Lucas 10
As soon as I saw her walk away, I knew I’d made a huge mistake, but my fucking ego wouldn’t let me do anything to fix it.
I was fighting years of disappointment, and even though I knew Merry was different, I couldn’t let myself relax enough to take the chance.
Instead, I tried to work, but that was impossible.
Tried to eat, but nothing tasted good.
Hell, I even tried to rub one off, but nothing happened.
Then, when I tried to sleep, it was restless and fitful.
I finally got up on Christmas Eve morning, looked out the window at the mountains of snow, and wanted to fucking cry for that little boy who lost everything on Christmas Eve when our house got ripped apart by that damn flood.
That flood set up my whole entire life and sucked me under last night with Merry.
She’d invited me to dinner, along with everyone else. Everything in me wanted to avoid the night at all costs, but the part of me that had fallen for her, wanted to suck up my hurt and give her another chance. Ethan and Connor didn’t seem to have a problem, why should I?
I couldn’t quite answer that question. Why I didn’t sleep last night and still didn’t feel like eating this morning. Yet, I knew today would be decision day, a reckoning of sorts between my past and my future.
How I would handle this would determine how I would handle everything this fucking world threw at me.
“You coming to dinner or what?” Connor asked as I waited for my coffee inside his shop. He wasn’t working today, at least not behind the counter. His staff was back in full force, plus he’d hired three more people. Ever since Merry stepped in and cheered the place up with Christmas decorations, festive cookies, muffins and even cranberry pumpkin bread, there was never a lull in business.
I ran my hand through my hair. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. She lied to us.”
“You can choose to believe that, or you could say she simply omitted the fact that she’d asked for an annulment for a marriage that never should have been,” he said, as he took the seat at my small table.
“I don’t know, man. That still sounds like lying to me.”
“However you want to look at it is up to you. I get your reasoning, but she’s a fucking ray of sunshine that I’ve been lacking in my life. Ethan’s too. Plus, she’s willing to take on all three of us. Do you see any other woman who would do that?”
“So, you’re saying we should be grateful for her and ignore the elephant in the room?”
“Something like that. Not ignore it exactly, rather choose to accept it and accept her. None of us is a saint, bro,” he said, making a lot of sense. “We’ve all done shit we wish we hadn’t. And we’ve all done shit that we don’t like to admit to. Thing is, she had no reason to admit all her past garbage. We’d only known her for a few days. Sex is just sex. Who knew it would’ve turned into something deeper so quickly? Not me, that’s for damn sure. And Ethan? I didn’t think that dude would ever fall for someone. He’d built up a dark tower around himself with walls so thick, I believed he’d never fall in love, but he has, and it’s with Merry. So, what about you? You living in that same tower? And how long are you going to stay there? Another year? Five? Ten? Forever? It’s going to get lonely and cold. You ready for that?”
I hated when Connor came at me with reason and logic. He didn’t do it very often, only when he felt like one of us was drifting too far into ourselves. We’d been friends for so long, he could read both Ethan and me like we were open books.
“Lucas,” the new guy behind the counter said. I went over and grabbed my coffee.
“I just came in here for some coffee, not a lecture on my life’s choices.”
He slapped my shoulder, grinning. “Then consider yourself lucky that I was here, putting in some orders. See you tonight… or not… your call.”
Then he walked away, leaving me to chew on what he’d said… fucking bastard.
CHRISTMAS MUSIC DRIFTED in through the walls, along with laughter. Merry’s Christmas Eve party was in full swing while I sat in my apartment, in the dark, hungry, and cold, but dressed for the event.
I still couldn’t decide.
Part of me wanted to walk on over there more than I wanted to admit, while the kid in me, the kid who’d been abandoned more than once by his family, wouldn’t allow me to go.
There I sat, wishing things were different… wishing I were different… that I could know the right path to take that wouldn’t break my heart… again.
The doorbell rang.
I didn’t answer.
It rang again.
I still didn’t answer.
“I’m not leaving,” Noelle said from the other side.
“I’m sleeping,” I told her, lying.
“And I’m a fairy princess.”
“Go away.”
“I can’t. I’m fulfilling a wish.” She rang the bell again… and again… and again.
I got up, stomped over, and swung the damn door wide open. “What kind of wish?”
“I can’t tell you, but it’s a doozy.” She was dressed in green and red and looked like an elf. I couldn’t remember if she always looked this way, or was it simply because it was Christmas Eve?
“Great, I don’t want to know, and I’m not going.”
She held a plate covered with a large, white napkin.
“That’s fine, but we just thought you might be hungry, so Merry and I put a plate together for you. She even made a pie.”
I loved pie. “What kind?”
“Cherry.”
I took the plate, uncovered it, and noticed that despite the turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn, there wasn’t any pie on it. “I thought you said there was pie?”
“There is, two of them, back in Merry’s apartment. We’re just sitting down to eat. Why not join us for dinner and dessert? You don’t have to even talk. You can sit there in silence, but why sit alone on Christmas Eve in a dark apartment?”
