A Perfect Holiday

by Riley Murphy

  “I’ve never said that out loud before.” She sank back and settled her head against his shoulder with a sigh. “Not that I haven’t thought about it, but as they say, it becomes real when you hear it. Thank you for that.”

  The brilliant smile she flashed at him was touching. “Why thank me? You worked it all out on your own.”

  “Yes, but wanting to hook up with you so badly was the catalyst. I just wish…”

  Now he was the one holding his breath.

  “I wish…”

  He let it out slowly. “What?”

  “I wish I could put the guilt aside and please myself. I really do. Just this once. That’s what I want.”

  Riker thought about all she’d said earlier. What she’d just admitted and how sheltered she’d been by her well-meaning parents and scowled. By her striving to please others she never really captured what did it for her. And right now what she wanted most was to seize an opportunity. He got that.

  It was a pickle though, because now that he knew her situation he wasn’t about to take advantage of it. “I think you should take some time and think about what you want besides ditching the guilt. There’s more to it than that. Then maybe, who knows. We’ll see.”

  Her foot was back to bopping. Only now he could tell it was out of frustration instead of uncertainty. “I have thought about what I want. God, have I ever. If you only knew how many nights I…I watched you in that pool wanting so badly to go down there. I never had the nerve.”

  When her shoulders slumped he gave her a squeeze. “Sid?”

  “It’s like a physical ache.”

  “Excuse me?”

  She looked at him. “Have you ever wanted something so bad you ache for it? That’s what it’s like for me. I think I’m totally in lust with you.”

  Well, hell, how could he turn something like that down? “I tell you what. How about we just mess around a bit. No sex à la Bill Clinton.” He tapped her nose three times and smiled as she blinked with each touch. “No pressure. Just some intimate petting. The kind of stuff cheerleaders do with their guys behind the bleachers at high school.”

  He’d give her some room to back out if she wanted to and if she didn’t? They’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

  “I didn’t have a guy at high school.”

  She was staring at his lips so hard and licking her own, and worse, the thought bubble was back over her head. This time it said “kiss me” and he was tempted. God was he tempted. He held her tight. “That doesn’t matter now.”

  “I think it does.”

  “Why?”

  “I have no comparison.”

  He leaned down and rubbed his nose against hers. “You have to start somewhere, darlin’.”

  She closed her eyes and wiggled her butt in his lap. “Yes, and this is a good place, I’m thinking.”

  “Me too.”

  Before she wiggled some more he adjusted them, until her back was once again to his front and she was staring straight ahead instead of up at him. It was probably best this way. The visual of her pulling his hair, opening her mouth and sliding all over him when they were in the pool wasn’t far from his every thought.

  It wasn’t him who moved the towel though, it was her. She shrugged it off and brought her hands down to grip his outer thighs. “Riker?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do the cheerleaders do with their guys behind the bleachers?”

  “Lots of fun stuff.”

  She closed her eyes and breathed. “Tell me.”

  “All right. But first let me say that they go there for only one reason.” She frowned so he whispered this next in her ear, “To drive their boyfriends crazy.” A ghost of smile played over her lips. He loved watching her and as he spoke, he slowly pushed his palms between her thighs. “It starts with a kiss. The two of them standing together in dusty, tiger-striped shade. They’re so close to each other their thighs meet. Her chest is crushed into his and when their lips touch it’s electric because they both know that someone could see them, catch them at any moment.” Gently, he used his hands to open her, until her legs were hooked over the sides of his knees. He didn’t spread his legs to a V right yet. Instead he massaged her kneecaps and continued his story.

  “If the guy’s lucky his girl will be generous. She’ll open her mouth and let him taste her. Hot mint and heaven as their breaths increase and they need more of each other. He knows he can’t go too fast because he might scare her away. So he keeps focused on her mouth even though he wants to taste other things. Badly.” Riker kept his tone and movements steady as he continued with the fantasy and slowly parted his legs. Steeling himself as he watched hers being opened in the process.

