Page 16 of Havoc for the Holidays

I shifted my eyes between my boyfriend and my daughter and had to shake my head with a laugh. Apparently, it was that easy. “Only two. Choose wisely.”

“Yesss.” She hurried to the tray on the table and naturally selected the two largest, most drenched cookies. Before I could protest, she was gone. I gathered a handful of paper towels and followed behind, beckoning Ez to follow with the cookie I poached from the tray en route.

“Sneaky fingers. I didn't even see you do that.” He grabbed a pair of cookies for himself and trailed me into the living room just as the movie started. With a little finesse and a lot of stolen glances, we managed to fit ourselves into the half of the couch not taken up by a sprawling child, and I instantly felt a profound sense of rightness wash over me.

These silly Christmas traditions, things I did as a child that I now shared with my child, had always been so sacred andprecious to me. Sharing them with someone else, someone who was quickly becoming incredibly important to me, had me choking on emotions that had nothing to do with the movie and everything to do with how lonely I hadn't realized I was. It also had everything to do with how good it felt to not be so lonely anymore. The fact that Ez felt tailor made for sharing the small side of the couch while my daughter spread out on my other side made the whole thing even more emotionally fraught in the best way possible. Maybe this is what home was supposed to feel like all along.

Chapter ten

Ezechiel

Dating a dad was a complete trip. Dating in general was new for me, but this dynamic had my head spinning, not necessarily in a bad way. I found myself reworking all sorts of long-held beliefs and formulating new plans with every moment that passed as we cuddled up on Ollie’s couch while watching an animated Christmas film. For every idle fantasy I had before this unexpected evening, I discovered new ideas that would accommodate his little one.

After a while, her quiet snores filled the air around us. Ollie chuckled quietly under his breath before extricating himself from our innocent embrace. With an index finger held aloft, he silently and deftly scooped her tiny body from the couch and whisked her away as if this were a regular part of her routine. I half expected that it was. I couldn't sit still in his absence. To be honest, I worried about how I could fit into this well-established dynamic, so I had been working hard all evening to make it look easy. While he got his daughter tucked in bed, I did the most logical thing to ease my nerves—I tidied up again.

“You don't have to do that, Ez.” Ollie’s quiet voice crept up behind me in the kitchen before warm arms wrapped around my waist. “I appreciate it, of course. But you don't have to.”

“I know. I like to. If I can help, I want to.”

“Tonight was okay?” His voice took on an edge of vulnerability. I turned in his arms to search his face.

“It was amazing. I wasn't sure how… how it would feel but I really did enjoy myself.” I let my forehead rest against his. “Were you nervous?”

“Incredibly. I've never introduced someone as a partner to her. It was a big step for me.”

“I had a feeling.” I let my hands slide under the hem of his shirt and upward over his sides. “Are you okay with this? Us?”

“Y-yes. I am.”

“Mm, good.” I pulled him closer and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Because I don't want to stop.”

“God, it's unfair how you can so easily make everything sexy as hell.” He shifted his arms around my shoulders and pressed out bodies flush.

I muffled a laugh against his lips and turned his body till his back hit the counter. “Says the man who nearly made me come in my pants with a kiss in my kitchen not that long ago.”

“Pssh. Lies.” He squirmed and shifted until our thighs slotted together and our hips aligned. My blood instantly grew twenty degrees hotter as the firm ridge of his erection ground against my own.

“Feeling frisky, Mr. Branson?” I nipped at his lower lip with a smile.

“Ever since that night, yes.”

My fingertips slid over his hip bone and over the material of his pants before I gripped the bulge of his dick with more intent. “Can I do something about this?”

The groan my actions pulled from his throat was pure sin and I instantly responded with a soft moan of my own as I dove into his mouth with a ravenous kiss. God, I needed him with such intensity, it ached. Time had tempered my need. Now that I had him here in front of me, all temperance and restraint was gone.

With lightning speed, my hands fumbled his pants open and he pulled our wild kiss apart with a wrecked gasp. The minute my fingertips made contact with the soft skin stretched tight over his hard length, I nearly cheered. This was everything I never knew I wanted or needed.

“Shit, you're intact?” I gave his cock a long, slow stroke, my eyes narrowing in on the delectable way his foreskin eased back to reveal the glistening head.

“Y-yes? Is that…?”

“Perfect.” I swept him into another searing kiss before pulling back only enough to speak, letting my lips brush over his as I did. “Same.”

“Oh… oh!” His face lit up even as he flushed a brighter shade of red. “I've never had the opportunity to… y’know… with someone who also…”

“What happened to bold Ollie?” I playfully nipped his chin as I continued the languid stroking of his dick.

“You threw me off… I'm sorry. I get…” He blew out a rough breath and abruptly switched our positions against the counter. “Sorry. I've had people comment on it before. Now hush.”

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