Page 30 of Everything Christmas

“Yes, sir.” Her answer—half whimper, half groan—came as his open mouth found her neck and he ground his hardness into her still-blazing bottom. “For the record, I’m already in love with you.”

“My sweet elf.” In a burst of passion, he pulled her up and turned her into his arms. Taking her lips in a searing kiss, he slid a hand under the hem of her blouse to cup a full breast. As he pressed into her softness, his thumb stroked her nipple, flicking the hard peak with the edge of his nail. His other hand moved between her thighs and cupped her heat.

Merry pressed against his palm. Weeks of foreplay and never getting to the main event had her on the brink of coming in seconds.

“Hell and damnation!” he bit out, tearing his mouth from her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got fifteen people at my house, and we need to call the power company to get you switched back on.”

“I don’t want to stop, Reese. Please. Can’t we go upstairs to my room?”

“I want to, baby.” With a knee, he separated her thighs and ground his zipper, and the proof of his desire, against her wetness. “Feel how much. But I don’t want our first time to be a quick grope while my perverted friends are lurking at our door.”

“It’s no wonder I’m scatterbrained,” she bit out, utterly disappointed.

“That’s not the reason. But let me see if I can be of help.” Her hot bottom met cooler metal when he lifted her onto the hood and spread her thighs. Her jeans were in the way, so he pressed her knees to her chest and held them there with one hand. She sobbed with pleasure when his hot tongue licked the length of her pussy then dipped into the seam and explored further. He added a finger in a slow stroke inside her, and she came apart, his name in a throaty rasp echoing off the rafters.

While he was there, he spread kisses over the still-warm and tingling cheeks. Then he lowered her legs and leaned over until his face was above hers.

“Will that tide you over?”

“Yes, but ten seconds of heaven isn’t nearly enough.”

“We’ll work on building your endurance when your power isn’t out and I don’t have a crowd in my den wondering where we’ve gotten to.”

That hadn’t occurred to her. “Will they come looking for you?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them.”

After a quick, passionate kiss, which tasted of her, Reese set her on her feet. He adjusted himself—poor unsatisfied guy—while she pulled up her jeans and panties.

“I guess we better get back,” he said, his voice obviously strained.

“Okay, but I just want to go on record that I wanted to go upstairs, but you wanted to watch football.”

“I guess I’m the one who’s a nitwit.” He took her hand and tugged her along toward the door.

“Wait, can I run upstairs and change clothes before we go? I’d like to freshen up a bit.”

Reese stopped, buried his face in her neck, and inhaled. “Mmm, evergreen, cinnamon, and spice. You don’t need freshening, elf. You always smell like Christmas.”

Giggling at his breath tickling her neck, she melted into him once again. “It’s the potpourri at the store. Please. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

“I’ll call the power company for the reconnect. You be careful in there, it’s dark. Maybe I should come along...”

“If you’d like. You could help me pick out an outfit.”

“In your room? Near a bed? No can do, honey. We’d never get back to my house. That rowdy bunch will find my liquor cabinet if I run out of beer. God only knows what would happen after that. You go on while I call.”

“Yes, sir.” She gave him a mock salute, which, with only starlight from the two small windows, he likely couldn’t see.

“Wear a skirt. It will make it easier to spank that sassy butt. Get going.”

She could see the white of his smile when his phone screen lit up, and knew, or at least hoped, he was teasing because she wasn’t kidding when she said he spanked hard.

Just in case, Merry waited to rub her bottom until she was inside out of sight. She went to the kitchen first and found candles and matches, only because she’d recently unpacked them. Then she made her way to her bedroom with the single flickering flame lighting her way.

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