And then that thought was gone as Hayley’s fingers brushed over Olivia’s breast, pushing a small whimper from her own lips.
Hayley tugged at the fabric of the dress and whispered, “Do you think we could take this off?”
All Olivia could do was nod.
She sat up. Hayley, on her knees, already had the hem in her hands, and she pulled the dress up and over Olivia’s head in one smooth move, tossed it up onto the couch. Then she turned back to Olivia and simply stared, lips slightly parted, eyes hooded, dark.
Olivia swore she could feel Hayley’s eyes on her just as if they were fingertips, softly brushing over different parts of her body, her bare skin, causing goose bumps to erupt along her arms, but not because she was cold.
“My God,” Hayley breathed out. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” And she meant it. Olivia could tell. There was nothing sarcastic or even a little patronizing in the statement. There was nothing but awe, and in that moment, Olivia had never felt so attractive, so sexy, or so wanted. Ever.
And she wanted Hayley. Good God, did she want Hayley.
Suddenly, her inner control freak was back, but not in the way it usually was. Not in a way that halted all action while it weighed pros and cons. Not in a way that made her sit and analyze the situation for an hour. No, this time, Olivia’s inner control freak simply did what it was supposed to: It took control. And apparently surprised them both, as in the next thirty seconds, Hayley’s red sweater and black pants had joined Olivia’s dress on the couch, and the two of them stared at each other. Breath ragged, both in their underwear. Their eye contact was intense. Olivia had noticed over the past few weeks that eye contact wasn’t one of Hayley’s stronger qualities, but right then? On the floor in front of the fire half-naked? Hayley held her gaze, didn’t falter, didn’t look away, barely blinked. And when she whispered, so softly Olivia almost didn’t hear it, “I want you so badly,” that was it.
Olivia fell back against the pillows in a blur of arousal and Hayley was on her again, kissing her hard, tongues battling, hands traveling over skin and inconvenient fabric that eventually disappeared, though she wasn’t sure when or how. And when Hayley closed her mouth over Olivia’s bared nipple, the cry pulled from her was a sound Olivia had never heard herself make before. Every nerve in her body tingled and she was so wet, she absently wondered if she was ruining the rug.
That thought was instantly chased away when Hayley’s fingers found their way between Olivia’s legs and toward that wetness, the heat that she’d created. Olivia’s hips began rocking on their own, as if they had no faith in Olivia and wanted to help Hayley find the right spot.
But Hayley teased her.
She used a fingertip to trace a path all around Olivia’s center, circling but never touching that perfect spot. Olivia’s hips moved a little faster, but Hayley had taken all the control back. Olivia was completely at her mercy and she knew it. And it wasn’t frustrating. Well, okay, that was a lie. It was a little frustrating. But it was also delicious and exhilarating and so fucking sexy. Olivia opened her eyes to find Hayley watching her face, a mischievous smile on her own as she trailed her finger around and around and around.
Olivia swallowed hard, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as she looked at Hayley.
“Tell me what you want,” Hayley commanded softly, fingertip still moving maddeningly close to where Olivia needed it—but not close enough. She groaned and Hayley smiled tenderly. “Tell me.”
Olivia wasn’t a beggar. She didn’t plead. She had strength. Pride. Nobody told her what to do… “Touch me. God, please, Hayley. Touch me.”
And Hayley did.
When her finger slipped into the wetness, directly over her swollen, sensitive flesh, it only took two strokes before Olivia tipped over the edge and into oblivion. Her eyes squeezed shut as her hips lifted off the rug. She crumpled a pillow in one fist, the fingers of her other hand digging into Hayley’s back as a low, guttural moan emanated from her throat in a long, gravelly note of mind-shattering pleasure.
Olivia seriously wondered if she’d blacked out for a few seconds because she felt like she was waking up from unconsciousness as her body came down, settled back to the pillows, her muscles beginning to relax.
“Oh, my God.” She said it quietly. She said it over and over again, apparently the only three words of the English language she could remember. “Oh, my God.”
