Bought for Christmas (11 page)

He
should stop her, he knew that, but despite having just come that felt way too
good, so instead he sat up slightly, yanked that god-awful flannel shirt off
her, and grasping her hair for anchorage thrust up as she came down.

“Oh, God, yes.
Just there … oh.”

Emilia
rocked faster, utterly lost to her body’s demands, and he grit his teeth
against the exquisite agony. He needed to go faster to satisfy the primal urge
sweeping him away on a tidal wave of sensation, and to keep his volatile bear
under control. Watching her come undone, however, was worth the ache in his
balls. Emilia grasped his shoulders, and rocked herself back and forth, and
Hunter looked down. Seeing his slick cock stretch her lips, as she rubbed her
clit against it on every upstroke was so fucking erotic, that despite the slow
pace his dick pulsed, and he grunted his release.

It
triggered Emilia’s orgasm, and she shuddered and tightened and collapsed on top
of him. How long they lay there, in a sweaty, crumpled heap, waiting for their
breathing to return to normal, Hunter couldn’t have said. Despite the wet pine
needles digging into his ass, and the jeans cutting off the circulation to his
legs, he was perfectly content to lie there, and hold Emilia, until she
wriggled and sighed.

Hunter
kissed the top of her head, looked up and swore.

“What
the fuck is all this?”

****

Oh,
he sounded truly annoyed now. His bear’s growl was clearly evident, and despite
the tender way he was holding her, Emilia could feel the tension in his muscles
as they coiled underneath her. She couldn’t hide her wince when he lifted her
off of him, and Hunter swore again and scrambled to his feet, and out of his
sodden jeans.

Emilia
couldn’t help it. Seeing him hop about on one foot, trying to get his jeans
off, his legs covered in pine needles and with bits of the paper chain she had
made still in his hair, she had to laugh. It was that or
cry
.

That
had certainly not gone like she had envisaged it, but he’d been gone so long,
that she’d had plenty of time to hang a myriad of home-made decorations around
his cabin. The Christmas themed biscuits she had found had been a godsend.
Teddy bears, reindeers, and ginger bread men hung off string around the place,
interspersed with simple paper chains made from the stack of newspapers and
magazines she had found.

“Kitten,
so help me, if you don’t want me to spank your ass raw, you’ll stop laughing
right now.” Hunter braced one hand on the wall to get his other leg out of his
jeans, and growled at the audible rip when the fabric gave way. He glanced her
way, when she slapped her hand on her mouth desperately trying to hold in her
giggles, and his lips quirked.

He
looked down at the floor, and then picked the bit of paper chain that fell in
his eyes out of his hair, and snorted.

“Mind
you, I guess this whole scenario is rather ridiculous.”

“You
think?” Emilia rolled her eyes, and Hunter threw his head back and laughed, and
the tension curling in her belly evaporated.

“Come
here, you … you bad excuse for an elf you.” Hunter opened his arms, and she
scooted into his embrace with a sigh, while his large hands roamed down her
back. She winced when he reached her ass, and he froze.

“Did
I hurt you? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be so rough, and—”

Emilia
raised herself on tip toes and kissed him. Hunter opened his lips on a groan
and immediately took charge of the kiss. By the time he released her she was
all but ready to jump him again, which was freaking insane, really.

“No,
you didn’t. Well, maybe a little, but I don’t mind. I rather like you losing
control, Sir.” She winked at him, and Hunter grew serious and shook his head.

“No,
you wouldn’t, and I came so fucking close to…”

He
ran a hand through his hair and scowled as more paper fell to the floor.

“Where
in all that is holy did you get all this stuff?” he asked, and Emilia shrugged
her shoulders.

“I
found your pile of what I presumed to be recycling, so I used it. Mama and I
always used to make paper chains. I’d forgotten how much fun it was, and
besides, you got the tree, so we need some decorations.”

Hunter
kicked the mass of wet needles on the floor and laughed.

