by Skye Warren
We haven’t tried the spanking or any of the other ass work yet, but I’m excited about it. He’s careful with me, never pushing me too far. Careful, yet rough when I want him to be. My heart swells as I look at him, his handsome face twisted with desire as I tug on his hard-on.
His hand closes over mine and he guides his cock into me, his other hand gripping my hip, steadying me. His pretty eyes go hazy with lust as he sinks inside me, taking his time, letting me adjust to his girth. I splay my hands on his bare chest, the play of solid muscles under my palms distracting me from the stretch—until it changes into pure pleasure, making me gasp with it.
“Hay…” He calls me that when we’re alone together, and sinks another inch deeper, balls-deep. “Fuck, yeah…”
I slide my hands up to his powerful shoulders and roll my hips. He grunts, and I moan as the pleasure expands, rushing up my spine, making my nipples throb and my pussy clench.
I never knew that having sex could feel so good. I discover more and more ways to pleasure with Kaden every day. We experiment together. He’s happy, I can feel it.
And I’m happy, too. Happier than I’ve ever been.
His breathing changes, and I know he’s close. He lifts a hand to my breast, circling my nipple, then bending to take it in his mouth. He nips at it, and a cry escapes me. It feels amazing.
Then he drops his hand between my legs, rubbing my clit, and I come apart, shaking against him. He grips my hips and lifts me a little to better slam into me a few more times as I ride the aftershocks, then he’s coming, too, stifling a cry on my shoulder.
“God I love you,” he breathes.
My heart does a funny little flip. But that’s just post-orgasmic talk, isn’t it? Nothing to take seriously.
Although I’m falling for him. Especially because I am falling for him, no matter how I fight it.
“Mmmf. What are you doing?”
“I’m taking a picture of you.”
“Now? Why?”
Because he looks gorgeous, sprawled naked on my sheets, his blond hair loose, his mouth reddened. He’s lying on his stomach, his hard body in full display, the round globes of his ass slightly splayed, one arm folded under his head.
Like a classical statue of a man.
Only I want to lick him, drag my tongue and lips over every part of him, squeeze every defined muscle and bite into it.
I’d bite into that ass. Totally.
“Fuck,” he mumbles, lifting his head from his arm, his eyes widening. “That’s a monster of a camera. What are you, a professional?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.”
“Damn…” He huffs a laugh and lets his head fall back down.
“What?”
“That’s damn sexy.”
Shucks. His words make me feel warm inside. I’m proud of my profession, of my art, but he thinks it’s sexy, and that’s… cute. And nice.
And yeah, he never asked me what I do for a living before. He’s seen a few of my photos, the ones I managed to hang. I bet he thought I was a programmer or something. I did spend most of my free time updating my website.
“You never told me…” He reaches for my hand, tugs me down with him until he can look into my eyes. “What happened with your fiancé. Why you moved away from him.” He grins. “Not that I’m complaining. His loss.”
There’s a light in his eyes lately that draws me in. I lean in, kiss his mouth. “My fiancé … he slept with my cousin. I found them together. He’d been doing it for a while. So I packed my things and left.”
He strokes my cheek. “I’ll never do that to you. I swear. No secrets.”
He’s been honest with me from the start. I turn to kiss his hand. “I don’t believe in love at first sight.”
“I don’t, either. Took me a couple of hours to be sure.”
I laugh softly. “So is this what it is?”
“Love at second sight? Maybe.” He brushes hair from my face. “I know I love you. And I like being with you. A lot. So what do you say we take it a day at a time?”
“Sounds good to me.” And my heart is soaring.
His phone rings much later, as I’m sitting at my computer, downloading the pictures I took of him. They’re good, although not as good as the man himself. I’m totally making that Christmas themed calendar and giving it to him, so he can see how gorgeous he is.
I have to work quickly. It’s Christmas Eve. How time flies when you’re happy…
He rustles on the bed behind me. I hear him curse, then answer.
There’s a beat of silence, and the next word coming from his mouth has me turning around.
“Matt?”
I look at Kaden. His brows are drawn together, and there’s a suspicious brightness in his eyes.
“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, good to hear from you, man. Been too long. I know. Yes, I do know. Nothing to be sorry for. It did sound bad.” Then his frown deepens. “She did? When? I see. Well, okay then. Let me know when I can come up and see you. Yeah, Merry Christmas, bro.”
He disconnects the call, lets the phone drop on the bed, and looks up at me. Emotions war in his bright gaze. Happiness. Shock. Confusion. A tiny bit of anger.
Uh-oh.
“You called my brother?”
“He wouldn’t pick up when you called him. He didn’t know my number.” I shrug. “So he answered.”
“You told him you talked to Eva. To Eva!” He presses the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Hailey. Why?”
“Because I needed to know.”
“You didn’t trust me.”
“I didn’t know you!”
He rubs a hand over his face. “Fucking hell. I thought we said no secrets. You called him over a week ago. Why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t know if he’d call you.”
“That doesn’t matter. You should have told me.”
