by Leslie Kelly
He flushed. “Of course I wasn’t expecting sexy lingerie.” He met her eyes. “And for the record, I’m not disappointed. You look great, no matter what you’re wearing.”
Now it was Lily’s turn to go warm. “I wasn’t fishing for compliments.”
Aiden threw up his arms, and then gestured toward the door. “I’m going to step out into the hall, and you can do whatever it is you need to do to get ready for bed, okay? I’ll make my phone calls, and then I’ll come back.” He paused. “I realize this isn’t an ideal situation, but you’re safe with me, Lily. I hope you know that.”
She did. Aiden Cross would never do anything to make her nervous or uncomfortable. Sadly, there was a part of her that wished he would. But she nodded and gave him what she hoped was a grateful smile.
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
He paused as if he would say something more, and then seemed to reconsider. He turned and slipped out of the room, and a few minutes later, Lily could hear him speaking in quiet tones. With a sigh, she shut off all the lights in the room except the small table lamp on Aiden’s side of the bed. Then, walking around to the far side of the bed, she pulled back the comforter and slid between the sheets.
From where she lay, she could see the wind bending the branches of a tree outside her window. The force of it rattled the window panes, but inside the room, she was warm and snug. The fire had died to glowing embers in the grate, and she could still smell fresh gingerbread. In a few minutes, the sexiest man alive was going to pull back the blankets on the bed, and climb in beside her.
She thought about what he said. You’re safe with me.
She had no doubt of that. But she wondered how he would react if she told him her one and only Christmas wish was to be in his arms? To have him make love to her?
Sighing, she turned on her side and bunched the pillow beneath her cheek, knowing from experience that not all Christmas wishes came true.
5
AIDEN DREAMED HE was at home, in his old bedroom, and he was scared crapless that his parents might walk in on him because he had a girl in his bed. His folks weren’t prudish, but they’d certainly object if they found out he was having sex under their roof. There were some things you just didn’t do.
But he was fully aroused, and so horny that he didn’t care.
The girl was pressed against him, her breath warm against his neck. In his dream, he couldn’t see her face, but it didn’t matter. Her skin felt like hot silk beneath his questing hands. She was soft and supple, and she smelled incredible.
He wanted to lick her everywhere.
“Aiden?” Her voice was a whisper.
“Yeah, baby.” He pressed against her so that she knew how ready he was. He wanted—needed—to be inside her. But she had too many clothes on, so he slid his hand into the back of her pants to cup and squeeze her ass.
“Aiden.”
Not so much a whisper this time as a shocked gasp. She squirmed in his arms and pressed her hands against his chest, trying to push him away.
Opening his eyes, he slowly became aware that he wasn’t dreaming—this was real. Recollection flooded back. He wasn’t at his parents’ house. He was at a bed-and-breakfast. The faceless girl of his dreams was, in fact, Lily Munroe. And he had his hand down her shorts, cupping her delectable rear end.
“Jesus, Lily.” His voice came out as a husky rasp.
She stopped struggling. “You’re awake.”
Oh, yeah. And still hard and aching. The uncomfortable reality of the situation should have been enough to cool his rampant lust, but discovering Lily pressed against him was only fueling his growing need. Still, he’d promised that she would be safe with him, so he reluctantly withdrew his hand from her shorts and rolled onto his back.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “I was dreaming.”
“It’s okay,” she said, surprising him. He sensed her rise up on one elbow beside him, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out her face. “You were making noises in your sleep,” she murmured, “and I thought your joints might be aching.”
Aiden gave a huff of laughter. Definitely not his joints. “I’m sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep.” She didn’t move, just studied him. “What?”
“What were you dreaming about?” Her voice sounded a little breathless.
“Lily,” he groaned. “I think it’s pretty apparent what I was dreaming about.” Licking her. “I had my hand down your freaking pants.”
To his shock, she laid her free hand on his chest. The heat of her fingers burned through the thin material of his T-shirt. He wondered if she could feel his unsteady heartbeat. She was so close he was able to still smell the unique fragrance that was hers alone. It did nothing to alleviate his hard-on. If anything, her proximity was just making it worse. All he could think about was pushing her onto her back, pulling her shorts down and sinking into her. He clung to the frayed edges of his self-control like a lifeline.
“I can’t go to sleep again now,” she complained softly.
“Why not?”
“Because you had your hands down my pants.”
Aiden stilled. “I said I was sorry.”
“Are you?” She was silent for a moment. “Because I’m not.”
Aiden gave an audible groan and would have sat up, but the pressure of her hand on his chest kept him reclined against the pillows. “Lily—”
Leaning over him, she pressed her fingertips against his mouth. “Shh. Don’t say anything, Aiden. I know you want this. I felt how much you want this.”
He wished he didn’t like the sound of his name on her lips so much. She was right—he did want this. He wanted her. The dream had been so vivid, and to wake up and find Lily, warm and willing and in his bed was almost more than he could take. But he still had a few functioning brain cells left to tell him that sleeping with Sergeant Lily Munroe was a bad idea.
“Lily,” he groaned, at the very edge of restraint, “you don’t want this.”
