by Nina Auril
I laugh. “Goodnight, Hendrix.”
“Goodnight, Sexy Cat Thief,” he says, and I end the call with a huge smile on my face.
CHAPTER NINE
Hendrix
“Remind me again, why I agreed to come to this thing,” I say and tug at the white bow tie strangling me.
“Because, Hen, Christmas!” Carter says sarcastically, leaning against the bar where we’ve both been standing for the past hour. “You love Christmas. Look at all the… lovely decorations.” I look around the room. It’s an explosion of red, green, and gold. And although I must admit that it’s all rather festive, this isn’t where I want to be right now. Where I want to be is in bed on the phone, listening to Ophelia make herself come. Instead I’m stuck here, sulking next to the bar because she wouldn’t agree to coffee with me. “Besides, it’s a great networking opportunity. Lots of important people with lots and lots of money.”
I groan at Carter. “Well, this mask is itchy,” I say and scratch my cheek under the red mask decorated with Mistletoe and pout, fully committing to my sulking. I’m all for dressing up, but this shit is ridiculous. I sigh and signal the bartender for another whiskey. The theme for this year’s party is ‘A Masquerade Christmas,’ and everyone was instructed to wear red, green, gold, or white. I’d rather have shown up as Sirius Black. My cock jerks when I’m reminded of last night and our geeky sexting.
“Excuse me,” Carter brings me out of my fantasies. “I have to go see a reindeer about her tits.” I look in the direction he’s staring in and spot a girl dressed all in red with a reindeer mask.
“No,” I say and grab his arm to stop him. “You’re not leaving me alone. If I’m not allowed to have distractions, then neither are you.”
Carter shoves my hand off his arm. “Aw, is pretty boy scared to be left alone?” Jerk. “I keep your ass in line all year long; I deserve to bury my face in that girl’s tits. Now stay here and behave.” He says and walks off. I stare at him open-mouthed as he reaches the reindeer girl. He reaches for her arm and whispers something to her, she giggles, and then they both disappear into the crowd. That’s when I see her.
A vision in a shimmery dress. The color is somewhere between white and gold and clings to her every curve. The neckline dips into a sharp V over her breasts. The fabric of the dress tight over her slight belly and the flare of her hips. There’s a high slit up her right leg, and I’m treated to a flash of creamy thigh every time she takes a step. Her face is hidden by a sparkling snowflake mask but surrounded by a golden halo of blonde curls draped over her left shoulder.
“Nick and Mary Christmas,” I mutter. My body is suddenly vibrating with arousal. Her eyes scan over the crowd, past me and then tracks back to give me a quick once-over before she glances away again. She turns her back to me, and my breath hitches when I see it. The dress is backless, and her back is covered in intricate snowflake designs done in glitter.
“Not so fast, little snowflake.” I shove off the bar and follow after her, my eyes not leaving her once as she weaves through the crowd.
I grab her arm when I finally reach her and when she turns around I’m even more mesmerized. Her clear blue eyes are framed by dark makeup blended in behind her white gold mask. “You’re beautiful,” I say, but she only blinks up at me, shocked. I can’t hear her voice over the music and boisterous laughter and chatter from the tipsy crowd around us, but her gesture is clear. She can’t hear me. I bend down to reach her ear. “I said you’re fucking beautiful.” I have to shout for her to hear me, but she does. She blinks, and a slight smile forms on her plump lips. “Dance with me,” I yell into her ear again.
I don’t wait for her to decide, it wasn’t a question anyway, and pull her towards the dancefloor. When we reach it, I pull her body closer to mine. I’m suddenly nervous about having this girl in my arms. Not nervous because I’m holding a girl, but nervous because I’m scared I’ll act like a fumbling teenager and try to touch all her parts all at once. I take a deep breath and force myself to control my movements as I glide my hands down her sides and over the top her ass. I give it a slight squeeze before moving my hands back up again. Her body relaxes against mine; those delicious curves plastered to my hard edges. Her head reaches my chin, and the smell of her hair reaches my nose. Sweet and flowery. It seems oddly familiar, but I can’t place it. Everything about her seems oddly familiar. Like I’ve known her for years. She smiles up at me, and those eyes hold me captive. I wish I could see her face, to try and place her.
