Page 109 of Christmas Criminal

"Good."

When we get inside,we leave our bags of presents by the Christmas tree and head upstairs. He peels off his shirt and his pants and sits down in bed, still holding the somewhat soggy peas over his eye. I run downstairs and grab an ice pack from the freezer and a headband from my duffel bag so he doesn't have to hold it against his head the whole time, and when I get upstairs, I crawl into his lap and place it right over his eye.

"There. Is that better?" I ask.

He nods, his hands running along my thighs. When I go to get up, he groans. "Wait, now it hurts."

I sit again, adjusting it slightly on his face. "Good?"

He nods. "Better."

But when I go to get up again, the same thing happens.

"You just want me to straddle you, don't you?"

He shrugs. "Pain is pain, Noelle. It hurts when you're not sitting on me. I don't know what to tell you."

I run my thumbs along the underside of his jaw, and he hums in response.

"I would like to get changed for bed if you can deal with the pain for a few more minutes. And maybe we can watch a Christmas movie or something? It's still early."

He grins, his fingers digging into my hips. "You want to watch a Christmas movie with me?"

I roll my eyes. "Well, only ifyouwant to. Since you're broken and all."

"My little Christmas elf strikes again," he says, his thumbs digging into my hips in a way that has a heat building in my core. I jump off his lap before my hips start moving on their own.

"I'll be right back," I tell him.

I bound down the stairs to grab theI heart mathshirt he gave me, and I quickly strip down once I get back upstairs, throwing my dirty clothes into a pile by the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he says, as I tug my sweater over my head. "Slower! For Christ's sake, I'm working with one half-functioning eye here."

"I'm not strippingfor you," I tell him.

"Damn straight you are," he counters, and the confidence in his words makes me immediately change my position.Yeah alright, I'll strip for you.

I take a step toward him and turn so he gets a full view of my ass as I push my leggings down over my hips. He reaches out and grabs me, palming me as I slowly stand again. "Mm, I like that," he says, his voice low as his thumb trails along my underwear.

I kick my pants off and throw one leg over his lap, seating myself right on top of his dick.

"I like the sexy stripper Christmas elf," he says, holding onto my hips as he says it because he knows I'm going to try to remove myself.

"I am none of those things!"

He grins. "Maybe for me? I'm so broken. Give me something to live for.”

I roll my eyes. "Fine. Considering my dad punched you in the eye, it's probably the least I can do, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's not the outcome he was intending."

I laugh, and as his hands squeeze at my hips and run along my sides, I reach behind me and pinch the clasp of my bra, shrugging it off and tossing it to the ground. "Is this what you had in mind?" I ask, as I lean forward and press a light kiss to his jaw. My nipples brush against his chest with the movement, and we both shiver.

He takes a strangled breath. "Fuck, Noelle."

I swirl my hips, feeling him growing hard underneath me, and he grabs them, pressing down.

His hands run up my back, wrapping around me and tugging me against his chest. Careful to avoid the ice, I wrap my arms around his neck. I sigh, my breasts pressing against him as he rubs my back.

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