I'm Your Santa

by Castell, Dianne

  “Hey, she asked for you and I am not getting between two opposing fronts. Maybe she’s looking for an opportunity to apologize, consider that. You really get along and a little difference of opinion over decision making shouldn’t get in the way.”

  “Criminy sakes.” Cordell gazed into the fire. “What is it with women? If I live to be a hundred I’ll never understand them. You think you’re trying to protect them, put yourself out for them and take care of them, and then they get their panties in a twist and get all huffy about taking care of themselves and doing their own thing, and suddenly you’re the bad guy.”

  “You are asking the wrong person about this. I got a bad track record in the female department.”

  “True enough.” Cordell offered up his drink in a salute. “Neither of us is worth a damn when it comes to women. But if Rebecca needs me I’ll help her out, and maybe she does want to apologize. She really is all wrong on this protection idea.”

  “Uh, you might want to soft-pedal that idea a little if you’re wanting her back. No woman wants to hear about being wrong.”

  “Well, she is, dammit. But I’ll go see what she wants all the same.”

  Which was good since Sebastian just told Rebecca that Uncle Cordell wanted her to pick out the right wine for tomorrow’s dinner. That was one way of getting them into the cellar at the same time. He sucked at telling lies.

  “Can you forget about being right for a little while?” he called after Cordell.

  “Hell, no.”

  This part of the get-them-back-together plan was not going well. “Maybe you should try one of those bottles of wine while you’re in the cellar.” Or two bottles or three.

  “Not much of a wine drinker.”

  “Now’s a good time to start.” Following Cordell at a distance Sebastian waited for him to go down into the basement part of the old house.

  Cordell called, “Rebecca?”

  “In here looking for you.” He entered and asked Rebecca what she wanted. Then she asked why he was here. She said she could pick out her own wine, thank you very much, and Cordell said something about a fickle woman and Sebastian slammed the door shut. Least that stopped them arguing for a minute before they both started pounding on the door. Good thing it was in the basement so no one else could hear the commotion.

  He sprinted back upstairs to the dining room and LuLu fluffing red tablecloths over tables. He stood in the doorway watching her work, appreciating the way she walked, moved, held her head, the way her hair fell across her shoulders. Getting too close was dangerous for both of them after her “in the sack” confession, and at the moment he couldn’t trust himself not to tackle her to the carpet right there in front of the roaring fire.

  “Well,” he said to break the silence and start thinking of something else besides LuLu. “The two hardheads have cheese, bread, soft lighting, and lots of wine and if they’re ever going to make a go of it, it’s now. If they find out I locked them in that cellar they’ll either thank me or lynch me, and when I left them the lynching theory was winning big time.”

  “Isabella and Terrance were fighting like rutting rams when I shut them in the garden room and locked the door. Hope they don’t break any windows trying to escape from each other. Maybe it’ll all work out.”

  “Maybe pigs fly.” Sebastian looked around. “Where is everyone else?”

  “Sleeping, or at least in their bedrooms. Even the owners retired for the night. Lots of snow, and big fireplaces in each room brings out the romance in everyone.” Her eyes locked with his and he stepped farther into the hall putting more space between himself and so much temptation in the form of one dynamite female, talking romance.

  She said, “Why don’t you go to bed?”

  Did everything have to remind him of the two of them never being together, when he wanted it more than air? He ached. She looked pained too and hurried on with, “I have to set things up here then get going in the kitchen or Terrance will never have breakfast ready on time and any good feelings he has with Isabella could be lost in the chaos of running late. We don’t want that.”

  “You know how to cook?” He put plates on the table doing one side of the room as she did the other. Talking was okay as long as he kept his distance.

  “I know how to organize.” She set out the glasses. “In school I was the one who got the cameras, people, sets together. Never knew what to do after that but I got things ready to roll.” He set the last plate and his back brushed against LuLu’s. He stopped, the connection sending little jolts through his body. Slowly, he turned and faced her.

  “Thanks for setting dishes.” Her cheeks flushed and big blue eyes darkened.

