by Layla Frost
“You play dirty, my gattina.”
“I learned it from you.”
“Maybe I should play dirty now, too.” Rubbing my dick, I used long strokes so my knuckles grazed against her pussy and clit when I reached the tip. She tried to move back, but I pressed my palm down harder on her upper back, keeping her in place.
“You’re evil,” she muttered.
“You started it.”
Flipping her hair, she looked at me over her shoulder. There was so much heat and desire in her eyes, I forgot about the game we were playing and my hold on her loosened. “Maybe I’m a little naughty, too.” She rocked back against the tip of my cock. I moved my fist, and she repeated the motion harder as she took all of it.
My hands went to her hips, but only to steady us while she fucked herself with my cock. I could tell she was getting closer as her speed increased and her rhythm became jerky and frantic.
“Put your hand back where it was,” she ordered on a gasping moan.
I did as she said, my palm pressed firmly between her shoulders. Keeping the other at her hip, I tightened my grip and lifted slightly.
With enough force to take her off her knees, I slammed in a few times. Just as her pussy began to pulse around me, I slowed.
“Not fair,” Dahlia practically growled, trying to find some leverage to push back on. With her knees barely grazing the bed and my hold firm on her shoulders, she wasn’t getting far. Instead, she wiggled her hips. At my groan, she must’ve decided that was the way to get what she wanted. She began to move her hips in small circles.
“Now who’s being unfair?” I pulled almost all the way out.
She tilted her head as best as she could, letting me see her unbelievably sexy smirk. “I told you,” she started before clenching her muscles around me, “I’m a little naughty, too.”
I lost it.
Our game.
My control.
My mind.
Hell, I’d have lost my fucking heart in that moment had she not already owned it.
Way harder than I meant to, I fucked her. Based on the way she clutched at the sheet, crying out as she came on my cock, she didn’t seem to mind.
She was my addiction. My obsession. My entire fucking universe. Each time she came made me crave it again.
No amount of baseball stats or address reciting could’ve stopped my orgasm from tearing through me. In that moment, none of that other shit even existed. It was just Dahlia and me in our own universe.
And I fucking loved it.
Fucking drained and unable to keep myself up, I put some of my weight onto Dahlia until she was lowered onto her stomach. My cock stayed in her, still half hard and needing more. Palms to the mattress on either side of her head, I licked along her spine to her neck. “Merry Christmas, my gattina,” I whispered in her ear.
“Merry Christmas, my Theo,” her whispered words the best gift I’d ever gotten.
“Want to go back to sleep?”
She nodded, arching her back as I pulled out. When I stretched out next to her, I saw her eyes were closed and her face relaxed.
“Or we could make breakfast,” I suggested.
She shook her head.
“Shower?”
Another head shake.
“Watch some TV in bed?”
And another one.
“Or,” I said, drawing the word out before pausing. “We could go open presents.”
Her eyes shot open, bright and alert as she grinned. “I like that idea.”
“No, no,” I murmured, closing my eyes. “You said sleep, so that’s what we’ll do.”
“You do that, but I’m going downstairs.” She tried to roll away, but I pulled her back.
“Remember how that ended last time,” I said.
Licking my jaw, she nipped my neck. “That’s not the deterrent you think it is.”
“I fucking love you.”
“And I fucking love you right back.”
I released my hold on her and stood, stretching. “If you wanted morning sex, you could’ve just said so.”
“Yeah,” she started before pulling on a pair of snowflake shorts and a thermal snowman shirt. “But where’s the fun in that?” After piling her hair onto her head in a messy bun, she tugged on soft slipper boots.
Since she was able to do all that before I even pulled my pajama pants on, it was a safe bet she was excited.
“What gave me away?” she asked.
“I don’t think anyone wakes up with minty fresh breath.”
“You’re too observant.”
“When it comes to you? Always.” Putting on a gray tee, I gave her as stern of a look as I could when she was practically bouncing. “Don’t leave this room.”
“Fine.”
Quickly using the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I’d barely opened the door before she was opening the bedroom one.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Sure you don’t want to sleep?”
She didn’t answer me verbally, but her glare said enough.
“Okay, my gattina, let’s go.”
Gus weaved through our feet as we made our way downstairs. Based on the amount of ornaments and glitter covering the floor, he’d enjoyed his night.
Since moving out of my parents’ house, I’d never decorated for the holidays. It’d been fun, but that was mostly to do with Dahlia’s reactions to everything. She’d been slow warming up to the idea of celebrating, but once she had, she was all in. I’d come home numerous times to all the Christmas lights on and her reading in a chair she’d dragged over near the fridge. One time, she’d surprised me by suggesting we get hot chocolate and drive around to look at some of the more elaborately decorated homes. She’d comment on what she liked, disliked, and what she wanted to do to our house in the future.
I wasn’t sure if she’d even realized what she’d been saying, but it made me insanely fucking happy.
Turning into the living room where the massive tree took up a whole corner, Dahlia gasped. “Where did all this come from?”
“Santa?” I tried.
