Merriment and Mayhem (Under the Mistletoe collection)

Chapter Four

S hirt, sweatpants, extra-thick socks, and shower’s just down the hall.” Griffin pressed a bundle of clothes into Everleigh’s hands with a crooked smile. “Follow me.”

“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.” She wrapped the emergency mylar blanket tighter around her shoulders and padded after him, feet bare and skin clammy. “I would’ve been fine. Really.”

“You almost drowned, Everleigh.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “Humor me.”

His house was beautiful—a modified A-frame cabin, tucked away in the woods near the Olympic National Park, secluded yet still closer to town than her grandmother’s house by a solid twenty minutes. It felt a little like the tree house of her dreams, painted in shades of green—forest and hunter, basil and fern—the floor-to-ceiling windows along the back of the house bringing the outdoors in.

As much as she loved the city and everything it had to offer, this was the sort of house she’d always dreamed of calling home. A house in a town that wasn’t quite so small that everyone knew everyone’s business, but small enough that there was a real sense of community. It was a place where she could imagine putting down roots, raising a family. Should she ever be so lucky.

Griffin stopped in front of the last door on the left. “Shower should have everything you need, and the towels are all clean.”

“Thanks.” She held up the bundle he’d handed her, clothes that were soft and smelled like him, like fresh linen and peppermint. “I’ll be quick.”

“Take your time.” His eyes flickered to her lips and back to her eyes. “I’ll, uh, make up the guest room for you.”

He pulled the bathroom door shut, and Everleigh slumped over, elbows resting against the basin of the sink, her head cradled in her hands, mylar blanket sliding to the floor, forgotten.

Fuck.

People got hurt all the time. Either of them could’ve wound up in the hospital or worse tonight, and what would she have done then? Crawled into bed, reassured by the fact that she’d done a bang-up job protecting her feelings ?

Fuck her feelings, her fears, all of it. Everleigh opened the bathroom door and—

Griffin stood just on the other side of the threshold, hands braced on the doorframe, head hung, looking as absolutely wrecked as she felt. His eyes flitted up, meeting hers. “Sorry. I was just about to—”

“This was a date,” she blurted.

He frowned. “Sorry.”

“I’m so, so tired”—she reached out, fisting the front of his shirt—“of pretending this isn’t what I want.”

“Everleigh.” His jaw clenched. “What are you saying right now?”

She laughed. “Isn’t it obvious?”

He shook his head. “I need you to be really fucking clear right now.”

The word fuck rolling off his tongue sent a bolt of heat through her. “I’m saying you should kiss me right now, or else I’ll—”

Griffin’s mouth came crashing down on hers before she could finish the threat.

There was nothing chaste or slow about it. His tongue was in her mouth, tracing the ridges of her teeth, tasting her, taking what he wanted, stealing her breath. When he drew back, teeth nipping at the swell of her lower lip, she shivered, a soft groan escaping.

“Goddammit, Everleigh,” he swore, hands rising, gripping her arms. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”

“Me?” She laughed against his mouth. “I’m infuriating? You’re the one walking around in a uniform that’s way too fucking small.” Hugging his biceps in a way that was practically pornographic.

He chuckled and stepped closer, pressing his erection into her hip. “I’m not wearing my uniform now.”

“No.” She nipped at his lip the way he had hers, earning a groan. “But you are wearing too much.”

“Could say the same about you.” He hummed, and one hand slid down her shoulder, her arm, slowing to caress the skin of her inner elbow, pausing to brush his thumb against the thrumming pulse in her wrist. He shifted, tracing the curve of her waist before reaching for the hem of her waterlogged dress. His fingers slipped beneath the fabric and trailed up the inside of her knee, fingertips rough and warm as they danced against the skin of her thigh. His hand cupped her over her underwear, pressed right up against her cunt through the cotton. “I bet you’re already wet for me, huh?”

Her face flamed as she nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

“Fuck.” He chuckled under his breath, the look in his eyes heated but a bit soft, too, as his gaze flickered over her shoulder into the bathroom. “Truthfully? I’ve never actually fucked anyone inside a shower before. And considering your track record and how I’m not looking to call 911, maybe—”

She grabbed his face and pressed her lips against his so she wouldn’t grin too stupidly. “Bed,” she muttered against his mouth.

“Bed it is.” His hands slid down, palming her ass, fingers biting into her flesh as he lifted her against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, gasping softly when he pressed against her, her panties the only thing covering her core.

Griffin stumbled down the hall, trying to navigate while nibbling her neck. His teeth grazed against a particularly sensitive spot just under her ear, and she tightened her legs, squeezing him to her, making him groan.

Halfway up the stairs, he huffed and set her down, right on the staircase. “Fuck this.”

