Humbug (9 page)

After a few moments, he drew back, breathing hard, and muttered, “Jesus, Quin, you’re so fucking hot and I’ve wanted you for so long.”

“Yeah?” I smiled at him foolishly and reached for his fly.

“God, yeah.” He arched his back to give me room to unfasten his zip, then reached down to shove his loosened jeans down, baring himself. His cock thrust against me, hot and rude and demanding.

I laughed and tried to wriggle up on to my elbows, “Jesus Christ, that feels like a monster! Let me see it.”

He pushed me gently back, his gaze anguished. “Later, just let me—” He broke off without finishing his plea and began to rock against me, his cock finding then following the groove between groin and hip.

I could feel how close he was, how desperate, could sense too that he wanted to preserve the intimacy that had built between us as he sucked me off. So I didn’t argue, just relaxed beneath him and raised my mouth to kiss him again, threading the fingers of one hand into his hair as I plunged my tongue deep.

The noise he made in his throat at my surrender—desperate, grateful—gave me more pleasure than I’d have thought possible. How could it feel this good to give, rather than take? But it did. It felt as amazing to witness and share in his pleasure as it had to experience my own a few moments before. And when his hips began piston faster and his rhythm faltered, when he finally began to come in desperate pulses against me, pleasure flooded me. Not sexual pleasure, but something else.

It was, I realised with a start, happiness.

24
^th
December…

…one year later

I
was knee-deep in paperwork when my phone rang.

I glanced at the screen. Freddy.

I sighed and swiped my thumb across the screen, lifting it to my ear. “What is it, Fred?”

“Where the fuck are you?” she yelled. In the background I could hear my least favourite Christmas song of all time,
Merry Christmas Everyone
, obnoxiously blaring.

“I’m working,” I said, my gaze still running over the words on my screen.

“It’s Christmas, for fuck’s sake! And you said you’d be here at six. It’s seven now.”

“Mmm-hmm. But I should really finish these reports first,” I replied absently.

“You’re on holiday,” she snapped. “It’s Christmas fucking Eve. The reports can wait. Christ, Quin. How can you—What? What’s that?”

I could tell that last part wasn’t directed at me, that she was speaking to someone else. There was another muffled voice in the background, then came the sound of the phone changing hands, and a new voice on the line. A deep, warm, very familiar voice.

“How long is it going to take you to get that gorgeous arse over here?” Rob asked in his easy way. I could picture his smile, and the warmth in those brown eyes. “I haven’t seen you since breakfast.”

I was already closing the laptop.

“Give me half an hour,” I said.

I showered and changed in record time, and by seven twenty-eight, was strolling into The Dragon.

I finally tracked Rob down in the back, sitting with about a dozen others, including Freddy, Ben and Leon. They’d shoved two tables together and had somehow managed to squeeze themselves round. I didn’t really notice anyone but Rob though. My gaze went straight to him, to my boyfriend of exactly one year, who sat there amongst my friends, more at ease with them than I would ever be, probably. My heart flip-flopped at the sight of him there. He was sitting next to Ben, laughing at some joke my ex had made. He looked happy and relaxed and so very stupidly handsome.

He glanced up, as if feeling my gaze on him, and when he saw me, his deep brown eyes lit up and his big smile grew even bigger. Immediately, he stood and began extricating himself from the bench he was sitting on, his movements hurried and impatient. As always, his delight at seeing me surprised and touched me, and I knew I was grinning foolishly as I watched him make his way to me.

When he dug in his pocket and drew out a sprig of something green, holding it up for me to see—mistletoe—I laughed, and so did he.

He held the mistletoe up in invitation and I walked into his arms, planting a kiss on him while our friends erupted into cheers and whoops. His arms closed around me to deepen the kiss, and when our tongues slid together, I could taste the beer he’d been drinking. Probably one of those craft brews he liked so much.

I broke the kiss at last to turn my head and mutter in his ear. “God, I wish we were alone right now. I want to fuck you so bad.”

He laughed softly and carded his fingers through my hair in an easy, affectionate gesture. “Oh, you’ll get to fuck me later.”

“When?” I groaned. “We’re going to Space after this, and then we’ve got to get up early to go over to your mum’s and open our presents with Tim.”

He grinned at me. “You’re on a promise, hon,” he murmured. “So don’t worry. It’s happening, no matter how late we get home.”

My cock throbbed and I groaned again.

Rob chuckled. “Go and sit down while I get you a drink,” he suggested, and sidled past me, giving my arse a quick grope on the way.

I headed for the gap at the table Rob had left between Ben and Freddy’s new boyfriend.

“Hey, Quin,” my ex greeted me as I climbed over the bench to squeeze in beside him. “Glad you made it, man. It’s good to see you at last.”

Ben and Leon had been off on their travels again, and I hadn’t seen them since our last encounter in the street a year before.