I couldn’t deal with it any longer. I hated being alone on Christmas Eve. All I did was recapture those horrible moments when my life changed forever.
“Fine, but don’t expect me to have fun.” As soon as I said the words, I knew I’d said them to my mother when she tried to get us all together the very next Christmas.
I’d turned into my younger, foot-stomping self.
This shit had to end.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, sniggering, which caused me to laugh, which caused her to laugh louder until we were both headed down the hallway to Merry’s place, laughing for no other reason than I was being a total ass!
The door to her apartment was wide open, and as soon as I saw Merry, taking a seat at the head of the table, looking positively radiant in a blood-red, tight dress, I handed Noelle my plate, walked right over to Merry, took her in my arms, and kissed her to whistles and applause, a hard kiss, one that she willingly returned.
When we stopped, I said, “I’ve been a complete ass.”
“I know,” she said, smiling while she gazed up at me.
“Can you forgive me?”
“You were forgiven as soon as you walked through that door.”
Then I kissed her again. Only this time, I fell into it so deep, if we had been alone, it would have progressed into something much more.
“Okay, guys… either take it to the other room or give it a rest,” Ethan said. “We’re hungry, and the food is getting cold.”
I reluctantly stopped the kiss, but only because Noelle yelled, “Oh. My. Santa! I can’t believe it’s happening. Look. Look, everybody. It’s happening.”
When we all gazed her way, as she stood in front of the open doorway, still holding my plate, she looked completely different.
She shook her head a couple of times, and her hair, now sleek and long, covered her shoulders. Her face looked at least ten years younger, and damn if she didn’t seem taller. Like a lot taller. And that figure… wow!
I didn’t know what had just happened, but the middle-aged Noelle, who had been niggling all of us for the past couple of weeks, had just morphed into some kind of hot bombshell.
I didn’t know what was going on, but damn if it wasn’t some kind of Christmas miracle.
“It happened! It really happened!” she said, almost crying.
“What happened?” Connor asked. “Where did Noelle go?”
“Is that you, Noelle?” Billy Ray asked. “Is that really you?”
She didn’t answer him. Instead, she looked right at me. “You love her, don’t you? You’re in love with Merry. You might as well say it because I know it’s true. I mean, look at me! I’m… I’m not an elf anymore.”
I didn’t know what to say, both about what Noelle had just said and my feelings for Merry. This wasn’t the appropriate time. I wanted to tell Merry when we were alone. “I… ah… How did you…”
“You don’t have to say a word, Lucas. I can feel it. Do I look different?”
“Yes,” Merry told her, in a soft voice. “You look beautiful. You’ve gotten your Christmas wish.”
“I can’t believe it. I feel so… so… not like me… in a good way.” She walked over to the table, placed my plate down in front of the empty chair next to Merry, then gave her a big hug and said, “And it’s all because you’ve gotten your own Christmas wish. Merry Christmas, my darling.”
“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” I said, standing next to Merry. “Did something magical just happen here?”
“It sure did,” Merry said. “A Christmas miracle.”
I took my seat next to Merry, while the transformed Noelle took her seat next to Billy Ray, but not before they kissed, which was news to me.
A moment later, Merry held up her wine glass and said, “Thanks for the best Christmas ever. Thank you, Noelle, for being a true friend. Merry Christmas, everyone.”
We all picked up our glasses and repeated the Merry Christmas wish.
Then Connor said, “Let’s eat.”
And with that, we dug into what was quickly turning into the best Christmas of my entire life.
AFTER BILLY RAY and bombshell Noelle left… even her voice had changed into something much lower and sexier… and after all the dishes were stacked in the dishwasher, and Merry had invited us to spend the night, we were like awkward teen boys trying to read the girl we wanted more than our parents’ car on a Saturday night.
“What a night,” Ethan said, as he plopped down on the sofa.
“What a couple of weeks,” Connor mumbled, slipping down on the floor and leaning his back against the sofa.
“What a woman,” I said, as I took Merry’s hand in mine, then spun her around to Michael Bublé crooning All I Want For Christmas Is You.
I danced with her until he sang about the mistletoe, then Connor tapped my shoulder, and she danced with him as Ethan and I watched. It made me emotional, and when Ethan took her in his arms, it was all over. I knew how much she changed his life.
What an amazing woman. Soon, we surrounded her as Connor repeated the song on his phone, twirling her, loving on her, as she kissed each of us, and we took turns holding her. Then I picked her up and carried her to her room, like I had the night Billy Ray showed up and tossed a wrench onto the path we were all on.
This time, when I placed her down on the bed, there was no covering her up and tucking her in. This time, everything was different. This time, I slid my hand along the side of her lovely face and kissed her… and not just some random kiss, but a searing-hot kiss that expressed all the love I had for her, all the emotions I’d kept hidden from the very first moment we met. From that first kiss under the mistletoe, when I knew this woman was different.
“I’m all in,” I told her. “Whatever you need. I’m here.”
“Me too,” she whispered, then we kissed again and tugged our clothes off as quickly as we could make it happen. I didn’t know where Ethan and Connor were, but I was glad they decided to give us this time alone. I wanted her all to myself, at least for this first time.
