Accidentally Under Your Tree (Grand Ridge Christmas #1)

11. William

Seven nights before Christmas

"Do you think it's safe to use the elevator?" Lizzy asked with her arms crossed over her chest. She chewed on her lower lip with her eyebrows drawn together.

I wobbled my head from side to side. "There's a risk the power could go out, again. What floor are you on?"

"Seventh."

"I don't want to climb seven flights of stairs—"

"Me either."

"—but I'd do it with you." I gave her a little smirk. "You have to promise not to laugh at me when I'm breathing really heavy."

She did that adorable snort she'd done a couple of times. "I'd be too busy trying not to die. No, let's risk the elevator."

Her tentative little smile pulled at the dusty levers of my heart. Her kiss had been all warmth and quiet sighs. With every protective layer that thawed, I caught a glimpse of the passionate woman underneath.

It provoked everything in me. I wanted to pull her tight against my chest and be some place she felt safe. I wanted to search for all the ways to unravel her tightly wound persona. I wanted to know her.

I wouldn't tell her any of that.

It was a lot—too much for just a few hours of conversation and a single kiss.

But secretly, I harbored an unhealthy amount of hope for what we could be.

I should tell her about Will it Bloom? and how Rose and I were shopping the show for streaming services. It would be better than Lizzy somehow googling me and thinking that everything tonight was a lie. Especially since I had never had such an honest encounter. I'd never bared myself so completely.

Maybe I could hold this one thing back and trust that it wouldn't blow up in my face.

My boots thudded on the tile floor, and hers clicked as we made our way to the elevators right around the corner. I slipped my hand from my pocket and pushed the button to call it to the main floor. A bell chimed and the stainless-steel doors slid open. I followed her into the cabin, wishing that I had more than the next few seconds with her.

I wouldn't wish for the power to fail, but being trapped here with Lizzy would be a silver lining.

She rounded to the buttons, and I leaned my back against the opposite wall. I took in the sight of her. She was the manifestation of all my preferences—full curves and thick thighs, chestnut colored hair, and round brown eyes. And, of course, the prickly outer shell that I wanted to get beneath.

She looked at me through her lashes. "Tenth floor, right?"

"Mmm-hm." I nodded.

She breathed in, her breasts rose and press against the neckline of her sweater. A blush pinked her cheeks. There was no end to how she charmed me.

"You're beautiful, Lizzy," I whispered, my words almost lost in the sliding of the doors.

"Thank you."

We started our ascent.

I resisted the urge to tell her I didn't want to say goodnight, but just barely.

She gripped the railing at her hips in both hands, facing me. "Tonight doesn't feel totally real."

"No, it doesn't," I agreed.

The floors ticked by. Each one announced that our meeting was ending, level three, four, five.

"Come here." I held my hand out to her. She took it, closing the space between us in two long strides.

I pulled her against me. My hand fit at her waist. The material of her sweater was soft beneath my palm. Her mouth found mine with the same urgency that I felt. She tilted her head, giving me room to deepen our connection, and I took it. I was too far gone for anything but the taste of her, the feel of her. The way her breasts pressed against my chest. She met my need with her own.

She moaned deep in her throat. My cock twitched against her stomach, and she whimpered. I growled a response. Turning, I pinned her between me and the wall. I might have wondered if that was too far, but she hooked her leg around my thigh and my thoughts vanished.

I was losing myself in the heat of her seeping into my hip, when the ring of a bell declared that we were at her floor. The elevator doors slid open, and the cocoon wrapped around us tore open. Laughing and talking barraged into the cabin as a group of women waited on the other side of the doors.

Pulling away from Lizzy went against every instinct in my body.

The sounds of the strangers died out, replaced by a cough that did nothing to disguise laughter.

Lizzy smoothed a hand over her hair, but her ponytail hung loose. Her lips were swollen and the heat in her eyes stoked the fire already burning inside of me.

"I will call you." I promised, forcing myself to take a step back.

She swallowed. "Good night."