She was spent. Complete and utter jelly. Her entire body felt like it had somehow lost all bones and she was just a quivering pile. When Olivia finally pried her eyes open, Hayley was right there, propped on an elbow, tracing her fingers over Olivia’s bare stomach, and smiling with such… Olivia swallowed hard, not quite ready to go there yet.
“Well,” Hayley said, her voice soft, her eyes filled with tenderness. “That was something to behold.”
Olivia blushed. She could feel it, the heat the crawled up her neck and warmed her cheeks. She covered her eyes.
“No,” Hayley said and gently moved Olivia’s hand away. “Don’t do that. Don’t be embarrassed. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. That was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.” Her smile was so sincere that it brought tears to Olivia’s eyes.
“That was…” Olivia shook her head slowly, words eluding her. “I don’t even know.”
“I will take ‘I don’t even know’ any day of the week.” Hayley’s face was glowing. Olivia couldn’t read everything in that expression, but it was definitely all good. All very, very good.
They lay there for a long time, looking at each other. Again, Olivia was amazed by their eye contact, how intense and…raw it was. Hayley’s fingers still traveled Olivia’s body and it felt so glorious, the gentle tickle that crossed her stomach, went up her side, over her shoulder, down her arm and back. They stayed that way for a long moment…until Hayley’s fingers took a detour across one of Olivia’s nipples and her breath caught in her throat.
“Oh, no,” she said, even as she felt her arousal uncurl deep in her body, preparing for another round. “I believe it’s my turn to drive you a little crazy.” With that, she pushed herself up and over so this time, Olivia was the one on top. Hayley’s eyes had gone from bright and tender back to hooded and dark. “We are so far from finished,” Olivia whispered just before crushing her mouth to Hayley’s.
Chapter Eighteen
The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky had gone from dark to a slight pinkening, the promise that daylight was on its way. Hayley could only see a tiny bit through the living room window from where she lay, still on the floor, cushioned by pillows, a fluffy and super-cuddly fleece blanket, and Olivia.
Hayley didn’t move. Instead, she took this time awake to catalog everything she could feel, as Olivia’s deep and even breaths indicated she was still asleep, lying on her back beneath Hayley, her bare skin so warm and soft. Hayley was on her side, her head cradled on Olivia’s shoulder, Olivia’s arm wrapped around her almost protectively. Hayley’s leg was thrown over Olivia’s, her knee tucked snugly between Olivia’s legs, their bare feet touching. Hayley’s arm was bent, on Olivia’s midsection, but her hand up near her shoulder, fingers entwined in some of Olivia’s dark, tousled hair.
I never want to move from this spot.
Hayley smiled as the thought crawled slowly through her head. She was used to things zipping, moving quickly, but right now, everything was at half speed, easy and relaxed, and Hayley loved it. Last night had been…
God. Last night.
Hayley inhaled quietly, filled her lungs up as full as she could, then let the air back out very slowly, just letting herself revel in this feeling. In the slight chappedness of her lips. In the tender ache in her thighs. In the pleasant soreness between them. The idea of moving upstairs to the bedroom hadn’t even crossed their minds. No, they were too focused on what they were doing, in how amazingly well they fit together, and in how they played each other’s bodies like musical instruments, strumming and plucki
ng and stroking until one of them sang and then it was the other’s turn.
She’d lost track of how many orgasms they’d had. Three each? Four? They’d only collapsed in utter exhaustion an hour or two ago, and Hayley knew the second Olivia opened her eyes, she might very well pounce on her. Because these memories from last night, these moments she was reliving in her head, were turning her on all over again. The gentle and insistent throbbing between her legs was a pretty good indicator.
Hayley had never had sex under a Christmas tree before, but she would highly recommend it. Even now, as dawn was close to breaking, the multicolored lights bathed the room in a fuzzy, welcoming glow that spoke of love and happiness. The fire still burned in the gas fireplace, though they’d turned it down a bit, given the sweat they’d worked up—and Hayley’s brain tossed her that image: Olivia’s naked and glistening body above her, those dark eyes looking down at her as her fingers toyed with Hayley’s nipple until she gasped.