“What’s your name?” I murmur, but she only gestures at her ear again. This music is making it impossible, so I give up and just enjoy the sensory overload of this woman in my arms as we sway to the music. I don’t know if it’s that fourth whiskey I had or the smell of her or the feel of her, but I’m hypnotized. Entranced when my head bends down. It’s a slow movement, careful when I lower my lips to hers. Her head falls back only slightly, our lips only a whisper apart. Neither of us dares move, too scared to break this spell we’re under, our eyes trained on each other. My heart is hammering in my chest when I finally, softly, press my lips to hers. I wait for her, to either stop me or permits me and when her lips part and my tongue gently enters her mouth to find hers, it’s like an electric shock to my system. A shock so great that it makes everything else disappear.
Our kiss deepens and what began as soft and gentle is now turning my blood into liquid fire. Our tongues twist around each other, I drink in the taste of champagne from her lips and feel the vibration in my chest when she moans. I can’t get enough of her, and it strikes me that I don’t even know her name but at this moment I don’t care. I could stand here and kiss her forever. And I do. I kiss her until I lose all sense of myself, my hands grip at her curves, dig into her ass to bring her even closer. I don’t know how long I kiss her for, but I’m irrationally angry when someone jostles into us, forcing us to break apart.
“Oh, excuse me,’ says the offending person. A drunk, middle-aged man in a Krampus mask. I’d like to shove some coal in his socks right about now. “Some party, huh? The best so far.” He says and spills his wine all over my white tuxedo jacket. “Oh, so sorry. Let me help with you that.” He yanks a handkerchief from his pocket and dabs clumsily at the red stain, only making it worse.
“No, no it’s ok,” I shove him away politely. “Enjoy the rest of the party.” I turn away from him to get back to my snowflake, but she’s gone. Disappeared like I just imagined her.
Did I imagine her? Did I just imagine that whole thing? How drunk am I? I didn’t have that many drinks. Maybe someone slipped something into my drink. Jesus, I need some fresh air.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I head for the doors leading out to the balcony. Thankfully, nobody else is out on the massive balcony overlooking the city. Who in their right mind would come out here in the dead of winter? Well, someone who needs to get sobered up. I take a deep breath as I walk over to the railing and brace my hands against it. I stare out at the city as I try and take stock of the last few days.
Could I be losing my mind? I mean, it has been a weird couple of days. First, the thing with Beau and the notes, then the Harry Potter sexting and now snowflake girl who appeared and disappeared like a ghost. Maybe I had some bad take-out, and this is all some weird fever dream caused by food poisoning. Would I be this cold in a fever dream? I shiver. Are night sweats a thing with food poisoning?
I pinch myself. Ouch. Nope, this is all real.
I let out a frustrated breath and turn around to go back inside to find Carter and let him know I’m heading home, but stop when I spot her again.
She’s standing with her back to me, on the other side of the glass doors. I shake my head and close my eyes, count to ten and open them again. She’s still there.
With determination, I stalk over, yank open the door and pull her onto the balcony with me. I ignore her yelp of surprise and close the door behind me. I grab her shoulder and push her back against the wall next to the doors, hiding us f
rom view. We stand there staring at each other, our chests heaving and our breaths forming white clouds in the cold night air.
“Are you real?” I whisper. I stare at her for another beat and then my mouth crashes down on hers. There’s a moment of resistance from her, but then we’re right back where we were on the dancefloor. Only this time, we’re desperate. Nothing about this is slow or gentle. We’re all hands and mouths and gnashing teeth. Her hands are shoving my jacket over my shoulders while mine are pushing down the straps of her dress. I break our kiss to look down at her exposed breast. Heavy in my hand, her pink nipple hardens against the cold. Fucking perfect. I bend my head to take her nipple into my mouth; my ears fill with her moans as I run my tongue in circles around her hard peak. Her hands tangle in my hair, holding my head in place as she shoves her breast deeper into my mouth.
