Merry Misfits Read online

  “Please don’t be upset about what I said. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. Being here with you could never be painful. Everything you do for me only reminds me how much you love me.”

  Leaning in, he kissed me lightly, licking over my lower lip before pulling back. “I do love you, Fletch. So much. And you didn’t make me feel bad, so never be afraid to share anything with me. I’ll always listen and try to understand. All I want is for you to be happy. I know I tend to be a bit overzealous when it comes to you—”

  Meow! Gwennie appeared, making her presence known and rubbing along my ankle before looping around one of Ethan’s.

  I glanced down and laughed. She had red tinsel on her back and a silver icicle stuck to her tail. She liked the Marvel tree as much as I did.

  “My God, we will be finding that stuff all over this apartment until next year!” Ethan groaned.

  “I hope so.” I snickered.

  “I apologize for being so—” he said, pausing while his big brain searched for a word.

  “Overprotective?” I supplied.

  “Adamant.” He corrected. I pursed my lips, making him sigh. “I just worry.”

  “I can take care of myself,” I insisted. “But I appreciate you worrying about me.”

  “So when does this, ah, job begin?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  He gasped. Sometimes he was very dramatic. “Tomorrow! It’s too soon.”

  “For what?” I wondered. “It’s December, so it’s not too early for people to come get a real tree.”

  “I have to work.”

  “So do I,” I insisted.

  “How long does this tree stand stay open?”

  “Until we run out of trees.”

  His eyes turned speculative.

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I told him, “Don’t even think about coming down there and buying them all.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he murmured.

  He was totally dreaming of it.

  Finally, he relented. “If anyone gives you a hard time, you’ll come home. Agreed?”

  “No one will give me any trouble.”

  “Fletcher.” The warning in his tone made me want to instantly obey.

  Despite it, I said, “I won’t come home.”

  Ethan’s sharp intake of breath made my heart rate spike. “What did you just say?” he nearly growled.

  His narrowed, glittering eyes watched as I came closer, reaching out to curl a hand around the pink tie at his neck. Caressing the silk while looking up from beneath my lashes, I replied, “I won’t come home if I have trouble. I’ll come find you instead.”

  His nostrils flared, and the poised Upper East Side prince lost composure as desire took over. “Are you teasing me?”

  I let the tie fall back against his chest. My ears grew warm, and I could already hear the blood hammering through my veins. “And if I am?”

  He started walking, backing me up until my legs hit the couch. Even still, he kept advancing, pushing me into the oversized cushions to cage me in with his entire body. “Then I’ll have to retaliate.”

  A little whine slipped from between my lips as I arched up toward him. He stayed rigid, not letting me mold against him.

  I was already buzzing with desire, already desperate to have his hands on me. I used his strong shoulders to pull myself up so my lips could brush against his ear. “Please, daddy.”

  That one word was all it took. Whatever was left of his composure snapped.

  3

  Ethan

  * * *

  Oh, this one.

  There was only one person on this earth who could rile me up and push me over the edge. One man who could stubbornly argue one moment, have tears shimmering in his honey-colored gaze the next, and then turn me inside out with need. I was in a constant altering state of wanting to hand him the world on a silver platter, protect him at all costs, and do very, very naughty things to him.

  Currently? It was totally the third.

  Clearly, it was exactly what he wanted as he riled me up and called me daddy. He knew exactly what that word did to me.

  I unwrapped his body like it was a gift I’d been given on Christmas morning. A gift I’d been dying to receive. Clothes flung over the side of the couch, and more littered the coffee table.

  He was lean and long, his shoulders and arms defined from all the violin he played. Golden hair fell over his forehead, and his pupils were already blown wide. The sound of his heavy breathing excited me, as did the way his bare chest rapidly rose and fell.

  Feeling starved, I latched onto one pink nipple to suck deep. He arched up, making a throaty sound, his hands fisting in my hair, holding me to him, something I allowed for long minutes because having his hands on me was something I loved.

  When both nipples were swollen and sensitive, I dragged my teeth up to his collarbone, and he turned his head immediately. Smiling, I gave him another light bite and pulled away.

  It took him a moment to realize I didn’t give him what he wanted, and when he did, he whined, trying to grab me back. “Ethan.”

  “What?”

  “You know…”

  “And do you think I should just give you what you want after the way you teased?”

  His hand curled around my tie and tugged. “Please.”

  “Please, what?”

  “Please, daddy.”

  His little shivers spurred me on as I caressed the skin of his stomach, swirling around his belly button before delving down toward his cock, which was already standing at attention. A low sound hummed from his throat when I stroked over his swollen head, but it turned into a strangled sound when I pulled back faster than he wanted.

  “No.” I decided, moving to stand.

  Pushing up onto his elbows, he stared at me, hunger and surprise glinting in his eyes. “Ethan?”

  I started away, then heard him pushing up to follow. “Wait.”

  I turned back, pinning him with a stare. “Be a good boy. Stay there.”

  He nodded, lowering back to the couch, but when I started walking again, he made a sound of distress. It took everything I had to keep walking, to not run back and reassure him, but I kept going. Even still, when I stepped into the foyer, out of sight, I kept all my focus trained on him.

