Here Comes Santa Paws (Christmas Falls: Season 2)

28. Roman

Chapter 28

Roman

After pulling into my garage, I quickly checked on Carol inside, then hovered at the rear of my truck with my garage door open. Elias and I hadn’t talked about continuing our time together after building the ugliest and least structurally sound snowperson of all time, but I was hesitant to put an end to the day. I had no idea rolling around in the snow to build a fugly lump with a carrot nose and rock eyes could be so fun.

He had to take Gramps home first, so I figured he’d be about ten minutes behind. Right on cue, Elias pulled into his drive minutes later. I moved to the mid-point of the paved walkway between our homes.

After he climbed out of his car, he hissed as he jogged over to me. “It’s freaking cold. The heater barely took the edge off.” A shiver racked his body.

“We have been playing in the snow, and your gloves are shit.”

Elias playfully rolled his eyes, and I wanted to wrap him in my arms and use my body heat to raise his. Then do it. You leave for your interview tomorrow. How many more chances will you have?

I couldn’t argue with that thought, so I closed the distance between us and pulled Elias into my arms. He melted immediately and wrapped his arms around me.

“You’re warm.” His words came out like a purr.

“Want me to make you warm too?”

Elias tilted his head back. The bright, blinking Christmas lights on his side of the house reflected in his eyes. “More than anything.”

Carol had been fast asleep when I checked on her— on my bed— and I didn’t want to further disturb her, given what a trooper she’d been earlier.

“How about your place?”

Elias failed to hide the surprise in his eyes. “Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand with his gloved one and tugged me toward his front door. “Ignore any dirty clothes that might be in the vicinity of but not in my hamper,” he said over his shoulder.

He pulled me with surprising strength, like I was offering resistance. I wasn’t.

Elias dropped my hand to unlock his front door, then ushered us inside to a symphony of barking dogs and a meowing cat. His back was to me as he shed his winter gear.

Nutcracker stretched onto his hind legs and pressed his front paws on my knee as his tail twitched with his excitement. I crouched and scratched behind his ears. Sensing an opportunity for affection, Tinsel joined.

“Sorry. I know the animals are a lot. You can?—”

At Elias’s abrupt silence, I looked up. He stared at me, mouth hanging open.

“What?”

“You—the dogs—fur—Tinsel slobbers,” he finally settled on.

“So does Carol. I woke up to her drool on my pillow just this morning.”

“Her’s huh?” His surprise shifted to a teasing smile.

“I don’t drool.”

Elias held out his hand. The fire in his eyes had returned, but a new softness there made my chest ache. “How about we find out?”

I accepted his hand and stood. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and stretched into a lush kiss. I hummed into it and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him flush against me.

“Is the rest of your evening free?” he asked between kisses.

“It is.” I kissed the corner of his mouth.

“You fly out tomorrow?”

“I do.” I moved to the underside of his jaw.

“Packed?” His words developed a lusty lilt.

“I am. Except my toothbrush.” I nipped his earlobe.

“Good.” He placed his cold hands on my cheeks and kissed me deep and slow. His tongue danced with mine as I swallowed his groans.

I wasn’t sure how many minutes passed as we stood making out in his living room. I’d lost all sense of time and didn’t even hear his animals moving around us. All that existed in my world in that moment was Elias.

Eventually, he pulled back and grabbed the TV remote. “Turning on the birds to keep them distracted.”

Then he took my hand and led me down his hallway. As we passed his spare room, I tried not to think about moving Carol in there tomorrow to stay while I was in Arizona. All I wanted to think about was Elias and how good I wanted to make him feel.

I grinned at the candy-cane boxers haphazardly left next to his hamper as the door clicked closed behind me. When I opened my arms, Elias stepped into them, resuming our languid kisses. Our lips only strayed apart long enough to pull our sweaters and undershirts off. Despite moving slowly, my heart thundered like I’d run a marathon.

A small voice in my brain screamed at me to leave before I got too swept away, but I shut it down. I didn’t know what would happen in Arizona, and the last thing I wanted to do was regret tonight. I suspected I’d already have enough regrets heading my way, and I didn’t want to add another to the pile.

I slid my hand into the back pocket of his jeans. “You asked me about my evening but didn’t tell me about yours. What’s your plan for the night?”

Mischief sparkled in his eyes as he moved away, forcing my hand out of his pants. He flipped a table lamp on, then reached into his nightstand drawer and retrieved a bottle of lube and a condom. We hadn’t gone further than some finger play, and it seemed like he was ready for more. So was I.

“I’ve got big plans.”

The sight of the condom had me eagerly dropping my jeans. After setting the supplies on the bed, Elias did the same. Once he was naked, he stood and stroked himself as he gave me a slow, lingering once-over.

I’m in way over my head.

I closed the distance between us and pulled his naked body against mine. Elias moaned as I gripped one ass cheek in each of my palms. My cock slid against his smooth belly. The man had me so turned on that I might come with a simple touch.

Elias pulled me onto the bed and hummed as I settled my weight over him. I arched into his touch as he dragged his fingernails down my back.

“What do you want?” I whispered in his ear, then kissed a path down the stubble growing on his neck.

He wrapped his fingers around my hard cock. “You. In me.”

I was absolutely on board for that.

