12 Days (Hope Harbor)

by Karla Doyle

  A moan like she’d never made in her life escaped as she melted against the duvet.

  “Good?” he asked, folding his body over her back to nibble her ear.

  “Yes. God, yes.”

  His rumbly chuckle brought all her goose bumps to the surface. He nipped the sensitive spot where her neck curved toward her shoulder, then rose up behind her again. His deliberate strokes dragged his cock against some magic place she hadn’t known existed, deep in her body.

  She moaned as he stroked the spot again. Then again.

  “I love your sexy ass,” was all the warning she got before his palm connected with her backside.

  She gasped as heat radiated from the spot, crashing when the sensation subsided. “Do it again.”

  His hungry growl filled the air, followed by the crisp clap of his next smack. “I want to fuck you like this all night, but I’m not going to last this time.” He banded one arm around her hips and pressed his fingers against her clit. “I need to feel you come.”

  Five seconds of his touch and her body was more than happy to comply. Her breath hitched as the wave of orgasm crested, stealing all rhythm and control as she rode his hand hard and fast.

  “Fuuuck…” His groan slid into her ear as he shuddered against her, then wrapped her in his arms. “That was amazing.”

  “We should definitely do it again.”

  He laughed and hugged her tighter. “We will. That’s guaranteed.” He dropped a kiss behind her ear, then extricated himself from all the places they were connected. “Going to take care of the condom, then get dinner on the table.”

  “Presents, great sex, and dinner, too? This is the best night ever.”

  He brushed a sweet, yet scintillating kiss across her lips. “The first best night of many.”

  She still didn’t know why his feelings for her had changed. Maybe she never would. Heck, maybe even Kelly didn’t know. The “why” no longer mattered. Only the feelings. Everything else they’d shared was pretty darned great, too. This truly was the best night ever.

  “Hey, sexy,” he said, filling the doorframe with smiling, handsome, shirtless goodness. “Come get some dinner. Even goddesses need to eat. I don’t want you running out of energy later.”

  A better case for eating had never been made—and she loved to eat. She shimmied off the bed, every inch of her tingling from his appreciative gaze. “Can I wear this?” she asked, picking up his discarded t-shirt.

  “If it’s mine, it’s yours.” He waited at the door for her, catching her in a perfect, Kelly-sized hug, rather than let her pass. “I mean that, Addie. In every sense of the word.” Not a declaration of love, but probably as close as a man who didn’t do serious relationships could get.

  “Me too.” She pushed up onto her tiptoes and kissed him, then let him lead her to the kitchen, for whatever came next in the best night ever.

  Chapter 10

  December 24

  KELLY

  He could think of multiple better ways to spend Christmas Eve with Addie. Emphasis on multiple. Since Addie had dedicated this day to making Jenna’s bridal bouquets for tomorrow’s wedding, that’s what they’d be doing. Emphasis on they. Because, even though he hadn’t actually assisted with the job, he wouldn’t be anywhere other than by her side.

  They’d arrived at Sunny Daze at way-too-damn-early o’clock this morning. Despite having every detail of the three bouquets planned out, and having triple-checked the flowers before closing yesterday, she hadn’t felt calm about the project until she actually started doing it. Now that she was immersed in the process, she’d entered what he’d always thought of as her “Zen zone.”

  Watching Addie create art from individual flowers was almost magical. Not because of the finished bouquets, though those were pretty damn impressive. Addie was the magical element. The way she emanated intense concentration and peacefulness at the same time. She practically glowed.

  He’d always admired the qualities. Now, they were one more layer of everything he couldn’t resist about her. But, resist, he had. For now. As soon as she finished with Jenna’s bouquet, resistance would be off the table. And, if he got lucky, Addie would be on it.

  “Is it finished?” He rose from the stool he’d haunted all day, as she took a couple steps back from her workbench. Wishful thinking, no doubt, since she’d already stepped away from the final bouquet two other times.

  She took a couple of side-to-side steps to inspect the arrangement from various angles. Turned it this way and that.

