Home For The Holidays

by Elena Aitken

  And for the first time in her life, she felt absolutely perfect. As beautiful as he’d—repeatedly—told her she was.

  She didn’t know how long he simply stared before he finally put his hands on her. All she knew was that it was too long. But whatever she’d expected from him, it wasn’t this slow movement of his hands over her face, his fingertips caressing the curve of her eyebrows, the arch of her cheekbones, the thrust of her chin. And then down her neck to the curve of her shoulders, the soft edges of her breasts, the bones of her rib cage, until he reached the soft swell of her stomach and hips.

  She tried to keep her eyes open, tried to hold onto rational thought, but oh, it felt so good, and ultimately she had no choice but to sink into the pleasure of his touch, her eyes fluttering closed as she drank in the shocking sweetness of his hands on her. Slowly, he ran his hands down her thighs, skirting past the extremely sensitive skin at the backs of her knees, to press his fingertips into her calves so perfectly that she groaned aloud at the pleasure of his touch. He slipped off her heels and when her feet were bare, he stroked them, too, with the pads of his thumbs, as if he wanted to give every part of her pleasure, leaving nothing out. And then, finally, he drew her panties from her body, too.

  "Beautiful." The one word from Noah’s lips was more of a caress than any other’s man’s touch. "So beautiful."

  She opened her eyes just in time to see him lick his lips at the sight of her sex, slick and wet and completely bared to his gaze...and she finally realized he still had all of his clothes on. Immediately, she reached for his jacket and slid it from his broad shoulders.

  She could feel the heat of him, the barely leashed strength beneath the pressed dress shirt, as her hand moved to the buttons that ran down his chest. She wanted him naked, wanted to see all that power without anything covering it up. He could take off his clothes much faster than she could do it for him, but there was something so sensually satisfying about her being the one to uncover him, about being able to run her fingertips over his skin, his bones, his muscles, the dark hairs on his chest that curled against her knuckles as she undid one button and then another.

  But when she finally had his shirt pulled out of his pants and all the way open, she had to stop...and stare.

  Only, looking wasn’t enough. Touching wasn’t enough, either.

  She needed to taste him, too.

  She leaned up and put her mouth over his collarbone. It was natural—so perfectly instinctive—to slide her tongue into the hollow just behind the bone.

  "Mmmm." He tasted clean, but a little spicy, too. She needed to taste him again, needed to memorize not only his scent, but also his taste, so she moved her mouth lower, down over one of his pectoral muscles. She found his nipple with the tip of her tongue and as his hands threaded through her hair, she put her teeth on him, the light scrape against his hardened flesh causing him to groan with pleasure.

  Or maybe it was her own groans she was hearing, because Colbie had never done anything more pleasurable than taste—and tease—Noah.

  She pushed his shirt off and together they worked to strip him of the rest of his clothes until he was wonderfully, beautifully naked…and she couldn’t wait to get her hands, her mouth, on every new hard, tanned inch of skin that she’d uncovered. His muscles jumped beneath the stroke of her fingertips, the lash of her tongue as she explored him with a greed that rivaled his for her. She wasn’t even close to getting enough of him as, on a groan, he pulled her back up his body and took her mouth again with his. She didn’t know when he’d pulled a condom out, but when her fingers brushed against the package, she immediately picked it up, ripped it open and reached for him. She felt him stiffen and was surprised to realize that he was holding his breath as she rolled it down his thick length.

  She knew she’d never stop thanking her girlfriends for insisting on that ski trip. She wanted to send a truckload of chocolate-chip cookies to the little girl who’d whipped past on her pint-sized skis and sent Colbie falling face-first into the snow—just in time for Noah to come by with his strong hands, his warm arms, and his beautiful smile.

  She’d never felt sexier, never felt more adored, in her whole life than she did as his eyes ran over her, pleasure lighting his gorgeous features as he moved fully between her legs and gazed down at her with wonder in his eyes.

  "No one has ever looked at me the way you do," she whispered.

  "I never believed in love at first sight." He reached out to stroke his hand across her cheek. "Not until I saw you."

  "Noah."

  His name was still on her lips when she took him inside her. And even as he gave her his heart with words, while she gave hers back to him without needing any words at all, passion took them both over. What had begun in patience, in gentleness, now transcended any control either of them had been able to hold on to.

  Oh, but she loved it, loved the juxtaposition of dirty and sweet, the rough with the gentle, the fast and the breathtakingly slow. It was what she was doing with her store, after all, by stocking the finest silks and laces, the headiest perfumes, all meant to recklessly seduce in the heat of the night. All intended to shatter control...and to seduce with irresistible pleasure. As their tongues danced together, their bodies were doing a dance of their own, slipping and thrusting and sliding and craving.

  Loving.

  He was rough, his kisses were desperate and greedy, but she was all of those things, too. There were no rules anymore, no wariness, nothing but passion and hunger, woman and man. Slick with sweat, breathless with desire, Noah slipped one hand between them and took her up higher than she’d ever been...before he sent her spiraling out over the edge, crying out his name.

