A Little Mistletoe and Magic: Ho Ho Howls Romance Holiday Edition

by Marianne Morea

  Jack walked back toward where she sat on the log. “Talan is going to stay a while longer. He’ll get a ride back with Evelyn.” He glanced over his shoulder. “She’s the woman you noticed earlier.”

  Jenny didn’t comment. Instead, she got up and helped gather their things, including Talan’s blanket. They waved goodbye and headed for the car parked along the grass.

  Chapter Sixteen

  They drove back to Talan’s in awkward silence, until Jack parked the car in front of the cabin.

  “Don’t be angry, Jack. I’m sorry I’m so—”

  “Fickle?” he replied, turning in the driver’s seat to look at her.

  “I’m not fickle. I’m confused and haunted by things I don’t have answers for. Even after all this time, I still have memory loss from the accident. It’s like having a hole in the middle of your mind. You get snippets, but not much else, and no matter how hard you try to piece things together, you can’t. You rely on other people to tell you what happened, and then that turns out to be a web of self-centered lies.

  “I just want answers, and I’m hoping the sweat tomorrow night will give me some.” She paused to reach for his hand, scared he’d pull away. When he didn’t, she dragged in a breath so as not to tear up.

  “I may be unsure about my past, but at this moment I am anything but unsure about my present. I want you, Jack. In my life. In my future, and in my bed.”

  He didn’t say anything, and his face was unreadable. Opening the door, he walked around the front of the car and Jenny’s heart sank, but her lips parted when he didn’t go up the porch steps.

  Instead, he opened her door and held out his hand. Scooting over, she let him help her out of the car, and before she could say a word, he lifted her over his shoulder and closed the car door with his foot.

  “Jack! What are you doing?”

  “What do you think I’m doing?” He opened the cabin door and then closed it with foot.

  “What about Talan?”

  Jack didn’t answer, instead he walked with her over his shoulder through the bedroom door and deposited her on the bed.

  “Talan won’t be home until late. In case you missed it, the couch is made up for one, not two. You’re not the only one in this cabin with supercharged senses.”

  Heat crawled up her cheeks and she closed her eyes. “He overheard us on the log.”

  “No, Jen. He scented us from across the field.”

  She blinked, watching him strip out of his jacket and his shirt. “Scented. You mean as in smelled?”

  He nodded, dropping the pile of flannel on the floor. “Remember the story? Imbued with the spirit of the wolf?”

  Jenny’s mouth dropped.

  “Another layer of the paranormal onion exposed.” His gorgeous green eyes darkened. “And speaking of exposed, I want you naked. Spread wide and wet for me.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. Jack had teased her before, but nothing like this. His words were utterly raw, and her sex jumped in anticipation.

  He was naked from the waist up, and she took in his shoulders and chest and then stopped. Across his upper torso were parallel scars, like claw marks.

  She got up from the bed to run her fingers over the pale, raised flesh. Her skin tingled and her stomach jumped. Jack’s scars were the exact ones she saw on the blurred man in her first dream.

  Her eyes found his, and before she could speak his lips crushed hers in a kiss that took her breath. God damn! Magic was amazing! She saw Jack and wanted him before she even met him. If he was a gift from the universe, then the universe rocked!

  Jack swept his arm around her waist and dragged her close, his mouth demanding hers with hard hunger. His tongue swept her mouth, plundering deep as his hands roamed her curves. Jenny’s body exploded with a need only he could elicit. The intoxicating taste of him. The delicious way he smelled.

  Jack walked her backwards until the backs of her legs hit the mattress. Lifting the hem of her sweater, he pulled it over her head and let it drop to the floor with his clothes.

  She shivered. Even with all her other doubts, this was happening. Reaching behind her back, she unclipped her bra, so they were both naked from the waist up.

  “We should’ve taken our shoes off first.” Jenny laughed, glancing at her high-top hiking boots.

  Jack slipped out of his boots with ease, sliding them to the side. He put his hands on Jenny’s shoulders, pressing her to sit on the edge of the bed.