My other hand moves up her exposed thigh, gripping it to hook her leg around my waist. I fumble with the zipper of my pants and tug my cock out. I need to be inside her desperately. My hand moves to find her panties, but she isn’t wearing any.
“Fuck,” I grunt as my fingers slip into her pussy. She’s already so wet. “Is this real?” I search her eyes for an answer, but she doesn’t give me one. Instead, she pulls my mouth to hers, and I’m lost again, my cock poised at her entrance.
CHAPTER TEN
Ophelia
I’m burning.
I’m burning with lust in this cold winter air.
I’m impatient as he puts on the condom.
“Please,” I moan when the stranger in the Mistletoe mask teases my folds with his impressively big and hard as steel cock.
I don’t know who the guy between my legs is, but I don’t care as long as he pushes inside me. I’m not a stranger to one-night-stands. They are the only way I can get sex with my busy writing schedule. Unfortunately, my perfectly imperfect heroes don’t come out from the pages to give me some good lovin’ in my writing cave. And a wild night of sex with someone you don’t know is liberating in a way. But still, this is new to me. This kind of desire for someone I’ve just met, this intense lust...
With the way his fingers dig into my skin, his body shudders with tension, probably to keep himself under control. The feeling is mutual.
“Fuck, this won’t be gentle,” he grits out and thrusts into me in one swift move.
I silence my scream by pressing my lips to his neck. I writhe in his arms with the mixture of pain and pleasure. He lets me adjust to his size, kissing my lips roughly, and I kiss him back with the same hunger.
“Hold on tight, Snowflake,” he says and starts pounding my pussy like he wants to destroy it. Hell, I want him to destroy it.
We’re lips, tongues, claws, and teeth as he thrusts into me. I’m pressing him harder, forcing him to go faster with my heels on his ass. And he serves me just right, pushing into me at a perfect angle that rubs every magical spot, thrusting in a perfect pace to make me buck in his arms with pleasure.
My toes curl inside my high heels, my skin is covered in a thin layer of sweat, and my body is tingling from the release that is so close to the surface. My nipples are achingly taut, and it sends another shock of pleasure through my body when his lips wrap around them, alternating between left and right. Every graze of his teeth pushes me closer to the cliff. His lips move frantically, he licks, sucks, and bites every inch of skin he can reach until he stops on my mouth. He kisses me again with the same intensity, but this time there’s also the urgency of chasing the release we both need. Everything inside me tenses, my walls clench around his shaft. My hands claw at his shoulders, and I lick the sweat off his neck, suck and bite the soft skin as the pleasure blackens my view.
He groans, thrusting into me even harder as his body shudders. I can feel him throb inside me despite the clenching of my own, and he stills for a moment before his release shakes him from head to toe.
As we try to catch our breaths, he repeats the same words again and again in wonder.
“Magical.”
Finally, when the fog of lust vanishes, my mind starts working again.
“Magical,” I whisper the word, but my voice isn’t filled with wonder. The word is like being standing under a cold shower.
Hendrix.
I push the guy with the Mistletoe mask away from me, stumbling I put my dress back in place. I can feel his confusion, but I’m as confused as he is.
“Thank you,” I say dumbly and walk past him without a second glance. Even if he calls out to me, the music is loud enough to suppress his voice.
I don’t stop until I get inside a cab. I don’t even look for Angela or let her know that I’m leaving the party. My emotions are all over the place, all I want to do is get inside my bed and cuddle with Austin.
Austin… Beau… Hendrix…
My thoughts jump back to him, to last night and I feel like a slut, a cheater. I know Hendrix, and I aren’t together. I know we haven’t even had sex, and I’m being ridiculous for letting a phone call make me feel guilty, but I can’t stop this gnawing feeling inside me. We may not be together, we may not even know what the other looks like and we may not even have met once, but we shared something last night. I got off with one guy last night and let another one fuck me on a balcony at a party tonight. And I don’t know either of these men.
I can’t shake the sour taste it leaves in my mouth.
I can’t ignore the fact that I’m feeling like a cheater, whether it makes sense or not.
