Page 24 of Unruly Kris

“They’ll survive, I found something better.” She eyed up the kit’s contents, enough gingerbread pieces between the two boxes for them each to make a house, a ton of peppermints and assorted candies, and pre-portioned icings in piping bags in shades of green, red and white. She set the bottle of vodka on the table and poured herself a shot, downing it before offering him the bottle. “This will be much more entertaining in the long run.”

“You mean we’ll be able to see them in the morning and ask what the hell we were doing in our drunken state?” Kris pulled off his shirt and tossed it over a kitchen chair so he wouldn’t get icing on it. The toned muscles of his chest rippled reflexively as he stretched his shoulders free of the material. Cath felt a current of heat shoot through her as he flexed his shoulder and tried to work the stiff muscles. She lost her train of thought, becoming completely distracted with a piping bag in her hands as she dragged her eyes over him, not even trying to hide the obvious fact she was eyeing him up.

He gave her a devilish smile and wagged a finger at her. “Hey sweetheart, my eyes are up here.”

She shook her head and leaned against the table, popping a peppermint into her mouth as he sauntered across the kitchen to stand in front of her. “There is not a chance in hell I’m not going to ogle you freely when I can, sorry.”

“And there is not a chance in hell I won’t let you, any time you want.” He followed her lead and popped a peppermint in his mouth. He cupped the back of her neck and dragged her in for a kiss, sweeping his tongue across her mouth and she tasted fresh peppermint, along with the burning faint traces of rum.

Damn the man could kiss! He held nothing back; the concept wasn’t even on his radar, and she loved it, loved every moment of being pressed against him, feeling her stomach go weightless as he bruised her lips with the intensity of his kiss. She wound her arms around his neck and leaned into him, bumping into the table hard with a wince as the bone of her hip hit the wood. “Owww.”

He pulled back, reaching down to rub the spot tenderly and then bent down and pressed his lips to her hip bone. “There, all better.”

“Well, it’s better than most army medics I’ve seen.” She picked up two pieces of gingerbread and measured them against each other then swapped one out. She began to methodically lay out the pieces like a puzzle so she could see what went where.

“High praise.” Kris grabbed a section of gingerbread and took a bite then pulled a chair out and straddled it as she moved the rest of the pieces away protectively.

“Hey! I think that was part of the roof, now there will be a hole.” She gave him a reproving glance as he gingerly set the segment down again.

He gave an unapologetic shrug of his shoulders and began opening the sealed packs of candy. “I’m a fan of modern architecture, I gave the place a skylight, it’ll raise its resale value.”

Cath stared at him for an instant then slid the vodka bottle closer and poured herself a shot. Without a word she poured another for Kris and set it in front of him then took a seat at the table. She had a funny feeling they were both going to need it before they were through.

17

It took less than twenty minutes for Cath’s kitchen table to look like an utter disaster zone. While she had laid the pieces for her house out in methodical fashion, Kris was, as normal, a force of pure chaos and quickly had pieces all over the place. The circular butcher block top was strewn with candy and peppermints along with bits of icing from the piping bags. The real problem arose however when Cath began to try and build the walls of her gingerbread house. No matter how much she tried to line the edges properly with icing, it kept sinking in on itself, and like the typical perfectionist (and with a decent quantity of alcohol fueling her system) it immediately began to frustrate her.

“Here, hold this.” She instructed Kris, her voice immediately slipping into the clipped tone she used with her cadets. “Put pressure here so it seals.”

Kris obligingly held the two pieces together while she piped up the side and corner. She set the bag down and waited patiently for the icing to harden then motioned for Kris to move his hands. They watched as it seemed to hold and then wobbled and fell over on itself in a heap of icing and gingerbread. In unison their faces fell until Cath slapped a hand off the table angrily.

“Damn it!” She stared down the pile of cookies and icing with a menacing expression. “That was the third try, it’s starting to get soggy.”

Kris took a shot of vodka and winced, pushing the empty shot glass as far away from himself as he could. “And so are we, I might add. I don’t think my liver can take much more.”

Cath tried to line sections up again, running a thick line of icing down the gingerbread house and repeating the steps from before then watching in dismay as it collapsed in on itself again. “Un-fucking-believable.”