  “Are you sure you want this?” he asked, kissing her mouth.

  “Yes,” she murmured.

  Jack’s hands slipped from her shoulders to her bare breasts, and she groaned at the rough feel of his hands on her skin. He knelt between her knees while his thumbs graze her nipples.

  Without a word, Jenny scooted farther onto the mattress. She leaned back on her elbows, watching as he wiggled her leggings over her hips.

  “I didn’t exactly dress for the occasion.” She grinned, as the clingy Lycra fought him.

  “And yet you’re commando under this chastity-belt material.” He snapped the elastic waistband against her skin. “I’d say that makes you a tease.”

  “Hey!”

  “Did you pack other pants?” he asked, slowly curling his fingers under the tight, snug fabric.

  “Jeans, why?”

  Her leggings tore, the clingy material popping and curling away from her nether flesh. “Now, that’s what I call ripping off a Band-Aid.”

  Jack pushed Jenny’s knees up and wide, not caring her legs were still half-encased in her ruined leggings. He unlaced her boots, slipping them from her feet.

  “You’ve got a heart-shaped birthmark, love.” His fingers traced the reddish mark, caressing the tender flesh at the juncture between her thighs. “Is that my invitation to make love to you?”

  Jack’s hands spread her knees wider. He dipped his face to her sex and flicked the taut nub with the tip of his tongue, swirling and sucking her bud between his teeth.

  “Mmmm. Your taste is even sweeter than I imagined, Jen.” He spread her slick folds, delving his tongue into her slick cleft.

  She fisted his hair, and when Jack plunged his fingers into her wet core, she gasped as he curled them against her spot.

  His free hand ripped her leggings further. The fabric curled even more, leaving her slick pussy and bare ass completely exposed.

  Lifting his face from her clit, he dragged his thumb over the hard nub, and the rough feel of his calloused pad sent her rocketing higher.

  Jenny’s head dropped between her shoulders and she cried out, grinding higher into Jack’s palm. She arched as a climax took her. The orgasm rocketed through her body, sending spasms out from her core. Her breath locked and every muscle tensed until it ebbed.

  Jack pulled his fingers from her slick slit, and her head jerked up from between her shoulders. “You are so delicious, love, but I want more.”

  He rolled the ruined leggings down her legs, discarding them to the floor, and stepping back, he unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them and his boxer briefs to the ground.

  Jenny’s body hummed with aftershocks, but when Jack freed his cock, she nearly came again. The thick corded mass jutted from his body, its length and girth making her lick her lips. She scrambled to her knees on the bed. Reaching for him, he pulled her close, cupping her bare ass.

  Shaking, she marveled at the feel of his hard, muscled body against her bare breasts. His heart thudded in his chest in time with hers, and his breath hitched when her hand wrapped around his shaft.

  “You want more? Then take it, Jack.”

  She let her fingers scrape his rigid flesh as she edged back to lie on the bed. She propped herself on both elbows, drawing her knees up and wide. Snaking one hand over her belly, she toyed with the slick wetness between her legs.

  “I’m right here. Swollen and wet. Aching for you to fill me.”

  Jack knelt on the bed, crawling between her knees. “When I say more, I mean more. Your tight pussy
squeezing my cock. My dick buried balls deep inside you. Your slick wet walls spasming around me as you come. Your ass, your mouth. You, Jen. All of you.”

  His words made her clit jerk and her pussy even wetter. “Do it, Jack! Fuck me!

  He drove his full length deep with one thrust. Jenny dragged a sharp breath through her teeth at the sharp sting from his sheer size. Her body stretched, and slick, hot pleasure meshed with delicious sharp pain. The lines blurred, and she rode the wave, taking it all.

  Jack took her mouth, kissing her as he rode between her legs. Their breath mingled, hot and sweet, their tongues demanding in a rough tangle.

  Jenny’s body tensed as Jack’s ridged girth stroked her spot, in and out. Her breath caught in the fierce rhythm, and she met him thrust for thrust. He lifted her legs to his shoulders, holding her thighs as he pounded. Finding her clit with his free hand, he circled the engorged bud with his thumb.

