Christmas at Fox Ridge

8. Eira

Chapter eight

Eira

“ A t least there’s no chance you’ll accidentally draw a misshapen body part if you’re painting a picture of the sky.”

“Don’t count that out just yet. Clouds look an awful lot like butts sometimes.”

“I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with butts.”

“I draw a lot of smutty artwork for authors. It comes with the territory.”

“Smutty artwork?” He rolls to his side, hungry eyes pinning me against the snow. Leaving me in the midst of a battle between fire in my veins and ice on my skin. “Like what?”

My mind instantly flashes to the reverse harem sex scene I finished during my lunch break at work the other day. A full hour spent delicately adding the perfect amount of veins to every cock. All five of them.

“Just… character art for romance books. People like to collect it—especially the stuff that isn’t exactly safe for work.” I gulp, searching his face for judgement. Despite seeing none, I counter with, “I mean, that’s really a small , tiny, miniscule part of what I do. I make most of my money with illustrated book covers and cutesy type character art.”

“Yet you didn’t want to draw me in the hotel room? I’m crushed.” He throws himself backward into the snow with a hand clutching his chest.

The watercolour sky swirls around us, and all I want to do is tell him how many times I’ve drawn him in the months since that night. How often I’ve poured over the page until the early morning hours, ensuring I don’t forget a single detail.

“The hotel room has a notepad and pen on my bedside table,” he whispered into my ear as the elevator tipped from floor to floor. “I can’t wait for you to draw me like a French girl.”

“Lucas,” I hissed, eyes darting to the man sharing our confined space. The quote wasn’t even right, but that was beside the point. “I’m not doing that.”

“Because you’ll be too busy riding my cock to draw it?”

Heat flared through my skin, and I elbowed him in the stomach. His small groan against my neck had my thighs clamping together.

With a ding, the doors opened, and our friend evacuated the elevator without another glance in our direction. And I climbed Lucas like a tree before they’d fully shut again. Lips crashing into his, I wrapped my thighs around his waist and relied on his tree-trunk arms to support my weight. He pressed me into the wall, consuming me, his lust for me evident between his legs.

“Fuck. I need it,” I keened between frantic kisses, wanting every scrap of fabric between us gone as soon as possible. My fingers tightened around the shirt lapel, and his hands moved to grip my ass to steady us.

I needed to feel him. That exact second. Not in five floors.

What kind of asshole books a room on the twenty-fifth floor?

“Lucas,” I whined, grinding against him like I was in heat. Any friction. Any touch. That’s all I needed to set me over the edge. I’d never been like that with a man before—so hungry for any piece of him I could get.

“Almost there.” Hot breath against my skin.

“Almost there,” I moaned, finally catching his belt against my clit through the fabric of my dress, inching myself so close I—

“What do you think?” Lucas’s deep voice brings me back to the present.

“Sorry, I didn’t…” I press my frozen fingertips to my fiery cheek. “I missed what you said.”

“I said your cabin’s surrounded by so many trees, and you probably won’t have enough feeling in your fingers to sit outside painting. So, if you want to try painting the northern lights, the window next to my wood stove has a great view.” He sits up, leaving the perfect imprint of his body behind. The back of his coat’s soaked through, and he smiles down at me. “What do you think?”

“Lucas…” My stomach lurches, and I glance over at him just as a snowflake lands on the tip of his long, dark eyelashes. Scrambling, I spring up, breath fogging around my face. “I didn’t come here to intrude on you, or make things any more stressful for—”

A huffing laugh clouds the air. “You’re the farthest thing from an intrusion. I already told you that last night. Or did exposure to the cold ruin your memory?”

“It could also be from breathing burnt soup fumes earlier.” I slam a closed fist dramatically into my chest. “You’re saying I could’ve just sauntered on over the moment I realized I couldn’t light a fire?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“ Cool. The hypothermia on night one was all for nothing. So far, this place is getting a two-star review.”

“Close brush with death and still give two stars? Damn, you’re easy to please.”

My eyes fall to the deep cupid’s bow above his upper lip. Then along the stubbled jaw, before winding down his body like the gentle curves of a river. My gaze traipses the landscape and pools in places I need a moment to linger. “Only because the hot ranch owner let me sleep in his bed to make up for it.”

“Maybe don’t put that in your review.”

I shrug. “Would’ve bumped it to a three if I’d had somebody there with me. You know… for body heat.”

“In that case, skin to skin is actually most effective.” He sits up, and his hand flexes over his crooked knee. “Damn, I missed this. The back and forth with you.”

“You could’ve called,” I say. “I know you didn’t have my number but…”

I could’ve, too.

