Hot Holiday Love

by Germaine Solomon

  Chapter Seven

  Natalie

  I woke up to the aroma of Granny’s famous spicy chili.

  Hayden…

  I couldn’t hold back my grin. The man was amazing. He’d fought off that killer wolf and carried me to safety. Oh, and the way he’d held me in his arms and allowed me to sleep on top of him was better than any dream. He was such a gentleman. Most guys would’ve taken advantage of my vulnerability and tried to make a move on me, but not Hayden. My German hero had treated me like a queen, and I appreciated every damn second of it. As a matter of fact, I appreciated a hell of a lot more about Hayden. He was strong, handsome, fearless and panty-dropping smooth. And I was intrigued by his straightforward and no-nonsense vibe. A girl like me found a take-charge kind of guy to be sexier than a stage full of hardcore gangsta rappers. But Hayden also had a softer, gentler side that balanced off his jagged edge.

  He was the total package, and if I didn’t have a full work schedule in January, I would extend my stay on the mountain and hold him hostage. I wanted Hayden to let his guard down and show me the real man behind those sparkling, bedroom eyes. Who the hell was he and why was he secluding himself from the rest of the world, including his family, up in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Christmastime? As my curiosity piqued, so did my desire to spend more time with him. Maybe I was lonely or even on the rebound from my breakup with Tobias. Either way, I was feeling Hayden and I wanted to explore my attraction to him during my brief hiatus from the real world. Then after it was over, Natalie would return to Atlanta and re-emerge as Zyeshia.

  I tossed the throw aside and left the sofa, taking slow steps toward the kitchen. I was so hungry that the tangy aroma of Granny’s chili made my mouth water. But the sight of Hayden at the stove with a wooden spoon in his hand stirring the pot paralyzed me. I had to swallow to keep from drooling. He was delicious eye candy for sure. I stood transfixed under the doorjamb in lust-filled awe. No man had the right to be so damn hot and tempting. It was just plain sinful .

  I don’t know why he suddenly looked over at me, but he did, and his eyes made my stomach do a cartwheel. I experienced an immediate hot flash, and it had nothing to do with Granny’s spicy chili that Hayden had obviously found in the refrigerator and was now heating up.

  “Have a seat at the table, sweetheart, and I’ll serve you in a bit.”

  Quietly, I walked over to the kitchen sink and washed my hands with warm water and dishwashing liquid. After drying them with a paper towel, I did as I’d been told. I took a seat and waited to be served.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I invaded your kitchen. I woke up starving, but I didn’t want to leave while you were sleeping so…” He winked and let his sentence hang in the air.

  “I’m glad you stayed and I appreciate you warming the food. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

  Balancing a bowl of chili and a spoon in each hand, Hayden walked over and placed them on the table—one directly in front of me and the other one on the space to my left.

  “Thank you.”

  He kissed my forehead. “You’re welcome. I’ll get us something to drink.”

  Hayden grabbed two bottles of cranberry juice from the fridge, returned to the table, and sat down next to me. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “No. I’m good. Thank you.” Without even thinking, I placed my hand on top of his, bowed my head, and closed my eyes. “For this food, we thank You, God. May it nourish and strengthen our bodies for good health and Your service. Amen.”

  At the end of the grace, Hayden immediately did the sign of the cross. He was obviously a man of Catholic faith. I smiled because as a true Baptist girl from the south, born and raised, I had rarely ever seen anyone do the gesture before.

  “You’re Catholic.”

  He swallowed a spoonful of chili. “Yeah. My mom came from a staunch Catholic family, so she raised me in the church. My dad isn’t a religious guy, though. He says he’s spiritual , whatever the hell that means. What about you? Are you a religious girl?”

  I nodded. “I am. I was raised a Full Gospel Baptist. My parents put my cousin, Ravie, and me in the church choir when we were very young. We sang all the way through high school.”

  “Is that how you ended up in the music industry?”

  “Yep. The black gospel music that I learned singing in church as a child is my foundation. It’s a major part of all of the different types of music I create today.”