  “Glad to help.” He hated small talk.

  “You…smell so good.”

  Okay, he needed lots of small talk, something to take their minds off each other and being alone. “I think it’s the gorgonzola. I put it out in the wine cellar for Cordell and Rebecca. That is some strange cheese.”

  Her lips softened and she placed the tray of glasses on the table. “I think I have an attraction to gorgonzola. Actually…” She sighed. “Actually, I hate cheese so that means it’s you.” She licked her bottom lip. “All you and neither of us wants it to be, do we, but that’s the way it is.”

  “Oh, boy.” Then he snapped her into his arms and kissed her, her sweet body molding against his chest, her hands in his hair—what there was of it—and shooting their nonattraction, stay-away ideas all to hell and back.

  “We can’t do this.”

  “We always do this.”

  “Then we have to face it for what it is.”

  “Insanity?”

  “Sex. Nothing else. No promises, no commitments, no planning for the future. You don’t want someone worrying about you when you’re gone, and I don’t want to have another revolving-door relationship that leaves us with sex.” She gave a sassy smile. “And that’s not all bad. We can do just sex. I think we’re aces at just sex.”

  “But there’s something between us.”

  She kissed him, flattening him against the wall by the door with a sold thud. “Yeah, really good sex. Focus on that, only that.”

  “Okay, got it.” His tongue fondled hers as he drew her deeper into his arms. “And we can walk away from sex easily enough, is that the idea?”

  “Nothing personal, basic carnal involvement, simple stuff like you and me and fitting parts together.” She gazed up at him. “It’s all the rest of the complications about leaving that makes us nuts. Sex is pretty straight forward. And…and I really like it. In fact—” She pulled in a quick breath. “The more I talk about it with you right now, the more I like it and want it.”

  They dropped to the rug by the hearth, knocking over a stack of napkins. The logs crackled and hissed, Sebastian’s insides did the same. Nothing could be more erotic than sex with LuLu in front of a blazing hearth on a cold snowy night. He tore off his shirt.

  “You are really one ripped male.”

  He laughed deep in his chest. “With what I do, it’s be in shape or be dead.”

  Her eyes clouded with concern and she bit her bottom lip, the very thing he intended to avoid, he quickly added, “But I am in good shape.”

  She touched a thin scar on his shoulder.

  “It was nothing and I know what I’m doing and I’ll be fine. Don’t think about that now. Sex, remember. Nothing but you and me and being here.” He kissed her hair.

  She let out a deep breath. “Maybe I’ll write you.”

  “You’re losing focus here.” He pulled off her fluffy sweater and grinned. “Better.”

  She slid off her bra.

  “Much better. You are so gorgeous.” Then he took her in his arms giving them bare skin against bare skin, a delicious sensation as his hands stroked her back and her hands stroked across his shoulders making him aware of his physical strength against her graceful form. His hands molded to her sides to the indent of her abdomen, then up to the gentle swells of her breasts
. “You have skin like silk.” He kissed her shoulder.

  His pulse drummed as he kissed her slender throat and gently laid her back. He kissed the furrow of cleavage between her firming breasts and she moaned, her body arching to meet his as his fingers found one dusky hard nub and his tongue worshiped the other.

  “Oh, God, Handsome. You’re too much.” Her fingers pressed into his shoulders while he dropped kisses, to her navel; the rise and fall of her chest quickening. He undid the button on her slacks then unzipped, the sound a promise of sweet things to come. He kissed her slightly swelled belly.

  “Pregnancy is good for you.” He looked up, catching her gaze. “You are so sexy. Glowing. Completely feminine.”

  “It’s the hormones and I’m fat and going to get a lot fatter.”

  “You’re pregnant and perfect.”

  “What men don’t say to get into a woman’s pants.” She gave him a half smile.

  “Sweetheart, I’ve already been there and beyond.” Then he kissed her stomach again before sitting up. “I need to see you, all of you, every inch in the firelight.” He peeled her slacks and panties down over her rounded hips, her eyes smoldering as he uncovered her dark mysterious patch that hid the wonderful secrets that drove him wild. “Just for me.”

