Excerpts
from Nicely Naughty 2 Anthology
One
would think Chrissy Wallace’s attention would be on the giant Santa being
hoisted into the sleigh on top of her grandparents’ house, not on the perfectly
proportioned, jean-clad backside of the hunky man doing the work. In her
defense, standing on the ladder as he was, the man had a damn fine ass to look
at—the perfect peach shape a woman could sink her heels into and ride to the
finish line. She’d bet he’d dig those long, thick fingers of his deep into her
butt and hold her in place while he pounded her into the mattress.
One
hand clasped firmly around the steering wheel, she used the other to fan the
heat from her face. This was what happened when she hadn’t had sex in nine
months. With her grandparents on vacation and her house-sitting for them, what
were the odds she could get lucky? An hour away from home with none of the
small-town ogling that went with it? It’d be so much easier than looking for a
hookup in one of the clubs on Palm Canyon Drive. If he was helping out her
grandparents, he’d already been vetted. So…hell yeah, she was going to go for
it. Providing he was available, of course.
Please,
let him be available. He can be my Christmas present.
Movement
on the roof drew her gaze to the man helping him. Another stunning male
specimen. These must be “the nice young men who moved in next door” her
grandmother had mentioned. Sunglasses guarded his eyes against the setting sun
hovering near the peak of San Jacinto. Those rays bathed his tan skin in gold,
highlighting the cut of muscle in his biceps and forearms. Nothing like being
able to wear a tank top in December. One of the many reasons she loved living
in Southern California.
Her
heart somersaulted as she watched him haul Santa to safety on the roof. He
handled the decoration like it weighed nothing, and she knew for a fact the
thing weighed a ton and was awkward as hell. Much as she loved it, Santa and
his sleigh had been the bane of her family’s existence for as long as she could
remember. A chore to be avoided at all cost, only to be done under duress and
pleading from Grandma to put the decoration in place. Someone always caved.
With her grandparents heading out for a Baja cruise, everyone thought they’d be
spared this year, especially since Chrissy’s parents were going too.
Well…they had been spared. Someone else had been pressed into
service.
Probably
fell prey to Grandma’s charming smile and bright blue eyes. For a woman
nearing seventy, Grandma still knew how to work it. Oh, to have a snippet of
that power.
The
man on the ladder joined his partner on the roof, taking a stance on the other
side of Santa. Seeing their matching smiles made her mouth drop open.
Twins. Decisions, decisions. Surely one of them was unattached. Maybe
both? Oh, the fantasies that wrought.
She
snapped her jaw shut and pulled into the driveway next to Pops’s Prius. Grandma
waved at her, love beaming from her eyes. Chrissy was embarrassed to admit she
hadn’t seen her standing there until that moment. Her attention had been
riveted elsewhere. She sneaked a final mouthwatering glance upward, then cut
the engine and got out.
“Chrissy!”
Grandma hurried her way, arms open.
Chrissy
was conscious of the men above, wondering if they were looking, possibly
interested. She was tempted to fluff her hair into some semblance of order,
check her breath, flash them a smile that broadcasted her need. She hugged
Grandma instead.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•
From CHRISTMAS
CANDIE by Nona Raines
Aidan
sat in the armchair across from them. His eyes were heavy-lidded, his gaze
intense. Silence gathered around the three of them.
Candie spoke first. She let her hand
drift down Val’s arm, stroking gently. “Don’t be mad at me, Aidan, but I told
Val your secret.”
“My secret?” He hardly seemed to hear
the words, just repeated the last few like an echo.
“That you like her. For real. As more
than just a fuck buddy.” She leaned in, swept a strand of Val’s hair behind her
ear.
“It’s true,” he answered. “But every
time I make a move, suggest anything other than a booty call, she runs like a
scared rabbit. She won’t even have a coffee with me.”
“She won’t? That doesn’t make sense.
You’re a really nice guy.”
“I like to think so.”
“I told her that seeing us kiss maybe
made you a little jealous.”
“Well, how should I feel? I mean,
we’ve been kicking it six months, and she won’t even grab a drink with me. She
picks you up a few hours ago and you’re already sucking face. What’s the deal?”
“I don’t blame you.” Candie gave him
a look from beneath her lashes. “But tell the truth. Did it turn you on a
little too? Seeing us kiss?” She smiled when he hesitated. “It’s okay to admit
it.”
He leaned back in his chair and gave
a little shrug. “Well, hey. I’m a guy, you know?”
Candie nodded. “Sure. You’re a guy.”
She lowered her hand to Val’s thigh.
A sizzle streaked through Val,
straight to her pussy. Not only from Candie’s touch, but from the heat in
Aidan’s eyes. He watched intently as Candie lightly flexed her fingers on Val’s
leg.
Rattled, Val gulped her wine and set
off a coughing jag when it went down the wrong pipe. Tears streamed from her
eyes.
Candie took the cup from her and set
it aside with her own. “Are you all right?”
