Midwinter Night's Dream (11 page)

*                               *                                    *

Micah

I watched Grinch pull Leo off into the woods, blinking in surprise. That wasn't like Grinch. He was normally so good on a leash.

I looked over at Sloane and the fucker
winked
at me. I narrowed my eyes.

Sloane's face got an outrageously fake concerned look. "Micah, you'd better go after Leo. Make sure he doesn’t fall into that ravine."

"Yeah, that
ravine
," Hank said with a trace of laughter in his voice. "That's an accident waiting to happen right there."

Hank knew as well as I did that there wasn't a ravine anywhere near here.

"Well, shit!" Helen said worriedly. "Let's go after them!"

"No," Sloane said quickly. "You guys don't know these woods. It's safer if Micah goes alone. Come on, we'll continue on slowly and Micah and Leo can catch up. I'm sure it won't take that long."

Despite the blatant inconsistency of his argument, Sloane managed to get Yas and Helen moving ahead. I followed Leo's snowshoe tracks and a set of deep paw prints into the woods.

Oh, Sloane. How did I ever get such a prize of a brother-in-law-to-be? I could kiss him, only Hank would probably punch me in the face or shave off all my hair while I was sleeping.

I found Leo and Grinch both panting hard and staring at each other about a hundred yards into the woods. It was darker in the trees, and so quiet we might have been a million miles away from civilization.

"You okay?" I asked Leo.

"Yeah, fine." He was breathing hard. "I didn't want to lose your dog."

"Grinch! That wasn't very nice!" I scolded, though he could probably tell I didn't mean it. Grinch just continued to pant, his tongue hanging out of his mouth in a doggy grin.

Leo and I looked at each other. I saw him swallow.

"Look, I wanted to tell you… what my mom said in the barn. Yas was the one who called and Mom just got the wrong idea. She's not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't act interested in you if I was involved with someone else."
I haven't had a single sexy thought about another person since we kissed at that party.
I kept that last bit to myself, not wanting to overdo it. But it was true.

Leo licked his lips, looking uncertain. He shrugged like it didn't matter, but he couldn't seem to put that lie into words. "I overreacted," he finally said. He hesitated. "I'm glad you're not seeing anyone else."

That was definitely encouraging. My chest expanded like I was doing s sun salutation. I took off my gloves and stuffed them into my pockets. I moved closer, close enough to wipe away a bit of icy snow from his hair where it peeked out from under a gray wool cap that used to be Hank's.

"Give me a chance," I said softly. It was corny as hell, but I was so far from feeling cool or witty at the moment. My energy was all over the place, pinging around Leo like a bug against a lightbulb. I'd wanted to be this close to him for weeks, and here we were, alone, and he was looking at me like I was Christmas dinner. My blood was pumping south and my body was tossing out hormones like it was sorting through a bin at a dollar sale.

We stood there, staring into each other's eyes. Then he tackled me. The tail on my snowshoes kept me upright even though his whole body slammed into mine, his lips crashing down in a kiss. My arms went around him and we were upright for a moment as the world spun. Then he tried to step closer and his clamps caught on my frame. Down we went in a cloud of snow, limbs, and gasping laughter.

I managed to reach out with one hand and hit the release on one snowshoe and get the other with the tip of my boot. Then I was free of their bulk. Leo ignored his own snowshoes. He managed to roll me onto my back and straddle my thighs. That left me lying in the snow, but I didn't give a rat's ass.

I stared up at him. His hat had gotten knocked off and his blond hair spilled around his face. Even in the moonlight, I could see he was rosy-cheeked with the cold and his eyes were bright with lust. His body, his being, vibrated with want. Like, if I could see his aura right then it would be all swirling with the purple of desire.

I wanted to remember this—the way he looked right then, the way I felt, the way my body responded to him. I'd never felt so much excitement at being with someone, being able to touch them. Was it because he'd rejected me? No. It was too big, too real, to be that petty. Leo had been different from the start. Something inside him resonated with something inside me.

"This is crazy," Leo said, making me wonder if he was thinking the same sort of thing.