“Yeah…”

“I could’ve— should’ve— called you. Your sister keeps trying to set me up with guys, and it’s fucking miserable. I’ve yet to have half as much fun as I did with you. Is that pathetic to admit after spending one night together?”

Lucas laughs. Not in a judgemental or malicious manner. He laughs like he understands my exact emotions and has been waiting for the chance to explain them.

“It’s probably more pathetic for me to say I’ve thought about you constantly since then. There’s something about you that helps me relax, and I don’t get to feel that way often anymore.” The waver in his voice makes my heart thump loudly in my chest. Like the protective roar of a wild animal. “A drunk driver hit me seven years ago, and I should’ve died. I’d always wanted to live somewhere away from the city”—he gestures around us at the sky and thick forest—“and I used my payout to make it happen. But I won’t lie and say it hasn’t been stressful.”

I nod, watching the worry stitch back into the fine lines in his face. It deepens when he pauses to read my expression.

“I’ve always been a bit impulsive. It’s why I hopped on a bull without second thought when offered, why I threw away a sure-fire career at my dad’s accounting firm to pursue work as a farrier, why I bought this place based on a few realtor photos because it felt right.” The memory elicits a shy smile, and I can feel his soul backing every word. “It’s also why I was right there in the bar, about to attempt to woo you with a cheesy pickup line, when you spilled your water.”

“You think we were meant to meet that night?”

“Does that sound crazy?”

Maybe a little, in the sense that love at first sight is something I read about, but nobody I know has had it happen in real life. It’s always a gradual transition from strangers to friends to something more. One-night stands never make it to the light of morning, and you definitely don’t think about them every single night for months afterward.

“No. Granted, we were technically meant to meet that night, since Holly orchestrated an entire party for her family and friends to get to know each other.” I shiver against the wet running down my spine—snowmelt dripping from the tips of my hair. “But, in the months since, I haven’t spent a single second thinking about anybody else from that party.”

“Not even my uncle Ted?” He gestures to mimic a massive beard.

“Oh, yes. I dream about that majestic beard every night.” I fake a swoon. “No, Lucas. Not even him.”

“Do you know how many dreams I’ve had where you show up at my ranch—usually in that little slip of a dress you had on at the party—and I get to feel you under me again? So many fucking dreams of your perfect little pussy, I wake up tasting it.” He winces at the last sentence, clearly feeling like he might’ve crossed a line with the confession. And when I open my mouth to speak, even more words tumble out from between his perfect lips, despite his cheeks becoming redder by the second. “Listen, you’re only here for a few days, and it’s Christmas, and maybe we could keep each other company rather than retreat to our separate homes. I think I’ve maybe had a touch too much bourbon, because I know this is a wild proposal, but if you decide you want to do that, I’ll leave my front door unlocked. If not, I’ll let you enjoy the cabin you rented, and we’ll never speak of this moment again.”

Then in an instant, his large frame is lumbering back to the house, and I’m shell-shocked in his wake. But fuck me if everything in my body isn’t desperate to make chase.

He’s right, it’s just a few days.

What’s the harm?

If we were holding off on hooking up because we didn’t want to potentially piss off Holly, that ship sailed six months ago.

Brushing the snow from my back and butt, I glance toward the dark cabin out of obligation. Long enough I can make the argument I considered going back if questioned by the court of Holly. Then I’m jogging my way to Lucas’s front porch.

Within seconds of the heavy door slamming shut behind me, he turns the corner from the kitchen with a smile on his face. Already stripped of his coat, his slightly damp T-shirt clings to every curve of his broad upper body. Lucas’s massive palms engulf my cheeks, pulling me into a desperate kiss. Tongues intertwining, moans captured between sealed lips, he has me breathless and wanton in his arms.

Layer by layer, he tugs at my wet clothes, peeling them from my skin and letting each article fall to the floor in a series of loud smacks. Until I’m wearing nothing but underwear and a bralette, shivering in his arms despite the heat burning my lungs with every shallow breath. The drag of his tongue down my neck is like the lighting of a match.

My fingers find their way to the hem of his shirt, and I’m lifting to expose his thick torso, firm pecs, broad shoulders. Dark chest hair is matted down from the wet shirt, and his eyes smoulder when he takes in my near-nakedness.

“Come on, baby. Let’s warm you up.” His lips move over mine while we shuffle across the dimly lit room, neither willing to stop feeling each other up for long enough to walk properly.

The wood stove glows, flooding the surrounding floor and couch with an amber glow, and he lowers me to the plush upholstery. A firm palm splayed over my back, the other cradling my skull, we sink into bliss together. And for a moment, the world falls still, waiting for us to settle into place on his couch.

“We’re doing this?” He hovers above me, touching but not enough . I need to feel him everywhere. Consuming me.

