The Christmas Cookie Crush (Arcadian Falls Christmas #4)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Austin

Nora’s laughter is infectious, and I find myself laughing too as I drive, even though I’m not sure what the joke is.

Maybe there isn’t a joke. Maybe it’s just the sheer joy of life and being together.

She laughs a lot at things that aren’t obviously funny, so maybe that’s what it is. She’s just enjoying life so much, the moment makes her so happy that she can’t do anything but laugh.

With no clear idea of where we’re going, I follow Nora’s directions, my laughter slowly calming down along with hers as we navigate out of town and up a hill to a ridge. The snow is thicker here, deeper on the sides of the roads and the plow hasn’t been by since the last snowfall.

I give her a questioning look, but she just says, “It’ll be fine. I promise. Keep going.”

There’s a spot where there’s supposed to be a turnout, but it’s barely wider than the shoulder, the majority of the turnout filled with snow piled close to six feet high. Maybe higher. I pull off anyway, because this is where she told me to stop, but I’m worried my tires are still in the road.

Nora lets out a groan as she examines the wall of snow out her window. “Dang it. They used to plow the turnout. I wonder why they stopped?”

I glance over my shoulder, but there’s no sign of another car coming up behind us. We didn’t see anyone on the way out here either. It’s getting late—especially for around here—so most people are probably home already. And I’m not even really sure where this road leads.

“How do you know they used to plow here? What’s here anyway?”

She turns a cheeky grin on me. “Well, there’s usually a great view from the turnout. And I know they used to plow it because I used to come up here.” She makes a Vanna White-esque gesture at the window. “This is the local make-out spot.”

A bark of laughter shoots out of me. “I’m sorry, what?”

She’s still grinning, completely unrepentant. “Oh, come on. Surely you had something like that where you went to high school.”

I shake my head slowly. “If we did, no one told me about it.”

Her lower lip pokes out in an adorable faux-pout. “Aww, poor Austin. You missed out on a quintessential high school experience.”

“Sure, if movies and TV shows are to be believed.”

She shrugs. “It was a quintessential part of my high school experience. And I don’t live in a movie.”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “You sure about that?”

She nods. “Yeah. If I lived in a movie, you would’ve rescued me from a bear or something, or picked me up stranded on the side of the road. That’s how small-town romances usually start, isn’t it?”

“Sure. If you say so.”

She nods again. “I do. Anyway. It’s not ideal, but”—she checks the road as well—“I think we’ll be left alone out here, even if we can’t get as far off the road as I expected.” She unclips her seatbelt, and the sound of it retracting fills the car. For some reason, that sends a spike of adrenaline through me.

Reaching over, she unbuckles my seatbelt too, and I catch it, letting it reel in more slowly, my eyes glued to her as she shifts closer to me. “What are you doing?” My voice comes out as little more than a rasp, the air frozen in my chest.

There’s that cheeky grin again. “Well, we’re at the town make-out spot. I’m moving closer so we can make out.”

Then her hand cups my cheek, and she pulls my mouth to hers.

I’m not sure what to make of this or what to do at first. Making out in the car while parked next to a giant snowbank on the edge of the road doesn’t seem like the wisest choice.

But her lips feel like heaven against mine, and her cool fingers slip behind my neck, caressing my hair and holding me in place so she can kiss me.

God, I really like it when she takes charge like this. It’s so fucking hot.

Almost of their own volition, my hands reach for her. One hand goes to her waist, the other under her arm to her upper back, pulling her closer.

Breaking the kiss, she pulls back and gives me a smile.

But I’m not interested in smiles. Not right now.

Right now I want her lips on mine, her taste on my tongue, her body in my hands.

Her coat’s in the way, though. I wish she weren’t wearing a coat.

Like she can read my thoughts, she releases me, sitting back just enough to undo the belt of her coat, and I immediately reach inside, greedy for the feel of her.

We’re kissing again, and I hear the zipper of my coat going down, the sides of it loosen, and then her hands are inside my coat too.

“I want to feel your skin,” she whispers into my mouth.

I groan in response, unable to form coherent words.

And she seems to take that as agreement because the next thing I know, she’s tugging my shirt up and moving her hands beneath it. That doesn’t seem to be good enough, though, because she lets out a sound of frustration then reaches for the buttons.