  “His girl sighs, just a little breathless sound that dares him to push things further.” As he spoke, he skimmed his palms up and down her arm from elbows to shoulders and back again. “Need drives the guy as he leans into his girl, using his weight, praying she’ll get the hint. That she’ll take it.” He slipped his hands down Sidney’s forearms. Caressing as he travelled, until he reached her hands. Then he grasped them, entwining their fingers together. “And when his girl does, things get interesting. The landscape changes. They’re on the ground. In the grass and dirt, but all he can smell is her sweet vanilla perfume and his own sweat, while he stretches out beside her and the whole world comes down to just the two of them and this one moment.”

  Riker loved how she shivered against him. Her eyes were still closed and when he spotted her lower lip caught between her teeth, his pulse picked up speed. He pressed his cheek to hers. Forcing her back until her head rested against his shoulder. “This is do or die time for the guy. He’s aching by now. Desperate for more of her and if he’s careful, really careful, he’ll get it.”

  He let go of her hand and brushed a slow path up her thigh with just his fingertips. Trailing the lightest touch imaginable over her leg, hip and ending at her abdomen where he stopped and splayed his hand in a pressing caress. “Right now he’s honed all his interest on that small, tight band of ribboning around the bottom of his girl’s sweater. There’s soft warm flesh under there and he wants to feel it beneath his fingers. He slides his hand up. Slow and steady as he kisses her breathless. Hoping to keep her distracted and it works because his hand eases under that soft cotton-knit. His palm brushes along that satiny flesh until he slides his hand on her breast over her bra.”

  “Riker…”

  Sidney trembled when his hand mimicked his words and cupped her breast over her bathing suit. Not wanting to lose momentum, he curled down, gathered her in and spoke softly, “She’s quivering. He can feel it. He can feel her heart racing beneath his touch and he’s psyched. He hooks one finger over the tiny scalloped lace and pulls down.”

  Riker released a soft breath in her ear. “God, her nipple against his fingertips is hot satin but hard as she’s turned on and he wants to keep her that way. He uses his finger and thumb to roll that pebbled flesh until they’re both aching. Her because of what’s being done to her and him for what he hasn’t done yet.”

  His breath rasped in and out as he watched Sidney arch into his hand. The sight sent lust barreling through him. Never mind the kid behind the bleachers. He was that guy now as he played with her and she let him. He highly doubted she was aware of how she moved into his touch to silently beg for more of it. Dragging his thumb over her puckered nipple, he whispered, “Now is the time for him to test the boundary. To do what he’s wanted to do all along.”

  Riker’s gaze was trained on the path his hand took, from her breast to her rib cage and stomach. He followed the slow descent southward. “He wants to get his hand between her legs and feel her heat. She’s going to be wet.” Sidney made a small sound, but he didn’t look up. “And hot. The question in his mind is will she open for him. Will she let him slide his fingers under the material covering that beautiful pussy, so he can—?”

  He groaned and didn’t finish his sentence because his hand was under h
er bathing suit, colliding with the center of her and she was all of what he’d just described. Hot, wet, and open.

  “Relax. That’s it.”

  God, she was drenched. Primed. Just the thought that he had unlimited access to her swollen flesh had his cock filling. Thickening. And when she brought an arm up and wrapped it around his neck, massaging his hair with an edgy touch, he wanted to make her burn inside out.

  “You have to go slow. Easy with just enough—”

  “Mmm…”

  Her flex was sexy as fuck as she moved in perfect rhythm with his hand.

  “Not too fast, darlin’, there’s plenty of time.”

  “I don’t think there is.” Her tone was low and husky. The sound went right through him. Landing with a tempting squeeze around his balls. Anticipation. That’s what it was. God, it felt good to need again. To savor the build. To want without getting. It was good.

  “There’s always time for this.”

  She drew in a breath and then sighed it out. “Please…”

  “Here you go darlin’. Deep breath.”

