Christmas and Forever

by Delilah Hunt

  “It’s your leg, isn’t it?” she asked, gliding off the ice and onto the patch of snow.

  No use lying to her. He nodded. “I’m sorry you have to see me like this. I think I’ll just head inside and take a painkiller.” He wouldn’t. Painkillers had about the same potency as a Tic Tac at this point.

  “I’ll return with you.” She bent to unlace the skates. After throwing on the boots, she flattened her palm to his leg. “No more hiding from me. I don’t care what your leg looks like. You experienced a devastating accident and by some miracle you survived. You’re here with me now. So I’m going to say this once, plain and straight. I don’t give a fuck what your leg looks like.”

  “You have quite the little mouth on you, sweetheart.”

  She raised a brow. “Well you’ve always known that. Just like I’ve always known how lonely you are. That’s why I didn’t want to give up on you.”

  “Liya, please tell me you’re not doing this out of a misguided notion of self-sacrifice, to please me.”

  She paused in front of him. “Would it be so wrong if I was doing it to please you? Sometimes a woman cares about a man enough to put aside thoughts of consequences and hurt.”

  “Is that how you feel about me?”

  “You’re just seeing that? I love the clinic and I love helping others, but, you have to know you’re the biggest reason I stayed on, even when my course load had become much more difficult.”

  His cock went impossibly hard. Here was a woman laying it all out, making him seem like someone worthy of a second chance. Aidan coughed. “If we go inside together, I’m going to have to touch you. I can’t…I can’t be so close to you without…” His voice trailed. God, he was weak. “I need to be inside you.”

  A low moan escaped her throat. As Liya looked up at him, her eyes softened. “Aidan. I want nothing more.”

  The walk to the cabin seemed long and torturous. Each second lasted an hour and each minute an eternity. When they arrived at the cabin Aidan felt her arm on his back, ushering him inside.

  “Come on. I know you’re in pain.”

  He shook his head. Fucking old man. But, by the determination on her face, he didn’t want to disobey. He sat on the couch and watched as she flitted about the room.

  “I’ll be right back,” she muttered, dashing around a corner. In less than a minute she was back in the living room, a small bottle in hand and a terrycloth towel in another.

  “Dare I ask what you have planned for me?”

  She giggled, and the sound rang so utterly feminine and charming. “Just sit still, Dr. Keegan. I’m in charge now.”

  Aidan reclined his head on the couch. He grinned to himself. It felt good to have her flitting around in the cabin as if she owned the place. After another trip into the kitchen, she returned with a bowl in hand and placed it on the ground beside the other items. Aidan frowned as he studied her weapons of choice. Dear God. Lavender Oil.

  “Liya, what on earth are you doing with that? You travel with lavender oil? Why?

  She grabbed the bottle and jutted her chin. “I have trouble sleeping sometimes and it helps.”

  He had no idea she suffered insomnia. “You slept fine with me last night.”

  “I know.” She tore off his boots. “It was comforting to be held. I’ve never experienced that.”

  Aidan bent forward and stroked her hair. He knew what she meant. He wondered if she knew how much it meant to him having another person, having her, lie beside him.

  “Why aren’t you sleeping at nights?”

  She tested a finger in the water then looked up from her position by his feet. “I had to get up a lot in the nights to give my brother his medication. It became a habit. There were times I was always afraid I’d fall asleep and something would happen to him and I wouldn’t be able to help. I never wanted to miss holding him when the time came.”

  She inhaled deeply as if it cost her a lot to confide in him. She rolled the jeans upward. Her fingers grazed the hair on his leg. Aidan knew the instant her fingertips made contact with the jagged scar and puckered skin.

  “I don’t care,” she repeated, reassuring him.

  Aidan’s palms misted. Aside from his doctors and the physical therapist he had worked with for a few months after the surgery, no one else had seen the extent of the damage.