  She couldn’t have imagined even this, let alone more.

  But, oh, there was so much more as his name was on her lips and hers was on his when their mouths crashed together again. She could feel every beat of his heart against her chest, the fast pounding that matched her own racing, out-of-control rhythm. She caught a flash of his eyes—dark, beautiful, and so incredibly full of emotion—and then his hands were gripping her hips and she was wrapping her legs even tighter around him and arching her breasts into his waiting mouth as they both fell together this time.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning…

  Colbie had been drifting in and out of sleep for a while as the rare Seattle sun tried to break through the clouds outside Noah’s bedroom window, but she hadn’t wanted to wake all the way up and end what had been the most incredible hours of her life.

  But then, Noah shifted against her, and she knew the moment of truth had come.

  Their one night was over.

  One perfect night, when all of her dreams had become reality.

  Last night, she’d felt as though she belonged in Noah’s arms in a way that she’d never belonged in anyone else’s. He’d told her, "We belong together," and he’d said it to her again and again with every kiss, every caress.

  The truth was that she’d been as afraid to believe it as she was not to.

  But, oh, how she wanted to believe. And to trust that she’d been right to take the biggest risk of her life with him last night. Because deep in her heart, Colbie knew that last night had been more than just incredible, mind-blowing sex.

  So when he slid her even closer to him, and asked, "Did I prove it to you?" in that low, rough voice that made every nerve in her body fire with anticipated pleasure, joy exploded inside her, starting at her heart and radiating out from there to fill every cell, every pore, every last corner of her soul.

  Colbie shifted in his arms so that they were face to face, and the hairs on his chest tickled her breasts in the most wonderful way, his heart beating strong and steady against hers. She pretended to think about his question, working hard to try to keep her mouth from moving up into a smile, even though her tone was clearly light. Teasing. And inherently seductive.

  "What if I told you I needed another night before I could decide?"

 
He grinned down at her, relief mixing with the heat in his eyes. "Then I’ll work to prove it to you tonight and tomorrow night and every night after that."

  She gave a happy little squeak as he lifted her up out of the bed, carried her into the bathroom, and turned on the shower.

  "But for now, since I know you have to get back to your new store instead of goofing off in bed with me all morning, I’ll settle for making sure you’re perfectly clean." He grinned as he added, "Everywhere."

  She laughed as he pulled her under the warm spray. Only this time, instead of being seduced, she wanted to be the one to seduce him. "You’ve given me a perfect day and a perfect night." She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her mouth almost all the way up to his. "Now it’s time for me to give you the perfect morning."

  She claimed his mouth with soft kisses that teased as much as they promised more to come. With the edges of her teeth, she nipped at his lower lip, then soothed the small sting with her tongue. He threaded his hands into her wet hair and moved them so that she was trapped between the tiled wall and his hard body, but even though the press of his muscles against hers shocked her with pleasure, she was intent on loving him the way he’d loved her. Her skin was slick enough that she could shimmy her way down his body, covering each muscle across his neck, his shoulders, his chest, with the same kisses she’d given to his lips.

  As she began to drop lower to press kisses to his stomach and to glide her hands and mouth over him—all of him—he groaned her name into the steam rising both from the water and from their bodies. Before too long, though, he had her pressed up against the shower wall again, his hands threaded in her wet hair, his mouth devouring hers.

  He had protection ready just when they needed it, only this time her hands weren’t steady enough to help him with it. In one quick move he was covered, and then she was wrapping her legs and arms tightly around him and he was licking, sucking, biting at the curve of her neck, then lower to the upper swell of her breasts, as he found her wet and hot and beyond ready for him to take her.

  She didn’t feel the hard tile behind her back as he thrust into her, barely heard her own gasps of pleasure over the pounding of her heart in her own ears. All she knew was that Noah had her...and she had him. In a rush of pleasure so sweet, so hot, so sudden that she was stunned by it all over again, Colbie came apart in his arms, with Noah less than a heartbeat behind her.

  Ten hours later…

  She’d just locked the front door of Indulgence after a fantastic second day in business, when Noah wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "You’ve created something great here, Colbie."

  She turned around in his arms so that he could kiss her mouth, too. Of course, when one kiss turned to two and then ten and then a hundred, she let him pull her into the back room for another round of sensual arguments aimed at winning her heart...this time on her desk with her legs wrapped around his waist.

  "Now that is the meaning of indulgence," she murmured a while later as she worked to catch her breath.

  "No matter where we are, no matter how many years go by, I’ll never stop proving my love to you," he told her, his eyes still so dark and hungry, even in the aftermath of their passion. "Every day. Every night."

  "Even if I’ve finally decided?"

  "Especially then."

  Even though she knew he could see the truth of her feelings reflected back to him in her eyes, and that he had to feel it in the way she responded to his kisses, to his caresses, she wanted to give him more.

  She wanted to give him everything he’d given to her, multiplied. Her faith. Her trust.

