At her nod of agreement, Jake again pulled her close and kissed her with an unexpected rawness. Gone was the gentle exploration of their first touch. Now it seemed as though he was determined to show her what he was feeling, and she didn’t know if she was ready for so much male dominance.
Even as her hands gripped his upper arms for support against his passionate onslaught, MacKenzie knew she should stop him. Unable to help herself, her hands began an upward journey, her palms finding and tracing each undulation of muscle that rippled beneath her tingling palms. He, Jake felt wonderful.
The progression of her hands continued upwards to his broad shoulders where they rested for only a moment before moving on. Without conscious thought, MacKenzie pressed closer to the warmth of Jake’s body. When her hands reached his throat, she ran the back of her fingers against it. Every inch of warm skin she touched sent tingles through her arms and into her body.
Moving from smoothness, MacKenzie became aware of the rasp of stubble that felt rough against her light touch. Her fingers continued across the nape of his neck and buried themselves in his hair, pulling his head closer.
With lips sealed, their tongues sparred, plunged and retreated. This was how Jake and MacKenzie shared their first touch of intimacy, with total abandon and no consideration of anything around them. It was only them.
**********
Jake was the first to pull away. Somewhere in the fog of his mind, he became aware of a change in the atmosphere around them. The sounds of merriment had stopped while they were still ensconced behind the huge tree. How long everything had quieted down, Jake couldn’t tell. What he knew, however, was that his family was still in the room. He also knew his family, especially Josh, and there was no way in hell they were going to escape being taunted.
Looking down at MacKenzie, Jake saw she too was now aware of the too quiet room. The mortification shining in her eyes had Jake dipping his head for one last swift kiss. The brace of her palms against his chest was all it took for him to know that their interlude was at an end.
“You go first. Then I want you to clear the room. If you can’t do it. I’m gonna wait those suckers out,” MacKenzie whispered through clenched teeth.
“I know you’ve met Josh. Do you honestly think I stand a chance of simply emerging from behind this tree and just asking nicely that they all leave the room?”
“Kissing behind this stupid tree was your dumb idea, so what do you plan to do about it?” At his blank look, MacKenzie continued speaking. “You better think of something Jacob because I don’t want to have to cuss your brother out!”
“Look, they’ve all probably figured out what we were doing back here, so we might as well face them now rather than later.”
“Oh, my God! Your father!” MacKenzie shrieked, forgetting that she was supposed to remain inconspicuous.
Grabbing hold of her hand, Jake pulled a surprised MacKenzie from their hiding place. The first thing he noticed was the absence of his father. The second thing he noticed was that his brothers and Aviva were all sitting down, drinks in their hands, their eyes riveted on the space they now occupied.
“Say nothing!” Jake informed the room at large.
“Man, you have got to be kidding me. This is way too good to let slide!” Josh threw back at him in a heartbeat.
“Joshua, I’m warning you,” Jake threatened, although his threat carried little heat as he was having difficulty suppressing a laugh at the way they were all sitting there staring at them.
“Whatever Jake,” Jason said, joining in. “MacKenzie, you do realize that once our father became aware of what was taking place behind the Christmas tree, he had to leave the room.”
Looking over at MacKenzie, Jake saw she was ignoring his brothers, her eyes fixed on Aviva as though imploring her to deny what they were saying. Turning back to Aviva, Jake was just in time to see her lower her eyes by way of confirmation of what her husband had said.
“Oh my Lord, I’m never gonna be able to look that man in the eyes ever again.”
“MacKenzie, are you aware that up until what just took place behind that tree, Jake was incorruptible. You lured him behind our Christmas tree and just like that,” Josh said with a snap of his fingers, “from the sounds you guys were making, he succumbed. Lady you’ve got skills.”
The look of horror on MacKenzie’s face was there one moment and gone the next. The quick change took Jake by surprise. But it was nothing compared to what she said next.
“Yeah, I kissed him behind the damn tree, so what? Look at y’all sitting there like the only thing missing is some damn popcorn. I bet y’all wished y’all had thought of it, and it was good too!” Realizing what she had said out loud in her vexation, MacKenzie paused long enough to give Jake a dirty look. “I said it was good, not great; you could do with some practice, so you can wipe that smug look off your damn face!”
“Damn, man she just shot your ass down!” Josh quipped to everyone’s amusement except, MacKenzie’s, who was the only one not laughing.