Gingerbread Man

watched the waves of pleasure wash over him as he began moving, too, thrusting in hard, fast, deeper, until he pushed her to the edge. She came, and she heard herself scream his name as she did. And then he drove into her once more, and went stiff as he held her and poured himself into her.
    Slowly, her warm muscles uncoiled, then relaxed, then seemed to purr in her body. Vince lifted himself off her, kissed her mouth, and gathered her gently into his arms.
    "Where are we going?" she asked as he got to his feet.
    "To bed," he told her. "How do you feel?"
    She opened sleepy eyes and smiled up at him. "Mmm."
    He looked at her, his eyes softer than she'd ever seen them as he lowered her onto her own bed, and reached for the covers.
    She reached out and grabbed him, tugged him in with her. "Don't go. Stay here. All night, right here."
    "I'll sleep if I stay in here," he said, his tone tender.
    She pushed him onto his back, slid her body on top of his, and kissed his neck. "Not for a while, you won't."
    * * *
    HE SANK INTO a slumber as contented as that of a well-fed baby when he'd finally managed to satisfy the redhead's appetite hours later. He hadn't intended to. Hadn't expected himself to be able to sleep even if he'd wanted to, given that he'd just experienced the most incredible night of sex he'd ever had, with a woman he'd been determined not to get involved with.
    He'd expected to lie awake contemplating that for a while.
    But he slept. And he didn't stir until the insistent pounding on the front door woke him up. Sunlight tried to perform laser surgery on his eyes when he opened them, so he slammed them closed again. Damn.
    "Someone's here," Holly muttered, lifting her head the smallest bit from his chest in order to say so.
    "I hear him."
    Her head came up higher, eyes just a little wider. "You think it's bad guys?"
    "Bad guys don't knock."
    She smiled, and dropped her head to his chest again. It was a dopey, crooked, half-asleep smile. The kind a woman who'd just had incredible sex would smile in the morning.
    He managed to get up onto one elbow, and she rolled onto her back and squinted up at him. Her hair was sticking up all over, and her eyes were scrunched into tiny slits. "Good morning," she said.
    "Morning, Red." Against his better judgment, he kissed her. That easy, that automatic.
    When he drew back she said, "I even like your morning breath."
    He rolled his eyes, wrapped himself in a blanket, then ran into the living room, picking up clothes as he went. He brought them all back into the bedroom again to put them on.
    Holly was pulling on a knee-length plaid flannel nightshirt, and jamming her feet into well-worn slippers.
    "It's probably Jerry," he said. "I emailed him before we left the cabin that we'd be here."
    "Mmm-hmm," she replied.
    Vince tucked his shirt in and headed back to the living room. Jerry stood on the other side of Holly's front door. He was cupping a hand beside his face, leaning forward, trying to peer through the glass between the tiny slit in the curtains. When he saw Vince, he smiled. Vince yanked the door open. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
    Jerry glanced at his watch. "Seven thirty-five. Why? You have a date?"
    As he said it, an odd sound, half yawn, half something else announced Holly's emergence from the bedroom. Looking past Vince, Jerry said, "Or maybe you already had one."
    "Watch it, partner."
    "So, who's the girl with the feather duster on her head?" Jerry asked. But he sent Holly a warm smile as he said it. "My guess would be, oh, lemme think... Holly?"
    "Come on, get your ass in here." Vince swung the door shut, and led Jerry toward the kitchen, which was the direction in which Holly was shuffling. "Holly Newman, Jerry, my partner."
    Holly nodded to Jerry and zombie-walked the rest of the way into the kitchen. "Coffee," she moaned.
    Jerry frowned at Vince. "Is she asking if we want some, or summoning it to appear?"
    "A little of both, I imagine. Just tell her yes, you'll have some."
    "Yes," Jerry said. "I'll have some."
    Her reply was a grunt, but she grunted while running water into the carafe, so that was probably a good sign. Vince pulled out a chair at the table. Jerry sat down, setting a huge box of doughnuts in the center, opening the lid. From across the room, Holly lifted her head and turned slowly like a wolf catching a scent of blood. Her gaze fell on the doughnuts. One eyebrow rose. Vince felt something warm and liquid in his belly, and told himself