Annihilate Me: Holiday Edition Read online

  ANNIHILATE ME, VOL 5:

  HOLIDAY EDITION

  by

  Christina Ross

  For my dear friends.

  And my family.

  And especially for all of my wonderful readers.

  Happy holidays to all of you.

  Copyright and Legal Notice: This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights.

  Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the author.

  First ebook edition © 2013.

  Disclaimer:

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to persons living or dead (unless explicitly noted) is merely coincidental. Copyright © 2013 Christina Ross. All rights reserved worldwide.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  ANNIHILATE ME, VOL. 5

  Holiday Edition

  By Christina Ross

  CHAPTER ONE

  December

  New York

  Alex and I were sitting in the living room sipping martinis after a long day’s work when out of nowhere he asked if I had any specific plans for the holidays. I screwed up my face and just looked at him.

  “Obviously, I’m spending them with you.”

  He held up his glass and touched mine. “Perfect.”

  “Did you think that I wouldn’t be?”

  “No, I had a feeling you would be. So, on to the next question.”

  “What are you up to?”

  “Just hear me out. I have an idea.”

  “Which means we need another round of drinks.”

  “Very funny.”

  “What’s your idea, stud?”

  “How about if we spend it in Maine? Get out of the city. It’ll probably be snowy there, which would be romantic. Remember the fireplace in the living room?”

  I did remember it. “It was beautiful. And huge.”

  “You should see it in full ablaze. It’s fantastic. So is the ocean in Maine this time of year, as if you don’t already know that. After everything we’ve just been through, I think we need to get the hell out of Manhattan and spend some time away. So, why not Maine? We could chop down a Christmas tree on the property, decorate it, make dinner, open presents, have sexy times—the whole thing.”

  “Sexy times?”

  “Why not?”

  “You’re killing me. As if we wouldn’t have them otherwise.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “We’ll just need to be more creative this time.”

  “I don’t know how much more creative you can get. The other night? That thing you did with your tongue—”

  “That’s not really what I meant.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s another part of my plan.”

  “What other part?”

  He sipped his martini. “Just this other minor part.”

  “How minor?”

  “OK, maybe not so minor.”

  I just looked at him. “And you’ve also got this planned?”

  “I’ve totally got this planned. But I haven’t set anything into motion yet because first I needed to run it by you.”

  “So, let’s hear about this plan of yours.”

  “I know you don’t want to be away from Lisa over the holidays, so why not bring Lisa and Tank with us? The house is certainly big enough. You saw how many bedrooms are there, and each has its own attached bath. Privacy for everyone, which is important.”

  “Because of the sexy times?”

  “That, and something else.”

  “What’s the something else?”

  “I’m figuring why just stop with the four of us?”

  “Oh, Jesus....”

  “Why not bring Blackwell and her two daughters with us? They both just flew in this week from university for winter break, and there’s more than enough room for seven of us. I’ve actually had several holidays with Blackwell. You can imagine the hilarity.”

  “Actually, I can see that. And I’d love to meet her daughters. What are their names again?”

  “Alexa and Daniella.”

  “I don’t think Blackwell ever told me their ages.”

  “Alexa is twenty-one and Daniella is twenty-two.”

  “They’re close to my age. And Lisa’s.”

  “So, what do you think? We’ve got ten days before Christmas. I say we go down on the twenty-third and leave on the twenty-sixth. That will give us plenty of time to decorate, buy food from the Ellsworth Hannaford, make sure that we are well-stocked on champagne, wine and other spirits, and have plenty of DVDs in case we want to watch movies. You know, like It’s a Wonderful Life. Who doesn’t watch that movie on Christmas Eve? We’ll make a party of it.”

  “I’m down with it. But here’s the thing. Lisa and Tank haven’t had their own sexy times yet. They’re closer, for sure, but they still haven’t gone there yet. What do we do with them?”

  “Again, plenty of bedrooms. One for you and me, one for Alexa and Daniella, one for Blackwell, and there are two other rooms in case Tank and Lisa would prefer sleeping in separate bedrooms.”

  “Or maybe they won’t.”

  “You never know.”

  “Maybe we’ll hear them creeping between bedrooms in the middle of the night.”

  “Anything’s possible.”

  “We need to get the word out tomorrow before anyone makes plans, if they haven’t already.”

  “And if they have, that’s fine.”

  “I know that Lisa hasn’t.”

  “And I know that Blackwell always stays in the city at Christmas.”

  “Blackwell hasn’t been to Maine in the winter?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “If she agrees to this, talk about a fish out of water.”

  “Just think of the potential.”

  “Tank is the question mark. I don’t know how he spends his holidays. Does he typically go home?”

