Red Hot Christmas (15 page)

“Do you like this?” he whispered into her ear.

“Mmm, God, yes. Please, Luke.”

His hand ran up the front of her, cupping her and pinching her nipples slightly. “You feel so good, Amber. I want to feel you tighten up around me as you come.” He started moving faster until she leaned her head back against him and cried out his name.

“Good. Now…” He turned her, pushing her back against the wall. He took her left thigh, and holding it up high, entered her again in a quick thrust. “Again.” He took her mouth in a deep kiss that sent the fires jumping in every nerve ending throughout her entire body.

His shoulders held them against the wall as he reached down and took her right thigh in his other hand, pulling it up until she wrapped her legs around his hips. He thrust faster and deeper.

Finally, when she knew she couldn't hold on any longer, he kissed her and tensed as she joined him.

Minutes later, Amber heard whining. It took her a minute to figure out what it was. Her legs were still wrapped around his waist, his shoulders still holding them against the wall. She opened her eyes and saw the darkened kitchen. The sun had set while her eyes had been closed. Then she heard the scratching and whining again.

“Luke, Jackie wants in.” He shook his shoulders, smiling.

“Hmm? Oh.” He released her legs. She moved and stood back up on shaky legs. “I'm sorry.” He waited until she looked steady, then bent down to retrieve her dress.

“You're sorry?” She smiled at him and took her dress.

“Yeah, um. I should have waited and taken you upstairs.”

She laughed. “You don't have to be sorry. I had plans on taking you on the kitchen table if you hadn't intervened.” She watched him walk over to the back door and open it for Jackie. The little dog quickly bolted in the door, sniffed his feet, and then ran into the laundry room.

“She wants her dinner.” He walked towards the laundry room. “Um, you don't plan on going anywhere do you?” He looked at her, pleading.

“Where would I go?” She smiled as she finished buttoning up her dress.

“Good, um, if you're hungry…”

“No.” She smiled. “Luke, feed the dog, then take me upstairs.”

His smile was quick, and she laughed as he rushed into the laundry room to feed Jackie.

W
hen Amber opened her eyes the next morning, she was looking directly into a large alien’s face. She would have screamed, but she knew that face all too well. It was the alien from the game Chris had been addicted to. Modark, the alien, had been fighting against evil on his home planet of...She squinted her eyes trying to remember the planet’s name. Oh, well, she thought, it'll come to me. Anyway, the chances that Luke would have a full-size standup cardboard cutout of the character she partially blamed for the failure of her past relationships, was almost laughable. Especially since she was lying naked in Luke's room, which was stocked full of images of Modark and Korkin, the villain.

Looking around, she saw images of the planets, battle ships, weapons, and more characters from the game. How had she ended up here? Oh, yeah! By having some of the best sex she'd ever had. She closed her eyes and tried not to moan. Luke was lying next to her, his arm slung over her hips. She could feel his breath on her shoulder.

She thought about trying to sneak out of the bed, but then he moved, and she knew he was awake.

“Luke, I've got to get going. I work in three hours.” He looked at her and smiled.

“Three hours is a long time from now.” He tried to pull her closer.

“Yes, it is, but I hear Jackie begging to be let out.” That got his attention.

“Oh, poor baby. I usually let her out sooner.” He jolted from the bed, slid on a pair of jeans that looked like they'd seen better days, then bolted from the room, only to stick his head back in and say, “Don't go anywhere.” Then he was gone again.

Where did he think she'd disappear to? Looking around the room, she walked over and grabbed one of his t-shirts and put it on. It hit her mid-thigh, and she felt sufficiently covered. She looked around his room; he really was a man-boy. There were more toys in here than most ten-year-olds had. The one difference was that they were all from the one game, Alien Engagement. She knew he'd told her it was his job, not something he did for fun, but really, how could he not think of this as fun? Even the mouse pad for his computer had an image of Modark. Leaning over, she looked closer at it. Modark, prince of planet Odge. She snapped her fingers. That was the name, Odge.

She spent another two minutes looking around before deciding to shower. His bathroom was huge and from the looks of it, recently remodeled. The tan tiles and updated look of the bathroom seemed in total contrast to the rest of the house. When she turned on the large shower, she was jolted to realize that there were multiple shower heads spraying her from all directions. She'd planned on dodging the cold spray until it warmed up, but now, cold water hit her from every angle. She must have squealed, because Luke came running in. He took one look at her through the clear shower doors and started laughing.

“Got hit with the cold, huh?” He walked towards her, slowly removing his jeans.

“There should be a warning on this thing.” She pushed her wet hair out of her face. “I didn't even see the other shower heads.” She looked around, holding up her hands to block some of the water from hitting her in the face.

“Here,” he stepped into the shower just as the water turned warm. Then he twisted the handle to the left and some of the shower heads turned off. “Turn it this way if you just want the main one there.” He pointed to the large one overhead. To get the full deal, twist it—”

“No!” She grabbed his arm. “I get it.”

He laughed and pulled her close. “Looks like we'll save a little time by showering together.”

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to steady herself. “I'm all for conserving water,” she said, then she reached up and kissed him.

An hour later, as he drove her back to her place, she asked, “So, what are you doing Thursday?”

“Thursday?” He looked over at her.

“Thanksgiving.” She watched his eyes dull.

“Thursday is Thanksgiving?” Even though he was looking straight ahead, she could see the sadness enter his face.

“Luke?” She reached out and touched his arm.

“I'd totally forgotten. Gran would have had me put out all the decorations. I forgot to put them out.”

“It's okay.” She squeezed his arm lightly.