Shuffling until he was kneeling several stairs below her, he reached under her dress, fingers looping around her underwear, tugging them over her ass and down her thighs. They wound up flung somewhere over her shoulders, forgotten when he ducked his head beneath her dress and ran the flat of his tongue between her folds, moaning softly against her.

“Oh, my God.” Her hands twitched, grasping the edge of the stair, fingernails biting into the dark wood. The tip of his tongue flicked against her clit, hard and fast before he wrapped his lips around the bundle and sucked. A shudder racked her body, her stomach tensing, twitching. “ Fuck. ”

Fire sparked inside her veins when his hand trailed up her thigh and two of his fingers pressed against her, sliding inside and curling against the spot she could never comfortably reach, but his fingers were longer and thicker than hers and he knew exactly what he was— fuck —what he was doing with them. Pleasure unfurled from the base of her spine and spread—

“ Oh. ” She snapped, muscles trembling, as she came, pleasure blindsiding her, stealing the breath from her lungs until her vision spotted.

Griffin withdrew his fingers, raising his eyes as he licked his lips, lips that were flushed and swollen and slick. “Good?”

She shook her head, blinking, words failing her. “Uh-huh.”

Slowly, he smirked, cocky as hell, and her cunt clenched all over again. “Good. Not that I’m opposed to further practice, because— fuck , Trouble. You taste amazing.”

As if to make the point, Griffin brought his hand to his mouth, sucking his fingers clean.

Everleigh squirmed. There was a stair sort of poking into the middle of her back that she hadn’t noticed until now. A credit to exactly how good with his mouth Griffin was, managing to distract her. “Maybe we could actually move this to a bed?”

Griffin ducked his head, laughing. “Sorry. Got a little eager there.”

On the list of things he needed to apologize for, his eagerness ranked dead last.

Before she could even think about standing, Griffin reached down, scooping her off the stairs and into his arms sideways without so much as a grunt, her knees crooked over one forearm while the other held her back, cradling her the way he had that first, fortuitous night in her kitchen.

As soon as they were inside his room, he set her down on her feet. He took a step back, blowing out his breath. “So.”

She bit the inside of her cheek and lifted her dress up her body and over her head, dropping it at her side.

Griffin stared, mouth open.

“Jesus Christ,” he swore, reaching behind his neck and pulling off his hoodie, the muscles in his arms flexing in the process. He was ... God. It should be criminal to look that good.

Broad shoulders gave way to an equally broad and built chest that nipped down into a defined waist. A trail of dark hair ran beneath his belly button and disappeared into his jeans, jeans she wanted off yesterday.

“Off,” she demanded. “Take those off.”

Griffin held her stare as he popped the button on his jeans and lowered the zipper. His thumbs dipped beneath the waistband, but he paused, lips quirking. “Impatient?”

“About to start without you.”

Griffin shook his head and shucked off his jeans, his boxers sliding off, too. He stepped out of the denim and took a step toward her, cock jutting out in front of him, hard and thick, pearly fluid leaking from the tip.

Everleigh hadn’t realized she’d licked her lips until Griffin groaned, his hands grabbing her hips and pulling her close. His cock pressed against her stomach, heavy and hot, precome smearing onto her skin. “Are you sure?”

Resting her hands on his shoulders, she captured his lips. He tasted warm and like her, tangy and sweet, his mouth still covered in her arousal. She swiped her tongue against his bottom lip and pulled back before he could deepen the kiss. “Yes.”

Griffin stretched an arm out, reaching inside the top drawer of his nightstand, pulling out a condom. Before he could rip open the foil, before Everleigh hardly knew what she was doing, she was reaching out and stilling his hand with her fingers over his.

He looked at her, a question in his eyes creasing his brow.

Cheeks hot, she fought the urge to squirm and shrugged instead. “I’ve got an IUD, and I haven’t, you know, been with anyone since the last time I got tested. I’ve got my results on my phone if you want to see. So if you’re—”

“I had a physical last month,” he said, throat working hard as he swallowed. “I’m good. I can show you my results if you—”

She shook her head. “I trust you.”

Griffin’s breath shuddered from between his lips, and his eyelids fluttered, composure cracking. He tossed the condom aside and reached for her, gripping her by the hips, his fingers biting into her ass. “You want me to fuck you raw? You want me to come inside you?”

Everleigh shivered and a tiny whimper clawed its way up her throat. “ Griffin. ”

He chuckled and the sound rumbled through her, heat pooling between her thighs. “Come on, Everleigh.” He leaned in, his stubble rasping against her cheek as his lips skimmed the shell of her ear. “You want it? I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you tell me you want it.”

Her cunt clenched and she dug her nails into his shoulders, suddenly dizzy with desire even as her face burned hotter than it ever had before.

