by Aston, Jana
Which always makes me feel a certain sort of way.
Annoyed, if I’m being honest. No one ever makes out in those movies! If you’re really lucky they share one chaste kiss and you then have to use your own imagination to fill in the rest. And sometimes I didn’t want to use my imagination. Like right now, with Teddy. I wanted something not suitable for television with Teddy.
So somewhere along that very short walk I decided to invite him inside. Sure, Jillian warned me off him, but that was more of a suggestion than a request. Right? Besides, it’s just one night. Also, I deserved a Christmas bonus for taking care of the Santa thing today.
Wait, that didn’t sound right. Well, whatever. Teddy didn’t seem averse to giving me a Christmas bonus and honestly that was all that really mattered here.
So I unlocked my front door and while he was asking for my phone number I dragged him inside.
Like, literally. I grabbed a fistful of his jacket and tugged him right over the threshold.
Which leads us to right now.
“You really are the most unexpected surprise, Noel.” Teddy is smiling as he’s kissing me. Or maybe I’m kissing him. Whatever, I’m not going to second-guess this. It’s mutual kissing. He’s as into it as I am.
“Don’t tell your sister about this,” I say, pulling my lips away long enough to put in the request as I shrug off my jacket and toe off my boots.
“Okay,” he replies slowly. He seems almost confused by the request and I’m starting to wonder if this was some kind of tricky setup. Jillian knows how tired I am of people trying to set me up, so maybe she told me this wasn’t a setup as some kind of reverse psychology trick? Telling me Teddy was unsuitable so I’d drop my guard?
You know what? I don’t want to know.
“Don’t ruin this for yourself, Teddy,” I interrupt when he starts to say more. I roll my eyes but I’m in the process of pulling my turtleneck over my head so he can’t see me. Why are men so stupid? Does he want to talk me out of this? I’ve been in a dry spell more suitable for a convent than for a single woman in her twenties. I really need this to happen. I drop my shirt on the floor.
Teddy’s eyes trail slowly over me, another grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“I really like you, Noel.” Again, like earlier he seems a bit surprised by me. As if I’m not matching up to whatever he was told about me.
“I’m sure you do,” I agree. I’m half naked, what’s not to like? But then I add, “I don’t normally do this,” not because I particularly care if he thinks I’m ho-ho-hoing it up with every guy in town. But just because I feel like mentioning it. That’s all. Not at all because I might like him too.
“Yeah, me neither.”
I side-eye him as I toss the Santa suit in the direction of a bench in my living room I keep for the purpose of collecting things.
“I promise you, I’ve never met anyone like you. In all my life.” His eyes trail over me again in that way that he has. That way that feels like he’d still be looking at me even if there were twenty topless women to choose from.
“Take off your boots,” I tell him before I do something really stupid. Like lose all my sensibilities and allow him to walk on my carpet with wet footwear.
“Yes, ma’am.” He gives me a little wink when he says it and I very nearly consider unbuttoning his pants right in the tiny vestibule that makes up my front entryway.
When he’s got them off I take his hand and guide him over to the couch, not bothering to turn on any lights. My Christmas tree is on a timer, set to start sparkling promptly at six o’clock, so it’s already on, illuminating the room with the perfect mood lighting.
I had no idea Christmas was so sexy, but really everything about it is an aphrodisiac. Sparkly lights, snuggle weather, and mistletoe hanging all over the place encouraging kissing.
Maybe it’s not supposed to be sexy, but Teddy is bringing the sexy back to Christmas. He’s putting the X back into X-mas. He’s adding the hung into hanging the stockings. He’s about to Christmas bonus me into next week.
I laugh at my thoughts as I sit on the couch, pulling Teddy down with me. I. Am. Ridiculous.
“Something funny?” he asks, brushing a few strands of my hair away from my face. I had it up today in a topknot but I’m sure yanking a turtleneck over my head didn’t do it any favors.
“Yeah, me,” I answer, but when I don’t offer any further explanation he laughs.