  “Sometimes. He did last year, but he didn’t the previous year. So, it might be every other year, but I’m not sure.”

  “So, we start in the morning. You work on Tank, I’ll handle the others.”

  “Excellent.” He put down his drink on the table in front of him. “Now, come over here.”

  “How close do you want me? I’m practically in your lap.”

  “In fact, I want you in my lap.”

  “Oh, I see.” I shot him a demure look and put down my cocktail on the coffee table. “Well, if you insist, Mr. Wenn.” I lifted myself up, sat in his lap and touched his nose with my finger. “You know, you’re the hottest Santa I’ve ever met. Unusually young, fit and handsome. No belly. And your stubble is sexy—I have none of that messy white beard to deal with.”

  He kissed me on the lips. “You don’t say?”

  “I do say. And
after that kiss, certainly you are the freshest Santa I’ve ever met.”

  “So, what would Jennifer like for Christmas?”

  “Exactly what I’m sitting on.”

  “But that’s already yours. You must want something.”

  “World peace?”

  “I’m being serious.”

  I thought about it for a moment, but came up blank. “I have everything I want. The most important thing is you. But I know that’s not going to be enough for you. I know you want to get me a present, just as I want to get you one. I’ll come up with something, but only if you do. So, what would you like?”

  “I have to admit that I have given it some thought.”

  “And?”

  He held me closer and pressed his lips against my ear, which sent tingles throughout my body, as it always did. I don’t think I’d ever get tired to that, and I didn’t want to. In a low voice, he said, “Maybe setting a date for our wedding?”

  “But that sounds like a gift to me.”

  He smiled at that. “Then let’s consider it a mutual gift. How about It?”

  I snuggled closer to him and put my head on his chest. He was wearing a heavy cashmere cardigan sweater that was so soft to the touch, it felt wonderful against my cheek. But everything beneath that sweater? That was just rock hard.

  “I think that would be a perfect gift to give each other. So, how about this? You give me a general idea of the wedding date you’re thinking of, and I’ll do the same. Together, we’ll join forces and agree to a date. And then we’ll surprise everyone over Christmas with the news. Does that work?”

  “Provided we can get them there.”

  “I think we can. Tank is the only one who might have plans that neither of us know about. So, let’s see what happens.”

  “You know what I’d like to do right now?”

  “Maybe what I’d like to do?”

  With ease, he lifted each of us off the sofa and carried me into the bedroom.

  “I hope Santa isn’t so old that he needs Viagra,” I teased him when he laid me down onto the bed.

  “Don’t worry,” he said as he removed his sweater and tossed it onto the floor. “Santa’s stocking is well stuffed.”

  “Santa’s gifted.”

  With the city’s lights glimmering behind him, he pulled his T-shirt over his head and removed his jeans. I looked at the formidable bulge in his boxers, and took off my shirt and bra while he unbuttoned my pants and pulled them off me.

  “Me first,” he said. He tugged at my red panties and tossed them across the room.

  “Now, it’s my turn.” I released him from his boxers, which always was a welcome if intimidating sight. Once he’d stepped out of them, I flung them against the windows. “What a show we’re giving the neighbors,” I said.

  He crawled on top of me. “Does that turn you on?”

  He wasn’t joking—he was serious. I’d never considered it before. Obviously, there could be someone in one of the buildings across Fifth who might be able to see us when we made love. Hell, someone might even have a telescope—it wasn’t uncommon in the city. Many had telescopes. Did the idea that someone might be watching us turn me on? I blinked at the thought.

  When he entered me, he asked me again. “So? Does it?”

  I put my arms around him, felt his velvety skin against mine, and then I reached down to grasp his heavy arousal when he withdrew. I cupped his balls in my hands, tugged lightly on them because I knew he liked that as much as I did, and then I met his second thrust with my own as he pushed deep inside of me. It always took me a moment to get accustomed to his length and girth, but when I was, I said, “Maybe.”

  “Just maybe?”

  “Maybe a little more than maybe.”

  His lips met my mouth and then, in one fluid motion, he lifted me into his lap so I was fully facing the windows. I rode him, aware that my face and my breasts were now bared to whomever might be watching. If they were watching. That was the part that unexpectedly excited me. Who knew if someone was watching? The room was dim. If they were watching, could they see anything? I had no idea.

  When he brought me to orgasm the first time, I decided I really didn’t care. I just kept riding him, losing myself in him, running my fingers through his hair and my fingernails over his chest while his tongue probed into my mouth, and then flicked over my nipples. As our lovemaking became rougher and more intense, I said almost breathlessly, “You like it, too, don’t you?”

  “What if I do?”

