Zambonis and Mistletoe - A Holiday Romance (The Renegades Series Book 4)

by Melody Heck Gatto

  Pausing from the lights for a minute, Tyler turned to her. “Ry, this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She waved her hand in the air. “I just wanted to know if you guys have Eggnog.”

  “Just bring the Eggnog, okay?” Tyler chuckled and shook his head before returning to the light strand.

  The entire time he had been here she knew she had talked nonstop, jumping from one subject to another. She was desperate to talk to Paige about Nick. Only Paige would understand her feelings about Scott, and besides, this close to the holidays all her other girlfriends were too busy at work or with family stuff to get together for a heart to heart. Why hadn’t Paige come over too? They could’ve talked, and then just eaten here after they decorated.

  “What is she making?” Rylee knew she was rambling. If she just kept talking then she wouldn’t have time to focus on the events of last night. She couldn’t believe the things that had transpired. She knew if Nick had stayed around any longer after that kiss, he would’ve probably still been here this morning. The thought of Nick waking up in her bed made those parts tingle again.

  After struggling to fall asleep last night, unable to get visions of Nick to stop dancing in her head, she had the strangest dreams. She dreamt of Scott; he never stopped smiling, and his light brown eyes gleamed with happiness. Everything about him was pure, and there was no longer any sense of the demons he’d fought while on this Earth. He’d held out his hand to her. She wanted to take it and be wrapped up in his arms once again, but her heart was pulling her the other way.

  Scott smiled as he softly took her hand and kissed it, but then he’d pulled her into a gentle hug and she could feel his body against hers, as though he were really there with her. He whispered into her ear, “Go and be happy. You need to live your life for you now, so don’t miss what’s right in front of you. I will always love you, but I can’t give you what you need. He can.”

  “But—”

  “Shhh, my angel. You deserve all the happiness this world has to offer. I will always be with you, watching over you and keeping you safe. Just go and be happy.”

  That damn dream had her pre-occupied. It was like he’d really been with her. She could still feel him holding her, still smell the cologne he always wore. Her heart ached, because how could she let him go?

  So maybe talking like a chatterbox was not only to cope with last night with Nick, but to keep her from thinking too much about that dream.

  But it wasn’t working.

  Scott had given her his blessing. Despite the lingering ache the dream had left behind, her heart felt lighter than it had in weeks.

  “Ravioli.”

  “Huh?” Rylee snapped out of her thought.

  “Ravioli. Paige is making Ravioli,” Tyler answered as he finished hanging the second set of window lights. He stepped back and looked at them lit. It was only four o’clock in the evening and already dusk outside. The lights sparkled against the dull night sky. The twinkling lights warmed her heart; she loved holiday lights, hence why poor Tyler had so many to hang. “Do you need the ones upstairs done too?” He wiped his brow and climbed down from the front window.

  Everything was happening so fast, but for once her stomach wasn’t in knots. She was ready to take things as they came.

  ***

  “Tyler, why is there a Range Rover outside?” Rylee asked Tyler as he helped her into his house. He just shrugged. Tyler wasn’t dumb. It was obvious he wasn’t getting in the middle of her and Paige. “What has she done?” Again, he did nothing but shrug before he disappeared into another room.

  “Paige?” Rylee called as she hobbled into the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks as she was looking right at Nick. “Nick?” She asked surprised, her mouth gaping open. The sound of bells jingling filled her ears. She flashed him a half smile, trying to hide the fact that she really was happy to see him, even if Paige had done this behind her back.

  Rylee flashed Paige the evilest look she could manage, but it just made her friend giggle.

  “Rylee, how are you?” Nick sounded calm, but he looked nervous. He kept running his hand through his hair, and when he wasn’t doing that, his hands were in his pockets. He stood up as she entered the room. She loved how old fashioned he was, so very serious about his etiquette. His parents had done such a good job with him. Someday she’d have to thank them. She smiled shyly and looked him over—jeans, dress shoes, black dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. He always looked so sharp, so handsome. He took her breath away.