Before I could answer, he kissed me. This time it wasn't all wild and crashing, more impetus than finesse. Like at the party, this was warm, slick, and 100 percent sexual. There was something in the way he kissed me, like he was compelled to, like he was desperate for me against his own will, his own control. It drove me crazy. There was magic in making Leo, who was normally so tight, shake with desire.

I put my hands on his waist, bulky with a sweater and a coat. I wanted to pull him closer, but it was like he sapped all the forward momentum from my body. All I could do was just hang on and encourage him with my moans and splayed openness to have his wily way with me. God, how did he make me feel like that?

He finally gave me what I craved and settled down on top of me. His weight pressed me down. His mouth was warm, open, and wet. He used the broad flat of his tongue against mine in a slow stroke that drove me out of my mind. I couldn't get enough.

This time we were pressed close enough that I felt his erection, swollen, hard and hot, through our jeans. Damn, that was incredible.
Definitely bi
, I thought,
most definitely bi
. Hell yeah. I was totally into it. I wanted to touch it. I wanted to know what it would be like to have it in my mouth.

Leo's hands, feeling disconcertingly large and masculine, grabbed my hips and held them hard as he ground down, adjusting until his hard cock was on top of mine. I broke the kiss and panted into the cold night air. Holy hell. Pleasure rippled up my spine as he rubbed. If he kept doing that, I could come.

"God, Micah." Leo turned his head to find my mouth again.

'Ruff! Ruff ruff!" The imperious barking might easily have been my dick talking, but no, it was Grinch. Leo pushed up onto his elbows, and we both looked at the dog.

Grinch was sitting in the snow, having sunk down in it to his chest. He barked again, loud and sharp. It was his demanding bark. Usually he did that when you were refusing to share his favorite food—bacon, for example. But at the moment, I figured it meant
: Okay, this was fun but I'm cold and I'm done. Take me home please
.

"I think he's jealous." Leo laughed.

"No, he just wants to go home where it's warm."

Leo shivered and not with desire this time. "Smart dog."

I reluctantly got to my feet. Leo was awkward in his snowshoes and needed my hand to get upright. But he did a very thorough job of brushing off my back, ass, and legs, until I laughed.

"I think the snow is gone, Leo."

"Just making sure. Guess we should find the others." His face fell. "Oh. Um… if it's okay with you, I'd prefer not to let Yas know about this, at least not until after the play. God, that makes me sound like a selfish dick."

"No, it's cool. I agree," I said. "It would be awkward since she's staying at the farm. I don't want to hurt her feelings."

Leo blew out a breath and nodded. "So… we'll table this 'til after the play. Cool?"

I didn't like that idea, but I had to admit it was wise. If we kept messing around, we were sure to get caught. Anticipation makes the heart grow fonder and all of that. "I'll be good. Pinky swear." I held up my gloved hand.

I could do this. After all, it was only for a few days.

~9~

Yasmine

It was the wee hours of December 24th, and not a creature was stirring in the Springfield farmhouse. Well, not many creatures were stirring. At least two people—Lilith and Karma—were deeply asleep.

Yas snuck out of her room and looked up and down the dark hallway. She dug her toes against the runner rug, trying to decide if she was going to go through with this.

Micah had been polite but distant since she'd arrived, which Yas didn't understand. Guys
always
liked her. Her friends sometimes called her a Pollyanna, saying she was so positive about everything. But she was sure Micah really liked her! Or he liked her at least a little. He was probably just shy around his parents and didn't want to be all couply in front of everyone.

Fortunately, she knew which room was his.

Should she? Or shouldn't she? She was pretty sure any guy would be happy to have a girl climb into his bed. Right? Right! Besides, she really wanted Micah, and she was tired of waiting. With an excited giggle, Yas slipped down the hallway.

Micah's room was at the front of the hall, near the stairs, on the left. She'd made a point to note it earlier. She went up to the door and knocked lightly, not wanting to wake anyone else. She'd put on her silky baby doll pajamas and it was cold!

"Micah?" she whispered.