His fingertips are cool against my skin, but soft as he tucks the loose hair behind my ear. The simple skim of his fingertips running along the shell of my ear is heavenly. Who knew my ear was such an erogenous zone? Not me. Then again I never had a thing for Santa before today either so I guess that old saying is true. You really do learn something new every day.
“This bossy librarian updo has been driving me crazy all day,” he murmurs, his voice gruff as his fingers move back to my hair, searching out whatever is holding it in place so he can remove it.
“I’m not a librarian,” I object, but I pull the band out of my hair holding it all in place and let it tumble down all the same. It makes me shiver as the strands hit my bare skin. Teddy groans, the sound a barely audible sigh as he smooths the mess of it over my shoulders. One finger lingers on the strap of my bra, toying it back and forth over the curve of my shoulder.
“But you are bossy.”
“Assertive,” I correct, challengingly, with one brow raised. He laughs, and even his laugh is attractive. He laughs like we’re in on the joke together, the rumble low and sexy.
“There’s nothing wrong with bossy. It’s hot. I like it when a woman knows what she wants.”
“I want your shirt off.”
He smiles and obliges me and once his shirt is gone I start to see the value of unemployment because he’s clearly dedicating some hours to the gym. I place my palms against his chest and explore. He’s warm and solid. Firm and toned with a light smattering of hair. I have a thing for the perfect amount of chest hair on a man and he’s got it. I like the smattering of it across his pectorals and the trail of it from his bellybutton down to the space where it disappears beneath his waistband.
Below my fingers his chest rises and falls with his breathing as I explore and take him in, my eyes moving back to his face when he slides the straps of my bra over my shoulders and unfastens the clasp behind my back. I move my hands long enough to divest myself of the bra completely and when he sinks his teeth into his bottom lip at seeing all of me I shiver.
“Are you cold?”
“Not in the slightest.” I shake my head to back up my statement. He’s running his hands slowly up and down my arms. I’m not sure if it’s an attempt to warm me or just a caress but it feels so good to be touched like this. To be touched by him. I want to feel every inch of him pressed against every inch of me so I lean forward and kiss him again, our chests flush. There is nothing quite like naked kissing. The feeling of skin-to-skin contact. Especially when he has a good chest and even better lips. They’re smooth and warm and he’s got one of those pouty bottom lips usually reserved for models and Photoshop. I’m pretty sure I’ll die when he gets around to sucking a nipple between his perfect lips. I moan out loud at the very idea of it.
His hands are gliding over every inch of me he can reach. Down my back, up my sides. His fingers stop to massage the nape of my neck while we kiss and it all feels so good. So lovely I’m not sure how I’ve survived without it before this moment. Every place he touches me sets my skin humming with want and need and frankly if Santa can’t get this sleigh off the ground tonight I will die.
Not that I expect any issues there because I can feel his sleigh through his pants and it feels real sturdy. Dependable. Like it’s capable of being ridden all night long. I swing a leg across his lap to straddle him, grinding myself against him as if I’m too impatient to wait for actual sex to get off. And honestly, I might be. I’m so turned on it wouldn’t take much for me to orgasm at the moment.
Teddy
uses our new position to cup my breasts with his hands, flicking my nipples with his thumbs before pinching one of them. I think it was the left one, that lucky bitch.
My head drops back involuntarily and the words “Oh, holy crap, fuck me,” slip out of my mouth.
“Is that what we’re doing? Thank you for clarifying.”
I’d call him a smartass but he’s still playing with my nipples and then he bends his head and—oh, God, yes, his mouth. I’m not even sure how to qualify the noises coming out of my mouth and I don’t think Teddy can either because he chuckles against my breast and it all feels so freaking good and fun and if I had any remaining doubts about doing this they’re gone now.
Also…
Jobs are so overrated. I would totally make out with him again even if we had to do it in his parents’ basement. Which we wouldn’t, because I have my own place. But the point is I’d be willing to make some compromises.