She turned to me before looking back at the tree. “There were only a few things here last night. I thought we agreed we were keeping it small.”
“I did.”
“Not your version of small.”
“You never specified.”
After Dahlia had fallen asleep the night before, I’d gone downstairs to add the rest of her presents under the tree. It hadn’t seemed like much at the time, but once they were all out, I’d realized I may have gone overboard.
Even if she didn’t talk about it often, she’d shared enough of her childhood for me to safely guess Christmas hadn’t been a time of joy for her. I would’ve spoiled her regardless because she deserved it, but especially because it was the first time she’d have a real Christmas morning. Not just because of the presents, but because she was spending the day with a family who loved her.
“Start with your stocking, my gattina. I’ll go make us some coffee.” After fixing a couple extra-large mugs, I walked back into the living room to see her sitting on the floor near the couch.
She held a feather bird from Gus’ stocking, giggling softly as he rolled around to attack his prey. “You got your cat a stocking?” she asked, taking the coffee from me.
“Hey, he’s part of the family, too.”
“I’m not arguing… I bought him a present.”
“Open your stocking.”
“But I didn’t get you one.” Her lips pursued before she smiled. “Wait, I’ve got it.” Standing, she got a few small wrapped presents from under the tree and handed them to me. “Pretend these were in a stocking.”
I watched as she dumped her stocking, sorting through the fancy chocolate, soft slipper socks, and about twenty packs of the hair ties she was always saying magically disappeared. When she prompted me again, I opened three heavy pens and a belt. “I love them.”
“Good. You’re kind of hard to shop for.”
“Mom tells me that every year.” I grabbed a present and handed it to her.
Sipping at coffee, we slowly made our way through the pile.
Rosa had helped shop for more clothes, shoes, and makeup for Dahlia since I hadn’t wanted to botch it. Most of it was casual wear, but there were some date night items stuck in. Dahlia must have had the same idea, because I opened a few pairs of loose pajama and track pants, plus some nice dress shirts.
Of everything she’d unwrapped until that point, her favorite seemed to be the new lenses for her camera. She’d hurriedly grabbed her camera and switched to the short distance lense, snapping a picture of me carrying a refreshed coffee.
When she opened one of her last presents, her brows lowered, but she gave me a polite smile. “You already got me this movie.”
“Look again.”
Her ecstatic cheer practically echoed through the house. “It’s signed!”
Getting her favorite movie signed by the writers and stars hadn’t cost much, but she looked at me like I’d accomplished some amazing feat. “This is the best present in the whole world. Thank you!” She launched herself across the floor at me, her mouth touching on mine in a series of quick kisses. “I love it. And I love you. And I love that you know me.”
“That’s not your last present.” I grabbed her hand and stood, pulling her with me. We walked to the movie room, and I covered her eyes when we got there. “Can you see?”
“No.”
Opening the door, I waited a moment before uncovering her eyes.
She gasped, but didn’t move. Topped with a big bow, The Simpsons pinball game was against the wall, along with a few others.
“You make me nervous when you’re so quiet,” I whispered, wrapping my arm around her waist and lowering my head near hers.
“You did it again.”
“What?”
She turned, her cat eyes brimming with tears. “You took my bad memories and made them good ones.” Once again, she threw herself into my arms. Only this time, instead of quick kisses, she took her time. When she pulled away, panting as tears slowly streamed down her cheeks, she buried her face in my neck. “I love you, my Theo.”
“I love you, too, my gattina.” When she pulled away, I stood fully. “Want to play a game?”
“In a minute. I still have a couple gifts for you. I need your help first.” Walking through the living room, she went to the small storage closet. She opened the door to show me a huge cat tower.
“Gattina, he’s a tiny ball of fluff. What’s he going to do with all that space?”
She shrugged. “Have fun? Anyway, he’s going to love it, and it’ll maybe stop him from clawing the couch. You just have to tell me where to put it.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
As if on cue, Gus ran in, his paws sliding out from under him with his speed. He jumped on the tower, climbing to the top before jumping down and going again.
“Told you so,” she muttered. Grabbing my hand, she brought me back out to the living room. She handed me a large gift that was clearly a picture frame. When I opened it, I burst out laughing.
“He’s roaring in fuzzy fury,” she said, pointing to the picture of Gus. “Well, he was yawning. But I still thought it was perfect.”
“It is. I love it.”
“I thought it’d look good in the entryway.”
“You thought right. I’ll hang it tomorrow.”
She grinned. “Ready to have some breakfast?”
“What’s behind your back?” I asked, her eyes going wide.
“Nothing. They’re for the family.”
“I’ll go load them into the car.”
She looked horrified, her face going pale as she grimaced. “No! Nope, that’s okay.”
“What is it?”
“I thought I had a good idea, but now I think it’s stupid.”
I moved so I was sitting right across from her, our knees touching. “Let me see.”
With a sigh, she begrudgingly handed over the other two presents.