  “Oh, so…wonderful,” The phrase tumbled out of and her whole body quivered as he slipped a finger into her until he touched something great. Better than great and highly sensitive. Maybe too sensitive.

  “Riker?” She scrunched her fingers in his hair and used her fist to push his head forward. Moaning when he nuzzled her neck. “That feels nice. So…so nice.”

  He shifted to kiss her and every bone in her body went to rubber. He tasted like hot spice and heaven. A wicked concoction that caused a rush of adrenaline to build inside her. The tingly euphoria was amazing. And when his tongue skillfully coaxed her mouth to open and his blazing wetness met hers, she gave into the moment and became a part of it.

  “God, I love this.” He pressed into her higher. “You’re drenched. And hot. Soaking,” he whispered against her ear. “Come apart for me. Let me feel it when you do.”

  Those words combined with his actions sent a thrill straight through her. Her legs shook against his outer thighs as an ache began in her belly. The luscious wave spread outward and kept going as those earlier tingles worked from her molten center upward.

  Until every nerve ending in her body twitched for attention, making her hot and restless. She gained a tighter hold of his hair with one hand and used her other, digging her nails into his thigh until she was anchored and increasing pressure going deeper with each wave of exhilaration that washed over her. Pushing her up and into his caress. Wanting more. Needing.

  “Pour yourself on me. Let go. Let me take you there.”

  When he punctuated that last statement with a groan in her ear she lost it. The sexy chills rocketed from her toes to shoulders and crashed with blood pounding sensations between her legs. All the tingles centered and converged over the spot he patiently stroked until that spot came alive with heavy vibrations and every muscle in her body tensed. Expectant and ready.

  “Yes.” She was so close, climbing higher. “Yes.” Closer still, teetering on top.

  “Mmm…”

  His husky purr did it. She gave one final thrust into his hand as pin dots burst behind her eyes and she came.

  Her inner muscles contracted sharply and squeezed him so tightly she gasped and had to swallow a few times to catch her breath. Then a second later her eyes flew open and she stared right at him. “W-what are you doing?”

  “I’m addicted,” he increased the inner pressure until she bit her lip and closed her eyes with his next words. “I want to see you fall apart again and again. Tell me you will.”

  “Oh God, Riker. I—oh!” She tilted her head and buried her face against his neck. This orgasm went through her hard and fast, like thunder following lightening. And when her body melted and generously spilled hot desire once more, she was mortified until she heard his husky growl.

  “Perfect. Absolutely perfect, darlin’.”

  Chapter Six

  Riker examined Sidney’s Christmas tree from top to bottom and back again. Between the ornament burgeoning sight of it, the aroma of crispy rosemary-roasted chicken filling the room and Christmas tunes on the radio playing softly in the background, he felt a measure of inner peace for the first time in nearly two years. He never thought he’d feel this way about Christmas again. That he’d even like the holidays. But maybe it wasn’t his holiday spirit returning to him. After being banned from the jobsite maybe he was just unwinding. The more he thought about this option, the less convinced he became. And when he toyed with what was the likely cause of his good cheer?

  He shook his head.

  In the short span of less than a day Sidney had managed to remind him of the things in his life he’d been ignoring. Like having a leisurely lunch with a woman he wanted to spend time with. That got him thinking. Exactly when was the last time he’d really wanted to do that? After he and Brianna split he doubted there was a time. Oh, not that he’d sworn off woman. Quite the opposite. It was just that he’d gotten really good at marshaling through what usually amounted to a boring time.

  “Do you like it? It’s a stubby one. My parent’s hate it, but you know, after so many years of living in their house where the tree was huge and every ornament was color coordinated and evenly spaced I thought, meh, let’s really kick it up a notch.”

  Riker spun around and smiled. Sidney had put her hair up when she started dinner and the sight of her in the kitchen, well, it did something to him. In a good way. Was this the warm and fuzzies Cosmo was always touting as a sensitive guy’s phenomenon? He’d been one once. The sensitive guy, but not anymore. Hot damn though, she looked terrific with her eyes sparkling as she waited expectantly for an answer.