She cleared her throat and wiped her
cheeks. “Yes.” No. She was sweltering, steaming with lust. Wet heat pooled
between her legs. Her heart hammered in her ears.
Candie’s warm breath tickled her ear.
“You want us both, don’t you, Val?”
Val’s breath rushed out in a long
sigh. “Yeah.”
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•
From GINGERBREAD
PHOTOGRAPHY by Rachell Nichole
BEN SWALLOWED
HARD, staring into her green eyes. She was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful.
Just like her photos. Bright red curls fell in waves around her face and
shoulders, covering the tips of her jacket’s lapels. Her fair skin was pink;
from the flush he could feel within him too, or from the cold, he couldn’t be
sure. But she’d agreed to let him make it up to her. What the hell are
you doing?
He blinked, trying to clear his head. He’d
been crying a mere two seconds before they’d slammed into each other, the burn
of tears hot against his cold cheeks distracting him from the impending
collision. Then they’d slammed into each other and he’d been flattened onto the
cold concrete. She was slender, but tall. She couldn’t possibly outweigh him,
but they’d struck with such force that he’d surely be bruised. Yeah, that’d be
fun to explain to Walker. Walker, who’d let him just run out of the firehouse
after Eddie had torn into him.
“How about coffee?” he said,
pushing thoughts of Walker from his mind. “Since I kind of kyboshed your other
one.”
She looked at the brown snow
rapidly melting from the heat of her coffee, and he smiled sheepishly.
“Um, sure,” she said.
After a beat, she said, “I know of
this great place around the corner.”
His stomach lurched into his
throat. Please, God, not the same place where he’d first met Walker. He
couldn’t come up with a good reason to suggest somewhere else. So he silently
nodded and then followed her as she led him down the street and around the
corner. Sure enough it was the same place. He barely suppressed a groan as they
crossed the threshold. They moved through the line quickly, though in the
middle of winter the shop was swamped. A small table in the corner vacated, and
she marched across the room and claimed two seats as soon as they were empty.
Well, then.
He followed and sat across from
her. “I’m Ben,” he said, trying to ignore the dark voice in the back of his
head that told him being here with her was like cheating. He couldn’t shake the
feeling, though he knew it wasn’t logical. Having coffee with a girl didn’t
mean he was stepping out on Walker. He’d never do that.
“I’m Lexie,” she said with a smile.
He tensed. He hadn’t been this
attracted to a female since Reese. Simply because he was attracted to
Lexie didn’t mean he had to act on it.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she said, taking a sip
of her coffee. Another warm smile crossed her lips as she swallowed. He tried
really hard to ignore the way her throat moved as she drank. What would that
smooth skin feel like beneath his fingers? Damn it. He shut down that train of
thought.
She helped a second later when she
asked suddenly, with real concern, “Are you okay? You looked upset when we ran
into each other.”
Instantly, guilt flooded him. Yeah,
he’d been upset. Which was probably why he couldn’t keep his mind from
wandering to naughty thoughts. His life would be so much easier if he could
bring Lexie home next month for Christmas. He’d told his parents he couldn’t
get out of work. So he wouldn’t have to go home and lie to their faces about
his love life. God, he hated that he’d lied to them for so long. But he loved
them too much to risk changing their opinions of him when he told them he was
bisexual. He wouldn’t let history repeat itself, wouldn’t end up like Jesse
had.
“Yeah. I uh, had a fight…with my,
um, boyfriend.” Not the whole truth. He’d run away from a fight, actually. But
he was too much of a coward to admit that to Lexie.
She shifted in her seat, sighing. Her shoulders relaxed beneath
her dark purple sweater, and he could read the relief on her face. She was
relieved he’d had a fight? After a second, he wanted to smack himself. No, she
was relieved he was gay. Why had he just admitted to a perfect stranger that he
had a boyfriend when he couldn’t tell his own sister?
“So you’re a photography student?”
he asked, changing the subject.
“I teach it actually.”
He took a second to reassess. She
was a professor. At the university where he was a student. Crap. Even if he wasn’t
with Walker, he wouldn’t be able to bring this girl home for Christmas. He
couldn’t date her publicly any more than he could date Walker out in the open.
“Very cool. Those photos were amazing. I’m so sorry I ruined them.”
She reached out and touched his
arm. He warmed instantly. “Don’t worry about it. You have to stop apologizing.
It wasn’t your fault anyway. I was so pissed; I would have walked straight into
a pole without seeing it. It’s no wonder I bashed into you without preamble.”
She didn’t make any move to let go
of his arm, and he didn’t encourage one. He’d never let Walker touch him like
this in public. Never gaze into his lover’s eyes with such ease. Here, with
Lexie, he could let himself show affection without fear of repercussions. Lexie
raised her other hand to his chin, turning his head to the side.
“Hold still,” she said.
He froze, and her fingers left him.
From the corner of his eye, he watched as she leaned back in her chair and
smiled. “Well…” She said, drawing out the word. “There might be one more thing
you could do to make it up to me.”
