'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas

by Stacey Espino

  “You going to give me my hand back sometime tonight?”

  Only if you put it on me. “Oh, I'm sorry. I was daydreaming, I guess. It's nice to meet you, James. Caius has told me so much about you.”

  “Has he now?”

  She nodded and went to take a sip of her drink, suddenly realizing it was empty.

  “What's your poison?”

  “Scotch.”

  James grinned, easing the empty glass from her fingers, letting his linger against hers for just a moment longer. “Woman after my own heart.” He lifted the empty glass and as quick as a flash, it was replaced with a fresh one. “Here you go, darlin'. So what should we drink to?”

  Mads looked around at the lights and the people mingling. A few were slow dancing to the Sinatra Christmas album. A couple was under the mistletoe, taking advantage of the excuse to kiss each other ad nauseum. The television was going into another shot in the arm of A Christmas Story.

  “Let's drink to tomorrow when Christmas is over.”

  James craned his neck and chuckled. “I am right there with you. I hate this fucking holiday.”

  Mads smiled. “As do I.”

  They touched glasses. Neither noticed that Caius, Tina and Megan left the table. They sipped their drinks in silence. Mads watched James' eyes drift down her throat, to the v-neck tank that hinted the tops of her breasts.

  “See something you like?” Her voice was low and husky.

  James rubbed his face, slowly raising his gaze to hers. “Yes, as a matter of fact I do.” He shifted his chair closer, pushing his knee further under the table until she felt it touch between hers. “Kind of strange for your brother to put us together like this.”

  Mads leaned in closer. Power radiated off of him in hot waves and it made her wet. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She wanted this man to touch her in every way possible. Sure, it was strange for her own flesh and blood to suggest something as crass as a one night stand with a man that was this dangerous and mysterious. But the fact of the matter was that she was lonely and broken. If a roll in the sack along with some serious cock eased her mind, then she was all for it.

  What she didn't expect was to want him as much as she did.

  “I'm a grown woman. I have needs—he knows that. He's been through a great deal with me, as I know he’s been with you. I guess he thought we’d hit it off or something.”

  “Did he now?” James pushed his chair closer to hers until they were right next to each other. “What else did he tell you?” Even as he spoke, his fingers began slowly brushing against the back of her hand.

  “That you are the king of one night stands.” Mads giggled.

  “Hmm. Go on. What else do you know about me?” James’ hand slid provocatively up her arm. The feel of his rough fingers sent electric shocks through her arms, down her abdomen and straight into the front of her panties. Mads closed her eyes and sucked in a breath, reveling in the tingles radiating through her.

  “I don't really know anything else, other than you have a thing for redheads.”

  James put his arm around the back of her chair, leaning so close she could feel his hot breath against her neck. Taking the glass from her, he lifted it to his mouth and dipped his tongue in, stealing a solitary ice cube. He let it roll around in his mouth before melting it down enough to swallow it. Gently brushing the hair away from her neck, James placed a solitary lick just behind her ear. She sucked in a sharp breath. The heat from his mouth and the cool combination of the ice sent wicked shivers down her back.

  “Let me tell you something about myself that you may not know,” he said. He dipped a finger into the scotch and lifted it to her mouth, and she couldn’t control the sudden need to suckle on it. He leaned in, his lips right by her ear. “I want to fuck you,” he whispered.

  Mads slipped her hand underneath the table and went straight to his crotch. She felt his erection straining against his pants and she squeezed.

  “Then do it.”

  Chapter Three

  James instantly stood up, grabbing Mads by the hand. He led her through the labyrinth of tables and party-goers, past the conference room, up the stairs and into his bedroom towards the back of the hall. It didn't matter if everyone in the place saw them. What mattered was she was there, and she wanted him just as bad as he wanted her.

