22. Christmas Kisses
CHRISTMAS KISSES
K andi
“This right here is why I never engaged in workplace romances.”
“Why?”
“My only goal when I came to Scenic Vista Landscaping Company was to achieve financial stability and job security. That’s it.
I did not come for a relationship or a fling.
Workplace romances always end in drama, and when a couple has an issue, they still have to see each other, work together, and remain professional.
It’s not easy to do that when your feelings are all over the place.
The minute that you see that man with another woman or expressing interest in her, you’re ready to fuck up the workplace. ”
Kayn tilted my chin up and then caressed my face as he spoke. “You don’t think it’s the same way for men? Let me see another nigga smiling in your face or looking at ya ass. It’s not about just firing his ass but crushing him.”
I pulled away from him. “And that right there . . . is the drama that neither of us needs. Like I said, I’ve gone through enough jobs in the last several years to last a lifetime. I just needed to ensure that I wasn’t laid off or fired for whatever reason.”
Kayn stuffed his hands in his pockets. Why did Black men look good as hell in all black? He still wore his all-black suit from earlier. Even his tie and the shirt he wore underneath his suit jacket was black. His tie was untied and hung loosely around his opened collar.
The diamonds in his ears shone beautifully underneath the chandelier in my room, and the Cuban chain necklace at his throat sparkled against the gorgeous dark tone of his minx-colored skin.
“Is that why you slept with me?” he asked.
I felt as if I were swimming underwater and my ears were being filled up. I was dizzy. There was no way that I had heard him correctly.
“Excuse me?”
“I asked, is that the reason that you slept with me? To hold on to your job.”
Rage flooded through me, and I wanted to grab something and beat his ass with it.
I couldn’t believe that he would disrespect me in such a way.
How was he so sweet one moment and such an ass the next?
Was Kayn so calloused and hardened by the world and what his parents had done that he couldn’t see the truth in front of him? I loved this man.
“You narcissistic asshole!”
I stormed away from him and rushed out of my room. I headed for the steps, but Kayn was on me like a bolt of lightning. He grabbed my arm, spun me around to face him, and pressed me against the wall.
“I don’t care about ya li’l ass getting angry. That’s not going to settle shit between us. I need to hear your words, Kandi. I need to know how you feel.” He used his knee to part my thighs.
“You know how I feel.” I seethed with anger.
“I don’t want to make assumptions. Use your words and tell me what you’re feeling, Kandi.” Kayn’s thigh pressed against my core and rocked slowly side to side. I was being turned on by the minute.
“I feel like you’re a bastard. You’re a class one asshole because I cannot believe you would sit here and disrespect me like that.”
His warm breath tickled my skin when he dipped his head to nuzzle my neck. “Still haven’t told me what you’re feeling inside.” His voice was low and sexy. “That’s all I want to know. How do you feel about me?” he demanded and grabbed my hand and placed it against his chest.
“Why do you need to ask me? I thought you would know that by now. Didn’t I show you throughout our time in Mistletoe and before?”
“Leading up to Mistletoe, you showed me what an excellent and irreplaceable assistant you are. In Mistletoe, you showed me what a good actor you are but also an excellent liar.”
Kayn pressed his lips against mine and crushed them in a bruising, rough, and demanding kiss. I was breathless for several moments before he finally released me.
“What?”
“When you lied to my aunt about your job and what you had done before and what you were doing now.”
“That was to give us an acceptable cover, Kayn!” I shouted angrily. Why was he toying with my emotions, sending me up and down while he was being hot and cold? I was fuming and wanted to knock some sense into his stubborn ass.
I could not stop the tears, no matter how badly I wished that I wouldn’t cry in front of him.
“How. Do. You. Feel?” Kayn demanded through clenched teeth with his lips pressed against mine.
“I care more about you than I have the right to. I feel like I’ve known you forever.
All I want is to be around you, to see your smile, and feel your arms wrapped around me.
When you shut me out, that hurts. Please don’t shut me out, baby,” I begged as tears streamed from my eyes.
“All I want is to heal your pain, Kayn, but I don’t want you to take me for granted. ”
“I don’t. I’m sorry that I made you feel that way.
My feelings for you scare the shit out of me.
They take me out of my safe zone and have me acting out of my element.
After my parents, I swore I would never let another person hurt me again.
The way you make me feel, Kandi, you have the power to do that.
I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.
The worst part about that is that I haven’t known you for long. ”
“I’m in that same boat. I promise that I won’t hurt you.
But I need you to be willing to take the risk with me.
You can’t leave me out here on the waters alone.
I will be patient with you because I know that it won’t be easy for you, and I won’t pressure you.
Just please don’t shut me out. I need you as much as you need me. You know why?”
He shook his head.
“You make me feel safe and desired, Kayn.”
His fingers traced my lips lightly, and he stared into my eyes as the tears fell.
“And you make me feel whole and seen, sweet baby.”
“How do we make this work?” I asked softly.
“One moment and one day at a time, I guess. I don’t know. This is new to me. I don’t open up about my feelings easily.”
I bit my lip, trying to hold back a smile. He thought that no one had noticed that about him.
“Then let me show you,” I pleaded.
He covered my lips with a sensual, spine-tingling kiss that left me with cum-soaked panties before he lifted me into his arms and carried me back to my room and to the bathroom.
He lowered me to my feet and turned on the shower while I removed my robe. One item at a time, I slowly undressed Kayn, enjoying peeling back the layers of his clothing as much as I was enjoying peeling back the layers of his personality.
There was so much to this man. This time, when he was naked before me, I allowed my fingers to dance over his body, every tattoo and every scar.
Underneath some of the tattoos, I could feel the scar tissue from the beatings he endured.
The last time that I was with him, I could feel some of the scar tissue, but I didn’t focus on them.
This time, touching, kissing, and healing them would be my focus.
As we stepped underneath the hot shower, I took my time and pressed into the raised skin. I memorized every welt and every knot with my fingers and tongue. I wanted Kayn to see that I accepted every part of him and did not judge him.
I could tell by the way that he would remove my hands from touching him the first time we had sex that he was self-conscious about them. There was no need for him to be because he and them mattered to me. His scars were a part of his story, and they were what made the man I fell in love with.
I licked Kayn from his lips to his shoulders and down his arms. I licked across his chest and to his abdomen.
I kissed my way down his thighs and legs and back up again until I kissed him across his back and over his ass.
When I moved back to the front of him, I slowly took his dick in my mouth and to the back of my throat.
The shower water pelted us, and I had no idea if the droplets on his eyelashes and cheeks were the shower water or his tears. His hands held my head firmly in place as he rocked deep into my mouth. I sucked him vigorously until he pulled back and lifted me from my knees.
Kayn kissed me softly but deeply, letting me know that everything I had done to make him feel seen mattered to him. His hands slid down my back and cupped my ass. I jumped up, and he held me close to him as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
When he slid inside of me, he filled me up, taking up all the space. I bounced and rode his dick with a fevered passion as he bit my shoulders and lips and as I dug my fingers into his back and then caressed him lovingly in the same moment.
When Kayn and I came, it was with wild abandon. Our moans and cries of ecstasy intermingled with one another’s. His coarse grunts mixed with my high-pitched cries created a Christmas melody so sweet and beautiful that I knew that he was giving me the best gift that he could ever give me: his heart.