“I see,” I agreed as sagely as I could while I was grinning like an idiot at him.
“Mm,” Kit hummed, leaning in so the tips of our noses brushed against each other. “Personally, for me, the anticipation is the best part,” he said.
I couldn’t have formed a full sentence right now, so that was impressive.
“Yeah?” I asked, figuring it was better not to struggle.
“Oh yes.” Kit let his lips hover a bare quarter inch away from mine, so close I could almost taste them, but not closeenough. “I like the sort’ve… pull, behind my belly button. Can you feel it?”
I nodded, stomach clenching as he drew my attention to it.
“And I think it’s always nice to be touched,” he said, curling his fingers around my hip.
I hadn’t realized I had a death grip on his sweater until he said it, but now that I’d noticed, I took the chance to slide my fingers under the hem instead, tickling bare skin above the waistband of his jeans.
“Now, it’s about to get very difficult to explain verbally, so you’ll need to pay very close attention,” Kit added, mouth so close that there was barely enough space for his lips to move. “Do you think you can?”
“Guess we’ll find out,” I murmured, lips parted.
I thought I was ready, but every time I kissed Kit was like a whole new experience, fireworks going off in my brain and my stomach all at once. The taste of his tongue, the needy sound in the back of his throat, the scent of cologne I’d been secretly thrilled to catch a whiff of for years filling my nose.
Everything about him was sosexy, including the hand sliding down from my hip to squeeze my butt and making me giggle.
“No laughing in class,” Kit said, firm, clipped syllables, and that only made me laugh harder.
“I was never much of a student,” I said, setting my teeth against his chin.
“I can see, you’re doing it all wrong,” Kit murmured. “That’s nowhere near my mouth.”
“No,” I agreed, nuzzling along his jaw to press a kiss under his ear, where I knew he was sensitive, letting my tongue dart out to catch a taste of clean-salt skin. “Closer?”
“Further away, in fact,” Kit said. “We may need to repeat this lesson.”
“Oh no.” I laughed as he tilted my chin back to where he wanted it. “What ashame. Will I have to stay after class?”
“You might have to stay all night,” Kit rumbled.
Yeah, okay,thatwas working for me in a way I hadn’t expected.
The world faded away as he kissed me again, nothing but the taste of his mouth, the smell of pine and cologne and just a hint of brandy, and the sound of Christmas songs playing in the distance registering in my brain.
A low moan escaped me as Kit gave my butt another firm squeeze, hips grinding against me, just a little more teeth in the next kiss as he backed me up, easing me down into an armchair by the fire and climbing onto my lap, needy sounds humming in the back of his throat.
The big antique Grandfather clock in the hall chimed midnight, low and soft like church bells.
“Merry Christmas,” I murmured between kisses, pulling back to smile at Kit even as my fingers strayed into the back of his jeans.
Kit rested his forehead against me and sighed. “I think this may well be the happiest Christmas I’ve ever had. And it’s all of thirty seconds long so far.”
“Wanna take it upstairs?” I asked, toying with the waistband of his underwear.
The door to the parlor swung open before Kit could answer. He pulled back instantly, sitting bolt upright in my lap.
“Only me,” Teddy said, wandering over with his own cup of hot chocolate as I rubbed soothing circles on Kit’s lower back.
“Merry Christmas,” I said, not wanting to give Kit up even if his dadwaswatching. Teddy was cool.Heliked me.
“And a very Merry Christmas to you, as well.” Teddy smiled warmly at me. “I hate to break up such a charming scene, but I’m afraid I must beg you to allow me to borrow Kit for a few minutes.”
I made an unhappy noise as Kit climbed out of my lap, but another quick kiss that made him blush all the way down to his collar helped soothe the loss.
“Meet me upstairs?” he asked, the ridges of his cheekbones going pink.
“I’ll be there,” I promised, grabbing my hot chocolate. “But if you take too long, I’m starting without you.”
Teddy threw an arm around Kit’s shoulders and laughed the whole way out of the parlor. “I like him, you know,” echoed back through the door. “I really do.”
