Her Christmas Lumberjack (Crave County: Lumberjacks Love Curves)

6. Nolan

6

NOLAN

Sleep is impossible with Aurora in the next room. I can almost feel her through the wall that separates us, and it takes all my control not to get up and bring her back to bed with me, like I’ve wanted to do since the minute I saw her. But I force myself to stay put. The hours crawl by until I finally give up on sleep and head for the living room, where Rudolph greets me with a lick on the hand.

“Hey, buddy. You’re looking better.”

After having his coat brushed and eating a couple of big meals, Rudolph has a sparkle in his eyes that wasn’t there before. He’s making himself at home, and I enjoy having him around.

The blizzard outside has died down. Snow piled up overnight, and Aurora’s car is completely buried. Only the roof is showing. Fat flakes are still drifting to the ground, but the wind is quiet and hushed, and I let Rudolph outside for a minute to relieve himself. Then he follows me to the kitchen where I raid the cupboards for something to make Aurora for breakfast.

“You think she’d like some pancakes, boy?” I mutter as Rudolph sniffs around my legs.

He lets out a small whine.

“You’re right. Everyone likes pancakes.”

As I’m plating up the food, I hear footsteps coming down the hallway, and my heart stutters, chest tightening with anticipation. A moment later, Aurora appears in the kitchen, looking so adorable that all I can do is stare. My t-shirt is like a dress on her, draping almost to her knees. Her hair is still a little mussed, and she yawns as she joins me, reaching down to pet Rudolph as he rushes toward her.

“Morning,” I say.

“Good morning.” Her voice is thick with sleep. She’s so fucking cute it hurts.

“You sleep okay?”

“Great, thanks.” She smiles at me, then her eyebrows raise in realization. “Oh! And merry Christmas Eve.”

“Damn, it’s Christmas Eve already? Well, merry Christmas Eve to you too.”

She thanks me for the pancakes and we sit at the table in a comfortably sleepy silence.

“The snow fell pretty hard,” I say eventually, feeding Rudolph a chunk of pancake. “I don’t think the roads will be clear enough to go anywhere today.”

Aurora nods, and I’m relieved to see she doesn’t look disappointed. But there’s sadness in her face. Last night she was more open than I’ve ever seen her, and now the familiar guilt is back, and I can’t make sense of it.

“Are you okay, Aurora?” I ask her.

She looks up at me and smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’m fine.” Immediately, she changes the subject. “Hey, I noticed you don’t have a Christmas tree up.”

“Haven’t really been in the spirit this year,” I grunt. “Kind of ironic for a guy who owns a Christmas Tree Farm.”

Aurora bites her lip. “It must be hard—the first Christmas without your dad. You must really miss him.”

She’s right. Missing Dad is like an ache—a lost limb. But with Aurora here, I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time. Her presence drowns out the pain, muffles it like snow, and a rush of affection hits me as I look at her pretty face, filled with concern for me.

“What do you say we go cut down a tree?”

She stares at me. “For real?”

“Sure.” I glance out the window. “We can’t drive anywhere, but we could walk down to the farm, no problem.”

She’s quiet for a moment, then her lips curve into a smile. “I’d like that.”

The snow outside the front door is so high that I have to climb out of a window and clear it with a shovel until Aurora is able to open the door. Rudolph seems reluctant to leave the warmth of the cabin, so he stays behind, watching us from beside the fireplace.

“I think he’s had enough of being outside for a while,” I say, grabbing my axe before I close the door behind us.

“I can’t blame him. He must have been freezing out here.”

We pass Aurora’s buried car before heading through the trees. It doesn’t take long to reach the frozen lake, and we cross the bridge into the Christmas tree farm. We’re walking so close that I can feel Aurora’s body heat radiating against my side. All I want to do is wrap my arm around her and pull her close, but I don’t want to fuck this up. There’s still something skittish about her, like she’s scared I’ll see something I shouldn’t if she looks at me for too long.

