Tis the Season

by Jill Sanders

  He chuckled, and she cracked an eye to glance at him. She gasped and sat up when she noticed he was holding a large piece of chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

  “Is that…” She almost melted as she set her mug down and took the plate from him.

  “We’ll have to split it,” he said as he shrugged, “but I don’t think you’ll mind. It’s a large piece.”

  “My god, I could get used to being spoiled by clients like this.” She took the fork he offered and leaned closer to take her first bite. Closing her eyes on a moan, she let the richness of the chocolate sink into her bones. The spike of sugar caused her heart to rush, which made her head feel light. “If I could find a man who makes me feel as good as chocolate,” she sighed, “I’d marry him on the spot.”

  His green eyes met hers as he took his first bite. “I thought I made you feel that way?” He smiled.

  Her face flushed when she realized she had compared him to chocolate.

  “You did.” She took another bite, then reached for the drink.

  “What happened?” he asked, taking another bite and scooping up some ice cream.

  She shrugged. “As I mentioned, family got in the way.” She tried to play it off as nothing, but he stilled, and his eyes bore into her. She set her fork down and leaned back, cradling her mug in her hands. “Do you remember me telling you why I changed my name?”

  He set the plate down and turned slightly towards her. “Something about your father feeling it was safer?”

  She nodded, leaned up, and took another big bite of the cake, mentally telling herself it would be her last. She didn’t want to be up all night because of a sugar overload.

  “I had a few weeks left of the semester when you came along.” She picked up her mug again and set her feet back on the coffee table, the warmth of the Baileys and the fireplace soothing her. “The week we spent together was one of the best in my life.” She smiled over at him, wanting him to know the truth.

  “Then, why run?”

  “I didn’t run from you.” She sighed. “I was kidnapped,” she admitted.

  “My god!” He reached for her, but she was shaking her head.

  “No, it’s okay, I managed to escape. They came that last night, after I got off work…”

  “The night I cancelled on you?”

  She nodded. “You had a meeting, so I walked home, like I normally did before you came along. Apparently, some of my father’s… business partners, or rather, ex-business partners, were angry with him. They found out where I worked.” She shook her head. “No, that’s not it. They knew where I worked, had stalked me prior to things going south with my father. They had planned it. They grabbed me, dragged me into a van. What they didn’t know was that a few years prior, my mother had been attacked, raped.” She felt a shiver run down her back.

  “I… didn’t know,” he admitted.

  “No one does. It’s a secret she keeps. After, we took a few courses together, self-defense. I fought back. Gave a few of them bruised balls and one a bloody nose, maybe even a broken one.” She smiled. “I jumped from the moving van, found a phone, called my father and…”—she shrugged—“he had me on a plane back to LA and had legal paperwork to change my name processed faster than I could tell him no.”

  “So,” he said after a moment, “you didn’t run away from me?”

  Her eyes met his. “No.” She shook her head.

  “Then why tell me it was a mistake?”

  She set her empty mug down. “Because it was. There’s no way I was supposed to feel so much for someone, so quickly,” she admitted.

  He waited a beat, then his hands went into her loose bun, and he pulled her mouth to his as he made her feel that overwhelming rush of a high once more.

  “Don’t tell me to stop,” he said between kisses. “If you do, I will, but… my god, please don’t tell me.” His hands had dragged through her bun until her long locks fell around her shoulders. His fingers bundled in her hair, holding her, taking what he wanted from her.

  “No.” She sighed as her own nails dug into the T-shirt he was wearing. “Don’t stop.” She sighed and wrapped her legs against him as he hoisted her up and laid her down on the sofa. Then his hands left her hair to tug on the large sweatshirt she was wearing and the tank top underneath.

  When it hit the floor, he leaned back, his eyes running over her as the firelight danced across her skin.

  “You’re as beautiful as I remember.” It came out as a whisper. “More so, even,” he said, just before he dipped his head down and covered one of her nipples with his mouth, his tongue darting out, lapping at her skin, as if she were the dessert.

  She arched, begged, and moaned as he used his mouth to light fires across her skin. His fingers brushed against her ribs, moving down slowly until he could tug her leggings down her legs. She thought she’d burst when he looked down at her, fully naked in the firelight.

  “Matt, you have too many clothes on.” She smiled up at him.

  “In a moment. I need to look, just look at you. You’re more exquisite than any painting I’ve ever seen. More beautiful than any sunset.” He shook his head, then tugged his T-shirt over his head quickly and tossed it aside. When his fingers went to his jean buckle, she sat up and reached for it herself.

  “My turn.” She smiled and rained kisses over his impressive chest, enjoying the new muscles she found there, trailing her mouth over his skin, over his flat nipples, smiling when they peaked for her.

  When she unsnapped his jeans, his hands fisted in her hair. She found him hard, ready for her, and moaned at the memories the feel of him had flashing behind her eyes.

  “Tell me you have a rubber,” she groaned.

  “I stopped off at the store on the way home,” he admitted. She glanced up at him, her eyebrows going up.

  “Did you know you’d seduce me?” she teased.

