Snowbound with the Santas (Forbidden Fantasies)

26. Rayne

26

RAYNE

C hristmas Day dawns with a bright blue sky, a scattering of fluffy white clouds, and air that could easily be mistaken for a brisk spring morning. There’s nothing I can do to make my clothing festive, but I do spend a few minutes in front of the mirror putting on some makeup from the mascara and lipstick left abandoned in my purse. I have been fresh faced since the day I woke up here, so glamming myself up feels a little alien. I’m determined to look nice, though. It is Christmas, after all.

Before leaving my room, I debate whether there’s a way I can repurpose that ball gown into something more feminine, but I come up blank. I tuck it away into one of the drawers and then I follow the sounds of activity toward the kitchen.

“Oh, my God!” Nothing could have prepared me for the vision I’m greeted with. Nick, Archer, and Frankie are dotted around the kitchen in various states of cooking breakfast and making coffee, and they’re all dressed up like Santa Claus. Well, as close to Santa as they can get with thick, insulated clothing and checkered shirts. The vision is there, though, complete with three wonky but cute Santa hats pressed down on their heads.

“You like?” Nick spreads his arms wide, balancing a cup as he slowly spins around. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas.” I laugh, clasping my hands together. “You all look very festive.”

“We have one for you too.” Frankie abandons the frying pan and hands me an equally wonky green elf hat.

“I’m the elf?”

“You’re not burly enough to be Santa,” Archer says, and there’s a flicker of a warm smile on his face.

“The three Santa hats are my failed attempts at a Santa costume over the years,” Nick explains as he pulls out a chair for me at the table. “The elf was for Freida, but I think it looks good on you.”

With such sentiment behind it, how can I resist? I take my seat at the table and ease the elf hat onto my head. “I had no idea you guys would go all out for Christmas.”

“We don’t,” Frankie says after a glance at the others. “But this year is different.”

Different. Because of me. The effort these three have made to make me feel safe, secure, and welcome in this cabin has warmed me continuously these past snowy weeks. Now they’re putting in even more effort to give me a Christmas, and I don’t have the words to express how much this means. No one in my life has ever done this much for me, and yet these three do it without asking.

“You don’t have to,” I say hoarsely, battling a rising wave of emotion.

Nick sets a mug of coffee down in front of me while Archer takes over the frying pan and starts dishing up breakfast.

“We don’t have to,” Nick agrees, “but we want to. In case it escaped your notice, we care about you, Rayne, and you said you love Christmas. I think we all do, in our own ways, and your being here has just prompted us to stop being lazy about it.”

“More than that,” Archer says as he places a plate of powdered scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me. “You make it worthwhile.”

“You’re gonna make me cry.” I laugh and dab quickly at the corners of my eyes as tears threaten to overwhelm me. I’ve dreamed of a lot of family Christmases over the years and even yearned for the simple sights I’d see on the television adverts.

And this? This is perfect. A breakfast surrounded by the people I care about, with Christmas music croaking from the old stereo, and the backdrop of lights and glitter in the lounge.

It’s almost like we’re a family.

“Don’t cry,” Frankie says, taking my hand. “You look so beautiful, and I don’t know a lot about it, but I’m pretty sure tears will ruin your mascara.”

I laugh and squeeze his hand back. “It would be good tears, I promise.”

Frankie leans over and presses a gentle kiss to my cheek, then Nic squeezes my shoulder.

“Eat up,” Nick encourages as he sits beside me. “You’re going to need your energy.”

“For what?” I ask as I dig in. Either it’s the mountain air or all the energy it takes just to walk through the snow, but my appetite has been amazing since arriving here.

“Snowman building contest!” Frankie declares, nearly knocking Archer’s plate out of his hand when he raises his arms.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Archer says, and from his tone, it definitely wasn’t his idea.

“It’ll be fun.” Frankie grins over his fork. “Unless you’re terrible at building snowmen, in which case you’ll have fun staring at my masterpiece.”

“Don’t get cocky,” Nick replies, stabbing at his eggs. “You’ve never seen me in the zone!”

What follows are the best ninety minutes of my entire life. Archer, Nick, and Frankie all immediately dive into the snow with such comical enthusiasm that it distracts me from my own task for a good few minutes. I’ve watched these men work countless times, whether it be de-icing the generator, climbing the tower, or chopping wood, but building snowmen? It’s a whole other thing entirely. Halfway through rolling up a massive hunk of snow, Archer tears off his jacket and works in just his undershirt.

