The Naughty List (7 page)

She moved to his pants, opened and pushed them off as far as she could. His manhood was like a warm piece of metal in her hands. She pulled the foreskin back and felt the anticipating moisture of his diamond tip against the palm of her other hand.

Then her pants, Valerian was unnaturally quick with them. Heat was already flooding Cora’s center, and she was wet for him, gushing. Their need was equally intense, and Valerian wrapped his arms around her which made Cora do the same. She filled her mouth with his breath as he sliced into her in one rough lunge. Black and white dots started a dance in front of Cora’s vision, so intense, so electrifying was it to have him inside her, filling her. That whole wonderful moment that was perfectly tailored from some strange eternal cloth that has always been used for the making of any tale of love as true as sunlight.

It took only one more grinding revolution of their hips and they were sucked away into the all-consuming maelstrom of lust that linked them.

Their moans echoed in the cave while the blood of the krampus went cold and still, dried, not even leaving the scent of the beast behind.

* * *

Valerian helped Cora back into her clothes, something she couldn’t have managed easily in the absolute dark.

“You dropped your phone,” he said on the way back to the krampus’s cauldron, picking it up and handing it to Cora.

“Yeah, I was in a hurry to get away. Thanks,” she said as she put the gadget back in her pocket.

In the burlap sack, they did indeed find Tom. He was unconscious, most likely from shock and blood loss; the krampus had been nibbling away on him. It was nothing life threatening, but it would leave him with scars that wouldn’t be easily explained.

“I wanted to use my magic to help him,” Cora said as Valerian reluctantly detached himself from her to pick up Tom. “But… it didn’t work, somehow.”

“Ah, my silly witchling. This is the Between. Magic follows different rules here, and not knowing them will get you into trouble. As it almost did,” Valerian said, brushing a kiss over Cora’s lips.

He led the way out the cave, but as he was carrying Tom, Cora had her phone out again to light her way. When Cora saw what was left of the krampus, how he was lying there with his horns like pins sticking out of him, her jaw dropped, but she said nothing.
You made love to me, next to that,
she thought with a look at Valerian’s back in front of her. The reasonable, domesticated part of her brain told her she should feel sickened by the thought, but she didn’t. Instead, she found the rawness of it exhilarating, the thought that life and death had been brought so close together made her heart beat faster, made her blush and smile a secret smile.

Eventually, Valerian took them back by way of ley line. Just as they had shifted from the Between to the real world, Tom started to come to, possibly because of the snow that was needling its coldness all over his face.

Valerian put him down and let Cora hold him upright while he put his shirt and jacket back on. “Cora,” Valerian said as they were almost at the cars and Jo came running toward them, relief vibrant on her face. “Go wait for me in the car. I’ll take care of this.”

And she did, which was unusual for her.
Must have something to do with knowing that he loves me,
she thought. Even her inner ears seemed to ring with incredulity as her inner voice said it.
But it’s still true.

They were back on the road less than five minutes later.

“That was fast,” Cora said.

“Well, I thought it fair to let them revel in the joy of their reunion alone, my love.”

Cora felt warmth coloring her cheeks. She reached for Valerian’s hand. His warm fingers interweaved with hers perfectly, a matching set.

“Oh, and I might have… suggested that this was a prank. By a jilted lover. It went a little awry, obviously,” Valerian said, smiling the smile of a taotien. “I should think that there won’t be a spring wedding for those two.”

“And here I thought I was the romantic,” Cora said.

Valerian shrugged, gave Cora a sideways glance. “It’s a Christmas miracle,” he said sweetly.

Or something,
Cora thought. Outside, the snow was cooling the world as dusk came, but Cora and Valerian were perfectly warm and couldn’t care less.

* * *

Alexa Piper
writes paranormal romance. She has been published in
Demons, Imps, and Incubi
, a Red Moon Romance anthology (if you enjoyed Christmassy and would like to read more about the characters, you might wanna check it out.) Her short erotic romances have been collected in
Luminous Dreams
. You can find Alexa online at alexapiper.com and follow her on Twitter @prowlingpiper.

My Midnight Cowboy

Pumpkin Spice

“Ma’am?” A forty-something man at the ticket counter beckoned me forward.

“I don’t look like a ma’am yet do I?” I asked my best friend, Rachel, as I approached the counter. “I just turned thirty.”