  Before she could say anything more to Nick, Paige took her attention.

  “Rylee!” Paige called and ran over to her, giving her a big hug. “How’s the ankle, sis? Got a shoe on now I see, so the swelling must be gone. Awesome!”

  Rylee was confused but pretty sure she knew what was going on here. Paige thought she was being slick, trying to get her and Nick together. Well, if she hadn’t been so busy trying to be sneaky and had come over with Tyler, Rylee would’ve told her all about last night. But now she wasn’t going to give Paige the satisfaction of thinking her little plan was working. “It’s getting better. I can put weight on it now.” She pointed at her pink Chuck Taylors.

  “That’s great to hear! Okay, go sit down at the table. Dinner is ready!” She grabbed two cups off the counter. “Here Nick, take Rylee’s drink over to the table, please. Thanks! Ty-y-y-y-ler!” she called. “Where are you? Time to eat!”

  Paige seemed to be frantically trying to make everything perfect as she brought serving dishes to the table, sauce, ravioli, broccoli, and bread. She had placed candles on the table and everything looked lovely.

  Nick smiled at Rylee and pulled out her chair, helping her sit down. He sat right beside her. Bing Crosby played on the radio as Paige fiddled in the kitchen, and Nick leaned over and whispered in Rylee’s ear, “I think we’re being set up.”

  She let out a little schoolgirl giggle. She knew her friend well enough to know that Nick wasn’t wrong. Paige meant well, and had no idea she didn’t need this elaborate scheme because they were doing just fine on their own. Slow, but fine. Especially now that her heart was beginning to believe it was okay to move on.

  Finally, Tyler appeared in the kitchen.

  “Ty, c’mon sit down. Dinner is ready.” Paige was a bit crazed when she had a plan, but she always meant well, and Tyler seemed to know that. He simply smiled and sat down at the table. He flashed Nick a look, almost apologetic. After all, Nick was his boss. This couldn’t have been the best situation for Tyler. Rylee flashed him a small smile and shrugged. He replied with a wide smile.

  “Paige worked hard on this dinner.” Tyler winked at Paige. He truly loved Paige and would do anything for her, even be an accomplice in one of her looney plans.

  “So Paige,” Nick said as he dug into the ravioli. “No Christmas decorations?” He motioned around the bare rooms; there was not a decoration to be seen, except a tiny tree that sat in the living room.

  Paige shook her head. “No. That’s more Rylee’s thing. Plus, Tyler isn’t a clutter kind of guy.” She motioned around the kitchen that was all organized and clean. “Rylee’s the old fashion Christmas girl,” she added, smiling.

  That was Paige in a nutshell. Rylee knew she loved the Christmastimes they had together, all the decorations, the smell of cookies baking, the lights. She loved when Pap brought home a tree every year for the girls to decorate. Paige loved it all, but she wasn’t one to put it all out and then have to take it all down in a month. She’d rather go see it in someone else’s house.

  “Nick, you know how it is. We aren’t home enough to enjoy it anyway,” Tyler added.

  Paige dished out ravioli to Rylee and herself, while Tyler had already started to eat. “Garlic bread?” she asked, as she passed it around the table.

  “Everything smells great, Paige. Thanks for the invite,” Nick said.

  “Yeah, thanks for the invite, Paige.” Rylee shot her a look. “
So when did you get the idea for this little dinner party?”

  “Oh, it just came to me,” Paige innocently responded.

  How ironic that it just ‘came to her’ at the same time that Rylee was feeling ready to move forward.

  CHAPTER 15

  Nick parked his SUV right along her walkway, killed the engine and got out of the car. He turned his attention to helping Rylee out of her seat. “Swing your arm around my neck,” he instructed, and gently lifted her to the ground.

  “I’m getting better you know.” She laughed, but she wasn’t sorry he’d grabbed her body to lift her out of the SUV. “I don’t need all this help.”

  They slowly walked together up to the house, Rylee putting more weight on her bad foot. Her neighbors had put out their Christmas lights and they all sparkled in the moonlight. Nothing had ever felt this perfect before.