Her hips swayed as she strode past the women, sharing gossipy glances. My heart raced, and I struggled against the urge to chase after her. Eventually, the doors slid shut before the elevator carried me up the last few floors.

Alone.

Wondering how something could be this intense and consuming. How could I be head over heals so quickly?

Lizzy

Seven nights before Christmas

The door swung open.

I'd more or less ran from the elevator to knock on room 1008, out running my thoughts and second guessing. Sending out a prayer that I'd remembered his room number correctly. As soon as my knuckles hit the…whatever hotel doors were made of, there was no turning back. My stomach twisted in knots, then sank to my knees as Will blinked back his surprise. When he smiled, I floated.

"Lizzy," he sighed. Running a hand through his mussed-up hair, he stepped back to let me in.

He'd discarded his sweater, leaving him in his jeans and a white t-shirt. It clung to his pecs and shoulders, and I had to drag my gaze back to his. The man could fill out a scrap of cotton.

"Is it okay I'm here?" I asked, rubbing a thumb on the strap of my toiletry bag. "I didn't want to say goodnight."

"Me either."

His room was just like mine. A hallway from the door to an open space with a king-sized bed, a television mounted next to a large mirror. A sunny lake scene hung above his headrest—mine was an abstract print of flowers, but otherwise everything was the same. His brown leather coat draped over the chair in the corner next to his suitcase unzipped on the floor.

I set my little bag on the table under the mirror. It suddenly seemed presumptuous to bring it. Turning, I crossed my arms over my chest. "I was scared that I remembered your room number wrong."

Throwing his head back, he laughed at the ceiling. The sound was so full, and it pulled the corners of my lips. I leaned back against the table, gripping the edge of it in both hands, resisting the urge to hug him.

Why is he so magnetic?

"You got it right." The corners of his eyes crinkled, and I swam in their mossy green depths.

"It's not creepy I'm here?"

He shook his head. His smile stilled and slipped slightly. He took a small step closer. Tilting his head in silent question, he tucked his hands into his pockets. The fabric around his biceps stretched.

A blush warmed his cheeks.

My God, this man is too much.

"I could not be happier that you're in my room," he admitted.

A fleet of butterflies took flight in my gut, and I lost a brief battle with my face. I couldn't remember the last time I'd smiled that big. It felt like a warm summer breeze off the lakes back home. It felt like zooming down a hill on my bike with my hands off the handlebars. It felt like fireworks exploding across a navy sky.

I sank into the feeling. Empowered by it, I gripped his wrist, tugging him closer. He followed my urging. The hairs on my arms stood on end, anticipating another one of his all-consuming kisses. My legs ached to wrap around his waist. I eyed the hem of his shirt hanging loosely around his hips. Could I snake my fingers up and across his stomach?

One look at the lust in his hypnotizing eyes confirmed a resounding yes.

It didn't seem to matter what question my body asked his. The answer was yes. More.

"Why is it like this with you?" I whispered, hyper aware of the inches separating us. Barely room enough for words. The space filled with heat off his body, and the scent of his soap and minty toothpaste on his breath.

"I don't know. But I want it."

I took hold of the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to meet mine. Against my fingertips, the pulse in his wrist jumped.

The gates opened. The dam broke. I was flooded.

My heart thundered. Electricity sparked like lightning across my scalp and down my spine. There was no reason for restraint, and I gave in. All my impulses were safe. He confirmed it with the groan at the back of his throat, the hands that cupped my thighs placing me on the table, the scrape of his teeth along my jaw.

I hooked my ankles behind his back, the rock of my hips instinctual against the bulge behind his zipper. Impatience braided with desire in my veins. It was interminable. We'd just started—we'd just met—and already this was taking too long. He tasted too good. His fingers digging into my thighs, encouraging my movements was almost everything I wanted. His back flexed under my palms.

His tongue slid against mine. We both moaned as I sucked his lip. For a moment, we paused, staring into each other's eyes. I nodded, certain I saw a question there.

"I want all of this," I whispered.

"Tell me to stop if you change your mind." The words rushed from him as he closed the distance between our mouths again.