  “Yes.” And he wasn’t lying when he said, “If given the choice, I prefer your kind of tree over any other. When my family and I…”

  She was still smiling with knife poised and ready to chop the potatoes while she politely waited for him to continue, but he couldn’t. He was shocked that he’d even brought up talk of his family. That was a whole other Christmas gone awry. No wonder he hated the holidays.

  “Hey? Are you okay?”

  She was staring at him and he couldn’t take it. Instead, he turned back around and studied the one strand of lights on her decked out tree that blinked. After his heart stopped pounding like a drum he took a deep breath and said, “Before my parents split we used to have this whole tree decorating party on Christmas Eve. We’d eat tacos and ribs and the guests had to bring an ornament each time. All us kids got to put the new items on every year. It was like Christmas tree Jenga.”

  Her chopping resumed and she called out, “That sounds like fun.” After a moment she added, “But I’m sorry to hear about your parents breaking up. That must have been tough.”

  He stared at a huge candy ornament that was made out of two paper plates with red colored cellophane gathered on each side and tied with shiny green and white striped ribbon. It was big. Too big to be on her small tree and yet it worked somehow. Maybe Sid was good at making things work because she just strung together two things that gave him perspective. His parents’ break up was an awful thing, but he suspected it was more painful as he’d also lost all those future times they could have spent together. There was no rhyme or reason to it. One moment he was having a blast and the next his whole world crumbled. And when his mother and father went on to pursue different lives for themselves with different partners, he and his brother were lost in the shuffle and left to fend for themselves for the most part. And all those future good times? Hell, even the past ones were obliterated.

  “Yeah, it was hard.” That’s the most he was going to say before he redirected the topic. “I like your big candy.”

  “Aww, thanks. My little guys take care of me during the holidays. You should see the paper-mache Easter bunny one of my students made me last year. It looks pregnant and it’s missing a limb, but then I thought, hey, any good-looking lame bunny missing a limb in the wild would be pregnant more often th
an not, right?”

  He turned and watched as she quietly chuckled to herself and cut those potatoes. That was what was so great about her. She said things that were clever, smart and funny and she didn’t care if you got it because she did. She got a lot of things. She’d said something earlier about her own parents. How she wanted to measure up to be a part of their team. The irony was fucking fantastic, now that he thought about it. This was probably the initial draw between them. He couldn’t be a part of the team as his parents split and she couldn’t be a part of the team as her parents were too tight. It all boiled down to loneliness, he supposed, one way or another. And looking at Sidney now he saw it. She wanted him there for more than just the “messing around” they’d been doing, and he wanted to be there even with no messing around at all.

  “Hey, these shouldn’t take too long and all I have to do is slice the cucumber for the salad. You wanna set the table?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She was dead on with the timing. It was only twenty minutes later when she put a steaming plate of food in front of him and Riker learned something else about her. She could cook. The chicken was moist, the potato perfectly seasoned and the salad? “Did you make your own dressing?”

  “Yeah, do you like it?”

  “It’s really, really good. Everything’s good.” He took another bite of the chicken and closed his eyes. He wasn’t going to groan, but he sure did feel like he wanted to. The meat literally melted in his mouth. Damn.

  “I hope you don’t mind sitting at the table. With the extra bowls for salad I figured the couch was out.”

  “No, it’s nice.” He pointed to the chandelier with his knife and said, “I like your quirky angels.”

  “Thanks. I love those ornaments too.” She eyed them and then him. “I imagine if I had a group of girlfriends that’s what they’d look like.”

  “Quirky?”

  “No, just odd. Each one makes me smile for a different reason.” She chewed on a bite of food and he could tell she was thinking about this. After a moment she added, “Although, if I only had one special girlfriend from the group, mine would be the one hanging in the center, with the soft ice cream cone hair do.”