Snow Job (18 page)

“this”. “Maybe in the back seat of my car, parked somewhere real y dark?”

“Would you have been naked then too?” Elyce moved her hips into Karl’s touch, and then growled softly as he lessened his pressure.

“No. I would probably stil have jeans on. And there’s probably no way you would have just been sucking my cock, not yet anyway. But you’d be in just your underwear, like now. Would you have let me get you down to your underwear in high school?”

She found it hard to think, his hand was so distracting with its constant light motions that never quite set a rhythm she could fol ow. “Assuming we’d actual y attended high school at the same time…”

“Of course.”

“I’d say there’s a fair chance I’d have let you get this far, yes. After several months of patient effort, of course.”

“Hmm. And how about…” He edged one finger to the side, skimming it just beneath the elastic, cal ing forth a pang of need.

“You’d be getting into dangerous territory, there. I was a prude in high school.”

“But even in high school, I could be very persuasive,”

Karl reminded her, kissing her soundly and using the distraction to nudge his fingers a fraction of an inch closer to their goal. “And I probably would have been more patient about it then too,” he admitted, skipping several steps and stroking directly down her wet slit, humming in appreciation at her reaction.

“
More
,” she couldn’t help whispering, and Karl obligingly pushed one fingertip inside her pussy, teasing at her lips until she widened her legs and gave a stifled whimper.

“More?” he asked, maddeningly calm.

“Karl,
please
.”

He played for an excruciating few minutes longer and then, through with teasing, shoved Elyce’s panties out of the way and down her legs, helped along by her frantic efforts.

When he leaned back toward her, she let him rol her on top again, relishing the warmth of his big hands sliding down her back and cupping her rear. She lifted herself automatical y, reached down to guide him without thinking about it and then stopped, realizing it was automatic, realizing she had lost that sense of having forgotten him.

She looked down at Karl, startled by the shift in perspective, and saw him looking back up at her with a wistful, yearning expression.

“Stop thinking,” he said, his perception alarmingly accurate. “Just keep going. I love you. Please keep going.”

She had gone too far to stop now, at any rate. Elyce sank down onto him with a shiver, twisting her hips to take him deeper, rising again and final y lowering herself as far as they could both go. She looked at his face again and knew it was different after al , something new…that she had never forgotten doing this because they had never quite done
this
. Karl lifted a hand to her hair and stroked it back from her face almost reverently, his other hand stil guiding her hip as she started to move slowly over him.

“Love you,” he repeated some time later, his face beginning to flush with pleasure, and Elyce whispered a reply that was lost in a gasp. He had gripped her thighs and thrust up into her, deeper stil , and suddenly Elyce was frantic again, feeling the edge of her orgasm creeping within range. She wanted to grab it and hold on, wanted at the same time to wait for Karl, but then understood that he was waiting for her.

Together they final y threw off their restraint, began straining as one toward climax. Elyce reached that height first, almost crying out but remembering somehow at the last minute and biting her lip to keep from making a noise that might be heard. Karl’s whispered exclamation moments later was harsh and labored, and his eyes shut with the force of his orgasm as if he were in pain. Elyce could feel him throbbing deep inside her, drawing out her own pleasure as she rode out his climax.

When they had both stil ed and Elyce had col apsed, exhausted, onto Karl’s chest, an awkward silence gripped them for what seemed like long minutes but could only have been seconds.

Elyce ran her fingers through the fine hairs on Karl’s chest, wondering what they had real y just done. Would he expect her to come back now? Nothing had real y been solved, not real y—they had just stopped fighting about it, a temporary truce unless things changed on a fundamental level. Probably, in its way, this lovemaking—for she could think of nothing else to cal it—was as big a mistake as whatever they had been doing those nights before. Bigger, even, because it was impossible to put it down to simple poor judgment or being carried away by the moment. And because it meant more, and there was no pretending otherwise.

Karl wove his fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck and kissed the top of her head. “I know it doesn’t real y solve anything, but I liked this better than arguing,” he said, again echoing her thoughts with uncanny accuracy.

Elyce sighed, burrowing her face against his warm skin.

“Me too. Although it’s one of those things that’s probably not wise under the circumstances.”

“We can decide on that some other time. Let’s just enjoy it for now, okay?”

“Okay.”

She didn’t know why she agreed so meekly, only that it felt too comfortable and secure there, nestled against Karl in the bundle of cozy blankets, to even consider arguing.

They final y roused enough to run to the bathroom, shivering and laughing at their scramble to turn the heater on, then complaining with good humor about the light as they washed one another off.

Neither bothered to find pajamas once they were through, they both leapt back into the bed and set about warming it up again as quickly as possible, spooning together until their body heat had warded off the chil and made the space toasty again. They were stil whispering nonsense to one another when Elyce final y fel asleep, feeling more relaxed than she had since the previous winter, the last time they had been spooned together in the bed at the cabin, snuggled under a field of goose down, lit only by the moon’s reflected light against the snow outside.

Christmas dawned just as Christmas should, clear and crisp and just cold enough to nip at the face without truly biting, just cold enough to count.

The children were up first, of course, clamoring to be admitted to the presence of the Christmas tree. Elyce woke to the sound of a groggy Grandpa Bil explaining, through yawns, that the parents had to check that everything was real y, truly ready, before they would be open for business downstairs. Then, to her amusement, she heard him cal ing Alice’s name and asking if they had any spare camera batteries, as his seemed to be dead. The reply came from one of the girls that “Gigi” was already downstairs, making coffee.

