Page 12 of Christmas Craving
Iwas pleased with how the pasta turned out, given that I hadn’t cooked it in forever. My nonna died when I was twelve and all of my happiest childhood memories involved spending time in her kitchen. Unfortunately, I’d only gotten to see her once or twice a year.
Lanie ate the pasta with gusto, but then again she did everything that way. I admired that about her. She was so full of life and energy.
I’d spent most of the afternoon stewing about that neighborhood she lived in. There were run-down buildings, overgrown yards, even some broken windows at a building up the street. It was unacceptable for Lanie to live in those conditions, although I couldn’t think of a way I could make her leave.
“Do you live alone?” I asked.
“Right now, yeah,” she answered. “Amy and I were roommates for years until she got married and moved in here with John. I should get another roommate, but to be honest, I don’t have the energy to figure out how to live with someone new, even if it is a struggle to afford the rent on my own.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to suggest she move in here with me. I had two extra bedrooms I could offer her, not that I’d want her to stay in them. No, I’d want Lanie to stay in my bed with me. I just needed to figure out how to make that happen.
“When are your friends coming back to town?” I asked.
“The Saturday after New Year’s,” she said. “They both have to go back to work the following Monday, so hopefully Amy’s gram is stable enough for them to leave by then.”
So I had a week and a half to figure out how to get Lanie to move in with me.
“Are you ready to decorate?” she asked.
I’d been so lost in thought I hadn’t even noticed that we’d finished eating.
“Oh yeah, let me just load the dishwasher.” There was no way I could just leave dirty dishes sitting around.
“I’ll help,” she said quickly.
“No, please, go relax.”
“Okay, I’ll queue up the show on my laptop while you do that.”
When I came back into the living room, Lanie was sitting on the floor, a giant tangle of lights in front of her. A cartoon scene was frozen on her laptop screen.
“What happened?” I asked, nodding at the mess of lights.
“I swear these lights were all organized when we put them away last year,” she said. “But now they’re all tangled. It’s going to take some time to unravel it all.”
I plopped on the floor next to her. “Let me help.”
We watched the entirety of the Charlie Brown Christmas show as well as a cartoon about Frosty the Snowman before we finally got all of the lights untangled. It was way more than we’d need for my little tree.
“You need a better system to store these,” I said.
“Yeah, no kidding.”
Lanie leaned back on her hands, her long legs spread out in front of her, and suddenly my mind filled with naughty thoughts. She must have seen it on my face because she said, “What?”
“I was just thinking about how you would look wrapped up in these lights.”
“Well, hopefully not when they’re plugged in,” she joked. “They get kind of hot.”
We stared at each other for a long, charged moment and then we were flying together, our lips meeting in a passionate kiss. I pressed her down onto her back and when some of the lights got between us, I tossed them to the side.
We kissed until we were both breathless, then we kissed some more. I braced myself on my elbows, keeping my full weight off of her as I explored her mouth. Meanwhile Lanie’s hands slid up and down my back and over the swell of my ass, rubbing and squeezing as she ground me down against her.
When she braced her feet on the floor and rolled us over, I let her. Then I waited for the discomfort to come. I’d always hated to be trapped. Never liked being on the bottom. But for some reason this felt okay.
I trusted her, I realized. After knowing her for one day, I already trusted Lanie more than any woman I’d ever been with. Deciding not to question it, I let myself relax. Lanie must have felt it, because as soon as I gave in to what was happening, she was on the move.
She slid down my body, shoving my sweater up beneath my arms and releasing the front clasp of my bra. Her lips closed aroundone of my nipples, sucking hard and sending a jolt of pleasure right down to my core.