  The moment he slammed the door, James lifted her up in his arms, seizing her mouth in a frenzy. Her fingers buried in his hair and her legs locked around his waist as he picked her up and walked her over to the bed. The room was dark, but the light pouring in from the streetlight outside cast faint rays into the room. It made her look ethereal.

  He assaulted her mouth with a gentle ferocity, careful not to nip at her soft flesh with his teeth. A moan spurred his desire even further and he parted her lips with his tongue, groaning from his own pleasure when he felt her arms latch around his neck. With one hand still buried deep in her soft red curls, he slid his eager fingers down her neck, inching over the delicate plane of her back that was covered by a cotton tank. He pulled his mouth away from hers but immediately kissed down her chin and neck.

  “I can’t wait anymore,” he hoarsely whispered. As James laid hot blazing kisses down her neck, a free hand grazed her soft, flat abdomen. His arms then went around her waist and his hands furiously covered every inch of her back, threading his fingers into her hair and back again.

  ****

  The feel of his tongue invading her mouth caused a flush of heat to surge through Mads’ body. It teased her lips, its hot warmth mingling with hers. She felt his hands slide down her back and she gasped as he cupped her ass, pulling her even closer to him. His erection strained against his pants and she rocked her hips against him, captivated by the hard length of his cock pressing against her aching pussy. Knowing there was only a few pieces of fabric separating their bodies made her desire for him grow more desperate and she rolled her hips once more, anxious to feel him inside her. It made her breath catch, and she moaned in delicious ecstasy.

  The feel of the mattress beneath her only made her more anxious, more brazen. James' mouth never left her throat, even as he covered her body with his, pressing her down onto the comforter. His hands roamed madly, pulling at the edges of her shirt like a promise of passion.

  “I’m sorry about your shirt,” he whispered to her. A simultaneous grind of his hips sent her reeling and her head swam with the subtle tingle the gesture coursed through her body.

  Mads moaned from his delicious stimulation, and then she suddenly realized what he’d said. “What?”

  A wicked smile spread across James’ face as he leaned back just far enough to firmly grip her shirt. He gazed down at her with a dark hunger, watching her writhe in anxious anticipation. With one quick motion, he tore the shirt from her body. The sheer strength that it required for him to tear the garment like it was no more than paper turned her on like nothing she’d experienced before. He made equally quick work of her slinky black lace bra.

  With that same wicked look in his eyes, James dipped his head and placed tiny teasing kisses along the tender flesh above the waist of her jeans. She struggled to catch her breath and tried desperately to grip the edge of the comforter as he trailed fire along her stomach. He slipped his tongue under the waistband of her jeans, causing her hips to lift of their own free will, as if they were screaming out directions to him—telling him where to take those kisses and languishing licks.

  James made his way up her abdomen, settling his hips between the cradle of her legs as he brought his mouth down between the valley of her breasts. The heavy weight of his body felt like heaven. She wanted to touch every inch of him, every last delicious span of his golden skin. His tongue flicked over one taut nipple and then the other. The sensations nearly caused her to arch completely off of the bed.

  Once again, he moved lower, kissing and licking below the waistband of her jeans as he made his way further down her body, until he was completely off the bed.
<
br />   “Oh, God,” she murmured, lost to the heat of the moment, as James made quick work of removing her jeans. Her black lace panties came next, and he slid them down and off with agonizing slowness. He placed hot kisses along the inside of her thighs until he slid his tongue possessively over the wet folds of her pussy. Unable to control it, Mads’ hips surged up, pushing herself against the exquisite torture of his tongue.

  “My God, you are beautiful.” James sucked and licked her pussy with a passion which startled her. She cried out and ground her body against him, grasping his shoulders as he tongue-fucked her into passionate oblivion.

  With every passing lap of his hot tongue, her breath caught. He was driving her mad, sending sensations through her that she had never felt before, which made her grip the bedding, trying to reach for some sort of sanity. This man pushed her to every limit possible and then brought her back, only to send her through the tempest all over again. Tingly waves started at her toes and spread through to the tips of her hair as she felt his warm hands lift her hips, bringing her even closer to him. She opened her eyes for a brief moment to see him staring up at her, and the darkly intimate gaze was enough to send her over the edge.

