XOXO, Winter

by Bloom, Nikki

  With newfound energy coursing through my body, I pounced on my lover. If he thought he was in control of this bedroom, he was sorely mistaken. I was running the show here.

  I pinned his wrists above his head and silenced whatever he was about to say next with a kiss meant to knock his socks off. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, tangling with his while I grabbed his rock-hard cock and gave it a few more strokes. I wanted to drive him crazy and leave him knowing that I was the only woman who could make him feel this good.

  “I hope you’re ready for the ride of a lifetime,” I nicked at the side of his neck, waiting for his response.

  It came as a smack to the ass.

  My skin burned from the impact but I didn’t mind it one bit. In fact, I quite enjoyed it. I almost wished he would do it again. As if reading my mind, that was exactly what he did.

  And that was my que to spring into action.

  I turned around and shimmied my hips just to tease him a bit more. He grabbed my ass and groped it as I eased myself onto his rock-like rod. I gasped as his girth stretched me to my very limit. It hadn’t been that long since our last time together, but I didn’t remember him being this damn huge.

  With a deep breath, I steadied myself against the pressure until it felt better than I could explain. This feeling carried me forward. I curled my toes until my feet were flat against the mattress. Once I had my footing, I was able to start my series of squats. My thighs burned but it was a good sort of burn because, with every bounce, I was sending pleasure shooting through both our bodies.

  My nails dug into the skin of his legs as I pushed myself to ride him even harder. I would only stop once I heard him screaming.

  “Fuck, baby girl, that feels so good.” He pulled at my hair and that only added to the feeling.

  With my head thrown back, I lost my balance. I was about to jump back into place, but Reed was much quicker than I anticipated him to be. He had rolled off the side of the bed and stood at the foot of it. Before I could react, he pulled me by the hips until my ass hung over the edge. “Mmm,” he murmured as he ran his hand along my skin. “Now this is a million-dollar view.”

  “Hey, I’m at least worth a billion.”

  “My apologies, a trillion-dollar view.”

  We laughed and I felt a weightless sort of freedom that I had never felt in the presence of a man. Reed knew exactly how to lift me up and make me fly.

  His fingers ran along my skin, drawing invisible figures. “You planning on staying back there all night?” I asked, looking back at the sexy surgeon.

  “That’s the hope.” He grinned in response as he took a step forward, hips in hand.

  The tip of his cock teased against my entrance and I shivered with anticipation waiting for him to thrust into me. Instead, he went in nice and slow, stretching me out inch by inch.

  I clawed at the bedsheets, back arching with the build-up of pleasure.

  “Relax,” he whispered against the nape of my neck. “Just relax.”

  He started to pull out. I whimpered as the feeling of emptiness washed over me. I pushed back my hips hoping to remedy the lack of fullness, but Reed kept me firmly in place. I didn’t need to see his face to know he had a dirty grin painted there.

  Thrust!

  I screamed as he plummeted his entire length inside of me with one shove of his hips. Then he did it again – and again.

  He moved like a piston set to turbo.

  My vision blurred just trying to keep up with the overload of ecstasy swimming through my body. The friction grew to the point of burning. I couldn’t fight it any longer. My toes curled as my stomach did about a hundred or so somersaults. I gasped and held my breath as a powerful orgasm ripped through every last inch of my body. I rode with that high for as long as I could before I crashed.

  Behind me, Reed pulled out and stroked himself to completion. I could feel the soft breeze made by the erratic movements of his wrist as it settled on my ass cheek. A second later, something else settled there – warm and sticky.

  “Wow…” Reed straightened himself out. “I’ve made quite the mess.”

  “Mind cleaning up after yourself?” I asked, breathlessly.

  He did not say a word of complaint as he entered the bathroom and retrieved some tissue paper. With a gentle touch, he cleaned his explosion off my ass and flushed it down the toilet. When he returned to the bedroom I was there, waiting for him. “Well, it looks like I’ve broken my own ground rule on night one.”

  “Naughty girl,” he teased as he laid by my side. “But in all seriousness, I hope you do not regret what we just did.”

  I shimmied a little closer and kissed his lips for a brief second – or, at least, that was my intention. Reed grabbed me and pulled me into a tight embrace. Even if I had wanted to escape, doing so would have proved impossible and that was okay because there was nowhere else I wanted to be.

  22

  Winter

  Two weeks later.

  With a chest threatening to burst with anxiety, I rode the elevator up to the third floor of the science building. My organic chemistry professor had instructed all students to retrieve their exams from his office at their leisure.

  Ding!

  I stepped out onto the linoleum floors and focused on keeping my feet moving one after the other. Rounding the corner of the hallway, I saw that his door was closed and the light beyond it turned off. Good. The last thing I wanted to do was face this man in case I had failed or something.

  Before me was a table strewn with exams. From a quick glance alone, I saw plenty of pitiful scores. That did not make me feel better in the slightest. Every exam was littered with red ink.

