LOGINSCARLETT.
We don't leave the bed for the rest of the night.
We try every position I can think of—me on top, them on top, bent over the side of the bed, against the window overlooking the city. We use toys I pull from my nightstand. We take turns, pair up, all pile on together.
By the time midnight rolls around, I've lost count of how many times I've come.
We're taking another break, sprawled across the bed drinking water, when church bells start ringing somewhere in the distance.
"Merry Christmas," Jackson says, raising his water bottle.
"Merry Christmas," we all echo.
I look at these three strangers who showed up to a party and ended up in my bed, and I feel... good. Satisfied and happy and pleasantly exhausted.
"Thank you," I say. "For this. For being game. For making this the best Christmas Eve I've ever had."
"Are you kidding?" Liam says. "We should be thanking you. This is—I mean—"
"Life-changing," Marcus supplies.
"Seriously," Jackson agrees. "I'm pretty sure we're never going to top this."
"Well," I say, rolling over to straddle Marcus, "the night's not over yet."
His eyes darken. "Again?"
"One more time." I lean down to kiss him. "For Christmas."
He grabs my hips, already getting hard again beneath me. "Yes ma'am."
This time is slower. Less frantic. We've gotten the desperate need out of our systems and now it's just about pleasure.
Marcus fucks me slowly while I kiss him, deep and thorough. Jackson and Liam are on either side, hands roaming, mouths on my neck and shoulders.
"You're so beautiful," Marcus murmurs against my lips.
"So are you," I tell him honestly.
When I come this time, it's soft and rolling, spreading through me like warm honey. Marcus follows right after, and we stay locked together for a long moment, just breathing.
Eventually we all collapse in a pile. I'm in the middle, surrounded by warm bodies, and someone pulls a blanket over us.
"Stay," I murmur sleepily. "It's late. Stay till morning."
"You sure?" Liam asks.
"Mhmm. Bed's big enough."
They settle in around me and I drift off feeling safer and more satisfied than I have in months.
––•––
I wake up to sunlight streaming through the windows and an empty bed.
For a second I panic—did they just leave?—but then I smell coffee.
I pull on a robe and pad out to the kitchen.
All three of them are there, wearing various combinations of their clothes from last night, looking rumpled and gorgeous. Marcus is making coffee. Jackson's at the stove doing something that smells amazing. Liam's setting the table.
They look up when I appear.
"Morning," Jackson says with that devastating smile. "Hope you don't mind—we raided your kitchen."
"I definitely don't mind." I accept the coffee Marcus hands me. "What's all this?"
"Figured you might be hungry," Liam says. "After last night."
"Starving, actually."
We eat breakfast together—scrambled eggs and toast and surprisingly good conversation. They're funny and smart and I genuinely like them, which is a nice bonus on top of the incredible sex.
"So," Marcus says eventually, "can we... see you again? Or was this just a one-time thing?"
I consider. "You guys have phones?"
They all pull them out immediately and I laugh, entering my number in each one.
"Text me," I say. "We'll see what happens."
"All of us?" Liam asks.
"Why not? Last night proved we work well together." I grin. "Plus it's nice having options."
They leave around ten, each kissing me goodbye at the door like we're in some kind of reverse harem situation. I watch them go and then close the door, leaning against it with a satisfied smile.
Best. Christmas. Ever.
My phone buzzes a few minutes later.
Marcus: Last night was incredible. Thank you.
Liam: Still can't believe that happened. You're amazing.
Jackson: Same time next year? ;)
I laugh and send back a group text.
Me: Next year? How about next weekend?
The responses are immediate and enthusiastic.
I head to the shower, still smiling, already thinking about round two.
Because if there's one thing I know how to do, it's get exactly what I want.
And what I want is more nights like last night.
Merry fucking Christmas to me.
