One More for Christmas(97)

“I only do this for special guests.”

She turned to look at him and for a split second saw the same heat in his eyes that she was feeling inside her. Anticipation was sharp and sweet, and then he pulled her in and kissed her.

There was a moment of shock, and then she sank down into a world that was nothing but sensation. She felt the brush of his thumb across her cheek, the gentleness of his touch a contrast to the deliberate purpose of his mouth. This kiss wasn’t tentative or questioning. It was a declaration of intent. A teasing, tantalizing promise of more to come.

They kissed until she lost all sense of place and time, until there was nothing in her world but Brodie, and stars, stars, stars.

And then finally the cold penetrated and she gave an involuntary shiver.

He felt it and lifted his head, cursed softly and dragged her close, hugging her and warming her.

Dizzy, she put her hand on his chest to steady herself. Her first coherent thought was that Brodie McIntryre might be clumsy at a number of things, but kissing wasn’t one of them. Her second was that she didn’t want this to stop. “Do you only do that for special guests, too?”

He cleared his throat. “That’s a bespoke activity. You said you wanted to see stars when you were kissed. That kind of thing puts a lot of pressure on a guy, so I thought I’d hedge my bets. If you hadn’t closed your eyes when I kissed you, you would have seen stars over my shoulder.”

She rested her head against his chest, laughing. Then she wrapped her arms round his neck and looked up at him. “So tell me—where did you learn to kiss like that?”

“I don’t—I’m not—ah—” He gave a quick smile. “You’re teasing me.”

“Teasing you is fast turning into my favorite activity.”

“I can go along with that. I might even do some teasing myself.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, his head lowered again as if drawn by some magnetic force, and then he shook his head. “No.” He drew back. “We have to get indoors.”

“Brodie—”

His eyes darkened. “We have to—Oh hell—” His mouth slanted over hers again in a brief, hungry kiss. “We shouldn’t—”

“Don’t stop—” But her shivering grew more pronounced, and he pulled away and yanked the zip of her coat up higher.

“Here—” He pulled off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. “You’re freezing—I’m selfish—let’s go. We’re going inside. Right now. It would help if you didn’t look at me. Definitely don’t kiss me.” He grabbed her hand and half pulled her back through the snow to the cottage, following the tracks they’d made.

It was a good thing he was the sensible one because she would happily have stripped off her clothes right there and then.

She had no idea how her skin could feel cold when she was burning inside.

They reached the cabin and she tried to tug him toward her.

“In a minute—” His mouth grazed hers and he groaned. “You taste good.”

Her hand crept inside his jacket, and he powered her through the door and slammed it shut with his foot.

“Okay, we should probably—”

She grabbed him and hauled him against her, lifting herself on her toes to kiss him. His lips were cool, but there was nothing cool about the erotic heat of his kiss.

Melting with frustration, she fumbled with the zip of his jacket, and he did the same with hers. Mouths fused, they stripped off clothes, hands tangling, fumbling as they stumbled their way to the sofa.

They fell onto it, misjudged because neither were paying attention, and tumbled onto the floor with him underneath.

She heard his head crack and winced.

“Brodie! Are you—”

“It’s good. I’m good. I crack my head several times a day. It comes from being tall. As long as I’m conscious, don’t stop—” His hands drew her head back to his and she nibbled at his lips.

“But the sofa—we could—”

“A flat surface is safer.” There was a rasp of desire in his voice. “Nowhere to fall.”

He sank his fingers into her hair, kissed her, his breath warm against her mouth as she slid over him. She traced his body with her hands—strong shoulders, the swell of muscle—and then she felt him grasp her hips and draw her down.

She felt the hardness of him brush intimately against her, and then he paused, breathing rapid, jaw tense.

“We should probably—”

“Yes—” She could barely think. “Where—”

“Wallet—”

They talked in unfinished sentences, too desperate for each other to concentrate on words, but she found what they needed, and then there was no more holding back.

They joined together in a single smooth movement that brought a gasp to her lips and a groan to his. It was fast and furious, the pressure and the pleasure building to a peak that intensified as pleasure ripped through them both at the same time.

She felt him scoop her up and deposit her on the sofa. Then he came down on top of her, and this time he took it slowly, exploring her with his mouth, kissing his way down her body leaving no part unexplored, and it was the most intimate, intoxicating experience of her life.

When he took her for the second time, she arched and wrapped her legs around him, feeling the pleasure build again until every nerve ending in her body was screaming for release. It was wild and hot and wickedly good, and she lost track of time as they made love over and over again.