Twisted Christmas

by Sara Cate

  “What?” I ask quietly.

  “How you could show up at my hotel room almost every single night when I was injured, but not after you kissed me. Not after I was finally better. After my career was done.”

  My eyes widen.

  Oh my God, he went there.

  “Dairen—”

  “I bet that wasn’t the only thing you were hoping for that night, though, was it?” he guesses, eyebrow quirking up as a knowing grin curls half of his lips. “You wanted me to be your first kiss, and probably your first—”

  “Keep your voice down,” I hiss, cheeks turning crimson as a waitress walks by our table with a tray full of dirty dishes.

  “Afraid people will find out you want a little revenge dicking?” he asks in obvious amusement over my humiliation. “Or are you afraid they’ll find out you’ve wanted to fuck your boyfriend’s brother for a long time now? Hmm? That probably wouldn’t look good in the press.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  Snorting, he shakes his head. “Nah. You’d know if I was threatening you.”

  “What the hell is your problem?” What did I ever do to him?

  “Is acting what you always wanted to do?” is how he replies.

  I stare at him cautiously, knowing he already knows that answer. “Yes…”

  “Well, I was never interested. Ever.” He stretches his long legs out, bumping his big feet with my bare ones and not caring that he’s invading my space. “I couldn’t stand the thought of it. Noah always liked the attention. Auditioning for plays, singing in front of a camera, anything that would draw people to him. You know that. He’s an attention seeker of epic proportions, and mom banked on that.”

  I’m quiet, watching him with interest.

  “I liked sports. Liked it way more than I do now. I enjoyed putting on skates and hitting the ice, smacking around a puck and a few guys, and scoring. That was my thing. My passion. My dream. Just like acting is yours and Noah’s.”

  His eyes trail somewhere off in space. “Do you know that it’s competitive as hell to get interest from professional teams? Athletes who get drafted are some of the best ones in the country. You need to be in damn good shape, fast, and ready to be pounded out there in front of everybody watching. I was about to show my family just how much I was worth. Earn my own damn money from the work I put in despite them missing games, championships, and award ceremonies for Noah’s shit. I was this fucking close from proving what I was worth when Noah took that all away. Everything.”

  His palm scrubs at his ticking jaw before he drops it down on the table, bending those long fingers into a fist. “Did you know that Mom wanted me to work with Noah? Work for him? She thought the Scott brothers could be in business. One big happy family.”

  I didn’t know that.

  “He ruined my life and never even apologized for it, Adelaide. Then he wanted me to work for him. That’s my fucking problem.”

  I have no idea what I could possibly say, so I sit back and fiddle with my fingers and let the bustle of our surroundings fill the silence in our booth.

  Daire drops his arm from the back of the booth and leans forward. “Did he tell you he was bailing on you tonight? Tell you that he was sending a replacement?” When I shake my head, he doesn’t stop there. “Did he apologize once for ditching you? Give you any explanation as to why he couldn’t take one night off work to be with his girl?”

  My mouth twists and gaze dips to the blank screen once more, defeat clouding my rational thoughts.

  I’m hurt. Plain and simple.

  Noah hurt my feelings by ditching me tonight. He knew I didn’t even want to go to this party, but he said it’d be fun. That we’d have fun. Why wouldn’t I believe him? It’s not often he doesn’t pull through for me, but this time seems to hurt worse because he’s ignoring my messages on top of it all.

  Dairen surprises me by reaching out and twisting a strand of my hair around his finger and tugging lightly until I have no choice but to lean toward him. “The reason he’s not texting you right now is because he’s currently got his cock buried between his co-star’s legs at his penthouse. Not out with you. Not making you moan his name. Want to know why, Addy? Because Noah Scott only thinks about himself. What makes him feel good. What’s convenient for him. And he always will.”

  My body stiffens at his cold words, trying to come up with any other explanation.