“You’re so beautiful,” he tells me when his lips have moved back to mine. Soft, sexy kisses, our lips exploring and teasing and tasting every bit of each other we can reach. He trails those lips down my neck and across my collarbone. Sucks an earlobe between his teeth and gives it a gentle tug.
It’s insane how good this is between us. I’m not normally this… uninhibited. I’m normally nervous with someone new. It’s always slightly awkward the first time, in my opinion. Like learning how to ride a new bike and you’re not sure how high to raise the seat or how well the brakes work or if that squeak is a one-off or if it’s something you’re going to have to get used to hearing every single time you want a ride.
That sort of thing.
I can’t recall a time it was ever this good.
This is… seamless. Like a sex dream where it all goes perfectly and you never want to wake up. Maybe it’s all the mistletoe floating in the air—theoretically speaking. Maybe it’s Teddy. I’m enjoying this too much to think too hard about it, so screw it, I won’t. I’m just going to enjoy every moment of it.
“That’s quite the package you’ve got there, Santa.” I roll my hips against him, hoping we can move this into my bedroom. Or we can just stay here and take off our pants. I’m not picky.
“Did you really just make a dirty Santa joke?” His tone is incredulous but he’s laughing. Which is totally normal in the midst of a hookup.
“Err, maybe? Too much?”
“Maybe just a little. Unless you’ve got a genuine Santa fetish you want to disclose at this time.”
“I don’t.” I shake my head vigorously while running my hands across his chest again. Really really nice chest hair.
“Glad to hear it.”
“Would it have been a deal-killer if I had?” I press. Why in the hell am I asking? Now I’m laughing too. At myself.
“I think we could have worked something out.” Teddy manages to say this like he means it, which is rather nice of him.
“Thanks.”
“Do you have any others?”
“Fetishes?” I perk up. I don’t actually, but it’s nice to be asked, isn’t it? Maybe I can develop one. A really good one I can use to establish my street cred on the kink scene in Reindeer Falls.
As if Reindeer Falls has a kink scene.
I start laughing again.
“Bad Christmas jokes,” Teddy clarifies with an amused grin.
“Oh, those. For sure.”
“You’re a lot of fun, Noel.”
“Agreed,” I say with a straight face. “A half-naked woman telling bad Christmas jokes is every man’s fantasy, am I right? Wait, unless…” I drag out the pause, a dramatic frown covering my face. “Unless bad Christmas jokes are your fetish?”
“They are now. Though I’ll admit, I do like the idea of you on Santa’s naughty list.”
“I’m quite naughty.”
“Are you?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” I rake my nails playfully across his chest with just enough pressure to elicit a small sigh from his lips.
“Fair point.”
Chapter 5
We move things to my bedroom after I ask Teddy if I can see his North Pole. Honestly, I’m not sure why he hasn’t run out the door yet either, but you do what you gotta do to get laid, I suppose.
“You’re really into Christmas,” Teddy observes with a slow glance around my bedroom. I’ve got snowflake sheets on the bed. To be fair, I had no idea I was having company tonight or I’d have changed them. I’ve also got a solid red cover on my duvet and a big white cable-knit blanket across the foot of the bed. And a bedroom tree. Totally normal. It’s just a three-footer, but I like to fall asleep to the tree lights.
“This is nothing. My family is really into the holidays.”
“That sounds nice.”
“Yeah, it is.” My mom might be a little over the top about Christmas but I appreciate all the memories and traditions I have from my childhood.
“Is that how you ended up with the name Noel?”
“Yup.”
“What’s your middle name? Mistletoe?” He’s teasing but he has no idea how close he is.
“No, that’s Holly’s middle name. Mine is Eve.”
“You have a sister named Holly Mistletoe?”
“And another one named Ginger Spice.”
“Stop it.”
“I’d never lie about such a thing.” I laugh.
“I suppose holiday sheets are tame, all things considered,” he agrees, taking another look around my room before hitting the light switch and stretching out beside me on the bed. There’s enough light from the bedroom tree to make him out clearly, but not too much to kill the mood. Bedroom tree for the win.
