Snowed In & Set Up

by Whitley Cox

  Will’s pulse thumped wildly in his throat. “And that made you sad?”

  She nodded solemnly. “I’ve never wanted children. Not ever. But for a long time I thought that would change when I met the right guy, things would just click, you know? But I’ve always been content with my choice. Because it was my choice. But to have that choice taken away from me, for Mother Nature to say to me that I can’t have a child . . . it didn’t sit well. It was as if one day, if my feelings ever switched, Mother Nature had already decided that I was unfit to be a parent and took that from me. I was angry for a while. And then sad. Now I’m indifferent about it, because I don’t want children. But . . . ”

  “But you still want it to be because you choose not to.”

  More tears welled up in those big, beautiful eyes. “Yeah.” An awkward laugh simmered up from her chest as she used the hem of her T-shirt to wipe away her tears. “I’m sorry.”

  Will brought her chin up with his knuckle so they were eye to eye again. “Don’t be. I asked. I want to know you. Thank you for letting me in. Telling me more about yourself. I really appreciate it.”

  She exhaled again, her shoulder slumping as her chest shook. “Thank you. I needed that.”

  His head dipped to the crook of her neck, and he bit her gently. “I can be whatever you need. I want to be what you need. I know I’ve only known you for four days, but when it’s right, time doesn’t really matter. You’re my match.”

  She looked up at him. “Make love to me, Will,” she whispered, her hands traveling down his torso and cupping him. “That’s what I need.”

  With a low growl, his hand circled around her waist, and he drove her backward until her back was pressed up against the cool glass of the window. She leaped up onto his hips and pulled his mouth up to hers. They were suddenly all teeth and tongues, hands and frantic, driven passion. It was a good thing Amber was in no more than an oversized T-shirt and had neglected underwear, because in seconds Will’s cock was drawn through the front hole of his boxers and probing her core.

  “I—I don’t have a condom on me,” she said, breathlessly.

  He grunted and then muttered “fuck” under his breath.

  “I’m clean . . . and I can’t—” Her words caught in her throat.

  He wanted her more than anything. Wanted only her. He could trust her with the truth. She trusted him with her truth. “I’ve had a vasectomy, and I’m clean.”

  She paused and looked him square in the eyes. “Holy shit, you weren’t kidding when you said you don’t want kids.”

  Will grew very serious and met her stare. “No, I wasn’t. I don’t want children. Ever.”

  She swallowed, and fresh tears welled up in her eyes. “Me either.”

  Finally, someone just like him. Someone who understood. If he ever married again, he would be the best damn uncle in the world, but he didn’t want to be a father, and Amber didn’t want to be a mother. Fuck Mother Nature. This was their choice and one they both agreed on.

  Smiling at him, she sank her hips down until he was buried balls-deep inside her, squeezing her muscles the whole way, feeling every hard, thick, vein-roped inch of him.

  “Oh God,” he groaned, his hands coming up under her shirt and cupping her butt as he surged forward and began to pound her into the glass.

  Amber’s head tilted back as Will’s teeth ran along her jaw and down her throat, grazing her, nipping her, marking her. She moaned softly. He loved it. Loved claiming her, branding her. Loved knowing that tomorrow she would have bite marks and tiny bruises from his savage passion. The thought of it, of seeing those marks on her creamy white skin, just turned him on more and made him ram into her harder.

  His teeth clamped down on her shoulder. He gave one hard, bone-crushing thrust into her against the cool, unforgiving glass, and she let go. Will continued to pump, seeking his own release but loving how uninhibited his Little Red was. The way she came was beautiful. Her lips parted, her eyes shut, and a soft peachy heat crept up into her freckled cheeks.

  “Yes . . . more,” she said with a sigh, clawing at his back.

  His whole body raged hot and wild, like gasoline on a bonfire. He snarled against her skin, stilled, dug his fingers into the plump flesh of her ass and detonated. He went up in a beautiful, enormous flame of glory. Every nerve ending, every cell, every synapse fired as the orgasm soared through him. She tensed around him again and cried out as another climax tore her apart.