  Her heart.

  "As a little girl, I used to believe in love at first sight." She pressed a kiss over his heart, which beat hard and fast as she declared herself to him. "I think every little girl does. But then, slowly at first, and then faster and faster as I grew older and made bad choices, I lost that belief." She cupped his face in her hands even as she still held his body inside hers. "You gave it back to me on a snowy mountaintop on one perfect day. And then again, in one perfect night."

  And later that night in his bed when he took her even higher than she’d been before and they flew together from peak to peak, she forgot to be afraid...because she didn’t need to be ever again.

  Thank you so much for reading ONE PERFECT NIGHT! I hope you loved Colbie and Noah.

  You can read the first Seattle Sullivan story right now! In THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT, as a successful private investigator who has caught most of the cheaters in Seattle with their pants down, Rafe Sullivan believes true love only happens once in a blue moon. Needing to get away from the city to clear his head, at the lake house where he spent the best summers of his life the sweet girl next door is all grown up and prettier than anything he's ever seen. When their summer fling quickly spirals into deeper emotions than either of them were expecting, will Rafe make the biggest mistake of his life and end up losing the best thing that's ever happened to him?

  Read THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT (Seattle Sullivans) now!

  “Some love stories are just so special. The Way You Look Tonight is one of the very best!”

  ~ 5 stars for THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT

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  Wishes & Kisses

  J.H. Croix

  A rock star goes home for the holidays to find the girl he never forgot.

  Brynn was my first everything—first kiss, first love, first heartbreak.

  When it came to the heartbreak, I leveled up. I broke her heart and mine. I don’t have any great excuse, except that I was too young to know how good we were together.

  My life is complicated now. I never expected to be famous, and I never expected to be wishing so hard for the girl I left behind. When I find her back in our hometown in Alaska, I want her to be my next everything. Only this time I won’t screw it up.

  I’ll take a little holiday magic to make her my everything forever.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 J.H. Croix

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Caden

  The card fell from the stacks of paper I was perusing. The second my eyes landed on it, my heart gave a swift kick to my ribs.

  Reaching for it, I flipped it open. Memories pummeled me hard and fast. The curve of a smile on her cheek. The sun glinting off her brown curls. Counting the freckles scattered on her nose. The sound of her voice, low and melodic. A sharp blade of loss sliced through me at the thoughts.

  The card didn’t say much.

  Dear Caden,

  An almost-Christmas card! It’s just an excuse for a card. I can’t wait to give you your present. I hope you’ll be back to visit soon. Love you! xoxo

  Sparky

  I stood swiftly from my desk, pacing back and forth in front of the windows. Very few people called me Caden anymore. I’d somehow become a world-renowned rock star. All most people knew about me was my music and my fame name, as I called it. My actual name had fallen into disuse when I catapulted to fame.

  Pausing beside my desk, I looked at the date on the card. November 18, 2008. Two months shy of twelve years had passed. That was when my parents finally had their last battle in court, and my mother unceremoniously moved out of state with me. After a few phone calls, I broke up with my first love because I didn’t know what else to do. This card had been mailed to me at my father’s house. I’d never received it. Unless it counted that I had it now. When you were
sixteen and divorce court threw your life into disarray, it was hard to think beyond that.

  Spinning out of my office, I almost sprinted to my recording studio downstairs in my house. I rifled through the photos in a drawer beside my favorite acoustic guitar until I found what I was looking for.

  One week later

  I stared at the computer screen. “Fuck you,” I muttered.

  The screen had nothing to say in reply. I felt as if it were taunting me with the list of details about Brynn Sparks. All details I already knew with the trail running cold after she graduated from college with a degree in horticulture.

  Spinning in my chair, I stood from my desk and left the room. Fame had forced me to give up many things. It wasn’t all fun and games. Although I hadn’t given her up for fame, my most painful loss remained the one and only girl I’d ever loved: Brynn Sparks. Apparently, she’d left no trail for the past few years. Not that I could find, at least. I knew she graduated from high school in the small town where I’d fallen madly in love with her when I was just a boy. She went to college in Alaska and then, apparently, slipped off the map a while later.

  I would find her, and I knew just who to ask. I’d thought I could keep this to myself, but it wasn’t worth running into more dead ends. I’d finally slowed down enough to breathe these past few months. Somehow, the band I’d started in college had taken off, and we’d spun into the chaotic life of music fame. We were on hiatus from performing after Wes, our rhythm guitar player, had almost died.

  I’d needed the break for more reasons than one. I’d been feeling unmoored lately. Life felt too shallow. Brynn’s card wasn’t the first time I’d thought of her. Oh, no. She was often feathering along the edges of my thoughts. The superficial allure of fame made it nearly impossible to find a genuine connection with anyone. Except for my parents, my five friends in the band, and a select few others who worked with us, I often wondered who really cared to know me just for myself these past few years. My father had passed away recently, and that had dredged up all kinds of feelings, which tangled into the rest of the mess inside.