  She peeled up the jeans and exposed the skin. Aidan felt the cool air hover across his leg, causing it to seize up and cramp even more. Liya dipped the towel into the bowl and flattened it over the scar, massaging in a circular motion. His head pushed back into the sofa. Immediately the heated water, glistening with drops of the lavender oil, began to dull the ache.

  Aidan studied her in silence. How could she stand to look, much less touch the disfigured flesh? He had to stop her. Leaning forward, Aidan tried to lift her hand from his leg. “You don’t have to do this.”

  Liya pushed away his hand, removed the towel and lowered her soft lips to the scar. “Three days, Aidan. Three days and I’m your woman. Let me do this for you.”

  Replacing the damp towel, she swiped it up and down, dabbing on the wound while her other hand massaged the knots. The need to please her and return everything she was handing him rose deep from within. He wanted to treat Liya as she deserved to be treated. Which meant, she deserved way better than being with a man devoid of a heart fully able to love her. Aidan’s chest tightened. He wanted to be the one to hold her all the time. Make sure that she slept well at night. He wanted to give and promise her so many things, but he couldn’t promise to give her his entire heart, although Liya was worming her way into it day by day, and had been for almost a year. Aidan just hadn’t wanted to realize it.

  “Liya?”

  Her gaze flickered upward. The crimson sparks of the fireplace danced in her eyes and her rounded face appeared lovelier than ever. “There are so many men out there––men who are younger, handsome and unhindered by injuries. You’re a beautiful young lady, sweetheart. Why me?”

  She wrung the towel. “Why not you? Like I said, I feel safe around you. I want you, but there’s something about you that draws me in, even if I know the outcome is impossible.”

  Aidan groaned inwardly. He knew it was impossible also, but did she have to voice it at a time like this? “What are you going to do when you leave here? Are you going to find a boyfriend?”

  She shrugged and sat up with her chin brushing against his kneecap. “Maybe. I’m tired of being alone. I’m not like you.”

  Liya was correct. She had every right to find love. Aidan couldn’t restrain the bitterness. He looked down at her. She hadn’t even showered yet since they’d made love. His sperm, however small the amount he had accidentally ejaculated, was still inside her and here she was openly discussing her plans to be with another man. Sarah hadn’t been a virgin when they married and he hadn’t cared because it was unimportant and his love for her was blinding. But Liya— she was something new. She belonged to him and however much he was unable to return the sentiment, it killed him to know she would experience passion with someone else. Each and every night while he slept alone, Liya would be wrapped up in the arms of another man. Would he one day see her walk down the street with a big belly carrying some other man’s child?

  Anger jackknifed into him, anger directed at himself. Aidan lashed out, “Are you going to let him know you lost your virginity to a man old enough to be your father?”

  “Are you insulting me or yourself?” she asked with unnatural calmness.

  The anger melted and drained out of him. Of course she would see through his self-derision. “Myself,” he relented. “I’m being an ass.”

  “Does that mean you don’t want me to find love?”

  Yes, only if it’s with me. “I want you to be happy.”

  “But happy by myself, just like you will be by yourself too, right?”

  He gritted his teeth. When she put it that way, it sounded absurd. He sounded absurd. “You’ve never been in love before. You
have no idea how it feels and the fear that comes with losing the ones you love— that it might happen all over again. I can’t go through that again.”

  “Is that what you’re afraid of?” she asked, her small hand curved around the taut muscle in his leg. “You’re afraid to give your heart to me because you think you might lose me?”

  His jaw clenched. This was no longer about his promise to Sarah. “Yes. Damn you.” He jerked her to stand before him. “But that won’t happen, because you promised you’d leave my heart intact. Isn’t that right, Liya? You promised I wouldn’t fall in love with you and God help me, you’d better keep your word.”

  Fear skittered into her eyes. He could see a pulse beating rapidly in her neck. What the hell was wrong with him? Aidan loosened his hold. No woman had ever brought him to the point of violence. He pulled her close and nuzzled the tender skin below her nape. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She entwined her arms around his waist. “You didn’t scare me. You didn’t scare me at all. I just wish I could take your pain away. I’d do anything for you.”