  Yes. Yes, Little Red. All your orgasms are mine.

  She squeezed her hot, tight little pussy around his throbbing shaft as he came. He bucked into her a few more times, hitting her clit with his public bone and getting her deep inside, and when she finally sighed and opened her eyes, Will knew right then and there he’d finally found his other half. Christmas, of all holidays, had finally brought him peace, his match, and happiness.

  They stood under the light of the Christmas tree for several moments. The sound of their heavy breathing and beating hearts was the only noise in the quiet living room. Slowly, he set her down on her bare feet. He spied a box of tissues on the side table and snatched a few, then crouched down and cleaned her up. When he stood back up, his smile placid and carefree, his eyes drifted up over her head.

  “When did you put this one up?” he asked with a soft laugh, reaching up and batting the hanging mistletoe.

  Her gaze followed his, and a sweet little O formed on her mouth. “It’s not mine,” she said matter-of-factly. “Mine are all real. This one is plastic.”

  A warm flash of goosebumps chased across Will’s sweat-kissed skin at the idea of Christmas magic. Did it really exist? Were there elves or unexplainable things of wonder happening, bringing all these lost and wounded hearts together? Amber caught his look of awe and smiled. She linked her hand with his.

  “Christmas magic,” she said sweetly, “it really does exist.”

  Perhaps it does. It—or crazy Daisy— brought me you.

  “Come on, my little red elf,” he said, scooping her up. “As much fun as sex against a window is, I’m just as happy screwing you in a bed. One more and then we’ll call it a night.” And with that, he stalked off toward the bedroom, the two of them giggling softly as Will softly hummed “Jingle Bells.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Hunter crept back into her bedroom, unsure if Austin would be asleep or not. Their last discussion hadn’t exactly been heated, but it hadn’t been great, either. A night of mind-blowing orgasms, and even though they were both exhausted, they’d lain awake and chatted for a while, cuddled up under the covers, facing each other in the dark. She was finally seeing the normal Austin, the man with a heart nearly as big as his brain. He was interesting and funny, sweet and nerdy, and she really liked him. Only he’d also confided in her why the last four days had been a nightmare. Why he’d been so distant and confused, and his words had really jarred her. Despite her fatigue, she’d been unable to sleep. So instead of tossing and turning and possibly waking up the man in her bed, Hunter headed to the kitchen. Had this been Seattle, she might have gone to her home gym and run on the treadmill to clear her head, but they were in the mountains, and ice cream would have to do as an adequate substitute. But Will’s advice had helped. It’d helped a lot.

  The idea of backpacking around Asia for a while was very appealing. And she’d always wanted to see more of the world, make new connections with distributors and find new organic and eco-friendly fabrics and new design inspirations. More than anything though, Hunter needed to get out of her funk and find her passion again. And now that she and Austin had found their passion, why not head off on a grand adventure together?

  The light was off, and Austin’s body lay huddled under the covers, his chest rising and falling with each deep and even breath. She gently pulled back the covers and scooted onto the mattress, not wanting to disturb him. But she couldn’t sleep, not now. Her body had flickered to new life, and the idea of throwing caution to the wind, leaving the company to her ge
neral manager for a few months, and hopping on a plane bound for Cambodia seemed more and more appealing by the second. Would Austin be into it? He said he wanted to visit Angkor Wat, see the ruins. This was his chance.

  He rolled toward her when she pulled the blankets up to her chin, a moan escaping past those talented lips. Was he going to wake up?

  “Hey,” he mumbled, his long lashes fluttering open. “Where’d you go?”

  “To eat my feelings,” she said softly.

  Groggily, wiping the sleep from his eyes, he sat up against the headboard and flicked on his bedside table lamp. “Huh?

  She let out a big huff and joined him at the headboard, propping a couple of big, fluffy pillows behind her. “I hate that you still don’t think you’re enough for me. That you think I’ll one day get bored with you, or think you’re not adventurous enough. We’ve had sex all of twice, Austin . . . and in that time, I’ve had eleven orgasms. No man has ever done that to me. And even if that is the case, and we aren’t a true match, don’t you at least want to see where this could go?”

