by Aria Grace
“What?” Viv said. “You can’t leave, Ian. I don’t want you going back to the cabin and being by yourself.”
“Unless you’re sick of us,” Rob grinned.
“You have to help us eat all the food,” Sarah chimed in.
I was tempted to kiss them. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Thank you.” David’s face fell. Did he not want me to stay? His wordless expression was confusing. “But I’ll pop home and grab some clean clothes.”
David and I didn’t say much as we traipsed through the snow and when we got to my place, he continued on to the car while I turned on the heat and jumped in the shower. I was dressed and making coffee when a rap at the door startled me. David. “You didn’t have to knock,” I told him. “Everything sorted with the car?”
“Mmmm. I signed papers, they towed it. Done. Decided I didn’t need a replacement. Probably wouldn’t use it anyway.”
“Coffee?”
“Sure.”
He shrugged off his coat and when I gave him a cup, my finger brushed over his hand. We both froze. “David, I…”
“I’m not interested in coffee.” He was adorable, nibbling his lower lip and giving me what I considered to be a come-hither look.
“Me neither.” I pulled him to me, the hot drink forgotten on the table.
“Shame you’ve had a shower,” he whispered.
“Why’s that?” I asked, my lips on his ear.
“Because we’re going to get dirty real quick.”
Without saying another word, I dragged him into my bedroom and pushed him onto the bed. He bounced on the mattress and as he toed off his shoes, both hands went to his jeans. “Nope,” I managed to get out that one word. “I get to do that.”
Blowing on my hands to warm them up, I hovered over David as I undid the button on his pants and yanked them over his hips. His tight briefs emphasized the huge bulge underneath which had me licking around my lips.
I tugged the pants off and tossed them over my shoulder. David’s eyes widened and he lifted his head as he studied his jeans flying through the air. He got up on his elbows. “A man who means business.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than I’d whipped off my sweater and shirt. He got on his knees and shuffled over the mattress. From then on it was a whirlwind of hands undoing, stroking, caressing, clothes being shimmied off, skin exposed, fingers exploring, mouths and tongues sucking, flicking and teeth nibbling.
We were both naked, on the bed, my mouth nuzzling the tender skin on his throat while I stroked his cock that was stiff and hard. David’s hands explored the dips and curves on my body as my teeth grazed over his ear, and I whispered, “I want to see you.”
“I’m… I’m right here,” he panted.
“When I fuck you. I need to be looking at your face. No turning away from me.” My palm slid up and down his rigid shaft accompanied by tiny mews escaping from his lips.
“Do it,” he begged and his hands pushed me upward, so our gazes were locked on one another. A fleeting thought ran through my head that his family might wonder where we were, but the desire that was bubbling just below the surface and threatening to erupt shoved that idea away.
After pushing his legs apart, I shuffled between them, my gaze never leaving his. He lifted his knees as the plea in his eyes told me not to waste time. Both of us wanted the same thing. Me inside him.
Heat radiated from my pores as I prodded his hole—his tight wet hole, slippery with slick. I took a steadying breath, hoping to calm the nerves that had my heart doing flip flops. “Ready?” I asked, my voice little more than a whisper.
“Yes, please, Ian. I need your cock inside me.”
And so I gave him what he wanted. What we both desired. I shoved inside him. A gasp exploded from his lips as his body jerked backward, the force from my length taking possession of first his hole and then his tight wet channel. Filling him with my cock. Forcing air from his lungs while his lips formed an “O.”
His mouth opened and closed as he gulped in air, while I took a huge breath and pushed further inside him. Up to the hilt. We were joined, fused together, as pleasure rippled over me.
“Ian,” David squeaked.
I paused, hoping I wasn’t hurting him, fearing I’d been concentrating on my own pleasure more than his. “Yeah, if this is uncomfortable, we can change positions.”
“No,’ he whispered. “I want you to fuck me hard, please. I need your dick in me, making me yell your name.”
I withdrew, not all the way, but enough that he whimpered, his eyes fixed on me and then I rammed my length back into that tight channel making him squeal, “Yes! Like that!” he screamed.
Despite the cold outside and the house that was just warming up, my palms ran with sweat making it difficult to get a grip. I clutched his legs, just below the knees and my gaze dipped to my cock, sliding in and out, glistening with his slick, each plunge making both of us gasp. He lifted his hips and matched my rhythm as I savored the scent wafting from his body and the droplets of perspiration glistening on his chest.
“You’re so tight,” I babbled as I blinked sweat from my eyes.
David purred beneath my touch as I was swept up in a fast moving current of desire and longing. Lust was messing with my head, making me delirious as I quickened my thrusts. His husky voice murmuring, “More, Ian. Don’t stop,” ignited a hunger in my belly. My fingers, gripping his legs, left indentations on his skin while my dick claimed his ass.
His hard cock bobbed with each thrust but our minds were in sync as he grasped it and tugged. Waves of pleasure sizzled over me when his expression became almost feral: wild, untamed, savage.
My eyes slid shut, as I pounded into him, both of us crying out and whimpering. A gripping sensation inside me told me an orgasm was barreling headlong toward me. And I gave in to it.