The hand at my thigh pressed higher, taking hold of my ass through my sensible slacks. It wasn't enough contact. The fabric was too thick, especially with his worn jeans dividing us as well. Reaching between us, I struggled with the button at the top of the denim.

He didn't relent. His lips continued down my throat. He tugged the neck of my sweater out of the way, revealing the white lace of my bra.

"You're all buttoned up, Lizzy." He licked and nibbled at the exposed curve of my breast. "It drives me fucking wild."

I tossed my head back, and he cupped my tits—his big hands overfilled with what I offered.

"Take off your pants," I commanded.

He glared down at the rise and fall of my cleavage against his fingertips before he took a step back. My clit throbbed, pleaded at the outline of his erection. I had to push my thighs together as he rubbed the heel of his hand up and down his length once.

"Pants off." This time it came out as more of a desperate request.

He ran the tip of his tongue over his already swollen lips. A disobedient glint sparked in his smoldering eyes. His biceps flexed against the white cotton as he lifted his arms and pulled his shirt over his head.

His wide ribcage expanded with each of his breaths. A pelt of dark hair curled across his rounded pecs. I didn't even realize I'd reached out to scrape my palm up his stomach until he closed his eyes, and his muscles twitched.

Standing, I put my mouth to his hot skin. Again, my fingers found his jeans' button, but this time I had the space I need to snap it open. I slipped my fingers inside—the teeth of the zipper bit at the back of my hand.

He sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth as I gripped him. His hard length, thick and heavy against my palm.

A whine escaped from my throat when he took hold of my wrist, forcing me to let go of his cock.

He released me but tugged me flush to his body. His thigh pressed between mine. "Now you have too many clothes on."

I was in too much of a lust filled haze to realize he still hadn't given me what I asked for. I couldn't even understand how time worked. One moment I was fully dressed—if a bit sloppily—the next my slacks were undone and around my ankles.

He made a "Mmm" sound as he took hold of my thighs, his fingers dimpling into my flesh. "All buttoned up and pretty. It's been too much all night."

"Am I pretty unbuttoned?" I hardly recognized my voice and its breathy huskiness.

Shivers ran down my spine as he ran his hands up my sides to the row of buttons between my breasts. He pinched the top one, his dark green eyes bore into mine. The plastic disc slipped from the hole and my neckline sank deeper. "So much better than pretty."

His fingers lowered to the next button. Losing myself in the press of his mouth on mine, I slipped my arms free of my sleeves and pulled him tighter to my body. His jeans fell to his ankles. I gasped as his arms hooked under my ass and back. In one smooth movement, he lifted me off the table. I clung to his bunching shoulders. People did not generally pick me up—I was not a small person.

"I got you," he whispered in my ear for the second time that night.

He was so solid against me; I didn't doubt him. What was there to doubt? He was stability itself. In his arms, I was weightless. I surrendered to it. To everything.

To him.

Slow and easy, he lowered me to sit at the edge of the bed. He peeled my lace underwear down from my hips. On his knees, he licked his lips taking in the sight of my naked pussy. My chest caught on a shaky breath, the movement caught my attention in the mirror. I blinked in surprise at my own reflection. My hair was a mess, and my skin was flush. But I looked…incredible. Sexy. Empowered. Emboldened.

Burying his face between my legs, he tore a surprised gasp from me.

My eyes closed, and I fell back against the bed. The swells of my breasts barely held in by the lace of my bra.

I was lost in the sensations raging within the confines of my skin. How could I be merely human when he had me feeling like the stars were within my reach?

He hummed. The vibration sent me higher. His broad shoulders held my thighs open, his arms hooked around them. I must have opened my eyes, because the flex of his back between my legs forever seared into my mind.

His lips around my clit—he sucked and groaned.

Arching back, I cried out. Stars burst in my vision. I writhed and gripped the blanket under me into my fists. My orgasm racking through me.

I was still drawing in deep breaths when he sat back on his heels. The lower half of his face glistening. His usually bright eyes turned dark.

Jerking his head over his shoulder to the mirror, he asked, "Do you like watching?”