  He knitted his fingers together and studied the pattern on the bed spread. “Yes.”

  She ground her molars to keep herself from saying something she might regret. She had come in here to either sleep or talk about traveling. She needed to stay on course. But his behavior was beginning to piss her off. When they were having sex, he was confident and wild, demanding more orgasms from her than she thought she could muster. Taking her body to heights and places she had never reached with another man before. But yet the moment the endorphins left him, he was back to being unsure of his prowess, self-deprecating and lacking confidence.

  She reached for her tablet on her nightstand. “I’m going backpacking in the new year, I’ve decided. I’m going to tie up some loose ends, prepare my general manager for all possible calamities, and then I’m taking off for a few months. I need inspiration. I need to find my passion again. Find my drive. I’ve been wandering around in a fog for nearly a year and it’s starting to scare me. I’ve never been this unproductive.”

  Austin’s gaze snagged hers. “S-so you’re breaking . . . ” he trailed off.

  “I’m not breaking up with you, if that’s what you were about to ask. Though two fucks, eleven orgasms, and half a night spent in the same bed doesn’t really classify you as my boyfriend. But no. I want you to come with me. You said it yourself, you’ve never been anywhere outside of the U.S., and you want to travel. Come with me. Let’s get to know each other as we get to know the rest of the world. See, explore, experience and learn.”

  The screen of her tablet flicked on, and within a couple of seconds, Hunter was typing away into Google Search.

  “We’d definitely start in Cambodia.” She turned to face him. “Fulfill the dream, right? And then I’d like to do Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, maybe Malaysia. Head over to Indonesia and do Bali and maybe Jakarta or Sumatra. I’ve heard great things about batik from Indonesia. I might try to meet with some wholesale distributors there. Silk in Thailand of course. Plus, the beaches in Thailand are phenomenal. See?” She held up a picture of a beach, with big rock formations sticking high up out of the water. It was that quintessential postcard image. Blue sky, bluer water, white sand. Paradise in a four-by-six frame. “I’d also love to get my dive ticket. Daisy and Riley do a ton of diving, and she’s been harping on me for years to get certified. I’ll definitely do that, too. What about you?”

  Hunter’s pulse was racing as she checked flights and visa requirements, Googled hotels and dive companies, silk and batik distributors. Within a matter of ten minutes, she had over a dozen tabs open on her desktop. Austin still hadn’t said a word.

  “So?” she finally said, her chest heaving from excitement. “What do you think? You in?”

  Austin shook his head. “I—I can’t.”

  An invisible arrow pierced her heart, and it immediately began to wither and seep. Her jubilation from earlier drained faster than it came on. “Oh.”

  He let out a big sigh. “I mean I want to. But I can’t. I have work. And we’re trying to get this project finished. And then Reggie probably has another project. The man always has new contracts and projects. He never stops. And he needs me. I can’t abandon him. I can’t abandon my job.”

  She swallowed hard. “Oh, okay. I get it.”

  She pulled the cover of her tablet back over the screen, then sank down deep into the covers, pulling them up to her ears as she turned away from Austin and put her head down on her pillow.

  Fine.

  She understood the importance of work, the importance of deadlines and being accountable to your staff. But practicality aside, she couldn’t deny the deflation and disappointment that surged through her, the feeling of loss and defeat that squeezed around her heart until hot tears trickled down her cheek and on to the pillow.

  Seconds later the light flicked off, and she felt Austin move in the bed beside her, shuffling down deep into the covers. The bed jostled a bit as he struggled to get comfortable, then all was still, all was dark, all was quiet. Silence reigned. Hunter pinched her eyes shut, clenched her teeth, and prayed for sleep.

