Page 52 of Under the Mistle-Foe

“Babe, have you seen my blue sweater? The one I was going to wear tonight?” I asked, popping my head inside the kitchen where Remy was preparing Christmas dinner.

He looked up from where he was chopping the potatoes to make homemade mashed potatoes. The way he made it all creamy with the perfect amount of garlic was pure perfection. I’d eat his homemade mashed potatoes every day if he’d let me.

“I remember putting it in the dryer this morning,” he said, wiped his hands clean, then exited the kitchen. When he saw me walking around with only a towel wrapped around my waist, he laid his hands on my hips and pulled me in for a kiss. “Are you my early dinner? Mmhmm cherry.”

“I might have had an after-workout lollipop,” I replied sheepishly. There was just something about having a sweet after a good sweat, which was why I had a bowl of cherry lollipops sitting in my makeshift gym in the shed in the back. Remy’s hand roamed to my butt, giving me a hard squeeze, but I pushed him away. “We don’t have time for that. Myparents are on their way and Adam just texted, saying he’s picking up Rob now. So unless you want me to show up to family dinner naked, help me find my sweater.”

Remy chuckled. “Or you could wear something else.”

“But I wanted to show off the new clothes you got me,” I muttered, which only had Remy barking out a laugh. Plus, it was the same blue as the sweater I wore on the night of our first official date, and I wanted to wear it for the first official Christmas we’re hosting in our home.

“Fine, I’ll help you find it, but it’s gonna cost you later.” He leaned in for a deep kiss, tangling our tongues together until I was breathless and almost forgot all about our incoming guests.

“Not to sound paranoid or anything, but I think I saw Spice eyeing your sweater earlier. Maybe because it’s blue? I read online that it’s one of the few colors cats can see.”

It took me a second for my brain to come back online and register his words. Remy smirked like he totally knew I’d gone dizzy from his kiss. It wasn’t my fault. If he wanted me to be functional, he should have known not to put his lips on me. Even after a year of being together, I was still not immune to Remy Trent.

“Come on. Let’s see if our little pilferer added it to his stash,” Remy threw over his shoulder, then headed upstairs.

After moving into our new house, Spice developed a habit of stealing little items and hiding them under our bed. I liked to joke that he was nesting with all his favorite things, but I hoped this meant he was feeling comfortable in his forever home.

As Remy expected, we found Spice under our bed, purring and curled up on top of my blue sweater. How he’d dragged a sweater twice his size was beyond me, but I’d learned Spice was a lot stronger and more determined than I gave him credit for.

“Looks like we’ll have to find you something else to wear tonight,” Remy stated with a laugh. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture. I swore half the pictures on his phone were of our cats, and the other half were of me.

“Babe.” I tugged on his shirt and shot him my best puppy dog eyes.

Remy groaned. “Why do I always have to be the bad guy again?”

“Because, to Spice, you’re the spare. I can’t let my status as primary human be tarnished. And because I’m pretty?” I shot him my biggest smile.

The corners of Remy’s mouth curved up, but he pretended to be unwilling. “Fine, but you owe me.”

“I’ll blow you until you can’t come anymore,” I bribed him.

“We both know that’s more of a reward for you than me,” he said, then plopped a loud kiss on my lips. I couldn’t deny that. I loved everything I did with Remy in the sheets, but there was nothing like giving a good blowjob.

Remy bent under the bed and dragged my sweater out from under Spice. Our poor baby meowed in protest, then rubbed against my legs in comfort. I’d make sure to give him and his sister lots of treats later. Remy shot me a jealous glare, then tossed me my sweater. It was warm from Spice’s body heat and completely covered in fur, but so were all our other clothes.

“I’ll get the lint roller,” Remy said. I dressed in the blue sweater and some loose jeans—because I completely planned on stuffing myself full tonight. Remy returned with the roller and slowly de-furred me. “There, all done. You look absolutely gorgeous, babe.”

There was a lightness in my heart. It was the same feeling I’d felt the longer I was with Remy. Sure, we had our fairshare of arguments in the last year.We weren’t perfect. But, for the most part, being with Remy was like I was living every day like it was a dream.

“You just want my ass tonight,” I said instead of being all cheesy.

Remy laughed, circled his arms around me, and placed his large palms on my glutes. “It is a nice ass.” He settled his face in the nook of my neck and pressed open-mouth kisses to my sensitive skin.

“Is it too late to cancel Christmas? We can host next year,” I said all breathy. I was squirming under his addictive touch. Maybe we had time for a quickie to let out this extra steam before the others got here. But just as soon as that thought passed through my mind, our doorbell rang.

“Looks like you’ll just have to make do with a kiss for now,” Remy smirked and pressed a kiss to my eyebrow, not even letting me get a taste of those sweet lips on mine. What a jerk.

I grumbled as I followed behind him to open the door, where we were met with a stack of presents piled so high we couldn’t even see who was behind them. Mom’s face peeked out from behind the colorful wrapping paper. “Hi, honey!”

“Mom, I told you not to bring so much,” I said and rushed over to take some of the boxes from Dad. Remy grabbed the remaining boxes from him and carried them to the Christmas tree in the living room.

“I went shopping the other day and found some very nice decorations to make your place homier,” Mom said, pushing her way inside and looking around the space.

If I knew my mother—and I did—she was probably assessing the place to see what else she could fit here. Never mind the fact that Remy and I had moved here over six months ago, Mom still insisted on bringing something overevery time she visited. Which usually ended up being Christmas-themed.

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