  There’s no way Noah would be doing that right now because we promised not to see other people during our little charade. Not publicly. Not foolishly. Not when we were messing around, no matter how little it was. I knew I was playing with fire when I agreed to that much, worrying I’d catch feelings for more than one Scott brother and ruin the friendship we’d had for years. But this? This could do just that if it’s true.

  “And deep down,” Daire whispers, drawing me closer until our lips are nearly brushing. If he sticks his tongue out even a fraction, he could probably get a taste of the red lipstick painted on me. “You know that too. Or else you wouldn’t want me to kiss you right now.”

  I’m quiet for a moment to collect my thoughts and try calming my racing heart that could easily give me away before my raspy voice finally responds to his crazy, but not untrue, statement. “Who says I want you to kiss me right now, Daire?”

  He chuckles that cocky, knowing chuckle and lets his tongue dart out to touch my bottom lip to prove a point. “Sweetheart, I bet your tiny little panties are dripping for me. You don’t just want me to kiss you, you want me to make you come. Badly.”

  Oh God.

  This is not good.

  At. All.

  But I don’t pull away. I don’t make a move to tell him he’s wrong. Nope. I squirm in my seat because I’m so turned on by his words alone that I need some sense of release to relieve the ache settled deep in my core.

  “Tell me no,” he challenges, his lips brushing mine in a barely-there kiss. A taste. That’s what I’m getting. And I want more.

  So much more than I got the first time.

  His phone dings in his pocket, making his jaw tick as he pulls it out. He moves away a fraction to glance down at it. “Would you look at that,” Daire muses. “According to TMZ, Noah Scott was seen looking awfully intimate with Brynn Myers as they entered his building earlier tonight. Interesting, wouldn’t you say?”

  My breath catches.

  He wouldn’t, I tell myself.

  But knowing where I am, what I have with Noah compared to what I want with Daire, do I truly care?

  Dairen chooses not to look up to witness the embarrassment of the situation inflated my chest. “She’s pretty, I’ll give him that. The way she’s got his hands on her tells me he thinks so too. Then again, we’ve always had similar taste in women.” He studies the screen before flicking his eyes back up to me. “I’m sure you want to see what I’m talking about. Here, let me—”

  “No.” My voice cracks as I shove the phone he offers away. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and shake my head. “He promised…”

  “Like I said, Adelaide. My brother is a selfish dick. He probably always will be knowing what a name he’s made for himself. So, tell me. What are you going to do about it?”

  When my eyes meet his again, I know what he sees in my distant gaze. Defeat. I swallow, stare at my phone for a few seconds as if willing a text to appear from the boy in question before saying, “Let’s leave.”

  He reaches behind him to pull out his wallet, slaps a twenty on the table, and says, “Let’s get out of here, princess.”

  Chapter 4

  Adelaide

  * * *

  This is a horrible, horrible idea.

  The realization should stop me from climbing into the passenger seat of his royal blue Jeep, but it doesn’t. I blame the slight buzz from the drinks that I had on an empty stomach at the party paired with the humiliation of being ditched by Noah.

  “You’re tense,” the driver of the vehicle states matter-of-factly as he slams his doo
r shut. He turns to me, resting a hand on the steering wheel. “I can help you out with that.”

  His low voice and cocky smirk as his eyes roam over my body make goosebumps pimple every inch of exposed skin. “Do you do this often?”

  He turns on the ignition. “Hit on beautiful women?”

  The compliment warms my cheeks, but I try hiding that by looking out the window at the lit-up street. It would have meant the world to me to know he thought of me as beautiful when I was younger. Or when I found myself knocking on his door after the accident that left him holed up in the city instead of out on the ice in Chicago with his team.

  There’s a big difference between ‘beautiful’ and ‘pretty’, the latter something he never shied away from calling me when I was younger. I have my mother’s genetics, and she wasn’t one of the world’s best-known models in the ‘90s for no reason, so it makes sense that I’m pretty. My blonde hair is sandy with natural darker tints mixed in when the sun hits it, my marbled eyes are a mixture of blues and greens just like my mother’s, and my creamy white skin tans beautifully in the summertime.

