For some reason, the idea relieved Jacob, his shoulders sagging. “That’s good.”
This time, Connolly’s smile was playful, his finger running down the slope of Jacob’s nose. “Oh, yeah. Why’s that?”
Jacob’s heartbeat stumbled as much from the playful touch as from the question. Why would Jacob care if Connolly was religious or not. They weren’t really married. They weren’t in a relationship, not even in the most casual of ways. Yet, here Jacob was, acting like they had to match on some deeper level. “I-I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant… I don’t know.”
“Relax, elf. I’m just teasing you.” Connolly brushed the hair off Jacob’s forehead. “You are just full of surprises.”
Jacob longed to lean into the touch. He hated how much he wanted this stranger. “Why’s that?”
“Because you seem so innocent, yet I found you half dressed in my bed this morning.”
“Technically, I found you,” Jacob interrupted.
“You don’t swear, but you’re not religious. You seem painfully shy, but you ask bold questions.”
“You didn’t have to ans—”
Warm lips covered his before he could finish his thought, tongue slipping inside in a way that made Jacob whimper. When Connolly took his chin gently between his thumb and forefinger to tip Jacob’s head how he wanted it, every nerve ending seemed to come alive. Connolly smelled like pine and tasted like coffee and maple bacon, and his beard scratched in the best possible way.
Connolly wasn’t lying. This sweet boy with his soft heart, pretty mouth, and wide sea glass eyes, was full of surprises. Like the sounds he made as Connolly explored his mouth or the way his fingers clenched in Connolly’s shirt, like he wanted to crawl into his lap or pull him down on top of him.
Connolly was fine with either of those scenarios if it meant he could keep touching Jacob.
The feeling appeared to be mutual. Each time Connolly tried to pull away, Jacob followed, swaying into Connolly’s space until their lips met again, and, God help him, he was charmed by it.
Their kisses grew longer until there was no way to tell where one stopped and another started. Jacob kissed like he talked, eagerly, excitedly, hiding nothing, and knowing he was responsible for the tiny whimpers going straight to Connolly’s dick.
He needed to cool down before things went too far. This time, when he put some distance between the two of them, Jacob gazed up at him, eyes glassy, lips red and slick, beard burn covering his chin. “Wow.”
Connolly couldn’t help but lean back in for another quick kiss. “Yeah, I’ll say.”
Jacob scooted away from him, like he also needed space. Connolly found he didn’t like the sudden coldness where Jacob had once sat, but he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t usually one to ponder things on any deeper level. He found that there was rarely an answer that provided any comfort. It was best to take things as they came and not get too attached to anyone or anything. It helped when they inevitably left or were ripped away without warning.
But Jacob was unlike anybody he’d ever met, and even drunk Connolly must have thought so because he never brought anybody to his cabin, drunk or sober. Ever. This was his sanctuary, the place he went when the outside world was too much or when he just wanted to remember Chloe. Yet, an hour ago, he’d woken to find the world’s most adorably scandalized elf in his bed, and now, he couldn’t look away. He was like one of those paintings, pretty from a distance, but once you got a closer look, there were a million tiny things making that distant picture beautiful. Yeah, Jacob was definitely getting under Connolly’s skin.
He watched as Jacob gazed at the fire’s embers, a furrow forming between his brows.
Connolly frowned. “What’s the matter?”
Jacob’s gaze snapped to his. “What? Oh, nothing.”
Connolly raised a brow. “It doesn’t seem like nothing.”
Jacob shrugged. “It’s stupid. Childish stuff.”
“Now, you have to tell me,” Connolly said.
Jacob sighed. “I’m just kind of sad that this is my first Christmas as somebody’s husband and it’s not going to be how I pictured it.”
“How did you picture it?” Connolly heard himself ask.
Jacob returned to staring into the flames. “Decorating a tree, baking cookies, drinking hot chocolate, watching Christmas movies, snuggling on the couch with somebody who actually wants to be with me, lots of sex.”
Connolly coughed in surprise at the last part of Jacob’s fantasy married life, earning a sharp look from Jacob, like he wasn’t sure if Connolly was making fun of him. He wasn’t. It was a sweet fantasy for a sweet boy who’d done nothing to earn Connolly’s cynicism over the holiday.
He hadn’t decorated in years. Not since his sister, Jill, had left to teach dance at an academy in France. There was no reason to decorate for himself. But still, if there was something he could do to make Jacob smile, maybe he should. “We could…do those things. If you wanted to.”
Jacob, once more, studied Connolly’s face, like he was trying to guess his motives. His pink tongue darted out to lick his lower lip before he swallowed audibly and crawled back to sit beside Connolly, looking him dead in his eyes, their noses all but touching. “All of those things?” he asked.
