Dangerous to Know & Love

by Jane Harvey-Berrick

  Not only that, he appreciated the peace and order of Lisanne’s home. Yeah, her parents could be kind of suffocating, but he thought again about getting a place of his own where he and Lis could be alone together. He was determined to find somewhere, even if it meant he’d be living off ramen noodles for the next few years.

  He made a decision to head back for a couple of days before New Years and check things out. They hadn’t discussed how long he’d be staying at Lisanne’s during the holidays, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t be pleased if he told her he was leaving early. Even so, finding somewhere of their own was a priority.

  It was with a feeling of shock that he realized he’d thought of it as ‘their’ place. He wasn’t expecting Lisanne to move in, of course. But even as he rejected the idea, another part of him said yes, that was exactly what he wanted. He tested the idea out in his mind. Not this year, of course. She had her room on campus, but next year maybe? He had a pretty good idea what Monica and Ernie would think of that, but Lisanne didn’t always do as they said.

  The more he thought about it the more he liked the idea of them living together, sharing their worlds. It was exhilarating and fucking scary all at the same time. Would she do it? Would she put up with him? Living with his punk ass? He took a deep breath and she looked at him quizzically.

  “Are you okay? Do your ribs hurt?”

  Fuck, he couldn’t get enough of the way she looked at him when she thought he was hurting.

  “No, I’m good, baby doll. Just thinking about how cute you’re going to look in your Christmas present.”

  She smiled delightedly and her skin flushed a pretty shade of pink. “You bought me something to wear?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We have a family tradition where we all sit around the tree in the morning and share gifts.”

  “That could be interesting,” said Daniel, raising his eyebrows.

  “Why?” said Lisanne, suspiciously.

  “Let’s just say it’s something I want you to wear for me,” and he winked at her.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah.”

  Lisanne thought for a moment. “I think maybe you should give it to me before the whole tree thing.”

  Daniel smiled. “I intend to.”

  “But we’re not having sex, because, you know…”

  “Sure I can’t persuade you?”

  “Um, no!” she said, wrinkling her nose. “That’s totally gross!”

  He looked at her seriously. “Nothing is gross with you, baby doll. I always want you.”

  She looked up hesitatingly. “You do?”

  “Always,” he whispered, and it wasn’t clear to either of them what he meant by that.

  They stared at each other until Daniel placed a soft kiss on her lips, then pulled away with a peaceful smile.

  They arrived back just as Monica and Ernie were leaving for the evening carol service at their local church.

  “Harry is home,” said Monica, sending a clear message with flashing warning lights, adorned with baubles.

  “Sure, mom,” said Lisanne, rolling her eyes.

  Daniel grinned. “Have a great evening, Monica, Mr. Maclaine.”

  “I think you can call me ‘Ernie’, son,” said Lisanne’s dad, smiling at Daniel’s stunned expression.

  “Wow!” said Lisanne, as the door closed behind her parents. “You should hit Grayson Woods more often!”

  “Just give me the fucking chance,” snarled Daniel, instantly losing his good mood. “Mother fucker.”

  “Hey, it’s Christmas! Good will to all men.”

  “Not that bastard.”

  No fucking way!

  “If I let you kiss me, will you be in a better mood?”

  Daniel raised his eyebrows. “If you let me? Are you saying you that you’d stop me if I did this?” and he held her hips, running his tongue up Lisanne’s neck and nipping her earlobe.

  “I might let you do that,” Lisanne agreed, breathlessly.

  “Aw, hell! Are you guys gonna make out all night? I live here, too,” said Harry, misery and distaste etched on his face.

  Daniel’s eyes swiveled toward the pile of food that Harry was carrying, and lit up. “Hold that thought, baby doll, I’m fucking starving.”

  It was the best Christmas Eve Daniel had had for two years. Sure, it would have been improved if he could have persuaded Lisanne to get naked, but having her cuddle up to him while they watched TV, that was pretty good, too. And the refrigerator was groaning at the seams in a way that made his eyes bulge. Lisanne had certainly made good on her promise that Monica would feed him up.

