Dec
1 2010 |
Admittedly I have much love for Leah and Brandon. Megan and I co-wrote two books – Taking Care of Business and No Reservations featuring my couple, Dix and Kate and Megan’s couple, Leah and Brandon. It was great to revisit them after their wedding…
Here’s the blurb:
Naughty is Nice
Newlyweds Leah and Brandon Long are finally taking a honeymoon. But just a few days into their Christmas-in-Vail vacation, Leah takes a tumble on the slopes, severely spraining her ankle. Being stuck indoors isn’t so bad though: the luxurious chalet boasts a hot tub and cozy fireplace. Besides, sitting with her feet up while Brandon serves her in every way a man can serve a woman is exactly how both of them like to spend their time.
Leah would be in heaven, if only Brandon didn’t insist on playing with the dynamic of their relationship. With kinky sex and deep conversation the only things on the agenda, Leah can’t avoid the discussion of how things might change. Will she be ready to take their marriage to the next level in the New Year?
UNWRAPPED by MEGAN HART
Copyright 2010, Megan Hart
All Rights Reserved, Carina Press
Releasing individually and as part of the Naughty and Nice Anthology
It was billed in the brochure as a “romantic, moonlit getaway” and “a festive holiday sleigh ride through snowy pastures decorated for the season in a spectacular display of animated lights set to classic carols and holiday tunes.” There’d been nothing about waiting in line for forty minutes in frigid air for a two-person sleigh instead of a horse-drawn hay wagon that could carry thirty people. Nor that, though the cider and hot chocolate and coffee was free and plentiful, the port-o-potties were clear on the other side of the building and not marked. Or that the horses announced just what they thought of the whole situation by dropping their fragrant piles all over the place.
“You warm enough?” Brandon rubbed Leah’s mitten-clad hands between his thick gloves.
She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder, her bad foot propped up on a little pile of snow he’d pushed together to make a footstool for her. “Yep. That cider smells amazing.”
“You want some?”
She laughed. “I think one adventure to the porta-john was enough, don’t you?”
“We’re next, anyway,” Brandon said just as the white sleigh decorated with boughs of holly—and whatever the fa-la-la that other stuff was—jingled to a stop in the line. He stood, joints creaking from the cold, then bent to help her up.
Getting to the sleigh was slightly less of an adventure than taking her to the bathroom had been, and they were both giggling by the end of it as he helped her into the high seat. The driver looked over his shoulder at them, his scarf pulled up high on his mouth, his hat pulled low over his eyes.
“You guys ready?”
Leah settled onto the leather seat and pulled aside the thick quilts to make room for Brandon. “Hi.”
The driver ducked his head at her as the horse stamped impatiently, blowing out a breath into the cold air. “Hiya.”
Brandon took his seat and pulled the quilts up over their legs. “Warm. God.”
“The ride lasts about forty-five minutes, maybe a bit longer if we get backed up at some of the more popular attractions,” the driver said, sounding bored. “Prepare to be amazed by the coordinated light-and-music display of holiday cheer.”
“He sounds totally cheerful,” Leah whispered in Brandon’s ear when the driver turned back and clucked at the horses. “I’m amazed by his enthusiasm.”
Brandon leaned in to nuzzle at her cheek and murmur, “He’s probably It’s A Small World and Jingled Belled out. Just guessing.”
The sleigh jerked into motion, the horse setting off at a lazy pace. The driver chucked at it again and it went a little faster for a few steps, then slowed again. Leah got the giggles beside him as they pulled away from the waiting area and headed across a dark, snowy field. Just beyond them, down the dip of a hill, they could see the glow of what Brandon was sure was going to be a holiday display of the cheesiest proportions, but for now the sky was still dark enough that he could tip his face back and stare up at the bright points of the stars.
“So much for moonlight,” he said.
“I like it better this way. Dark.” Leah’s hand crept into his lap to give his crotch a sexy squeeze. “And the stars are so pretty.”
