Forever Wild (The Simple Wild #2.5) - K.A. Tucker Page 0,19

neck. I close my eyes and revel in his lips against my throat and the feel of him growing hard against the apex of my thighs. “Me, marrying Frosty the Elf with Santa officiating.”

I snort.

“You wouldn’t even need a dress when you’ve got this.”

“Are you kidding? I’m burning this costume in the fireplace tonight. Seriously. And I’m going to round up all the others tomorrow, and burn them, too. I’ll order new ones for next year.”

“I think it’s cute.” He inhales deeply. And pauses. “Is that you that smells like mothballs?”

“See? Ugh!” I peel off the felt potato sack and toss it next to the fireplace, leaving me in the red-and-green-striped pants and the black Lycra top I wore underneath.

Jonah makes a sound, his excited eyes roaming the material that’s stretched across my chest like a second skin. “You still smell.” He tugs on my shirt.

“Not here!” I hiss, nodding toward the upstairs where Astrid and Björn are tucked away.

“Why not? They took sleeping pills. They’ll be dead to the world until at least four. Come on, arms up.”

I hesitate but then reach over to turn off the table lamp, leaving us in darkness save for the white lights on the tree, the fire, and a small over-stove light in the kitchen. I lift my aching arms high above my head, allowing him easy access to strip my shirt off me. Warmth from the fire radiates against my back, but there’s still a chill in the air, made all the more obvious when he unfastens the hook of my bra.

“Jonah,” I admonish softly, but the mood in the room is shifting quickly, his hands eagerly slipping over my bared chest. Heat courses through my body beneath his skilled touch.

I don’t utter another word of complaint as I shift and shimmy to help him work off my striped pants.

“Cute,” he whispers, noting the mistletoe print on my panties before also sliding them off. That we’re not alone in the house seems to goad us into moving swiftly, peeling off his shirt, pushing his sweatpants and boxers down his thighs. His erection stands at attention. “Something’s missing.” He looks around. “Oh, yeah.” Grabbing the elf hat, he positions it on my head. “There. Perfect.”

My mouth is on his, my tongue teasing the seam of his lips as he reaches down between us to grip and line himself up, when the bottom step creaks.

With a startled gasp, I peel away from Jonah’s mouth and look over to find a shirtless Björn ambling toward the kitchen, his eyes half-closed, his steps heavy with sleep.

Fumbling for the wool blanket stretched across the back of the couch, I quickly wrap it around our naked bodies, and then offer Jonah a scathing glare.

Jonah tips his head back to watch his stepfather dig a glass out of the cupboard and go to the fridge to fill it with water from the Brita. “I don’t think he saw us,” he whispers, a hint of amusement in his voice as we huddle on the couch, naked other than the blanket, and in a compromising position.

I don’t think Björn is even fully awake. He casually scratches his round belly as he gulps a full glass of water. He then fills it up again and shuts the fridge, muttering something in Norwegian as he wanders back toward the stairs.

I hold my breath.

Just before he takes that first step, he turns to the couch and sees us there, silently watching him, and there is no way a lucid adult would not be able to put two and two together and realize what he interrupted.

“Nice hat,” he mutters and then eases back upstairs, using the rail to help him.

My cheeks burn with mortification. “I can’t believe that happened.” Did he see us on his way down and pretend that he didn’t? Did he know we were here, naked, the whole time and decide the least awkward handling of the situation would be to ignore us?

What exactly did Björn see?

Jonah lets out a heavy sigh of relief that I don’t feel at the moment. “Where were we?”

“Going to shower.” I climb off Jonah’s lap, taking the blanket with me to wrap around my nude body.

“Fucking Björn,” I hear Jonah grumble as I scamper up the steps.

Chapter Six

“You know, when I was a kid, we had a golden retriever who waited at the window for my mom to come home,” Jonah notes.

I cast a glare over my shoulder and catch Astrid delivering a soft whack against