Halloween with the Hunk: A Lumberjack Romance (Holiday Studs Book 1)

by Jewel Killian

  “Kay.”

  I texted Danny to meet us out front and then got her dressed. Well, I got her mostly dressed. I wasn’t tempting fate with that corset again so I put my jacket on her and carried her and the corset out of the room.

  Belle stopped me when we got to the bottom floor. “Good lord, you got her to some next level sub-space,” she said, eyeing Cass, limp in my arms. “You know I have to check, right?”

  I nodded. Belle ran a good club. This last part was one of the ways she made sure of it.

  She touched Cass’s face. “Sweetie, did you have a good time?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “And do you remember my name?”

  “You’re Belle and you’re pretty.”

  Belle chuckled. “One last question, sweetie. Do you want to leave with him?”

  “Oh yeah. I’m keeping him.”

  “He’s one of the good ones,” Belle said and gave me the go-ahead nod.

  Once in the town car, I handed her a bottle of water and the rest of the Halloween candy. “Here ya go. It’ll help bring you back down to earth.”

  She chugged the water and nibbled on a mini Snickers bar and within a few minutes, Cass was acting more like herself.

  She shook her head and shivered. “Holy fuck that was unreal.” She took another bite of her candy bar. “When are we going back?”

  I laughed, a full out belly laugh. “Anytime you want, honey. Anytime you want.”

  “Ooooh!” Cass jumped in her seat. “Your jacket is vibrating.” She fished in my pockets and handed me my phone.

  It was Serene. That wasn’t good. She’d only be calling me this late for one reason. Mr. Xiang. “Go ahead, Serene.”

  “I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Reed but Mr. Xiang is insisting he speak with you immediately.”

  I trusted Serene. If she said Mr. Xiang was insisting it meant she’d used all her considerable powers of persuasion to no avail. “Put him through,” I said and stole a glance at Cass who was busy trying not to look like she was eavesdropping.

  I sighed. None of what was about to happen was going to make her happy.

  A few seconds passed then the telltale click of the line being connected. “I have been patient, Mr. Reed. I understand you’ve had a loss in the family and that’s most unfortunate. But we’ve lost valuable time with these negotiations. This is no longer something that can be avoided.”

  “I understand, Mr. Xiang,” I said simply.

  The man took a pause as if he hadn’t expected me to respond so amicably. “You must get here as soon as possible. The labor groups are threatening to leave negotiations completely. I’ve held them off as long as possible but we’ve reached—”

  “I’ll leave tomorrow, Mr. Xiang.”

  Xiang paused again. “Thank you, Mr. Reed.” Then, quietly, “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you,” I said, ending the call. I handed the phone back to Cass to put in my jacket.

  “So, you speak Cantonese?”

  I nodded.

  “I’m guessing that wasn’t good news?”

  “It wasn’t.”

  “Do you want to tell me about it?”

  “I have to go to China.”

  Cass arranged her features so as not to give away what she was thinking. I didn’t like that.

  “For how long?”

  “At least a few months.”

  17

  Cass

  What the fuck!

  Three months! Three whole months? IN FUCKING CHINA?! And here I’d been worried about the potential six hours between Vermont and New York!

  Landon kept talking. Something about a subsidiary and labor disputes and I honestly couldn’t give less of a fuck because all those words just meant I didn’t get to keep him. And that was the last thing I wanted.

  “Hey, hey!” Landon lifted my chin, forcing the eye contact. “Don’t get lost in all those thoughts in there, okay? We can deal with this. We can figure it out.”

  I took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh.

  “We’ve got all night to figure this out. I have to leave tomorrow but—”

  “TOMORROW! You’re leaving tomorrow. How is that fucking fair?” My eyes burned with tears. “I just fucking found you and now I have to say goodbye?! How is that right?” I collapsed into his chest, sobbing and angry at the cruelness of it all.

  Landon held me tight against him and let me cry until I was done. By the time I’d cried myself out we were at his place. He led me inside and sat me on the couch. Instead of sitting next to me he sat at my feet on the floor. He held both my hands and looked deep into my eyes. “Cass, whatever it takes to make the time I have to spend overseas work, then that’s what I’ll do.”