Brandon shifted his knees apart to give her better access, though he was pretty sure she wasn’t going to keep going. “Yeah.”
He breathed in the cold air that felt even colder now that they had the weight of the blankets on them. Cheesetastic and expensive it might be, but a sleigh ride at Christmastime with his wife was exactly as romantic as the brochure had promised.
Her fingers tightened briefly on his half-hard dick and pulled away as the sleigh went over the edge of the hill and down, the horse moving a little faster and the lights ahead of them now bright. They could hear the music, too, tinny at this distance but still familiar. It was, indeed, “It’s a Small World.”
The driver slowed the horse as it approached the first path of lighted displays, because as he’d predicted, they’d caught up to the hay wagon in front of them. The displays were pretty typical, tube lighting outlining traditional Christmas scenes. A house, a sleigh, a carousel. Reindeer that moved their heads up and down. All set to music.
“Pretty.” The lights reflected on Leah’s face, green and blue and red. She was smiling at the scenes in front of them.
“You’re prettier,” he said into her ear.
She looked at him. “Oh, am I?”
This time, he slipped his hand into her lap and pressed gently. He grinned. “Uh huh.”
He thought she’d shake her head or simply push his hand away, but to his delight, his wife just shifted on the seat, opening her thighs a little wider. There wasn’t much he could do through the denim of her jeans, but…well…he sure could try.
“Oh. Elves,” Leah murmured, her gaze on the first display they’d finally pulled up in front of. She rocked her hips just enough against his hand that he knew she wasn’t paying one damned bit of attention to the elves. “Look at the elves, Brandon.”
He did, not because he was worried the driver could see what was going on beneath the layers of quilts, but because Leah had told him to. Because it was sexy this way, something forbidden, something he was doing that normally she wouldn’t allow but he knew she really, really liked.
The next display was of a house with Santa’s sleigh on top and a fat Santa in front, waving in a steady metronome. The music had changed to a chorus of what sounded like castrati singing “O Tannenbaum.” Leah wrinkled her nose but didn’t look away from the lights and music. Didn’t look at him. She drew in a breath as he watched her.
With his fingers inside her, his mouth on her pussy, Brandon could usually tell what was working for her. But here, with the barriers of clothing between them, unable to sink into her heat or even able to tell if he was pressing her clit or some random spot, all he had to go on was the subtle shift of her expression.
Making his wife come was always a challenge, not because she had a hard time achieving orgasm but because, in purely feminine fashion, there was way more to getting her off than hitting the right spots. He could go down on her for an hour, and if she was worried about paying the mortgage, she might never come. If he switched up the pace too much, if the phone rang, if something on the television sounded too loud, she could lose her concentration. It seemed to him that a haphazard pressure against her clit through her jeans, jostling by the sleigh hitting bumps in the snowy path—hell, the entirely unsexy sound of adolescent boys with their nuts cut off singing about a Christmas tree—all of that should probably have made it really difficult for him to make her come.
But something told him she was getting close, anyway.
His dick was pressing almost painfully against his zipper, but he didn’t care. He’d get his later or suffer the ache of blue balls, it didn’t matter. For the moment, all Brandon really cared about was seeing if he could pull this off. Get her off. Make her lose a tiny bit of the control she so prided herself on keeping.
She wasn’t stopping him, but she wasn’t helping. Hadn’t unzipped her jeans to let him slip his fingers inside. Unspoken, she’d made rules he had to follow. Brandon bit the inside of his cheek against his grin. He could do that. No problem.
The people on the hay wagon ahead of them were cheering at something but had stalled again. The sleigh wasn’t moving. The driver stared ahead, maybe sullen or bored, maybe just discreet. All around them the music went on and on while Santa waved in a steady tick-tock.
Tick, tock. Press, release. Over and over, Brandon pushed his knuckles against her.
Her lips parted. Just slightly. She didn’t say anything, didn’t look at him.
It was enough to tell him he was on the right path.