  “Know? No.” He shook his head. “Hoped, prayed, dreamed, yes.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss her again.

  He kicked off his jeans, then pulled a packet from his back pocket before letting them fall off the sofa, forgotten.

  He settled between her legs, their mouths fusing again as his hands slowly ran over her. When he touched her between her legs, she arched and cried out his name as he dipped a finger into her.

  “Please,” she begged, “it’s been too long,” she admitted. “I need…” She bit her lip to stop herself from admitting too much more.

  “No,” he said. “Tell me. How long?” He trailed kisses down her belly.

  “Long.” She sighed when his hot breath landed where she’d dreamed he’d be again one day.

  “How long?” he said with a serious tone. She looked down, and their eyes met.

  “You were the last one.” She thought he smiled before he plunged his tongue into her heat and had her screaming.

  Her fingers dug into his hair as she rocked her hips while his hands and mouth worked over her. She felt her control completely slip when he lapped her, forced her to lose the last stranglehold she held on her ability to resist him.

  She lay, motionless, weightless, floating in the space that she was in, until she felt his body settle once more over hers. This time, however, his skin was against hers, chest to chest.

  “Blake, look at me. I want to see your eyes when I fill you again,” he said.

  She opened her eyes and focused on the green pools that had haunted her dreams for over two years.

  Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her legs around his hips, pulling him in.

  “I’ve waited so long to have you again,” he said. “Too long. As long as you have.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve never waited that long for anything in my life.” His eyes locked with hers again. “I won’t wait this long again.” He slid slowly into her.

  “No.” She felt a tear slide down her cheek as he bent and kissed her again.

  When they started to move, it was a simultaneous dance, one they had both wa
ited for and wanted over two years.

  The cold woke her first, then it was the weight of Matt pinning her to the sofa that had her shifting. The fire had died down some. Still, the crackling sound of the embers soothed her and filled the room.

  “I have a blanket.” He shifted and then, to her surprise, twisted them both until she was lying over his chest. He pulled a thick blanket over them both.

  “There.” He sighed and wrapped his arms around here. “Better?” His voice was groggy, and she shifted to look down at him.

  “We should probably head to bed,” she suggested. Images of Parker and his men walking in on them like this flashed in her mind quickly.

  “In a moment.” He sighed, then groaned. “Okay, if we fall asleep like this, it would be bad to not wake up on time. I can just hear my family…” He groaned again, then moved. “My bedroom,” he said, moving quickly again, hoisting her up and carrying her towards his room. Then he stopped and turned back. “Grab the rest of the cake. We’ll need our energy.” He bent down, and she chuckled as she picked up the plate and held it to her chest as he walked down the hallway.

  When he walked into the bedroom, they both glanced towards the window. He smiled down at her. “Guess we’re alone.” He set her on the edge of the bed, then walked over and turned up the heater.

  She watched him walk across the room, the moonlight coming in through the sheer curtains.

  “I once thought of you as a god,” she admitted, causing him to pause and smile.

  “Oh? Now what do you think?”

  She tilted her head and ran her eyes over him. “I was wrong. You’re not just a god, you’re a titan.” She smiled.

  He chuckled and moved over to her, his hands going into her hair, bringing his mouth down to hers.

  He nudged her back onto the bed further. She went willingly, again wrapping her legs around his hips.

  “Do you remember that last night we were together?” he asked, stilling above her.

  She nodded and swallowed. “Yes,” she finally said.

  “I was going to tell you something.” He shifted slightly, and she felt him slowly enter her.

  “What?” She sighed and closed her eyes.

  He leaned closer, his breath on the side of her face. His lips brushed against her earlobe.

  “I love you,” he whispered, shattering everything she’d ever believed about love.

  Chapter 9

  Matt woke with a start. The old feeling of being watched tickled and sent goose bumps all over his skin.

  His eyes jerked open, but instead of a semitransparent being standing over him, Blake smiled down at him.

  “Your alarm went off a few minutes ago.” She chuckled.

  He ran a hand over his face and glanced at the clock on the makeshift nightstand he’d made. The moving box held some tennis shoes that he wouldn’t need until springtime.

  Sitting up, he reached for her, but she sidestepped and laughed. “I have work to do.” She glanced around, and he watched her smile falter. “But not in here.” She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

  He glanced towards the window. “No, we’ll do this room together, Saturday,” he promised. She nodded in agreement.

  “I’m going to go get ready for my workday, before Parker and the men show up.” She started to move, but he quickly got up and blocked the doorway, his hand going to her bare shoulder. She’d slipped back on the leggings and the tank top she’d been wearing under the sweater last night, which told him she’d gone into the living room for them.

  “Come back to bed.” He smiled. “I’m sure we can be done before…”

  Her chuckle stopped him. “I’m not going to chance it; besides, you’re going to be late for work.”

  “My boss won’t mind,” he joked.

  “Mine will.” She smiled and leaned up on her toes to kiss him. He stopped her from moving away, pressing his body against hers until her back was firmly against his bedroom door. His hands reached under the tank top, finding her, warm and soft. When he dipped his hand lower, she gripped his wrists and chuckled against his lips.

