Stocking Stuffers: A Five Story Christmas Anthology

by E. J. Darling

  My heart ached at the thought.

  “So,” I carefully began, “you moved out of your ex’s apartment. What’s next for you after you visit your folks? Still thinking about re-enlisting?”

  His voice rumbled through my body as he spoke. “I don’t know what to do. All the plans I had were completely upended.”

  I wanted to ask if he’d thought about coming back to Aspen, but the words caught in my throat. For all my adolescent yearning that never really faded, we’d really only just met yesterday. Last night. The fuck of a lifetime, but it felt so silly to even suggest he might want to see where it could go.

  He was flying out tomorrow.

  Besides, despite his brush-off about his feelings for Amber, he was most definitely on the rebound. How could he not be? It wasn’t just that bitch who’d scarred him. His brother had betrayed him. He was still recovering from that shitstorm, and who knew where his head would be when he did? Yeah, he’d wanted me way back when and he clearly enjoyed this little dalliance now, but he gave no indication it was anything other than a holiday hookup.

  It tugged a bit at my heart, but I could deal with a tug. I could be his rebound for this surreal little microcosm. I just didn’t know if I could handle more. Anything beyond it would only result in me being the carnage in his wake when he moved on.

  So I stayed quiet.

  From across the room, the Chipmunks’ classic Christmas song rang out.

  Ty tried to frown, but couldn’t seem to keep a stern face and ended up laughing. “The fuck?”

  “My phone. It’s the guys from the bar, hopefully just checking in.” I giggled and quickly rose to answer it. “Zat you, Santa Clause?”

  “Well, I’ve got the white beard for it,” answered Phil. “But no, honey. We’re just calling to see how you’re doing. You’re not too lonely holed up all by yourself, are you?”

  “Nope, I’m not lonely at all.” I looked back over at Ty, naked aside from the towel. He’d moved to recline on the couch, thick arms wide across the back. His magnificent chest on display. My mouth watered. Oh, yes. I was enjoying the holiday way more than I’d anticipated. “How’s it going with you guys?”

  Suddenly, a crackle in the fireplace shot a spark out which landed on Ty’s bare thigh.

  “Fuck!” He shot up straight, whipping off his towel to beat out the ember burning a small hole in the rug.

  “Shit, Ty, are you okay?” For a second, I forgot all about Phil on the line, instead focusing on the gloriously naked but clearly distressed man in my living room.

  “Um, Gin,” Phil asked in the distance. “Sounds like you’ve got company? That wouldn’t by chance be that nice young fella from the bar last night, would it?”

  I slammed my hand over my mouth, eyes wide on Ty. He was running his hand over his muscular leg where the spark had landed, the towel bunched up in his other fist, sadly covering his beautiful dick. He looked over at me, mouthing sorry.

  I stood there, momentarily frozen, trying to figure out what to say.

  Fortunately, Phil took pity on my discomfiture and didn’t press for details. “Well, um, we were just checking in like you asked. All good here.” His voice became muffled. “Shut up, Frank. I don’t know who he is. Yes, it was definitely a he.”

  “Well, um, glad you guys are doing well. Frank and Larry are there with you, right?” I asked innocently, like I hadn’t just heard him chewing out Frank a half-second ago. My cheeks were on fire. I figured they were about the same shade as my flaming red hair.

  “Um, yep, we’re all here just hanging out. I’ll, uh, let you go now so you can get back to your, er, guest.”

  “That’s great, Phil,” I quickly replied, my words all coming out in one quick breath. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Okay. Bye.”

  I quickly ended the call, a giggle escaping me as I stepped over to Ty who was settling himself back on the couch. Sadly, he’d once again donned the towel.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry,” he chuckled back.

  “No, I’m sorry. I should have put the screen back up right away. How badly did it get you?”

  “Hardly at all. I was more startled than anything. I didn’t want it to burn my junk. It did singe your rug a bit, though.”

  I reached for the fireplace screen and settled it firmly up against the river rock hearth, then headed to the bathroom to grab some burn cream. Kneeling on the floor before Ty, I opened the salve and pushed up his towel a tiny bit. His muscular thigh had a little reddish mark, and I forced myself to focus on that rather than the other delicious part of his anatomy that was so very close.