Leah let out a tiny cry when the sleigh started up again, and it sounded like it could’ve been because she was startled by the sudden jerk. But Brandon knew better. He didn’t change the pressure, though, or the pace. They passed by the Santa and on to the next display, but he kept up the same steady tick-tock of his knuckles against her.
The ride was, as the driver had predicted, closer to an hour than forty-five minutes. By the end of it, Leah’s eyelashes had begun to flutter in a familiar way and, when she forced herself to focus, her eyes had a certain glaze in them that Brandon loved. She stumbled getting out of the sleigh, and he caught her, but he was pretty sure this time it had nothing to do with her sore ankle.
“Get me home,” she muttered into his ear as he helped her stand upright. “As fast as possible.”
Today’s prize is a copy of Megan Hart’s newest release, The Challenge:
Katie Donato and Dean Manion are total opposites. She’s straight, he’s gay. She’s a serial monogamist, he’s never been into commitment. But they both love sex, and a challenge.
So when Katie tells Dean she thinks she could pleasure him better than he could ever satisfy her, he dares her to prove it—by sleeping together. Soon Katie and Dean are taking their friendship to places they never imagined.
But what about the guys they’re they’re really interested in dating?
Sounds awesome, no? So if you want to win a copy – reply to this entry with a favorite holiday tradition. Doesn’t have to be Christmas or Hanukkah or Solstice – it can be Arbor Day or your birthday. Whatever. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow morning!
December 1st, 2010 at 9:46 am · Link
I’d have to say my holiday tradition is a pretty new one. I live in Northern California, and my husband’s parents moved down south to beautiful San Luis Obispo, CA a few years ago. So we started going there for Christmas and it has become something I look forward to all year. Can’t complain about spending Christmas on the beach!
Megan’s book sounds great! Thanks!
Kristin 😆
December 1st, 2010 at 9:49 am · Link
Since we get a live tree ( which is the bane of my husband’s existence) we get it just before Christmas Eve maybe two or three days then we all decorate together. And every year I get one special new ornament to mark the year.
December 1st, 2010 at 9:51 am · Link
Every single Christmas Eve my husband and I host his entire side of the family at our house. It is nuts with kids, dogs and what_a_mess. I love to hate that evening yet wouldnt miss it for the world.
December 1st, 2010 at 9:59 am · Link
My favorite holiday tradition is setting up the Christmas tree at my uncle’s house with the rest of family. It’s a pre-Christmas get together!
December 1st, 2010 at 10:14 am · Link
Hands down, has to be decorating the tree. My daughter loves opening the boxes of decorations and seeing all ‘her’ ornaments. Plus all the ones she made in pre-school that have somehow managed to survive several moves, unscathed!
December 1st, 2010 at 10:18 am · Link
We have many wonderful Christmas traditions, many of which are quite common. One of my favorite family traditions is our Halloween celebration at the lake. It is a small community and everyone goes back for one last hurrah the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend. We bring steaming post of soups and stew, there is a Halloween parade and the kids get to trick or treat in broad daylight. There is a big fire in the firepit and we carve pumpkins. It is really fun.
December 1st, 2010 at 10:20 am · Link
My holiday tradition that started with me and my mommy is when I decorate the tree, I blast and sing-along to Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas CD. My hubby hates it especially now that my 7 year old is starting to sing along with me. 😉
December 1st, 2010 at 10:21 am · Link
I love firing up my extensive Christmas playlist on the day after Thanksgiving. It gets my whole family in the Christmas spirit 😀
December 1st, 2010 at 10:30 am · Link
A favorite holiday tradition is when my nieces and nephews come over and help me bake all the goodies for Christmas. I end up having to bake more than I planned because they end up eating more than helping 🙂
December 1st, 2010 at 11:08 am · Link
I love decorating gingerbread people with my family an friends. Every year, I bake a ton of cookies and have everyone come over for a decorating party. Such fun! Sometimes we will add a theme to the decorating to make a challenge – this year the theme we have chosen is the godfather. Haha, I can not wait to see what people come up with!
