Have Yourself a Naughty Little Santa

by Karin Tabke

  “I’ll give you until tomorrow, old man, to pack your bags and head out of town. If you come back, you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

  “Mi—”

  “Save your bullshit lines for my mother and sisters. I want you out of here.”

  “I’ll ask your mother for a divorce then.”

  Ricco stopped in his tracks. A divorce would devastate his mother.

  “No you won’t.”

  The old man smiled, and Ricco’s stomach turned. It was that same smile he turned on when he was about to go for your jugular. “Maybe for a price I won’t.”

  Almost thirty years of pent-up anger and frustration unfurled inside Ricco’s gut and came out in his fist. He smashed it into his old man’s face, sending him backward into the snow.

  It took every ounce of control Ricco had not to grab him up by his coat and finish him. Instead he spat on the sidewalk next to him. “You’re going to rot in hell, and that’s too good for you. I want you gone tomorrow. And if you leave with anything you didn’t come with? Consider yourself under arrest for grand theft.” He turned then, and the tension that had driven him to run had returned. But this time, it went deeper. Running it out was not going to ease it.

  Fourteen

  SHE ACHED. LITERALLY. EVERY INCH OF HER. AS IF SHE’D been consumed with fever.

  Kim tossed and turned. Several times she woke with a start, her body hot, her breath forced, her heart racing. Each time she crumpled back into the bed she saw Ricco’s fiery gaze, and she could almost feel his scathing lips on her throat, her breasts, her belly…and lower. Finally, unable to stand the heat in her bed, she threw the covers from her. Even the air was warm. The fire glowed in the corner, and the cool air slipping in from the window did little to ease her discomfort. Frustrated, and knowing she would find no sleep the way she was feeling, she slid from the bed and grabbed her robe. Maybe some of those gingersnaps and a glass of warm milk would help her sleep.

  As she turned to softly close the door behind her, a small sound alerted her that someone was near. Her heart pounded; she could feel the pulse of it in her veins and the percussion of it in her ears. The heat in her body, which had just begun to subside, warmed. Her shaky hand slipped from the brass knob, and slowly she turned.

  Her eyes clashed and held with the penetrating ones across the hall.

  Ricco stood perfectly still save for the heavy rise and fall of his chest. His bronzed skin glistened under the lowlight of the hallway, a fine sheen of perspiration highlighting every ripple and ridge. He was dressed in running shoes, sweats, and a white wife beater. A black hoodie hung from his right hand.

  His dark eyes dipped to her lips. Slowly his fingers opened and the hoodie fell soundlessly to the hardwood floor. His eyes rose to hers, and Kim caught her breath high in her chest. Heat, anger, frustration, and pure craving burned bright in the dark depths. Her entire body trembled, and she feared for her balance. “I—,” she croaked.

  He was across the hall in one long step, his solid arms locked around her waist, yanking her hard against his chest. “Shut up,” he growled, then kissed her like there was no tomorrow.

  Kim lost her balance, she lost her will to fight what was between them, but mostly she lost all control at that precise moment. And she didn’t care.

  Ricco pushed the door to her room open and thrust her inside, his lips never even close to breaking from hers. Her nerve endings tingled, her body filled, responding, wanting to meld more tightly into him. He pushed her against the bed, then onto it. He climbed up after her, his long body pressing against hers. His spicy scent was more pronounced from his run; it added fuel to her primal flame. He smelled completely male, and she wanted all of him, then and there, down and dirty.

  He tore her garments from her. He kicked his shoes off and shoved his sweats down his legs, then kicked them off. She ripped his T-shirt down the front of his chest in one reddening tear. Ricco flashed a hard devilish grin that undid any lingering vestiges of her inhibition. Free of all encumbrances, his fingers dug deep into her hair. He brought her mouth to his but did not kiss her. Instead his lips hovered just above hers, his hot breath singeing her face. There was no soft petting, no building foreplay, no sweet words to ready her for him. None was needed. In one deep thrust he entered her, and Kim nearly died on the spot. Her hips rose, her back arched, she squeezed her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip. The sublime feel of his filling her to capacity, his hot, sweaty body above her, his mad passionate taking of her, shook her to her core. Never had anyone responded to her as ardently as this man inside of her. And at that precise, perfect moment, his need for her softened her hardened heart enough that she thought she might wake up a little bit in love with this man.