  Opening the drawer of the console against the wall, I palmed the lube I always stashed there, then turned to grab something else as well.

  He was still on the couch when I came back, but he was leaning up, eyes focused over the cushions in the direction in which I’d gone.

  “I’m right here,” I told him softly, unable to resist.

  A brief flash of relief played over his features, and my chest swelled. Noticing what I had in my hands, his attention sharpened. “What are you doing?”

  I smirked, straddling his legs with my knees. Holding up a long length of red tinsel, I smirked. “You mean with this?” I asked, drawing it lightly across his nipples, watching them tighten under the feathery caress. “You seem to like it when the cat drags this stuff all over, so I figured I would drag it all over you.”

  The shimmering red strands quivered with my movements as it feathered over his stomach on its way to his shaft. Impatient, he reached down to stroke himself.

  “No,” I told him, brushing his hand away.

  His low whine tightened my dick and reminded me I was still fully clothed while he was completely bare. Taking the garland, I looped it around his dick, shimmying it lightly up and down the rigid length. He gasped and bucked up, reaching for himself, but I denied him again.

  “Kiss me.” He beckoned. Asking for the one thing I could never deny.

  Before giving in, I looped the tinsel around the base of his shaft, tying it into a red, shining bow tight enough to cause sensation but not pain.

  When it was done, I stroked the underside of his head, making him jolt. Sitting back, I admired my handiwork. “So pretty, my good boy. Do you feel like a present?”

  Moving re
stlessly, he puckered his lips.

  I growled, licking into him as our tongues swirled together. He kissed back greedily, arching into me and trying to rub his dick against my body. Without breaking the kiss, I reached between us to caress the inside of his thigh with the tail end of the garland. He shuddered, the kiss breaking with his moan.

  Tugging it farther, I dragged it to the underside of his balls, letting its silky texture rub over his crack. His hands turned impatient, tugging my dress shirt out of my trousers to sink his fingers into my back.

  I gave the bow a tug, making him pant. “Did I say you could touch me?”

  “Please,” he murmured, tugging again at my clothes.

  Pulling back, I reached for another length of tinsel, using it to tie his wrists together and pinning them above his head.

  “Ethan,” he whined, wiggling his fingers. “Wanna touch you.”

  “This is your punishment for teasing me, puppy. Now just lie there and take whatever I give you.”

  He pouted. It was cute, and I almost gave in. Almost. “What do you say?”

  “Yes, daddy.”

  My pants were uncomfortable, my dick straining against the fabric to get out, so I reached down and undid them, letting my throbbing cock breathe.

  His eyes were already hazy as he watched me move.

  “Fletcher.” I beckoned, making him look up. “Remember your colors, love.”

  Not long after he figured out my, ah, daddy kink, I set up a color system for him. My inner alpha could be quite demanding, and while I knew he loved it, I always worried about going too far.

  He nodded.

  “What color are you?”

  “Green.”

  “Green, what?”

  “Green, daddy.”

  I kissed him softly before attacking. The sounds of lips smacking and moans rose to the ceiling as I worked his body thoroughly, holding back just enough.

  His face would turn, offering up his neck every time I got close. I would deny the gesture, and every time, he would make a bereft plea.

  Draping one of his legs over the back of the couch, I went to work, sucking across his inner thighs, leaving ownership marks in my wake.

  “More.” He squirmed, lowering his hands from above his head.

  I bit down on his inner thigh, and he hissed a breath. “No.”

  His hands went back overhead, fingers sinking into the cushions as if that would keep them there. Smiling, I swirled my tongue around his hole, making his hips buck off the couch, pushing his body closer to my mouth. I chuckled, pinning him down with my forearm and licking over him again. And relentlessly again.

  My name echoed around the apartment, and my chest tightened with love and possession. By the time I was done, he was panting and whining, the tip of his cock glistened, and his entrance was wet even as I was reaching for the lube.

  Once my fingers were coated, I noted the way his shaft swelled around the tinsel, the bulbous head so flushed it nearly matched the decoration.

  Dipping a finger beneath the place where it was tied, I smoothed some of the slippery lube around it. “Color,” I demanded, worrying it had grown too tight.

  “Green.” He panted, lifting his hips.

  “Hmm,” I murmured, reaching down to tug the ends, making it tighten anew.

  He moaned, shoulders coming up off the couch. Leaving it tight, I leaned down, swallowing his head, taking him until my lips hit the place I’d tied.

  Forgetting his orders, he reached down, trying to free his hands.

  I slipped a single digit into his body, making him forget about what he was doing as he wiggled around my finger, trying to get me to move. I denied the action, leaving my finger deep inside him, unmoving.

  “Please, Ethan,” he begged. “Please no more. Don’t keep me away.”

  Just like that, I broke, thrusting my finger and tugging the tie around his cock free. He didn’t even wait for me to free his hands, instead using his teeth to tug the bow away.

  The tinsel was tossed aside, along with all of my clothes.

  “Touch me,” I invited. “Get as close as you can.”