December 1st, 2010 at 11:18 am · Link
Fourth of July when we all go out to the lake and BBQ, fish, water ski, jet ski, play games and watch fire works!
December 1st, 2010 at 11:27 am · Link
My favorite Christmas tradition: On Thanksgiving day I cut red and green strips of paper to make a paper chain, then distribute them to everyone in the family. Each person writes something they like about one other family member on each strip. I fold them to hide the writing and chain them together and hang them up. Then each night we take one link of the chain off and read it. So much fun! (Oh, yeah, I cut just the right amount to match the days left until Christmas. ) Our kids at all ages have loved this tradition, and me, too!
December 1st, 2010 at 12:04 pm · Link
Every year after Thanksgiving, we decorate the tree while we listen to Christmas music and then after it is all done, we turn off the lights and sit around the tree and drink hot chocolate.
December 1st, 2010 at 12:39 pm · Link
I love birthdays. My husband has a huge family(almost 40 at last count and growing).
We not only sing ‘Happy Birthday” but also
the Spanish version “Las Mananitas”. It’s great to see the kids,some of who can’t even string two words in Spanish in a conversation, singing that song. It’s nice that our children learn and accept the customs of their father’s native country.
December 1st, 2010 at 12:50 pm · Link
Hmmm…..I’d have to say the annual Christmas Eve gathering with the whole family. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Siblings, Parents, Etc…..
We draw numbers and have a gift exchange with different themes….Ugly Holiday Sweater was a favorite. As Seen on TV was quite popular (even with the over-abundance of Snuggies). The re-gifting (unfortunately grandma got a little testy when she saw one of her christmas presents from last year in there).
It is always fun and a good time to see family and have a laugh.
December 1st, 2010 at 1:33 pm · Link
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is one my daughter and I started several years ago. On Christmas Eve, when the house is quiet and everyone else is asleep we put White Christmas on the television and watch it while we wrap gifts. It is really special, and since she has moved to Seattle we don’t get to do it every year anymore but it is a memory and activity I treasure
December 1st, 2010 at 1:52 pm · Link
My favorite holiday tradition is probably decorating the Christmas Tree. My tree is filled with 20+ years of memory ornaments so it’s always fun to go through the ornaments and remember when we bought/made them.
My mom comes over and me, my daughter and mom all decorate the tree together.
December 1st, 2010 at 2:25 pm · Link
The Christmas tradition in our house is usually to put everything off (with the exception of baking the cookies of course) to the last minute.
I could buy a Xmas tree the week before Christmas and there is no way it’s going up until a day or two before the big night. As far as the males in my house are concerned putting the tree up on Xmas Eve accompanied by a sip or two of good old single malt Scotch is the way to go!
December 1st, 2010 at 2:28 pm · Link
I have to say my favorite tradition is the twelve days of Christmas. My sons and I pick out 12 different baked goods to make and we proceed to make one a day until Christmas Eve. We have some of the same ones every year but we also try to added a new one or two every year. I know it is a crazy amount of baking but it is fun and the boys love to get in the kitchen and make cookies or their great great grandmother’s cake.
December 1st, 2010 at 2:42 pm · Link
Being Canadian, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October. I like to think that Canadians have instant gratification issues! We can’t wait for our turkey! I love to go for a walk on Thanksgiving. The leaves are incredible in my part of Ontario at that time. It’s a good chance to reflect on all the things that I have to be thankful for.
December 1st, 2010 at 2:49 pm · Link
We like to put up the decorations and trees right after Thanksgiving dinner.
December 1st, 2010 at 3:28 pm · Link
The Christmas tradition for my family is a late supper at my mum and dad’s. Regardless of where we have eaten Christmas lunch – home, in-laws etc we all end up at my parents’. My Dad, sister and I ‘traditionally’ wash and clean up at about midnight!
December 1st, 2010 at 4:07 pm · Link
All of our holiday traditions are family dinners or barbecues.
