Winter Heat

Author's note: Hi, this is my first ever attempt at writing an erotica. My writing skills in general have degraded as I haven't written anything in the past 6 years so I apologize if this isn't up to the standard, and I hope you would be willing to look past any awkwardness and mistakes. I aim to get better with practice over time, and I would appreciate all sorts of feedback and constructive criticism. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this piece!

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Lia's eyes followed Cole as he moved across the kitchen, as it always did whenever he was doing something in her presence. His muscles flexing under that figure-hugging shirt he wore, which he rarely ever did, and she couldn't be more thankful to the heavens above that she was getting to witness him in such rarity. Personally, she was taking it as her present from Santa considering how her flight to her hometown got cancelled today due to such poor weather and she would have to spend the holidays alone since it's near impossible to get an affordable ticket the night before Christmas. 'The least they could do to be honest,' thought Lia, thinking about the generosity of the heavens above. Meanwhile, she had no clue why the hell Cole was working a shift here and not on his way to his hometown already.

They both worked in the kitchen of a local restaurant in midtown, and from the moment she laid eyes on him, Lia had a crush. They have been working together for almost a year now and try as she may, she couldn't get over him! And it was frustrating Lia to no end. Mostly because, as she found out about 3 months of working here, Cole was in a committed relationship with his girlfriend who used to work at the same place and had left to pursue other career opportunities just before Lia joined. She never met the girl, so she didn't know how she was, but a part of her couldn't help but feel bitter and sort of jealous that she was so lucky, because Cole had to be the sweetest guy Lia ever met. He was genuinely kind and a perfect gentleman, and the more parts of his personality she uncovered, the more she wanted him.

At first, she found him to be quiet and calm, not really talking to anybody much. But Lia was determined to get closer to him, 'I mean, as long as I don't order from the menu, I can still look at it,' is what she thought to justify it. As she got to know him, he became friendlier and she fell hard. When his face scrunched up as he laughed, when his hair would go all over the place when the wind hit his face, when he carried all those heavy items she couldn't even pick half of, and those moments when their hands touched, Lia felt the electricity and shivered. And her mind churned out some graphic images. She couldn't help it, this dude was irresistible! How was she supposed to NOT fall for him when he would tenderly ask her if she was okay when she accidentally burnt her fingers on the stove, or when he would take her to the corner to treat her for her burns, or when she would go into the storage to cry out her stress and he would be outside with a cold lemonade to make her feel better? And when he leaned over to say something quietly to her and his rich deep velvety voice made her weak in the knees, and when it would go even lower when he's mad at something, it only made her imaginations that much wilder.

The nights she had had with wild dreams of Cole running his large hands and his lips all over her naked body, were starting to make her lose her mind a little bit. When she walked into her place of work when the dreams first started and saw the object of her dreams just casually moving around the kitchen with his hair all wet, she could barely utter a word. When she continued staring at him, he paused to explain, "Oh hey, yeah accidentally got sprayed with water while washing this ladle," and another coworker walked by to say "it was so funny! You should've seen!"

She barely registered a word he said because ALL she could focus on was the water dripping down the side of his head, down his neck, down through.... And then she heard, "Lia!

Move!" from the chef and then she was running in a frenzy, her face turning crimson from the influx of dirty scenarios in her mind.

At night, when she was alone with her thoughts, Lia couldn't help but think back to those scenarios popping up in her head. Before she knew it, there she was, imagining all the places the droplet of water was going to. How his skin looked, barely visible through the soaked part of the white t-shirt he was wearing, and before long, she was imagining how it would feel, running her hands over his bare chest, when his skin would be sort of prickly because of the cold. His nipples under her fingers and all the ways she could get a response out him by slightly grazing them on her way to feel those pecs of his, and down to his abs, that she knew he had when she saw his t-shirt riding up that one time he was taking off his sweater. There was a line of hair down the middle of his stomach, disappearing into the waistband of his pants, and she imagined her fingers following the line-

'Oh my god Lia STOP' her mind screamed at her. She shook herself to get out of that daydream and tried to calm her breathing down. This was getting out of hand. And the burning of desire in the pit of her stomach was getting bigger, the throbbing in her core becoming harder to ignore. But ignore she did, as she huffed and puffed and internally reprimanded herself.