God, he’s right. I didn’t trust him when I asked Eva, and I didn’t make things any better by not telling him what I did. “I’m sorry. But I’m not sorry I called your brother. He needs you. And you need him. The rumors cost both of you a lot.”
“I know what this cost me. Dammit, how did you even get his phone number?”
I chew on my lip. “I, uh. I checked your contact list? Just that, I swear.”
He gets up and starts pulling on his clothes, his eyes not meeting mine. “I need to go.”
My heart is breaking. This is all my fault. “Please, Kaden. Don’t go. Let’s talk about this.”
“I need to think. Alone.” He pulls on his pants, his shirt, his socks and boots as I stand there helpless, wringing my hands. “Need to go.”
Tears track down my cheeks as he gets up and heads for the door.
“Will I see you again?” I ask.
He doesn’t reply. The door clicks shut.
After spending the rest of the day and the night pacing my room, I have to admit to myself that I made a mistake. A huge mistake. I should have told him. I thought it might be a nice surprise if his brother called him at long last. I never thought about how Kaden would feel about me going behind his back to ask questions and calling his brother.
I sometimes forget Kaden doesn’t know me well, either. He entrusted me with his secrets, his fantasies. His heart.
And I didn’t reciprocate. Even the thing about my job. Sure, he never asked outright what my job is, but he did ask what I was doing glued to my laptop and I’d avoided answering, telling him I was updating some stuff.
I’d held back. Partly because my fiancé’s betrayal had pushed me back behind my walls. And partly because I was wary of opening my heart to someone I was falling for.
But then he said he loves me. He said it first, he said it again, and all I said was that I don’t believe in love at first sight.
Least I can do is say it back.
He won’t answer his phone, so I grab my purse and I drive to Moonlight. George gives me a narrowed-eyed look, then pours me a gin and tonic, alth
ough it’s still midday.
Grabbing my glass, I sit on a stool and sigh. “I’m looking for Kaden.”
“I swear he’s not hiding behind the bar.”
“Any idea where he might be? He won’t answer my calls.”
He heaves out a breath. “That’s a bad sign.”
I know. “Where would he go if he needs to think?”
He lifts one shoulder in a half shrug. “The cemetery. His dad’s grave.”
I’m already getting off the stool. “Where is it?”
“Saint Louis. Mount Olive cemetery.”
“Thank you,” I tell him fervently and run off to find the man I love.
Kaden
The sun is shining from between the clouds. Coming and going. Like my thoughts.
The grass is very green, the tombstones white. The letters stark.
“What would you have done, Dad?” He’d never been much of a talker, or even much of a father, but he’d kept my mom happy, and this place calms me down.
It’s the quiet. The symmetry. The openness of the place.
The fact that nobody is replying to my endless questions.
“I love her,” I tell him, standing over his tomb, arms folded over my chest. “I’ve never felt this way before in my life, so that has to count for something. And I told her the bad things about me. She stayed.”
The wind whistles. Cold slices through me. I fight a shiver.
“She stayed, but she went behind my back to ask about me. She asked goddamn Eva. And then called Matt without telling me. Checked my phone without asking if it was okay. But then…” I shiver. “She brought him back to me. Not sure I could have done it on my own. My pride was hurt. I’m stubborn. Hell, all of us are in this family. Took after you, I guess.”
A slender figure of a woman is wandering on the far side of the cemetery. For a fleeting moment she seems familiar.
I look back at the tombstone. “She didn’t know me well when she asked Eva. I have to remember that. Still doesn’t know me well. She heard the rumors, but didn’t back away. I told her the things I like and she didn’t get scared. She did trust me. I fucked up by running, didn’t I?”
“Not really.” Her voice is cheerful, and I spin around to find Hailey standing there in her long coat, cheeks flushed from the cold. “You had every right to be upset.”
“You found me.” I bet she went to George, and the thought somehow makes me smile. I’d been lost. She held on to me.
“I did. And I wanted to say I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I talked to Eva and your brother. Thing is…” She shuffles her feet on the grass. “I love you. So much, it scares me. I’ve held back, to protect myself, but I can’t…” She meets my eyes. “I can’t hold back anymore. I’m in love with you, Kaden Hansen.”
I curl a hand around the back of her head and press our foreheads together. My heart is hammering in my chest and I’m smiling widely. “That’s good. Because I have no walls when it comes to you.”
“Merry Christmas,” she whispers, stealing a kiss, and I cup her face to kiss her back properly and thoroughly.
And here’s to many more merry Christmases to come.
THE END
Acknowledgments
As always, my first thanks go out to all of you wonderful readers for joining me on this journey and making it so much fun. To my readers’ team for their support, and to my street team for being so amazing.
Special thanks go to Cheryl Jarvis, Kat Boston-Steines and Tracy Smith Comerford for beta reading this story on short notice.
I hope you have enjoyed it. Read below for my plans concerning these heroes!
Author Note
This story is a standalone, independent little thing. However, if you have read my series Inked Brotherhood, and in particular ZANE, then you might have realized that Kaden’s brother is the brother-in-law to that Zane—Zane Madden, the ink artist who did the tattoos on Kaden’s body.
