Naughty or Nice

26. Henry

26

HENRY

DECEMBER 3

F elix peeks into the grotto just as I’m about to head out. “Hey, I know it’s closing time, but we have one more family coming by. Are you okay to wait?”

I brush fake snow from my pants and nod, sitting back down. “Sure, but Vaughn already left.” Vaughn isn’t nearly as good a photographer as Rora, but I can admit I’m probably biased, and Rora is definitely overqualified to be shooting Santa pictures. He’s a nice guy, but playing Santa is a lot less fun without her here. She’s spoiled me.

“It’s fine. They’re happy to take pictures on their phone. They’re leaving early in the morning. I have some paperwork to do in the back, but give me a shout if you need me.”

After last Christmas, the last thing I expected was for Felix to actually step up and start pulling his weight as store manager. I don’t know what triggered the change, but it was enough for Noelle to hand over the reins completely and finally put a deposit on a bakery. She’s planning a grand opening the day before Christmas Eve, which means Felix has been handling Christmas at The Enchanted Workshop all on his own. Mostly. In the week I’ve been here, I’ve noticed Kate hovering around the store a lot more than she usually does.

It’s strange being back in Wintermore without Rora, especially considering how many Christmases I spent here before we met. I didn’t plan to get here so much earlier, but it’s just how things worked out with my last assignment. Rora should be here in a few days, and it’s pretty much all I can think about, like a lovesick teenager.

I lean my head back against the headrest and close my eyes. It’s been a little over two months since she surprised me by showing up in Svalbard on my birthday, but every time we say goodbye is harder than the last. I knew, the second I kissed her goodbye before her flight back to Oslo, that enough was enough. Now, I just have to get Rora on board. Which means I need her here, in my arms again.

Just thinking about her, I swear I can almost smell her…

Something brushes my knee, jolting me out of a Rora-reverie. I jump, my eyes flying open. I must still daydreaming because how else can I explain Rora here, climbing onto my lap, several days early?

But then she lays a hand on my cheek, and her touch revives me. Somehow, she’s here.

“Snoozing on the job, Santa? That’s not very festive of you.”

My hands don’t know where to settle; I need to touch her everywhere, need to prove she’s real. “You’re here.”

Rora unclasps my Santa beard from behind my head and pulls it off. “I caught an earlier flight,” she says, leaning in. Her lips an inch from mine, she whispers, “I missed you too much.”

“God, I missed you too, sugar.”

And then her lips are on mine, and I forget every agonizing second apart over the past year because she’s here, she’s kissing me. Everything is going to work out.

My hands find purchase gripping her face, holding her to me as our tongues get reacquainted. Rora shifts in my lap, and I moan. She pulls back, panting, her eyes glittering with desire. I frown as she jumps down from my lap, but I’ve barely opened my mouth to protest when she stops me by lifting her sweater over her head.

“I love you, and I promise we can have a super sweet emotional reunion later, but if I don’t get you inside me in the next sixty seconds, I’m going to lose it,” she says, matter-of-factly as she pushes her leggings down.

“You— I— Here?” How the fuck am I supposed to think straight, let alone form full sentences when, five minutes ago, I thought she was on another continent and now she’s getting undressed in front of me?

Rora nods, shimmying out of her underwear.

“But Felix— The family coming in…”

“Felix made that up because he knew I was on the way. It’s just us here. So, are you going to get out of those clothes for me or what, Santa?”

I love every version of Rora, but this version—the bold, brazen version of her—might be my favorite. It was this version of Rora who took a chance and left me a note asking me to come over. And seeing her back here in the grotto just feels so right.

She drags her eyes up my body as I stand to full height and unbuckle my jacket. I drop it on the throne and pull off my shirt before shrugging it back on, just how she likes it. I kick off my pants and boxers, and Rora groans as she takes me in. She steps forward, pushing me back down on the throne with a hand on my chest, and climbs up, straddling me.

My skin pebbles as she runs her hands over my chest. Rora plucks my Santa hat from my head and tugs it on. It’s too big for her, but fucking hell, the sight of her wearing it almost has me coming before I’m even inside her.

