Chapter Twenty-Three
Matt
As usual, the Burkeley mansion was decked out in green and red, lined with Christmas décor like Santa had thrown up everywhere.
The real Christmas tree they picked out this year may have been the tallest one I’d seen yet, tucked beside the grand staircase. The sight was so polished and picturesque that it looked to be straight out of a Christmas movie.
Every year, us kids did Secret Santa so that we wouldn’t have to buy so many gifts. I had Lo; I’d gotten her a small bag of stuff from Bath & Body Works and a gift card to the salon she liked to get her nails done at.
Slyly, I added the gift bag to the pile of presents surrounding the extravagant tree, of course managing to get pricked by tree needles on the way up.
What I was most excited for today was having the whole day to spend with El. The problem? I was constrained to friendship rules today.
Setting candles on the table for dinner later, El’s eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Hi,” I smiled.
“Hey,” she smiled back. Her hair was in waves, a few strands plucked back in a half-up, half-down hairstyle, secured with a white bow.
Fuck, she was beautiful. Effortlessly. Always.
I closed the gap between us, scooping her up for a hug so tight that it would’ve been borderline questionable if anyone caught us. I winced when she pulled away, and with a quick glance-around, I gave her a peck on the lips.
It was unsaid that we’d be hiding our new situation today. I wanted us to have the opportunity to build something together first without the pressure of our families. The pressure of our friends was enough. And I’d be damned if I waited sixteen years just for all of this to go to shit.
“Do you need any help?” I asked.
“Um, I don’t think so. I’m almost done.”
“Okay. I’m gonna go say hi to everyone else.”
El nodded.
It panged me to walk away from her, which was dramatic considering we were under the same roof, but it still somehow felt like she was getting ripped away from me.
I half-assed my hellos and spent the next few hours staring at El from afar. Every once in a while, I’d catch her glancing back.
Black tights disappeared underneath her red dress, and my mouth watered at the thought of ripping those tights right off.
I could still taste her from the other night, sweet and heavenly on my tongue.
Fuck, I could feel my dick start to harden alarmingly quickly. If my thoughts kept lingering in the dirtiest of places, it would only be another minute before I’d be on full display through my grey dress pants.
I sure as hell did not want to be in this condition around our families.
I hopped off the couch and took a stroll. Feeling myself overheat, I undid an extra button of my black polo and found myself standing in the upstairs game room.
As children, this had been the girl’s “playroom”, filled with what had seemed to be hundreds of toys, piled up to hide the carpet beneath.
Now, the room served as a spot to hang out and play games in. A foosball table and ping pong table occupied the space in the center, and there were even a few old-school arcade games lining the walls: Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and a pinball machine.
“Hi.”
Swinging around, there she stood. An angel in human skin.
The perfect curve of her smile was impossible not to notice, and with just the two of us in the room, there was nothing to block out her precious rose scent as it wafted towards me, drugging me.
“Hey, Princess.”
For a second, her cheeks matched the deep red of her dress before she turned, leaving me afraid that she was going to disappear again.
Instead, the door shut, and a click sounded.
She locked us in. But I had no problem being her prisoner. I’d do whatever she asked.
“Is there a reason you’re locking us in?” I questioned, resting a hand on the corner of the foosball table.
“I just wanted a minute alone with you.”
My heart raced as she met me where I was. Wasting no time, my hands circled around her waist, clutching her just tight enough to remind her I could break her if I wanted.
She liked it though, hips giving a light sway in my grasp. The more I touched her, the more I could tell she was the submissive type. It only ignited the fantasies I’d been having since I was a teen.
Lips colliding hard and fast, I drowned in all that she was. Her skin was like velvet under my fingertips as I cupped her face.
The kiss was a powerful transaction, sending waves of lust through the air. I spun her around, missing her mouth, but immediately finding solace in the feeling of her ass grinding against my groin.