She waited a long time, shivering. If he was asleep, he'd never hear her. Making up her mind, she turned the doorknob and opened the door slowly. The room was dark, but the curtains were drawn and a square of moonlight fell on the bed.

"Micah?"

*                               *                                    *

Leo

I couldn't sleep. It was past midnight so it was officially Christmas Eve, and our show was that afternoon. All my players were camped out around the house like the woodland creatures in the play. Rehearsals had gone great today, if I did say so myself. We were as ready as we were ever going to be, and this whole thing would be over soon. By this time tomorrow, I'd be asleep in my room at my parents' house. I was leaving as soon as we'd cleaned up, so I could be home for Christmas Eve.

That thought—that I had less than twenty-four hours left on the farm—gave me a regretful pang and a sense of deep unease. It wasn't fear about the performance, either. The comforts of home in Philly, even at Christmastime, couldn't compare to the pleasure of being with Micah right then. Especially since after the show I could finally
be
with Micah.

We'd played it cool since that snowshoe adventure in the woods. But the heated glances and the occasional brush of Micah's hand—in the small of my back, on my arm, even on my ass once when no one was looking—were driving me up the wall. I'd also come to like him even more. And I was in love with his family. Lilith's cooking rocked and Karma was the nicest guy ever.

I already missed this, and I wasn't even gone yet.

Hell, I'd never be able to sleep, not wound up like this. Maybe if I got off, it would help me sleep. That would be advantageous for the play tomorrow. You could say it was my duty to have an orgasm. It wasn’t difficult to convince myself because I was a) super horny and b) totally crushing on Micah. I didn't want to go home tomorrow without having touched him again.

While my brain continued to yea and nay, I got up, pulled on some jeans, stepped over Will, who was camped out on the bedroom floor, and visited the bathroom. I was hard, with no signs of it letting up. I idly checked the cabinet and saw lube. I was a few fingers deep before I really thought about what I was doing. It was as if my body was proceeding straight ahead and overriding the waffling of the executive council. With Micah in my mind, touching myself was like kicking embers into flames. Balls to brain, I clenched and craved.

There was a scratching noise on the bathroom door.
Scritch scratch. Scratchety scratch.
I was about to freak out thinking about ghosts and old farmhouses and
The Amityville Horror
when the scratch sound was joined by a snorty snuffle.
Dog.

I washed my hands and opened the door. Grinch stood there, wagging his butt.

"Shhh," I told him.

He waggled his butt some more and then trotted off down the hall toward Micah’s room.
Micah’s room.
I tiptoed down to the door. I turned the knob slowly, whispered Micah's name, and opened it.

*                               *                                    *

It was dark in Micah's room, but the nightlight from the hall, and the moonlight from the window, were enough to see that it was empty. Micah's bed looked slept in, but he wasn’t there.

I softly shut the door and stood there in the hall. Where would he be?

My eyes fell on the door to the room where Yas was staying. Surely he wouldn't…. My gut clenched. But, no. I really didn't think he would do that.

Grinch returned to Micah's door and nudged me, lightly head-butting my calf. Distracted as I was, I looked down at him. He walked a few steps toward the stairs and stopped, looking back at me over his shoulder.

"Where's Micah? Can you show me?" I whispered.

Grinch licked his lips, which was the same response I had to the word 'Micah'—though, hopefully, for a different reason. He trotted to the stairs, gave me another glance, and started hopping down them. I didn't know if he understood what I wanted or not, but if Micah wasn't in his room, chances were he was downstairs. So I followed.

We didn't have to go through the living room, which was good, because it was crammed with more bodies and sleeping bags. Grinch went right to the sliding glass door that exited from the kitchen onto the back patio, and stood there looking at me.

"Micah's outside?" I said doubtfully.

Grinch barked once, sharply.

"Shhh! Okay, okay! Just let me get my shoes and coat."

I didn't want to go back up to my room to get my shoes, so I got a pair of wellies and my jacket from the mud room. What would Micah be doing outside on a December night? Then again, it wouldn't kill me to go look.