Holiday Spice & Everything Nice

by Conn, Claudy

  “After you.”

  Riker’s voice, so low and quiet sounding from behind her, had her pulse jumping but when he laid the flat of his hand against the door and pushed it wide open, her heart raced. This was really happening. She better get a move-on setting the stage. What came next? Oh yeah, flowers. Hm. They’d be a nice addition to the clean sheets, but seeing as how she didn’t have any, her Glade Plug-ins would have to do. What about sexy lingerie? She was running down the short, as in non-existent, list in a panic. A guy like Riker probably expected a Victoria’s Secret ensemble. Something she always intended to purchase right after she lost those extra pounds. Stupid extra pounds.

  She stuffed her keys in her purse and fervently sought to come up with an alternative. She could do a lace trimmed camisole and the newer pair of bikinis she’d just bought. Yeah, that would work, although…shit. It’d have to be a mix-n-match as she was too cheap to buy a set. Maybe he wouldn’t notice if she—

  When he grabbed her she gasped, “Riker.”

  “Hmm?”

  That husky purr of his sent her thoughts, lists and all, scattering. The only thing that remained was the idea that there’d be no need for them anymore once he grabbed hold of her and pressed her against the wall. Sensually crushing her between the hot length of him and the cooler plaster, he curled down and whispered in her ear. “Fuck, , you really do it for me.”

  Thankfully, he took hold of her purse and eased it to the ground. Otherwise, she would have dropped it and made a mess with the honey. As it was, if he weren’t holding her up with his weight shifted into her, she would have slid down the wall. Her heart was pounding and her pulse was racing by the time he twined his hands in her hair and bent to capture her lips in a kiss that stole her breath away.

  Like the epic kiss in the pool, this one was warm and intense. Intimate and personal as he tasted her. Teased her like he’d known her all his life and she loved it. She was drowning in the embrace, and when she felt the erotic bite on her neck, she shivered from the top of her head to her toes. She didn’t want this…this aching need to end. Ever. Never.

  “Sid?”

  They were cheek to cheek. So still and quiet except for their breathing. “Yeah?”

  “You’re strangling me.”

  Oh. My. Lord. It was true. She had her arms wrapped around him so tightly her elbows hurt. “Sorry.”

  She let go and was completely mortified when she heard him chuckle. The sound had her ready to admit that she was an awkward mess when it came to sex. Hadn’t Ken always told her to stay still and just enjoy it, which she never did. Somehow with Riker she’d thought it would be different.

  “I’m not sorry. I can think of a hundred nasty ways to die, but on my list of the top ten good ways? Dying breathless in your arms would be number one.”

  “You mean it?”

  He didn’t answer, all he did was kiss her forehead. A mere brush of his lips against her skin, but the tender gesture was powerful enough to put her mind at ease and erase every last doubt and all her fears about being too different for a guy like him.

  “I think—” he massaged his fingers in her hair as he softly spoke, “—we have a problem. We’re both covered in glitter.”

  “I know. I—Riker!” Before she’d had a chance to finish with her sentence, he’d scooped her up until her legs were wrapped around his waist and they were eye to eye. She was too heavy for him to be holding her up like this. At least she thought she was, but spying his handsome grin, he didn’t seem to mind.

  “I’m immune to you calling my name out like that, you know. In fact, I’m absolutely shocked you don’t have laryngitis right now with all the yelling at me you did this morning. It’s amazing.”

  She loved the way his eyes sparkled when he teased her. “I had to yell. You were bad, and as to me rendered mute?” She grinned right back at him and said, “You couldn’t get that lucky.”

  “Funny. I was just thinking I couldn’t be luckier at the moment. But back to our glitter problem. I think we need to shower off unless you have a better idea.”

  There was no better idea than that. A shower equaled naked and naked in water equaled sex without sheets, fragrance, or lingerie problems. Why, this was like erasing half a dozen pesky stains with one flick of the faucet. “Great idea.”

  “Okay, hang on tight.”

  She almost fell backward when he stepped away from the wall. And then she half laughed, half gasped as he jostled her as if he was going to drop her. “Riker.”

  “Immune remember? Now pay attention. I’m sliding you around this way.” He shifted her so fast she was back to strangling him again. Now he was left gasping. For air, that is. “Relax. I’m not going to drop you. I want to give you a piggyback.”

  “But I’m too heav—I mean old.”

  He looked over his shoulder and grinned, “Riding a man’s back at any age is the best. Trust me.”

  They were halfway down the hall when she pressed her cheek against his back and whispered, “You’re right. This is the best kind of ride. I don’t want it to stop.”

  He didn’t say anything to that. He just dropped his chin and kissed her forearm because he was thinking the same thing she was at the moment.

  “We sure are sparkly.”

  That got his attention. After he flicked on the lights he looked up and eyed their reflection in the mirror. There was green, gold and red specks twinkling all over them. “Your right, but it’s kind of festive, no?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead he stepped directly to the glass shower stall, stopping to let her slide down him. When he turned he had to force himself to go slow. He’d wanted nothing more than her naked in his arms since they were in the pool yesterday, but he’d held off. Kept his distance by making sure there was some form of clothing between them at all times so he didn’t cave and mess this up. Now there was no need for the brakes. He was free to drive things forward. Although, just because he could step on the gas didn’t necessarily mean he should.

