Page 51 of Wintertime Heat (Holiday 1)

As I stumble out of the room, after dislodging myself from his grip, I close the door behind me, and lean against it as my body sinks with a delicious exhaustion.

Just what had I gotten myself into?

Chapter 15

The next morning, the blizzard still raged on.

Breakfast was another noisy affair, with Aaron pouting at the end of it that he couldn’t go out and play in the snow.

When I promised to play outside with him when the weather clears, he was slightly appeased.

My whole afternoon is consumed in playing with him as Steven had a few urgent matters to attend to.

We dress up in loose bedsheets, make paper swords and fight off pirates and evil sea-men, running all over the house.

I couldn’t help it.

I had had such a lonely childhood, having no siblings and then having ended up with so many young cousins when I was older, that I enjoyed it.

The delight on Aaron’s face when he chased me down the hallway, demanding I surrender, made it completely worth it as well.

“Turn yourself in, Blackbeard! You can’t get away from me now!” Aaron shouts, climbing on top of a glass table. “I will have your head!”

“What’s all this shouting?” Steven grumbles, coming out of a room, and I grab my chance and duck behind him, my arms around his neck, “I have a hostage.”

Bad idea.

Because before I know it, suddenly I am the hostage, and Steven motions to his son, “I got her.”

I sigh, “This is cheating.”

Steven grins at me, “You’re a pirate. What are you complaining about?”

That was fair, I thought.

And when Aaron scampers off to grab a snack, I follow Steven into another room, that once again, looks like something out of a Victorian novel.

“You’re not too bored, I hope?’ He asks me, sinking into a couch.

I choose a seat a little further away because this room had a lock,

and Steven had had his way with me three times this morning.

The man was insatiable.

He must have realized what I was trying to do because his eyes danced with mischief, as he pats the arm of the couch, “Why don’t you sit here?”

“I’m perfectly comfortable here,” I say in a dry tone. “And I’m not bored at all. Although I would like to roam in the house a little more clothed.”

“My pullover looks nice on you,” Steven comments with a smile. His eyes move to the bedsheet I had put besides me. “That, I could do without.”

Our eyes move to the window outside and I mentally count the days to Christmas. There was still some time, and I really hoped I would get the chance to finish up my Christmas shopping.

“What’re you thinking about?”

I run my fingers through my hair, and then start counting, trying to do some calculations on my fingers, “How much shopping is left. My parents are going to Florida in a week, so I have to give them gifts soon. And Scarlett will also leave, so hers is also left.”

Steven studies me, “I thought you said Christmas was a family affair. Won’t you be with your family?”

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