When I unwrapped the first one and opened the two-picture frame, I felt like I’d been sucker punched in the gut. In one picture, Dahlia sat outside in one of the chairs. There was snow around her, but the sun shined brightly, forming a halo behind her.
She looked… exquisite.
The other picture was her and Gus, snuggled on the couch. There was so much warmth and love in both pictures, it touched my fucking soul.
“It took me like a million tries because I was using the timer and stuff, but I figured you might like it for your desk at work, but it—”
I cut her babbling short by cupping the back of her head and pulling her mouth to mine. “I love it,” I whispered after kissing her, my lips brushing against hers as I spoke.
Releasing my hold, I picked up the last one.
“You don’t have to open that now,” she rushed out. “Or ever.”
But it was too late.
If the other pictures had hit me in the stomach, this blow landed farther south.
In a bra, panties, and heels, one picture showed Dahlia leaning back against my desk in my home office. Her hair was pulled back neatly, her lips pouty and fuckable.
I’m never going to be able to sit there without being hard as a fucking rock.
Already hard, the other picture had me dangerously close to coming. Dahlia was in our bed, her hair messy and strewn around her on the pillow. The picture was only from her chest up, but I could still see the curve of the top of her tits. Her shoulders were bare, making me wonder if she’d been naked when she’d taken the picture, or just topless.
Her lips were swollen. There was makeup smudged around her big eyes. But it was what was beyond those two things that affected me so much. There was heat and satisfaction in her gaze. Her mouth was curved in a small smile.
I tapped the glass, my voice coming out thick and rough as I asked, “When did you take this?”
“A couple weeks ago. You had to go take that call after we…”
My dick jerked again at the knowledge she really had just been fucked.
“I’m sorry the quality isn’t as good as the others. I sent those ones to be printed, but I just printed these at home on photo paper. If you don’t—”
Moving fast, I lowered her to the floor on a bed of wrapping paper. I shifted her shorts to the side, grateful for the stretchiness because taking them off would’ve taken too long. Freeing myself, I slid through her wetness, coating my cock before slamming in.
It was hard and fast, us moving together in a frenzy. When her neck started to tilt, her legs tightening around me, I reached to the side. Waiting until her eyes closed, I picked up her camera and snapped away, unsure if any of them came out.
“Did you just take a picture?” she asked, looking at me through hooded eyes.
“No,” I grunted. “I took a few of them.” Setting the camera down, I lowered my body down to hers, moving quicker until she was gasping. When she came again, scratching my shoulders and crying out with that fucking smirk, I exploded, too.
After a moment of catching our breath, Dahlia lifted a little and reached under her shoulder. She pulled out a bow and stuck it to my forehead. “Thanks for being my best Christmas present ever.”
Cazzo.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hope
Dahlia
Tina: Did he propose last night?
Julie: You’re just as bad as your daughter.
Tina: You know you’re wondering, too.
Julie: … maybe.
Looking at my phone, I shook my head at their antics. They were both bad, as was every member of Theo’s family. When we’d arrived for Christmas dinner the day before, every eye had checked out my ring finger. Then when we’d sat down to eat, Theo had cleared his throat and everyone’s focus snapped to us as they’d tried to hide their excitement at what they seemed sure was going to be an important announcement.
It’d just been Theo almos
t choking after accidentally eating some of his Uncle Donny’s dry and charred brisket.
Much to the surprise of his family, Theo hadn’t proposed on Christmas. I hadn’t expected him to.
That wasn’t to say I wasn’t hoping for it at some point.
Me: You’re both bad. No proposal. Since Gus kept trying to fight the framed picture of himself, Theo hung it and then we watched a movie. Nice and relaxing.
Julie: Thank you again for the pictures. I have them right on my desk.
Tina: Want me to drop some hints? I can email him some jewelry advertisements.
Me: No!
Julie: No!
Tina: No fun. But, yes, the pictures are gorgeous. And not just because our girls are. You have a real talent.
Even though Theo had gotten gifts for everyone from us, I’d wanted to do something nice for Tina, Julie, and his parents. Tina and Julie each got a two-picture frame with photos of the girls from Thanksgiving. One was when they’d been leaning close, whispering and plotting. The other was of them laughing.
I’d given Theo’s parents a larger framed picture of Theo at work, laughing at something I’d said. His mom had looked ready to cry.
Me: I’m glad you like them.
“Dahlia?” Theo called from his office.
“In the living room!” I shouted back.
“Can you come here for a minute?”
I walked down the hall to his office. “What’s up?”
He set his cell down on the desk and looked at me. “How’d you like to go to New York City?”
I grinned so big it hurt my cheeks as I nodded. “Yes, I’d love that. When are you thinking?”
“We’ll leave in about an hour or two,” he said, glancing down at his watch.
My eyes widened. “What?”
“There’s a tech startup that Amaric’s been working with. I need to go help with some things. If we leave tomorrow morning, I’d still get there in time for my meeting, but I figured you might want extra time. We can spend a few days, if you’d like.”
“Yes! Definitely. I’ll go pack.” I was halfway up the stairs before stopping.
