.

  Amy closed her eyes so she could just feel. He was awakening sensations and desires in her that, if she had ever had any inkling she was capable of, she had thought were long dormant. With Matt, she felt like a completely different person—a carnal, sexual creature that had no inhibitions and no objectives aside from seeking her own pleasure and giving the same to Matt.

  She felt Matt dip his fingers beneath her panties and slowly pull them down over her hips and her legs, and her eyes flew open, locking on him. She wanted to see him see her. She wanted to see the expression on his face, the look in his eye, connect with him in every possible way.