Slightly out of breath, I leaned down, my words grazing along El’s ear. “You have no idea how badly I want to bend you over this table right now.”
Thirst clouded her aura, and she rested her head against my chest, hips swirling so roughly against me that I was about to lose all self-control and that dress of hers would be on the floor in seconds.
“I don’t think we have that kind of time,” El uttered.
“I know,” I sighed.
When she turned and dropped to her knees in front of me, I once again, thought I must’ve died and gone to heaven. She fought with my belt buckle, tugging my clothes down to expose me, already hard as a rock for her.
“El, you don’t have to—”
“I still owe you from the other night.” Without another word, she gripped my shaft and brought me to her perfect lips, eyes gauging my reaction as she took me in her mouth.
Fuck. I’ve wanted this view for fucking ever.
Even as she brought me to the back of her throat, her face remained so fucking pure, so fucking beautiful that I was struggling not to bust right away.
She hollowed her cheeks out, warm mouth allowing me to make myself home there. I couldn’t look away from her. Any man would get high off this sight. It was a good thing no other man would ever get the opportunity to see her this way. I wouldn’t allow it.
So badly, I wanted to run my hands through her locks, but I wouldn’t ruin the flawless hair she probably took extra time to do today.
It was a conscious effort to stay quiet when all I really wanted was to groan loud enough to shake the whole damn house.
Instead, I settled on talking to her, praising her for how good she was sucking me.
“You look so fucking good with my dick in your mouth, Princess,” I whispered. El moaned, and I quivered at the feeling. “Fuck.”
Call me crazy, but the fact that we were doing this right here, where we were at risk of getting caught, made my adrenaline spike even further. Nothing could make me feel more alive right now.
I lost track of time as she sucked me and licked me, bringing me repeatedly to the back of her throat.
When her tongue trailed around the tip of my dick, I fucking lost it.
The image of her, eyes watering, throat bobbing as she swallowed every drop I gave her was burned into my memory, bound to be the prime image in my daydreams from now on.
My groans were hard to hold in, but I did my best to keep them to myself, emptying myself entirely into her perfect mouth before falling to my knees just for the sake of kissing her forehead.
“Fuck, I love you.”
El giggled. “I love you too.”
I caught my breath, pressing my forehead against hers. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to go act normal after that.”
She smirked. “You’re gonna have to figure it out. We have to go eat dinner with our families now.”
God, we were insane.
When I finally felt like I wasn’t going to collapse from the mind-blowing orgasm she just gave me, El slipped out of the game room first. I waited a few minutes before following her lead.
Luckily, people were still filing into the dining room slowly, blissfully unaware of where we’d been.
Everyone took their seats and filled their plates.
As usual, I had the fullest plate on the table. Wine was getting passed around, and I watched Lo reject the offer before handing it off to Jade, who filled her own glass with a shrug.
Instead of sitting across from me, El had found herself beside me. I loved how close she was, but the urge to touch her underneath the table was suffocating me. Just a hand on her knee or her hand in mine would’ve satiated me, but I was too fearful of someone catching it.
Lo stood, demanding attention. “For starters, Merry Christmas, everyone! Second, Ezra and I have news we’d like to share.” They joined hands, and in that moment, Lo’s glowing smile reminded me so much of El’s. “We are expecting!”
Cheers and chatter erupted, accompanied by smiles and clapping.
El was on her feet, already rounding the table to hug her sister. I did the same when she was done.
The chitchat only seemed to increase after that, for everyone besides the most important person to me at the table.
El had grown quiet, almost melancholy. She didn’t speak unless she was spoken to and excused herself from the table early.
Against my better judgement, I followed her, finding her in the reminiscent walls of her bedroom.
“Hey, you okay?”
El turned. “Yeah.”
A lie.
I could tell by the look on her face.
Was it me? Had I done something?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just need a minute. I’ll be back down shortly.”
I stood there, defeated, as she sauntered past me with a shaky exhale and went to her bathroom across the hall.