  He was ready to park his ass back on the stool when a smile broke across her face.

  “It’s done.” She removed her florist’s gloves and set them aside. “And so am I.”

  He moved in and wrapped his arms around her from behind. So he could join her in appreciating her creation, yes. So he could press his cock against her sexy ass, also yes.

  “Looks amazing. They all do. Jenna’s going to love them.”

  “Thank you. I think so, too,” she said, tilting her head to smile up at him. “Sorry we had to spend Christmas Eve day in my store, instead of doing something fun or relaxing.”

  “We’ve still got time for those things. And this was important.”

  “To me and Jenna, yes. But you’re a guy. I know it’s just three bunches of red and white flowers to you. You really didn’t have to wait around here all this time. You could have hung out with Rick, or your parents…”

  He turned her in the circle of his arms. “You are the only person I want to be with today. If it meant sitting on that stool, watching you make floral arrangements until tomorrow at dawn, that’s what I’d do. Happily.”

  “I certainly wouldn’t be happy if I had to do that.” She shuddered. “I admit, I was disappointed when Jenna first told me I’d only be making the bouquets for her and her two sisters who’re standing up with her. Now I’m relieved her fiancé’s family contracted an outside florist to do all the church and banquet hall arrangements. With the scope of her wedding, and her decision to have it on Christmas Day, I’m not sure I could have done it all.”

  “I know you could have.” He kissed her forehead. “But, selfish me is glad you didn’t have to.”

  “Selfish me is glad, too. I want some Kelly time.”

  Music to his ears. “I’m all yours.” He unselfishly released her, before his baser, selfish instincts got the best of him. “I’ll help you clean up so we can get out of here. Task me, baby. Tell me what to do.”

  Her eyebrows rose, along with the corners of her mouth. “Be careful what you offer.”

  This day was looking up. As was his dick. He snagged her by the waist and tugged her against him, then slid his hands around to cup her ass. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Or with you.” He dipped down and stole a taste of her rosy lips. “Or to you.” He trailed the tip of his tongue up the side of her neck, where he pressed a kiss beneath her ear. “What do you want me to do?”

  She shivered, her pulse hammering beneath his lips. She wanted him. Wanted something from him, he could feel the need humming between them.

  “I want whatever you want, I promise. Trust me to give it to you.”

  “Take my pants off and—” She gasped as he tugged her leggings down, past her thighs, with one swift tug. “You don’t know what I was going to say next.”

  “Don’t have to. I told you I’d give you whatever you want, and I am,” he said, crouching to finish the first part of the request. He remained there once her shoes and pants were beside him, on the floor. Having her half-naked in front of him, her sweet pussy close enough to make his mouth water, he almost threw this game to the wind and dove in.

  He coasted his palms up her legs, then between, stroking her softest skin while meeting her glassy-eyed gaze. “What do you want next?”

  “I want you to bend me over the counter and fuck me,” she whispered, her cheeks turning the color of the roses she’d spent hours arranging.

  “Which counter?”

 
“The one up front.”

  Color him surprised. “My girlfriend, the exhibitionist.”

  “We don’t have to…”

  “Oh, yeah, we do.” He straightened, kissing her while walking her backward, toward the main area of the store.

  The store was closed for the day. A big sign hung on the door, and the main lights had remained off since their arrival. The sun was setting fast. With the tinted windows, nobody could see in unless they pressed their face to the glass. At five p.m. on Christmas Eve, no one would be doing that. No need to point any of that out. Addie wanted a thrill, and that’s what she’d get.

  Her breath hitched as her bare ass connected with the stainless steel.

  He stroked his tongue into her warm mouth once more, before pulling back. “Close your eyes and enjoy, baby. I’ll take care of everything.”

  She nodded, turning away from him, to face the counter.

  He coasted his palms up her hamstrings, over her shapely ass. He reached around, cuffed her wrists and drew her hands to the opposite side of the counter, stretching her out across its surface. “Good?” he asked, as she laid one cheek on the cool metal.