  She cried out, and when he rolled her clit between his thumb and forefinger, her body exploded in climax. Wave after wave of spasms crashed, and Jack pinned her back, emptying himself deep within her as she rocketed into boneless orgasm.

  Jenny’s legs slipped from his shoulders, and he gathered her close. “You okay?” he asked.

  “I may walk bowlegged from now on, but other than that, I’m great.”

  His lips spread in a grin against her neck. “I have wanted this since day one, Jenny.”

  “I hope it wasn’t a letdown. Sometimes when we want something so badly, we’re disappointed when the fantasy in our head was better than the real thing.”

  Jack picked his head up from the hollow between her neck and chest to look at her. “You’re kidding, right? Or are you politely telling me it sucked for you?”

  Her eyes widened at that. “Oh, hell no! I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Jack, you have ruined all other men for me, forever.”

  “Good.” He nipped her lip. “Because you are the only woman I want, Jenny Mitchell. I know it’s early days, but I think what we have is something special. Extraordinary, even.”

  “Me, too, Jack. Me, too.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jenny woke alone. She and Jack had fallen asleep together in Talan’s bed. She’d have to change the man’s sheets and do laundry before the sweat tonight. There was no question.

  She hunted around the floor for her ruined leggings, but only found her boots and her sweater. Jack must have thrown them out when he got up.

  Taking a towel and her toiletries from her overnight bag, she threw on a long, oversized tee-shirt and padded out of the bedroom for the bathroom in the hall.

  The cabin was empty, but on the kitchen table there was a wax paper bag, a container of coffee and a note.

  Jenny,

  I went out early to grab something sweet for my sweet. I didn’t want to wake you when I got back, so I went for a run. So much energy this morning. Can you guess why? Wink-Wink.

  See you in a little while,

  Jack

  She opened the bag and grinned. Inside was a bear claw, like the one he’d snatched from her the day of the Christmas Fair. Folding the bag again, she left both the treat and the coffee on the table and then headed into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

  Pinning her hair up, she turned on the shower and stepped into the hot spray. Her body ached all over, especially her nether bits, but she hadn’t felt this good in ages. If she was truly honest, since well before the accident.

  She soaped up, washing gingerly in between, before scrubbing her face with an exfoliant. Rinsing, she shut the shower and dried off quickly, wrapping the towel around her body before gathering her stuff again.

  Stepping out of the bathroom, she shivered. “This cabin may be solid as a rock, but the floors are like ice!”

  In the bedroom, Jenny slipped on a matching bra and panty set, a pair of jeans and thick red sweater before pulling on a thick pair of wooly socks.

  Brushing her hair back into a sleek ponytail, she skipped the makeup. “I’m only going to sweat if off later, so why bother?” She glanced at herself in the bedroom mirror. No circles or bags, and her eyes were bright. Jack wasn’t the only one benefiting from amazing, toe-curling sex.

  She closed her overnight case, and then slipped on her boots. By now her stomach growled and she wanted that bear claw.

  “Hey,” she said, seeing Jack in the kitchen.

  He turned around with the wax paper bag in his hand and a mouth full of bear claw. “Jackson Wilde. You didn’t. Again! First the croissants, now my bear claw? And you left the note!” Marching over, she snatched the bag from his hand and looked inside. “At least this time you left me more than a bite.”

  He grinned, and his mouth was full of sugar.

  “Ugh. You’re gross.”

  Grabbing her into a hug, he nuzzled her neck, sugar and all.

  “Ew! I just showered!”

  Swallowing his mouthful, he ran his tongue over his teeth. “That’s not what you said last night.”

  “Showering?”

  He kissed her quick. “Nope. That I’m gross. In fact, you couldn’t get enough of me last night.”

  “Ha! I could say the same about you.”

  He nodded. “Yes, and you’d be very, very right.” Jack let her go, but not before snatching the bag again.

  “Jack! C’mon! I’m the one who’s supposed to have a good breakfast today.”