“No, it's not. I didn't even know it was Thanksgiving. I guess I've been so busy with everything else, I'd forgotten about it.”

“Well, there's still time.” She smiled as he looked over at her.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” He smiled and looked back at the road.

“You can even have people over if you want,” she said as he pulled into the parking lot of her place.

“Yeah, I suppose I could. I've never hosted a party before.”

“I could help you. Hosting parties is kind of my specialty.”

“Well, I suppose so. It's kind of short notice, but why not?”

“Good, it's settled. You invite everyone, and I'll take care of everything else.” She leaned over and kissed him quickly, then jumped from the truck. She was so excited about the possibilities of planning out his party that she didn't even care that Patty and a few of the other women smiled as she got out of Luke's truck wearing the same dress she'd worn to yesterday's party. Instead, she waved and smiled. Then rushed up the stairs to get ready for work.

By the time she made it to the restaurant, she had a full list of things that she'd need going in her head. She seemed to sail through work the next few days. Maybe it was the excitement of working on a project, or the fact that she'd finally gotten to talk to Iian about some of her changes. Luke had been right; Iian had not only liked them all, but given her the go-ahead to start making them.

The major change was making the back room more “kid friendly” for birthday parties. She'd noticed the need early on. Most parents brought family and friends here for birthdays or anniversaries. There were almost always small kids involved, and they would spend their time running around looking bored.

She'd given Iian a few ideas to help the cause, and Iian had taken her hint and ordered the room to be repainted and decorated. The workers would start shortly after Thanksgiving and finish just before Christmas.

When they were done, Amber imagined the room would be perfect for showers, birthdays, anniversaries, and even graduation parties, without taking away from the main dining experience.

She'd also pitched her idea of building a large fish tank wall to separate the bar area and the main dining hall. That way, bar goers, who tended to be loud, wouldn't disturb the family dining a few feet away.

“We can put exotic fish in it so people have something to look at while waiting for a table or just eating or drinking.”

“I like it, but I'm not sure how it would work.” Conversations with Iian tended to be slow, so she'd come prepared. Pulling out her sketch pad, she showed him a few drawings she'd made. One showed the floor plans with a large V where the tank would be. Then she pulled out another drawing that showed how the wall would look. It was a custom tank that would sit three feet off the ground and be two feet wide. She'd worked with a company in Portland that made custom tanks, and she handed Iian their business card. “They could give you an estimate on the costs. I think you will see an increase in sales at the bar, because the bar will be separated from the dining area, and people won't feel like they are on display. I've noticed your bar sales aren't as high as they could be because of this.”

Iian liked the idea so much he got on the company’s website, and they spent the next hour looking over the information. She called them and relayed all the details. They had an opening the week after Thanksgiving to drive down and take a look to give them a better estimate.

She left work and headed home.. She'd made plans to stay at Luke’s house tonight and was running a little late heading over there, but she had a few boxes of items at her place for the party. She had the next two days off, and tomorrow was Luke's party. She was excited for it, but she was just as excited to get back to work on Monday, to start organizing the changes that would happen over the next few weeks.

She parked and started walking up her stairs and was half ay up before she saw the woman standing on her landing. At first Amber thought it was another woman from town dropping off baked goods, or a well-wisher. But then the woman spoke, and Amber felt a bolt of lightning go down her spine.

“Hello, Amber,” her mother said, looking down at her from the top of the stairs.

Amber's hand fell away from the railing. She knew her chin had dropped and she probably looked like a dead fish staring up at her mother. It had been eight years since she'd seen the woman last. In that time, her mother had aged and grown very frail. She wore thick glasses and her hair was longer and tied in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. Her long skirt flowed all the way to her shoes. The neck line of her shirt covered every inch of her underneath a large coat. Amber noticed the long sleeves went past her wrists. She looked like a women who had stepped out of the past. Almost every inch of her was covered with material.

It took her almost a full minute to recover. “Hello, mother.” Amber finished walking up the stairs and opened her door. The chill in the air forced her to invite her mother inside.

After removing her coat and hanging it up on the rack, she turned to her mother. “Can I take your coat?”

“No, that won't be necessary. I won't be here long. I've come to ask you face-to-face to reconsider going to the court tomorrow for the special holiday hearing. Your father needs you. This is our last chance to fix the injustices served him all those years ago.”

Amber's headache instantly came on. Her eyes narrowed and she could see a gray film cover her vision. She rubbed her forehead. “I've told you what happened that night. I wasn't lying. I saw it with my own two eyes.”

“Eyes of a nine-year-old. You always had such an imagination. If you'd just go with me, explain that you question what you saw. That there is a chance that you didn't actually see it that way—”

“Mother, stop!” Amber rubbed her head and walked to the windows, not really seeing the new snow as it started to fall. “I'm not doing this anymore. If you won't stand behind me, then you can stand on your own. I won't go to the hearing tomorrow. I won't ever tell someone I didn't witness my father killing a man in cold blood. I won't lie. If you can't accept that then I'd preferred never to hear from you again.” She kept her back to the room, not wanting her mother to see the tears streaming down her face. Her back was stiff, and when she heard her front door open and close, she knew she'd gotten her answer.

She’d been standing there looking out the window for an hour when she heard the door open behind her, sp
inning around, she saw Luke standing there covered in snow a worried look on his face
. Spinning around, she saw Luke standing there covered in snow, a worried look on his face.

“Are you okay? I've been calling you for the last forty minutes.” He shook the snow from his coat and hung it on the rack, then walked towards her. She hadn't realized she was standing in a dark room until he flipped on the lights. When he saw her face, he rushed over to her and engulfed her in a hug.

“What's wrong?” He kissed her head.