Chapter 3 #3
“I need an elf,” he blurted out, and I could see it in his eyes.
Jesus, had that been there all along? The way he looked for a reason, anything, to keep me around just a little longer?
If I thought back to his visits at the hardware store and the way he argued with me on things that felt like he was doing for the sake of arguing.
“An elf.” I snorted.
“Or a Mrs. Claus.” His dark eyes liquified, and I found myself swaying closer to him.
“A Mrs. Claus,” I repeated, all while thinking sign me up.
The thought was ludicrous, and I laughed.
I couldn’t help it. “I’m pretty sure you could raise more than enough money for all the sports programs in four counties if you did some kind of auction for the spot of your Mrs. Claus,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
But I could tell by the expression on his face that he wasn’t having it.
“What if I told you I only have eyes for one certain Mrs. Claus? Or a naughty little elf to help me out?”
“What’s this weird fascination you have with elves?” I found myself asking in a more than flirty tone. One I knew he didn’t miss when his hand tightened around mine and he pulled me closer into his body. “Onyx.”
“I love when you say my name, snowflake.”
“Snowflake,” I repeated. My brows bunched. He’d called me that more than once and even before winter had hit. “I don’t get that nickname. Is it supposed to be an insult?”
“Quite the contrary.” He swallowed; his Adam’s apple rose and fell. “Have you ever looked at one? Really looked at one, up close?”
“I mean, sure, but… there’s nothing special about a snowflake, Onyx.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, baby.”
“Baby?” I repeated and shook my head. I needed to burst out of this weird little cozy bubble we were in, or else reality would be a bitch to face. “You don’t have to do this.”
“This?”
“Flirt. Charm. I’m good with us just working together.
And I promise I won’t put any more glitter in your paint, no matter how right I was about it, or make suggestions about your…
” I swallowed. “Place.” I lifted my free hand and pointed outside towards his home.
Because at the end of the day, it might have been where I had the best time of my life, but that was in the past.
“Why?” he asked. I raised a brow. Was he really going to make me say it?
“You know why.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You might have said those things in the moment, but they had to come from somewhere. And honestly, even if they didn’t… nothing’s changed. The reasons you told me you had for staying away are still viable, real reasons.”
“Candy—“
“Our age difference hasn’t changed, Onyx.” When I pulled my hand from his, an ache grew inside my chest as it melted and traveled through every part of my body. “And the day doesn’t suddenly have an extra twelve hours in it.” The harsh reality of life sucked. I stepped back.
And took another step, and another. But Onyx had this determined look on his face, one that made my stupid sappy heart start to hope for more. His steps matched my own, and he didn’t stop until the back of my thighs bumped into a table.
“Onyx.”
“That night,”—he didn’t have to explain for me to know when he was talking about—“up until that stupid moment I tried to save you from that asshole, was great. Something out of a goddamn romantic movie,” he rasped, and I blinked.
“Save me—”
“I’m not like some jealous asshole out there, snowflake, but I sure as fuck am territorial.”
“Territorial,” I whispered, trying to process and make sense of what he was saying.
“What’s mine is mine.” I blinked. Once, twice, then a third time. He sounded like one of the alpha heroes in a romance novel.
“I’m not yours,” I whispered, and to my surprise, something in his face softened.
“You are. You have been since that night.”
“That makes no sense, Onyx! It’s not like that night was the first time we met!” I argued. He might have flinched, but it was the resolve in his eyes that made me brace. “Did you forget I was born and raised in Moonlit, just like you were? I went to school with your sisters.”
“I know that, baby.” He swallowed. “And this is going to make me sound like a dick, beautiful, but when you were younger, I didn’t see you.
Not like that. I always thought you were pretty and sweet, but that was it, Candace.
” For some reason, I liked how he called me snowflake a little more than my full name.
“You were my kid sisters’ friend. I was a lot older, and that wouldn’t have been—“
“I get that.” I rolled my eyes. “I do.”
“That night, though? I fucked up. Put my foot in my mouth and regretted it the moment the words slipped out. It wasn’t the way I should have handled the situation, but honestly?
” He opened and shut his mouth before his face changed.
There was determination in his gaze. “I figured it was for the best.”
“You thought it would be better that I thought you were some chauvinistic jerk?”
“No, but yeah.” He swallowed. “Because as much as I liked you and I had a great time talking to you, I knew myself and where my life was in that moment. I’d just opened up a business, and you would have been a living, walking, breathing distraction.”