  “Liya, you shouldn’t say those things. I can’t offer you a future, sweetheart.”

  Against his lips, she whispered, “Give me tonight and tomorrow. It’s Christmas.”

  Aidan lifted her and laid her bare on the crimson Oriental rug in front of the stone fireplace. Aidan sat, allowing his hand to explore the delicate flesh at the junction of her thighs. The kindling crackled and flared, casting a golden orange radiance on her pussy. He could see every crevice and fold on her drenched sex, glistening in the light. Aidan stroked along her center. She shivered in response. Parting her thighs wider, he draped her leg above his shoulder and kissed the delicate area behind her knee. “You enjoy being petted, Liya?”

  Nodding eagerly, she rolled her hips. She was so wet. Aidan flicked his finger across her clitoris. She shivered again and thrashed her head to the side. He couldn’t resist. Aidan lowered his head and brushed his lips on the succulent bud.

  A low gasp echoed in the room. She hadn’t expected it. He hadn’t either. Tasting Liya was going to prove to be a huge mistake. He peered upward and drank her in. His angel. How could he deny her this pleasure?

  “Kiss it again, Aidan.”

  Aidan wedged her legs apart until it was wide enough to see the folds separating. God, she was beautiful down there. His cock swelled and Aidan ran his hand along the protrusion. It was so tempting to push her back and shove his prick in to the hilt. So tempting to actually spill his seed inside her pussy. Give her everything. His throat seized. No way. He would never do that to Liya. He looked down at her soft yet flat stomach. Yes, it would definitely kill him if he got her pregnant and had to lose her and the baby. Not once did he think something like that would happen to him. If it could happen once, why not twice?

  Liya focused on him. “I’m losing you again, aren’t I?” She attempted to bring her legs together.

  He held her ankles, stilling her movement. “Don’t ever do that.” Aidan hoisted her leg higher, until her toes dangled over his shoulder, and reveled in the sight of her pussy. He was dying to get a taste of it.

  Lowering his head, he dove in and tongued her clit. Moisture trickled from her pussy onto his lips. Heaven help him, she was sweet. Sweeter than he ever thought a woman could taste. A log sizzled in the fireplace, casting a shadow against the wall as Aidan placed his hand beneath her lush ass and lifted her to his mouth, licking between her folds. He heard her delightful squeals and it went straight to his heart. His tongue delved deeper, thrusting into the narrow slit until tiny tremors held her deep in throes.

  When the tremors subsided, Aidan shrugged out of his clothes. He wanted the intimacy of skin touching skin. He straddled her waist and mounted her, pushing the enflamed tip in her slickened vulva. “I need you right now.”

  Liya’s thighs spread wider than before in open invitation. Aidan kissed her on the lips then plunged deep, battering hard against her cervix. His eyes rolled backward at the feel of her hot cunt. Liya’s pussy was the best he’d ever been inside. Impossibly small and tight, she was squeezing him until it was almost painful, creating a sinful friction. If he weren’t careful it would be all too easy to spill his seed outside her womb and risk everything.

  “Aidan,” she pleaded. “Harder. Please.”

  Aidan growled and drove into her, headless, without thought. “Killing me,” he grated. “You know I can’t come inside you, baby.”

  She scratched the edges of her fingernails along the column of his shoulder blade as if she was daring him to do just that. Aidan almost prayed to heaven she would coo and beg for his cum inside her pussy. It would drive him straight to the brink of madness and he’d have no choice but to fall prey to the insanity and unload inside her. Yes, he wished she would give him the excuse he needed.