Puzzled as to why their bedroom door was already o p e n, Elyce automatical y reached around only to find Karl’s side of the bed empty. Nor, evidently, was he in the en suite bathroom, as that door was also standing open and Karl was nowhere in sight.

She lay a moment longer, debating as she always did over whether or not to get dressed before heading downstairs. Again there was a family difference to consider, as she was from a pajamas-on-Christmas-morning family, whereas Karl’s folk tended to get dressed for the festivities once they were past early childhood.

Karl’s siblings and their families seemed evenly divided on the issue, with Wil and Kel y arriving tree-side already groomed and looking ready for family photos, while Scott and Emily and their girls usual y lounged in Christmas pajamas and robes until ten or eleven.

This year, Elyce realized, she didn’t have the usual luxury of either changing or simply remaining in the pajamas she was already wearing. She had fal en asleep without stopping to put anything on. Her biggest dilemma now was the fact that the children were mil ing about in the loft, and with the door wide open she had no way to get to either pajamas or clothes without being seen by any of them who cared to look. Real y, she was fortunate that none of the three had noticed her yet, an unattended grownup to pester who might even agree to serve as liaison and spy to the downstairs promised land of Christmas cheer, currently accessible only to adults.

Karl solved her problem by returning just then with two mugs of Irish coffee, the traditional Christmas morning drink for grownups at the cabin.

“This should help you get in that festive mood,” he quipped, placing her drink on the bedside table and careful y closing the door behind him while sipping at his own mug. The foam left a little moustache on his upper lip, a nd Elyce couldn’t help but stare as he licked it off with obvious relish at the taste of the sweetly spiked beverage.

“Thanks. Do I not seem festive yet?”

“Wel …” Karl glanced at Elyce’s bare shoulders, exposed where the blanket she was wrapped in had slipped down a little. “I think you’re extremely festive. That may actual y be my favorite outfit on you. But it isn’t a mixed-company kind of festive, I admit.” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the shoulder, defusing a little of the tension that lingered between them stil .

“Are you planning to wear jammies or change into real clothes?” she asked, hopeful that he might opt for the former.

“Real clothes, of course.”

Of course, she reasoned as Karl pul ed his clothes from the dresser where he’d unpacked them upon their arrival, they didn’t have to fol ow the same dress code as one another. They weren’t
really
a couple, despite the events of the previous evening, and despite the image they were trying to convey for the sake of the family. She could stil put on lounging pajamas, even if Karl was opting for a pair of wel -worn faded jeans and a heathered navy sweater that played up the blue in his eyes.

But she ended up getting dressed anyway, as she knew she eventual y must. In trouser jeans and a red cashmere cable-knit, with a snowflake pin fastened on at the cowled neck for some added Christmas flair. The fuzzy, red-and-white-striped slipper-socks with reindeer faces on the toes drained some of the chic from the outfit, but she felt she had made enough of a concession to style already without sacrificing any further comfort. The reindeer socks were Elyce’s quiet rebel ion.

The coffee helped her morning mood along, simultaneously waking her up and fil ing her with mel ow holiday cheer. By the time she had sampled the pound cake, savory sausages and holiday cookies that had appeared on the kitchen counter for an impromptu breakfast, she was feeling very festive indeed, and too happy to care about any remnants of awkwardness between her and Karl.

The adults were crowded into the kitchen and breakfast room, making occasional forays to the tree for final adjustments. There was much giggling and sneaking back to bedrooms for forgotten last touches, or to replace bows that had fal en off packages. Much giggling could also be heard from upstairs, where the children waited with increasing impatience and excitement for permission to bolt down to the tree and dive for their presents.

Bil , as always, was the one who gave the word. When he final y cal ed up to unleash the kids, the girls almost knocked Charles down in their eagerness to get to the tree.

Laughing, chattering gaily about each gift as they argued cheerful y about whose turn it was to play Santa, they presented a picture-book image of Christmas morning. With their coordinated red-and-green-plaid pajamas, Nash and Reese would have almost blended in to the décor, but for their constant motion and the tumble of blonde hair stil fal ing in curls left over from their dressed-up hairdos of the previous evening.

Charles, a bit more solemn and businesslike, opened his presents with a quiet intensity and then lined them up careful y by the order in which he intended to play with them throughout the course of the day. Little Alicia, already overstimulated, was opening her gifts with her parents’ help and screeching with excitement over each one. Elyce anticipated a meltdown into tears would happen within the hour.

Meanwhile, the adults’ package opening had also proceeded apace. Although they certainly al had the means to purchase extravagant gifts should they have wanted to, the family tended toward a bit more reserve at Christmas, saving the more lavish presents for birthdays.

Where one might have reasonably expected diamonds, furs or car keys, there were usual y books, DVDs and a few thoughtful y chosen larger surprises.

Emily opened the closest gift there was to a fur, in the form of a faux-fox trim on a stunning new ski outfit from Kel y. Wil had received, from his parents, a vintage guitar he’d wanted, an addition to his growing col ection. He strummed it happily, picking out Christmas carols by ear, as the rest of the family continued opening their gifts.

Karl had opened several other things by the time one of the girls spotted the envelope with his name on it, propped up against an ornament on the tree itself. Elyce nodded when he threw a questioning look her way, and watched with interest as he tore open the envelope and found the gift certificate inside.

His look, puzzled at first and then incredulous, was hardly what she’d expected. With a grin, he made his way from the couch through the litter of wrapping paper to the tree, returning to Elyce’s side with another envelope.