“No, he’s just being polite,” she said. “He’s kind of cute.”

“Just a minute, ladies.” The man held up his finger in the air. His head bobbed back and forth as he spoke. “I’ve got to grab some more printer paper. If you could get your photo ID out.”

I pulled out my driver’s license from my wallet. In the photo, I was tan and my reddish hair had natural sun-kissed highlights. I looked like the California girl I was.
I guess I’ll be replacing this and my summer strawberry curls.
Rachel leaned her head on my shoulder.

“Don’t be sad,” I said into her ear. My voice shook. “You found this hotel
and
a career doing what I love. It’s going to be great, right?”

Rachel raised her head and I looked into her blue eyes. They never lied to me. I felt my own green eyes begin to well.

“Lucy, you’re an amazing pastry chef. The hotel’s lucky to have you. You’re going to be terrific. And Wyoming is beautiful. Granted, it’s not sunny Orange County, but it’s not Antarctica
or
the North Pole like I teased,” she said, elbowing me for good measure. “I was giving you a hard time because you’re going on this incredible adventure without me.” Her voice cracked. “But leaving in the middle of the night? What were we thinking?”

I flicked away a tear. “That the pricing was a steal on the later flight?”

The man returned and I handed him my license and itinerary.

“We offer complimentary champagne in first class,” he said looking up at Rachel.

“That’s great.” I leaned toward his tilted line of vision, but even in my three-inch heeled platforms, he looked right past me. “It’s for me. I’m the traveler. Right here.” I waved my hand, but he didn’t acknowledge.

“We also serve strawberries,” he said for Rachel’s benefit. “Champagne, strawberries, and warm, heated towels—first class has everything. Perhaps I can book you a flight to Paris? London? Rome? You name it and I can make it happen. You can be in the air by midnight.” His complete dorkiness had a subtle appeal that couldn’t be ignored.

Rachel threw back her blonde hair and laughed. “No, no traveling for me. It’s just my friend tonight.”

“Me,” I said. “Lucy Baker.”

“Uh-huh.” He blindly handed me back my license and replaced my itinerary with a printed boarding pass. “Do you have any plans to ring in the New Year?” he asked Rachel.

She shrugged and her cream-colored angora sweater rose to her shoulder-length hair and exposed her tan, taut belly. “Not yet. Just getting Lucy on the plane and…”

“Do I have a window seat?” I asked, trying to locate it on my boarding pass. “I don’t mind the aisle seat, but I hate being sandwiched in the middle.” I glanced at Rachel, but she was busy flirting.

“You aren’t going to drown your sorrows alone, are you? That’s no way to jumpstart the New Year.” He winked and handed her his business card. “My shift ends at eleven. A bunch of the TSA guys and I are heading to Sullivan’s. You should join us.”

I looked at her, and then back at the man whose name tag read “Mike.” The slight flicker in her eyes was all I needed to see to know he had piqued her interest. And that was hard to do with Rachel. This Mike guy wasn’t much to look at, but he was awkwardly charming.

“Sullivans, huh?” Rachel rapped Mike’s business card against the counter.

“Yeah, the guy said Sullivan’s.” The voice came from behind us. “If you and your friend could wrap up your flirting and figure out your New Year’s Eve hookup that’d be really swell because there’s a bunch of us that would like to check in for our flight.”

What the hell?
I spun on my platforms and came eye-to-eye with the tilted rim of a cowboy hat. “Excuse me?” I said in a tone that made the man’s cheeks redden.

“It wasn’t me,” he said, his hands held up in surrender. “It’s been a long travel day and my buddy—” He cocked his silverbelly hat toward the cowboy beside him. Though the brim of the other man’s hat was pulled down low on his face, he was clearly staring at me.

Jerk.
I looked back at the one who wasn’t giving me the stink-eye.

“—my buddy hasn’t eaten and sometimes he speaks out of hunger.”

A throaty, hearty laugh escaped my lips.

The cowboy smiled and a dimple appeared along with a flash of his perfectly straight teeth.
Who are you?

“That’s okay,” Rachel said. “Lucy speaks out of hangry all the time.”

I swatted her with my boarding pass. “You’re already getting me in trouble with these travelers.”