  Austin knew he had blown it with Hunter. Again. The look on her face had shattered him. Torn his beating heart from his chest and stomped it to smithereens on the floor. And yet he didn’t know what else to say. It had been the truth. He couldn’t just pick up and take off. He had a responsibility to Reggie, to their project, to their clients. And yet the pure heartbreak on Hunter’s face had made him want to quit his job right then and there and follow her to the ends of the earth and beyond. But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

  She had still been asleep when he awoke the following morning, the image of his head between her legs as she slowly regained consciousness driving him mad. That was how he wanted her to wake up. That was what he had envisioned. But no, he’d gone and broken her heart last night. He was surprised she hadn’t kicked him out. A part of him thought that might have been better, but instead she’d just shut down, and it’d destroyed him. It’d taken him forever to fall asleep again. He kept rolling over to stare at the back of her head, her hair fanned out like a beautiful golden veil behind her on the pillow while her back moved slightly with each breath. He wanted to wake her up and apologize. But somehow, he knew that wouldn’t be enough.

  Slowly, trying not to wake her, he slipped from the bed and headed to his own room. He’d vowed to power down for the week, but something inside him made him turn his phone on. He hadn’t gone this long without talking to Reggie in ages. It felt weird.

  Ten missed calls. Six voicemail messages. Thirteen emails.

  He checked to see who the majority of the calls were from, and sure enough, they were from Reggie. Something had to be going on with the Smythe account. He needed to call him.

  “Hey, Sheldon, mah boy!” Reggie answered, his British lilt heightened by his excitement. Reggie had always been an eccentric and larger-than-life kind of guy, but something in his tone was different. He not only sounded happy, he sounded . . . relaxed.

  “Hi, Reggie. Merry Christmas.”

  “Happy Christmas to you. Are you having a nice break?”

  “Yeah, it’s been pretty great. Nice to de-frag and decompress, you know?”

  Reggie scoffed on the other end, followed by a chuckle. “You’re telling me. This has been the best week of my life.”

  Austin couldn’t stop the squeaky tone of surprise that took over his voice. “Really?” Reggie was a workaholic. The fact that the man practically ordered Austin to take some time off had come as a total surprise.

  “I’m in love, mah boy. Absolutely, head-over-heels in love.”

  “W-well . . . that’s wonderful,” Austin stammered, nerves prickling beneath his skin. Something was up. Reggie, although a great guy and full of pep, was never gushy, never whimsical, and right now his entire tone was laden thick with whimsy and cheer.

  “Isn’t it? It’s bloody brilliant. We got married on
Christmas day.”

  “Wait . . . WHAT? You got married?”

  “That’s right!” Reggie cheered.

  “How long have you known this woman? What if she’s after your money?”

  Oh, shit. Filter, Austin, you socially inept fucker, filter!

  But fear that poor Reggie was going to be fleeced of his millions by some gold-digging harpy who flashed him a smile, some leg and sat through one of his many long-winded explanations about wind energy verses solar energy shit-kicked any form of social grace. He was looking out for his friend.

  Reggie chuckled on the other end. “Since I was eight. She’s my childhood love, Sheldon. The love of my life. Her husband left her for a chippy half his age, and now Rita’s got his millions. She called me up a few weeks ago, told me her story, said she should never have done as her father demanded and married the miserable Lord of Who Gives a Rat’s Ass, and married me instead. We met in Barbados for Christmas and got married.”

  Austin caught his reflection in the mirror. His head was shaking so quickly, he looked like one of those ridiculous bobbleheads or a hula girl on the dash of a car.

  “Married?” he continued to say. “You’re married?”

  “Mhmm. And it’s the best feeling in the world. Something more important, more incredible, more fulfilling than work, money or success. It’s love!”

  “B-but . . . how?”

  “When you know, you know. No sense wasting time. We wasted over forty years. We’re not wasting another second. We’re taking off on an extended honeymoon.”

  “But what about the company? What about the Smythe account, the project for Audi?” Austin was starting to panic. Did he have a job to go back to? All his hard work, hours and hours spent trying to figure out the new biofuel eco-efficient engine . . . he’d been eating, sleeping and breathing this thing for nearly two years.