Page 54 of Holly Ever After

There's no bitterness. He's serious. He's giving me an out.

My eyes fall to the floor.

When I don't answer, he steps back.

It's too late for an out now. I know what he feels like, and my greedy body wants more. I want his scent to invade me, I want his hands on me, I want to feel him between my legs. I want him to envelope me until I'm blinded by it.

Once wasn't enough.

I might wake up tomorrow and hate myself, but I can't let him go.

I reach out, catching his fingers before he can step away completely. “Stay,” I whisper.

He pushes his knuckles under my chin, his touch gentle now, soft.

“Look at me.” I lift my gaze. “You want me to stay?”

I nod. “I want you to stay.”

This time when he steps back, he takes me with him, lifting me into his arms, a shit eating grin on that gorgeous face.

“You don't have to look so smug,” I tell him, hardly keeping my own smile at bay.

He throws his head back and laughs, making me want to slap it off his face. “Oh, baby,” he says pressing a quick kiss to my swollen lips. “I love how you have no idea what to expect.”

“And what's that then?”

He winks, walking us into the bathroom. I'm vaguely aware of his hand leaving my ass to turn on the shower.

“You'll see. First, let's get cleaned up.” He kisses me as he walks under the sprays, Christmas costumes be damned.

Twenty-One

The beam of light casting through my window stirs me from my sleep. A sleep I could easily fall back into because I’m cocooned in warmth, pulled tightly against a chest.

I peek over my shoulder.

Not just any chest.

Sean Colson is in my bed.

What have I done?

Still, I can’t find it in myself to move. He’s holding me so tight I don’t think I could if I wanted to. I give myself a few minutes to stay this way because once he wakes and realizes what we’ve done, he’s going to be out of here faster than a snowflake melting in July.

His even breaths sweep across the skin of my shoulder, reminding me of how naked I am.

Naughty Santa worked the nightshift.

I stretch, but it only reminds me of how sore I am… everywhere.

I definitely ho-ho-ho’d last night.

And Santa? Santa came more than once this year.

Bad Holly. So, so bad.

The silence is shattered as my phone buzzes, jolting me from my reverie. Then it buzzes again. And again. Each vibration stabs through the stillness, eroding the fragile peace of this illicit morning-after.

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