Maybe I won’t spend the holidays working on commissions until my fingers stiffen around the pencil. Maybe I’ll spend them with a naked cowboy wrapped around me instead.

Great trade-off, if you ask me.

I nip at his jaw, stubble scraping my lip. “We’re doing this.”

Not wasting another second, nimble fingers release the bralette clasp at my back in one swift movement. He flings the white lace to the floor and takes my breasts in both hands, massaging and caressing, holding them so he can suck a nipple into his mouth with a sated groan. Then trailing his tongue across my chest to give the same treatment on the other side.

After a moment, Lucas grabs the elastic of my underwear, shimmying it over the curve of my ass and down my goosebump-covered thighs. There between my legs—my naked body spread before him—he studies me in the dim light. Assessing every curve like he’ll mold them from clay. Fingers stippling over each freckle, blemish, and stretch mark with the delicate touch of a sable paint brush. As if he’ll be relying on a photographic memory to create a masterpiece later.

Then his palms are ghosting over my skin, leaving me squirming and whimpering as he closes in on the place I need him most. “Please.”

“Fuck.” He breathes the curse in through gritted teeth. “Don’t do that to me. Don’t beg like that, or I’m going to lose control.”

Naturally, I roll my hips to beg for his touch. “ Pleeeeease.”

“You’re so fucking—” Two digits sinking into my pussy erase the second half of his sentence, both of us letting out a low growl of pleasure. “This pussy. She’s driven me insane for the last six months. Do you know that?”

As he pumps into me, the heel of his hand catches on the sensitive bundle of nerves that’s begging for attention.

“Show me.” The way I move to force him deeper is salacious and insistent. “Show me how insane you’ve been without me.”

A puff of air flares his nostrils, and he smirks before trailing his tongue down past my navel and removing his hand. Fingers sunk into my fleshy hips, he teases me with a slow flick of his tongue over my clit. When I buck, I feel him laugh against my skin. And the jerk moves to lick every inch of skin except the place I need.

“I need you. Please. I need—”

He circles my clit, the sensations pulling my body from the couch in a crunch position before I flail backward with a loud cry. I’m the only one who’s spent time between my legs in the last six months, and every fantasy was about him, so it makes sense that I’m falling apart mere seconds into feeling his tongue flicker across my pussy.

“This cunt’s the best meal I’ve ever had.” He groans against my wet skin, fingers pressing into my outer thighs so he can devour me again. “I’ve been without it for too long, and I’m fucking starved.”

Tongue working me over like it’s his job, his hands are left to wander. He cups my breast, sliding my nipples between slightly spread fingers with a reverberating moan. Like a sneeze, pressure builds in my core with every touch and lick and glance up at me. The ache for relief is palpable for only a moment before an orgasm tears through my body, nearly throwing the pair of us from the couch.

“Fuck me,” I demand, yanking his face to mine by the root of his hair so I can kiss him and savour the taste of my arousal on his lips.

“I don’t… shit. I don’t have any condoms, baby.” His forehead falls to mine with regret. “ Fuck . I’ll get some tomorrow.”

“I don’t care.” The response shocks me, too, and I blink rapidly in disbelief. I wipe the dampness from his beard with a shy smile. “I mean… um, well, I don’t care if you don’t. I have an IUD. Haven’t been with anyone since you.”

I hold my breath as my eyes lock on his, silently hoping he can say the same.

“I haven’t been with anyone since… or for about five years before that.” He gnaws his cheek, breaking eye contact to look down at the wooden floorboards.

“Why?”

“Wasn’t interested. But we can always wait until tomorrow, if you want,” he says in spite of the way my heels are slowly nudging down the elastic waistband of his boxer briefs. “If I feel that tight pussy of yours riding me with nothing between us, I know I’ll be insatiable. I can’t guarantee I’ll ever be able to go back.”

“I don’t want to wait.”

His thick cock plunges into me without another second of hesitation, stretching me in the most heavenly way. I moan under my breath, spreading my legs wider so he can bottom out with his next thrust. His work-worn hands grab my ankles, moving them to rest on his shoulders while he fills me entirely.

He throws his head back at the same time his hips rock forward. “This pussy is addicting, Eira. One hit after months without it, and I’m ready to throw my fucking life away for another taste.”

He’s telling me. I can’t look at him for fear of doing exactly that. Throwing everything away to stay here, simply so I can have this man all to myself forever.

My nails bite into his forearms to keep me grounded at the same time my back arches to inch me closer to heaven. And seconds before I’m there again, my heart stops and my eyes go wide when everything suddenly lurches to the right.

Toppling.

Sliding.

Whatever you want to call it—falling off the couch while Lucas’s cock is buried inside me isn’t graceful or pretty.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” He grips my arm, as if he can somehow prevent me from falling further. A look of sheer panic blankets his face. Poor guy probably thought his dick was about to be ripped off.