  “Before you return to Atlanta, I’d like to hear some of your music.”

  Oh shit! No way! “Um…okay…yeah…I can make that happen.”

  We finished the remainder of dinner mostly in silence after that, occasionally praising Granny for her expert cooking skills. But throughout the meal, I caught Hayden boldly staring at me a few times. Those eyes of his were mysterious. They caused a girl to wonder what made a man like him tick. I was curious to know which side of his nature was more dominant in the bedroom. Was it his rough and tough side or was it the gentle hero that had saved me from the mean wolf and rocked me to sleep in his arms? Shit, I wanted an even combo if we ever made it to that point. I wasn’t sure what would go down between Hayden and me in the coming days, but something deep down in my gut told me that I wouldn’t leave Blue Ridge without getting a taste of this man.

  “I better clean the kitchen,” I said softly, steering my thoughts away from future possibilities of pleasure.

  “I’ll help you, babe.”

  As the credits began to roll at the end of the Lifetime Christmas movie we’d just watched, Hayden reached over and ran his fingers through my coils.

  “I love your hair. It was the third thing I noticed about you when I saw you unpacking your truck.”

  The feel of his fingertips massaging my scalp was like foreplay. My nipples were hard and achy and my heart was beating out of control. I could hardly catch my breath to speak. And my brain was so damn scattered anyway that my words wouldn’t even flow. All I could do was moan and sink deeper into the sofa cushion.

  “You like that, babe?”

  I moaned again and nodded my response.

  Hayden doubled down on my pleasure by kissing my neck, and I almost jumped out of my skin. If this dude wasn’t careful, I was going to flip the script on him and have him stretched out, butt-ass naked, and begging for his mama in a few minutes. But somehow, I managed to pull myself together and bring my lust all the way down.

  “You said my hair was the third thing you noticed about me. What were numbers one and two?”

  He kissed my neck again and caught a tiny portion of my flesh between his teeth and gave it a tender bite. Then he had the nerve to stroke it with his tongue. “Your face caught my eye on the spot. I’ve never seen a prettier face in my life. Ever. Then when you turned around and walked back to your truck, I got a glimpse of your ass.” He whistled and shook his head. “I started to pack up and leave the damn mountain.”

  “Why?”

  Hayden stopped kissing my neck and lifted his head to look directly into my eyes. “Because I was afraid of getting hooked on you. I’ve got a very complicated life, sweetheart. And right now, everything is up in the air. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me career wise in the next few weeks or even in days to come. I came here to my private little corner of the world to prepare for the next phase in my life in peace and solitude. Crossing paths with the most heavenly creation on the planet was the last thing I’d expected.”

  “I’m sorry I imposed on your time and space. I can stay out of your way for the rest of the days I’ll be here.”

  The lopsided smile and wink he offered me turned up the heat. “No need for an apology, sweetheart. I’m glad you showed up. There’s a reason why we ended up on this mountain at the same time right before the holidays, and I think we owe it to ourselves to find out why fate brought us here.”

  Without another word, Hayden lowered his head and pressed his lips gently against mine in a slow and sweet kiss. It was like a romantic dream
that I wanted to go on and on forever. I felt my body leaving its space on the sofa and I gasped when my ass landed on Hayden’s lap. One of his hands gently caressed the small of my back while the fingertips on the other one ran through my hair. His tongue was smooth and skillful, teasing and tasting every inch of my mouth with slithering motions that caused me to hum in a perfect alto pitch. I was falling under his spell and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. Hayden had supernatural powers, and judging by the monster bulge thumping like crazy against my ass and thighs, he had one hell of a magic “wand” to go along with it.

  He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine. His breathing and mine were labored and choppy, mixing together. After a big gulp of air, I was ready for those hot and delicious lips again. So, I tugged on the neckline of Hayden’s hoodie with both hands, bringing his lips even closer to mine.

  “It’s time for me to say goodnight, babe.”