Everleigh had never had sex without a condom before, but she wanted it. Wanted to feel him.

“I want it,” she breathed. “I want to feel you.”

He groaned softly and turned his head, lips brushing her cheek. “Hands and knees for me, baby. Please.”

Griffin’s bed was soft, the dark-green comforter plush under her palms as she got comfortable, bracing herself on all fours.

He didn’t say she couldn’t look, so she peeked over her shoulder, watching as he knelt on the bed and crawled toward her. He molded himself to her back, curling himself around her, closing the distance between their faces so he could kiss her again.

His mouth was still pressed against hers, his teeth biting at her bottom lip when he filled her with one swift thrust. Her head fell forward, breaking the kiss, as she gasped softly.

He felt huge like this, or maybe it was just this position—she had no idea. But it felt like he was touching every inch of her, his cock nudging places inside her she didn’t even know existed.

And somehow, he sank even deeper when he shifted, bracing himself with an arm on either side of hers, his lips pressed against the nape of her neck. “You feel fucking amazing. Your pussy is—”

His hips drew back, withdrawing until only the flared head of his cock kept her open to him. He quickly thrust forward, burying himself inside her again. “Fuck, Everleigh. How are you this perfect?”

She closed her eyes and hummed. His breath was hot against her neck, his lips even hotter as he sucked what was going to be a vicious mark into the side of her throat that she couldn’t wait to press her fingers against.

“Please,” she panted. It was—fuck, it was so good, but too slow, the drag of his cock inside her leaving her all but vibrating with need.

“Please, what?” His tongue laved a path up her neck, his teeth closing around the lobe of her ear. “Tell me. Tell me and I’ll do anything, I promise.”

“Harder.” She whimpered when he immediately delivered, hips snapping.

“Like this?” His breath was ragged against her ear, damp and hot, and combined with the feel of his cock constantly nudging something deep inside her, she’d never felt this utterly fucked before.

“Yes,” she gasped. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

“Never going to,” Griffin said, making it sound like a promise.

Her eyes slipped shut, her mouth hanging open as little punched-out noises slipped from between her lips. Thank God his nearest neighbors were acres away because she couldn’t have been quiet had she tried.

“Thought about this,” he confessed in a murmur against her throat. “I thought about burying my face between your thighs and eating you out until you screamed my name. I thought about burying my cock inside you just like this and fucking you so good your legs would give out and you couldn’t ... couldn’t leave my bed. Wouldn’t want to leave.” He huffed softly. “Fuck, Everleigh. I thought about fucking you so full of my come, I’d be dripping down your thighs. You drive me so fucking crazy. God, I’m just—”

With one arm, he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her up until she was sitting on his lap, impaled on his cock. He shifted, hand wrapping gently around her throat, pulling her mouth toward his. Only when she was totally lost in the feeling of his mouth against hers did he begin to rock into her, slower, but just as hard, more intense because of it.

Her legs started to shake, and it had nothing to do with how she was kneeling and everything to do with how he was taking her apart with his cock and his words, his unbelievably filthy words, promises she prayed he’d keep.

“You gonna come for me, baby?” His thumb brushed her trembling bottom lip. “Come on. You can do it.”

Fuck. Her stomach tensed, the thread inside her perilously close to snapping. She felt like she was going to fly apart. “ Griffin. ”

A groan rumbled through his chest, and he pressed his lips to hers in a bruising kiss. It muffled her cry as she shattered, toes curling in the sheets almost to the point of pain, her muscles locking and releasing rhythmically.

With a sound that verged on a growl, Griffin settled his hands on her hips and lifted her off his cock, pulling her back down hard and fast before he eventually groaned softly against her shoulder.

The room was quiet save for the sound of them catching their breath. Wincing at the stiffness in her thighs, Everleigh shifted and Griffin’s cock, now soft, slipped out of her along with a trickle of wetness that made her shiver and bite her lip. She collapsed against the mattress with a stuttered sigh. “Oh, my God.”

Griffin chuckled and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “That was ... wow.”

She covered her face with her hands. “It was.”

The mattress dipped as he settled in beside her. A moment later, a hand slid between her thighs, fingers gently tracing her slit from top to bottom. Griffin pressed his fingers, and with them, his come, back inside her with a satisfied-sounding hum that, even spent, made Everleigh drop her hands and spread her thighs a little wider.

“So.” Griffin’s cheeks were flushed, his blue eyes bright, but the twist of his mouth looked nervous as he, with wet fingers, traced abstract patterns along the inside of her thigh. “Do you really have to leave at the end of the month?”

Everleigh smiled softly, stomach fluttering and heart thundering. “You know, I was thinking I might stick around, actually.”