“How does the saying go again? Wear the hat, ride Santa?”

Holy fucking shit.

Rora rises up on her knees and sinks down, taking me with ease like it hasn’t been two months since we’ve done this. Her head drops back, and my eyes trace the line of her body, my heart thumping.

She grips my shoulders, bouncing up and down on my cock, her lips pressed to mine as moans and whimpers fall from them in quick succession. She feels like a dream, and I want to make this last, but two months without her was two months too long.

I duck my head, running my tongue along the curve of her breast. Rora groans, and I draw her nipple into my mouth, swirling my tongue.

“Fuck, Hen— Santa ,” she corrects with a cry when I lightly bite her nipple.

I sneak my hand between us, and Rora falters as I press my thumb against her clit.

“You feel so fucking good, sugar. So fucking good,” I repeat, the words barely intelligible. I’m so far gone.

I draw circles on her clit and, with my other hand, I guide her hips, moving her over me. Her cries get louder and louder until they stop; Rora stills, falling silent as bliss takes over her expression. Her whole body quivers as she comes, her pussy spasming around me, setting every one of my nerve endings ablaze.

I grab her face as gently as I can and pull her lips to mine, moaning into her mouth as I shatter like glass. Everything disappears but Rora, like she’s an extension of me, and I never want to untangle from her.

She pants, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Welcome back, baby,” I murmur, nuzzling my nose against her jaw.

Rora squeezes me. “Happy to be home.”

I pull back and raise an eyebrow. “You’re actually happy to be in Wintermore for Christmas? Alert the press.”

“Wintermore isn’t home, Henry. You are.”

And just like that, I melt. “Oh, sugar. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you.” Rora bites her lip, her voice cracking as she says, “I … I don’t want to do this next year. I don’t want to be apart anymore.”

“Me either.”

“How the hell are we going to figure it out? ”

I clear my throat. It’s now or never. “You’re probably going to be pissed at me, but I kind of already did.”

She narrows her eyes suspiciously. “What does that mean? What did you do?”

“Here’s the thing: in my new job, I spend eighty percent of my work day sitting behind a laptop analyzing data that other people give me. Which is great; I love data. But I don’t need to be on-site to do that. Almost all the meetings I have can be done via video. So, I talked to my boss, and she’s more than happy for me to work remotely.”

Rora’s eyes widen, her mouth popping open. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious, sugar. There will be the odd occasion I have to visit a site, but it shouldn’t be for more than a few days a couple of times a year. The rest of the time, wherever you’re working, I’m there.”

My boss actually seemed relieved when I floated the idea by her. Apparently, after seeing Rora and me together at the conference, everyone was convinced I was going to quit altogether. Which, admittedly, I would’ve done if working remotely wasn’t an option.

I’ve had over three decades to build my career, and I’ve taken it as far as I want to. Rora’s just getting started, and I’m so honored that I get to watch her soar.

“I can’t believe this. It’s… You’re not going to get bored running around for my job?”

“Sugar, I could never get bored with you. Whether I’m working in an airport or a dingy hotel, if I get to fall asleep with you all over me, then I have everything I need.”

Rora inhales a shaky breath. “We’re actually going to be together. Like, in close proximity. Literally together.”

“Yeah, we are.”

Her eyes are wide and bright and brimming with happy tears, and my heart damn near stops in my chest at the sight .

“I know it doesn’t solve everything, but fuck, Henry, I’m so happy.”

“We can take a year, be together, and actually have time to talk and figure out how we want to go about having a family. We don’t have to spend all our time trying to find time to meet up and being generally miserable because we miss each other,” I say as the first tear spills down her cheek. I clasp her face, catching her tears with my thumb. “This past year has been the best year of my life, baby. As hard as it was to be away from you, I love that we got the chance to really get to know each other and I got the chance to fall harder and harder in love with you. But next year? It’s going to be so much better.”

“I love you so much,” Rora says, sitting on my lap in the very same grotto where I fell in love with her one year ago.

I lean my head back against the throne with a happy sigh.

She’s here.

And she’s mine.