  But ‘pretty’ is something you call your little brother’s friend when she’s being picked on about her looks. It’s what you call your little brother’s girlfriend when she’s obviously crushing on you long before she defined a relationship with the other male that shares your last name.

  Beautiful on the other hand…

  That’s a whole different territory.

  It changes things.

  “I meant hit on your brother’s girlfriends,” I murmur.

  The sound he makes is a mixture of a grunt and snort rolled into one. “I’m happy to report you’d my first, babe. You’re popping my cherry.”

  My breath catches in my throat as my eyes bolt to his. “Do you have to be so crude?”

  His amusement is obvious now, brightening his glazed pupils as he pulls onto the street. “Let me break this down for you, so we’re on the same page. I’m driving us back to my hotel so I can bring you to my room, strip that sexy dress off you, spread your legs, and eat your pussy. Then I’m going to fuck you at least twice. Hard. Maybe more if you’re not too sore. I need you to remember who was between your legs when you wake up in the morning. To remember it wasn’t Noah who was making your voice raw from screaming like he’s making somebody else do right now. So, if that’s me being crude, then yes. I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “But Noah and I—”

  “Don’t pretend it’s serious.”

  Words die on my tongue.

  “If it was serious, you wouldn’t even be entertaining the idea of what I’m offering. And that’s because Noah is in his room doing exactly what I plan on doing to you. So cut the innocent shit. You want me, sweetheart. You want me to do dirty things to you to get back at him for leaving you behind and sending second best in his place. You want this because you always have. We both know it. And I’m happy to help. More than.”

  I feel it bubbling inside of me—the anger.

  The truth of Daire’s words.

  The humiliation that I could have everything I ever wanted with Dairen simply for revenge. Not because it could mean something like I wish it did.

  Noah has a reputation for getting together with his co-stars. As soon as I got a role on the show that shot him into stardom, I became an obvious part of the pattern that our agents felt best to capitalize on.

  Whether our relationship is true or not, I know what I’m doing is wrong. But if I know that than so should Noah, and where is he right now?

  He swore to me that he going to be different for me—not cause any scenes or scandals or do anything without consulting me first. Not when it could impact our friendship or our careers. It would have been easier to tell the people who suggested the stupid dating idea no from the start. Then I wouldn’t in this situation, weighing the pros and cons of being in the passenger seat of Noah’s brother’s Jeep.

  His undeniably attractive older brother who says exactly what’s on his mind. A trait I’ve always admired about him even if it would get him in trouble from time and time. And right now? We’re definitely headed for trouble.

  Because the man behind the wheel is an entirely different type of breed of man than what I’m used to. I’ve worked with plenty of hellbent men with a point to prove in my short career. Most of them are older, like the man gripping the wheel fueled by some sort of twisted need for revenge over the death of his NHL career.

  If you rounded up, he’s got almost an entire decade worth of experience on me. Especially relating to things like this—intimacy, chasing after what you want and not being ashamed of it. That much is evident by his dirty mouth, which makes my core ache with a need that Noah could never make me feel even when he tried to.

  This is a horrible idea, I repeat to myself.

  I think about the news alert Daire got on his phone and feel my defenses crumble. What’s even more horrible is constantly depending on somebody who doesn’t show you the same effort. I love Noah, but he’s become bigger than us, than the friendship we formed when he was a reoccurring role on a soap opera.

  How long have I held out for somebody good to come into my life? How long have I pined for the man who’s offering me everything I’ve wanted since I met him—since the first time we kissed in his room?

  I’ve never been able to be spontaneous or make bad choices because I’ve always had people telling me what to do and what not to. My career is in its infancy, and I don’t want to do anything that could mess it up. Not when I finally have a role of a lifetime that could define who I am as an actress. Jill has spoken of possible Oscar nominations in my future, and if I were to win, I could be the youngest ever to win the coveted award.