So, yeah. That would be in her head forever.
A muffled snorfling sound caught her attention, and in the next moment, Walter was standing over them, his tailless rear end wagging, knocking into the bottom branches of the tree as he looked from Hayley to Olivia and back again. As if they had some kind of telepathy, the dog and his person, Olivia opened her eyes after only a couple of seconds and Hayley waited as she took a quick moment to assess her situation.
“Hi,” Olivia finally said, turning to look at Hayley with those dark, dark eyes. The arm around Hayley tightened, pulling her closer as Olivia pressed a kiss to Hayley’s forehead.
“Hey,” Hayley said back, one corner of her mouth pulling up. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” Their gazes held for a beat before Olivia said, “I have to put this boy out and feed him breakfast.”
“Okay.”
“But don’t go anywhere.” And the twinkle in her eye had Hayley’s body already thrumming with want.
“I’ll be right here.” She heard Olivia let Walter out, then scoot upstairs. Hayley’s eyes moved along the living room ceiling as she heard Olivia’s travels. In a couple minutes, she was back down. Hayley yelped as a pile of fabric landed on her face.
A long-sleeved T-shirt so worn and soft it was almost threadbare. Hayley could barely make out “Evergreen Hills High,” the print was so faded. She put it on, inhaling the scent of laundry detergent.
Pushing any overthinking aside—or at least trying to—Hayley propped up a couple of pillows, tucked the blankets around her bare legs, and listened to what morning sounded like in Olivia’s house. The back door opening and closing, Walter’s tippy-tapping nails clicking across the floor, a scoop of dog food being dropped into a bowl, gentle murmurs from Olivia to Walter. Other sounds occurred as well, and before long, the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. And while Hayley didn’t exactly consider herself a romantic, she found herself wondering what it might be like to wake up like this every day, to hear these sounds and smell these smells.
And see this sight, she thought as Olivia returned in black leggings, and a Life Is Good T-shirt, and carrying two cups of coffee. She’d pulled her hair up into a messy pile on top of her head and looked nothing short of breathtaking. Adorably tousled. Sensual in an “I had a lot of sex last night and my cheeks are probably still flushed” kind of way. And they were.
“You look beautiful,” Hayley said, before she could stop herself.
Olivia’s olive skin flushed even more. “Well, I’m glad you think so because I avoided any and all mirrors while upstairs.” She handed Hayley a Santa Claus mug and sat down next to her, her own snowman mug clutched in both hands. She draped one leg over Hayley’s, like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. The sound of Walter crunching his breakfast was oddly comforting as they sat in companionable silence and sipped their coffee.
“I love Christmas morning,” Olivia said after a moment.
“Yeah? How come?”
Olivia inhaled slowly and let it out as Hayley watched her face, watched her think about her answer. “Because it’s so…perfect. It’s interesting to me how one particular day can actually feel different from others. It’s warmer.” She tapped a finger against her chest where her heart was. “I mean here, not out there.” She jerked her chin toward the window. “It’s warmer in that we’re all a little nicer to each other. I love knowing the day that’s coming, spending it with my family. Eating and drinking and talking and just being together. I think a lot of people might find that boring. Or even frightening—I know not everybody gets along with their family. But I’m very lucky, and I think on Christmas morning, I’m more aware of it than on other days.” With a glance at Hayley, she scrunched up her nose and asked, “Does that make sense?”
Hayley nodded. It really did. “I felt like that when my mom was alive,” she said quietly. “She loved Christmas so much.” The last thing Hayley wanted was to bring the whole mood down by being too melancholy, so she focused on the best parts of Christmas with her mother. “She would drag my father all over Manhattan to look at the decorations. And he would bitch and complain that it was all touristy stuff, but I think he secretly loved it because he would go. Every single time.” She smiled at the memory, sipped her coffee. Then her smile turned to laughter as another memory hit. “And we’d make these god-awful cookies!”
“What?” Olivia laughed with her.
