Chapter 13
MERRY
Maybe it was the cider or the sheer absurd joy of the night, but something inside her had snapped loose. She wanted to kiss him. Hard. Wanted to throw caution so far to the wind it might never find its way back. She parted her lips slightly and tilted her face towards his, heart hammering.
Then the sky cracked open.
It didn’t just rain, it slammed down like a curtain dropping mid-scene, drenching them in seconds. The Christmas lights blurred, candy-cane red and white twisting in watery streaks.
“Jesus Christ!” she yelped, bursting into laughter as the cold hit her like a freight train.
Christian let out a strangled shout, one hand flying up over his head in a pathetic attempt to shield himself. “I knew I should’ve brought an umbrella!”
“You’re a native New Yorker,” she laughed, grabbing his arm and tugging. “Aren’t you supposed to own this?”
The market was already dissolving into chaos with vendors yanking down tarps and people screaming and scattering like chickens.
He gripped her hand in his and they ran.
Merry’s feet slapped against the pavement, her hand locked in Christian’s, their laughter echoing through the sudden storm.
Rain poured from the sky, soaking her to the bone, but she didn’t care.
It was electric. He was electric.
“There!” Christian pointed towards the subway entrance just across the street.
They dashed for it, slipping past slower-moving crowds and dodging umbrellas that had become useless in the downpour. Merry’s hair clung to her cheeks, her breath fogging in the air as they flew down the steps, water sluicing off their clothes.
At the bottom, she stumbled to a halt beside Christian, breathless and dripping. They stared at each other, soaked to the skin, cheeks flushed from the cold and the sprint and their proximity.
“Are you okay?” he asked, breath catching.
She nodded. “Are you?”
He shrugged, chest rising and falling. “Never better.”
The subway was packed with damp people clutching umbrellas and dripping bags, shoulders hunched against the wet. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting everything in a sickly, flickering glow.
Merry stood on the edge of the platform, every nerve ending lit up as the train screamed into the station, brakes shrieking, and when the doors opened it was like a stampede.
They got swept inside, barely managing to stay upright, squashed between a businessman with a soaked briefcase and a teenager blasting music through one earbud.
Christian ended up behind her, his body pressed fully against her back. The jolt of the train starting up rocked them even closer, and she felt every hard plane of him, the heat of his breath against the back of her neck.
Merry gripped the cold metal pole beside her so hard her knuckles ached. Her other hand hung useless at her side, twitching with the need to reach for him. Her clothes were soaked through, her skin cold, but every inch that touched him was burning .
Christian shifted, almost imperceptibly, and she felt the slow drag of his breath as his mouth brushed her temple soft enough to make a heat curl low and hot between her thighs.
The train jolted and someone cursed as another passenger bumped against her.
Christian’s arm moved fast, anchoring her to him.
His hand splayed low over her stomach, holding her steadily against his chest.
Merry closed her eyes.
What are we doing? Where is this going? Do I even care anymore?
The train screeched into her station and she grabbed Christian’s hand without a word.
His skin was hot as she pulled him through the crowd, weaving past slow-moving commuters with single-minded urgency.
Neither of them spoke as they exited into the night.
The rain was still coming down hard, slanting sideways beneath the streetlights.
By the time they reached her building, the silence between them was vibrating with something exhilarating.
She stopped at the front door, keys already in hand, her pulse roaring in her ears.
For a moment she didn’t move. Just stood there with her back to him, breath catching, one hand trembling on the lock.
Then his hand slid over hers. The other ghosted along her waist, drawing her gently back against him as the key scraped softly in the lock.
He lowered his head to her ear. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he whispered.
Merry answered him by turning the key and Christian made a sound low in his throat. A half-groan, half-growl that went straight through her.
Her breath came fast as she toed off her boots, fingers trembling slightly as she pulled off her coat.
His coat. She turned, walking silently through the short hallway towards her bedroom.
She could feel him behind her and was suddenly aware of every imperfect detail — the laundry basket half-full in the corner, the faint smell of lavender fabric softener, and the icy frost that had crept across the inside of her bedroom window.
She hesitated at the door, just for a second, feeling a wave of embarrassment rise up at the sight of it. A thin sheen of vulnerability exposed. Before she could say anything, Christian stepped in close behind her. His voice was low and rough against her damp shoulder.
“You look like a gift,” he murmured, his mouth brushing her skin, her door clicking gently shut behind them. “And I’m going to take my time unwrapping you.”
Before she could catch her breath, he spun her around and pressed his mouth on hers.
Soaked from the rain, their bodies collided like they’d been waiting a lifetime.
His hands found her hair, pulling her closer like he couldn’t get enough.
The kiss deepened instantly, his tongue finding hers.
Merry gasped in pleasure against his mouth, and he swallowed the sound with a groan that vibrated all the way through her.
Her uniform was soaked, clinging to every curve, and when they finally pulled apart, his eyes dropped to the outline of her breasts. Under the weight of his stare, her nipples pebbled visibly beneath the thin cotton.
“Merry,” he whispered. “Look at you.”
She reached for the zip at the side of her dress, but his hands were already there.
“Let me,” he said, voice low. “I’ve been thinking about this since the second I saw you in that uniform.”
Merry’s stomach flipped. She lifted her arms, letting him peel the sodden dress over her head inch by inch.
The wet fabric clung like glue, and the friction only made it hotter.
Dropping the dress to the floor he lowered his mouth to the hollow of her throat and began kissing every drop of water that trailed down her body.
One at her collarbone. Another between the swell of her breasts still wrapped in her bra.
His fingers slid behind her back and the clasp of her bra gave instantly. It slipped down her arms and hit the floor without a sound. His eyes dropped, and her nipples tightened into harder peaks under the heat of his gaze.