  “Yes.”

  He kissed the corner of her mouth, then crouched behind her, gently nudging her legs apart. She wanted him to fuck her, and he would, soon. But not until he tasted her. Until he felt her come against his mouth.

  Above him, she gasped at the first gentle press of his tongue against her clit.

  “Have to do this before I fuck you.” Hands on her ass, he groaned as he parted her cheeks enough to give him a primo view of everything he craved. “I need to feel you come.”

  If she responded in any way, he didn’t hear it. His pulse pounded in his head as every drop of available blood diverted to his cock. Because, fuck, this woman. Her taste. Her scent. The way her body moved.

  He pressed his face against her pussy. Licked her. Sucked her. Ate her like the addictive, sweet treat she was. He slid his tongue to her clit, gripping her hips as her breathy moans filled the quiet shop. This. He needed this like he needed to breathe.

  He held her hard, rolling her clit fast and firmly, staying on point as her body trembled and jerked all around him. Only when she shivered and relaxed did he give her up.

  He stood, freeing his cock with one hand while liberating a condom from his wallet with the other. The tear of foil echoed around them as he rolled the latex down at record speed.

  “You are so sexy,” he said, sliding into her tight heat. One stroke had fire licking at his balls. He felt like a teenager when he was inside her—no stamina, no finesse. Just the raw need to fuck. He needed to check himself. Get control.

  He took a breath, squeezed the base of his cock while pulling back. Might’ve helped if he hadn’t had his eyes glued to her pussy as his dick slid out. If he hadn’t watched without blinking as he buried himself inside her again.

  “How do you do this to me?” he asked, squeezing her ass hard enough to leave red dots from his fingertips.

  “Do what?”

  “Turn me inside out. Rip away my control.” He pulled out, all the way, this time. Groaned as he filled every tight inch of her again. “I want you too fucking bad, I can’t stop.”

  “Then don’t.”

  He reached around, found her clit. Rubbed her faster, harder. Fucked her deeper. So fucking deep.

  Her low, needy moan pushed his control to its limits, her breathless, “Kelly,” stripping away the last shred.

  “Fuck, baby, fuck…” He thrust deep, biting her neck as he rutted on her like a caveman. That’s what she did to him. That’s what only she did to him.

  “Wow,” she said, after catching her breath beneath him.

  “Same.” He curled his arms around her and buried his face in her vanilla-scented hair. “Any other requests?”

  Her giggle rocked their bodies. “I’ll definitely think of some more.”

  “Can’t wait.” He squeezed her tighter, kissing her upturned cheek. “How about some dinner first?”

  “I’d love that.”

  A different sentence with the word love bubbled up from deep in his chest. Something he’d never said before. Never felt before. Hadn’t even been sure he believed in before. He did now.

  He fought the urge to blurt it out. It’d taken him this long to figure it out, saying it could wait a bit longer. Until the moment was right. As perfect as the woman he loved.

  December 25

  KELLY

  Snow was falling beyond Addie’s window. The fat, fluffy kind that belonged at the end of a Hallmark Christmas special. Not his preferred movie genre, but he’d willingly watched them with her many times. He’d never turned down an invitation. Even when they were strictly friends, he’d enjoyed having her beside him on the couch, munching away on a big bowl of popcorn, fully invested in a movie with the world’s most predictable ending. She loved romantic happily-ever-afters, simple as that. He finally understood the appeal.

  He’d been awake for an hour, though it seemed like more. Christmas morning had always motivated him out of bed at the crack of dawn. This year, even more so.

  After staying up into the single digits last night to enjoy several happy endings of another variety, he’d promised not to pry Addie from bed too early. Now that the sun had risen beyond the top of the window, providing him with a well-lit view of the woman snuggled against his body, he was in no hurry to get out of bed, either. But getting her out of bed and waking her up were two different things.

