Annihilate Me: Holiday Edition

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:
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is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable
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book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means
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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.”