Frosted Midnight: A Christmas Novella by Breena Wilde, !2 NAs of Christmas

body slapping together. Another orgasm was building and I lay back, closing my eyes. He slowed, readjusting his body so he covered mine. I wrapped my legs around his hips. He tucked his arms under my shoulders and then pushed his hips so he went even deeper.
    I held his gaze, trying to focus, and bit my lip. He leaned down and suckled my lip away from my teeth and pressed into me again.
    “I love making love to you. I love you,” he said.
    “I love you too, Austin. And I fucking love the things you do to my body.”
    He smiled like a kid in a candy store. His eyes twinkled. “You ready to come again?”
    I rolled my eyes. “If you think you’re up to the challenge.”
    He rocked his hips into me again, letting my feel just how up to it he was.
    I gasped. He covered my mouth with a kiss.
    We moved as one, our bodies coming together seamlessly. He started out slowly and then moved his arms, angling himself so that he could get really deep. I could keep myself quiet any more.
    “Fuck me, Austin. Oh, God. Fuck me hard.”
    He moved faster and faster. My orgasm built quickly and I came to pieces under him.
    His orgasm happened right after mine. He gave one final thrust , then he rested his forehead against mine. Our noses touched. Our breaths mingled.
    And I realized anything was possible if we did it together.

 
     
     
    The doctor’s office was pristine : white walls, clean lines, modern furniture. A woman in her fifties sat behind a cherry wood desk. On it was a computer screen, a thick pen, and a cream file. I was guessing it was mine. Nothing else.
    The doctor wore a light gray suit with a white blouse, shiny taupe nylons, and black pumps. Her silvery-white hair was pulled back in a bun. She had the bluest eyes and thin silver reading glasses sat on the end of her nose.
    Austin was next to me, holding my hand. I’d taken all the tests and this was the moment when the doctor would give me the results, give it to my straight. I noted her stoic demeanor, the look of a woman who’d been delivering bad news for a really long time.
    “Well, Miss St. James.” She picked up my file and opened it, though I had the feeling it was out of habit and not because she didn’t already know what it contained. “Your results came back that you do in fact have a tumor sitting on your spine between the fourth and fifth vertebrae.” She paused. “I’m sure you’re aware of that.”
    I swallowed, nervous. Austin squeezed my hand. It wasn’t any easier getting crappy news the second time around, but I was doing it for the man next to me. He needed to hear what the doctor had to say.
    “Yes, I am,” I said crossing and uncrossing my legs. I’d chosen to wear a flowery sundress; even though it was mid-January, the weather in Dallas was a balmy seventy-six degrees.
    “Of course.” She cleared her throat and worried butterflies began zipping around in my stomach. “It seems,” she quickly glanced at Austin before continuing, “that there’s another, smaller mass between your third and fourth vertebrae…”
    I gasped.
    “As well as another between the first and second.”
    Austin sat up straight and squeezed my hand tighter.
    I couldn’t breathe. I tried to inhale but I couldn’t do it. I leaned over, hanging my head. Austin got out of his chair and kneeled next to me.
    “It’s alright,” he repeated over and over.
    But the more he said it, the more I didn’t believe it. I gritted my teeth and forced back any emotion. My hair had fallen into my eyes and I tucked it behind my ears. After several more deep breaths, I sat up straight. “I see. So what’s the prognosis?” I asked, staring at a point directly above the doctor’s head. I couldn’t look her in the eyes, and I sure as shit couldn’t look at Austin. One tumor was bad enough, but three? Shit. Shit. Shit.
    Austin knelt next to me a moment longer, but when he realized I wouldn’t look at him, he moved over to his seat.
    She cleared her throat. “I think