  She unlocked the porch door and let them into the kitchen. Nick looked around the house as she locked the door and turned on the window lights in the living room. She moved to the little collection of ceramics sitting on her fireplace mantle and turned the lights on inside them. She didn’t need a lot of light to get around her own house; she preferred relaxing to just the Christmas lights most nights.

  Nick was checking out the upstairs, still ever concerned about her safety. As he trotted down the steps back to the living room, he asked, “You want me to turn on some lights?”

  “No, I like it like this. I love to see the Christmas lights.”

  Nick agreed it was nice. “How about if I light a little fire? It will give you some more light at least, and take the chill out of the air?”

  Rylee shrugged and nodded. “If you want.” She ran her fingers over her bare collarbone, it was odd not having her necklace on, but it was time.

  Nick bent down, messing with the fireplace for a moment before lighting the flame. He stood back up as the orange glow lit the room. “Beautiful.”

  Rylee stood by the couch. “It is, thanks Nick.” She could’ve sworn she heard the faintest bells jingling again.

  But his attention was not on the fireplace. “I meant you.” He smiled cockily as he crossed the room to her.

  The butterflies that had made their new home in her stomach were back. Nick slowly approached her in the dimly lit room. He stopped inches from her and slipped his muscular arm around her waist, bracing her body against his. He searched her eyes for any indication that he should stop, but she gave him none.

  Her skin warmed; she thought it was the heat from the fireplace, but quickly realized it was just their bodies touching that had her on fire. With one hand holding onto his arm, balancing herself against him, she could feel his strong, hard muscles rippling. His abs were hard against her middle and she wanted to run her hands up them as well. Her mouth watered, her body trembled. His free hand made its way up to her cheek, cupping her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling every scent and taking in every second of this moment.

  She was ready for this. Her breathing quickened, as her heart raced. His hard body pressed against hers. His face close to hers, she wondered how his warm lips would feel against hers again. It felt like eternity since last night, the dim lights were a perfect backdrop, and she wanted to kiss him again. His breath was hot on her face as he finally lowered his head and brushed his warm lips against hers.

  She could sense his resistance; he was being oversensitive to her reactions. But she wasn’t scared, or nervous, and she wasn’t pulling away.

  He paused and pulled back to look at her. “Rylee—”

  She put her finger to his mouth, a small smirk on her lips. She hoped he would take that as an invitation, a sign that this was all okay. Her answer came as he pressed his mouth back onto hers, harder this time. She let out a muffled moan, but immediately opened to allow his tongue into her own mouth, feeling the warmth, his tongue wrestling with hers.

  Her mind was racing, questioning the right and wrong about doing this so soon. She could feel his bulge through his pants, and it was teasing her in all the right places. Apparently he was questioning this as well, because he whispered as he leaned his face against hers to catch his breath, “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No,” she whispered back.

  With that he lifted her off of her feet, and whisked her to the couch. She looked into his dark eyes as he carried her. Gently laying her down on the soft pillows, he moved on top of her and began to gently kiss her lips, moving his mouth down her neck. She let out a slight moan as he sucked at her skin. Her girly parts were doing more than tingling now; the sensation of his hard body lying on hers was making her panties wet.

  She sat up and tugged at his shirt, pulling it out of his pants. Pushing him to a sitting position, she undid the buttons, and pulled it off of his arms. His muscular chest exposed made her salivate.

  Then it was his turn. He pulled off her shirt and tossed it to the floor. He took a minute to admire her beauty, her lacy bra and her nipples taut and craving his attention. He reached around her quivering body to unhook her bra.

  “You’re trembling,” he whispered.

  “I’m fine,” she said softly, her eyes wide. “It’s been a while, that’s all.” She was almost nervous to admit it, but she wanted him so badly right now.