He reached up and cupped her breasts in both hands, his thumbs stroking slowly over each nipple. The touch was electric and she felt it through her core. She gasped, arching into his hands, chasing the contact, but he stopped and took a step back, drinking her in with his eyes.
“Christian,” she whispered, the word barely a breath, but it seemed to snap the last thread of his control.
He reached for the hem of his own jumper and yanked it over his head in one fluid motion, water splashing across the floor. Merry’s mouth went dry. His chest was broad and cut, skin slick from the rain, abs tight and defined, the kind of body sculpted by effort and, right now, it was all hers.
Christian saw the way her eyes devoured him, the way her thighs pressed together, and a slow, wicked grin curled at the corner of his mouth.
He undid the button on his jeans with one slow flick. The rasp of the zipper followed, impossibly loud in the quiet room. He pushed them down his hips, the soaked denim dragging over hard muscle, revealing the thick outline of him beneath black boxers.
Within seconds he was completely naked and unapologetically hard. His cock stood thick and flushed, curved up towards his stomach, already leaking at the tip. He was big. And there wasn’t a single part of him that didn’t look ready to ruin her in the best possible way.
She swallowed hard, heat surging through her, her thighs instinctively pressing tighter as she throbbed with want. Christian caught the movement and his grin turned feral.
Still watching her, he wrapped a hand around his cock, fingers tightening at the base as he gave himself one slow, possessive tug. Every nerve in her body locked on to that one motion and she reached for him without thinking, desperate to touch him.
But he stepped just out of reach.
“Not yet.”
Her hand froze mid-air, trembling.
“I told you, I’m unwrapping this slowly.”
He sank to his knees in front of her, hands sliding up the outsides of her thighs, thumbs hooking just under the waistband of her tights.
The fabric clung to her, damp and tight, but he took his time.
Inch by inch, he eased them down her legs, dragging them over her hips, her thighs, grazing every new inch of bare skin with his thumbs as he went.
She gripped the edge of the dresser behind her, legs wobbling. When he got to her knees, he leaned in, hot breath ghosting over the inside of her thighs. Merry whimpered, her hips twitching forward, but Christian didn’t rush.
He kissed the inside of one thigh, then the other, then lower, pressing open-mouthed kisses down the line of her leg as he peeled the tights further, past her knees, down her calves. By the time he reached her ankles and slipped the damp fabric off completely, she was shaking.
Then he rose and caught her mouth in a kiss that was nothing like the last. This one was hungry.
His tongue swept into her mouth like he meant to devour her.
His hands locked around her hips, holding her still as she melted against him, her bare chest pressing to his, nipples grazing his skin with every breath.
The friction was maddening. She arched into him, chasing more, her body aching for his hands, his mouth, anything he’d give her.
He trailed his fingers between their bodies and found the lace edges of her panties. He tugged at them gently, stroking across the fabric with maddening lightness. His fingers found her centre through the soaked cotton, pressing gently, and she heard him breathe out a low chuckle.
He took a step back, eyes locked on hers. “You good?” he asked, breathily. “Tell me now, Merry. You want me to stop?”
“Don’t you dare.”
Something dark and hungry flickered behind his eyes. “Good,” he growled. “Because I’m done unwrapping, now it’s time to play.”
He leaned in and kissed her throat, trailing his mouth down until his lips brushed the top of her breast. Merry shuddered as his mouth closed over one nipple, sucking it deep, tongue circling slowly before giving it a light, deliberate bite .
She cried out, the sharpness lighting her nerves on fire.
Before she could recover, he moved to the other — his free hand still cupping her pussy through the wet cotton, keeping her right on the edge while his mouth wrecked her above. He sucked and grazed her with his teeth again, enough to make her hips buck forward into his hand.
“Patience, Merry,” he groaned, giving her a light slap on the ass.
The sharp contact made her gasp and sent a fresh, helpless pulse of desire through her. She felt it, hot and slick, between her thighs.
“Fuck your patience,” she whispered into his mouth. “Who turned you into a goddam sadist?”
Before she could draw another breath, he dropped his gaze and, with one sharp tug, ripped her panties clean off.
The soaked fabric tore in his fist, and he flung them aside.
She barely had time to react before his hand was back between her legs, sliding through her folds with a wet sound that made them both groan.
“Fuck, Merry,” he gasped, voice hoarse. “You’re soaked.”
And then he plunged two fingers inside her, deep and hard, just as his thumb found her clit.
Her head fell back, a cry bursting from her lips as her body clamped around him, already fluttering with the pleasure she’d been holding in.
Her knees buckled, but he caught her, one arm bracing around her back, holding her up like she weighed nothing.
“Stay with me,” he murmured, kissing her jaw and her throat, even as his fingers rocked into her.
She gasped his name, his fingers buried deep, each thrust angled just right, sending sparks up her spine. He curled them, hitting that spot over and over while his thumb kept up its relentless rhythm on her clit. It was more pleasure than Merry had ever felt before.
“God, Merry,” he growled against her throat. “You feel incredible.”
She could only moan, her voice broken, eyes squeezed shut as the pressure spiralled impossibly tight. Every nerve was lit up. Her thighs were shaking. Her body clenched hard around his fingers, so close to pure ecstasy.
“Let go,” he whispered, thrusting deeper. “I want to feel you come.”
And she did. The orgasm hit like a wave, crashing through her so violently her legs gave out completely. He held her firm, fingers still working her through every last pulse. She cried his name, as pleasure roared through her in a flood.
“You’re incredible,” Christian rasped, his voice thick and rough against her ear.