“Oh god!” I shook my head. “If that’s not the new it’s not you, it’s me line.”
“It’s not a line, Candy Kane. You tempted me, just like you tempt me right this very moment.”
“Tempted? By me? Dressed like this?” I scoffed and snorted, glancing down at my gray Moonlit Pines library shirt and leggings that were speckled in pink and red paint. And I knew my hair was a wild curly mess I’d thrown up atop of my head. “Please, there is no—“
I didn’t finish my sentence.
I couldn’t.
Not when Onyx pressed his big, thick body against mine, and I felt him. Felt, felt him. Hard and thick, prodding against my lower belly.
“Snowflake, you could be wearing a goddamn potato sack, and I’d still want you so fucking badly I wouldn’t remember how to breathe.”
“Liar,” I mumbled without any heart in my argument. He shook his head before it dipped, and he was pressing his forehead against mine.
“I thought I couldn’t have you. That I should leave you alone. Let you find someone more… age appropriate. Someone who could give you the time and attention you fucking deserve. Things I didn’t think I had in me.”
“But now?” I asked. My heart froze midbeat in my heart waiting for his answer.
“Now?” His dark eyes glittered. “Now, I know just how damn wrong I was.”
And with that, he kissed me.
My body froze, and my hands moved between us, ready to push him away, but a beat later, I started to melt against him.
God, I was so damn weak. His kisses tasted like the coffee I’d watched him drink and something I instinctively knew was uniquely Onyx.
Gentler than I’d expected a man like him to kiss, not that the softness and tenderness of those first few moments of his kiss stayed that way.
The moment my fingers clenched around the soft Buffalo red and black plaid flannel shirt, he groaned, and it was like a beast inside of him had been unleashed. His tongue licked the seam of my mouth. When my lips parted, he plundered my mouth, and I didn’t stand back like some innocent girl.
I gave as good as I got.
Hungry wet sounds vibrated through the workshop as our hands explored. He pulled his mouth from mine, and a blink later, my hair was out of its ponytail and he growled. The animalistic sound shot through me quicker and faster than any cocktail I’d ever had.
“Fuck me, you’re beautiful.” His mouth dropped to the edge of mine, kissing me once, twice, a third time before he slowly descended to my jaw then neck.
His hands moved through my hair without somehow pulling even one strand, which was a miracle all on its own.
I didn’t even know how to do that without getting stuck in the tangles of my curls. “You have such gorgeous hair, Candy.”
“Onyx,” I whispered and felt a vibration in his chest.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed seeing your hair down.” He groaned, pronouncing each word with a kiss in between. “It’s always up now. I never see it down. I’ve dreamt of burning every damn hair tie you own.”
“It’s too much work going between one job and another,” I shared. He pulled back, and there was something in his gaze before he picked me up.
“It’s so fucking soft. Silky,” he complimented. I bit down on my lower lip.
“Onyx,” I whispered, unsure of what to say.
“It’s the truth, snowflake. You have incredible hair. Dreamt about doing this.” My eyes fluttered shut as his fingers massaged my scalp.
“You dreamt about rubbing my head?” I asked with a moan as he grunted.
His hands felt like magic. I had no idea how he didn’t tug or pull one strand in a way that didn’t feel anything but blissful.
My legs started to buckle with how relaxed he was starting to make me feel.
“Feels so good,” I whimpered, but with my eyes shut. I didn’t care.
Smart or not, if all I got was this wild out-of-pocket moment with Onyx Trejo, I knew I wasn’t going to waste it.
“Shit,” he cursed, his lips close enough to mine that I felt his breath. “So goddamn soft and beautiful. You keep making noises like that, gorgeous, you’re going to get fucked. Hard.”
“Mmm, you make it sound like a bad idea.” He groaned, and I squealed when he lifted me up. My eyes popped open just as my legs wrapped around his middle.
“Onyx!” I gasped. My fingers dug deep into the muscles of his shoulders. “Put me down! I’m too—“ I didn’t get to say another word since he spanked my ass once before holding me back in place.
“Shut it, Candy.”
“But…” I couldn’t get myself to stay quiet. “I’m too heavy. You’re going to hurt yourself,” I tried to warn, tightening my legs around his waist.
“Bullshit,” he mumbled, pressing his mouth against mine. “You think I don’t know how much you weigh? You don’t think I think about you every time I’ve worked out these last couple of months?”