The Santa hat stays on, though, and it’s endearing to see the once-grumpy, stoic man embrace something so sweet and festive.

Nick and Frankie are much the same in how they work until Frankie tries to haul a second ball of snow on top of his first one and Nick shoves him down onto the snow. Play fighting ensues between the two, and I use the distraction to try and sabotage Archer’s snowman, but he catches me in the act and throws me down into the snow with a laugh.

The cold doesn’t exist out here now. There’s just laughter, tickling, kissing, and cheeky threats about who has the best building skills. Archer pins me for a good few minutes before making me swear not to touch his snowman.

The timer goes off at ninety minutes, and four snowmen stand proudly around the woodshed.

Well, three and a half. My snowman is more like just a ball of snow with twigs for arms and a wonky face. As the others stand back to admire their work, there’s stifled laughter when all attention lands on my ball.

“Rayne,” Nick says, fighting to keep the amusement out of his voice, “what happened?”

I send him a playfully sharp look. “Okay, this whole thing started with an unfair advantage! You three are built like trucks and a lot stronger than I am, okay? I couldn’t haul the snow around like you guys can.”

“Excuses, excuses.” Frankie tuts, stalking past. “Spoken like a true loser.”

I go to shove him, and he catches me by the waist, pulling me in with a laugh and swallowing down my playfully irritated grumble with a kiss. His lips are cold, but with a racing heart and the exertion of building a snowman, I’m plenty warm.

“Okay, so I’m clearly the winner,” Archer says, walking toward his towering, three-stacked-high snowman that has large stick arms, stones for eyes, and a smile. He even used a stick to carve into the snow and make it look like his snowman is wearing a jacket.

“Are you serious?” Frankie releases me into Nick’s arms and moves toward his snowman. “Mine is the winner by miles!” While only two stacks high, Frankie’s wood carving skills shine through in a snowman that’s smoothly molded together with a carved face and twig arms that make it look like its hands are on its hips.

“If you don’t have eyes, sure.” Nick snorts. “My snow woman is Queen.”

Nick’s done an excellent job of creating a four-stack-high snowman using smaller balls and packing in the snow in such a way that she has large curves and a juicy smile.

“You’re all blind to talent,” Archer mutters.

“Rayne should pick the winner.” Frankie grins. “She knows the best one already, I can tell.”

Nick squeezes my waist and smiles. “Fine by me.”

I glance between the three expectant faces, then straighten my stance. “I choose mine.”

“What?” all three of them cry out.

“You said I can choose, and I choose mine!”

Frankie snorts. “But yours isn’t even a?—”

“A what?” I cut in quickly. “Choose your next words very carefully, mister.”

They descend on me with tickling hands and laughter, and we collapse down into the snow, the competition forgotten.

“Stop!” I squeal, fighting against too many hands. “You’re all just sore losers!”

“We were set up from the start!” Nick cries.

Choosing my snowman was the best option, clearly. But also, choosing between the guys felt like I would have to pick which one I liked more out of the three of them, and there simply wasn’t an answer.

By the time the tickling and play fighting fades, we’re tired out and return to the cabin, where the mouthwatering scent of roasted turkey hits us immediately. Frankie and Nick get busy in the kitchen while I flop down onto the couch to catch my breath until Archer approaches me with a sly smile.

“So, you won the competition,” he says, lowering down next to me.

I shift on the couch and nod, smiling proudly. “Jealous?”

“Not entirely.” He smiles and then he leans over me. “I get to give you your reward, so who is the real winner here?”

I don’t catch on to his meaning until he’s pressing between my legs and pulling my cargo pants down, then it clicks in my mind what my reward is.

“So you were all just mad you lost out on me sucking your dick?” I ask with a grin. Archer silences me by burying between my legs and holding me in place as he eats me out like I’m his last meal. Every stroke of attention he lavishes me with is heightened by knowing that Nick and Frankie can hear every one of my sounds from the kitchen. He brings me to orgasm faster than I can process, and when I reopen my eyes after writhing in pleasure, Frankie is there to kiss me.

“Dinner is ready.” He smiles against my lips.