  Without a word he helped her undress. First her T-shirt and then her bra. She had great tits. No too big, but round with perfectly centered nipples that were spiking in invitation. He curled down and licked the hard peak before he sucked it into his mouth as he undid her pants. Slowly, he worked the rest of her clothes while he licked and laved. First one breast and then the other as he sucked hard enough on that one she moaned.

  Fuck, the sound went right through him. He’d been hard, but now he was even harder and when she turned to see to the water and he got his first unobstructed view of her ass? He practically ripped through his clothes to get them off.

  “I think I’m loving this idea,” he murmured as he stepped around her to put the foil packet in the soap dish.

  Not a minute later he closed them in and he knew for certain that this had been a splendid idea. Here he was standing under the warm spray of the water, treated to the best sight possible. Sidney soaking wet as she completely soaped the front of herself down. Lacy bubbles clung to her shoulders, breasts, stomach and hips while her hands slid all over that wicked body of hers.

  “And I think I have an idea of my own. You ready?” She looked up at him with her wide eyes framed with water darkened lashes that stuck together like they did after her swim yesterday, in a series of heavy triangular spikes. “Stay still.”

  He had absolutely no intention of going anywhere.

  “I love your body. It’s so hard and muscly. So interesting.” She slipped and slid against him. “You know?” She stopped and nodded toward the soap dish.

  “What?” He barely breathed. The desire he had to lift her, spread her legs until they were wrapped around his hips with her heels locked behind him, was nearly overwhelming.

  “I’m on the pill to keep my cycle regular. So we could…” She grasped the hardened length of him with her two soap-slick hands giving him a rub, “forego the condom unless there’s another reason you think we need it.”

  He walked her back
until her bottom met the wall tile. Caging her in between his arms he curled down over her so she was protected from the water’s spray. “You’d be the only one I’ve ever shared the experience with.”

  “Really?” She solemnly searched his face and then brightened. “Hey, me too.”

  Just the thought made his blood drain right to his cock where it weighed heavy and pulsed in a steady beat. He ignored the pull and dropped his forehead to hers, whispering, “It would be a great first memory to make together, wouldn’t it?”

  Her eyes were wide and searching again. Her look intense, as if she wanted to say something. Something deep and meaningful, so he waited.

  “Riker? I…I’d,” she hesitated and then let out a pent up breath while her look lost some of its intensity. He was disappointed about that, but then she cupped his face in the palm of her hands and said, “I want you naked inside me with no barrier. Your heat against mine. I—”

  He didn’t let her finish. Scooping her up, he lifted, adjusted and fit her until she was spread just as he’d wanted. With her legs wrapped and firmly locked around him, he hugged her in tight. “I want that too.”

  Shifting with slow and thorough flexes, he maneuvered until he came to her entrance. Enjoying the feel of her hot silk against all his hardness. Then he went still. He was content to savor the moment, the intimate contact there as he bent to press his lips against her neck, happy to bite and nuzzle her there for a time until he gave into the need and rested his jaw on her shoulder. Without a word he pushed and she opened. He pushed some more, and then—fuck, his eyes closed of their volition when he got his first raw feel of her.

  It was heaven.

  “So warm. You’re like liquid velvet inside. God, so tight…I want to feel every inch of your magic. Every—” he groaned, because just then her muscles clenched and drew him more.

  “Riker?”

  “I’m here, darlin’, I’m right here.”

  As gently as he could he rocked into her. Long and steady strokes as they clung together while the water beat a frantic tattoo against his back and the hot mist thickened to shroud them in its depths. He didn’t care. Too attuned to the moment. Too intent on making the memory until several minutes later when she dug her nails in his back and her breathing changed. She was close. He recognized the signs. “Are you going to come for me, babe?” He let out a breath in her ear and kept up his steady pace. “I want you to drench me…I want to feel your wet heat slide over me.”

  And when she did his knees almost buckled. The experience was heartening, a better layer to something already fucking awesome. God, the heat that poured over him combined with her sexy cry reverberating around them was too much. He couldn’t stave off the bolt of lust that coursed through him. Building and climbing. Pushing him until he plunged into her again and again. Filling her. Branding her. And when he let go with a growl and shared a part of himself with her that he’d shared with no other, his legs shook.

  “Fucking…perfect.”

  It wasn’t until his heart rate slowed and his pulse and breathing returned to normal that he realized he’d spoken those words out loud.

  “You can put me down now.” She wiggled and squirmed. Strangely he was almost upset she didn’t want to stay close and snuggle. He already determined she wasn’t a runner, but neither was she a clinger. What she was, he decided, when she picked up the soap, slapped the hair off her forehead and popped her brows at him, before she had a go at washing his back, was a keeper.