  “I’ll be gentle.” He smiled and tossed her bra to the floor. He took her breast in his mouth, sucked at her nipple, and her body no longer trembled. She slid her hand between her legs and caressed her mound as he sucked at each of her nipples in turn. He slid his hand on top of hers, asking to replace it, and have the honor of giving her that feeling.

  She opened her eyes and smiled as his hand took over caressing her. He slid her cotton pants down and she kicked them to the floor. He slowly drew her silk panties to the side, and dipped his finger into her, and she let out a small cry.

  His eyes caught hers, as if he were making sure she was okay before he covered her open lips. She squirmed under his touch, moaning in pleasure as he explored her insides.

  It had been too long, and she was way past too turned on. As his fingers rubbed her inside, she felt her orgasm building. She didn’t want it to be over yet, but the intensity of her need was too much to bear, and she started to scream when the waves of her orgasm quickly peaked and swept over her. His mouth came down on hers and muffled her cries, as he sucked at her lips. She rocked against his body, shivering in satisfaction.

  That was nice. The fact that she was able to just let go, knowing it was okay to feel this way about someone was the best feeling she’d ever experienced.

  Looking up at him, surprised he would want her to come so fast, she was met with a very horny look on his face. He pulled her panties off, tossed them onto the floor, and he unbuttoned his jeans. As he pulled them down, she saw he wasn’t wearing any underwear and his long hard cock popped out of his pants. It surprised her at first, and then she licked her lips at the sight of it. She wanted to taste him. She didn’t know what had come over her, but she needed to do it.

  She pushed him back onto the couch and in one motion took him into her mouth. Nick let out a small groan as she closed her lips around him. He was hard and she could tell he was on the edge.

  She only tasted him for a few moments before he pulled her away, pushed her back against the couch again, and laid his strong hard body on top of hers. “Rylee, I want you. Now.”

  She looked up at him longingly, and pulled him close, as his cock teased at her opening.

  “Wait!” she said urgently, surprising both of them.

  “Are you okay?” Nick pulled away, his expression changing to concern.

  “Yes, kind of, I am, it’s just… Oh hell.” She took a deep breath. “Do you have a condom?”

  Nick’s face quickly relaxed, any look of worry gone. The tiny lines around his eyes appeared as his smile lit up his face. “Yes, I do. And I apologize; I should’ve been the one thinking about that. I just got caught up in you, and well, you’re absolutely right.” He fumbled with his pa
nts, pulling the little foil package out of his pocket.

  She watched as he sheathed himself, and the sight of how hard he was had her insides melting. His strong, firm body covered hers again. Nick dropped kisses down her neck and collarbone. She pulled him closer. The slight interruption did nothing to spoil the moment; she was more than ready. His cock pressed at her opening, and this time she anxiously let him in. She was tight at first and she cried out at the sensation.

  “God, Rylee,” he commented softly.

  Even though she had just climaxed, she was ready again, the feel of him inside her almost too much to handle. He grabbed her hand, and held on as he moved harder into her. “Ry-l-e-e…” He moaned, kissing at her neck as he started to move his hips faster. “Can I come?” he asked for permission.

  Was this guy for real? He was perfect in every way possible, the complete gentleman, and even wanted to make sure she was completely satisfied before him.

  She was ready because he felt too good inside her to prolong this. She nodded as he started to pound into her harder until he exploded, and his warmth filled her insides. She dug her nails into his skin, called out to him and finally, shuddered in his arms. He lay his head on her shoulder and she smiled down to him.

  Yeah, it had been way too long.

  CHAPTER 16

  “Was that a Range Rover I saw parked outside your house this morning?” Paige asked Rylee, her question dripping with dirty suggestions.

  “Yes, Paige,” Rylee said into the phone as she sipped her coffee at the kitchen table. “It was. But you already knew that. Just so you know, your little plan was unnecessary.”

  “Plan? What plan are you talking about?” Paige responded innocently.

  “Dinner. That plan! We had been doing just fine on our own. But it was last night after dinner that we came back here, he lit a fire, and things got thick quick.” Thinking about last night made her whole body warm.

  “And you were okay with it all?” Paige pried.