He’d give Jacob his perfect Christmas fantasy, in whatever way that worked for him, and then they’d find out how to undo their sham of a marriage and go their separate ways. It wasn’t fair to Jacob to keep him tied to somebody like Connolly. He was never home. He was always traveling, either for work or for matches. The same things that had chased off his other spouses would eventually chase off Jacob as well. He was too soft, too sweet, too pretty for a man like Connolly. He just broke pretty things. He wouldn’t break Jacob.
Connolly knocked the snow off his boots on the porch, pushing the door open to find Jacob in the tiny kitchen. There were two steaming mugs sitting on the counter and something still bubbling on the stove top. It smelled like heaven.
Jacob beamed at him, gesturing dramatically towards the stove. “Look, I made hot chocolate.
From scratch.”
Connolly could feel his resolve melting, like the snow on the Douglas fir he dragged behind him.
Jacob wasn’t an elf, he was one of the fae, bewitching Connolly like in the stories his grandmother told him as a child. There was just something so beguiling about him, something that made every nerve ending in Connolly’s body stand on end whenever they were in the same room together. There was nothing overtly sexy about Jacob’s oversized pajamas, but Connolly wanted to pick him up and put him on the counter and plunder his mouth until Jacob was making those helpless noises once more.
Fuck it. He dropped the tree and closed the distance between them, his arms closing around Jacob, lifting him easily. His legs wound around Connolly’s waist, soft lips meeting his with a whine of surprise. Jacob yielded so easily, letting Connolly’s tongue slide in to massage his. “Fuck, you’re so sweet,” Connolly muttered before dipping his head once more.
“It’s the chocolate,” Jacob said between kisses.
“No, it’s just you,” Connolly assured him. “I can’t keep my hands off you.”
Jacob sighed wistfully, tucking his face into Connolly’s throat, kissing the skin there. “I don’t want you to.”
Jacob had no idea what was happening. He was sure this was some sort of dream and any minute the
buzzing of his alarm would jerk him awake. But Jacob didn’t want to look at it too closely. If this was a dream, it was the best dream ever and he planned to enjoy every moment of it. No matter how far fetched it all seemed. Maybe this was his own Christmas miracle.
It was easy to stop thinking when Connolly’s hands were cupping his butt and his mouth was moving over Jacob’s in a way that made every nerve ending stand at attention. He’d kissed a couple of guys before, but never like this. He’d never felt addicted to the warm slide of a person’s tongue over his own, and he’d never even imagined what it could feel like when somebody like Connolly was nipping at his jaw, trailing kisses over his throat, whispering words in his ear that made him blush.
It made his pulse race and his dick throb, but, more than anything, it ignited this heat in his belly that made him ache for more. More kissing, more touching. He wanted to know what Connolly’s mouth felt like everywhere. He wanted to know what the heavy weight of his body felt like pressing him into the mattress. He wanted to know what Connolly felt like inside of him.
Jacob whimpered at the thought, and Connolly growled in response, like he could smell how badly Jacob wanted him. He did want him, so much so that his sudden inexperience seemed like a liability. Somebody like Connolly had definitely been with plenty of people who knew what they were doing. Jacob had no idea what he was doing. He was going to disappoint Connolly. Jacob had never even watched porn before.
Panic started to well up in his chest, the pressure making it feel like he couldn’t breathe. “Stop.
Stop. Wait.”
To his credit, Connolly froze. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did I hurt you?” He tilted Jacob’s head to look at his neck. “I should shave. Your skin’s so sensitive. I’m sorry.”
Jacob was shaking his head before Connolly even finished speaking. “No. I-I like your beard. I’m just… I just want to slow down a little. Is that okay?”
It seemed like an absurd thing to say when he was still clinging to Connolly like a limpet, his erection probably super obvious against the other man’s stomach.
Still, Connolly set him down on the counter, putting space between them. “It’s always okay,” he said before pressing a kiss to Jacob’s nose like he was a child. That was the last thing he wanted Connolly thinking, but it might be too late for that. Maybe he’d already ruined this, too.
Connolly stepped back, pulling his gloves off before taking one of the mugs that sat forgotten on the counter. He sipped it and smiled. “That’s really good.”
Jacob beamed at him like an idiot, but he couldn’t help it. For some reason, he cared about this stranger’s—his husband’s—approval. “Thanks.”
“I’m going to go get the decorations from the attic, and then we can put up the tree, okay?”
Jacob nodded, sliding from the counter, as Connolly disappeared into the bedroom. He contented himself with looking for the rest of the ingredients to make cookies. Connolly didn’t have chocolate chips, but Jacob found what he needed to make sugar peanut butter cookies. He pulled the ingredients, setting them on the counter, as Connolly came back in with a large plastic bin filled with ornaments.
By the time Jacob had gathered his supplies and set about making his cookies, there were three bins stacked on top of each other and Connolly was working to get the tree standing.
“Do you even own a television?” Jacob finally thought to ask.
Connolly looked up from what he was doing. “Yeah, in the bedroom. You didn’t notice?”
Jacob frowned, looking down into the bowl of dry ingredients. “I was a little preoccupied by the naked man next to me.”
Connolly grinned. “Well, it’s there. I can bring it out here later if you’d be more comfortable?”