  His legs twined around mine, pulling me in. Our tongues met, oddly not in a hurry, lazily dancing with the other, breaking free to explore every part we could reach before coming back to dance once more.

  My skin buzzed with the high of finally having his hands on mine, of having his body sprawled out under me for the taking. We were both so keyed up it didn’t take long for the kisses to turn fervent, our hips moving in sync as our erect cocks rubbed together, creating delicious friction.

  “I’m ready.” He panted, lifting his hips.

  I didn’t wait, thrusting into him with one push of my hips. Both of us groaned, my forehead falling onto the cushion above his shoulder.

  Pulling back, I thrust back in, feeling Fletcher’s nails curl into my skin. We moved and thrust in perfect sync, riding a wave of passion I’d only ever felt with him. I felt his body tighten, mine responding in turn.

  “Ethan.” He beckoned, dragging his fingers across my back.

  Pulling up just enough so I could look into his blissed-out face, I couldn’t help but smile. “What, love?”

  “Will you give me what I want now?”

  I smiled.

  He turned his head, offering up his neck. And I nuzzled against it, thrusting into his core anew.

  Arching up, he offered himself, and I latched on, sucking the love bite he wanted so much into the creamy skin of his neck.

  The ones I’d left last time had faded, and he was offering up this part of himself for a fresh mark that would basically brand him when he went into the Grimms tomorrow.

  I sucked a little deeper than probably necessary, and the moment I did, he came apart beneath me. As if he’d been waiting to let go right at this moment.

  Groaning, I eased up just a little as his release spilled between our bodies, marking us both. My lips went slack when I fell over the edge, spilling into his body, claiming him from the inside out.

  Even after I’d come down, we both shook with little aftershocks, and I turned drowsy under the way he stroked and rubbed my back.

  Finally, pushing up, I stared down through hazy vision. “I know we have this whole daddy kink thing between us, but I’d be a terrible dom.”

  His nose wrinkled. “Why?”

  “Because I’m not strong enough to deny you very long.”

  His swollen lips stretched out into a beautiful smile. “But this is just enough for me.”

  I chuckled. “Of course it is because I’m so soft for you.”

  He kissed my cheek, and I melted all over again. Rolling off to the side, I pulled him into my chest, wrapping my body around his.

  “I love you.”

  He echoed the same sweet words back to me.

  “I’ll never look at tinsel the same way again,” he remarked.

  I laughed. “Me either.”

  After a few quiet moments, I stroked over his hair. “Puppy?”

  “Hmm?” he said, staying pressed into my chest.

  “So Christmas… everything I’ve done so far and the things I’ve planned.”

  He lifted his head, staring at me curiously.

  “Is it okay? Should I scale back? Because I don’t need to do all of this. All I need is you.”

  He smiled a lopsided, sleepy, yet satisfied smile, and my heart turned over. “What else do you have planned?”

  I smiled. “So keep it?”

  He nodded once.

  I pulled him back against me.

  “Ethan?”

  “Hm?”

  “You know that all I need is you too. Right?”

  I kissed the top of his head. “I know, puppy. I know.”

  That’s why I’m going to make sure this is a magical Christmas for you.

  4

  Fletcher

  * * *

  Cold air blew along the streets, whipping around buildings, tugging at the scarves people wo
re, and making sure everyone knew winter was here.

  People still walked the streets because that’s what you did in New York City. Especially in the Grimms. I didn’t really like the cold. I spent far too long living in it to really enjoy it. But it was different today.

  Today, the cold air was less biting as it carried with it the scent of pine and the promise of fresh snow. I was tucked into a warm coat with a scarf and hat. On my feet was a brand-new pair of red boots Ethan gave to me at breakfast along with a pair of Sherpa-lined red mittens.

  “I don’t want you getting cold today,” he said.

  So no, the cold seemed a lot less frigid today. Maybe because my heart was so warm.

  “The place looks great, Mr. Holly!” I announced, standing back to take in the tiny makeshift shack that served as the Grimms only tree stand.

  “It’s a bunch of plywood and nails, Fletcher. It’s hardly a castle,” Mr. Holly grumbled. “C’mon and hang these wreaths up there.”

  “Okay!” I said, jumping to work.

  Because it was just a temporary stand, it really was basically a box framed out of wood, lined with some unpainted plywood nailed into place. We hung thick sheets of plastic around the openings at the sides and back to help keep out the wind. There was a rectangular window in the front, also lined with plywood, boasting a small counter made of the same.

  Inside the little shack was jammed with tree tags, the cashbox, twine, and a bunch of other stuff we might need. There was a small coffeepot too, but honestly, I thought the stuff inside looked like sludge, and I didn’t understand how or why Mr. Holly drank it.

  The plastic rippled a bit with the wind as I got to work hanging some of the handmade pine wreaths beneath the counter—aka I just nailed them up.

  Then I hung some above the window for display. When I was done, I stepped back to admire my handiwork. The little shack was also lined with some colored lights.

  On both sides, trees lined the sidewalk, leaning up against wooden stands. They were in various sizes and shapes. Some of them had long pine needles and some had short. We also had this machine that you could feed the trees through, and it would wrap them up in plastic netting to make it easier for people to carry them home.