  “Are you for real right now?” I was so horny that I was seriously considering violating Hayden’s ass while he was trying to slow the flow.

  He stood up with me in his arms and placed my feet on the floor. “If I don’t leave now, there’ll be no turning back.”

  “I know.” I reached for him again. “Mmm…hummm , baby, I know.”

  Hayden grabbed my hands and kissed each palm before lowering them to my sides. Squeezing my fingers gently, he did that little trick with his eyes and pulled me deeper into a lust-filled daze. “Not tonight, sweetheart.” He pecked my lips. “Nicht jetz, Schatz. Bald…bald.”

  I was still standing, hands at my sides with my mouth wide open and my body hotter than lava when I heard the front door open and close. I felt so rejected and humiliated. I was livid! Hayden had turned me on only to leave me burning in his flames. What kind of game was he playing with me? I stomped up the stairs so pissed that I could’ve found that little wolf that’d tried to punk me earlier and snapped his fucking head off.

  “Uggghhh !”

  Chapter Eight

  Hayden

  “Aaahhh…aaahhh…aaahhh!” I stroked my cock faster and harder with a clear vision of Natalie fixated in my mind. “Hisssssss…aaahhh…aaahhh!”

  Naked as the day I was born and soaking wet from my second cold shower, I sat in the leather chaise inside the master suite, whacking my junk like a desperate, ninth-grade, virgin nerd. Lotion was dripping all over the Tuscan leather and down my thighs; all of this pathetic, juvenile shit because I was a fucking coward and an egotistical son of a bitch. Instead of being balls deep in Natalie’s sweet pussy—and I believed it was damn sweet—I was sitting in the dark jacking off because I had chosen not to make love to her out of fear. Yes, I, the vain and valiant Viper Drachenberg, was afraid that one night of passion with Natalie Taylor would cost me my heart and my freedom. And that was something my pride, my goddamn ego, could not allow to happen. So, foolishly, I had rejected Natalie and opted to pleasure myself as I fantasized about her instead.

  “Hisssssss! Uh…uh…uh…Fuck!”

  As I lay back, staring into the darkness, I felt like shit. Plus I had made a sloppy mess that I was too damn tired to clean up. I released a frustrated breath and gritted my teeth. My balls were empty and so was my heart. I wasn’t supposed to be in my cabin alone tonight and I didn’t want to be. If I wasn’t such a fucking jackass, I would be skin to skin with Natalie in her bed right now, a very happy and sexually satisfied man. But afterwards, my life would change. That’s one thing I knew for sure.

  No man on earth could make love to a woman as gorgeous and kind as Natalie and walk away from her. It was impossible because she had that first-time addictive quality like some of those street drugs I’d heard about that ruined people’s lives. It had happened to the best them too. I read about it in the tabloids all the time. Rock stars, super models, politicians, Hollywood actors, and professional athletes from every sport often got caught up in all kinds of addiction. And if I failed to proceed with caution, I could end up just like them. I wouldn’t be strung out on drugs, though, per se. An irresistible babe by the name of Natalie Taylor would have me addicted to her for life without the possibility of recovery.

  “Just say no, Hayden,” I warned myself. “Just say no.”

  Who the hell was I fooling? I was already hooked on the woman. That was why my fucking lap and the chaise were soiled with lotion and my seed. Natalie invaded my thoughts every damn second of the day, and her scent lingered in my nostrils hours after we parted ways. She consumed me effortlessly. I wanted her, goddamn it! I wanted her more than I wanted to be cleared to return to the game of football. I couldn’t stay away from Natalie even if I wanted to and I didn’t want to. And that scared me shitless because the timing was all wrong.

  My life was so uncertain right now. What if the investigation took a wrong turn and the league banned me from the game for life? I couldn’t get involved with a wealthy songwriter and music producer if I didn’t have a career. Sure, I had globs of money, so financially, I was cool. Hell, I could live two lifetimes and not spend half of my money. I owned a few homes, luxury cars, businesses, a private jet, and so much more. I enjoyed the finer things in life for sure. But I loved football…soccer. It was my world. As far back as I could remember, as early as the age of three, I had lived for the game. It was in my blood. It defined me. Football had birthed Viper Drachenberg. Without the sport that was dear to my heart, I was incomplete. I was nothing.

