SWNOVELS My Favorite Holidate: Chapter 36
Wilder
I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.
But I don’t want to rush a damn minute of my Christmas fantasy. So even though I’m dying to push her up against the wall and devour her lips the second we return to the cabin, I point to the hallway instead.
“Go to our room. Take off the sweater and jeans, strip down to just your bra and panties. And then I’m going to remind you that you’re mine till the end of the year. I’m the one who takes you out for drinks. I’m the one who flirts with you. I’m the one who makes you laugh. And I kiss you and I fuck you and then make you come more times than you think you can handle.”
She trembles. “How many do you think I can handle?”
I lean in close to her, catching a hint of her strawberry and champagne scent, barely brushing my lips to hers. “We’ll find out soon,” I say in a whisper against her sweet mouth. “But I have faith in you. You can handle a lot.”
She gasps. “I think I can too.”
“I had a feeling.” I tip my forehead toward the hall and in my sternest voice, I say, “Now go wait for me. And that’s an order.”
She scurries down the hall, tugging her sweater over her head as she does. When she reaches the door she stops, tosses the garment dramatically up in the air, then catches it. She juts out a hip, striking a sexy pose, and flashing me her candy-cane-striped bra.
Her candy cane bra.
My brain scrambles, then puzzle pieces slide into place. I clear my throat. “Did you bring that with you?”
She shrugs saucily. “You’re not the only one who came prepared.”
She saunters into the room leaving me with that fresh new bit of intel—she packed sexy lingerie. For me.
Fable plays these bedroom games by my rules, but also by her own. My chest tightens, and a new emotion crawls up my throat. Something different—something not quite familiar.
Something I’m not sure I’ve ever felt.
I think…I’m fucking in love with her. She’s obedient and fiery all at once. I drag a hand through my hair. What the fuck do I do?
But that’s a problem for tomorrow.
With her in the room, I shove these dangerous thoughts into a drawer and slam it shut. I head toward the main living room and into the adjoining cabins, where Bibi will surely have brought her wrapping supplies.
I’m quiet, padding on the soft plush carpet, finding what I’m looking for right on the table in front of the couch in a little sitting room.
A large spool of red satin ribbon.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
I grab it as my aunt comes around the corner in her red plaid pajamas. “You’re looking for ribbon to wrap presents?”
Not exactly. However, I didn’t expect to see her so it takes me a beat before I say a confident, “Yes.”
But in that pause, she busts me, her lips curving into a grin. “I hope you have scissors, then, and a…fun word to use just in case anything gets to be a little too much,” she says, handing me a pair of scissors.
Are you kidding me? My aunt is giving me advice on light bondage?
“Thank you for the tip,” I say evenly, trying not to give anything away, even though I probably have.
“And to think I had a dream that you were putting me on with your romance,” she says. She doesn’t sound strategic. She sounds…happy. “But I suppose it was wrong, as dreams sometimes are.”
Actually, she sounds utterly delighted to be wrong.
I swallow, embarrassed, and maybe even ashamed. We were putting her on. Now tonight feels all too real.
The lines between real and fake are blurring far too much for me to keep track of.
My head hurts in a whole new way, and for so many reasons it’s best if I leave—mostly, though, because of the woman in my bed. “Bibi, I hope you understand I have something else to do right now,” I say.
Her smile is magnificent as she shoos me off with a “Go, go, go, go, go.”
As I return, a new awareness hits me. Bibi’s a lot like Mac. She likes my fake girlfriend far too much. She likes the possibility of a real romance.
I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming. When the holidays end, I’ll be disappointing both of them.
But for tonight I’m going to wrap up Fable like the present she is.
I go to the room.
All thoughts of this ending fall from my head when I see her spread out on the sleigh bed, arms above her head, copper hair fanned out on the white pillows, creamy skin on display, and a very naughty smile coasting across her pretty lips.
And…all those red-and-white stripes on her body.
I drink in the scene.
My fake girlfriend brought sexy lingerie for me. She also turned on the lights to the Christmas tree and flicked on the fireplace. It’s crackling. She’s set the scene and all that’s left is the playlist I made. I take out my phone and hit start. Tinashe fills the room.
Then, I advance toward the woman of my fucking dreams.