In answer, she leaned forward and kissed him, a soft, moist mating of their mouths that made his cock swell and his toes curl. He felt his self-control slip a notch.
“I do,” she whispered against his lips. “I’ve wanted this since the first day I saw you. So unless you’re in pain...”
He was in excruciating pain, but not the kind that she thought; the aching in his joints was nothing compared to the aching of his cock. After everything that they’d shared, perhaps she was ready for this. With a groan of defeat, he reached up and buried his hands in her hair. He kissed her with all the pent up desire he’d felt in his dream—that he’d felt for her over the past nine months. She made a sound of pleasure in the back of her throat and slid one leg across his hips until she was straddling him, her center pressed against him. She shoved the blankets and duvet cover down to the foot of the bed. The bedroom air was cool, but her body was hot where they touched.
“You feel so good,” she breathed. “Please, let me.”
“Lily,” he gasped, dragging his mouth from hers as she rocked slowly against his erection. “I don’t have anything with me—no protection.”
“Then we’ll improvise.”
Before Aiden could guess her intent, she reached between their bodies and cupped him through his shorts. He jerked against her fingers. With a soft hum of approval she stroked him through the fabric.
“Lily,” he panted, putting his hand over hers, “what are you doing?”
“Shh,” she soothed, and bent forward to press another moist kiss against his mouth. “I want to make you happy. Call it my Christmas gift to you.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” he rasped, as her hand slowly massaged him.
“That’s why they call it a gift.” Shifting back onto his thighs, she hooked her thumbs in the stretchy waistband of
his boxer shorts and slowly eased them down over his straining erection. Aiden lifted his hips to help her, and then he was bare beneath her. His entire body was taut with arousal and anticipation. She was silhouetted above him against the pale backdrop of the canopy, and her thighs pressed against either side of him. “Now the shirt.”
She pushed his T-shirt up, and he dragged it over his head and dropped it onto the floor beside the bed. There was something erotic and intensely exciting about the fact that he was naked, while she was still clothed.
Reaching up, he slid a hand beneath the silken fall of her hair and drew her down for a deep kiss, tangling his tongue with hers, making sure she knew he wanted this as much as she did. His free hand pushed beneath her T-shirt to cup her breast. She was soft and firm, and he stroked his thumb over her pebbled nipple. She made a soft gasping sound and reached down to take him in her hand, caressing him and sliding her fingers over his heated flesh.
“You feel amazing,” she said against his mouth. “So hard and hot.”
Oh, yeah.
She stroked him firmly, smoothing her thumb over the blunted head of his erection and making him groan at the sheer pleasure of it.
“Jesus, Lily,” he said through gritted teeth, “you’re killing me.”
In answer, she lay down beside him, keeping one leg thrown across his thighs as she dragged her mouth from his, and began planting kisses along his jaw and neck. Aiden reached for her, but she surprised him by pushing both hands over his head.
“No touching,” she admonished him, but took the sting out of her words by pressing a lingering kiss against his mouth.
It took all Aiden’s self-control to just lie there as she kissed and licked her way down his body, especially when she was doing exactly what he had envisioned doing to her. She teased his nipples, flicking them with her tongue. She smoothed her hand over his stomach and hips, and slid her fingers around the base of his straining cock, without ever actually touching him there. But when she urged his thighs apart, and gently cupped and kneaded his balls, Aiden’s eyes almost rolled back in his head.
“Feel good?” she asked. Finally, she wrapped her fingers around him, squeezing and stroking him. And when she dipped her head and ran her tongue along his length, Aiden couldn’t prevent his guttural sound of pleasure.
Lily made a humming sound of approval, and took him in her mouth. There was nothing shy or hesitant about her style; she clearly knew what she was doing and delighted in driving him wild. Aiden’s toes curled. The hot, wet sensation of her lips and tongue on his shaft was almost more than he could take, but when she squeezed the base with her fingers and simultaneously cupped his balls, he thought he might actually die.
He groaned loudly, and reached down to stroke her hair. She increased her tempo, drawing him deeply into her mouth and swirling her tongue over him as she released him. The rhythmic movement of her hand in concert with her mouth was his undoing.
“Lily,” he managed, his voice hoarse, “I’m about six seconds away from losing it.”
“I know,” she said, and angled her head to look at him. “I want it all.”
Her response was so unexpected, and so incredibly arousing, that it only took two more sweeps of her tongue to undo him. He came in a blinding rush of white-hot pleasure, gritting his teeth against the exquisite explosion of release. He lay there, completely drained.
Lily crawled up beside him and he pulled her against his chest.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” he said gruffly.
He felt her smile against his shoulder. “I know. Those are the best kind of gifts.”
He tipped her face up and kissed her. He was still a little weak from the force of his release, but he wasn’t ready to roll over and go to sleep. Not by a long shot.
Twisting, he pulled Lily beneath him. “Now it’s your turn,” he promised.
She tried to demur, but he felt her squirm a little beneath him. “You don’t have to do anything,” she said. “This isn’t something where I expect you to reciprocate.”