  With finesse, he turned me over so I was on my back and looking up at him. He appraised me for a moment, I saw the lust in his eyes, and then he turned sideways to the windows and gave one slice of New York the potential of seeing Alexander Wenn fully naked and aroused.

  He thrust out his hips, leaned back, reached for his cock, and stroked the length of it. Then he glanced mischievously at me before he faced the windows completely. When he turned his back to me, I could see his arm moving in the dark.

  “You’re amazing,” I said.

  “Come over here to the window. Put your hands on either side of it.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “If anyone is watching, why stop now?”

  I got out of bed, pressed my palms against the window, and he entered me with one thrust. I gasped. He reached for my hair, grabbed a handful of it, and then he pulled my head back as he became unusually aggressive with me.

  At one point, I almost wanted to laugh. What was I doing? With my head jerking up and down, all the lights of New York blurred to the point that it looked as if it was snowing.

  He reached around me and cupped my breasts while he continued to ram into me. He pinched my nipples, and buried his head against the back of my neck. As usual, the stubble was all it took. I didn’t know what it was about it, and I didn’t care. I bucked against him, he slammed into me, and each of us climaxed at the same time.

  We fell back onto the bed and he kissed each of my breasts before he unexpectedly entered me again. How could he have become erect so quickly? I didn’t care. I was lost in him.

  In my ear, he said, “I love you, Jennifer. You are the most perfect, beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Thank God you’re here. I’m so happy that we’re together.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The next morning at Wenn, I went straight to Blackwell’s office. She was seated at her desk with a cup of black coffee in one hand while she flipped through the Times with her other hand. I knocked on her door, she looked up at me, and then she did a double-take.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Why would there be anything wrong with me?”

  “You look ten years older than you did yesterday.”

  “I do not.”

  “Don’t tell me what I’m looking at. You look exhausted.”

  “I didn’t exactly get much sleep last night.”

  “Why? Everything is behind us now. You should be fine.”

  “I’m perfectly fine,” I said, leaning into the room and lowering my voice. “Alex had his way with me last night. Turns out we might be exhibitionists—”

  “Jennifer!”

  “Well, we might. For a while there, my boobs were bared to the world. And then there was Alex. He stood in front of the window at one point and—”

  “Stop. Too much information. You know that none of that is good for work. Moderation is what you two need, and STAT. Do it on the weekends, for God’s sake. Fridays and Saturdays. Then you can sleep it off on Sundays. Certainly that should be enough. I can’t have you coming in to work looking like the hot mess you are today. You have a reputation to hold up here. You’re engaged to Alex. Don’t think that people aren’t scrutinizing you even more because of that. Show some restraint, for God’s sake, and have some self-respect.”

  “Are you finished?”

  She reached behind her for her purse. “No. Come here for a moment. At least let me fix your face.”

  “My face is fine.”


  “Not with those dark circles under your eyes it isn’t. Here. Come here. That’s right. Bend down. You need just a touch of concealer here and here, a bit of powder all over there, some lipstick, and then you’ll be fine.”

  I let her have at me and then I stood when she was finished. “Do I pass inspection now?”

  “Not quite. Fix your skirt. It’s crooked.”

  I did. “Are you like this with your daughters?”

  “Are you joking? They’d have none of it.”

  “Then why should I have to go through it?”

  “Because you’re obviously in desperate need of me. After all these months, you still need me.” She put her hand to her chest. “And I’m here for you. I really am.”

  “You know where I really need you?”

  “The city clinic?”

  I rolled my eyes and took the seat opposite her. “I need you in Maine.”

  “How was that?”

  “I need you in Maine.”

  “Come again?”

  “Maine.”

  “Where is that?”

  “In Maine.”

  “I’ve never heard of Maine.”

  “The hell you haven’t.”

  “Oh, please. Who goes to Maine?”

  “Hello. Half of your friends have summer homes there. You’ve been to Maine dozens of times. Alex told me. You use to go with his mother during the summers.”

  “Key word, Jennifer. Summer. Summer. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s now winter. Winter. Snow has let loose from the sky. Leaves have shed themselves from the trees. No one goes to Maine in the winter. And why in the world would they? For me, it brings back images of the Soviet bloc.”

  I just looked at her. “Seriously?”

  “Well, at least the Soviet bloc in winter.”

  “What do you know about winter in Maine?”

  “Nothing. Which is how I’d like to keep it.”

  “What if you came with us for Christmas?”

  “Christmas?”

  “I assume you’ve heard of Christmas?”

  “Maybe in passing. I will say that there always seem to be sales around this time of year. And you know how I feel about sales. They are auctions for the unwanted. They are for items that were overlooked, dismissed or, worse, returned. I’ll have nothing to do with them.”