“Cath, chill.” Kris leaned over and tried to fix the mess, succeeding only in making it look worse. He picked up a piece of gingerbread to take a bite and received a murderous glance from Cath that caused him to set it down slowly and back away as if his life depended on it. “I’ve seen worse houses go for million in Malibu.”

He studied the mess and re-arranged some pieces then added a couple of his own, so it looked like the round pile had a roof. “See, it’s totally fine. It’s California, we’ll market it as a ginger yurt, I guarantee you someone will buy it as a beach house.”

“I manage an elite team of soldiers, in some of the most dangerous circumstances in the world and you make multimillion dollar blockbuster movies, what does it say that we can’t complete a $10 gingerbread house?” Cath threw her piping bag down in disgust and started at the mess balefully. They still had his house to build, and she was starting to think she had overestimated how much they could accomplish. Quite frankly Kris was no help; his attention span wasn’t the longest to begin with, he was as tipsy as she was. and he had already started munching the candies set aside for decorating.

“That vodka and fine motor activities don’t mix.” Kris picked up a piping bag idly and squeezed a dab of white icing on his finger then licked it off. He studied the piping bag for a moment and then slid his chair closer to Cath. She had returned to trying to put the dropping gingerbread back together and barely felt what Kris was doing until she looked down.

“What the…” He had taken the icing and drawn a looping spiral pattern on her upper arm. “What are you doing?”

“Finding something more entertaining to do.” He leaned close and ran his tongue over her skin until the icing was gone, and she shivered at his touch. He immediately began to work on another design on her shoulder then repeated the same gesture as before homing in on her neck and kissing along the path to her ear. “And a better canvas to work on.”

“Kris, focus,” she admonished gently with a giggle as he went back to his task with enthusiasm. “Ice the gingerbread, not the commando.”

“No, I like this better, you taste good.” He ran his free hand up her flank, setting a hand on the curve of her breast. She leaned into the heat of his hand, abandoning the gingerbread on the table completely in defeat. Rising, and stepping playfully out of his reach, she leaned against the table with her arms crossed in mock annoyance as she gave him an unwavering look of contrition.

Not undeterred in the least, Kris rose, pushing his chair aside and coming to stand in front of her. He slipped his arms around her and pulled her close then surprised her by swiftly lifting her up onto the edge of the table. Cath wound one her legs around his as he began to work her tank top up, exposing her skin inch by inch unit it was bunched up under her breasts. She leaned back on her arms and watched as he grabbed the piping bag again, taking it to the toned plain of her stomach and designing an intricate snowflake pattern. She let him work, giggling as his face took on a look of intense concentration and the icing tickled her skin.

Once he was done, he stood back and examined his work, giving a nod of satisfaction. Before she could move, he gave her a wicked look and bending over her began to trace his tongue through the patterning, teasing, and tasting as he went along. Cath let out a soft whine as he left trails of fire along her skin, working his way slowly over the design. Leaning back on the table, she managed to work her tank top off so she could toss it aside and he took the given opportunity to expand his work, snagging the piping bag again and drawing designs on her breasts. He swirled his tongue around her nipple, and she arched her back, dragging her nails through his hair as an intense sensation raced through her.

Kris mouthed his way down her body again, tracing his lips across her stomach. He took his time, pressing his lips to her each of her hipbones, and mouthing the skin as he nuzzled his way along. Finally, he reached the waistband of her leggings. Snagging them with his fingers begun to work them down her legs. She stretched her legs out, pointing her toes so he could slide the fabric off easily and toss it on the floor next to the table, leaving her clad only in a pair if wispy silk panties. He skirted over the silk, dipping between her legs to nuzzle the damp fabric as she let out a soft moan. Cath arched her hips against his face, watched as he smiled against her skin and continued to take his leisure, pressing kisses to the inside of her thighs, nipping the skin as she tightened her legs around him and tried to draw him closer. Finally, he grazed his lips over the scrap of fabric covering her, the heat of his mouth making her shiver in anticipation and pushed it aside. He gazed up at her, seeing the look of lust on her face and very slowly, brought his mouth to her, teasing into her.

---