“Good to see you too,” I replied, returning his smile.

“I thought for sure we wouldn’t see you tonight,” Ben continued. “Not when Freddy said you were working when she called.”

“Oh, he’s not so bad these days,” Freddy interrupted from the other side of the table, smiling. She looked at me and raised a single pierced brow. “Did you get your reports finished?”

I shook my head. “Nah. I’ll sort the rest in a few days’ time. I just want my first placement to be—”

“Perfect,” she finished for me. “I know. But don’t worry, they’ll love you.”

“Placement?” Ben asked.

I turned back to him. “I’m changing career—I’m in the middle of teacher training just now. The reports I was doing are for my first placement.”

Ben’s jaw dropped and I laughed.

“Budge up,” Rob said cheerfully behind us and everyone squeezed up another impossible fraction. Somehow he managed to winkle his way into the tiny space Ben and I created between us while carrying several bottles of beer, a stack of glasses and what looked like about ten bags of crisps. As soon as he sat down, he began doling out his wares, pouring a glass of beer for me and chucking bags of crisps around the table.

Once we were all settled again, Ben leaned past Rob to catch my eye again.

“I’m really surprised, Quin.”

“What’s this?” Rob asked, glancing between us.

“I told him about me doing teacher training,” I explained.

“Quin wanted to be a teacher when we were first together,” Ben added, then looked at me. “But after you started with the consultancy stuff—well, I’d have put money on you sticking with that. You were always so committed to that job.”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling wryly. “I was. It took me a while to see that it wasn’t really right for me.”

“What changed?” he asked, and without thinking, my gaze went to Rob.

“Oh. Right,” Ben said. He even gave a little laugh, but when I looked at him, I saw he looked sad, and I felt shitty for a moment, till Leon turned to him and said something in his ear and his sad expression melted away, replaced by a bright smile.

It was fine. Ben was fine. Blissfully happy, in fact. But later, I found myself dwelling on that moment as I hovered at the side of the dancefloor in Space, watching a group of my friends dancing.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that when a pair of hands landed on my waist, I jumped at first, only to relax an instant later into Rob’s familiar touch, sighing as he plastered himself against my back and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Hey, Beautiful,” he murmured in my ear. “Why aren’t ya dancing?” He rocked his hips against mine to the beat of the music.

I chuckled, canting my head to the side to give him access to my neck. “I’m a terrible dancer. I have no rhythm.”

“You do when you’re dancing with me,” Rob said as he nuzzled me. “I keep you on track.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “You do. My pace is all off without you. I get lost.”

He licked a stripe up the side of my neck, making me shudder. My cock was so hard right now. I pushed my hips back, welcoming the answering thrust of his hips.

“You’re an all-in kind of guy,” he muttered into my ear, making me shiver. “Totally committed to whatever you’re doing. I love that about you.”

And he did. He actually loved the very thing about me that had made me a shitty boyfriend to Ben and a thoughtless boss and a career-obsessed dickhead. Because it was the same thing that made me want to be the best teacher I could possibly be and that made me love Rob with all my heart.

I had an obsessive nature. I just needed someone to keep me on the right track.

I turned around in Rob’s arms and launched myself at him, pressing my mouth to his in a passionate kiss that he returned without hesitation. When we broke apart, I was smiling so hard, my face hurt.

“I love you so much,” I said simply. “I’ve never been so happy as I have this last year.”

His smile was huge, though after a moment, it flickered.

“Does that mean you’ve given what I said last night some thought?” he asked carefully. His gaze was wary and intent.

“Yes,” I said huskily. “And my answer is—fuck, yeah. I’ll move in with you.”

He let out a shuddery breath and leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine. “When you said you couldn’t give me an answer right away, I thought you were trying to find a way to say no.”

I scowled at that. “Never!” I said fiercely. “I told you my only hesitation was timing. I don’t know what my job situation’s going to be six months from now. I might have to move. I didn’t want to put you in a difficult position.”

“And like I said yesterday, if that happens, I’ll move too.” He captured my face in his hands and smiled down at me. “I love you, Quin. The thing I want most in the world right now is to make my life with you. Wherever that might be.”

I swallowed hard, blown away by his faith. His commitment.

To me.

I didn’t deserve that devotion, but God, I needed it. And over the next few decades I meant to return it, every bit.

“Same here,” I said simply, and lifted my lips to his.

The End

The Enlightenment Series

Provoked

Beguiled

Enlightened

Seasons Pass

Unnatural

Other titles

The Dream Alchemist
(coming soon)

Unforgivable

The Lady’s Secret

Anthologies

Introducing Mr. Winterbourne
(part of the
Another Place in Time
anthology)

Rest and Be Thankful
(part of the
Comfort and Joy
anthology)

Mr. Perfect’s Christmas
(part of the
Wish Come True
anthology)

You can find details of all my books at
my website

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