As I continued dropping kisses on his skin like I was trying to mark every inch, I reached for the lube. When I flicked my tongue over his nipple, Elias squirmed under me. He was pliant and willing.

Emotion swam in Elias’s eyes as he watched me. I shouldn’t have been nervous about how he would react to the surprise photo shoot earlier. Elias had clearly loved it. He spent so much time caring for others that he deserved to have people worrying about him once in a while. It scared me how much I liked the idea of filling that role.

I squirted lube onto my fingers and let it warm before I teased my fingertip around his hole. Elias let his legs fall open as he gripped his sheets.

I liked having some attention paid to my dick before getting worked open, so I took a guess he might enjoy the same. When I shifted toward the foot of his bed to get my mouth in range of his cock, I knew I’d made the right move. Elias tugged his bottom lip between his teeth as he stared at me.

Without breaking eye contact, I sucked one of his balls into my mouth and traced the skin with my tongue. After giving equal attention to the other, I dragged my mouth along his shaft until I was in range to suck his leaking cock.

Elias’s torso curved when my nose brushed the happy trail on his abs. “Oh fuck.”

I kept working Elias’s cock with my mouth and lubed hand until I had him muttering a string of nonsensical words. Then I moved my fingers back to his hole and worked one in. The long moan Elias let out as I slid my longest finger inside to the hilt made my dick eagerly jump.

I loved watching Elias fall apart under my touch almost as much as I loved being the person to make it happen.

Elias took my finger easily and quickly begged for more, so I complied. He licked his dry lips as he watched me stroke my cock with my free hand.

“How badly do you want me inside you?”

“ Roman . Need it.”

I cupped his balls and tugged gently as I pushed the third finger in. He dragged his open palm up his stomach and paused to pinch his nipple. I squeezed my eyes closed to calm myself down.

I was meticulous in making sure he was stretched for me. Even when he begged me to move on, I didn’t. I couldn’t. The beads of sweat forming on his forehead, sliding down his temples, had me mesmerized. Everything about him had me captivated.

“ Please. Need you.”

My eyes fell closed as I tried to stop those words from getting absorbed by a deeper part of me. The part that used my unguarded moments between sleep and being awake to think about what it would be like to stay with Elias. I had to remind myself his words only meant now. In this moment.

I stroked him and removed my fingers as he thrust the open condom packet into my face. I slid it down my shaft.

Elias grinned and pulled me on top of him. “Ready?”

“So ready.” My voice was hoarse. My stare never left his as I gripped my shaft and teased my sensitive cockhead against his hole. I eased the tip inside, making sure Elias was good before I pushed farther in.

His jaw went slack as he tilted his head back, chin pointing at the ceiling. “More.” The word came out on a moan.

I sucked a possessive kiss where his neck met his shoulder as I slid home. Any stubborn panels into the wall around my heart crumbled at our connection. There was a rightness with Elias that I couldn’t ignore. I didn’t know what to do with it, but I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t there any longer.

Elias wrapped his legs around my waist, and I hooked my arms under his shoulders and cupped the back of his head in my hands. I didn’t want any space between us. All my senses were focused on Elias—his musky scent, the smoothness of his skin, his lusty moans and needy whimpers in my ear. Each one worked its way into my heart. Elias gripped me like he never wanted to let me go as I thrust inside him, over and over.

I hummed in pleasure as he clenched around my cock. That sensation pushed me over the edge, and he held me tightly as I pulsed inside him. My toes curled as the orgasm worked through me, leaving me floating in bliss. His hold on me never relaxed.

Once I got my wits about me, I shuffled down his body and sucked him until he shot into my mouth while moaning my name. I collapsed onto him in a sweaty heap. We lay there for several minutes until the condom became an annoyance.

“You got a trash can in here?”

“No, but there’s one in the bathroom. You can brave the dogs, or I’ve got tissues.” Elias reached over to the nightstand and passed me a box.

I looked at the bedroom door and saw several paws underneath. “Tissues work for me.” I disposed of the condom into a bundle of them and set them on the nightstand until we decided to leave the room and I could throw it away.

Elias rolled toward me and tucked his arm close to his body as I wrapped mine around his shoulder.

“Want to stay for a bit? I’ve probably got half an hour until the dogs threaten mutiny for dinner.” He pressed a quick kiss against my chest.

My mind swam from the intimacy. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had sex like this. Had I ever? Despite a part of me wanting to grab my clothes and run, I didn’t. I could live in the fantasy for thirty minutes.

“Someone needs to protect you from the mutiny.”

He chuckled, and his warm breath teased across my skin. We fell silent for a moment.

“You know, if the job doesn’t work out, we could keep hanging out. I don’t hate this,” Elias hedged.

He kept his tone casual, but I could read between the lines.

“You need to do what’s right for you, but I couldn’t let you go to Arizona without you knowing that I’m enjoying whatever’s happening between us.”

“I am too.” What else could I say? I couldn’t promise him anything I wasn’t prepared to honor.

I kissed the top of his head like I wasn’t going to leave his place, hop on a plane to Arizona tomorrow, and interview for a new job on Monday morning. New job, new adventure, right? That had been my motto to date.

So why doesn’t it feel like it fits anymore? Somehow Elias’s enthusiastic earnestness worked its way under my skin and into my heart. Goddammit. I went and got myself attached to my annoyingly perky neighbor.