The cowboy in the silver hat looked directly at me. His hazel eyes were deeply inset and alarmingly brilliant against his smooth cheeks that no longer burned from embarrassment. “No one’s in trouble, and I apologize for my buddy’s rude comment.”

“Don’t apologize for me.” The other cowboy looked up from beneath his black lid. His brooding brown eyes were mesmerizing and so were his dark features. “If these
ladies
stopped their jib-jab, we wouldn’t be stuck in this concrete jungle. We’d be on our way back to Wyoming.”

Wyoming?
I didn’t have to glance at my bestie to know she was thinking the exact same thing I was.

“Ben, knock it off,” the kinder cowboy said.

Ben lifted his black lid in a mock gesture. “Sorry, ma’am, for my lack of hospitality.” His hair was as dark as his hat. With its thick waves sculpted against his head and the shadow of a beard inching across his face, he had a yummy Jon Hamm feel to him.

Unfortunately, once he opened his mouth, I lost my appetite.

“Scott, will that do for an apology?” He placed his black hat back on his head and looked at his friend. “Or do you want me to carry their bags, too?”

Scott grinned and I could tell it was despite his better judgment. Rachel often caused the same reaction from me.

“Ladies, our apologies.” Scott directed his apology toward me.

He didn’t even seem to notice Rachel.
That never happens.

“We just want to get to the boarding area, grab a burger and a brew before take-off,” he said.

“Well, then, I’ll speed up the process,” I said with a playful grin. “There’s only one hamburger worth having at John Wayne airport and no one should miss their last chance at an In-N-Out burger.” I slid the leather straps off my shoulder and carefully placed my culinary tool kit on the luggage scale.

“You’re underweight!” Mike announced loudly, redirecting our focus back to him and my checked bag.

Startled, I glanced at Rachel. “Well, that’s a first,” I said in a giggle under my breath. “I just got these jeans and I graduated to the curvy fit.”

She whispered in my ear. “Something tells me there’s going to be a lot of firsts for you in Wyoming.” She raised her eyebrows toward the cowboys.

“Oh, right,” I said as I checked the rest of my luggage. “And I’m sure they’re all going to start at midnight, too.”

We turned to leave when Scott tilted his silver hat toward us. “Thanks for the tip about the burger. Have a good night, ladies.”

I muttered an “Uh-huh” as my heartbeat quickened.
Wyoming, here I come.

“Oh, yeah,” Rachel said as we walked away. “What better way to ring in the New Year than with a new guy in a new town?”

I shook my head.

“The only question is,” she said as we approached the security checkpoint. “Which cowboy are you going to kiss at midnight?”

* * *

My cheeks hurt from smiling when Rachel and I walked down the corridor toward the security check point.

“So you’re really going to wait with me?” I asked.

“Until they close the boarding gate. Then I’ll watch your plane from the parking lot.”

“You realize they won’t let you through without a ticket,” I said.

Rachel winked. “You’ll see.”

“Ah, thank you, friend.”

“Actually, thank you,” Rachel said. Her voice was whimsically light. “I just realized why they call Wyoming the cowboy state.”

“I know, right.” I grabbed a gray plastic tub from the stack beside the conveyor belt and tossed my cell phone inside. “That one guy…” I reached down and unbuckled the strap around my ankle. I stepped out of my pump and suddenly I was dwarfed next to Rachel. “The one with the silver hat.”

“Scott,” Rachel said and slid off her boots.

I looked at her footwear.
I should’ve worn boots.

“His name was Scott,” she said. “And don’t act like you haven’t already etched it into your mind.”

I playfully tossed my hair over my shoulder and plopped my platforms into the tub. “Whatever.
Scott
was super nice.”

“But the other one…” Rachel placed her boots and purse into a bin and slid it onto the conveyor belt behind mine. Our belongings rolled toward a TSA agent who looked seriously annoyed as he monitored the screen in front of him. “The cowboy in the black hat.”

“Ben. And don’t act like
you
don’t remember his name. I’ll never forget it. He’s an ass.”

“But did you
see
his ass? It was redonk,” Rachel said.

“I didn’t notice. I couldn’t get past his arrogance. What a jerk.”

“Ma’am.” A TSA woman motioned for me to walk through the full body scanner.

“What is up with all these ma’am comments? I’m really beginning to wish I had taken my mom’s eye cream with me.”