  He pulled her up to him, his hot breath mingling with hers. He thrust again and her eyes flew open. Her body stilled. His eyes were black in his passion. His anger and frustration still lingered deep in their depths. Was he as angry at himself for his need as she was at herself? Did he feel it too? This uncontrollable thing between them that seemed only to quiet when their bodies forged into one?

  Kim let herself go in his arms, surrendering her body to his. Ricco seized the opportunity. In another violent thrust he slammed into her, again, and then again. He twisted her hair in his fists, his jaw rigid, his eyes fierce, thrusting again and again, and she’d never been so wet for a man as she was for him.

  He kissed her. A hard, ruthless kiss. Then he pressed his forehead to hers and forced her to look at him. “This is only sex, Kim, don’t ask me to stay.”

  Her heart squeezed tight for the briefest of seconds. Emotion welled up in her chest with the velocity of a tsunami. But she understood. Each had their paths to follow, and neither one included the other. She nodded and breathlessly said, “It goes both ways, Ricco.”

  “Good,” he said and closed his eyes. “Good,” he said again, this time barely audible.

  Gathering her into his arms, he thrust deeply and she screamed with pleasure. He covered her cries with his lips, milking her of her fluids as she in turn milked him of his. And that was how she came, held tightly in his arms, her body driving against his as he filled her to overflowing. Perfectly, their mad rush, their mad need, and finally their mad release, hurdled them both off a steep precipice, where they crashed into a thousand tiny pieces at the bottom. Broken, but sated. For the moment.

  • • •

  IT TOOK RICCO MORE TIME TO RECOVER FROM KIM than it did for him to recover from his two-hour run. He lay on his back, spent. Kim lay draped across his chest, a limp, wet rag. Her long blond hair clung to his skin like damp mop strings. He could feel the swell of her tits against him and the soft indentation of the cradle of her hips along his thighs. The air crackled with warmth, their musky sex scent hung over them like a summer storm cloud. His nostrils twitched, and he licked his dry lips.

  His dick stirred the minute Kim laved his right nipple with her tongue. “Mmm, you taste salty,” she murmured.

  He slid his hand down the slick curve of her back, stopping just at the rise of her ass. She had a great ass. Her lips nipped at him, her tongue swirled around his nipple. His body stiffened. He pressed the palm of his hand more firmly against her. It occurred to him at that very moment that he hadn’t used a condom. A first. While he had no fear of impregnating Kim, he was surprised she hadn’t insisted. Not that he could have stopped his trajectory. He’d lost all control; the only thing that had been important to him had been getting inside of her and letting go.

  “We didn’t use a condom,” Kim said as her fingers traced down his belly to his rising erection.

  “I’m snipped and I’m clean.” And he’d liked the way he’d felt unencumbered inside her. The act, while one of pure lust, had also held a level of sensuality he had never experienced.

  She pressed her lips to his belly. “I just started the pill this month and you’re the first man I’ve been with in two years. I liked the way you felt in me. Raw. Real.”

  He grab
bed her hand as it wrapped around him. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Cinderella…”

  She rose up on her elbows and peered at him. “What, Prince Charming?”

  He opened his eyes and caught his breath. Two sapphire-colored eyes stared back in quiet question. No sarcasm, no anger, no ulterior motive except sincerely wanting to know why she should stop. “If you keep touching me that way, I’m not going to let you out of this bed,” he replied.

  She smiled, and he felt the warmth of the sun touch him. It was a genuine smile, one that said she was happy, and feeling a bit full of herself. He bet she didn’t smile like that too often. “I can think of worse things.” She grinned.

  “Why haven’t you been with a man in two years?”

  “Because I hadn’t found one I wanted.” She squeezed him. “Until now.”

  He forced himself to go slow, to find out more about this woman who intrigued him so. “Where do you live?”

  “L.A.” She licked him. Just beneath his navel. His dick swelled in her hand. He wanted her lips on him. “Where do you live?” she asked.

  “San Jose.”