I am definitely going to write the story of Matt, Zane’s brother-in-law in an upcoming novel.
I am also planning on writing a novel to tell the whole story of Kaden and Hailey after this first meeting and Happy Christmas Ending.
If you are interested in finding my books, they are here: http://joraven.com/books
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Part VIII
Let’s “Merry Christmas” by Frankie Love
Chapter 1
CeeCee
With a peppermint mocha in one hand and a rolling carry-on suitcase in the other, I maneuver through this ridiculously crowded airport, full of irritated travelers wanting to get to their destinations before Santa arrives.
I’m just as irritated.
No one wants to hear about some bitter girl who’s all jaded -- who can’t see the joy in Rudolph or Frosty. It’s just this entire month has been a cluster-fuck, and this crowded airport is the icing on my gingerbread man.
The fact that it’s December doesn’t help anything. Of course, I want to be cozy in front of a fireplace reading a new book on my Kindle--I just downloaded Mistletoe Mountain and would much rather be digging into that than fighting to get to the front of a ticket line.
I want to be drinking hot chocolate with the man of my dreams who may or may not be naked. Okay, of course, he would be naked. He would invite me to sit on his lap and I’d willingly oblige.
I am normally a very nice person.
Just not on this Christmas Eve. Right now I need to focus on getting on that plane so I can get to my dad’s house. Being there for Christmas this year is super important. My mom died a year ago, and of course, I don’t want him to be alone for his first Christmas without her.
I’m already running late. It started when my boss, who promised me a Christmas bonus, chose to give me a fruitcake instead.
Which sure made me feel like an invaluable part of the fucking team -- though the main issue with the lack-of-a-bonus was that I’d planned on hitting up H&M after work to get some cute holiday clothes.
But my debit card was looking pitiful without that extra cash, so, instead I had to rush home to do laundry.
Only, my roommate managed to lock me out of the apartment when I was down in the basement getting my clean clothes. Finally packed, I realized I didn’t have time for public transit, so I had to splurge on an Uber yet somehow managed to get a driver who got us lost on the way to the airport.
So.
Peppermint latte. Determined smile. I can do this. I can so do this.
I just need to get on the plane and put the day behind me.
Getting to the counter I see the reader board blinking.
My flight has been canceled.
Fuckity. Fuck. Fuck.
Stepping forward I look at the woman behind the counter, smiling tightly, in an effort to not completely lose my shit.
“It’s not delayed?” I ask, knowing how important this Christmas is at my dad’s house. I should have flipped my a-hole boss the middle finger and not gone to work today. I’m a receptionist at a PR company, which sucks considering I have a PR degree that is doing literally nothing for me.
Whether or not I show up for work is not life or death, especially when a promotion doesn’t exactly seem to be on my horizon.
But showing up at my dad’s tonight is really important.
“Are you sure it’s canceled-canceled?”
She smiles smugly as if she not-so-secretly thinks I’m an idiot. “The flight has been canceled. Which is why it says canceled.”
I tuck a loose strand of my brown hair behind my ears, mustering all my strength -- so I don’t lose my cool with on this woman who has probably had a rougher day than I have --and ask, “Is there another flight I can take? It’s Christmas Eve. I need to get home.”
The woman’s eyes narrow. “Yes. I know it’s Christmas Eve. I know that because I am the one working right now, darling; you are not.”
I widen my eyes in surprise. “Okay,” I
say, raising my hands in defeat and look her in the eye. “I get it. You’re the one working on a holiday. I’m sure you have places you want to be, too. I’m really sorry. “
The woman exhales as if no one has acknowledged her all day. She moves her fingers quickly across the keyboard and then surprises me.
“The best I can do is get you on standby for another flight leaving in thirty minutes, it has a layover, but you’ll get to Phoenix before tomorrow. After that, the next flight doesn’t leave for three hours.”
“Three hours?” I shake my head. That means I wouldn’t get to my dad’s place until late into the night. “Thank you,” I tell her, knowing I could’ve been nicer from the get-go. “And Merry Christmas.”
I toss my empty latte in the trash and resolve to be a little bit nicer during whatever is left of this holiday.
And then I run to security.
Chapter 2
Bradley
What a fucking zoo.
Standing at the gate, I run my hands over my beard, really wishing I had just told my mom that coming to her place for the holidays was too much.
The grand opening for my bar is New Year’s Eve and I have a shit-ton of work to do before then, but she insisted I could come for a day and be back in twenty-four hours.
She doesn’t realize I’m working twenty-four-seven to get this place off the ground. Sure, I can handle the interior, getting the place to look the right kind of lumberjack-cool to appeal to Seattle hipsters -- the issue is promoting the opening.
It would be a hell of a lot easier if I’d forked over the cash to that PR firm months ago.
Of course, I thought I could do it all. Turns out, opening a bar and getting the buzz out about it are two very different beasts.
I just gotta get to my mom’s place. I may be a man, but I have a soft spot for my mother, especially on Christmas morning. She loves the holiday, and my brother is coming with his girlfriend, so I’d be an ass not to show.