The dude has a girlfriend for Pete's sake! And here she was, fantasizing about her CO-WORKER no less, knowing it's not right and knowing that nothing could ever happen between them!

With this line of thought in her head, she had fallen into a deep sleep, and as she knew very well, her psyche had a way of making things difficult for her, because in her sleep, she was in his arms in another dream. And this time, her hands continued, way past the waistbands, as did his hands, all over her body for yet another night.

For some reason, it was just her and him, passionately feeling each other up in an empty room of what looked like a gym room, and as they continued, she watched it all happening in their reflection in the mirror. When his mouth went down her neck, leaving hickeys on her collarbones, she looked at the mirror and saw his hand moving to push aside her underwear and the next moment, she felt his fingers pushing against her core. A moan escaped her as she grabbed his shoulder, and felt his mouth enclosing around her nipple, his finger working in circles against her pussy and could barely open her eyes, but she saw through the gaps how he was holding her tightly against him, her entire weight being supported by the arm around her waist, and that image alone sent her gasping for breath as she awoke with a start.

It was still dark outside, Lia realized, as her eyes took in the surroundings. She was in her bed. Alone. Not in some empty gym. And definitely NOT with Cole's hands down her pants. But the throbbing down there continued, more intense than ever, and before she could stop herself, her fingers continued where Cole left off in her dream, and she let herself go completely as she imagined how it would feel to have his fingers inside her pussy, pumping in and out, adding another finger, and then another...

Her other hand came around, going under her t-shirt as she pinched her nipple, imagining what his mouth suckling and biting on it would be feeling right now, and the pressure in the pit of her stomach continued building and building, until she reached the high, and then suddenly she was coming, the images burning into her mind as she called his name, now loudly, and her fingers slowly coming to a rest.

Gasping for breath, Lia closed her eyes, the release she had been aching for finally over with, she felt herself relax before sleep took hold of her once more.

And now, here she was, night before Christmas, working alongside the very man whose name she was calling as she pleasured herself the night before. Perhaps her flight getting cancelled was karma, she thought, for daring to do such a thing. But as their shoulders touched and Cole murmured a quiet "behind", she was starting to think perhaps it was not so bad. The restaurant was going to be closed for Christmas eve itself and opening tomorrow at midday. Originally, it was just going to be Lia by herself, as she volunteered to do the cleanup after everyone left early since she was not going home anyways, and the holiday hours paid extra so she might as well have made some money. But then Cole volunteered to stay back as well, and now they were working in silence trying to finish everything on time. The thing that was bothering her was that they never seemed to be able to work in silence, as she and him usually talked about anything and everything for hours on end. She shared all the family drama she couldn't share with others since her friends and roommate had close relationship with her family members, and Cole never really talked about others unless asked, in fact, he was just private in general, so Lia never worried about things spreading. So when he didn't say anything aside from some short replies, Lia felt like she should just leave it alone.

Towards the end of their work, Lia was just keeping away some piles of inventory to the back storage room, carrying the boxes in front of her so high she could barely see and then bam! She was had walked straight on to a shelf and then the next second, the pile of boxes was toppling onto her and she yelped. The next moment, she heard Cole yell her name through the door and he asked, "What happened?"

He must have walked in before she could reply because the next moment, the boxes were being taken off her arms and he pulled her out as more things from the shelf fell and piled on top of her pile, some of which was now falling on the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked, so gently that she had to wonder how he was not reprimanding her or laughing at her for doing something so embarrassingly stupid. A rookie mistake, she knew it, and her blood was rushing to her cheeks because only some kid takes up more than they can handle and then creates more trouble on top.