"I've never done it," I admitted.

My ability to understand and speak English in my state, deserved an award.

He pinched his lips together, running his palms up and down my inner thighs. I still felt the aftershock of my orgasm, as my body heated again.

"I really wanna watch us fuck in that mirror," he said, his desire barely restrained.

For half a moment, I worried it'd distract me. That instead of feeling all the ways our bodies gave pleasure, I'd see all the things that made me feel insecure. But then I remembered the version of myself I'd glimpsed just a few moments before.

"I want that too."

Muscles in his thighs, his stomach, but definitely in his thighs flexed as he stood. They were wide and long. The boxer briefs he wore stretched thin around them. His hard length strained against the stretchy material.

He loomed over me, his eyes as hungry for me as mine were for him.

A blush bloomed in my cheeks, as I lowered the band around his waist until his cock slipped free. It bounced in front of my mouth. I took hold of his base, thick and hot. Wetting my lips, I squirmed at his groan of equal parts anticipation and impatience.

He brushed my hair away from my face, taking hold of a handful at the roots.

I sighed, closing my eyes to his gentle pull.

He tugged my head back and waited for me to look up at him. "You like that?"

"Yes." I ran my hand up and down his length.

He sucked in a breath through his teeth.

"You like that?" I asked, knowing the answer.

He grinned down at me. "Behave."

That one word struck through me like electricity. I wanted to give it back, ratchet his need for me up the way he kept doing to me.

In one motion, I filled my mouth with his cock, sucking him to the back of my throat and moaning.

His hold of my hair pulled almost too tight. His hips jerked pushing his tip a bit further making tears sting my eyes. "Fuck," he ground out.

I took him in and out, swallowing him deeper each time. My cheeks hollowing. His ribs expanded with quick, shallow breaths. Rocking his hips, he fucked my mouth. My name a repeated plea and groan. He whispered dirty things about how perfect I looked with my lips stretched around him, and how he couldn't wait to fill my pussy.

I squeezed my legs together, needing pressure.

Without warning, he shifted away from me. One hand raked over his face, the other still holding tight to the strands of my hair. Slowly, his fingers loosened. He took a step back.

My head was light, and my blood rushed. My body was replaced with sparking energy barely contained within my skin. I needed release.

He tracked the movement of my hand as I swiped a bra strap off my shoulder and slipped my arm free. A muscle flexed in his jaw. When I lowered the second strap. The tight set of his jaw looked dangerous for his teeth. I reached my hands behind my back, undoing the clasps. I had to shake my tits from side-to-side to make the garment fall to my lap.

The growl that escaped his throat scraped down my spine, but it was the twitch of his hard cock that made me whimper.

In one quick movement, he hovered above me, forcing me back to the mattress again. He pulled one nipple into his mouth, sucking. I arched. My tit released from his lips with a pop, and he gave the same treatment to my other side.

Shifting back, he pressed kisses to my soft stomach. His big fists white knuckled on either side of my waist. His breath was humid puffs as he hissed, "You have me on the fucking edge."

He looked up from his brow to meet my eyes. "Stand up. Put your elbows on that table. Stick that goddamn glorious ass out."

I felt his commands in my core. Needy for more. Eager to follow his direction. But when he stood, I missed his weight. The distance between us was too much for my lust-soaked mind.

He swiped a hand down his face, searching. He spoke into his fist, "Condoms. Where are my fucking condoms?" Then he noticed me still on the bed and simply pointed a stern finger toward the mirror.

A slow smile spread across my face. "Bossy."

"Tell me you don't like it."

I pinched my lips together.

"If you're not where I told you to be by the time I find these fucking condoms."

Pushing myself to my feet, I stood.

The table was cold under my forearms. I turned my hips out, displaying my ass just like he wanted.

He searched through his duffle bag. After only a few seconds, wrappers crinkled behind me. I could tell the moment he turned around by the hiss of his breath—my ass up, my tits swollen, and my pussy wet and waiting.

