Sunday, February 16, 2025
💝💋💘Sunday's Short Stack💘💋💝: Wrapped Up in You by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine
A short Valentine’s Day story by USA Today Bestselling Authors Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine—available now on Passionflix!
Christmas has always been Carter Pierce’s favorite holiday. But with his partner, Dr. Vaughn Bennett, working crazy hours in the ER, it’s difficult to make any kind of plans.
Easter was an appendectomy.
Thanksgiving, a ruptured spleen.
And Christmas had called Vaughn away to work for Doctors Without Borders.
So when the calendar hits February 14th, Carter expects it will be just another day when he kisses his man goodbye so he can go and save the world.
Little does he know that Vaughn has a huge surprise up his sleeve—one that will change their lives forever.
Original Review February 2024:
I'm always on the lookout for stories that have a definite holiday setting, and those with "smaller holidays" such as Valentine's Day so when one crosses my path it finds it's place on my TBR list. I loved the way the authors made this Valentine's Day romance encompass both V-Day and Christmas. Fun, clever, heartfelt, and delightful.
My uncle moved away when I was little and was rarely here for Christmas but I remember one year when they planned to come but couldn't so my grandmother put the tree back up in March when they were able to make it. It's not a scenario I've come across in my readings and for bringing back a family memory I want to thank the authors.
I applaud Vaughn wanting to do this for Carter knowing all the holidays the spent apart and to do it in such a wonderful way as to recall some of their most important memories. Just yummy.
This was another new-to-me author, I've read neither Ella Frank or Brooke Blaine individually nor have I read their collaborations. I can honestly say that Wrapped Up in You has left me hungry for more and I know I will be checking out their backlists(both individually and together) in the future.
Chapter 1
“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL afternoon in Merriborough, and it looks like we’ll be having a white Valentine’s Day after all. Snow’s in our forecast tonight, so if you’re heading out to enjoy the lovers’ holiday, make sure to bundle up and stay safe on the roads. Here’s an oldie but goodie, ‘Cupid’ from Sam Cooke…”
I YAWNEDAND stretched a hand out toward Vaughn, but when I felt nothing but faintly warm sheets, I turned my head on the pillow to see the other side of the bed was empty.
Not again, I thought, sighing as the sound of the shower cut off. Looks like it’ll be another Valentine’s Day alone. That was what tended to happen when you were dating an ER doctor who was almost always on call. Not that I begrudged his job—I was proud that my man helped so many people—but selfishly, I wanted just one holiday together without him being called away, especially since Christmas had been a bust.
Rolling over, I turned the alarm clock on the nightstand off and then hugged the pillow as the bathroom door opened and steam billowed out. As Vaughn stepped into the doorway with nothing but a white towel wrapped around his hips, my eyes fully opened and my cock stiffened because, holy shit, my guy was something to look at.
With his blond hair slicked back from his striking face, the damp strands looked darker than usual as he casually leaned a shoulder against the jamb and his eyes found mine.
“I was wondering when you’d wake up.” Vaughn’s sexy rumble had me shifting beneath the covers, my body reacting to all that I was hearing and seeing. My gaze followed a droplet of water that ran down over his chest and abs, and a low chuckle came from him as he walked out of the bathroom and headed toward the tallboy against the wall, where he opened the top drawer.
“Well, someone set the alarm,” I said as I rolled to my back to watch him go, because the back of Vaughn was just as appealing as the front of him, and as I propped an extra pillow up behind myself, I was glad for it. That towel around his hips left little to the imagination, shaping and molding one of the tightest asses I’d ever seen in my life.
“If I hadn’t set the alarm you’d still be off in la-la land, and I have plans for you today.”
Wait… “So, you’re not going to work today?”
Vaughn glanced over his shoulder at me, and then lowered his gaze down the sheet that was draped across my hips. “No. I decided to spend the day doing something I love.”
I smirked as he winked at me but couldn’t stop myself from slipping down a little further into the bed. “Then why are you putting clothes on?”
He turned back to the open drawer, reached inside and pulled out a box before shutting it, and then wandered back over to my side of the bed. “I don’t see any clothes…do you?”
I eyed the white box in his hands suspiciously. “Presents before breakfast?”
“Technically, you slept through breakfast, sleepyhead.”
“It’s not my fault Dad kept refilling my glass with port while I wasn’t looking. I’ve become a lightweight. Do you still love me?”
“Hmm.” Vaughn sat on the edge of the bed and trailed his fingers over the sheet covering my thighs, and when he got to my hips, I groaned. “I think I just might, Carter Pierce.”
“Then stop teasing me and get back in bed.”
Vaughn chuckled. “But I have something special for you.” He placed the box on my stomach and said, “If you could have anything for breakfast, what would it be?”
“A maple bacon donut from Sunshine Bakery,” I said without hesitation. When Vaughn’s eyes sparkled and he nodded toward the box, I sat up and tore into it with eager hands. Sure enough, one freshly glazed maple bacon donut sat inside, just waiting to be devoured. “You really do love me.”
“I love the way you look at me like you’re looking at that donut right now.”
I grinned, reaching for the back of his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. His lips were warm and tasted faintly like the mint toothpaste he’d used, and I wanted nothing more than to throw him down on the bed again and dirty him back up. Instead, I leaned back and searched his face. “Are you sure you don’t have to go in today? What if they need you—”
“My phone’s off.”
My eyes widened. “Is that allowed?”
“It is today. Which means you’re all”—he kissed me again—“mine.”
“Mmm, whatever I did to deserve this, I’m not complaining,” I murmured, but then Vaughn’s lips left mine, and I opened my eyes, a protest forming on my tongue, but Vaughn only shook his head and swiped a bit of the maple buttercream filling from the donut with his finger.
“Food first,” he said, and then he painted my bottom lip with the cream. Before Vaughn could pull his hand away, I sucked his finger deep inside my mouth. His eyes held mine, his pupils dilating as I swirled my tongue around, getting every bit of the filling. When I released him from my mouth with a pop, he bit down on his lip, lust filling his blue eyes. I moved the box just in time, because he dove for me, crushing our mouths together, and as we greedily devoured each other, I reached down and grasped his towel, yanking it off and throwing it to the ground as the rest of the world disappeared…
Ella FrankElla Frank is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Temptation series, including Try, Take,Trust, Tease, Tate, and True, and is the co-author of the fan-favorite PresLocke Series. Her Exquisite series has been praised as “scorching hot!” and “enticingly sexy!”
Brooke Blaine is a USA Today Bestselling Author best known for writing romantic comedy and M/M romance. Her novels lead with humor and heart, but Brooke never shies away from throwing in something extra naughty that will scandalize her conservative Southern family for life (bless their hearts). She’s a choc-o-holic, lives for eighties bands (which means she thinks guyliner is totally underrated), believes it’s always wine o’clock, and lives with the coolest cat on the planet—her Ragdoll/Maine Coon mix, Jackson Agador Spartacus.
Ella Frank
BLUESKY / NEWSLETTER / B&N
AUDIOBOOKS / CHIRP / TANTOR
EMAIL: admin@ellafrank.com
Brooke Blaine
EMAIL: BrookeBlaineAuthor@gmail.com
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