  Then there was an extended make out session in Lisanne’s bedroom, interrupted only when her parents arrived back from church.

  Daniel headed to the guest room and stopped when he opened the door. All his laundry had been dried and left neatly folded on the bed. Monica must have done it because he’d completely forgotten about it while he was out with Lisanne.

  His chest felt warm in a way that was almost unrecognizable. Having someone look after him like that – it had been a while.

  He sat on the bed, staring at the clothes, and rubbed his forehead tiredly. It was probably just as well baby doll didn’t want to fuck – his body was aching from the beating he’d taken and his head was throbbing. The last 24 hours had been intense. But there was something about the way Lisanne’s family came together – it was kind of corny how protective Monica and Ernie were, but Daniel could see it made them all strong, too. And baby doll was so strong. Each time he thought she’d pull away, she’d surprised the hell out of him.

  Her whole family had surprised him. Their petty rules were irritating, and the double standards were laughable, but they were a family and they cared.

  Daniel pulled out his phone and sent Zef a message for the first time since they’d argued.

  * Merry xmas, fucker.

  Take it easy. D *

  He wandered into the bathroom to brush his teeth and enjoy a long piss. When he strolled back into his room, he glanced at the phone, but there was no reply.

  Whatever the fuck Zef had done – and the stupid bastard had done pretty much everything – he was family. If that still meant something.

  Daniel pulled off his clothes and climbed wearily into bed, enjoying the feel of the clean sheets on his bare skin.

  He slept uneasily, waking often when he rolled onto a part of his body that hurt, and dreaming about Zef, standing alone in a forest made of pylons. His eyes had been sewn shut.

  Daniel woke up with his heart hammering, and Lisanne standing over him looking almost afraid.

  “Are you okay?” she gasped.

  “Crap, sorry. Bad dream.” He rubbed his hands over his eyes then sat up, quickly rebooting his brain. “Hey, merry Christmas! Or maybe this is a good dream – a sexy woman bringing me coffee in bed on Christmas morning. Yeah, must be a dream – my life is never this good. I might just have to touch you to see if you’re real.”

  He ran his hand under Lisanne’s sleep shirt and she nearly spilled his coffee.

  “Stop that!” she hissed.

  “Yeah, you’re real. Baby doll likes to shout at me. It kinda turns me on.” He lifted his sheet and looked down at his morning wood. “Yep, definitely turns me on.”

  “You’re so bad!” she snorted, while he grinned up at her.

  Lisanne managed to put his coffee down safely before he pulled her toward him for a Christmas kiss.

  “I haven’t brushed my teeth!” she moaned.

  “Neither have I, baby,” and he sucked the skin on her neck, just below her ear.

  This time her moan meant something different, but only Lisanne heard it.

  She pushed away from him, far too aroused for her own good. “Stop that! I’m not supposed to be in here, remember? And anyway, your bruises look awful. Do they hurt?”

  “I thought you liked me looking hard, Lis,” he snickered.

  “You know, sometimes you’re such a b
oy.”

  “Told you before, baby doll. I’m all man.”

  His hard kiss punctuated the point.

  “Hey, I got your present.”

  He rolled over to reach under the bed – knowing full well that he was giving her a glimpse of his bare ass – and pulled out her gift.

  “Wrapped it myself,” he said proudly, displaying the butchered paper and wonky bow as if it were straight from Tiffany’s.

  She picked up the tiny package and fought with the Scotch tape until the paper was shredded and Lisanne was almost crying with frustration. Finally, she extracted a scrap of silver material. Her face reddened as she realized it was the smallest thong she’d ever seen – a minute triangle at the front was the most substantial part of it. She looked closer. Yes, she had seen it correctly – a tiny triangle of silver material printed with an image of mistletoe.

  “Wear it for me today,” he said huskily, and I can kiss you under the mistletoe whenever you want.

  He watched Lisanne swallow and nod wordlessly.