“Ian,” David yelled. “Oh God! Yes, yes, I can’t… can’t stop. Can’t,” he wailed and I pried open one eye and watched as he pumped his cock
But ecstasy forced my eyes shut. I grunted as I gathered my strength to ride out the pleasure that had me in its clutches. With my back arched and tension rippling through me, I came, spurting cum inside David. Seconds later, amidst him panting, David’s cum splattered over him and me as I loosened my grasp and slumped on top of him.
9. David
It was Mom’s birthday and all the family would be on the farm. Spring. Wildflowers blooming in the fields I’d only seen covered in a coat of white snow. Baby goats jumping and playing and doing whatever else they did. Not munching anyone’s ass hopefully. I’d need to steer clear of Gertie.
I’d debated whether to come. The last time I’d been home was Christmas. Ian and I had managed to sneak off a few times and have sex before I returned home. We’d both agreed that with me being some hours away and his work on the farm, doing a long-distance relationship wasn’t feasible.
Dad had insisted I come for Mom’s birthday and I couldn’t refuse. Coming up with an excuse about work or not being well was lame. And I wanted to see everyone. But there were complications none of them were aware of.
Once again, I insisted I’d rent a car rather than being collected. And as I drove from the airport, the greenery, the rolling hills, the sun shining on the landscape had me pull over. Not because the car had stalled but it was stunningly beautiful.
The roof of a small cabin peeked through the trees. Ian’s. Had I made the same mistake at the T-junction? On purpose? He’d be in the barn or out in the fields helping with the birthing. Mom said there were lots of newborn kids this season.
This wasn’t the time to confront Ian, though I owed him an explanation. I turned the car around and headed toward the main house and when I pulled up, everyone, including Gran and Uncle Saul, were on the porch. I was wearing jeans and a tee but had an old baggy jacket over the top. Better get this over with.
“David!” Everyone raced toward the car as I got out, but stayed hidden behind the door.
Mom had
her arms outstretched as she reached me and gave me a big hug. But she pulled back, her mouth and eyes wide.
“Something wrong, Viv?” Uncle Saul asked but she shook her head.
“Don’t we get a hug?” Gran asked.
“Sure, but I’ve got something to tell you first.”
“Can’t it wait?” My grandmother pouted. “I need a cuddle.”
At least Ian wasn’t around. I wanted us to be alone when I told him. I flung my jacket into the car and stepped away from the open door. There was a collective gasp. While it was small, there was a definite baby bump protruding under my tight tee.
“Pregnant.”
“You’re having a baby.”
“Oh my God, is it Ian’s?” Mac asked.
“Ian’s what?” The familiar voice drifted over my family’s heads. The group parted and there he was, as tall and delectable as ever, wiping his hands on a rag. His eyes locked on not my face but my bump. His rigid posture and grim expression told me I’d made a huge mistake, which I knew. Hiding my pregnancy from my family was one thing, but not telling the alpha father I was some months along was unforgivable.
He flung the cloth on the grass and spat out, “Is it? Is the baby mine?”
My brain fumbled to come up with the right words, so instead I nodded.
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“I’m sorry.” My voice trembled with the understanding of how much I’d hurt him.
He turned on his heel and stalked toward the barn. I hurried after him and when I glanced over my shoulder, my family were trailing behind me. I’d been dreading this moment and I didn’t need an audience.
Ian slammed the barn door behind him and when I reached it, I barred everyone else. “This is my mistake. My business. Even if I can’t make it right, I have to do this alone.” I didn’t have any faith in Ian understanding. My actions were cruel and wrong. I just hoped for the baby’s sake we could be friends and co-parents.
“Ian?” I blinked and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dim light in the barn.
“Go away, David. I need to be alone with my thoughts and my anger.”
“Okay. I get that. And you have every right to be furious but can I just say I’m sorry.” I took a step toward the direction of his voice, a pen at the end, piled high with straw. “At first I refused to believe I was pregnant. Ignored the signs for weeks. Had no nausea or tiredness and threw myself into work, not wanting to acknowledge what was staring me in the face.”
I peered into the stall. Ian was sitting against the wall staring at a goat lying on the floor with a newborn suckling at her. “Ohhh, is that Gertie?”
“Yeah. This is her first.”
Not waiting for permission, I sunk onto the floor beside him. “I’m scared, Ian.”
“As long as you don’t get close to the little kid, Gertie won’t hurt you,” he said.
“No, about the baby. Our baby.”
He stiffened. “The child you were never going to tell me about.” He twisted toward me. “If it hadn’t been your mom’s birthday, when would I have found out? When the kid turned 18 and came looking for me.”
The weight of what I’d done crept over me, making it hard to breathe. I’d hurt Ian badly by not fessing up. “I was frightened.” I held up a hand as he made to speak. “Not of you. But of seeing the disappointment in your eyes. And I don’t know how to be a father.”
“Does anyone? It’s all trial and error.”
He was probably right. “Despite my huge cockup, I’m hoping you’ll want to be part of this baby’s life,” I told him. I patted my belly. “We both want that.”