  He slid off her slacks then his own jeans, her eyes wide in watching him, hungry then devouring him. He pulled a condom from his jeans and she sat up and held out her hand. “That’s just for me.”

  His insides clenched at the suggestion, and his arousal hardened to the extent he had to pull in deep breaths to keep himself in control. “I don’t know if I can stand your hands on me that way.”

  She ran her forefinger up his midsection, over his pecs and neck, stopping at his lips. She kissed him with a lot of tongue then grinned. “Let’s find out.”

  “Vixen.”

  “I’ll give it my best shot.” Then she tugged him down and straddled his middle, her hot wet sex across his bare thighs. The thought of her open, ready, and wanting him fogging his brain. She tore open the package, his heart rate jumping into overdrive. As she slowly rolled the condom over his dick he pulled in a breath between clenched teeth. “You’re killing me, babe.”

  She stopped and kissed the tip of his erection, the warmth of her lips and tongue penetrating clear through the latex. “You can’t do that,” he hissed, her mouth taking him a bit more. His control deteriorating to the breaking point as she completed covering him, her mouth following. His blood roared, it was all he could hear. His chest tightened like constricting bands of steel. He framed her face between his palms and brought her head up. “Too much, babe.”

  “But I want to and I’m on top.” She gave a wicked smile. “I think I like being on top a lot. I could get used to this.”

  In desperation, he captured her shoulders and rolled them over. “Not fair,” she protested with a sassy pout, her hair streaming out behind her, her lips full and smiling up at him in the changing light.

  “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” He kissed her, sucking her tongue deep into his mouth, her hands on his face now, making him feel like a king. Then she pulled him down, all of him, his body covering hers. He planted more kisses down the middle of her naked torso. His hands massaged her firm breasts while wedging himself between her legs, the nest of hair rubbing against his chest an added bonus. He put a soft kiss on the inside of her right thigh and her breath caught.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Picking up where I left off.”

  “Enough. I want you in me.”

  “Hold that thought, but right now it’s definitely not enough. I’m enjoying myself, I’m enjoying you.” He knew he had to hear that catch in her voice again. He wanted to please her more than anything, make her believe she was sexy and lovely. He licked the inside of her left thigh then kissed the wet spot, her legs trembling. Then he kissed higher and heard that sweet catch, making his erection harder, throbbing this time with anticipation.

  “You are an incredible lover.”

  He pushed her legs apart, wide. “And you’re a delicious partner.”

  “This is a little embarrassing.”

  “Sweetheart, this is heaven.” Then his tongue found her clit and her gasp of pure pleasure made him happier than he thought possible.

  “Handsome!” she whispered, her voice ragged. “What are you…I can’t…Oh, dear Lord!”

  He suckled the sweet spot, her little cries filling the room. “Just let it happen, sweetheart. Let go, thrill me.” His tongue took her again and again, then plunged deep into her damp heat. Her moans raw and real, her body quivering then convulsing in orgasm as his tongue pleased her one more time.

  “Handsome,” she whimpered. He laid back over her, taking her mouth in a deep satisfying slow kiss. “What you do to me…How can you do it over and over again?” She kissed the tip of his chin. “Each time is better. I don’t know how it can be, but it is.”

  “I love making you happy.” He’d take this memory of making love to LuLu with him, cherishing their time together by the fire, no problems no entanglements, pure pleasure.

  “But you…what about you? I want you inside of me, I want you to do me.”

  His dick pulsed hard and painful against her mound, her legs circling him now, her sex exposed and waiting for him. Her eyes danced with the fire. “Take me. Make love to me. Hard.”

  He arched his brow in question.

  “I want to feel you entering me like…like a man who knows what he wants.”

  “I know, believe me on this.”

  “But I want to be a woman, all woman just for you. I want to be ravaged by someone who means it and wants this as much as I do. I want the soldier. Is that bad?”

