Stockings and Suspenders (28 page)

“Miranda, I need you to stop that.”

She stopped and pulled back. “Why?”

“I don’t want to cum in your mouth. I
want more of you than that.”

She stood and in seconds her clothes
joined his in the pile on the floor. Miranda grabbed his hands, placed them on
her breasts, and whimpered when his thumbs brushed against the taut peaks
beneath the lace material of her bra.

Reaching behind her, Craig undid the
snap of her bra in one fluid motion and slid the straps down her arms until it fell
to the floor. He pulled her body tight against his. Skin-to-skin, Miranda
couldn’t escape the heat of his body. And she craved more.

“Craig.” She pulled his head down and
tugged his lip between her teeth. “Take my pants off now.”

He obviously didn’t need any
encouragement. As soon as she was naked, he stepped back and looked at her, his
gaze hungry. “You’re beautiful.” Miranda climbed back on the couch, pulling
Craig down with her. He tasted each breast, his tongue teasing her flesh until
she arched up off the sofa. Wetness pooled between her legs, and Miranda spread
her legs wide as he moved lower down her body. When she felt the first lick on
her pussy, electricity surged through her.

Craig grabbed her ass and lifted her
body to feast upon her. Miranda fisted her hands in his hair and pulled hard as
his tongue swirled and lapped at her clit. “Craig, I want you inside me.” She
let out a shuddering breath. “Now.”

She expected him to ignore her, but
his mouth abandoned her clit, and he slid his thick, heavy cock into her with
one swift motion. Miranda tightened around him, the heat building within her as
he thrust, pushing deeper with each stroke. She matched his hunger, tilting her
hips to give him better access.

“Harder,” she begged. The pressure
continued to build as Craig grabbed her ass and with his fingers digging into
her flesh, drove his cock deep within her.  She no longer cared who was in
control, just wanted the satisfaction of release.

The orgasm shot through her, and
Miranda dug her nails into his back as she screamed his name. Craig trembled as
he came, too. The last shock spread between them, and he kissed her, his lips
feeding on hers with the same heat they’d just shared, before relaxing against
her body.

Miranda pushed a strand of hair out of
his face. “What are you thinking?”

“I’d like you to stay the night,” he
said, looking up so their eyes met. “If you’d be okay with that.”

She smiled. “I’d like that very much,
but I have just one small request.”

He raised a brow.

“Can we take this party to the
bedroom?”

Chapter Three

Craig was riding on a high when he
arrived for work. He’d spent almost every night for the past few weeks with
Miranda, and they’d managed to keep their business to themselves. They didn’t
need gossip at work tearing them apart, or making them tabloid-fodder.

He walked into his office with a
smile, and stopped when he found Ellie sitting at his desk with a grim look on
her face.

“William’s in the hospital.” Her eyes
were puffy and red. “He’s not doing well.”

Craig embraced her in a hug. “Oh,
Ellie, he’ll pull through this.” He patted her back as she sobbed on his
shoulder. “You’re brother’s a fighter, always has been.”

“Who’s going to play Santa?” She
pulled back and wiped her eyes. “We’re days away from Christmas.”

“Me. Go on and get down there. Don’t
tell Miranda.” He laughed.

“You’re bad.” She hugged him one more
time and then left him alone in the office.

Craig moved toward the warehouse. He
didn’t have time to check messages or read e-mails. He had exactly half an hour
to get into costume and greet the cheery faces of the little kids who came to
tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

Fully dressed in his velveteen suit,
Craig walked up behind Miranda who stood poised at the counter logging in
picture packages from the previous day. He made sure no one was around to see
and wrapped his arm around her, pulled her tight and whispered in her ear.

“So, little girl, what would you like
Santa to give you this year?” he said in his deepest, sexiest voice.

Miranda spun around. “William, this is
not the time for silly games.” Then she looked him in the eye and smacked his
arm. “Damn it, Craig, what are you doing in Will’s suit?”

“He’s out sick. I wanted to tell you
Ellie’s kind of upset about it, so unless she brings it up, don’t.” He touched
her cheek. “If you’re a good girl today, Santa’s got a candy cane for you
later.”

She looked at him and her lips curved
up in a wicked grin. “I’ll just bet he does.”

Craig couldn’t focus and found his
attention went to Miranda’s curves in the tiny uniform more than once during
the day. As kids rattled on about this toy or that game, his thoughts wandered
to bending Miranda over the chair and fucking her brains out.

Miranda bumped his knee. “Craig, it’s
time for lunch.”

He looked her in the eye. “Are you
hungry?”

“Yeah. I want my candy cane.”

He looked around her to Ellie who was
busily fretting with the camera. “My office, five minutes.” Miranda nodded, and
Craig walked off in a rush.

“We can’t do this here.” Miranda
giggled as Craig locked his office door. “What if someone comes to the door?”

“They’ll just have to wait.” Craig
laughed. “Santa promised you a candy cane, and he never breaks a promise.”

“Are you going to take off the suit?”
She raised a brow.

“Nope.” He shook his head as he approached
her and pressed his lips to hers.

* * * *

The final days before the holiday were
a blur. At closing time on Christmas, Miranda stood and counted her photo
packages. The total was where she needed it to be and she did a happy dance.

Ellie looked at her with a curious
expression. “What are you so happy about?”

Miranda thought twice before she
opened her mouth about her agreement with Craig. “Just glad that tomorrow is
Christmas, and this whole elf thing is over.” She marked down her total on a piece
of paper and tucked it in the pocket of her vest. “How’s Will?”

Ellie smiled. “Much better. He said to
tell you thanks for the flowers.” She glanced around the store. “Go on and go.
Young girl like you probably has huge plans for the holidays.”

