Page 73 of Peppermint Bark

“Holy shit,” she said, and the curse word on her normally pristine mouth made my cock jerk. “Seriously?”

“You talked about topping,” I shrugged.

“That’s all it took?” she said in a shocked whisper. I didn’t want to admit how much she affected me, or how long it had been since I had sex, so I shrugged again. Her gaze drifted down our blanket, and then she said in a petulant tone, “That’s unfair. A man as hot as you shouldn’t also be hung like that.”

It took all my willpower to remain relaxed when my hand desperately wanted to stroke it for her, so I leaned on my ego instead. “You think I’m hot?”

“Stop fishing for compliments,” she said flatly. “Everyone thinks you’re hot.”

“But what do you think?”

She shifted uncomfortably and I prepared to backtrack until she whispered, “When I first saw you, I thought you were the most stunning person I’d ever seen.” The sincere words made my breath stop … until she poked me in the ribs. “A tiny dick would have balanced the scales. But I guess the Big Dick Energy is well-founded.”

Her palm slid lower as her voice got raspy. “You need help with that?”

“That’s not why I brought it up,” I intercepted her hand, lifting it to my chest. “Although you said the same thing, that first time I was Santa. You meant the costume, but … let’s say I was relieved when you told me to turn around.”

Her voice rose in surprise. “You got hard as Santa?”

“Not hard, exactly …”

Her breath warmed my neck and I felt the vibrations of her laughter as much as I heard the melody. God, she had the world’s best laugh, and it must be contagious because mine joined immediately.

Her index and middle fingers found the bottom of my sweatshirt, walking from my stomach to the top of my pants.

“Seriously, can I?” she said, tracing my waistband. “You'll sleep better …”

“I'll be fine,” I said, not wanting her to feel obligated.

“I want you to be better than fine,” she said, meeting my eyes. “Please?”

Was she really pleading to jerk me off?

And was I really going to say no to a gorgeous woman offering a handjob?

Mallory’s loud guffaw reverberated up the stairs, reminding me of an important reason to decline. “My family might hear.”

“I can stop …” her voice was a sexy rasp. “Or we can be quiet.”

I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. “Ok, yeah. Yes, please.”

She let out a mischievous chuckle as her fingertips trailed along the thin strip of skin between my sweatshirt and waistband. She sang quietly, “Santa Baby, slip a sable under the tree …”

All my protests evaporated as a jolt ran through my groin. Her walking fingertips continued past my waistband to explore the front of my pajama pants.

“I’ve been an awful good girl,” her singing voice was breathy as her fingertips brushed the crown of my hard-on. “Santa baby, hurry down the chimney tonight,” she sang, lightly skimming down my length towards my balls. Her touch along the fabric was feather-light along the sides of my shaft.

“You’ve officially ruined that song for me,” I complained.

“Be glad I chose that one instead of ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town.’

“‘Here Comes Santa Claus.’”

“‘It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."

My eyelids fluttered shut as her soft touch trailed up my cock. “Are you enjoying torturing me?”

“Immensely.” Her voice was thick with desire. “Do you want me to stop?”

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