The Kringle Girls - Collection (2 page)

“Dr.
Brewster, I’m so glad you made it! Henry was worried.”

Wrenching
herself away from the heat of his body, Holly shakily climbed down the ladder
and tried to ignore the fact that he towered over her, making her feel dainty
and feminine and incredibly aware of the skirt riding up her thighs and the top
inching down her chest. She gave the neckline a surreptitious yank and was
surprised to see a flicker of heat in his eyes. Holly made a strategic retreat
to the cookie table, needing to put some distance between them.

“I
walked in just as you were starting. You did a great job, Holly…and please,
call me David.”

“Sorry,
old habit.” Holly waved a dismissive hand and focused on unwrapping plates of
cookies.

“I
would have been here earlier, but the hospital is crazy this time of year.”

He
moved to help her with the cookies, and she tried not to jump when their
fingers brushed.

“Do
you and Henry have Christmas plans?”

“Not
really. His grandparents are on a cruise in the South Pacific, and I decided
that it would be too confusing for him to spend time with Linda’s parents this
year. We’ll visit at some point. So it’s just the two of us.”

“He’ll
like that. He loves spending time with you.”

“I
hope so.” David looked anxious, “It’s been almost a year, and I still have no
idea what I’m doing.”

“You’re
doing the best you can to be Henry’s father, which is all anyone can ask.”
Holly smiled at him.

“So,
tonight I’m going to go home and try to put together a bike after he goes to
bed. It’s not the video game he begged me for, but they’re sold out across the
state. Believe me, I checked.”

“He’ll
love it.”

They
worked in silence for a moment, and Holly tried not to steal little glances at
him and wonder if dipping her tongue into the little hollow of his throat would
be as satisfying as she thought it might be.

“What
about you?”

“Sorry,
what?”

“Christmas
plans? Because if you’re free, you’re welcome to join us. I’m having dinner
delivered, so you don’t have to worry about me poisoning you.”

Holly
laughed, a little breathless.

“Actually,
I have to go home. Big family dinner and all that.”

“Aunts,
uncles, and cousins?”

“My
parents, my sisters, and…well, the holidays are big in my family, so we like to
invite all of my dad’s coworkers to the party. They’re like extended family.
It’s fun.”

David
nodded, resigned, while Holly basked in the glow of the invitation for a moment
before kicking herself back to reality.
He only asked because of Henry.

“But
thank you,” she murmured, “I really appreciate it.”

He
returned her smile, and her mouth went dry.

Maybe
not just because of Henry.
But it was dangerous to start thinking like that.

“Are
you traveling by plane or reindeer?”

Holly
tensed.

“Excuse
me?”

“Sorry,
that was lame. There’s this crazy rumor – I’m sure you’ve heard it – that
you’re Santa’s daughter,” David laughed, and Holly forced a weak chuckle.

“Snow
globe, actually. Very high tech.”

 “Maybe
when you get back we could, I don’t know, get a cup of coffee or something?”

Holly
suddenly lost the ability to string words together.
He’s asking me out?!?
She meant to shake her head, but instead found herself nodding, speechless, as
her stomach erupted in a horde of stampeding butterflies at the thought of
actually taking him up on his offer.

David’s
fingers came up to tug the fluffy pompom at the end of her hat, and almost
involuntarily moved to trace the curve of her jaw. His fingers were warm and
firm.

In
fact, any offer he wanted to make would be fine with me.

“I
like the costume,” he said, his voice lowering.

And
then David was in her space, one arm carefully coming around her waist, as
though he were afraid she’d bolt. He shouldn’t have worried. Holly’s feet
seemed to be cemented to the floor. However, she
was
in danger of
melting into a puddle on the floor as he pulled her against him.

Oh
God.
Even with
their clothes between them, Holly could feel the muscled heat of his body, the
strength in his arms and thighs, and his cock – thick and long and most
definitely hard, pressing into her stomach like a hot brand, making the damp
folds between her thighs even slicker with her own juices.

I
should have brought extra panties
,
she mused, but the thought went away as David lowered his head to brush her
lips with his own, tentatively at first, and then sinking in for a deeper kiss,
his tongue sliding into her mouth for a spine-tingling, luxurious taste that
had her reeling. Any thought of putting a stop to it before it started
vanished, and Holly’s arms were suddenly around his neck, her tongue dueling
with his as his hands learned the shape of her body beneath the green velvet,
cupping the curves of her ass to pull her even closer.

It
was the most erotic moment of her life thus far. Guys usually took one look at
her, heard “schoolteacher” and “Santa,” and fell over themselves being polite.
Not David. Not only did he not seem to believe in Santa Claus, but he was
obviously harboring a few “hot for teacher” fantasies from the way he kissed
her as though he couldn’t get enough.

In
the blink of an eye, Holly went from being self-conscious about the length of
her skirt to being annoyed with herself for wearing too many clothes. She
wanted to feel his hands on her naked skin, cupping her breasts, trailing down
the length of her spine, stroking the aching flesh between the her thighs. And
she wanted to touch him.
Oh yes.
She wanted to unwrap him like her own
personal Christmas present and touch and taste every inch.

That’s
not too much to ask, is it?

One
of his hands came up to cup her breast and she moaned into his mouth.

“Miss
Holly?”

OH
MY GOD, WHAT am I doing?
David
wrenched away from Holly as a short, candy cane-clad figure waddled into the
room. He quickly scooped up his jacket to hide the straining zipper of his
pants.

Holy
fuck.