  As I touched some burn cream to his skin, his breath caught. My gaze flew up to his, worried it hurt worse than he’d let on, but the heated intensity in his eyes told of a completely different agony.

  His breathing slowed and caught as he sat back against the couch cushions. His lips opened slightly. His muscles tensed. My tongue darted out to graze my lips, and I both saw and felt a shudder roll through him.

  “You know,” I murmured in a low voice, putting the lid back on the small jar of salve and setting it aside, “it feels weird not to be opening presents on Christmas. Maybe…” I trailed off, giving a slight tug on his towel.

  “We could unwrap each other.” Ty’s voice was raspy, and it shot a raging flood of heat through my center.

  I nodded, pulling a little harder to reveal my present. To bestow his gift upon him. I pressed a tender kiss on his slight burn, then higher. Working my way up to his stiff length. Another kiss on the tip, already glazed with precum, and I moaned low as I took him into my mouth.

  Ty’s hands moved to my head, tightly fisting my hair. “Fuuuuck. Best. Present. Ever.”

  I loved the grating sound of his voice. The taste of his cock and the feel of it deep in the back of my throat. His clenching muscles as I worked him. I looked up to see him watching me bob over him, his hands guiding my movements. For a moment, he coaxed my mouth free, a long string of saliva trailing from my lips.

  “Jesus, Gin, you’re so damn sexy,” he groaned.

  Craving more, I went back down, relishing in the sharp pull of my hair. He smoothed my locks into a ponytail, gripping it high on my head with one hand, offering him a clear view as I licked and sucked. My own body began to tighten.

  I craved his touch.

  All over me.

  Deep inside me.

  Complete and utter bliss.

  Ty suddenly sat forward and pulled me to sit. His fingers rabidly untied the belt of my robe, stripping it from me like a kid tearing wrapping paper from a gift. With a low groan, he settled back into the couch as his hand stroked his dick.

  “Make yourself come. I wanna watch you and explode all over your tits.”

  His gruff command damn near did me in, but I followed his direction. As I watched him smoothly jack his cock, I slowly swept my hands over my breasts, pinching at my painfully hard nipples. His eyelids grew heavy and his movements jerked as I lowered one hand down between my legs. Inside momentarily to collect some of my slick arousal, then swirling small circles around my clit.

  Everything felt surreal. I’d never considered performing like this before. Putting on a show. It just felt so right. An intense sexuality burned through my being as he watched me bring myself to the brink and ultimately topple over it. My body trembled with waves of release, swaying towards the floor. Ty sat forward, still working his thick cock with one hand, his other hand tangled in my hair, until his release splashed against my breasts.

  “Holy fuck,” he ground out.

  After a long moment, he opened his eyes, catching my gaze. My shaking fingertips trailed through the thick, white slickness down my front, spreading it over my skin. His cock jerked in his hand when I lifted my fingertips to my lips to taste his salty essence.

  “You keep that up and I’m gonna have to fuck you again. Like now.”

  I climbed my way up his body, straddling him on the couch as his dick hardened beneath me once more. “Yes,
please.”

  Chapter Eight

  Morning came way too fast.

  After Ty painted my boobs white followed by another round of explosive fucking, we rinsed off in the shower. All the cardio had us ravenous, so I whipped up the cream for the tres leches cake and finished it up with a thick caramel drizzle. Ty ended up spreading most of his whipped cream and caramel on my breasts and licking it off, so I repaid him by doing the same to his cock and balls. By the time we were done, we were so fucking sticky we ended up in the tub again.

  I woke up wrapped in his arms, my back to his front. His soft snore feathering against my ear. Through the window, the sun peeked over the mountaintops as heavily drifted pines materialized in the light of early dawn. I glanced at my clock, noting we had about four hours left before we had to leave for the airport.

  Four hours. Then he’d fly away.

  It was probably for the best. It was just a holiday hookup, never meant to last. Rebound sex. Something to get him back in the game. Besides, I still wasn’t—and didn’t want to be—snow-bunny material. I was comfortable in my own identity. I just didn’t see any way I might fit in his world.