  I must have tanked this exam, I told myself in hopes that the mental preparation would better help accept the reality to come.

  Finally, I came across my name on the top of an exam. I pulled it from the stack, one eye closed to keep the score from view.

  Ever so slowly, I moved my hand out of the way revealing a…94?

  “I got a 94?” I said aloud. “That can’t be right.”

  I flipped through the pages and nearly every question was adorned with a bright red checkmark.

  “How’d you do?” A fellow classmate had appeared out of thin air.

  “It looks like all my studying paid off,” I answered with a sense of relief.

  “That makes one of us,” the boy groaned. “This is going to destroy my grade…” He started to freak out, but before I could say anything to help, he had disappeared down the hall, already amid a phone conversation set in a different language.

  Weird, I thought, but I dismissed the boy in favor of getting out of the stuffy building. As soon as I went and felt the wind against my cheeks, I was able to breathe. My excitement about passing with flying colors had me in jitters, but I managed to send off a text to both Reed and Iris, telling them the good news.

  Not a second later, my phone started to buzz.

  I answered. “Iris! I passed!”

  “I know, I can read.”

  I laughed. “I just can’t believe it.”

  “I’m proud of you, girl. You’re a true testament that hard work really does pay.”

  “All those sleepless nights–”

  “Hey, I have a lunch break at one. Why don’t we grab a bite to eat if your free to do so?”

  “Where were you thinking?”

  “The coffee shop. You know I’m a sucker for their cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches.”

  “I still think you’re weird for liking those.”

  “Well, that’s your problem. Deal with it.” Even on the phone, I could sense that playful smile of hers.

  “I will, but only because I love you like a sister.”

  “Aww, don’t make me blush, babe.”

  “See you at one, then?”

  “Yep. See you then!”

  Click.

  I checked my phone, hoping Reed had responded, but my inbox was empty. He was probably busy with work –
saving lives and all that. It was selfish of me to expect that he would check his phone right away, so I dropped it back into my pocket and started toward the bus station. Now that I thought about it, those coffee shop sandwiches didn’t seem all that bad.

  * * *

  Iris was already there when I walked through the door. She had her face buried in the menu, so she didn’t see me approach the table. She jumped like a cat the second I tapped her shoulder.

  “Jeez,” I said. “Something wrong?”

  “I was just focused,” she returned. “And you know I hate it when you sneak up on me like that.”

  “I hardly snuck up on you,” I countered.

  “Anyway, we didn’t come here to discuss my jumpiness, now did we?” She got up and threw her arms around me. Iris was the kind of person who had perfected the bear hug. If she ever managed to get you in her clutches then you were in definite risk of getting a few ribs broken.

  “I can’t breathe…”

  “Oh, quit your bellyaching.” She squeezed me even harder.

  “Iris, seriously. You’re going to kill me.”

  She released her grip and rolled her eyes. “So dramatic.”

  I rubbed my sides. “I’m going to bruise.”

  “Oh please, I didn’t hug you that hard.”

  “That’s what you think.”

  Before she could hug me again, I sat down.

  “So, let’s see it.”

  I pulled out the exam and placed it on the table. Iris whistled as soon as she saw the score and it got the attention of some of the other patrons. Their stares made me blush. I really did not like all the attention.

  “This is awesome. How did you manage?”

  “Reed helped me study.”

  “That was nice of him.” Her tone was a little less jovial. “How are things getting along with the surgeon, by the way?”

  “It’s going well. We’re getting along.”

  “Yeah?” She raised an eyebrow like she didn’t quite believe me. I was sure she was about to start interrogating me when one of the baristas came over to take our table-side order.

  “What can I get you?” she asked, notepad in hand.

  “I’ll just have a latte and a blueberry muffin with a bit of butter on the side.”

  “And you?” The barista turned to look at Iris, but once again she had her face buried in the menu. “Uh… do you need a minute?”

  “No,” she said. “I’ll have a mango smoothie and a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich.”

  “Coming right up.” She nodded as she took our menus.

  “What was that all about?” I asked once the barista had walked away.

  “I’m trying to go on a diet.”

  “Oh? What for? You’ve got an amazing figure.”

  “Hardly,” she scoffed. “I could afford to lose a couple of pounds.”

  “Are you kidding me? You’re gorgeous.”

  She huffed. “Is that why guys look at me like I’m chopped liver?”

  “Have you lost your mind?”

  “I mean it.”

  “Iris.” I reached over and rested my hands on her forearms. “I know that relationships haven’t always been easy for us. I get that. But don’t you dare let those bad experiences affect your self-confidence. You’re beautiful and you shouldn’t need anyone to tell you that.”

  She sighed. “You’re right. It’s just, seeing you with Reed, it makes me think–”

  “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying,” she clarified. “I’m happy for you, I really am, and I want that happiness too, you know?”