He’d
only meant to kiss her lightly, a gentle brush of lips to see if she felt even
one iota of the heat he felt for her.

KABOOM
.

Instant
combustion.

Two
more minutes and David would have propelled Holly into the arts and crafts
closet, yanked up her skimpy elf skirt, and introduced his cock to the soft
paradise between her legs. He would have only paused to drop to his knees to
sample the cinnamon and sugar of her arousal – not a perfume, as he had
thought, but her own natural scent, intensified by her desire.

How
can a woman smell like that?

The
puzzle drifted through his mind, but David paid it little heed, still reeling
from the scent and taste of cinnamon.

Not
the time or the place,
he
reminded himself again as a totally spooked Holly put herself to rights.

“They
must be wrapping up. I’d better go and see if I can find Henry.”

“That’s
a good idea.”

She
raised trembling fingers to her lips and David’s cock twitched hard. He
swallowed, trying to find his center.

“Holly
– ”

“Let’s
talk after the holiday, okay?” There was distance in her voice, and lead
settled into David’s stomach like a stone, but he nodded.

She
was right. It was too much to deal with right now. Scooting around the costume-clad
child, who was now fidgeting, waiting for Holly’s undivided attention, David
slipped out of the room.

HOLLY
WAS TRYING TO
hold
it together, grateful that one of the parents hadn’t walked in on them. One of
the students was bad enough. She went through her mental list of all the
reasons that getting involved with David was a bad idea. Even though it felt
like a really,
really,
good idea. And her neglected pussy definitely
agreed.

She
plastered on a smile and turned to face the child.

“You
should be out taking a bow with the rest of the class. Tommy? April?”

With
the head on, it was impossible to tell which child was which.

Little
fingers reached up to yank the headpiece off, revealing shining blond curls and
pointed
ears.

“Glitzy!”
Holly gasped, “What the hell are you doing here?”

The
little elf frowned.

“Bad
words make Santa cry.”

“They
do not. That’s just an old wives’ tale. But you know what does make Santa cry?
Naughty elves that leave the North Pole while Santa’s out delivering toys. “

She
glanced at her watch.

“I
know he left already. You should be with Mom and the others, waiting for him to
get back!”

“But
Miss Holly, this is my mission!”

The
sound of childish laughter and voices in the hallway made Holly freeze.

“Is
everything okay? Mom?”

The
elf nodded vigorously.

“Mrs.
Claus is wise and wonderful. And kind, and gentle, and generous, and sweet,
and…”

“Glitzy,
you can’t be seen here. Unless there’s an emergency, you have to go.”

“But
– ”

“Can
it wait until later, please?”

Glitzy
frowned, then pulled two candy canes out of thin air, handing her one. She
sucked thoughtfully for a moment, and then nodded, a brilliant smile filling
her face.

“Later
is okay.”

In
a cloud of sparkling elf dust, she disappeared, only to POP back almost
immediately.

“Now
what?” Holly was mildly panicked. The kids were just outside the door.

“Your
boyfriend is cute.” Glitzy winked and popped out again.

Holly
groaned internally. Elves were horrible gossips. In an hour, every elf in the
North Pole would be falling over themselves to dig up every little shred of
David’s life to pepper her with questions and trivia over dinner tomorrow
night. Elves were like caffeinated squirrels most of the year, in hyper
toy-making mode. They loved making toys almost as much as they loved sugar,
which was saying something. It was only on Christmas that the elves took a
break – from the moment Santa took off on his sleigh to the final toast on
Christmas Day, the elves were on vacation. And a bored elf was trouble.

And
now they think I’m with David Brewster. Great. All of the nagging, none of the
potentially mind-blowing sex.

Holly
took a bite of her candy cane and prepared for the worst.

THE
NIGHT WAS SUSPICIOUSLY quiet.

Holly
couldn’t sleep. After the disastrous interruption by Glitzy, she’d expected to
be bombarded by elves and Kringles demanding juicy details about her and the
hot doctor. Instead, not a creature was stirring. Which meant one of two
things. Either they weren’t interested.
Fat chance.
Or they had known
that Holly was falling for the doctor, and were already scheming.

Staring
into the fireplace, where flames flickered brightly, Holly cradled a mug of hot
chocolate, hoping it would relax her, about to reach for the rum to speed the
process along. She wasn’t ready to admit to herself that her restlessness had
less to do with the elves and more to do with David. One thing was certain, she
was eternally grateful that she and her sisters had made their nearly
omniscient parents promise to leave them off the Naughty and Nice List. Living
up to the Kringle legacy was hard enough without a magical list keeping track
of your every move.

Besides,
the things she wanted to do to David would ink her name on the Naughty List in
permanent marker for all time. Holly suddenly wished she’d given in and bought
that vibrator last week when Louisa had recommended it. She’d never owned one,
but was starting to think it might be the way to go. That brought with it the
image of a hot, naked David watching her as she used the toy, his eyes filled
with hunger as she fucked herself for his pleasure, pretending the thick toy
was him.

Definitely
time for rum.

POP!

Glitzy
appeared in a sparkly cloud just as Holly was about to head to the kitchen.

“Miss
Holly, it’s later, like you said!”

“Glitzy,
I’m not in the mood tonight. Can it wait until dinner tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow
will be too late!”

Glitzy’s
eyes filled with tears, and Holly bit back a curse. Elves were really good at
turning on the guilt trip with some well-timed waterworks. She sighed and
handed Glitzy her hot chocolate. Nothing comforted elves like sugar. Glitzy
took a grateful gulp.