Everything in the room went still. There was only the sound of my heart pumping inside of my ribs. Then the tearing of foil, the discarded condoms falling back to the floor, and the slip of fabric on skin. I craned my neck, taking in the view of Will naked. His erection curled toward his stomach, a drop of precum dripped from his tip, a bed of dark curls at his shaft's base. I ached to feel him push inside.

In his teeth, he tore the wrapper open. His strides closed the distance between us. He sheathed himself in the latex, taking his place behind me.

I had never been looked at like he looked at me. As if I was truly the most beautiful woman in the world. As if he wouldn't change anything about my appearance. As if to him I was perfect.

"You want this?" he asked. He cupped one of my ass cheeks and squeezed.

I sat back in his touch. "So badly."

Our bodies took over. I lifted to my tiptoes, and he bent at the knees. The head of his cock pressed against my entrance. He fit inside of me in one slow movement. Sinking deeper inch by inch, stretching me around his width until his hips sat against the curve of my ass.

I watched in the mirror as he took hold of my hips to keep me there, his arms flexed. He clung to me with more than his hands, as if he was searching for willpower and restraint.

"Will," I spoke his name, unable to express much else. Not when he was seated so deeply.

His grip tightened, and he eased out, then slipped back in. Over and over. He built up speed. The force of his skin hitting mine smacked and ricocheted through me. A cord strained in his throat. An unbridled desire as he gazed down at where we met.

I matched his pace. Begged for more. Cried out as he wrapped an arm around my hips, his rough fingertips finding my clit to rub circles.

He bit down on my shoulder, the bite of his teeth both grounding and what I needed to send me over the edge. My pussy spasmed around him, squeezing. He replaced his teeth with his lips as he twitched inside of me.

Our bodies were slick with sweat, but he stayed where he was, pinning me to the table.

He placed a kiss on the curve of my neck. His thighs were still firmly against my ass.

He met my gaze in the mirror, both of us stripped bare. Open and vulnerable.

"I can't believe I met you like this," he muttered.

"Me either."

"It can't just be tonight."

I giggled. "No, it can't."

Will

Four Nights before Christmas

Lizzy, Rose, and I piled out of the rental car in front of a house with a large front porch and an attached garage. It had a tall gabled roof with dormers. Simple construction circa the 1940s, but it was well maintained and sat across the driveway from an enormous barn.

The wind bit frozen teeth at our cheeks and whipped at our coats.

Lizzy shrugged her shoulders toward her ears. Her hair blowing across her face.

"You cold?" I asked. "Do you want my hat?"

"No, I'll be fine." She jerked her head toward the barn. "It'll be warmer in the arena."

It took us a few more strides before we realized Rose had stopped. She shook her head and glared at me. "I'm going to need you to remember that you're supposed to be my boyfriend."

"Shit, right." As an afterthought, I added, "Do you want my hat?"

She turned to Lizzy, her eyes wide. "What did you do to him? He's, like, fully lost his mind."

Lizzy's face broke into a shy smile. If I hadn't already lost my mind, the dimple pressed into her cheek would have sent it on its way.

Cringing, I begged, "Be cool."

"You first," Rose demanded.

Avoiding a patch of ice, Lizzy started walking again. "Let's get inside, it's freezing."

Stepping through the door, I let it slam behind me. It was warmer, not exactly comfortable, but the bitter wind couldn't snap at us anymore. The building was lit by rows of florescent lights. The smell of dirt and animal mixed in an almost pleasant way. At the far wall, stairs lead to an overlooking catwalk and offices. The dirt covered floor was mostly open, with only a sidewalk's width from the fence to the wall.

Rose narrowed her eyes, searching the face of a man speaking to a group of high school aged kids huddled together. He had at least some of their attention. His hands pushed deep into his pockets. "Is that Jack Brooks?"

"It is." Lizzy nodded.

Tilting her head, wrinkles creased Rose's forehead. "He looks different."

"He got a makeover for the bachelor auction a couple of months ago."

Rose's jaw dropped. "Bachelor auction?"

"It was so fun!" Lizzy's eyes glinted.

I couldn't help smiling at the two of them.

"Who is that?" Rose asked, her eyebrows shooting upward.