  “You’ll find it, I’m sure. Any guy would be lucky to have you.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I know so,” I said. “These guys should be flocking at your feet.”

  She shook her head.

  “Iris, what’s up with you? You’re usually full of spunk and sass, but you seem so deflated.”

  She shrugged. “I guess I’m just…lonely.”

  “You’ll find someone,” I assured. “You just have to wait for the right guy to pop up in your life.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  “He will and I can promise that it will happen when you least expect it to,” I said as my thoughts drifted towards my first encounter with Reed. It was so unlikely that we’d end up sitting side by side on the plane ride home and yet, by some act of fate, it had happened. “Just keep your eyes open.”

  The barista returned with our order just as a text came through. My phone buzzed against the tabletop, nearly falling off the edge but I managed to catch it just in time.

  Reed.

  My heart quickened just a bit.

  I wasn’t usually one to answer my phone in the middle of a lunch date but I just couldn’t resist.

  Congrats on passing your exam! I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished. How about we celebrate with some dinner later?

  “Who is it?” Iris asked with a raise of her eyebrows. “Dr. Heartthrob?”

  I rolled my eyes. “His name is Reed.”

  “What does he want?”

  “He wants to take me out to dinner.”

  “He better take you someplace nice,” she said before slurping her smoothie. “Or I’ll have to show him a piece of my mind.”

  I chuckled. “Violence isn’t going to solve everything.”

  “Who said anything about violence?” She smirked. “There are plenty of other ways to make a man suffer–”

  “Don’t go there,” I said, holding out my hand.

  “Why?”

  “Because…”

  “Has something happened between the two of you?”

  My seat suddenly felt incredibly warm. I looked towards the windows wishing I could sit next to one.

  “Winter?”

  “Yes.”

  “I knew it – it was written all over your face.”

  “Is it really that obvious?” I asked.

  “A bit.”

  “Do you think we’re moving a bit too quickly?”

  “Well, if you’ve already fallen into bed with the man, then yes.”

  Sweat prickled against the back of my neck. “I see…”

  “Have you?”

  “Have I what?” I avoided her gaze by picking at my blueberry muffin.

  “Slept with him.”

  “I don’t really think this is an appropriate conversation for a coffee shop.” I stumbled over my words, making a complete fool of myself. There was no doubt that Iris would see right through my poor attempt at diversion – she always did.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes.” Again, she took a big slurp from her smoothie as her eyes pored over my face as if looking for something. “In all honesty, I didn’t think you had it in you.”

  “It just sort of…happened.”

  “Well, you can’t change it now and if he makes you happy, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. All I ask is that if you need to slow things down then do so. The last thing I want to do is pick up the pieces of your broken heart.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “You can never be too sure,” she said.

  “There’s just something about him.” I ran my finger along the rim of my mug. “I can’t quite explain it but…”

  “Do you think he’s the one?” she said as if reading my mind.

  I nodded.

  “And he might be,” she whispered. “But I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

  23

  Winter

  Later that night.

  I came home to find a nicely wrapped box waiting for me on the kitchen table. The bow was a deep emerald green that looked much too pretty to tamper with.

  “Reed?” I called out as I looked around.

  “Ah, you’re home.” He emerged from the living room and greeted me with a kiss. His lips were just as electric as the first time. My heart swelled as I stretched onto my tippy toes. His hands fell toward my
ass, cupping my cheeks against his palms. “Mmm,” he moaned into the kiss. “Teasing me already?” he asked.

  “I didn’t do anything,” I responded, feigning innocence despite the fact that my hand was still on his belt buckle.

  “It pains me to do this but tonight’s all about you.” He grabbed my wrist and guided my hand toward the present. “Open it.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Open it and you’ll find out,” he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed the top of my head. Being this close to the surgeon just felt so right. Iris had advised me to take things slow, but it really was impossible to do so when he felt like the missing puzzle piece in my life. Was this the honeymoon phase or something truly real? “Go on.”

  I tore through the wrapping, lamenting the fact that I was destroying something so beautiful.

  What emerged was a plain white box. There was absolutely nothing on it to indicate what might be inside.

  Reed handed me a knife so I could cute the tape holding down the sides. “Careful,” he warned.

  Slowly, I lifted off the top and revealed a stunning Vera Wang dress. My eyes nearly bugged right out of my skull when it fluttered toward the ground in a sea of soft green fabric. “What is this?” I gaped.

  “A dress,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Yes, I know it’s a dress, but Vera Wang is ridiculously expensive…”

  “And you don’t think you deserve the finer things in life?” he whispered against my ear. “When I saw this dress and how perfectly the color matched your eyes, I knew that it would be a crime if anyone else wore it but you.”

  “How much did this cost?”

  “That isn’t a question I’m willing to answer.” He silenced me with a kiss that left my lungs begging for air. When he pulled away, he had that devilish smile on his face. “Now, let’s get you in that dress.”

  “Where are we going for dinner? The Capital Building?”