“My life flashed before my eyes, but I’m okay.”

Nothing but pride—and probably the moment—ruined here. Add this scenario to the highlight reel of embarrassing memories for me to replay when I can’t sleep in the middle of the night. Heat travels under my skin from my core to my cheeks.

“A full-body blush? Fuck, baby. These perky tits of yours look so sexy in that shade of pink. Matching your pretty pussy.”

My nipples tighten under his gaze, and that only adds a lustful glimmer to his eyes. Somehow, he doesn’t seem to find me any less sexy than he did before my body crumpled onto his floor.

“Kneel right here, facing the couch. Can’t risk you falling again.” Lucas presses a palm between my shoulder blades, encouraging my face to fall to the cushion.

Mood not ruined, evidently, since he slips his fingers in his mouth before reaching around to tease my clit. And because it’s him, I’m slick and needy again within seconds.

There’s a collective moan of sweet relief when he slips back inside. A loving, comforting closeness that lasts a heartbeat. Only long enough for me to look back and watch the shift from soft to feral in his expression.

Then it’s damp skin slapping, bruising grip, the occasional slap of his palm over my bare ass. Panting breaths and heaving chests and mussed up hair. His cock slamming into me, stealing the air from my lungs and driving us toward ecstasy.

“Anybody ever played with this pretty little hole, Eira?” His fingertip toys with the delicate skin around my asshole as he thrusts.

I gulp, shaking my head slightly. “No.”

“Can I?”

“Y-yes,” I say.

Of course he can. Anything. I’ll do anything and everything he wants.

Lucas stills inside me, and I hold my breath, waiting for what might come next. A muscle in my thigh trembles out of control, and then suddenly his cock’s pulled from between my legs and his teeth sink into my hip.

“Fucking hell.” His lips drag over the spot. “Watching your ass jiggle while your pussy squeezes me like that. You’re killing me, baby.”

“Sorry,” I whine.

“Don’t you dare apologize for making my dick hard.” He slams back into me with a strangled exhale. “Perfect pussy, perfect ass. I’ll happily die while filling both.”

Spit lands below where his finger’s still circling, and he spreads it across my skin while shushing my whimpers. Then his finger prods, delicately pushing inside just enough that I’m arching into the feeling. Wiggling. Needing him deeper.

Just.

Like.

That .

My head lolls with a satiated moan, so full of him it borders on painful.

“That’s it. Good girl, taking me in both holes. Does it feel good, baby? Ready for me to move again?”

I nod against the couch cushion, and when he finally moves inside of me, I see nothing but Aurora Borealis behind my eyelids.

Again and again, he sinks every inch into me. Cuss words slip from my mouth so often, they become an incantation. Sweat prickling my lower back, knees burned from the rug under us, I slip a hand to my clit just as the knot in my stomach unravels.

“I can’t…” I announce between tremors racking my entire body. “I’m—”

I don’t know what I’m about to do, but it feels like a heavy weight on my bladder and, despite the instinct to stop it, his forceful thrusts make me lose all control. I could claw my way out of my own skin with the intensity of pleasure coursing through me.

And at the same moment I float down from heaven, a gush floods down my thighs. There’s no way he didn’t notice it. Full-body blush is in full effect now, that’s for sure.

“So goddamn sexy.” Lucas finds a new, unhinged pace, chasing his own high. “Squirting all over my cock like that. Fuck. ”

With a drawn out final pump, he spills into me. Ideally, I’d stay here forever; having him so close gives the warmth and comfort of a security blanket. Still catching our breath, everything becomes unbearably empty with the slow removal of his body from mine.

“You’re seriously a drug, baby. I’m already impatiently waiting for my dick to get hard again so I can be back inside you.” His eyes shut as he collapses next to me, entirely blissed out, and I press a soft kiss to his lips.

As much as it pains me, because I’m pretty sure I’m just as addicted, I say, “We’ve got all week, so you should rest up tonight.”

Pulling me into his lap, he kneads the tender skin over my hip where his fingers dug in while he came. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. You soaked me.”

I scrunch my nose. “I’ve never done that before.”

“Even better. A Christmas present just for me. Next time, you’re doing that on my tongue.” His words slur slightly from exhaustion, and before he can insist that it’s time for round two, I interlace our fingers and stand. A small tug is all it takes for him to follow.

“You should get some sleep, big guy.”

“Come with me.” He starts toward the stairs, encouraging me along. “Stay in my bed this week.”

“How am I going to give Holly any feedback about the cabin if I’m spending every night in your house?”

“Fuck the cabin. I need you in my bed.”

I need that too.