  For that matter, I didn’t even know if he wanted me to. While I didn’t know for certain he didn’t, he hadn’t said that he did. A lump planted itself heavily in my throat. I’d admired him from afar for so long that the time we were actually together felt like a continuation of my adolescent daydreams. It felt like so much more than one day and a few hours the night prior.

  I angrily rubbed the burn of tears from my eyes, feeling stupid for even getting emotional. As much as I wanted to just lie there and savor every last second, I needed to get up and do something. Anything to occupy my mind. The chill in the air indicated I clearly needed to build the fire back up. And I could make him breakfast.

  I lifted the blankets to slip out of the bed when his arm tightened around me, tugging me back up against him.

  He nuzzled my neck, his voice thick and sleepy. “Just a little longer. I woke up yesterday without you. I’ll wake up tomorrow without you. Right now, I just want to wake up with you.”

  With a small, quiet sob, I turned to look at him, at those beautiful blue spruce eyes. That angular jaw, still unshaven with a much thicker scruff than the night before last. His chiseled arm and broad shoulder holding me in place.

  Then he kissed me, long and slow. As though we had all the time in the world instead of four short hours. The sun rose and sent shimmering sparkles over the snow while he caressed me. He made love to me, sweet and slow like hard candy melting in my mouth.

  It was some time before we finally got up. I padded into the bathroom and pulled his clothes from the dryer while he showered, then headed out to the living room to bring the fire back to life. I methodically fried up some sausage and sifted flour for biscuits and gravy, all the while refusing to think about this afternoon. Tomorrow. Next week.

  It was just a hookup. There was no reason to get emotional.

  I repeated those words over and over in my head, my little mantra to get me through the day.

  Ty said very little as we ate. He appeared lost in his own thoughts, likely on what the next few days had in store for him. Visiting his folks and the large probability of running into Amber and Cory. His unknown path draped heavily over his shoulders. Again and again, I wanted to ask if he’d considered coming back to Aspen.

  But, again and again, I didn’t.

  After breakfast, Ty headed outside to get the tire iron. I watched through the kitchen window as he walked around in the chilly morning, breathing in deep and gazing at the snow-clad mountains around us. It was as though he was saying goodbye.

  Before I knew it, it was time to leave.

  As with breakfast, the trek to my pickup and the drive into town were also quiet. I pulled up to the Gant and followed him inside to gather his things, under the watchful eye of that same nosy-ass desk clerk. When he dropped off his key card, she asked if he needed the airport shuttle, and for a second I almost wished he’d say yes. I felt on the verge of breaking, and I didn’t want to do that in front of him.

  In spite of my reservations, my heart swelled when he declined. That meant we still had a little smidge of time, even if it was a double-edged sword. I sucked in a deep breath to strengthen my resolve for a public farewell.

  After a painfully quiet ride to the airport, I stood by while he checked his bag. Then we headed toward security. Ty slowed and turned to look down at me. With a heavy heart, I focused steadily on his eyes, desperate to memorize every flick of color and thick, dark lash.

  I offered him what I hoped was a light and easy smile, despite the putrid grief churning in my gut. “Well, merry fuckin’ Christmas.”

  Ty quietly laughed. It seemed tinged with sadness, but that could have been my own melancholy coloring it in. My own wish that this little sexcapade meant something more to him. He pulled me in for one last hug, and I deeply inhaled, fixing his cedarwood scent in my mind.

  “Thank you for an amazing holiday,” he murmured into my hair.

  I almost lost it right there. With that little reaffirmation of what this was.

  An amazing holiday. That was all.

  And now it was over.

  My eyes burned, so I squeezed them tight. I pressed my face into his chest, tightening my arms around his waist. One last little clutch. I took a deep breath to fortify my wavering spirit and pushed away. “Take care, Ty.”

  A quick glimmer of pain flashed over his features, but in a heartbeat it was gone, perhaps just a figment of my imagination.

  “You, too, Gin.”