EMILIA.His tongue is perfect. He works me with exactly the right pressure and rhythm like he's been studying what I need. He probably has been. He notices everything else so why not this.I'm already too close. Can feel it building embarrassingly fast. Try to pull away."Don't," he says against me. "Let go. I want to taste it when you come."I come hard with his mouth on me and my hands fisted in those black curls and it's so intense my vision goes white.He doesn't stop. Just works me through it and straight into oversensitivity that borders on too much but doesn't quite cross the line.When he finally pulls back his mouth is wet and his eyes are darker than I've ever seen them."You taste even better than I spent three months imagining you would," he says."You imagined this?""Every night in this bed. Thinking about how you'd taste. What sounds you'd make. How you'd look when you came for me." He stands and starts unbuttoning his shirt. "Now I don't have to imagine anymore."I wa
EMILIAI don’t know why I let the words leave my lips. But I do anyway, “That makes two of us."We're looking at each other and something is happening in the space between us. Something that's been building for months and finally has nowhere else to hide."Emilia." The way he says my name makes my skin feel too tight."What?""Stop looking at me like that."Heat floods my face despite the cold air. "Like what?""Like you want to close the distance between us and see what happens when you do."I should deny it. Should laugh it off. Should do literally anything except stand here confirming what he just said with my silence."What if I do want that?" I ask instead.His jaw clenches hard enough that I can see the muscle jump. "Then you need to think very carefully about what you're starting.""Why?""Because this complicates everything that's already complicated. Because you're here under circumstances that make this questionable at best. Because once we cross this line there's no going
EMILIASeven months later, and my father still hasn't paid.Not that I expected him to.The house is familiar now in ways my old apartment never was. The third floorboard in the east hallway creaks if you step on the left side. Miguel works mornings and Torres takes over at eight. Eduardo drinks his coffee black at six AM while standing at his office window staring at nothing in particular.He doesn't sleep much based on the hours his office light stays on.He notices everything based on the way his eyes track movement even when he's pretending not to pay attention.I started noticing him noticing around month three and haven't been able to stop since.Late afternoon and the courtyard doors are open because someone decided fresh air was acceptable today. Eduardo is at one of the iron tables buried in paperwork that probably details someone's life falling apart in spreadsheets and signatures.His sleeves are rolled to his elbows. His hair keeps falling forward and he keeps pushing it b
EDUARDOThe girl sitting across from me hasn't blinked in forty seconds.I know because I've been counting.Her father is on his knees begging and she's just sitting there in that chair staring at the wall behind my head like if she doesn't look at me directly none of this is real.Smart girl."Please, Don Eduardo. Por favor. I just need more time. Two weeks. One week even. I can get you the money I swear on my mother's grave—""Your mother is alive, Carlos." I lean back in my chair and watch him grovel. "She lives in that apartment on Meridian that you pay for with money you don't have. So swearing on her grave doesn't carry much weight."He opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again like a fish drowning in air."Two hundred thousand," I say. "That's what you owe. Not including interest which at this point has compounded to another sixty.""I know. I know the number—""Do you? Because you keep acting like this debt is going to disappear if you just avoid me long enough." I pick up th
TULA.He pulls me against him and the feeling of our bodies pressed together with almost nothing between us makes my breath catch.He walks me backward until my legs hit the bed. I sit and he settles between my thighs.His hands move to my bra and he unhooks it without fumbling. He removes it and his eyes go even darker.“Jesus, Tula.”“What?”“You’re perfect.”“I’m really not.”“From where I’m standing you absolutely are.” His hands cup my breasts and I arch into the touch without meaning to.His mouth follows and I’m making sounds I didn’t plan on making.His hand slides down my stomach to the waistband of my underwear. He looks up at me.“Yes,” I say.He slides them down and I’m completely naked while he’s still in his boxers.“You’re staring,” I say.“I’m allowed to stare. I’ve waited six years for this.”His hand slides up my inner thigh slowly. When his fingers reach where I need them I stop breathing.He touches me carefully and makes a sound when he feels how wet I am.“This a
TULA. Declan is scrolling through his phone when I get back to him. He looks up and puts it away.“Ready?” he asks.“Yeah.”We leave together and the night air outside is cooler than I expected. I didn’t bring a jacket because I’m an idiot who forgot that April in Boston still gets cold at night.Declan notices me wrapping my arms around myself.“Here,” he says, shrugging out of his jacket.“I’m fine.”“You’re shivering. Just take it.”He drapes it over my shoulders before I can argue. It’s warm from his body and smells like him and I’m trying very hard not to think about how much I like that.The bar is three blocks away. Small and dimly lit with booths in the back that are mostly empty.We slide into one and a server comes over to take our order. Declan gets a beer. I get a gin and tonic because I need something stronger than wine right now.“So,” he says once we have our drinks. “Six years.”“Six years.”“That’s a long time.”“It is.”He takes a drink and I watch his throat work
NALINA.The water was wrong.I’d spent six years studying the ocean, and I knew when something was off. The research vessel rocked violently despite the calm surface, and my instruments were going haywire.“Dr. Whitter, you need to see this.” Trent, my grad assistant, pointed at the monitor. The d
TALI.The restaurant my mother chose is, of course, absurdly expensive.I show up fifteen minutes late wearing a black dress that's too nice for a family dinner, my hair still damp from the shower. I'm hungover and sore in places that remind me of last night, and I really, really don't want to be h
TALI.I manage to avoid Cain for almost a week.Which is impressive, considering our parents are constantly trying to arrange family bonding activities. I make excuses. Work. Friends. A sudden stomach flu.My mother's getting suspicious, but I don't care.Because every time I close my eyes, I see h
TALI.His apartment is obscene.Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city. Sleek furniture that looks like art. A kitchen that's bigger than my entire apartment. Everything's black and white and chrome, sterile and expensive."Drink?" he offers, heading to the bar."I've had enough.""Pr