“Yeah,
some tree. It looked far better than that when I started, I promise.”

Emilia,
too, looked down and then over at him and giggled.

“Well,
we could always decorate you. You’ve got almost as much foliage on you as that
tree has.”

The
timer dinged on the oven reminding her that the stew was ready, and she grinned
up at him.

“Might
I suggest you get yourself cleaned up, and we can eat our dinner, and then
decide what to do about the tree, Sir?”

“What
did you make, kitten?” he asked. “Whatever it is, it smells delicious.”

****

Emilia’s
face lit up, and Hunter’s chest tightened to the point of pain. This was what
life should be like, with Emilia there to welcome him home, at the end of a
long day. Hunter shook his head against that far too appealing vision.

“Stew.
Mama’s recipe.
I had a snoop in your larder. Mind you, I
didn’t find any turkey. What will we eat for Christmas dinner?”

His
bear growled, and Emilia’s smile slipped at whatever she read in his
expression, and before he could reassure her she rushed into an explanation.

“I’m
sorry about the decorations. We can take them all down, if you don’t like them.
It’s just, you went through all that trouble to get that tree, and I wanted to
surprise you, and—”

Hunter
shut her up by kissing her, and after a moment’s hesitation Emilia sagged
against him and kissed him back. Hunter pulled back with some difficulty, his
cock once again hard and ready for action, and he groaned when Emily slipped to
her knees and without warning wrapped her hands around the base of his shaft
while taking him in as deep as she could.

“Jesus,
stop, Emilia, you don’t have to … fuck.”

Seeing
her on her knees her cheeks hollowed out as she worked his dick was just too
much. Emilia grinned up at him, released his length with one long slow lick up
the thick vein of his cock, and then stuck her fingers in her mouth to
lubricate them before she went back down on him and ran her fingers up the
cleft of his ass.

Hunter
forced himself to relax when one of the slick digits pushed against the tight
ring guarding the entrance. Not an easy task, when she swallowed round the top
of his cock, buried deep in her mouth at the same time.

“Kitten,
I can’t … fuck.”

Hunter
fisted his hands and fought his bear with all his might, when a second finger
slipped in and she hit her target. His skin heated, and his bear roared, as the
waves of sheer bliss pulled him under. Faster and faster she bobbed up and down
on his dick, and he came in record time, shooting his load down her throat in a
seemingly never ending stream of cum.

By
the time he could breathe easily again, Emilia had stood up, and he tasted
himself in the kiss she gave him.

“Now,
scoot, if you can,
Sir.
” Hunter shook his head at her, and grinned when
she made a face at the sticky cum covering her boobs. He wasn’t at all
surprised that she hadn’t managed to swallow it all.

She
threw him a glance and took off toward the shower with a speed that would have
done any shifter female proud.

“I
bagsy
the
shower.
Make do with the bath, Sir. And don’t be late. I’m starving, and I might just
eat that stew all by myself.”

“You
do that, girl, and you will get that spanking.”

Emilia
screeched, and Hunter followed her at more sedate pace, chuckling to himself.
He didn’t even mind the row of ginger biscuits he walked into.

Chapter Nine

Emilia
had to grin when Hunter helped himself to a fourth serving of stew. He caught
her doing so and smiled back at her. It made his harsh features light up, and
Emilia realized with a start that she had stopped seeing his scars.

Whereas
before she was aware of them, now they had simply become part of him.

“A
man could get a complex being stared at like that. What are you concocting now?
I don’t think there is anything left in this cabin that you could turn into a
Christmas decoration, unless…” He paused, spoon in the air, midway to his
mouth, and a myriad of emotions crossed his face. Sadness, surprise, a brief
flash of joy but mostly overwhelming sadness, that made her reach out and
entwine her fingers in his free hand. Hunter gave her a squeeze and resumed
eating. Silence fell between them, not tense exactly, but
expectant,
and Emilia did her best not to fidget. When he at long last scraped the bottom
of the bowl with his spoon, Hunter pushed the bowl away and regarded Emilia
thoughtfully.