  The world faded away as her body trembled with utter ecstasy and she gave in to the startling orgasm. Mads chanted his name as her pussy pulsed on his tongue, and James never took his gaze from her face. Her heart was pounding so fast and hard that she was sure it could be seen through her skin. James made her feel like a goddess—a woman to be cherished—that she couldn’t help but grab his shoulders and pull him over her body until their lips were sealed once again.

  “God, get these off.” With shaky fingers, Mads tugged at the waistband of his jeans, desperate to see his cock. She wanted—needed it inside her. James seemed to want the same thing, and both of them warred frantically with his jeans, neither of them getting the button undone.

  James barked out a curse and rolled Mads on top of him.

  She sat back, aching to touch him, watching as his hips lifted off of the bed. Watching him shimmy out of his jeans made her hotter, wetter. Before kicking them to the floor, she saw him slip a thin foil package from his pocket. He ripped it open with his teeth and handed it to her. She eagerly took it from him, rolling the condom onto his cock with one fluid stroke.

  James closed his eyes and groaned as she gripped his sheathed cock, and then leaned closer, assaulting his mouth with renewed passion and energy. Mads felt the hot length of him burning at the juncture of her thighs and she rocked her body against him, making his cock slick with her wet desire. Still passionately kissing her, James rolled her beneath him. Mad’s legs instantly wrapped around his waist and her ankles locked, forcing the length of his erection to slide over her aching pussy. She gasped and he groaned.

  He kissed her passionately, trailing his lips and tongue over her neck as he began to push himself inside her. Mads cried out, gripping his shoulders as he filled her to the hilt. Shock from the size of him caused her body to jolt and her breath to catch. A labored moan tumbled from his mouth as he drew back to watch their bodies join together. He paused, studying her face and she saw concern in his gorgeous eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  Mads licked her lips and gave him a slight nod. She bit her lip and tried to fight back the wince that threatened to escape her when he slightly shifted inside her. “It’s just been a very long time,” she whispered, grasping his shoulders and pulling him down to bury her face in the comfort of his neck.

  James kissed her temple. “I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

  She stroked his back and felt his cock twitch inside her. She turned her head and lifted a hand to brush a wayward lock of his hair away from his ear.

  He pulled his hips back and slowly began to move, his thrusts long and fluid. She felt the tension ease in her body as they began to move together, her legs tightening around his waist, bringing them even closer together. Her body was becoming used to him, and she reveled in it, feeling his back muscles underneath her fingers growing more taut with every delicious thrust.

  She tilted her face upward and captured his mouth, plunging her tongue between his lips as he pulled his hips back again and drove into her so hard and deep she imagined their hips fused together. His movements grew more forceful, his thrusts longer, quicker. A moan escaped from him and he held her shoulders down, pounding into her as he reached for his own release.

  Mads couldn’t contain her lusty moan, feeling pleasure like she’d never felt before having sex. James possessed her body with passion and demand. Every thrust made her cry out as he commanded her body like he held the strings to her composure. Startling sensations brought her closer and closer to that mythical moment of exquisite pleasure and undeniable release. She felt the impending wave of a mind-numbing orgasm, beginning in the tips of her toes and sluicing up through her body like the beginning of a storm. Her body arched up, her fingers gripped James’ back, and she screamed his name.

  ****

  James held himself up on trembling arms, struggling to regain some semblance of sanity, some vestige of reality. At the moment, with his body still joined with hers, and the feel of her soft legs and arms wrapped around him, he felt like they were the only two people left in the world.

  A long time had passed since he felt this good, that he couldn’t help but smile.