  Her head turned when she heard a knock at Daniel’s door. She stuffed the thong into her fist as Monica leaned inside.

  “I was just taking Daniel a coffee,” Lisanne muttered, her face still fiery.

  Daniel suspected that Monica was trying not to laugh as she nodded solemnly. “So I see. Merry Christmas, Daniel. Breakfast in 20 minutes.”

  “I’ll be there,” he said, cheerfully.

  Lisanne followed her mother out of the room. “Merry Christmas!”

  He grinned to himself.

  After he’d showered and rid himself of the morning log that most definitely hadn’t disappeared during Lisanne’s visit in her cute little sleep shirt, he knocked on Harry’s door and poked his head inside.

  “Hey, man. Merry Christmas,” and Daniel tossed a magazine shaped parcel onto Harry’s bed. “Don’t open it when your parents are around.”

  He closed the door, smiling to himself at the stunned look on Harry’s face. The kid would definitely get some use out of a Christmas edition of Swank. Daniel had spent a pleasant half hour deciding what to get Harry for Christmas. At the last minute, he’d included a copy of Playboy, too. You had to respect the classics.

  He wandered into the kitchen and found Monica and Ernie in a tight clinch.

  “Merry Christmas, folks,” he said loudly, grinning as they leapt apart.

  Monica looked flustered but Ernie just told him to help himself to fresh fruit and cereal. Daniel didn’t need to be asked twice. The food in the Maclaine household was awesome – it was amazing none of them were the size of buffalo.

  By the time he’d finished, neither Lisanne nor Harry had put in an appearance. He hoped it was because they were both individually making the most of their Christmas presents. No, better put that shit out of his mind because if he started thinking about baby doll in that thong, he’d be walking with three legs.

  Instead, he offered to help Monica peel some potatoes but after he nearly removed several layers of skin with a potato peeler – which caused an extremely vocal response that made her wince – she set him to work on the simpler and considerably less dangerous task of setting the table.

  The rest of the Maclaines surfaced once most of the work was done. Obviously they were dodging whatever jobs Monica had to offer. Daniel didn’t care. This is was his first real Christmas for two years – and he was enjoying it.

  He pulled Lisanne into a tight hug, not caring that her family was watching. She squirmed slightly but hugged him back quickly, then threw a warning look.

  “We’ll do presents now,” said Monica brightly, and they all trooped into the living room.

  Daniel only had two further presents to add to the small piles under the tree: a Lewis Grizzard book for Ernie, and a Ray LaMontagne CD for Monica.

  Monica in particular was effusive with her thanks.

  “Oh, I just love Ray! He makes me want to dance around the kitchen while I’m making dinner. Thank you, Daniel, that was thoughtful,” and she gave him a big hug and kiss, while he was immobile, still digesting the news that Monica had some moves.

  Ernie grunted his thanks but looked pleased nonetheless.

  Monica looked at Lisanne. “What did Daniel get you, darling?”

  Daniel answered for her. “Lis and Harry have already had theirs.”

  Wisely, the senior Maclaines didn’t ask for further details.

  Lisanne took his hand and squeezed it gently. “I love my present,” she whispered.

  He winked at her. “Are you…?”

  She nodded, and Daniel immediately regretted asking, as his cock begged to join the party.

  “Um, I got this for you. I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

  She handed him a package that had to be a book. He pulled it open and frowned, not recognizing the title or the author.

  “It’s an autobiography of Evelyn Glennie. She’s a world-class percussionist – and she’s deaf, too,” Lisanne said.

  Daniel felt everyone staring at him.

  “Thanks, baby doll,” he said quietly as he kissed her hair.

  Monica and Ernie passed him a flat package and Daniel pulled it open, filled with curiosity. Probably not Swank. He couldn’t help a broad grin escaping when he saw the title.

  “Seriously? A subscription to American Iron? That’s awesome! Thank you!”

  He flipped through the motorcycle magazine happily.

  Harry was given new games for his Xbox and Lisanne was delighted with a high-tech Smartphone.