When I try to help, she swats my hands away, leaving me laughing lightly in surprise and uncertainty. “Take off your coat,” she whispers, shoving it off my shoulders.

I stutter and stammer, but she’s undeterred, so I do as ordered. Until my elbow bumps the horn, and the loud blast makes us both freeze, her wide eyes staring into mine.

Then she collapses against my chest in a fit of giggles.

After a moment, she straightens and kisses me again. “Move your seat back.”

“Huh?”

She giggles again. “Your seat. Move it back so we have more room.”

“Oh, right.” Reaching down with my left hand, I grope for the switch, and it seems to take forever for the little motor to move the seat back as far as it can go.

“Much better,” she whispers, and while I don’t entirely understand why we’re whispering, it does seem more fitting given the dark and the snow and the silence surrounding us.

While I move my seat back, she unbuttons my shirt. At first I thought she’d be satisfied with just a few buttons, but no, it’s all the way undone, and her cool hands caress my torso, roaming over my chest and then farther south.

I tense as she gets closer to my belt buckle, but she doesn’t go much lower than my belly button, caressing just below it, and I let out a shuddering breath.

Moving away, she takes off her coat and tosses it onto her seat. When she kneels on her seat facing me, I look at her, my brows coming together in confusion. “What are you doing?”

She pauses, looking at me. “Well, I was going to climb onto you. I feel like it would be better, don’t you?”

“Oh.” I swallow, then nod. “Yeah. Okay.”

She giggles again. “You really haven’t had a car make-out session before, have you?”

Shaking my head, I help guide her onto my lap, keeping my hands behind her so she doesn’t bump the steering wheel again.

Once she’s settled, she looks into my eyes, only the dim glow of the dashboard and the moonlight reflecting off the snow lighting us. “That’s better,” she whispers. “Don’t you think?”

Swallowing hard, I nod. It’s been a while since I’ve had a woman in my lap, and as much as I enjoy having Nora here, I’m not really sure how far she plans on this going. I’m also not sure how far I feel comfortable with this going.

But then her mouth is on mine again, and my arms wrap around her, trapping her against me. She shifts closer like she can’t get close enough to me either. And then her hot center is pressed against my growing hard-on, and I lift my hips on instinct.

She lets out a sound that’s almost a purr, and she grinds down onto me, making me gasp.

“Jesus fuck.”

Grinning, she does it again, and my hands slide to her hips, then her ass, fingers clutching convulsively as she moves against me.

When she bends and takes the shell of my ear between her teeth, I almost come in my pants. “Holy fuck,” I breathe, shaking at the sensation.

Her low chuckle is so sexy that it takes all my willpower to close my eyes, breathe deep, and keep myself in check.

God, I want her so bad.

But …

Not here. Not in my car on the side of the road where anyone could come along at any moment.

And also, “I don’t have a condom,” I tell her.

Pulling back a little, her teeth flash white with her smile. “That’s okay. We can fool around without one.” But she must see the hesitation in my face because she scoots back on my legs so she’s not pressed right up against my dick anymore, and that’s a relief as much as it is a terrible tragedy.

“Hey,” she says softly, “we don’t …” She shakes off. “If you’re not into this?—”

“No,” I protest, cutting her off. My arms wrap around her again and pull her close. “God, no. I’m so into this.” I pull her in for a kiss to prove my point, pressing my hips up against her again to show her exactly how into this I am. “I just don’t want our first time to be in my car on the side of the road at the local make-out spot.”

She gives me a lopsided grin and a playful eye roll. “I mean, that’s kinda what the local make-out spot is for .”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “Okay. And for high school kids, I get why that matters. But we’re not in high school. I much prefer a bed to the cramped driver’s seat trying not to bump the horn and wake the neighbors.”

She shakes her head. “This is a forest road. There aren’t any neighbors out here.”

“Right. Still. Someone else might decide they want to take advantage of this place. Some of those high schoolers we mentioned.”

Her face is skeptical, but she nods. “Sure. Okay.”

I pull her in for another kiss. “I want better than this for us,” I murmur against her mouth. “ You deserve better.”

The skepticism is wiped from her face, and she blinks rapidly a few times and nods. “Do you want to go home, then? Or can we keep kissing for a little longer?”