  He hovered over her, staring down at her face. Mads’ lips were plump and red, her cheeks flushed with a gorgeous ‘I’ve been fucked so well’ blush. Her eyes were still closed, and the smile on her face was more than angelic. Long lashes fluttered and then she was staring back at him. Emotions he hadn’t felt in years overwhelmed him.

  “I don't like calling you Mads,” he whispered, gently lowering his body down until his lips were mere inches from hers. “It doesn't fit you.” He kissed her softly, passionately. “I've tasted you from head to toe, and you are too sweet for such a harsh name.”

  She smiled, brushing some stray hair away from his face. What was supposed to be an easy fuck turned out to be something much more, and even though he didn’t quite understand it, James didn’t want to let the feeling go. Women were sometimes like that. They made a tough man into simpering mush—over her. But he wouldn’t admit it to anyone…

  “I don't like Mads either,” she said, and grinned.

  James chuckled from her playful expression. “What can I call you, sweet girl?”

  She tilted her head and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “Call me, Maddy.”

  James captured her lips for another hair-raising kiss before he murmured, “Merry Christmas, my little Maddy.”

  Chapter Four

  Maddy woke to the sound of creaking leather. She opened her eyes, squinting from the bright light that filled the room.

  “Come see this.”

  James stood at the window, his broad black form breaking up the flood of white coming through the large window pane. She wrapped the comforter around her and slipped from the bed. James grabbed her hand and pulled her in front of him, holding her back against his chest.

  “Beautiful, isn't it?”

  Stretched in front of her was a valley of pure white snow. A fresh fall covered every surface. It was untouched. There were no footprints to blemish it, just an ever expansive blanket of white.

  Christmas snow.

  “This has to be the first time I've ever really paid much attention to how beautiful this stuff is. I've dismissed it for so long, but I feel different this morning.” He paused. “Man, I feel like a pussy talking like this.”

  Maddy spun around, looking up at him. “Don't. We've shared a lot in a short time. Talk if you need to.”

  James looked down at her, his beautiful eyes making her body tingle. He stepped back, pulling her with him, until he planted his ass on the bed.

  “I know we share this mutual disdain for Christmas, so I think in light of everything, I should share with you why I hate it. You have your reasons, and you don't have to share them w
ith me, but I'm gonna come clean.”

  Maddy sat down next to him, the blanket wrapped tightly around her body.

  “I found my wife dead on Christmas morning five years ago.”

  Maddy jerked back. “What?”

  “Just listen. She was killed and I found her early Christmas morning. It was a breaking and entering gone wrong. Crack heads came by, saw a woman at home alone and thought it would be easy, I guess.”

  “What happened?” Maddy rubbed his arm, then thought maybe he didn’t want comfort and drew back, but James caught her hand and held it in his.

  “Hannah was tough as nails. Sweet, but tough as nails. They broke in and she drew a gun on them, but they turned it on her. She went quickly, which made me feel somewhat better. The guys got what they had coming, but this was always her favorite holiday. I was out getting her a last minute gift. Had I been home...”

  Maddy leaned forward and kissed him. It was brief, but from the heart. She pulled back and cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

  “My husband died in a car accident on Christmas Eve. I know how you feel. I've hated the holiday since then but today is different. There may be no strings between us, but you've changed that for me. You can't blame yourself for what happened. And I can't believe I'm saying this but you can't allow a tragedy to ruin your life.”

  ****

  James nodded. She was right. Last night was supposed to be something to ease the tension but really, it did much more than that. For the first time since Hannah's death, he'd connected with someone on a level he never thought possible. He'd been haunted by a memory that was slowly corroding him from the inside out. Maddy was real, flesh, bone and blood and she responded to his touch in ways he'd never dreamed a woman ever would again.

  “I was buying her that last minute present again. I do it every year. It's kinda dumb, I know.”

  Maddy let her hands drop down and pushed the leather jacket off of his shoulders. “It's not dumb. It's how you cope.”