Maybe even weirder. “Don’t worry, I’ve had enough Christmases with him for a lifetime.”
“Wait, so youhavecelebrated Christmas before? You’ve had a tree and presents and you know about Santa Claus?”
He rocked his head toward her and finally met her gaze, his own eyes held wide. “No, strange creature, teach me of your mysterious human ways.”
She clicked her tongue and fell back onto her pillow. “I’m just saying, you’re weird about stuff sometimes. Like you didn’t know about the shelf elf guy or snowball fights.” She inadvertently rubbed her nose, and he noted she didn’t wince, the swelling gone.
That wasn’t true—heknewplenty—he just hadn’t experienced most of it, not for quite a while anyway. He stared back up at the skylight and squinted at what might have been the corner of Gemini. “My mother raised me around elves, but because I aged so differently it was difficult to take part in their culture. I visited my dad a lot when I was young, but I didn’t really have an established life with him either, so there are…things,” he said carefully, “that I’m not as familiar with as I should be, human and elven both.”
Piper made a thoughtful noise, and then the quiet stretched between them until she gasped. “Is that why you didn’t know how to hold hands?”
His palm itched under his head like he could feel the squeeze of her gloved hand in his again. “What are you talking about, Pipsqueak?”
“When we were out shopping, youaskedme if couples hold hands.” She sat up again, but he avoided her, focusing harder on the stars and wishing clouds would blot out their brightness. “Do elves not hold hands?”
Kol muttered a few words about complication and semantics. It was too late in the night to discuss all the elven branches and their eccentricities, how elucidai were reserved and sylvidai were sentimental, and that all of that was replaced with animalism when mating was concerned, not that anyone ever talked about it.
“Kol,” she said, and the gravity she used on his name struck him right in the gut, “have you never held hands with someone before?”
He turned his head ever so slightly, eyed her, and grunted.
“Oh, my god.” She leaned in and poked his elbow, the lilt to her voice both infuriating and intoxicating. “Was I your first?”
His eyes flicked back up to the window, and he sighed though it sounded more like a groan.
“I was!” Piper giggled, a dangerous sound to make while lying so close to him. “I would have never guessed in however many years you’ve been alive that you’ve never held a girl’s hand. That’s so sweet!”
“I’m only one hundred and eleven, thank you very much.” When she stopped poking him and gasped again, he smirked. “That’s in seasons, not years.”
“That’s a…a normal amount of years?”
“Divide by four.”
She chewed her lip then shook her head. “Regardless, it’s an awful long time to be celibate.”
He pushed up onto his elbows and glared at her. “Who said anything about celibacy?”
“Oh, no,Kol,”—she leaned in close, and even in the scant light, the horror on her face was convincing—“don’t tell me I stole your first kiss too!”
Kol snorted out a laugh because that’s all he could do at how ridiculous that claim was. He knew her antics were to cover up for how vulnerable she had been, but why did it have to be at his expense?
“I’m sorry,” she went on, her hands falling on his forearm, and the warmth of her touch rushed through all of him. “That should have been special for you, not me grabbing your head and brute forcing you to appease my family.”
He snorted again—as if she could brute force him into anything. “No apology needed.”
“You can be honest with me.” She gave his arm a shake, grip tightening in a way he liked far too much. “I won’t make fun of you for being a virgin, I promise.”
“Piper, stop talking.”
“But I feel bad.” She injected a whine into her voice that sent a jolt right to his cock. “I took away so many of your firsts without knowing!”
“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to shut you up.”
Playfulness danced dangerously on her lips. “Those are some ferocious words for someone so innocent.”
It had taken many years for Kol to hone his elven precision and speed, and when his intention was true, he always hit his target. Kol’s targets were Piper’s wrists, hands snatched away from his skin in less than a blink and thrust up over her head as he rolled her onto her back. His next target was her mouth, and he followed through on the promise to shut her up, but she still managed to squeak out a noise of surprise against his lips.
That sweet sound died away into an even sweeter moan as he coaxed her mouth open. Finally, the tongue he wished he’d gotten a taste of before was his, and he swept his along the inside of her mouth. Knowing she would stay put, he released one wrist and slid his arm beneath her, pulling her body to meet his and deepened their kiss.