“How
badly do you want to decorate that tree?” he asked, and Emilia blinked in
surprise.

“You
just said—”

“I
know what I said, girl. Answer my question.”

The
shift into his Dom mode was as unexpected as it was arousing, and Emilia
dropped her gaze and whispered her answer.

“Very much, but only if you truly don’t
mind, Sir.”

“Would
I ask if I minded?”

There
was such a curious undertone to his voice. Emilia couldn’t help but shake the
feeling that he minded very much. She squeezed his hand, and he ran his thumb
over the back of hers in such an absent minded way that she had to look up to
see his expression. He noticed of course, but he didn’t seem to mind if the
quirk to his lips meant anything.

It
gave her the
umph
to say what was on her heart.

“I
think you mind very much, but for whatever reason you have decided to go along
with this idea.”

Hunter
smiled and lifted her hand up to his lips. Instead of kissing it, however, like
she might have expected of him, he inhaled against it and then bit down on her
index finger. Tingles of awareness shot up her arm, and he released her fingers
slowly, and stood up.

“Let’s
go see if we can rescue that tree first.”

He
strode off, and Emilia followed at a slower pace, admiring the play of muscles
as he walked and then heaved the tree into a standing position. Needles went
flying, a few branches snapped, but once it was upright it didn’t look too bad.

“Hmm,
I guess it’ll have to do, but it looked a damn sight better before I dragged it
all the way.” Hunter glanced at her, and Emilia’s heart broke a little at how
hard he clenched his jaw. His whole body tensed as he waited for her verdict,
and Emilia smiled.

“I
think it looks perfect. It’s a tree with character. They’re the best ones,
don’t’cha
know.”

Hunter
didn’t seem convinced, and Emilia wrapped her arms around him from behind and
reaching up kissed his neck. His bear rumbled in answer, and she grinned into
his shoulder blades, as his muscles slowly uncurled.

“Can
you get it by the fire? I think it would look perfect in there. Mind you I’m
not sure how we’ll keep it upright.”

Hunter
tensed again, and Emilia let him go reluctantly when he stepped forward. He
didn’t say anything, just picked the tree up and carried it through to the
living area. He perched it up against the wall, and Emilia gave him the thumbs
up.

“Can
you hold this up for a second?” he asked. “I just need to get something.”

“Sure,
but what…”

Hunter
took off the minute she grabbed the tree to support it against the wall,
leaving Emilia more confused than ever.

****

Fuck,
why had he ever started this? He knew why, of course. Emilia loved Christmas.
She always had done, and seeing her impish smile when she gave him the thumbs
up for the tree had made him feel about ten feet tall. He wanted, needed her to
be happy, but there had been confusion and worry underneath that smile she gave
him. Worry for him. It was a rather curious sensation to have someone be
concerned for him. Plenty of folks worried when he was around, but that was
usually because they were afraid of him. Not once had he sensed fear from Emilia,
though, not even when he had been seconds away from letting his bear loose on
her.

Hunter
stared at the old box as though a poisonous snake might be contained within,
and in a way it was. The box represented his past. One he hadn’t dared look
back at in far too long. One he would have to confront if he was to stand any
chance of a long term relationship with Emilia.

Mindful
of the fact that he’d left her holding onto a rather precariously propped up
tree, he grabbed the box, and stalked from the spare room. Emilia jumped when
he slammed the box down on the floor and the tree stand fell off the top. Her
soft gasp sounded like the clang of a cymbal in his head, and he didn’t look at
her, while he secured the tree in the stand. His bear whined his distress at
the myriad of emotions assaulting his soul, when he saw Emilia bend down and
pick up one of the old fashioned Christmas baubles that used to hang on the
family tree every year until that fateful day they’d lost Jasper—two days
before Christmas.