“Of course.” He flicked a straw stalk. “But with you not living here, it’s going to be hard. I’ll miss out on a lot.”
“Good news on that front. I applied and have been accepted for a transfer. My company is opening a branch office here and the higher ups were impressed that I wanted to return to my hometown. So, ta da, I’m the new manager.”
“Congratulations,” he said, a wide smile on his face.
“We’ll be less than thirty minutes away from one another so you’ll see the baby every day if you want. We’ll be at the farm visiting Mom and Dad and during my paternity leave I’ll probably live with them.”
“I’d like that.”
We sat in silence as the goat’s newborn took her fill of her mother’s milk and closed her eyes. Gertie lifted her head. “Hear that old girl? David’s coming home.” Ian glanced in my direction. “She’s been my confidante these few months.”
“Oh yeah. What have you been telling her?” I asked. “Spilling one another’s secrets?” It occurred to me Ian would have discovered Gertie was going to be a mom before learning of his own spending fatherhood.
“How much I missed you and wished we were in one another’s lives.”
“Oh.”
His hand crept over the straw and covered mine. “You’ve caused me a lot of pain, David by keeping the pregnancy a secret and it’ll take a while to get over that. But I will. Perhaps when you start the new job, we could go to dinner.”
“It’s a date.”
10. Ian
“Come down, you idiot.”
David was yelling at Mac who was up in the treehouse and hanging out a window while I trailed over the grass dabbing at the drool around Gracie’s mouth. Our daughter was wide awake and staring at me, her big blue eyes identical to David’s.
With Viv and Rob’s help we’d bought a house. And not just any house. Their old home. Sarah and Mac had contributed as well, so it wasn’t just ours. It was a family home. Perfect for adventures and secrets and full of memories.
The siblings raced around the garden, up and down the three stories and pointed out things they remembered from their childhood.
When it’d come on the market, I’d been reluctant to buy anything but a new build. Old houses came with a heap of problems, but after we’d inspected it and David pointed out the people his parents had sold it to had updated the kitchen and bathrooms, I’d seen the house’s promise.
What child wouldn’t want to grow up in a place like this? And if we had more children, the place would be teeming with friends and extended family. With plenty of room for my dads to stay when they visited.
And coming back to where they’d grown up had David, Mac and Sarah acting like kids. While their parents said they had no regrets selling up and moving to the countryside, their memories had flooded back after we signed the papers as they wandered through the home where they’d brought up their family.
“Look, this is where David bumped his head?” Viv pointed to a chip in the wooden stair railing.
“Not bumped,” David maintained. “Pushed. Mac and Sarah joined forces against me and tripped me.” He took Gracie from me and put her over his shoulder.
“Fiddlesticks,” Mac replied.
Hearing the house ring with the siblings arguing must have been how it was when they were growing up. As I admired the ceilings and crown moldings, I thought back to the journey from the night of the blizzard when David had turned up on my doorstep, to him getting pregnant and us beginning the trek to get to where we were now.
Learning to trust him, along with us getting to know one another and allowing love to blossom took most of the pregnancy. But we’d put in the work, made mistakes, learned a lot and as David’s belly expanded, our love grew.
“Who’s up for a game of monopoly?” Mac asked.
A chorus of “Me,” “Me,” and “Me.” filled the air.
“You’ll help me beat them, won’t you, Gracie?” I had no hope against the siblings, though Sarah didn’t take it as seriously as her brothers.
“There’s something we have to do first,” David announced.
“What’s that?” Rob asked.
“Time capsules. You didn’t forget, did you?”
“No. But Mom and Dad have theirs at the new house,” Sarah remarked.
“Makes no difference. They’re allowed to have m
ore than one,” David told her.
“Do we bury everyone’s time capsule together or separately,” Mac asked.
“Together,” everyone said at once.
With the rest of the family, David and I kneeled on the ground, damp from this morning’s rain. Gracie gurgled as she peered into the space we’d dug. In our capsule, we’d put the car rental papers from that first Christmas, his jeans Gertie had taken a bite out of, a bon bon, a photo of Gertie, along with Gracie’s hospital bracelet from when she was born.
“To the future,” David said as we filled in the hole with dirt.
I kissed him, and he hugged me and our daughter. “The best is yet to come.”
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Mistletoe Wishes
Leyla Hunt
1. Parker
When did this town become so busy? When I’d left three years ago, Kingston was a sleepy little town on the shores of Lake Kingston with a slow pace and lazy traffic. Now, everyone was in a rush somewhere and although the townsfolk were still a polite bunch, there was no mistaking the impatience in the air, that feeling of ‘you’ve got to be somewhere else now.’
My breath came out in a thick fog as I hurried down the sidewalk on my way to Mom’s favorite bakery for her favorite cheesecake. It was my first time visiting since I’d left, and I wanted to bring her something she’d love. The bottle of wine I got for Dad at the liquor store down the street was tucked away safely in my Audi's trunk. I should have visited more often, but with my crazy work schedule in Manhattan, it had proved impossible. There was no way I could have become a senior manager within the audit department of a major bank if I had taken all my vacation time every year.