  When her pussy tightened around him and Aidan felt cum rolling up his shaft, he wrapped his fist around the base and withdrew. Slow down, Keegan. He looked at Liya. Did she realize she could bring a man to his knees and make him come harder and faster than he ever thought possible? Aidan forced her backward and held the engorged cockhead between her labia. Eyes wide, her lips parted as he tightened his grip around the length and watched the cum rip from his shaft, coating her clitoris with milky splotches of semen that trickled all the way down her opening and along her inner thighs. Finally he tore his gaze away and gathered her in his arms, kissing her shoulder. Perfection. Liya dripping wet with his seed was a sight he would never forget for as long as he lived.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered, eyeing him closely.

  The urge to laugh bubbled to the surface. He had just fucked her hard, harder than he intended and ejaculated on her pussy. She should demand an apology from him. Instead she was stroking his hair, inquiring if he was okay. He looked up at her. “You don’t despise me?” He was starting to despise himself and the fear he had allowed to stronghold him for so many years. He wanted to change.

  “Am I in your mind right now?”

  “Only you. I swear it, Liya.”

  His answer must have pleased her. “You’re the only one I ever think of.” She lowered her gaze to his cock, which was soft and shiny with traces of semen. “So many things I want to experience, but only with you.”

  His cock twitched and stirred to life as Liya drew nearer. His cheeks flushed. He was still flaccid but coming to life under her delicate touch. She placed a tender kiss on the head then lowered her mouth over the softened cock. Aidan closed his eyes in bliss. “Suck it, Liya. Please. It’s been so long since anyone has done that for me.” Longer than he could remember what it felt like.

  Liya laid on the ground as Aidan knelt beside her head, tipping her chin so that her mouth leveled to his prick. Her lips opened and closed, enclosing the cockhead inside her warm mouth. He felt himself expanding, the head becoming filled with blood as she pulled and drew upon the aching tip. Aidan held her head, gently guiding her on him. “Do you like it?”

  She nodded quickly and flicked her tongue all around him as if she was memorizing his taste. “I love it,” she whispered, after withdrawing his cock to lick around the rim. Aidan grunted. She had the best mouth and was so enthusiastic. When she lowered her mouth on him for the second time, he stroked her cheek, thoroughly enjoying the feel of his cock inside. Her mouth continued its arousing torture. Aidan groaned as she suckled harder on the head, nursing on his cock. He stroked her hair, knowing he was on the verge of climax. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to swallow my cum. You don’t have to, sweetheart.”

  She lifted her head and licked the shaft. “Aidan, I want it.” She drew him close and dug her fingers into his thighs. Ah God. His breathing roughened. Aidan held her to his cock. “I’m coming, sweetheart.” She sucked faster and faster. His cock grew heavy and Aidan felt it, the hot cum, surging from his testicles and up his shaft. He touched her throat and felt the muscles contracting, working hard to swallow the copious amount of semen he was
feeding her.

  Eyes closed, a tiny sound of pleasure grated from the back of her throat. When the last drop fell onto her tongue, Aidan withdrew. However, Liya wasn’t finished. Aiming forward, she flickered her tongue against the spent cockhead. He groaned and saw that she still wasn’t satisfied. What a greedy girl. His heart thundered at the knowledge that Liya loved to suck his cock. Aidan towered before her as she kneeled in front of him, nuzzling the softening prick. “Will you miss this?” Her hungry mouth clamped around the head, gently sucking. Good lord, she couldn’t seem to get enough of him. He saw her hips rocking back and forth, no doubt in effort to assuage the emptiness in her cunt. Aidan grabbed her hair and jerked her head upright. His penis slid from between her lips. “Answer me. How much are you going to miss me?”

  “Every day of my life,” she said, almost too low for him to hear.

  Her answer pleased him beyond measure. He twisted his fist tighter about the tendrils of curls and shoved her mouth onto his cock. Damn her. For two straight days she had done nothing but worm her way into his heart, overtaking his mind. And when he should be the one looking forward to the holidays being over, so he could return to his solitary existence, she was breaking her promise and leaving him with no choice but to fall under her spell.

  “I love you,” she whispered, loosening her jaw around his cock then suckling hard again.