"You're not hurt, right?" he asked her now, having heard no response from her and his hands gently touched her shoulder, and Lia swallowed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry about all the mess though," she said she went on to pick up the fallen items one by one.

"Don't worry about it, shit happens. I'm just glad nothing fell on your head," he replied as he joined her in arranging the fallen stuff.

"Oh yeah, it was a rookie mistake. Thank God you were here. I would have been alone otherwise," she chuckled slightly, embarrassed to admit it.

"Yeah well, my original plans fell through."

"Oh same! I was supposed to be on a flight a few hours ago but with the snowstorm happening, it got cancelled."

"Oh damn, that sucks. You were looking forward to being with your family tonight huh?"

"Yeah... what about you? Did your flight get cancelled too or something?"

Lia knew she was being nosy, but she couldn't help it. Why wasn't he at least with his girlfriend then?

"No, I uh, was supposed to spend it with my girlfriend and her family but it didn't work out," he replied, his voice becoming quieter towards the end.

Lia looked to face him, and she thought she saw a grim look on his face, but he was very quick to make his expression neutral.

"Oh, I see," she replied, and left it at that, sensing that whatever happened, he probably does not want to talk about it considering he wasn't making any sort of eye contact, not even facing her, as they arranged everything.

Finally done with everything, they both moved towards the door, and as Lia pulled on the knob, nothing happened.

Alarmed, she kept trying, again and again and with more force, and now Cole was behind her asking her what's wrong.

"It's not opening what the hell?"

"Wait, let me try," he said, and she backed off. More jiggling of the knob, pushing, nothing.

"Fuck, we're locked in!" she exclaimed, panic creeping up on her.

"I left my phone outside, do you have yours?" asked Cole, a bead of sweat forming on his temples from all the force he exerted trying to open the door.

"No! I left mine outside too, and it's dead! Is there any opening from here?"

And they both looked all around the tiny storage room trying to find a window or any other door but failed to find anything.

At last, they looked at each other, and he just sighed as he slid down to sit on top of a box.

Running his hands through his hair, he whispered in a tired voice, "Great, this day just keeps getting better and better."

Lia didn't like seeing him like this and felt a pang of guilt. If only she hadn't walked in here with so much on her arms and run into that shelf...if she was the only one locked in, at least he would have been able to let her out.

"I'm sorry..." she apologized as she sat down on the floor across from him. In that tiny space, her feet were touching his legs, but there wasn't much she could do about that.

"It's not your fault, none of us knew we'd get stuck here. And nobody is in this whole building, and we can't even call for help," Cole muttered from behind his hands that covered his face, his pose one of tiredness and defeat as he continued, "we'll just have to wait here overnight I guess."

All Lia could think at that moment was that there was no way she could fall asleep tonight. If she did, there is a very real chance she'll end up in a dirty dream with him doing ungodly things to her, and she couldn't risk that because who knows what inappropriate sounds she might make, and God forbid she takes his name like she did last night? No way. No. Way.

So, there they were, sitting huddled together, playing all sorts of games like 2 truths and a lie, truth or dare, etc. At one point, Cole found some wine and both decided to screw consequences from management and have the wine for themselves. Besides, the storage was kept at a colder temperature to reduce the degradation of inventory so by this point, they were both pretty much freezing. If anything, alcohol was a necessity. And so was body warmth, they both quickly realized, having finished a bottle of wine between them as they continued their silly games, after turning them into drinking games.

Lia didn't know exactly how it happened, but one moment they were facing each other laughing, and then she shivered from the cold and wrapped her arms around herself when Cole just said, "Hey, come sit here," and proceeded to pull her in the space between his legs sprawled to the side as he leaned his back against the wall. Lia happily obliged, feeling dazed by now, and from the color blooming on Cole's cheeks, she could tell he was sort of drunk as well. But now, he seemed to be looking happier, and as he pushed her to lean her back against his chest, she decided to get comfortable as well, placing her head against his shoulder and she sighed, feeling his arms wrap around her. They both sat there in silence for a minute, feeling content.