Fuck, she has no idea how crazy she makes me.

There’s no way a gorgeous young woman like Aurora would ever want a grumpy lumberjack who’s pushing fifty. Logically, I know she has her own life in Denver. She’s only here because of the blizzard—otherwise, she’d have walked right out of my life yesterday and probably never given me another thought. But dammit, that doesn’t stop me from wanting her more than I’ve ever wanted anything. Just looking at that pretty face makes my cock ache.

“These look good,” she says, pointing at a row of firs.

“Pick whichever one you want. Your choice.”

She beams at me, melting my heart as she examines each tree, finally settling on a thick Douglas fir that’s almost twice as tall as her.

“Is this one too big?”

“It’s perfect,” I tell her, making sure she’s standing well back before I start chopping the trunk. It doesn’t take long for the tree to topple to the ground, and I give it a rough shake before hauling it over my shoulder.

Once we’re back at the cabin, I pot the tree and place it in the corner where it stands proudly. Rudolph sniffs it approvingly, and Aurora heads to the kitchen to make us some cocoa while I grab a couple of dusty boxes of decorations from the attic. When I return to the living room, Jingle Bell Rock is playing from Aurora’s phone, and she hands me a steaming mug of cocoa with a smile.

“Here’s to our Christmas tree,” she says, clinking her mug against mine.

The word ‘our’ makes my stomach tighten.

Ours. Hers and mine.

It’s just a tree, but I like the thought of sharing something with Aurora.

“To our tree,” I echo.

We hang baubles from each branch, draping over red and gold ribbons while Rudolph joyfully pounces on the trailing ends. I tell Aurora about Christmases on the farm when I was a kid: saving the best tree for our cabin, dad sneaking around at midnight in his Santa suit to put our presents beneath it, mom’s delicious Christmas dinner.

“My dad makes ours,” Aurora says with a chuckle. “I take after my mom in the cooking department.”

The song changes and Mariah Carey plays.

All I want for Christmas is youuuuuuu

Rudolph howls along to the high notes, and Aurora laughs so hard her eyes stream. It’s the first time I’ve seen her look truly happy. All the mysterious guilt and fear that has been hanging over her is forgotten as she reaches up to hang the final bauble, talking eagerly about her favorite Christmas traditions.

“Obviously the food is the best part,” she says matter-of-factly. “But the music is pretty great as well.” As she’s speaking, the song changes, and she gasps, “My favorite!”

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

She closes her eyes and smiles. “My parents always dance to this song.”

I take a step toward her. I don’t let myself think. My hands touch her waist and she lets out a breath, opening her eyes. For a moment, she just looks at me, then tentatively, her hands reach up to hold my shoulders. We fit together perfectly, her curves melting against me, my blood pounding at the contact. She smells like cocoa and Christmas, and I breathe her in hungrily as we sway to the music. Gently, she rests her head against my chest. My heart must be pounding like a jackhammer against her ear, but she doesn’t pull back.

I want Frank Sinatra to keep singing forever, but all too soon, the song ends. Aurora draws away from me. She avoids my gaze, looking back toward the tree, her voice breathless as she says, “We should, um, put the star on.”

Wordlessly, I reach into the box and hand her the star. She raises her arm but can’t quite reach the top branch, and I grab her hips from behind, lifting her up. With a gasp of surprise, she positions the star with a shaky hand. When I put her down, our bodies are so close we’re touching. She turns to face me, and the air between us crackles like a log fire, the cabin fading to nothing. There’s nothing but Aurora, her emerald eyes blinking up at me, lips slightly parted.

I can’t resist.

With a hoarse groan, I lean in to kiss her, finally giving in to the urges that have been driving me crazy since the minute I saw this angel. She kisses me back, our teeth clashing as our lips meet fiercely. Her mouth is warm and sweet, and I glide my tongue inside, raw energy pumping through me as I pull Aurora closer.