  “You’re incorrigible,” she joked.

  “I thought I was a titan?” He wiggled his eyebrows, making her laugh again.

  “Go, I have work to do.” She ducked under his arms and gripped the door handle. “I’ll see you for lunch.” She escaped him, and he was left standing, naked and very hard, in his room, looking at the back of his bedroom door.

  When he heard a chuckle behind him, he jumped and spun around.

  There the woman stood, in the morning light coming from the bay windows, laughing at him.

  “You think this is funny?” He rushed forward and covered himself with a pillow, unsure why he was hiding himself from a ghost.

  She smiled at him, then turned towards the window, her eyes going sad quickly. “Find her.” The whisper floated in the air as she disappeared.

  “Who is her?” he asked the empty room. He tossed the pillow back on the bed as he walked into the bathroom to take a cold shower.

  When he sat at his desk, the first thing on his mind was calling Patty to see if she’d found out anything about the place.

  After hanging up with her, he felt more frustrated. She’d told him to call his father.

  He picked up his cell and dialed his father.

  “Morning.” His father’s voice was cheery, and Matt could just imagine him standing in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in his hands, as Matt’s mother made breakfast for them and the dogs sat at her feet, begging.

  “Hey, do you have a few minutes to swing by this morning?” he asked, wanting to have the conversation face to face.

  “Less than a year and you’re asking for my help to run the company again?” his father joked.

  “No.” He smiled. “It’s more of a personal issue.”

  “Sure, everything okay?” his father asked between sips of coffee.

  “Yeah. If Mom’s making coffee cake, which I just bet she is, bring me some.”

  His father chuckled. “I’ll be there soon.” He hung up.

  Matt worked on approving the stack of invoices from his in-pile and buzzed Nicky, his secretary.

  “Yes?” she answered.

  “The invoices are ready for accounting,” he said into the phone.

  “Okay. You father just stepped off the elevator,” she said in a cheerful voice.

  “Send him in. Thanks.” He hung up.

  Seconds later, his father walked in with a container and a thermos.

  “Nicky says you’re not as good of a boss as I was,” he joked as he set the containers down on Matt’s desk, which had at one point been his grandfather’s and his father’s.

  “Really, because she tells me the opposite.” He smiled and motioned for his father to sit.

  “Mom asked about Christmas,” his father said, taking the seat. “If your place will be ready by then. She doesn’t want you to get too stressed out. We can always—”

  “It will be ready.”

  His father sighed. “That’s what I told her. Parker keeps giving us updates. Of course, you’re going to lose him the moment that baby comes. Then they move into the new place. Soon they’ll be busy enough.”

  “Yeah, which means, I’ll be finishing the work up myself. I’ve got four weeks left. It will be done.”

  His father nodded. “You had something you wanted to talk to me about?”

  He poured himself some of his mother’s coffee and took a chunk of the coffee cake. After taking a bite and sip, he jumped right in.

  “What did you think when Uncle Iian told you about seeing Grandpa George’s ghost?” His father’s eyebrows shot up.

  “I…” he said slowly, “thought he’d hit his head. Then I realized he’d been working too hard.” He smiled. “Forced him to take some time off. He ended up falling in love instead.” He chuckled.

  “Was that it, then? He was working too hard?” He thought about all the hours he’d been putting in fo
r work, then added up all the hours he’d worked on the house. “What did he do to stop seeing him?” he asked.

  His father shrugged. “I’m not sure. He said that after he asked Allison to marry him, it all stopped.”

  Matthew thought about it for a moment, the office growing silent as he finished the coffee cake and took a sip of his coffee.

  “Are you seeing Grandpa George?” his father asked suddenly.

  Coffee splattered all over his desk when he coughed. “No,” he finally said when he could talk. “Not Grandpa George.” He shook his head.

  “Then who?” his father asked, looking relaxed in the chair.

  He sighed and set his coffee down. “A woman, in my bedroom. She keeps telling me to ‘find her.’”

  “Her who?” his father asked, as if the conversation was perfectly normal.

  “That’s the question. From everything I’ve found, the only person who’s died in the place was Dr. Stratton.”

  His father nodded. “That’s all I know.” His father thought for a moment. “There was a story…” He shook his head.

  “What?” He leaned forward over the desk.

  “Well, there were rumors that the doctor had actually died years later, after he’d been married.”

  “How would we find out?” he asked, curious.

  “I would guess that the library would have something, or down at town hall, if there was a marriage license.” He shrugged. “Lacey might know more.”

  He glanced at his watch and sighed. “I still have a full day ahead of me here,”

  “I can head over and look for you,” his father suggested. “Mom is heading over to Sara’s this morning.”

  “That would be great. Let me know if you find anything.” He took another piece of the cake.

  “I’ll text you.” His father waved as he walked out the door.

  Two hours later, he got a text with an image of an old newspaper clipping from his aunt Lacey.

  -Your dad sent me on a mission. I found this.

  The image was of a skinny blond man and a pretty blonde woman holding hands. Underneath the image it said: “Dr. Phillip Stratton marries local woman, Emogene Willis.”