December 1st, 2010 at 4:33 pm · Link
Brisket and potato latkes at Hanukkah.
Best meal ever!
December 1st, 2010 at 4:48 pm · Link
My favorite tradition is the “Home Alone” movie watching after Thanksgiving dinner. It’s one of those, “it’s so awful it’s great.” All of us cousins are grown up/almost grown up, and it’s lovely that this one day a year, we revisit our youth.
December 1st, 2010 at 5:34 pm · Link
My family consists only of my husband , myself and our two children. A tradition is we go out to supper on our birthdays no matter what; no boyfriends no best friends just the four of us!
December 1st, 2010 at 7:25 pm · Link
cookie baking before Christmas. we usually have to do it 3-4 times, because we always eat them faster than we think we will.
December 1st, 2010 at 8:04 pm · Link
My favourite holiday tradition is Pepper Nuts. They are mini mini ginger snaps (well sort of, they’re a little different). They are delicious but they are a bugger to make. But they are delightful!
December 1st, 2010 at 8:22 pm · Link
My favorite holiday tradition is having a big family meal, then playing cutthroat board games.
December 1st, 2010 at 9:56 pm · Link
Food. My family celebrates every holiday the same way…with lots of food.
December 1st, 2010 at 11:04 pm · Link
My favorite holiday tradition is driving around with my family to see all the holiday lights around Christmas time! We listen to Christmas carols as we go 🙂
December 2nd, 2010 at 1:11 am · Link
My favorite thing is DOING the Town on Halloween!
December 2nd, 2010 at 3:24 am · Link
One tradition around Christmas is that my brother and I listen to our mom’s Perry Como album (cd) while decorating the tree. It’s brings up so many memories!
December 2nd, 2010 at 4:55 am · Link
my favorite Christmas tradition is sitting together as a family on Christmas Eve and one person reads the Night Before Christmas and then another reads Luke 2 from the Bible. Then we sing Christmas carols.
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:32 am · Link
Listening to my DH say he is a scrooge.
December 2nd, 2010 at 7:04 am · Link
We love watching Jim Carey in The Grinch while decorating the tree together. Then, I have to go find the Monsters Inc dvd so we can watch the short story @ the beginning about the birds on the phone line. My hubby laughs till he cries every time he watches it.
December 2nd, 2010 at 9:13 am · Link
Thanksgiving is my fave family tradition – my Mom cooks all the yums that only happens twice a year but well worth the wait! We also come together as a family and we talk, laugh, and remember while giving thanks. 🙂
December 2nd, 2010 at 12:23 pm · Link
One tradition in our family is to raise a glass and toast the family where ever they may be at exactly 11:00 hrs on Christmas Day.
This came about because almost all our family were in the forces of one kind or another (army, navy etc) and could end up anywhere in the world on that day but no-one wanted to ignore family either 🙂
December 2nd, 2010 at 12:48 pm · Link
a favorite holiday tradition that’s not Christmas…having a part on my half birthday when I’m not a little kid anymore. All my friends think it’s funny but it’s another excuse to hang out! 😀
December 2nd, 2010 at 2:46 pm · Link
I like Labour Weekend here. The first real opportunity after winter to have a bbq on a long weekend. Do nothing and just relax.
December 2nd, 2010 at 4:24 pm · Link
My favourite holiday tradition is eating junk food, so Easter is my favourite holiday of all! 😀
December 2nd, 2010 at 9:25 pm · Link
My favorite holiday tradition is the gingerbread party a friend and his family have each year. They pick a theme and provide the gingerbread and frosting and everyone brings decorations and makes up a gingerbread for the theme. We’ve had castles, yachts, sea monsters and all kinds of wild things. This year’s theme is European Architecture, which should be interesting.
December 2nd, 2010 at 9:41 pm · Link
I love looking at the display windows of department stores during the holidays. This was my father’s favorite holiday past-time and he’d drag all of us kids, sniffling in the cold, to see the displays.