My December Darling: A Holiday Novella

I wake up the next morning in a bed that isn’t mine, beside a man who, up until a few hours ago, was drawing every ounce of pleasure from my body. I’m not sure how late Luke and I stayed up, but it was worth the sleep deprivation and soreness that plagues me as soon as I peel my eyes open.

The spot between my thighs throbs at a particular memory of him laid out beneath me, his hands firmly gripping my hips while I rode him, and I wiggle in place to ease the ache.

Luke’s arm clamps around me and drags me back against his firm, warm chest until my ass is pressing against his hard cock.

“Good morning.” His lips brush over the back of my head as his thumb brushes back and forth over my hipbone.

“Morning,” I drawl, my voice raspy from overuse.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Too good.”

His chuckle makes my stomach explode with butterflies. “Is there such a thing?”

“Only when we’re both expected to be at brunch in… What time is it?” I search the room for a clock and come up empty.

With a groan, Luke rolls out of bed in search of his phone. “Eight.”

I release a sigh. “There’s still time.”

He crawls over my body and cradles my face between his hands. “I like the way you think.”

I bat at his chest with a laugh. “I meant to get ready.”

His eyes glitter as he juts his hips forward, pushing his erection into me. “Don’t leave just yet.”

“You’re starting to get clingy.”

He brushes his lips over mine. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Is that a warning?”

“More like a promise of what’s to come.” He peppers my skin with kisses that leave my skin flushed and my core aching for some relief.

Luke makes quick work of the shirt he dressed me in last night, and it falls to the floor along with the boxer briefs he threw on before falling asleep.

We spend the next hour in bed, swapping kisses and orgasms until we’re both tempted to fall back asleep. It takes every ounce of willpower I have left, which isn’t much to begin with, to pull away from Luke’s embrace and search for my maid of honor dress.

I cringe at the icy blue dress and all the wrinkles. The moment my parents see me returning to the house dressed like this, they’ll know all about how I spent the rest of my night.

Shit.

Luke stretches across the mattress. “I bet your sister has some clothes stashed in Aiden’s room.”

“Oh my God. You’re a genius!” I kiss his stubbled cheek before texting my sister in a rush to ask if she has anything I can borrow. Surprisingly, she answers right away.

The text feels like a lie, but I’m not about to get my sister’s hopes up over something I’m still uncertain about.

Thankfully, Gabriela only follows up with an eye roll emoji before letting me know where to find her spare clothes.

I ignore her text and hop in the guest shower, scrubbing my skin with a soap that smells exactly like Luke before throwing on a sweater and a pair of jeans my sister left here. Her boots are a little tight, but I’d rather wear them than my heels from last night.

When I walk out of the bathroom, I find Luke sitting at the breakfast nook, sipping on his coffee while scrolling through his phone. He looks up, and our eyes lock before a shiver skates down my spine.

“Keep looking at me like that and I’m taking you back to bed.”

I all but skip over to the table and take a seat beside him. “Thanks for this,” I say before taking a sip of the coffee he made me.

He kisses the corner of my mouth, and my toes curl despite the limited space in my sister’s boots.

We spend the next twenty minutes talking about the wedding while drinking our coffee and eating some leftover bagels from yesterday morning. It feels like a normal part of our routine. Like we always wake up every morning together, swapping stories and sharing laughs despite never having done this before.

It makes me feel whole, so when Luke is the one to remind us of our brunch plans, I’m hesitant to leave our little bubble.

“You’re always welcome to stay the night again.” He grabs my coat from the couch and helps me into it.

“I might take you up on that.” I flash him a smile.

I thought sex would complicate matters, but if anything, it clarified my biggest worry.

Luke and I have a chemistry that can’t be ignored, and no amount of avoiding it will make it disappear. And after last night, that’s the last thing I want.

That much I know.

Luke and I are seated at opposite ends of the table for Catalina and Aiden’s celebratory brunch, so I don’t get a chance to talk to him again before I’m carted away with the bridal party to get ready for tonight’s New Year’s Eve bash at a bar in town called Last Call.

My sister’s second-favorite holiday is New Year’s Eve because she loves fireworks and gets all sentimental about new beginnings, so I can’t think of a better way for her to spend her first day as a wife than celebrating the holiday amongst family and friends.

As soon as we make it to the rental house Gabriela and Aiden booked for their wedding weekend, my sister holds true to her earlier promise and pesters me with questions about Luke, all while her bridesmaids listen in like we’re on a talk show.

Gabriela drops onto the couch beside me. “So…”

“Yes?”

“You and Luke.”

“Mm.” I nearly stab my eye with my mascara wand.

“Are you going to do the long-distance thing?”

I stare at her for a few moments. “Why are you asking?”

“If I didn’t, that would make me a terrible sister.”

“Terrible? Or respectful of my privacy?”

She tosses a throw pillow directly at my head. I dodge it, and it lands with a thud near one of her bridesmaids, who accidentally messes up her winged liner.

“Sorry!” Gabriela waves her hand with a laugh.

My hopes of my sister dropping the subject are dashed when she asks another question.

“How was it?”

“What?”

“The sex.”

I glare at her. “I’m not talking about that with you.”

She falls back against the couch with a sigh. “Okay. Fair enough, but will you at least update me on what’s next for you two?”

“Nope.”

“Cata!”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Well, this is me making it my business.”

“Why?”

“Because I care about you and want you to be happy!”

I shoot her a scathing look that quickly melts away at the sight of her smile.

“And because I’m super nosy.”

I bite back a groan. “I’m well aware of that.” Growing up with a little sister taught me as much, although I know her curiosity comes from a place of love as well.

“Just tell me one thing,” she says.

I sigh. “What?”

“Does he make you happy?”

I don’t hesitate to reply. “Yes. Very much so.”

I’m not aware that I’m smiling until my sister returns mine with one of her own. “Good. Then that’s all that matters to me.”

A tight ball forms in my chest, surrounding my heart until it aches. “Now, are you going to get ready for tonight? Or are you going to keep hounding me with questions about my love life?”

“Does that mean you have a love life now?” She waggles her brows.

“Gabriela!”

She points an accusatory finger at me. “It’s not my fault you walked right into that one.”

“And now I’m the one walking away.” I get up and use the restroom, hoping it ends the conversation before my sister is able to pry any more information from me.

I might not have everything with Luke figured out, but that’s a discussion I need to have with him first. One that we will no longer be able to avoid come tomorrow because I’ll be heading to California for my next job. A job which had once made me excited, now makes me feel heavy, and there is nothing I can do about it.