We stumble back toward the couch, lips locked as we fall against the cushions. I ease myself on top of Aurora, my cock hard as rock as she wraps her arms around my neck, moaning against my mouth.

Fuck yes.

My hands grab at her sweater, and we break our kiss just long enough for me to pull it up over her head, tossing it aside. Her skin is smooth and soft, and I run my hands over her body, clumsily unhooking her bra to reveal her plump tits. I cup them hungrily, rubbing my fingers over her hardened nipples until her breath quickens against my lips.

“You’re perfect,” I murmur. “Fuck, you have no idea what you’ve been doing to me, Aurora.”

Her eyes burn as she looks at me, cheeks blushing. “Kiss me again, Nolan.”

I crush my lips to hers, capturing those cherry-red lips in a bruising kiss. My hands drift downward, reaching for her jeans, and she helps me unzip them, kicking them aside until she’s wearing nothing but her panties. I know I shouldn’t rush this moment. I should savor every second—take things slow.

But I can’t.

I need to taste her.

It’s a deep animal urge, clawing at my body, turning me feral. My cock throbs with anticipation as I kiss down Aurora’s body, feeling the shape of her curves, the softness of her belly. Her panties are sodden, the white fabric almost see-through between her thighs. I can smell the sweetness of her arousal, and I tear away the final layer with a growl, more animal than man.

When she’s naked, I draw back to look at her, sucking in a breath. She’s so fucking beautiful it hurts.

“You’re a work of art, sugar,” I tell her, my voice hoarse. Her body is almost enough to make my cock explode, but I grit my teeth and force it back, breathing hard as I grip her thighs and try to push them apart. Aurora keeps them clamped tight.

“Nobody’s seen me like this before,” she whispers. “I’ve never actually…you know…done it.”

“Neither have I.”

The nervousness in her eyes softens slightly. “Really?”

“Really.” I lean down and kiss her cheek. I’ve dedicated my whole life to the farm and the family business. Women never really came into the equation…until Aurora showed up. She’s changed everything for me.

“I’ll take care of you, sugar. I promise.”

She nods, eyes fixed on me as she slowly lets her legs fall open. Her pink folds are glistening, arousal dripping from her honeyed core. My mouth waters as I take her in, pushing her thighs farther apart as I position my head between them. Aurora gasps as I flick my tongue between her folds, probing from her clit down to her gushing hole. Her cream coats my lips, sweeter than a candy cane, and with a groan of satisfaction, I gorge myself on her juicy pussy.

“Oh!”

Her whimpers spur me on, her body shaking beneath me as I fuck her with my tongue, losing myself in her taste. I rub her clit with my fingers, relishing the way she spasms with pleasure, crying out my name.

“Nolan, yes!”

I lick up to her clit, sucking the swollen bud into my mouth, testing out different rhythms until I find the one that makes her buck her hips like a wild thing. My fingers push inside her, two pumping in and out, her walls like a vise around me.

Fuck, she’s so tight.

Her hands grab at my hair, her moans reaching fever pitch as I pick up the pace, worshipping her until she comes undone with a shaky cry.

“NOLAN!”

She grinds her clit hard against my mouth, her tight hole quivering around my fingers as she rides out every last wave of pleasure. When she’s finally spent, I draw back, looking down at her. Her cheeks are pink, lips swollen from our kisses. She’s panting from the aftershocks of her orgasm, eyes dazed as she looks up at me.

“Did you come hard for me?” I ask, the bulge in my jeans hardening as Aurora nods eagerly. “Good girl. But we’re not done here.”

I get off the couch and reach down to lift my girl into my arms, holding her naked body close. My skin burns with need as I carry her toward my bedroom, red-hot desire coursing through me. I can still taste Aurora on my tongue, and it only makes me hornier. More desperate.

“I’m going to make you mine, sugar,” I say, shouldering open my bedroom door. “You better be ready to come again.”

Those pretty green eyes meet mine, and I can see my own need reflected in them.

“I’m ready, Nolan.”