  Several hours later, after they finally christened the bed, Riker smiled in the early evening shadows as Sidney snuggled up against him.

  “Are you awake?” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “I was thinking…”

  “Uh oh.”

  “No, nothing like that.” She playfully slapped his chest, “I was just wondering what time it is?”

  “Why?”

  She came up on elbow and frowned down at him. “Hey, why are we whispering?”

  “I don’t know.” He plucked up a curly lock and rubbed it between forefinger and thumb. “You started it.”

  “I’m hungry.”

  He laughed because that statement came out like a scream after all the whispering. “All right.” He tugged that strand of hair until she was nose to nose with him. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’ve got some stuff here, but maybe we should go up to your place first and raid the kitchen?”

  “Okay.”

  Riker would have let her raid his bank accounts if she kept looking at him the way she was at the moment. Like he was the only sustenance she needed. He loved that. “Come on then, get dressed and I’ll let you plunder my pantry.”

  She bounced off the bed and scooped up his shirt. With one arm through a sleeve, she flashed him a grin. “Ooh, you have a pantry? Guys always have the best stuff in their pantries.”

  He pulled on his boxers and shook his head. “I’m not sure about that. I’m not home much so I don’t shop on a regular basis.”

  “Do you want me to bring some stuff up to eat at your place or…?”

  “No, I like it better down here.”

  She yanked his T-shirt on until it fell to mid-thigh. “Why?”

  “Why?” he repeated. She was so adorable, he pulled her into his arms for a hug and answered, “Your place smells like cinnamon and sugar. You’ve got a great Christmas tree with kick-ass angels flying in your dining room and…”

  She squeezed him and he imagined it was to encourage him to go on. Should he?

  “And?”

  Heck, why not? “And your place feels more like a home.” When she shook her head it was his turn to squeeze. “What?”

  “That’s just sad. Oh, which reminds me.” She squirmed out of his arms and held up a finger. “I got you something today.” She rushed out of the room and came barreling back in a minute later and handed him a bag.

  “What is it?”

  “Open it.”

  He pulled out the tiny metal hammer with a bright red metal bow fashioned around it and frowned. “An ornament?”

  “Yep, there are several different ones. I thought maybe if we get you a Christmas tree this week you can hang these and then I bet your place will feel more like home.”

  He went through the small collection. He counted six different tools, all of which were beautifully crafted. And although he doubted he’d ever go so far as to get a tree, he wouldn’t be averse to hanging these on a light or something like she’d done with her angels. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now let’s go find some food.”

  In the end he’d been right about his place, there wasn’t much to scavenge. Crackers, cheese and a few other things Sidney said she could make work. Not that he was even interested in food right now. He was too addicted to something else and he was staring right at her.

  “Are you okay?”

  He didn’t want to come right out and say “No, because my every thought is focused on screwing your brains out some more.” So when she opened the door to her condo and he spied the reflection in the mirror, he had a perfect segue to reintroduce sex.

  “I think it’s time I show you something.”

  “What?”

  “Come here.” He grabbed hold of her and turned her in his arms. “Look.”

  “At?”

  “The dining room.”

  She squinted. “Okay, I see my table, the angels. What?”

  When he stooped to her level, he realized the problem. “You’re too short.” Putting down the bag of food, he lifted her and whispered, “Now look.”

  “Hey, it’s Rachel Ray. Cool. You can see my TV really good from…”

  He let her slide down and waited for her to turn around. When she did her eyes were the size of saucers and her cheeks as red as an apple.

  “The other night you saw the, ah…movie I was watching?”

  He nodded.

  “Were you shocked?”

  “Not as much as I
was at discovering that I’d been blaming that couple in Two A all these months for being weekend nymphos who kept me up all night when it was really you and your perverted little mind that was the culprit.”

  “I wouldn’t say little mind.”

  Her saucy look had him grinning. “But you would say perverted?”

  “Absolutely.”

  When she snatched up the bag and spun around to go inside he shook his head. There was just no putting a finger on quirky. He followed her into the kitchen but she kept right on going until she reached the dining room table. She was all businesslike when she pulled out a chair and patted the seat. “You sit right here.”

  Interesting. “Looks like you have something in mind.”

  “I do, thanks to you. I’m recalling one of my favorite movies.” He was going to ask but she beat him to it. “Nine And A Half Weeks.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sit.”

  And when she went to put the bag on the counter and get something out of a drawer, he did sit. He was too intrigued not to.

  “You know that movie? Well, I’m thinking about the part in the kitchen when she tasted all that food.” She held up a dishtowel and folded it until it looked like a blindfold before she let it go to swing like a pendulum in front of him.

  He took one look at it, then at her cheeky face and chuckled, “I’m not putting that on and kneeling beside the fridge if that’s what you’re thinking.” He meant it. He’d never been blindfolded. He didn’t think he’d like it.

  “No, I wasn’t thinking that.”

  “Good.”

  “You’ll stay right there blindfolded and I’ll feed you something smooth, sweet and warm.”

  He loved the light of challenge in her eyes. It was tempting. Hell, she was good because now he was curious.