Chapter 10 #2
She grabbed his chin and pulled his mouth up to hers, the coolness of the air making her nipple harden even more.
Hopping off the counter, she tugged him into the corner of the butler’s pantry until her back was against the wall and he was pressed against her front.
Her hands moved quickly to the fly of his pants, lowering them and slipping her hand inside.
He was so hard already. She took him in her hand, stroking him up and down and he groaned.
His mouth was on her neck, right where it met her shoulder, biting and sucking as she stroked him.
He slipped his hand down the front of her pants and guided first one finger and then two into where she was wet and wanting.
Her center felt suddenly empty and she ached to feel his cock inside of her.
Tension built and built as he continued to caress her, and she felt herself rapidly approaching the edge. “Oh God, I think I’m going to…”
“Do it,” he said.
His fingers pressed harder, finding that perfect spot, until every nerve in her body seemed to focus between her legs and she spasmed against him.
Her head dropped to his shoulder while sensations rocked her body and stars burst behind her eyes.
He rubbed his other hand up and down her back while she came down from her climax.
Once she’d caught her breath, she realized his cock was still hard and she reached down to touch him.
The swollen head was wet and glistening and she found herself falling to her knees so she could take him in her mouth.
She sucked him deep into the back of her throat, all the way in.
The taste of him was salty as she slid her mouth up and down his shaft.
His hands were in her hair as he thrust into her mouth, while hers were gripping his ass and pulling him closer so she could take more.
He thrust deeper once, twice, and then he was spilling himself into her mouth. She swallowed it all, every drop, until he was empty.
Breathing hard, he slid down next to her on the floor and pulled her onto his lap. She curled into him, her head nestled onto his shoulder, his arms around her.
Her heart was still racing, and she could feel his thundering against her ear.
“Nick? Where’d you go?” Jack called from the dining room.
“Fuck.” Nick got up and tucked his dick back into his pants then zipped himself up. He opened the pantry door, blocking the entrance with his body so she could not be seen.
“Right here. What do you need?” Nick said. His voice was low, husky and held a hint of warning in it.
Jack held his hands up to his shoulders in surrender. “Your mom needs you to put on the special ornaments form your childhood, but I’ll tell her you’ll be a few minutes.”
“Thanks, man.” Nick closed the door and turned to Cora. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m not,” she said. “Wish we’d had more time, but otherwise no complaints.”
He gave her a smile that made her pulse jump. “Next time we’ll take it slow. Your hair is…”
He lifted his hand and pushed a strand back into place as she fixed her bra and then ran her hands through his own locks.
Cora wasn’t sure what would happen next between them and found she didn’t care. She was living in the moment and right now that moment was good. Very good.
It was the start of the Christmas season and for once she had something to look forward to.
Cora begged off decorating the tree when they rejoined everyone in the living room.
His family were all acting very busy but Nick noticed that not much work had been done while he and Cora had been in the other room.
Usually they used their magic to decorate the house, but with a mortal here, they’d had to do it the “hard way”.
“I have to be up really early tomorrow. But thank you all for a lovely time.”
His mom hugged her close and sent her home with leftovers and more cookies than Cora probably wanted. “We loved having you. Please come back again for Christmas.”
Everyone waited for her response, Nick as well.
But Christmas, he was coming to realize, was complicated for the queen of the season.
In fact, she seemed to not really love the holiday.
She’d mentioned her childhood wasn’t the greatest and he wished he could change that.
If there was a way he could go back and fix her past, he would.
“I… We’ll see. Thank you,” Cora said.
Nick followed her out to her car.
“We’ll see?” he asked when they were alone. “Do you have other plans?”
She shook her head. The sun that had been out earlier that day was setting.
And there was a chill to the air that made her nose pink.
She was too cute. That was going to be a problem.
“What if working together every day makes us cranky with each other? You know, it might be a better idea if we just see each other at the festival instead of me being in your booth.”
“We made a deal,” he warned her.
“It was only an idea.” Putting the leftovers in her car, she stood by the open door as flakes of snow began to drift down around them.
Nick recognized Jack’s handiwork. It was soft and romantic, like something out of one of the many Christmas movies he loved to watch this time of year.
“So…” he said.
Nick wasn’t sure what to do, which was so unlike him. He wanted to go home with her, decorate a tree with her, show her all that she was missing out on, but he also recognized that she had boundaries. He still needed a wife by Christmas Eve and she wasn’t offering.
“I guess I’ll see you Sunday for the tree lighting. Be sure to wear something festive.”
“Dress like Santa?” he asked. He had the coat and hat, after all. Also, children would get so much joy from it. Her tree lighting could give magic a nice boost. He’d get some of his elves down to help as well.
“Sure. The media and the families will love that,” she said. “Uh, about what happened between us.”
“What about it?”
Her hip kicked out and she looked annoyed. “Don’t be a dick.”
“I’m trying not to be. You said you don’t do relationships,” he reminded her.
She chewed her lower lip between her teeth. “What about temporary? Do you do that?”
That was all he’d done for the last five years, but it wouldn’t help him find a wife. He wanted her, and that taster they’d had in the pantry had only served to make the craving for her stronger. It wasn’t going to ebb or go away.
“I’m not sure temporary will be enough for us.”
“Would you start there?” she asked, then put her head in her hands. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I’m not ready to write you off. I’d like … more.”
“Me too.” It was the truth.
“Okay, great.” She leaned toward him, then he noticed that his entire family were standing in the window watching them.
He pulled her into his arms and turned his back so those perverts wouldn’t see him kiss her. “Thanks for coming today. You made Thanksgiving a lot of fun.”
“Same. Wish me luck tomorrow.”
“You don’t need luck. Just be yourself, Cora.”
“I always am,” she admitted as she slid behind the wheel. He closed the door and stepped back as she drove away.
The last thing he wanted to do was go back into the house. He could always sneak back to Hearthvale, but his mom would be disappointed. She liked when they talked about all the ornaments that she’d collected and made for him over the years while they hung them on the tree.
Prepared to put up with any ribbing he got from Jack, Pete, and Finn, he was surprised that they didn’t mention Cora at all.
Instead, they helped decorate the tree. Now that Cora was gone, Uncle Arthur used magic to put the lights on, making sure each branch was wrapped with the strings.
Pete and Elsa danced together close to the fire as some jazzy Christmas music played.
He couldn’t find Martha and then noticed her behind the tree, out of sight.
“What are you doing back here?”
“There’s mistletoe all over this place,” she muttered.
“Did someone catch you under it?”
She blushed. “It’s not like that, Nick. Kisses are one thing but too many… Why are we having this conversation?”
“Because I’m also hiding.”
“Yeah. I saw you and the Naughty-lister.”
“Her name is Cora Quill.”
Martha put her hand up. “Have you figured her out yet?”
“Have you figured Jack out?”
“Touché. It’s infinitely harder when emotions are involved. Are yours?”
“Of course I care about her. There’s a lot to untangle. She’s very … likable when she’s not trying to boss me around.”
“You need bossing,” Martha said, “but you also need a wife. Where does she stand on that?”
He shook his head.
“Nick.”
Just his name.
“I know. I’m focused on refilling the coffers, which I can do if I get her off the Naughty List. That’ll be a big win.”
Martha just stared at him. “What about Christmas?”
“I’ll save that too. I’m not going to stop being Santa,” he promised her.
He would find a way.