“I know,” he said, pressing a kiss against the corner of her mouth. “But I’ve dreamed of doing this for a long time now, so if you think you’re getting away that easily, you’re wrong.”
“Oh.” She laughed. “Well, in that case, I wouldn’t dream of trying to escape.”
“It wouldn’t do you any good,” Aiden assured her, smiling.
Then there were no more words as he kissed her. Reaching beneath her shirt, he fondled her breasts, cupping and squeezing them until she arched into his palm. Shoving the fabric up, he dipped his head, licking and suckling each breast in turn. He smoothed his hand over her ribs and stomach, until he reached the juncture of her thighs. Pushing his hand into her shorts, he cupped her beneath the slippery fabric of her panties.
“God, I want to see you down here,” he muttered against her breast. “Turn on a light.”
Lily laughed uncertainly, and then stopped. “Wait. Are you serious?”
“You bet,” he said. He reached past her and switched on the tiny bedside lamp. Gazing at Lily, he saw her face was flushed with arousal, and what might have been embarrassment. Her normally sleek hair was tousled, and her mouth was swollen from kissing him. The expression in her dark eyes was actually a little shy. Aiden thought she’d never been more beautiful. “Man, you are gorgeous.”
“No, I’m not.” She actually blushed, and dropped her eyes from his.
“Then you haven’t looked into a mirror lately,” Aiden said drily. “You’re stunning.” Grasping the edge of her T-shirt, he pulled it up and over her head. Her breasts were full and firm, and tipped with the most perfect pink nipples he’d ever seen. “And you’re hot,” he added, covering her with both hands.
Lily gave a gurgle of laughter that quickly turned to a moan of pleasure as Aiden lifted and squeezed her pliant flesh, teasing the pebbled tips with his tongue and teeth. As he slowly worked his way down her body, kissing and licking and biting, she put her hands on his head, caressing his ears and the nape of his neck, and rubbing her fingers over his short hair. Her touch spurred him on, and so when he reached the edge of her shorts, he didn’t hesitate, but quickly pushed them down over her thighs, taking her panties with them and watching as she kicked them free.
He reared back to stare at her. Her body was slim and pale, except for her lush breasts, which were rosy from his attention. And at the apex of her thighs, she had just a narrow strip of dark hair, but was otherwise bare. Aiden found himself growing hard again just looking at her.
“Open for me,” he commanded in a husky voice, and nudged her legs apart with his hands. “Oh, man, you are gorgeous down here, too, all pink and soft.”
He stroked a finger along one side of her outer lips, and she shivered. She made a small sound of pleasure. Watching the tension on her face, he tormented her a little, caressing her everywhere but where she most needed it.
“If you don’t touch me soon,” she gasped, “I’m going to die.”
“I’m going to do more than just touch you,” he promised, stroking a single finger along her center, parting her. “Oh, baby, you’re so wet.”
“That’s what you do to me,” she panted, pushing herself up on her elbows to watch him.
Aiden swirled her moisture around, slicking it over the small rise of flesh so that she gave a small whimper of pleasure.
“Do you like that?” he asked, rubbing his thumb against her.
“I’m not sure how long I’m going to last,” she said in a ragged voice. “I’m already so close.”
Her words caused lust to jackknife through him, and he eased himself down on the mattress. Pushing her thighs apart, he bent his head and licked her once along the seam of her sex. She tasted light and delicate, and he pressed his tongue softly against her clitoris, before sucking the small nub into his mou
th. She cried out, and then her hands were in his hair, rubbing his scalp and caressing his ears, urging him on. Aiden had dreamed of doing this to her, but the reality was so much better than anything he could have imagined. The small noises she made as he licked and stroked her only ratcheted up his own desire.
Pulling back, he rubbed his fingers over her as he watched her face, tight with concentration. He eased one finger into her, and her mouth formed a soundless O of pleasure. She was incredibly snug and hot, and as he worked a second finger into her, he bent his head and flicked her hard with his tongue. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and he wanted badly to replace his fingers with his cock; to drive into her and cause her to cry out in mindless release.
“Oh, I’m so close,” she panted. Her eyes were hazy as she gripped his arms and tried to urge him upward. “Come inside me.”
Aiden lifted his head, telling himself to slow down. Clearly, she was no longer in control, so it was up to him to maintain some sense of reason. “Baby,” he rasped, “I’d love to do that, but we don’t have any protection.”
“I’m on the Pill,” she said urgently. “And I’m completely clean. I know you are, too.”
“Lily, I’m not sure—”
“I am. Please, Aiden, come inside me. I need you inside me!”
Her words caused him to lose the tenuous grip he had on his own self-control, feeling it slip through his fingers like water. He ached to join himself with her. “Lily—”
“Please, Aiden!”
With a low growl of need, he threw caution aside and released her, positioning himself at her entrance. She was slippery and hot, and he surged into her with one powerful thrust. She gasped, and then she was riding him hard, her legs hooked around his thighs, her hands clutching his shoulders. She gripped him strongly, and Aiden pumped himself into her, feeling her inner muscles fist around him. When her orgasm hit her, she gasped his name, and the sound was enough to catapult him over the edge with her, in a mind-blowing burst of ecstasy.