Miranda hugged her. “Thanks, El. Have
a merry Christmas.”

“You, too, sweetie.” Ellie squeezed
her tight and then stepped back to the computer to wrap up the final paperwork.

Miranda ran to Craig’s office, but his
door was closed, something he never did. She pressed her ear to it and heard a
female voice.

“Come on, let’s do it in your office
like old times.” The woman said, her voice deep and seductive.

“No.” A familiar male voice responded.

Miranda pulled away and turned to face
Craig, who’d snuck up behind her. “You scared me half to death,” she said and
pressed a hand to her heart. “If you’re out here, who’s in there?”

“My father.” Craig frowned. “Do you
have plans tonight?”

Miranda nodded. “Going to see my
parents for dinner before they leave.”

“Oh, well, never mind then.” Craig
glanced down at the piece of paper she held in her hand. “What’s that?”

She laughed. “I came up here to
gloat.” She held the paper out, and made sure her fingers lingered on his
longer than necessary when she reached for it. “I won.”

“Wow, you almost doubled what I
challenged you to do.” He looked at her, his eyes wide. “You’re amazing.”

“Thank you.” She turned back toward
the door as the sound of something banging against it became too loud to
ignore. “I think that’s my cue to go.” She made sure they were alone and kissed
his lips. “Would you like to meet my parents?”

Craig seemed taken aback by her
question, and stood silent for a moment. He glanced at his closed office door
one last time. “I’d love to.”

“Great.” Miranda kissed his lips again.
“Pick me up at seven.” She breezed past him, elated that he’d agreed on the
impromptu meeting. “And Craig.” She turned to face him. “Don’t wear the suit.”

He laughed and nodded.

Miranda walked to her car, her palms
sweaty, and her head swimming. She’d never invited a man home to meet her
parents, but she needed him to be there. She wanted her father to see that
she’d not only kept a job for over a month, but that she’d excelled at it.

As she drove to her apartment, Miranda
realized that Craig had become an important part of her routine. She could do
without the late nights and lavish parties. She had more fun staying home with
a rented movie and some take out with him. And though she worked at a
department store, she hadn’t spent one penny of any of her paychecks on clothes
and shoes.

It was time to discuss her trust fund
with her father, and to talk about the other big decision she’d made for her
life.

* * * *

Craig’s phone rang as he drove across
town to Miranda’s apartment. He looked at the screen and saw Benny’s picture
and name on the caller ID. He was tempted not to answer. Benny had been a royal
pain in the ass ever since he’d hired Miranda.

“Hey, Benny,” he said into the phone.
“What’s up?”

Benny’s response was muffled by loud
music. “You gotta come down to Leo’s.”

“I can’t. I have plans.”

“Dude, it’s Christmas Eve.” Benny
sounded annoyed. “We always party at Leo’s, its tradition.”

“I’m meeting Miranda’s parents
tonight.” Craig made the turn into her apartment complex. “You’ll have to
celebrate without me.”

“You’ve got it bad for this girl. When
do I get to meet her?”

Craig thought about it. He wasn’t sure
Miranda was ready to meet Benny. The man was a good friend, but he was
sometimes over the top and had ruined more than one relationship for Craig in
the past. “Soon. Look, I’m here to pick her up. Have fun.”

Craig hung up the phone and made his
way up two flights of stairs to her floor. He knocked on the door and waited.

“You look beautiful,” Craig said and
kissed her cheek as she let him in. When he saw the elegance of her dress, he
was glad he’d chosen the black dress slacks, button-down shirt, and tie
ensemble. He was also thankful he’d secured his hair at the nape of his neck
instead of letting it hang loose. He knew what it was like to be bred from
wealth and privilege and wanted to make a good impression with her parents.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I’m so glad you agreed to come.” She pulled a box out of her purse and handed
it to him. “I got you a little something.”

Craig looked at her and raised his
brow, frustrated that he hadn’t thought to bring her a small gift. He was
saving her official present for their cruise. “You shouldn’t have gotten me
anything.”

“Just open it,” she said and rolled
her eyes. “It’s nothing big, but I wanted you to have it.”

The black leather frame held a photo
of them dressed in the costumes.

“When was this taken?” he asked, and
smiled as he looked down at it again.

Miranda laughed. “A few days ago. I
slipped Ellie twenty bucks and told her to take it without you knowing.”

“Very sneaky.” He kissed her lips. “I
love it. Thank you.” As much as he wanted to take her in his arms and make love
to her, he didn’t want to be late for dinner. “Ready?” “As I’ll ever be.” She
took his hand and they made their way down the stairs to his SUV.

She didn’t speak on the ride to her
parent’s house except to give him directions. Craig noticed she seemed distant,
and kept rubbing her hands together in her lap. As he parked in the driveway,
he turned to look at her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes.” She reached over and patted his
cheek. “I’m fine.” She smiled, but he could tell it was fake.

Inside the house introductions were
made and dinner was served. Craig found himself very comfortable with her
family. He talked business with her father, complimented her mother on the
wonderful meal, and made sure they knew how amazing he thought their daughter
was.

After dinner Miranda slipped away to
speak with her father in private and he entertained her mom with stories of
their holiday experience at the store. Craig gave her space, but after an hour
he excused himself to go find her.

“If you thought bringing your boss
here to schmooze up with me was the answer to all your problems, you’re wrong
Miranda.” Her father’s voice was stern.

“I didn’t bring him here to play
supporter for me.” Miranda let out a sigh. “I’m in love with him.”

Craig wasn’t sure he’d heard her
right, and he couldn’t move from his perch outside the den door. He didn’t mean
to pry into their private conversation, but he needed to hear more.