“How does Santa stay STD-free?” I’m unbuckling his pants as I ask, and I really hope I can get to the punchline without laughing.
“Tell me.”
“He always wraps his package before shoving it down the chimney.” My cheeks hurt from trying to hold back the laugh. Teddy groans but I don’t think it’s because of my bad joke. I think it’s because I’ve got his pants undone and I’m palming him through his briefs.
The next thing I know I’m flipped onto my back and Teddy’s taken over. I guess joke time is over. Hallelujah.
He’s kissing me and sliding my leggings over my hips, which is a really effective way to get me to stop telling bad Christmas jokes. Or saying much of anything at all. I kick them free from my ankles once Teddy’s got them past my knees. My panties follow suit. Then he finishes the job I started by removing his pants, but before I can get my hands on him he’s working his way down. Lips, neck, breast, navel—oh, my, yes.
I’m ridiculously slick already and growing more so with every press of his lips headed south. When he flickers his eyes upward to look at me from between my legs I’m sure I’ll come from a single tease of his tongue. He’s absurdly good-looking. Caramel-brown eyes framed by thick dark lashes. Strong jaw. And those freaking lips. Yes, oh, God, right there. I arch my back and grab the bedsheets in a fist in each hand, and all the tension from my shoulders eases as my legs fall open wider. He takes the opportunity to place one of my knees over his shoulder while pressing my other leg farther into the mattress, which is so freaking hot. Like he wants to make a feast of me and he’s just getting comfortable.
When he smiles at me from between my legs I am done for. He drags his tongue through my core and I roll my hips in response. Then he rims my entrance with a fingertip before pressing it inside and flicking my clit with his thumb. I squeeze my eyes shut on a long exhale before snapping them back open again. The view is too good not to enjoy.
“Talk to me,” he instructs before replacing his thumb with his lips. “Tell me what you like.”
“You’re already doing everything I like,” I respond, but it comes out all funny and breathless. “Keep going.”
He smiles and I immediately add the sensation of Teddy smiling with his lips pressed against my clit to the list of things I like. Then he nips at me with his teeth while sliding
a second finger inside of me and I explode. My thighs shake and my back arches while Teddy manipulates his fingers inside of me, dragging the orgasm on for what feels impossibly long, a succession of “oh, oh, ohs” falling from my mouth because full words are more than I’m capable of at present. His thumb is rubbing circles on my clit while he’s pressing kisses on the inside of my thigh and holy Jesus, has it ever been this good? Ever? He’s reading me like I’ve left an instruction manual on the nightstand. Responding to every twist of my hips, every gasp of breath from my lips.
When he’s wrung out every last bit of pleasure from my body he places a final kiss on my abdomen and climbs over me, the weight of his cock heavy against my stomach as he presses his lips against mine, still wet with me.
God, that’s hot.
I reach between us to wrap my hand around the heavy length of him. He’s rock-hard. Thick and hot in my hand and he grunts when I lightly squeeze him with my hand.
I’m going to feel every inch of him. In the very best way.
I run the head of his cock through my wetness while stroking him from root to tip while he whispers filthy things in my ear about how hard I’m making him. I’ve never felt so sexy or desirable in my life. When he grabs a condom and sheathes himself, I’m ready. So, so ready.
“Stop begging, you little minx.” Teddy grins at me between kisses and the way he says it makes me laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun in bed before. I’ve never equated naked plus laughing as a good thing before.
Also, yeah, I might have been begging.
I’ve never felt so greedy for someone’s cock, but I’m positively throbbing for it. Wet and achy and needy and I want him right the hell now. I tug his face to mine and kiss him while flexing my hips underneath him, trying to get whatever friction I can wherever I can get it.
Then finally, blessedly, he’s there. Right there where I want him. He nudges the head of his cock just inside of me and I exhale and relax around him because as wet as I am, he’s big. Another inch and I’m rising to meet him even as I’m adjusting to the feel of him. The delicious warm girth of him. Oh, holy help me, he feels so good.