  “Wow! Thanks, mom! Thanks, dad!”

  Lunch was something else – a real southern special with country ham, collard greens, snaps, potatoes seasoned with smoked ham hocks, tomato pudding, baked sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, followed by pumpkin pie, and a three layer yellow cake with an icing made from chocolate and crushed orange slices.

  Daniel was stuffed to the point of being comatose, and Lisanne lay against him on the sofa, groaning and holding her stomach.

  “I’ve eaten too much,” she moaned, forgetting that Daniel couldn’t read her lips from that angle.

  But he recognized her general demeanor and massaged her stomach gently.

  They spent the rest of the day watching TV until Monica reminded them that as she’d cooked, it was up to the rest of them to clean up. Grumbling, Lisanne washed while Daniel dried and Harry put things away.

  Daniel paused with the dish towel in one hand when his phone buzzed.

  Lisanne nudged him and he looked up. “Zef?”

  He shook his head. “No. A friend.”

  “Who?”

  “Cori.” He raised his eyebrows, knowing that Lisanne had read all Cori’s texts on his cellphone.

  Lisanne’s lips tightened. “What does she want?”

  Daniel looked at her, incredulously. “To tell me merry Christmas. Do you want to see it?”

  Lisanne really, really did want to see the message but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know that.

  “No. Fine. Whatever,” she said, disdainfully.

  Daniel felt irritated but he understood. He’d shared something important with Cori and left Lisanne in the dark. She was bound to feel anxious about another woman. Hell, if the situation had been reversed, he’d want to take the guy’s head off.

  He swallowed his annoyance. “Baby doll, she’s a friend, that’s all. You can meet her if you like – you’ll see. She’s more like a sister.”

  “But you slept with her,” hissed Lisanne.

  Daniel’s patience was fracturing fast. “For fuck’s sake, that was when I was a kid. My dick hasn’t been anywhere near her in nearly three years!”

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Harry slip out of the kitchen. He didn’t blame him – he felt very much like doing the same.

  “Are you going to see her again?”

  “Well, yeah!”

  “Fine, then!” she snapped back. “Go to her! See if I care!”

  Daniel gave up before
his temper snapped completely, and walked out of the room.

  He headed upstairs and started shoving clothes into his backpack before he remembered that he wouldn’t be able to catch a bus home until the following morning.

  Frustrated, he picked up his phone and sent a short message back to Cori and another to Zef. He still hadn’t heard from his brother, and it bothered him.

  When his door opened, he looked up and saw a tearful Lisanne standing there.

  “Sorry,” she whispered.

  He gave a small smile. “No harm, no foul.”

  Her gaze fell to his backpack and her lip trembled. “Are you leaving?”

  He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I should head back to C-port in the morning.”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “Kinda,” he said, honestly, “but that’s not why I’m going. I need to get busy finding somewhere to live.”

  She looked like she didn’t believe him. “I’m really sorry I was such a bitch just now.”

  He rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, you were but don’t worry about it.”

  “It’s just… you told Cori about the surgery and you didn’t tell me. I just…” She couldn’t finish, afraid to say that she thought she was losing him.

  “Hey, come here.”

  She sat down next to him and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her in silence until they were both somewhere near the place of peace they’d reached – before her jealous outburst.

  She pulled away gently so she could look at him. “Do you really have to go? Stay one more day? Please?”

  Daniel shook his head. “No, you need to have some time with your folks and I’ve got things to do.”

  “But we’ll be together to see in the New Year?”

  “Sure, baby doll. Where else would I want to be?”

  She smiled gratefully. “Do you want to come back here?”

  He pulled a face. “Maybe. See how it goes.”

  His words did little to reassure her.

  They sat at opposite ends of his bed talking quietly, until Monica tapped on the door and hinted that it was time Lisanne headed to her own room.

  The mood the following morning lacked the easy atmosphere of the previous day. Lisanne looked despondent as she pushed some cereal around her bowl, and Daniel felt her tension.