  “Hmm, maybe the next time I’m in your neighborhood on a business trip, I’ll look you up.”

  Ricco smiled, deciding he liked that idea a lot. “Next time I’m down south, maybe I’ll look you up.”

  Kim’s lips trailed down the dark hair that directed her to the root of him. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the hot rush of desire fill him. The air pressure seemed to thicken around them, the temperature of the room rose, and her hot, musky scent, as if someone had turned it up, intensified around him. Her essence filled his pores.

  When the hot wetness of her mouth closed around the thick head of his dick, Ricco moaned and pressed his hips against her. His fingers slid deep into her damp hair, and he thrust up into her wet cavern. Ricco closed his eyes and let himself go, savoring the erotic charge of her tongue, lips, and hands.

  “God, that feels good,” he said, his voice low and husky. When she cupped his balls and rubbed her tits against him, he nearly came. “Jesus—,” he hissed. Ricco looked down his belly. The erotic vision of Kim’s luscious lips locked around his dick and her full tits bobbing against his thighs pushed him over the edge. The tightness in his balls uncoiled in a quick unfettering; he fisted his hands in her hair and set his jaw. The wild, hot release and her refusal to do anything less than take all of him into her prolonged the sweet agony of his orgasm. She rode him out, her hands, mouth, tongue, and tits taking him where he had never gone. If he made it out of the bed before the end of the week it would only be because he’d need to find other sustenance than Kim’s body and the incredible things she did to him.

  She crawled up his body and kissed him long and deep, her tongue swirling against his, her hands digging deep into his hair, claiming him. When she pulled away, she smiled that little secret smile of hers and said, “We’re even. Now you know what you taste like.”

  He grinned and licked his lips. “Not bad.”

  She grinned back, but her body stiffened, and slowly her brows furrowed. She looked past him to the window. He turned to see. “What’s—” He froze, then immediately rolled from the bed to the window. “Holy shit! The house next to my mother’s is on fire.”

  He grabbed his sweats and jerked on his shoes. “Call nine-one-one!”

  Fifteen

  AFTER KIM CALLED 911, SHE DRESSED HURRIEDLY AND ran down the street to the house next to Leticia’s. It was lit up like a Roman candle. Frantically Kim looked for Ricco, and she nearly died when he came running out the front door covered in soot.

  “Empty,” he breathlessly said.

  “Where are the fire engines?”

  “We have one, and it’ll be here as soon as Cal gets it started.”

  “Oh my God, Ricco!” Kim pointed to the woodpile on the side of his mother’s house. “Fire!”

  “Shit!” He rushed past her to the front door and yanked at the doorknob. “Damn it!” It didn’t open.

  She thought everyone slept with their doors unlocked. Ricco banged on the door. “Mom! Jasmine! Open up!” Not waiting for them to get out of bed, Ricco picked up a small redwood planter and hurled it through the nearest window. He kicked out the jagged shards and hopped through the window. Several minutes later, Leticia, Jasmine, Mari, and little Donny, who was wrapped in heavy blankets and fuzzy slippers, came rushing from the house, ushered by Ricco. Kim grabbed Mari’s hand and helped Jasmine, who clutched a terrified Donny, to the sidewalk. Finally the distant shrill of a fire engine pierced the crisp, frigid air.

  “Ricco, your father! He’s in the back bedroom!” Leticia screamed.

  Kim looked up at Ricco, who scowled but turned and rushed back into his mother’s house. The fire had spread farther. Now it licked at the roofline. Many of the surrounding residents and guests from two of the smaller lodges on either side of Esmeralda’s flooded the sidewalk. When the engine rolled up, several men in pajamas helped Cal and Jeff pull out the hose and hook it up to the hydrant right in front of the burning house. The kids fussed, and, try as she might to calm Mari in her arms, Kim could not quiet the child. Her nerves were strung taut. Along with Jasmine and Leticia, Kim watched the front door of the house, waiting anxiously for Ricco to emerge with his father.