The effort on dinner is amazing. I know that to other people, this is probably really simple in terms of a Christmas dinner, but I’ve never done this before, never sat around a table with a small roast turkey in the middle surrounded by mashed potatoes, sliced carrots, and a red cranberry sauce that instantly becomes my favorite. There’s some fish too, freshly caught by Archer that morning before I was awake. It becomes a challenge once again to keep the tears at bay, and Nick takes my hand in his.

“Are you okay?” he asks softly while Frankie carves up the turkey.

“Yes,” I whisper. “This is just… I’ve never had something like this before. Which sounds so pathetic, but this is amazing.”

Nicks nods as if he understands exactly what I’m saying, and our fingers stay intertwined as we begin to eat. We share stories of past Christmases, and I learn that during his time in the army, Archer was actually in charge of organizing the Christmas feasts and activities. He stopped after he lost his men, but there’s a new sparkle in his eyes while he talks that I haven’t seen before. Frankie is the same, it seems. Apparently, the court case after the death of his brother sucked all the spirit out of him since the blame was never placed on anyone’s shoulders. Hard to bring charges against a man in a suit who was a thousand miles away.

Nick’s stories are different. He remembers little of Christmases because of his drinking and remarks that this might be his first proper Christmas dinner in years. Their stories comfort me, and I no longer feel foolish to have missed out on what Christmas is really about.

Loved ones and family.

We eat our fill and then Nick steps away to try and call his daughter. He manages to connect for a minute or two and as Frankie, Archer, and I curl up near the tree, we listen to Nick’s excited tones drifting down the hall as he spends those precious few minutes with his daughter.

When he returns, there’s a pep in his step.

“How is she?” Archer asks, shifting to make space for Nick to sit with us by the fire.

“She’s having a great time. Lots of presents, lots of love.”

“No Amanda?” Frankie asks.

Nick shakes his head. “Nope. But it’s whatever. I’ve made my effort and Freida knows that. Anyway!” He claps his hands together. “What do you say to opening a few presents?”

“Oh!” I use Archer’s shoulder to stand and hurry back to my room without a word. I started working on some presents for the guys as soon as I knew I’d be here for Christmas. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but given how perfectly homey today has been, I think it fits. I gather them up and hurry back to the lounge, then retake my seat among my men.

“Here!” I gently place my presents into each of their laps and eagerly await their reactions.

Frankie gets an origami bird. Nick gets a deer, and Archer gets a snowflake.

“I know it’s not a lot. I found some old pamphlets lying around, and I’ve had a basic origami skill thanks to working with second graders, so I thought?—”

Archer’s mouth collides with mine, silencing my words with a kiss.

“I love it,” he says, cradling the paper snowflake in one hand. “It’s kind of perfect.”

“It’s beautiful.” Nick turns his over slowly while Frankie holds his up to the glittering lights above and watches the colors streak the paper.

“I love it!” Frankie grins, then he leans over and captures my lips in a soft, sweet kiss.

Nick is next and his kiss is a little more demanding. When we part, it’s his turn to give out presents, and he’s knitted each of us a terrible sweater. Me included. I immediately take off my current shirt and pull the sweater on. The fabric itches and one sleeve is longer than the other, but it’s perfect.

“I hate it.” Archer snorts, looking at his own.

“I love it!” I declare, and I cuddle into the sweater with a smile.

Frankie dishes out presents next, and he’s whittled different wooden animals for each of us. Nick gets a deer, Archer gets a bear, and then Frankie presses a wooden star into my palm.

“Because you came to us at nighttime,” he says with a smile.

I’m so close to crying that when Archer brings out dessert as his present, I can’t hold them in any longer. It’s all too perfect, and too much of what I’ve been craving my entire life.

“Is it the pudding?” Archer asks, setting the pudding down on the nearby table.

“No.” I sniffle. “This is just… I don’t know. I’m so happy that I’m sad, I guess.”

“It’s okay.” Nick winds an arm around me and Frankie takes my hand. “You’re okay.”

“I am.” I nod quickly. “I just… thank you.”

“No,” Archer says softly, and there’s a faint blush rising up from his beard. “Thank you.”

Archer kisses me softly, and when he tries to pull away, I catch his collar and pull him back in. We sink down together, with Frankie and Nick on either side of me, and a thousand lights sparkle above us as food is forgotten.

Best Christmas ever.