When the taxi finally stops in front of my building, I rush into my apartment. As if Austin feels my distress he comes to me and puts his paws on my shoes. Ripping the mask off my face, I laugh when I notice he is wearing a Santa costume today.
“Hendrix,” I murmured, shaking my head.
With Austin in my arms, I walk to the balcony, needing the fresh air even though the chill reminds me of the lust-driven moments just a few minutes ago. Austin purrs in my arms, and I rub my cheek on his fur, enjoying the calm he gives me. He’s such an indifferent cat usually, but whenever I feel down or need some comfort, he surprisingly gives it to me without a fuss.
“Thank you, Austin,” I whisper and kiss his face before placing him back on the floor.
I check my phone for a message. There’s nothing. I don’t focus on how I’m feeling about it and head for the bathroom.
I need a shower and then sleep. A long one.
Yes, that’s all I need.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hendrix
Thank you.
Thank you?!
“Fuck,” I stand there, dumbfounded, my cock still heavy between my legs. “FUCK!”
What in the actual fuck just happened? I fumble with my pants as I tuck myself back in while pushing through the glass doors. Spotting her on the far side of the room, I shove people out of my way as I go after her. I ignore their grunts and shouts of protest; my only purpose now is to get to her before she disappears again.
“Hey, Hen, I want you to meet...” Carter grabs my arm and pulls me towards some guy in an elf’s mask, causing me to lose sight of the girl who just blew my mind.
“Not now!” I shove past Carter and whoever is beside him. I don’t have time to stop. Making my way through the crowd, I scan around, trying to catch a glimpse of her. I spot her rushing down the steps and out of the door of the building. I run down the stairs, taking them two at a time and pray that she’s still there when I get outside.
I crash into the doorman who ‘helpfully’ steps forward to try and open the door for me. We dance around each other and become a weird human-octopus hybrid of tangled arms and legs as we both grapple for the door. Finally, I take a frustrated breath and stop, extracting my arms from his, I pat down his chest and mumble an apology. There’s a second’s delay as we stare awkwardly at each other, trying to figure out who gets the right to open the door. I take my chance and rip open the door and go crashing outside.
I look from left to right but don’t see her through the crowds of peopl
e ambling up and down the pavement. I grab my hair in frustration, just about to let out a scream when I hear an impressive whistle. I look towards the direction of the sound and spot her hailing a cab.
“Wait!” I start running in her direction but I’m too late, and she’s already in the cab and speeding off when I reach the spot she was standing in. “Fuck!” I throw my arms up in defeat when I come to a stop and look around me for another cab. I spot an elderly man holding the door of a cab open for, what I’m assuming, is his wife. She’s taking her sweet ass time getting to the cab, the walking ring in front of her not helping with the speed at all.
“Sorry, so sorry. I have an emergency,” I say as I shove the old man aside and get into the cab. Ignoring his protests, I pull a hundred dollar bill from my wallet and hand it to him from the open window. “So, so sorry,” I say again. My mother would be so disappointed if she saw me right now.
“Follow that cab!” I shout at the cabby. I’ve always wanted to say that.
“Hey man,” the cabby looks at me from his rearview mirror. “I don’t know what kind of freaky shit you’re planning tonight but I…”
“I’ll pay you two hundred dollars.” I interrupt him.
“But I’m in.” He says and pulls out into the street.
“Can you go faster? I can’t lose her.”
So here’s something I just learned. Don’t tell a cabby to speed up. Your life will flash in front of your eyes as he weaves through cars and jumps sidewalks. Somewhere between clinging on for dear life and praying that I make it out of this alive, I spot my favorite coffee spot, the newsstand that always smells like stale ham sandwiches and the homeless woman who is always shouting about aliens. We’re in my neighborhood.
I spot her cab in the road, about three blocks ahead of us, as it turns the corner. On to my street. There’s a crashing sound, and all traffic comes to a sudden halt. Just ahead of us a pick-up must have run a red light and crashed into a Prius. A man and a woman jump out and start yelling at each other in the middle of the road.