“Oh, God, yes. My mom wanted so badly to bake Christmas cookies with me, and she so was not a baker. But every year, she’d try a new recipe, and every year, they came out terrible. Maybe if we’d stuck to the same one, we’d have been able to get them right eventually. But as I got older, it became another holiday tradition, and I actually looked forward to it. Which cookie can we completely ruin this year?”
They were both laughing now, and suddenly, Hayley felt so grateful. She turned to Olivia and just looked at her, watching as Olivia’s laughter quieted, then stopped.
“What?” she asked softly.
“Thank you.”
“For?”
“Everything. The time with your family. The massive amounts of food. Insisting I stay here instead of going back to my place alone.”
“What about having amazing sex with you?” Olivia arched one eyebrow, and Hayley laughed. “Don’t I get thanked for that?”
“Oh, that, too. That, the most.” Her laughter faded and she looked into Olivia’s dark eyes, eyes that had once seemed so closed but now were completely open, almost vulnerable. “Thank you for helping me love Christmas again.”
“You’re welcome.” Olivia’s voice was barely above a whisper as she leaned toward Hayley and kissed her softly. She pulled back and looked into Hayley’s eyes for a beat—there was so much there, so many things, but Hayley didn’t get a chance to absorb any of it before Olivia kissed her again.
Coffee cups were set aside.
Clothes were again discarded.
They were late getting next door.
Very late.
* * *
“I insist.” Hayley’s tone was extra firm even to her. She impressed herself.
“Hayley.” Olivia arched that eyebrow again, and Hayley made a mental note that she needed to be careful of that thing. It was a deadly weapon that she suspected would get Olivia pretty much anything she wanted from her.
But not today.
“No.” Hayley held up a hand as she stepped into her boots. “I have to go back there anyway, so it’s silly for you to come in. You stay here and enjoy the rest of the evening with your family. I will take care of things at the Evergreen. Okay?” Her voice had softened by the end of her reasoning, but she was pretty sure she’d made her point.
“Okay,” Olivia said on a sigh. “But I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to.” Hayley winked at her. She hugged Angela. Then she hugged Ann Marie and Tony and even Priya, the feeling that she’d known the Santinis for much longer than a few weeks settling into her heart and soul. Sh
e thanked them all profusely as Angela loaded up her arms with containers of leftovers.
“Come see us again soon,” Angela said, then took Hayley’s face in both her hands and kissed her cheek.
Hayley felt tears spring into her eyes and quickly looked down to blink them away.
“I’ll walk you out,” Olivia said as she stepped into her brother’s boots and grabbed her coat out of the closet.
The day had been nothing short of gorgeous. The snow had stopped and the sun had shone, giving the world a sparkle that seemed appropriate for the day. The plows had made their runs through the town, cleaning up all the neighborhood streets. Tony and Priya had taken it upon themselves to snow-blow the driveway and shovel the walk while Ann Marie had brushed off all the cars. All Hayley had to do was get in and drive away.
Which she didn’t want to do, much to her own surprise.
She opened her car door, got in, and keyed the engine. Then she sat there, one leg out with a foot on the driveway, and looked up at Olivia. “So.”
“So.” Olivia smiled hesitantly down at her, but then darted her eyes away.
“Thank you. Again.”
Bringing her gaze back to Hayley’s, Olivia’s smile seemed to grow. Solidify. “You’re welcome. Again.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“You will.”
“I’ll text you tonight.”
Olivia nodded. Then, as if doing so before she could change her mind, she leaned into the car and gave Hayley a quick kiss on the lips, then stood back up. At Hayley’s raised eyebrows, she explained, “My family is probably standing in the window watching us.”
Hayley let her gaze travel in that direction. “Ah. Yup. All four of them, like a little audience.”
Olivia closed her eyes and shook her head, and the color that tinted her cheeks was beautiful.
“You’re very sexy when you blush.”
“Stop it,” Olivia whispered, but when she opened her eyes, she smiled at Hayley, her expression soft. She took a step back. “Okay. Go. Drive carefully. I’ll talk to you later.”
One Walk in Winter Page 20