  But am I thinking about any of that right now when dark eyes plaster mine with heat and anticipation?

  No.

  I’m thinking about something very, very different.

  I unbuckle my seatbelt and turn my body toward him. His brows pinch when I reposition myself so I’m leaning over the console and brushing a kiss against the side of his jaw.

  “You’re not second best,” I whisper.

  I hear the quick breath he takes in surprise as my fingers fumble with the button and zipper of his pants. He’s not wearing anything underneath, taking me by surprise. I don’t let myself hesitate or show my inexperience before exposing his hard length and guiding his hot shaft out with my palm.

  “Oh fuck,” he murmurs in a husky tone as his fingers tighten around the steering wheel.

  My fingers wrap around his girth, reveling in its smooth thickness and giving it an experimental stroke that has his hips arching up from the seat for a second.

  I haven’t done this sort of thing often, but I refuse to let that stop me. He can think whatever he wants about me and his brother, but it’s his brother who taught me just how tightly to hold, how quick to stroke, and more importantly—

  “Fuck yes.” His groan has me smiling victoriously as I lean down and press a kiss against his tip, earning me a sharp hiss as the car jerks forward. I have to steady myself as he moves a hand to the back of my head and tangles his fingers in my hair. “Did I mention how much I fucking love your hair? You’re beautiful blonde, but this? Sexy as hell.”

  I wrap my lips around the head of his cock and give it a good suck, flattening my tongue along the side of him. He’s salty, hot, and hard, twitching as I angle myself to take him deeper into my mouth. His fingers tighten in my hair, gripping a handful to loosely guide me until I’m bobbing over the steel pipe that seems to only get harder with every swipe of my tongue.

  I unhinge my jaw and grip one of his thighs for balance as he begins fucking my mouth, the tip of him hitting my gag reflex and making my eyes tear up. He helps set the pace, grunting, and mumbling as he drives us through traffic and slips deeper until he’s all but fucking my throat. The fact that anybody can see us if they look over should scare me away from finishing this, but it only makes me wetter.
/>   Peeling my hand off his thigh, I grip the base of his shaft and gently squeeze it, working it up and down while my mouth and tongue build him closer to his impending release.

  “Shit, Addy.” He loosens his hold on my head as I go faster, sucking and licking and swallowing him deeper in my throat until his hips start to buck up and penetrate my gag reflex worse than before until tears stream down my cheeks. “I knew that mouth was going to be amazing. Fucking knew it. Don’t know if I should thank my brother or punch him in the face for teaching you how to suck a dick like a goddamn champion.”

  The reminder of our situation makes me still for a moment, but I refuse to let shame take over when he’s so close to breaking apart because of me. I can taste the precum beading from his cock, and I lick it and start paying special attention to the nerves just under his tip until his words are barely coherent.

  I hear my name.

  Hear God’s name.

  Hear him curse.

  It makes me moan over his dick, the vibrations ultimately setting him off as I fondle his balls, gently massaging them in circles over his pants. He doesn’t give me any notice before he’s gripping my hair in a painful but pleasurable grip as he empties into my mouth, the hot cum filling me and forcing me to swallow. I wait out his orgasm before letting up, licking my lips, and giving him one last stroke that makes him choke.

  Daire’s voice is almost unrecognizable as he shakes his head in a daze. “You have no idea…” His knuckles turn white on the wheel as the sign for the hotel comes into view. He slows the Jeep and turns into the lot, finding the closest parking spot before throwing his vehicle into park and turning his massive body toward me. “Where do you want it?”

  My eyes widen as I sit back in the passenger seat, still tasting him on my tongue as I touch my lip. “I don’t understand.”

  His eyes flare. “Where do you want me to eat your pussy? Front seat or back?”

  My mouth dries. “We’re at the hotel.”

  “So? I’m impatient. Decide before I do because I’d bend you over the goddamn hood of the Jeep and eat you from behind for every single guest staying here to see for their viewing pleasure. And I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”