  Beneath the covers, he trailed his fingertips down her arm, smiling as she hummed sleepily at the gentle touch. He dropped his hand to her waistline, flattened his palm against her skin, then continued his journey downward, over her curves. Her hips were made for grabbing. Her ass, for squeezing. For smacking.

  Memories of the crisp sound sent blood thundering to his dick. More blood, because the relentless beast had been standing at full attention since he rolled over to spoon her.

  He pressed his hips tighter against her ass and coasted his hand over her abdomen. Then lower, between her legs. He traced the line of her pussy, barely restraining a groan as he slid two fingers back-and-forth along the softest skin in the world.

  The human equivalent of purring drifted up from his sleeping beauty. Eyes still closed, she reached around, adjusted the angle of his cock and guided it between her thighs.

  The slightest shift and he could be inside her. He was tempted. So damn tempted. Just one stroke, to feel her tightness hug him like no other woman’s had. One stroke wouldn’t be enough. Ten strokes wouldn’t. Hell, no amount would.

  “Make me come.” Her throaty whisper alone would have done him in. The fact that she’d covered his hand with hers and pressed his fingers firmly against her clit was a deal breaker.

  “Let me get a condom. I want to be inside you when you come.”

  She turned her head and looked up at him with the prettiest, most trusting eyes he’d ever seen. “I’m on birth control and I’ve always been safe in the past. I don’t need a condom with you, unless you do.”

  “I’m clean. I got checked out a couple weeks ago, when I came to my senses and realized you’re the woman I want to be with.”

  “Then be with me.” She left his hand on her clit and slid hers lower, guiding the head of his cock inside her warm, welcoming body.

  Just the tip and he was already hooked. He pushed deeper, groaning aloud as he buried himself to the hilt in her sweet heat. “You feel amazing.” He pulled out, then filled her again. Then again. Three strokes had the pressure building at the base of his cock. Too soon. Way too soon. No way he was coming until she did.

  But he couldn’t stop either. Fucking her was like breathing, something he had to do. He slowed it down, taking slow, deep strokes. A rhythm to match his finger-work as he played her clit like the beautiful instrument it was.

  He started gently, increasing the pressure as her breathing grew shallow and husky. Hands balled into the pillow, she arche
d her back, taking his cock deeper and giving him a centerfold-worthy view of her gorgeous tits.

  “Wish I had more hands so I could touch your perfect nipples.”

  “Mmmm, me too.”

  “Do it for me.”

  Eyes closed, she cupped her tits and strummed her thumbs across the pink pebbles.

  “Pinch them.”

  She took the peaks between her fingertips and squeezed. Her lips parted with a soft gasp, but she didn’t let go.

  “So fucking sexy. Pinch them tighter.”

  Another sharper gasp left her lips. “It’s hot,” she whispered, tugging at the now-cherry-red peaks.

  “Fucking right, it is.” His mouth was watering. His balls were on fire. “Not going to last, baby. Need you to come.”

  “Harder.”

  He could do that. Was all about doing that. He picked up the pace, gave her what she needed, with his hand and his cock. Gritted his teeth and fought the inferno raging at the base of his cock. Worth it when he heard her breath hitch, then her soft, low moan. The last, tentative wisp of control vaporized as she bucked against him, her pussy squeezing him tight.

  “Fuuuck…” He groaned, unloading for what felt like days. He shuddered as the sensitivity set in, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. “Merry Christmas to me,” he said, chuckling.

  “And to me.” She twisted in the circle of his embrace and smiled at him. “This is the best Christmas morning ever.”

  “It is indeed.” Should he say it now? Now would be good, but he wanted it to be perfect. Which this was.

  “Let’s do our presents before the parents descend on us.” She popped a kiss on his lips, then wiggled out of his hold, and bounced from the bed.

  Shit. He should’ve said it while he had the chance. No big deal. He’d have plenty more perfect opportunities today.

  He rolled to his other side and propped on one elbow. His dick rose to attention as she bent at the waist to pull on a pair of pants. A quick move and he could be behind her. Inside her, again.