  The flames hungrily licked the cedarwood along the copper roofline and now were almost to the front of the house. Just as the hose let loose with a blast of water, Ricco emerged from the house with his father in his arms. Violent coughs racked the old man, and his face was swollen as if he had fallen face-first into a Mack truck. He clung to his son’s neck like Mari did to Kim’s. Then, for the second time in the wee hours of the morning, Kim found herself falling a little more for the man who strode toward her with his father in his arms, a man he could not even speak to but had not hesitated to save. The sight of Ricco, proud, stubborn, and angry, yet performing such a heroic act, tugged at her heartstrings.

  The hot sting of tears suddenly threatened to erupt. Kim swiped at them with the back of her hand, telling herself it was from the acrid smoke blowing in her face. She moved with Mari and the rest of Ricco’s family into the street. She noticed Esmeralda, as well as half of her guests, hugging themselves against the chill as they poured from the B&B.

  Ricco set his father down on the curb, then turned to help Cal and Jeff save his mother’s house. From the looks of it, they were doing a good job. The house next door hissed and sizzled under the melting snow. Once the flames were quelled on Leticia’s house, the men turned back to the house next door. Despite the melting snow on the roof, which helped the process along, it took considerably longer to gain control of. The contents of the house were hot fodder. Another group of men took a second hose from the engine and hooked it up to another hydrant across the street, and soon the flames were doused. The two-story log cabin was nothing but a pile of smoking rubble.

  “You sure no one was in there?” Cal called to Ricco, who was covered in ash.

  “Mom said the Rodgers weren’t due up for another week. I cleared it.”

  Cal nodded and moved to stand at the head of the sidewalk to what was once a cozy little getaway. “Once the embers cool, I’ll take a look,” Cal said. “Seems mighty strange this should happen on top of all of the other mishaps in town today.”

  As Kim handed off Mari, she overheard Cal’s comment. A little prickle of suspicion jabbed at her gut. She walked up behind Ricco; in an action that surprised her, she reached out her hand to his. He turned, startled, at her touch, but when he saw her, he smiled and drew her close. “Everyone okay over there?” he asked.

  A sudden unexpected ball lodged in her throat, and instead of saying yes, Kim nodded, not trusting her voice. He hugged her against his side and turned back to Cal. “I hear exactly what you’re saying. I think we need a town hall meeting ASAP. Otherwise we’re going to see our cash crop head for the hills.”

  “Talk with your mom and Jasmine, I’ll talk to the other cou
ncil members, and we’ll let the permanent residents know about it. The sooner the better,” Cal replied.

  Ricco nodded. “You got it. When are you coming back to take a look here? If you need some help, I’ve worked with a few FDs on arson cases.”

  Cal’s lined face tightened. “I sure hope it wasn’t arson, son. If it was, we’re in big trouble.”

  Kim swallowed hard. If she’d been a betting kind of girl, she’d have laid odds the fire had not been an accident. A hard chill frosted her insides, and her anger began to erupt as her suspicions ignited. If Nick was remotely responsible for any of what had happened in Evergreen since her arrival, he would live to regret it.

  “Now, Ricco, even though it looks like your mom’s place is sound, I don’t want to take any chances. I’d rather she and everyone else find somewhere else to spend the night. I want to do a thorough inspection at first light,” Cal instructed.

  “I’ll let them know. I’ll see you first thing.”

  When there was nothing left to do and the crowd had dispersed, Kim found herself walking with Ricco, two of his sisters, his father, his mother, and a niece and a nephew back to the B&B.

  “Mama, you can have my bed, I’ll sleep on the trundle bed in Krista’s room. Donny can have the crib for the new baby. Papa, you can have the sofa,” Esmeralda offered.

  “I’ll go down to Elle’s,” Jasmine said.

  “No, Mama!” Mari cried. “Stay with me.”

  “You and Mari can have my room, Jaz,” Ricco quietly said. “I’ll go down to Elle’s.”

  At his offer something in Kim dried up. She wanted to cry out like Mari and say, “No, stay with me.” And when the words actually left her mouth, five pair of adult eyes stared in shock at her. The most shocked were Ricco’s.

  “I, ah, I mean, no need to pack up and go to the other end of town. We-um-you…shit! Just stay with me.”

  Ricco grinned, and even though he was covered in ash, he laughed and pulled her toward him. He pressed his lips to her ear and whispered, “You promise not to take off on me, Cinderella?”