When we were naked, and her body pressed against mine, branding me like some burning-hot iron, I knew this night would be like nothing I’d ever experienced.
I felt my heart pounding in my chest, beating so fast that I could almost hear it. I felt a little shaky, like my balance wasn’t quite there, so I pulled her down with me onto her soft bed—the down blankets caressed our bodies.
“I should still be angry with you,” she said, as I gently ran my hands over her breasts.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I was an idiot.”
“I thought you hated me,” she mused as I suckled one breast, then the other. Her skin tasted sweet and salty at the same time. I loved how her nipples felt rough against my tongue, hard as little pebbles that I swirled around with my tongue and nipped each one with my teeth.
“I could never hate you,” I told her. “I’m in love with you.”
I said it as naturally as if I’d said it a hundred times before.
“And I’m in love with you. I didn’t think I could breathe again if you kept on ignoring me.”
I pushed her hair off her forehead and kissed each of her lovely eyes, then settled on her mouth again, ravaging it with my tongue, until her deep moans and her hands running up and down my back told me she wanted me to fuck her.
“I need you in my life, in my day, and in my bed at night,” I told her, meaning every word, every nuance.
“Come inside me, Lucas,” she said, her voice beautifully raspy and desperate.
My cock was more than ready for her, and when I swiped her pussy with two of my fingers and found her dripping wet, I knew she was more than ready for me.
I went to retrieve a condom when she stopped me. “I’m clean and on the pill. What about you?”
I smirked. “Well, I’m not on the pill, but I’m clean. Took a test about six months ago and haven’t even kissed a woman since then. Best laid plans and all that shit.”
“Then take me raw. Take me naked. I want to feel your big bad cock inside me.”
“Like I said, whatever you need.” Then I thrust deep inside her, the sensation causing me to quiver for a moment. “I’m fucking all in.”
She chuckled. “I think you really are but go deeper.”
“Like I said…” I slipped out of her, flipped her over, slid my hand between her legs, and picked her up until she was on her knees with her head still resting on the bed, then I entered her again, going as deep as I could. “Whatever you need.”
I drilled her hard and fast, our bodies slapping together like two feral animals out in the wild. I thought we might both pass out from the excitement, from the heat, or from the shear intensity of the moment. Instead, I kept drilling her, harder and faster than I thought possible. The bed rocked beneath us until I heard her yell.
“Oh, God. Yes. Oh God!” Her voice sent a red-hot jolt down my spine and right into my balls and cock. My jaw locked, and words no longer mattered. It was all about the sensations, the feeling of crazy, wild fucking sex. Sex like nothing I’d ever felt before. She was anchored to me, like we were one. Like we’d always belonged together. Like this had always been meant to be.
“I’ve dreamt about this… about you coming while I was still inside you.”
Moments later, as I rocked inside her, while she still cried out, I let out a ragged groan of my own, pulling her in tighter, pouring all my love deep inside her body. No condom to catch it, letting it run inside her like a river, my fucking river.
As if they heard us and knew we were spent, both Ethan and Connor walked into the room. I couldn’t see them, but I saw their shoes and clothes being cast off.
Normally, I would have wanted to hide what Merry and I were doing. Instead, I stayed right where I was, and Merry never even flinched.
“What took you boys so long?” she asked, sounding breathless.
“We wanted to give you both some space,” Connor said.
“Thanks, but that won’t be necessary from now on.” With that, I slipped out of her, thinking she would slide back down, but when she didn’t move, Connor came up behind her.
“What the hell, Merry? Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
She spread her legs even more and said, “Oh yeah. I’m more than ready.”
With that, Ethan climbed up on the bed, and I watched as my two best friends didn’t just have sex with the woman I loved, they caressed her and stroked her with love and more tenderness than I’d ever seen either of them show in our entire history together.
They sat her up while Ethan rested on the back board. His cock was steel hard as she lowered herself on him. When they kissed, instead of feeling any sort of jealousy, I felt love for both my best friend and my best girl. It was beautiful to watch, especially when they decided to both take her at once and invited me into the mix.
“How is this even possible?” I asked, as they got into position on the bed.
“Just follow along,” Connor told me and before I could protest again, Merry took my cock down her throat, while Ethan and Connor entered her at the same time.
“Holy shit,” I said, watching all of this as she devoured me like a hungry little kitten. We were all moving in unison now. Each of us aware of both Merry and each other, making sure we were all comfortable and happy.
All I knew was that I wanted to remember this first time forever, and as I tried to concentrate on the visual, I came once again. She didn’t try to push me away. Instead, her hand came up and massaged my balls, sending shockwaves of heat down my thighs and up my spine.
When I heard Ethan and Connor grunt out their own pleasure, it was overwhelming to my senses, and as soon as I slid from her mouth, I dropped down on the bed in a heap of quivering emotions.
We had all finally found our destiny with the least likely woman in the entire world.
Miss Merry Everleigh… a true Christmas miracle.