  I sighed. I was exhausted, hurting, mad. I felt all the feelings at once. All the bad once at least.

  “Come on,” Landon stood, holding out his hand to me. “Let’s go to bed.”

  I nodded. I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to stay up all night and spend every last moment I could with him. But my body was having none of that. I got undressed and under the covers and as soon as Landon pulled me against him I fell right to sleep.

  18

  Landon

  Three months later

  I had no clue what I was coming home to. Cass had been MIA for the last three weeks and I wasn’t sure if she was caught up in her latest project or if she’d grown tired of the long distance status and didn’t have the heart to let me know.

  Had she ghosted me like she thought I had?

  The first few months were great. Well, not great, they sucked, but we video chatted every day and we sent each other long-hand letters, in the actual mail. We got to know each other during those first two months.

  We even dabbled with phone and video chat sex.

  That was fun right up until a careless maid walked in on me jerking off to my phone. That put an end to that.

  But we were making it work. Then, three weeks ago Cass stopped answering my calls. She didn’t text and she didn’t write any letters back. I’m not too proud to admit I left quite a few angsty messages on her voice mail and even penned a forlorn letter that would have been right at home in any war-time period piece.

  But I was here now, jet-lagged as fuck and about to find out which it was.

  She wanted me or she didn’t. It was as simple as that.

  I took a deep breath and knocked on her apartment door. The door opened but only a fraction.

  I had no idea what to make of that.

  “Come in. Leave the food on the table, that’s where the money is,” she called from inside.

  I opened the door to see Cass’s retreating frame in an over-sized t-shirt, one sock and at least three pencils holding her hair in a bun. She looked down at a tablet as she walked back to her office.

  The place was a wreck. Take out containers everywhere and clothes piled up on the couch. It looked like she hadn’t left her place in...

  ...three weeks.

  “Cass,” I said. She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. It took a minute for her to look up from the tablet.

  When she did she burst into tears and ran at me. “You’re not the pizza guy!” she said and jumped into my arms.

  I held her for a long time, her body pressed against mine felt so good and right. When she finally pulled away she had a fiery look in her eyes. She bit her lip. “Are you jet-lagged? Do you need to sleep?”

  Yes. I did. But I wasn’t going to. I took her to the bedroom, laid her on the bed and took off her sock and shirt. I stood there looking at her for ages.

  “I get that you’re trying to be tender and sweet,” she said, fire burning in her eyes. “But I haven’t gotten laid in three months. Bring your dick over here.”

  I chuckled and did as I was told. I kissed her, slowly, softly, delighting in the taste of her, a taste I’d nearly forgotten.

  She pulled away and looked at me, so turned on, pupils so wide her eyes looked black. She laced her finger
s in my hair. “Look, I missed you too, and this very sweet but I need you to fuck me, got it?”

  “Yes ma’am,” I said ripping off my pants and hitching her legs up over my shoulders. “This more like it?” I asked when she yelped.

  She nodded, grinning ear to ear.

  I plunged three fingers into her dripping opening as one flicked at her clit. She came in moments. I should have teased it out of her slower but she wasn’t complaining.

  When she stopped wiggling and moaning I asked, “Remember that first time when I asked you how many times you wanted to come and you said you were fine with one?”

  She smiled.

  “Not satisfied with one anymore are you?”

  “Not even a little,” she said, reaching up to guide my cock into her.

  I slammed into her and Cass fingered her clit, moaning with each thrust. “Jesus fuck you feel good, honey.”

  “Not as good as you— oooooooh!” Cass came again trembling and screaming as her inner walls clamped around me bringing me right to the edge. I wanted to hold out. I wanted to give her one more before I came but I just couldn’t. Her pussy was just too good. I exploded into her, growling her name as I did. Then I collapsed on the bed, pulling her body close and breathing in her scent.

  “I’m keeping you,” I whispered in her ear.

  “That’s right. And don’t you forget it.”

  19

  Cass

  The following Halloween

  “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” I said as we entered Crofton House together exactly one year after our first meeting.

  “I can’t believe you agreed,” Landon said as he opened the door for me.

