Perdie bit back a smile at Bananas snoozing peacefully. “Good news, I shall offer you a reprieve.” She collapsed on the couch, her eyes heavy as iron. Absently she stroked the snoring dog’s head. “He has to go out before bed anyway. He’s fifteen.”
Perdie yawned big as her head fell against the back of the couch. “Gotta grab his leash and put my shoes on...” Another yawn overtook her.
A hand squeezed her knee. “I’ll take Bananas out for the night. Where’s his leash?”
She pointed vaguely towards the door. “Hung up over there.”
The weight besides her shifted, and she cracked an eye. Carter stood, gently placing Bananas on the floor.
“Okay...” she murmured. “But you gotta carry him up and down those stairs. He has a bad back...”
Carter’s voice...footsteps...the jingle of a collar...and then...everything faded to black.
Chapter Twenty-One
“DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW!”
“What the fu—” Perdie awoke with a start, moaning at the ear-splitting music blaring over her living room speakers. Her nose pushed into the cushion of the couch, and her back pressed hard into the hot torso of the man behind her. Oh, and that wasn’t the only thing pressed hard behind her.
“IN A ONE-HORSE OPEN SLEIGH!”
Carter’s arms flexed around her rib cage, pulling her tighter against him. “Agh...” He grunted, burying his mouth in the hair at the dip of her neck. “Are we being haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Past?” His voice was hoarse and he had to shout over the cheerful music.
“O’ER THE FIELDS WE GO!”
With some effort, Perdie extricated an arm out of Carter’s crushing embrace, his forearm slipping over her half-covered breast. She patted the edge of the end table until she landed on her phone.
“LAUGHING ALL THE WAY AH HA HA!”
Lucille, you asshole. Lucille had remote access to the stereo system in the condo. She rubbed one of her eyes to clear the blur, a false eyelash sticking to her index finger as she tried to focus on the screen, swiping to find the icon. A text from Lucille awaited her.
L: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
“Make it stop.” Carter shook his head against her neck.
“BELLS ON BOB TAIL RI—”
Silence fell over the room as Perdie tapped the right button. Phew. She let out a big exhale, her heart pounding from the startling wakeup. Her vision mostly cleared, which gave her a view of Carter’s large hand covering her left breast, exposed from the loose opening of her robe.
Then her eyes slammed shut at the piercing throb at her temple. Oh, that’s right. Hangover of the millennium reporting for duty.
“Carter...” Perdie strained against him but only succeeded in rubbing her ass on his dick.
He sucked in hard, palm squeezing.
She struggled again, and this time, his hips rocked into her slowly, a little moan escaping from her mouth despite herself. “Hey, I gotta...”
His hips were still moving, his erection still frictioning against the silky material.
“Stay...” His breath was harsh in her ear. “Mmm...”
The opposing forces of lust and nausea combined with her entrapment-induced panic. “Hey...let me...ahhh...so hungover...”
“I’ve got a cure for that hangover.” He flipped her roughly in his arms, greedy lips pressing against her sternum where the material of her robe parted. He trailed kisses between the valley of her breasts towards her stomach.
She giggled, forgetting her ailments, but grabbed his hair before he could head lower. “Stop.”
He blew a raspberry against the soft skin of her belly, pulling another peal of painful giggles from her.
“Agh, god, no, everything hurts.”
His voice was muffled. “Lie back, and I’ll make it all better...”
She walked her fingers from his hair to his neck, fisted the collar of his shirt, and yanked his face to hers. His hair was tousled and eyes dark and hooded. Damn you, hangover.
“The only cure is a hot shower. And weed. And maybe some coffee.” Her fingers released his collar.
He strained on his elbows, hovering above, like he might snatch her into that crushing embrace of his. But instead he leaned close and planted a feather-soft kiss against the side of her eyebrow, his eyelashes tickling her skin.
He rolled away, dropping unceremoniously off the side of the couch with a thud, groan, and a laugh. At the commotion, Bananas unfurled himself from beneath the blanket on the opposite end of the couch and jumped to the floor to investigate.
“Agh. Bananas,” Carter spit out, thrashing his head as the dog stepped all over his chest, his squished snout rooting around and grunting into Carter’s face.
A silent laugh threatened to take over, and Perdie squeezed her eyes shut. “Stop making me laugh. It hurts my head.”
Carter scooped Bananas into his chest, cradling him like a football, then rose to his feet. “I’ll make the coffee. Go shower.”
With a degree of pain, Perdie stood, yanking the sash of her robe closed. She let the backs of her knees press against the couch to steady her body and jutted her hip. Her hair fell over one eye like a model. “Still think I look like a dream?” Her voice scratched.