A man easily a few inches taller than my six foot one loomed to the right of Jack.

"That's Remi. He moved here to work at the animal clinic. Brooks works there too. Do you remember Hazel Matthews?"

"Nerdy girl, frizzy brown hair?"

"That's her. She bought the clinic from Doc March."

"Oh cool, good for her."

"Then she bagged Elijah March."

"No shit!"

"Yes!" Lizzy's eyes were bright as she passed on the gossip. "It's really freakin' adorable. He is so into her."

"Aw, well that's just cute." Rose pursed her lips to one side, before asking, "Is he still like…" She lifted her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah. The man has aged well."

"I'm still right here," I pointed out.

"Don't worry, you're pretty too," Rose joked.

"So pretty," Lizzy whispered to her boots.

I wouldn't say I liked being called pretty, but when it came from Lizzy…

A door on the second story opened and shut. A man in worn jeans and a flannel waved down to us. He was obviously their cousin on their dad's side. He could have been a younger, slightly smaller version of Jim. "Horses are in the stables. Give me ten minutes. I'll be right down. Glad to see ya, Bud."

"You too," Rose called back, then she and Lizzy led me back to the freezing outside and into a different building. Wooden stalls with hay covering their floors lined the walls, most of them containing a horse. Just like every other time I'd come near one, I did not like their size.

We spent most of the day in the arena. The girls rode a couple of different horses to give the giant beasts exercise. My heart stuck in my throat each time either of them guided over a jump, kicking up patches of the dirt floor. They'd offered to help me ride. I'd almost said yes to Lizzy. Each time I shook my head, enjoying the feeling of my feet on the ground.

She did convince me to brush her mare before she led her to the stables.

"Like this?" I asked, more focused on the rise and fall of her breasts than my actual task.

"Not like that." She rounded under the horse's neck and placed a hand on mine. We froze, the sensation of her skin hot on my fingers. Her body was close enough that I could smell her sweet sweat over the scent of horse and dirt. My eyes followed her flannel covered arm to her face. Our mouths were inches apart.

The distance was dangerous.

She swallowed.

My blood rushed low.

"Like this," she directed, a little breathless.

It wasn't until she pulled her hand back and swiped it over her ponytail that I regained the presence of mind to glance around. Luckily, only Rose was positioned to see us, with an annoyed pinch of her lips.

I mouthed, Sorry .

She rolled her eyes.

I did a better job avoiding Lizzy after that.

Before we left, Rose and I posed for a photo with one of the horses. It stood perfectly still, with its head between our shoulders. But I couldn't shake the fear that it might do something sketchy. It was just too big.

Lizzy lowered Rose's phone from in front of her face. "Will, you're glaring at Milkshake."

I leaned further away from the gargantuan animal. "It's called Milkshake?"

"How else would the boys get to the yard?" Rose asked.

She and Lizzy gave a sarcastic, "Duh," in unison.

Milkshake blew a gust of breath through its nostrils, and I jumped about three feet in the air.

"Let's get her away from him. She doesn't deserve this," Lizzy suggested.

I took a few steps sideways. "It's to my back. I can't relax."

"She, not it's," Rose corrected. Sharing an irritated look with Lizzy. "Go over by the fence next to the saddle. I'll be right there."

She made a clicking sound at the back of her teeth and began leading the mare away. My muscles were wound tight, but as the distance grew between me and Milkshake , my heart rate lowered. I rolled my shoulders and neck.

Lizzy tilted her head, considering me. "I didn't realize you were scared of horses."

"I'm not scared. I just don't trust them."

"Hmm. Important distinction."

I scoffed. "They're too big."

"Did you have any fun today?"

"Some. I liked watching you." I lowered my voice just above a whisper.

"I might have been showing off a little."

Denying the desire to hold her, to kiss her smirking lips, to tell her that the more I got to know her, the harder I fell was like denying that water was wet. She was right there, but completely out of my reach.

And I only had myself to blame.

"Alright," Rose called as she stepped back into the arena. "Let's get this photo and head home."