  Oh shit! His vision blurred, the suggestion nearly sending him over the edge for the millionth time tonight. That he hadn’t lost it already amazed the hell out of him. He swallowed, his mouth too dry to speak as his blood pounded and then he kissed her hard as he entered her in one driving force, careful not to hurt her but giving her all of himself without holding back or stopping or pausing to let her catch her breath. She gasped once then twice as he filled her completely, her sex pressed to his tight and searing and soaked.

  “Again,” she whimpered, her breaths ragged now, eyes dilated, her legs in an unyielding embrace. “Do it again…harder,” her whimpers more intense, her head dipping back, hair streaming down, shining like a million strands of brown silk.

  Gritting his teeth he withdrew, her eyes liquid as she watched him, her face pink with desperate desire for him. The pressure surrounding his arousal as he moved in her a mixture of torture and bliss; her passion more intense then anything he’d ever experienced before. Her legs held firm as he plunged into her again, her hips lifting in perfect unison to his demanding thrust, his insides erupting into a blinding orgasm. He drove into her one more time, making her his, claiming her body as his own, knowing he’d never forget this moment or LuLu or their lovemaking.

  His body stayed molded to hers as his orgasm subsided, his body spent. He hated that the moment was over. Too powerful, too fast. “Did I hurt you? God, I hope not, but I think I’m ruined for life. Probably broke something important. Damn. Last orgasm I’ll ever have.” He gazed at her. “And I got to tell you it was worth it.”

  “If it’s any consolation, you’ve ruined me for anyone else.”

  “There can’t be anyone else,” he blurted, but he meant it with his whole being even though it couldn’t be true. “But,” he forced himself to say, “I know that can’t be. How can sex suddenly be so complicated when the whole point of this was that it wouldn’t be complicated at all?”

  He rested his head beside her, her legs still enfolding him, their bodies united. “I hate this,” he whispered in her ear. “I hate loving you, as if you’re the only woman on earth, then leaving you and not knowing if I’ll ever see you again. Guess that’s where the complication part’s coming from. I think we slid beyond the just sex part.”
>
  “But we can’t.” She exhaled in resignation that sounded more rehearsed than heartfelt. He slid himself from her needing to break the intimate connection so he could think. He sat up to look at her, the firelight on her breasts and torso primal, the way men have been looking at women, desiring them since they lived in caves. He disposed of the condom in a napkin and dropped it in a trash can by the serving cart. Then he held her close because he needed to have her near one more time.

  Maybe the realistic approach would work. “We have to think of this as a great time, a good memory, something we can both move on from and—”

  “I don’t believe that door slammed shut and locked us in,” came Isabella’s voice thundering down the hall. “I’m freezing, I need to sit by a fire and get warm. Why couldn’t you pop out a window to inside the house so we didn’t have to traipse through the snow outside to get here? My feet are wet, everything’s wet. Where is everyone?”

  “Sleeping until you wake them up with your infernal blabbering, and I couldn’t break out a window to inside the house because the windows are for the outside. Gripe, gripe, gripe that’s all you’ve done since we got locked in the garden room. Get over it.”

  “And all you’ve done is be bossy and opinionated and a darn nuisance.”

  Sebastian’s gaze locked with LuLu’s. “Oh, damn, operation matchmaker is a bust. They’re battling worse than ever.”

  “And they’re headed our way.”

  A twinge of panic sliced through LuLu as Handsome grabbed his jeans and shirt and shoes. She snatched her slacks and blouse, and they rolled together under the table seconds before Terrance and Isabella stormed into the room. The tablecloth reaching to the floor offered a perfect hiding place, but Handsome’s body pressed to her front and the gyrations to get here made her want him again. What! How could that happen so fast?

  She needed a distraction to get her mind off Handsome and his nakedness and her nakedness. It would have to be one heck of a diversion. Something like jumping up right now and admitting they were parallel parking by the fire. That would grab some serious attention, kill any sex drive in a flash and as an added bonus it would end the fearsome foursome trying to get them together because they’d obviously already been there and done that.