  Natalie deserved a whole man, not me.

  “Hayden! What the hell?!”

  I winked at Natalie and kissed her cheek before I crossed the threshold, dragging a ten-foot tall spruce. “It’s Christmas Eve, babe. It’s time to trim the tree. And I brought apple cider and fresh nutmeg. We can’t trim the tree without warm apple cider sprinkled with fresh nutmeg. That’s what my Aunt Gerda has been saying since I was a young junge…boy back in Germany.”

  I stood the tree upright in the front window of the spacious den. When I turned around, proud of my accomplishment, I noticed a frown on Natalie’s face. She marched toward me with her arms folded under her full breasts. Even grumpy, she looked amazing to my eyes.

  “I’m working on a song, Hayden. I don’t have time to decorate a Christmas tree.”

  “Go ahead and do your music, sweetheart. Don’t let me disturb you. I’ll trim the tree while you write your song.”

  “No, Hayden! I need silence to work, so you’ve got to go.”

  I kissed her cheek again. “I’ll be as quiet as a church mouse, babe.”

  I walked outside to my SUV to unload the ornaments, lights, and the antique angel a nice woman had sold me at her specialty shop in town. There was also a bag with the apple cider and nutmeg along with a few other items as well. I had run around the small town, gathering the tree and decorations because I knew I had some making up to do for leaving Natalie abruptly last night. I had disappointed her with my bizarre behavior. I could tell from her funky attitude. So, I would disregard it and allow her to huff a bit while I busied myself trimming the tree. Then I would surprise her with an invitation to dinner.

  Natalie was on the porch, still frowning with her arms folded underneath her boobs when I left my vehicle. I stifled a snicker because she was so cute when she was angry, but I didn’t want to add to her pout. So, I bit my bottom lip and put on a straight face.

  “You should be working, babe.”

  “I can’t because you’re here. I told you I write alone in a quiet setting.”

  I walked past her, determined to have my way. I refused to argue with her because it would only make matters worse. I entered the cabin, removed my sweatshirt, and tossed it on the recliner. I had a Christmas tree to trim whether my sweet Natalie liked it or not. By the end of the night, she would be happy again if all went well.

  I leaned against the door frame of the dining room, smiling. Natalie was strumming away on the keys of her digital piano, but I couldn’t hear a damn thing because she had on special headphones that channeled
the music into her ears, preventing me from hearing it. There was an intense expression on her face, the look of someone in deep concentration. It was the face of an expert, the master of one’s craft, indulging in creativity or productivity. I knew that face well. I imagined it was my face every time I walked on the football field. Like me on the grass, Natalie was in her element behind the piano. She took a quick sip of her apple cider and got right back to work.

  I walked over and sat down on the bench next to her in reverse position so I could see her face. She powered off the piano, removed the headphones, and placed them aside.

  “Come with me.” I took her by the hand and pulled her to her feet.

  She tried to snatch away from me, but I wouldn’t let her. I tightened my grip on her hand a tad, careful not to hurt her, and pulled her along.

  “I’m not done yet, Hayden.”

  “You can finish later. It’s time to take a break. It’s Christmas Eve, babe.”

  When we reached the den, I slid my arm around her waist and kissed her temple. My breath stalled as she took in the Christmas tree. She was pleased. I could tell by the way her chest rose and fell with each deep breath. The way she tugged on her pendant was another telling sign. I had come to realize that she touched it whenever she was nervous or excited. There was no need for nervousness at the moment, so I was certain she was excited.

  “Wow! It’s sooo pretty, Hayden. I love it. Thank you.” My efforts earned me a peck on the lips and a tight hug. With her arms still wrapped loosely around my neck, Natalie looked over her shoulder. “Where in the world did you find that cute little angel? She’s adorable.”