"That was one hell of a wine huh?" Lia murmured. In this enclosed space, sharing body warmth by essentially cuddling with each other, she could feel and hear and smell everything. From the way his scent enveloped her, a kind of clean cologne mixed with his own natural musk, oh she could drown in that scent. His breath brushing against the end of her ear and collarbone, the same ones she saw him marking last night in the mirror, and Lia's senses were tingling as the familiar desire between her legs started to make an appearance.

"Yeah, that was good," Cole murmured back, his voice had fallen a couple of octaves, and his arms sort of wrapped tighter around her.

"You smell good," he said, so quietly she almost didn't hear him, but something in Lia stirred. Anticipation gripped her stomach because she could feel something unspoken was beginning between them.

"You too," she replied, barely thinking straight when she felt him sigh and the air brushed past the base of her neck again.

"I'm glad you seem to be feeling better now," she continued, because she genuinely was.

"Was it that obvious?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"Not really, no. It's just that we have worked together for a while now and I think I can tell at least a little bit when you're upset. I mean, hell, I've seen you in all sorts of states in the kitchen while working. Plus, you did say the day was "only getting better and better", remember?" she explained, forming air quotes with her fingers.

He chuckled, almost ruefully, "Yeah, true. It has been a...really bad day. My girlfriend and I had a huge fight and we're over, so..."

Lia turned around to face him, "Oh I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Even though she thought she'd never see the day this happened, and secretly imagined she would be quite glad if it did, now, seeing his expression like that, she couldn't help but feel bad.

"Well, better now," said Cole, as he looked at her right in the eye and she swore his lips travelled down to her lips, and she quickly turned her back towards him again, feeling like her chest would burst out.

"Really? Considering you are stuck here with me in this freezing storage room overnight?" she lightly chuckled as she said it, thinking about the ridiculousness of it all.

"See, I don't really mind the 'stuck with you part', I quite like your company," he said and she leaned back into his chest again.

"Yeah same, I like your company the best here, so I don't mind that part either," her voice had dropped to a whisper at this point, and then, she felt him turn her around, and as they quietly stared into each other's eyes, they started leaning forward, until eventually his hands cupped her cheeks, his lips came down on hers, and she felt her heart all but stop.

Time stopped in that moment, at least for her. His lips were brushing against hers softly at first but then, she continued the play, and he pressed his lips harder, his teeth lightly grazing her bottom lip and she gave way to him, opening her mouth, deepening the kiss. She placed her arms on his shoulder, one hand cupping his jaw and she could feel the slight growth of stubble on the surface while her other hand wrapped around his neck, their tongues dancing in unison and their kiss becoming more and more intense.

Lia gasped for breath as she broke off, slightly panting. This probably shouldn't be happening, her mind was screaming at her that this is probably nothing more than just a rebound act, but she did not care. She had agonized over those lips for so long, it didn't matter they might never be the same again, she just really wanted to feel him all over her and let everything go to hell.

It was clear that Cole thought the same too, as he quickly proceeded to pull her back in for another kiss, his hands now running all over her, only the fabric of her tshirt separating them, and Lia grabbed a fistful of his hair as his lips went down her neck, her other hand attempting to pull his shirt up, wanting nothing between them.

Cole pulled away from her to take his shirt off, and she could barely believe her eyes. Whatever she had imagined, what she dreamt, he was somehow so much better in real life. She took in the tuft of hair spread around his chest, and the small line of hair running down the center of his abs, not super defined like that of a gym-rat, but well defined enough for her mouth to water. She was never that into muscles, but it fit him so well she couldn't complain at all.

"God, you're so hot," she could only whisper in between kisses as she all but pounced on him, and his slipped his hand under her shirt. Continuing her kisses down his neck, she proceeded to lick the spot right by the back of his ear and down and she heard him groan. As punishment, he made quick work of her bra, pinching her nipple and she moaned.