  He cupped my face in his hands and lowered his head for a feathery kiss. For a moment, time stood still around us, like our connection had broken the space-time continuum or some shit. His reverent caress was almost my undoing. I breathed him in one last time, aching to fall against him. To wrap my arms around him and ask him to stay.

  To give me some sign that the last few days had hit him as hard as they’d hit me.

  But he straightened and stepped back. A shattering sensation filled my chest as his lips tilted in a wry smile. He reached for his carry-on, and, with a cursory wave, he walked away from me.

  Chapter Nine

  Back at home, my cabin felt too quiet. The snow fell outside, piling up into deep drifts. I built up the fire, pulled on some pajama pants and a hoodie, and curled up to watch the flames.

  It felt like I had just hit a precipice. A fork in the road of my life.

  As a kid, I’d loved Christmas. That all changed when my mom died. For years after, it seemed like Christmas had simply left my world. My dad’s struggles with depression and addiction seemed to hit then more than ever, and I began to dread the holidays. Then, his death snuffed out that last little bit of Christmas spirit in my heart.

  But this year with Ty was so very different.

  Laughing. Loving. Well, maybe not loving. I barely knew the guy, really. But that human touch. The gratuitous fucking had been glorious. And the way he held me after. My heart swelled when I remembered his arms tight around me. His laugh and the teasing glimmer in his eyes. His soft snore. The way his hair was all mussed on top when he woke. Or whenever I had my fingers in it, guiding his lips to the places I needed them most.

  And now that he was gone, I actually felt…lonely.

  That was a new thing for me. I didn’t like to hang out with people all the time. Yeah, I worked in a bar, but I had a job to do there. A demand on my attention. It wasn’t like I was making small talk or out partying it up. I was sorta on the outer fringes of life, a place that had always felt comfortable. An endless loop of trying to get through. Survival sprinkled with bits of humanity to convince myself I was happier alone.

  And then Ty stumbled into Breck’s and shot that all to hell.

  That first night, part of my reason for going to bed with the man had been to help him move on. Yeah, it was my teenage fantasy come true, but he’d gotten the shit end of the deal with hi
s ex and his brother. So some of my rationale, flawed as it was, was that he needed a good fuck to put it all behind him.

  But for the first time in forever, I’d felt alive. Laughter. Exhilaration. Sorrow. All because of Ty. Those precious few days with him filled holes in my heart I never knew existed. They made me wonder what life would be like to have that all the time. Not just another warm body, but the comfort of another soul.

  It was like he’d healed me of that fear to get close and lose someone special. Like maybe our time together had actually done as much to help me as it had him.

  And now, as much as I missed him and as much as it killed, I wouldn’t have done any of it differently.

  My first order of business the following day was to get the window repaired at Breck’s before my boss got home. Using Ty’s roll of twenties, I quickly set about getting the supplies. Frank sat back and supervised, so to speak, while I helped Phil and Larry replace the glass. When we were done, I divvied up the remaining money between the three of them as a thank you.

  I did my best to avoid any questions about that disaster of a call on Christmas Day, mostly by just pretending I didn’t hear them when they asked about Ty. I dreaded the conversation, but eventually fessed up about his shitstorm and that he’d needed someone to get through the holidays. This seemed to pacify their intrigue somewhat. After all, I was well-known for making others my mission, something the three of them knew first-hand.

  I did omit the round-the-clock sex-fest parts or the fact that I’d obsessed over him for half of my life, although my tattletale cheeks flushed Rudolph’s-nose-red as I spoke.

  “Too bad he didn’t stick around,” Larry lamented with a sad light in his old gray eyes. “We adore you, Gin, but I think you’re a bit young for us.”

  Frank snorted. “Speak for yourself. I’m in my prime.”

  Their ongoing back-and-forth lightened my heart, but faded out as my mind began to wander back to Ty. I wondered if he was sitting on a beach somewhere in the Keys. Maybe playing golf. I wondered if he had to see dickhead and bitchface and, if so, I hoped they were at least being kind. I wondered if his parents were supportive of him. If he told them about me, quickly dismissing that idea. Why would he? I was just a Christmas fling.