  “Is it hard being back here? Seeing someone else in your grandfather’s house?”

  He looked out the kitchen window. “A little. But I was hoping to be too distracted by a sexy brunette to think about it.”

  I smiled and took his hand. Turning to lead him to the bedroom, I was more than a little confused when he didn’t follow. I turned back around and my heart dropped to my stomach.

  Landon knelt before me, ring box in hand. “Cassandra Lynn Wylder, would you do me the extreme honor of being my wife?”

  I didn’t even think. I didn’t have to. “YES!” I squealed and buried myself in his arms.

  That was the thing about Landon. Everything was better when he was around. I didn’t get stuck in my head so much and he didn’t need to spend three hours a day getting sweaty just so he could sit still.

  I mean, we got sweaty every day and sometimes it was for three hours...

  But we made each other better and that’s more than I ever hoped for.

  Landon got us off the floor, slid the ring on my finger and then took my face in his hands. “You want to marry me?” he asked again.

  “Yes!” I said.

  “How about now?”

  “Wha... what do you mean?”

  He led me to the back of the house, pointing to the backyard.

  My jaw dropped.

  The lawn was covered in flower petals. A trellised archway with trailing ivy and fall leaves stood at the far end. Between the two were people in white chairs. In Halloween costumes! People from work, from NYU, my family, how had he done all this?

  He pulled me close, lifting my chin with a finger. “Now you don’t have to think about it.” He beamed at me, smiling wide and full.

  “I—I need a dress.”

  “There’s one hanging in the powder room for you.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked tears spilling onto my cheeks. He nodded. “Is this real life?” I asked.

  Landon laughed. “Yes, honey. This is your life. Now go put on your dress and marry me.”

  I laughed and nodded and put on my dress.

  When I came out in the beautiful ivory slip dress, Landon was waiting for me newly dressed in an extraordinary gray suit.

  “Ready?” he asked, holding out his hand.

  “Ready,” I said.

  And we walked down the aisle and into the rest of our lives—

  Together.

  The End

  Thanksgiving for Three

  If there was one thing I couldn’t stand it was tardiness. I get it. Early classes were the worst and anyone in my eight a.m. class either didn’t know better or waited too long to register for afternoon classes.

  But if those two stumbled into my class late one more time...

  “Sorry Professor Webb, sorry Jeannie,” the Mercer twins said in unison, nodding to the professor and me.

  Okay, so it wasn’t my class per se. Technically it was Jeffery Webb’s class and I was his T.A. But still. Those arrogant little shits were late every single day. I crossed my legs under the desk and pretended not to hear them. Easy to do with a pile of poorly written essays to grade.

  I also pretended not to notice when one of them approached my desk. “Really, Jeannie we are sorry,” he said.

  Don’t look up. Don’t look up!

  Fuck. I looked up. Right into those sparkling, dark green eyes and the cocky, rich-boy smile that showed off his unnaturally white teeth. “Go sit down, Nick,”

  He smirked at me, half his mouth twisting upward in an arrogant, maddening lilt. “I’m Noah, Jeannie.”

  I looked him dead in his painfully gorgeous eyes. “You still need to sit down.” I stared at him until he finally walked away, taking a seat in the middle of the lecture hall with his brother.

  God, I couldn’t stand those two. Walking around the campus like they owned it, getting others to do their assignments for them and of course, always being late. They irked me the way few people could.

  And yet...

  I’d catch myself wondering if the rest of them were as beautiful as their faces. Or what it might be like if we...

  I never let the thoughts go on for long. Policies about undergrads and graduate students fraternizing didn’t prohibit it but it didn’t want to risk it.

  Nick and Noah Mercer were the laziest, most arrogant people I’d ever met but somehow that didn’t keep me from wanting them.

  Both of them.

  What the hell was wrong with me?

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  Also By Jewel

  Once Upon A Happy Ever After Series

  (Where you meet Belle and Aiden!)

  Cinderella

  Beauty and the Beast

  Snow White

  Rose Red

  A quick and dirty series with kink-

  The books in this series are short reads sure to satisfy

  Holiday Studs

  Halloween with the Hunk

  Thanksgiving for Three

  Christmas Crush