  Opening the bag, he slipped one arm around her waist, and held the bear claw to her lips with the other. “Sweets for my sweet.”

  She took a huge bite, and then slipped out from under his arm, stealing the rest of the pastry.

  “It was a giant-sized bear claw, Jen. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

  Chewing, she smirked at him. “Rule number one about Jenny Mitchell. Don’t get between me and my sugar fix.”

  “What about your sugar daddy fix?” He kissed the side of her head before pouring her cold coffee into a mug and popping it in the microwave to warm.

  “Unless you’re talking about a caramel lollypop, I have no idea what you mean.”

  His lips slid into a sexy smirk. “I have something you could lick, if you ask nicely.”

  She grinned, and now it was her turn for a sugary smile. “I’ll take a raincheck. My nether bits need a chance to recover.”

  The microwave dinged, and Jack put her coffee on the table next to her chair.

  Jenny looked around the living room at the untouched couch. “Where’s Talan? Didn’t he come home last night?”

  “I’m not sure. It doesn’t look that way. Maybe he figured you and I were getting busy, so he got busy himself.”

  “Ew. That’s like picturing my dad having sex.”

  “Talan isn’t that old.”

  The glass sliders opened, and Talan walked in from the side deck. “Well thank you, Jack. You’re not so bad yourself.” The old man grinned, and today he seemed a decade younger.

  “You need something more substantial for breakfast, my dear. You have strenuous work ahead of you today.” He opened the refrigerator door. “Do you like bacon and eggs?”

  “Love ‘em.”

  “While you’re at it, I like them, too.”

  Talan grinned over his shoulder. “I know what you like, now make the toast. I already started your job for you this morning. I started the firepit and placed the stones inside at dawn.” He looked between Jack and Jenny. “I thought it best not to disturb you.”

  Jenny felt herself blush. If she had a mirror handy, she’d see ten shades of red. “Talan, do you have a washing machine and dryer?”

  “In the closet next to the bathroom. It’s a small stackable.” He gestured toward the hall.

  “Jack.” Jenny motioned for him to follow her into the bedroom.

  “What?”

  “Help me strip the bed. If Talan scented us from across the field last night, he’s going to get a nose full the minute he walks into his bedroom.”

  Jack laughed
out loud. “It’s lucky.”

  “It’s embarrassing! Just help me, okay?”

  “We’re only going to re-dirty the sheets tonight, so why not wait until tomorrow?”

  She crossed her arms at her chest. “You seem pretty sure of your chances.”

  “I meant sleeping. We’re going to sleep here tonight.”

  She smirked at him, but nodded. “Tomorrow.”

  “Jenny?” Talan called from the kitchen.

  “Yes?”

  “After you eat, I would like you to sit quietly and meditate a little on what you want to learn from this sweat. Once the membrane is made, it will be just you and I inside. I as the water pourer, and you as the one who journeys. Jack will keep the fire, outside.

  “We can do this one of two ways. I can chant and you journey wherever the spirits lead, or I can do a guided meditation.”

  “Is that like a visual?”

  Talan cracked eggs into a bowl and whisked them quickly. “Sort of. I guide you toward the veil between the realms. I can only get to you to a point. The rest will be up to you.”

  She nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

  Talan poured the eggs into the frying pan. “Good, but first we’ll eat.”

  ***

  “I’m supposed to cover that until it’s as dark as a womb inside. Have I got that right?” Jenny walked around the front of the bare bones structure.

  Saplings, bowed and interwoven, formed the skeleton of a dome-shaped structure erected toward the east of the clearing, and at its center sat a cold hearth. Piles of blankets lay beside the bare frame.

  “That’s the symbolism, Jen. The bent, bare tree limbs form the skeleton of the sweat lodge.” Jack put more blankets and tarps on the pile. “Traditionally, the ones who journey cover the outside so no light from the outside penetrates. The only light inside is the glow from the river stones.”

  Jenny inhaled, nodding. “I asked for this, so I’d better get to it.”

  “Normally there are four or five people journeying together, so it’s fast work. Talan wants this done by nightfall, so I’m going to help.”