Maid Under the Mistletoe

by Maureen Child

  “The steak was good,” he said grudgingly, but she saw a flash of a smile that appeared and disappeared in a heartbeat.

  “And the company.”

  His gaze fixed on hers. “You already know I like the company.”

  “I do,” she said and felt a swirl of nerves flutter into life in the pit of her belly. Why was it this man who could make her feel things she’d never felt before? Life would have been so much easier if she’d found some nice, uncomplicated guy to fall for. But then she wouldn’t be able to look into those golden-brown eyes of his, would she? “But you had a good time talking to other people, too. It just makes you uncomfortable hearing compliments.”

  “Think you know me, don’t you?”

  “Yep,” she said, smiling at him in spite of the spark of irritation in his eyes. Just as Holly had once said, he’s not mean, he’s just crabby. He didn’t fool her anymore. Even when he was angry, it didn’t last. Even when she ambushed him with knowledge of his past, he didn’t cling to the fury that had erupted inside him. Even when he didn’t want to spend time with a child, he went out of his way to make her dreams come true.

  Joy’s heart ached with all she was feeling, and she wondered if he could see it in her eyes.

  The room was crowded. The log walls were smoke-stained from years of exposure to the wood fireplace that even now boasted a roaring blaze. People sat at round tables and a few leather booths along one wall while the wall facing Main Street was floor-to-ceiling windows, displaying the winter scene unfolding outside. Tonight, the music pumping through the speakers overhead was classical, something weepy with strings and piano. And sitting across the table from her, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but there, was the man who held her heart.

  Stupid? Maybe. But there was no going back for Joy now. She’d been stumbling over him a little every day, of course. His kindness to Holly. His company in the dead of night when the house sat quiet around them. His kiss. The way his eyes flared with heat and more whenever he looked at her. His reluctant participation in the “family” dinners in the dining room. All of those things had been drawing her in, making her fall.

  But today, she’d simply taken the final plunge.

  He must have gone into town on his own and bought those silly little fairy lights. Then he’d sneaked out into the freezing cold late at night when he wouldn’t be seen. And he’d decorated those tiny houses because her little girl had believed. He’d given Holly that. Magic.

  Sam had sparked her imagination, protected her dreams and her fantasies. Joy had watched her baby girl throw herself into the arms of the man she trusted, loved, and through a sheen of tears had seen Sam hold Holly as tenderly as if she’d been made of glass. And in that one incredible moment, Joy told herself, he’d completely won her heart. Whether he wanted it or not was a different question.

  She, Joy thought, was toast.

  He could pretend to be aloof, crabby, disinterested all he wanted now, and she wouldn’t believe it. He’d given her daughter a gift beyond price and she would always love him for that.

  “What?” he asked, frowning a little harder. “What is it?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  The frown came back instantly. “Makes a man nervous when a woman gets that thoughtful look in her eyes.”

  “Nervous is good, though I doubt,” she said quietly, “that you ever have to worry about nerves.”

  “You might be surprised,” he murmured, then said more firmly, “Let’s go before the storm settles in and we’re stuck down here.”

  Right then, Joy couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be than back in that amazing house, alone with Sam. She looked him dead in the eye and said softly, “Good idea.”

  The ride up the mountain seemed to take forever, or maybe it was simply because Joy felt so on edge it was as if her skin was one size too tight. Every inch of her buzzed with anticipation because she knew what she wanted and knew she was done waiting. The tension between them had been building for days now, and tonight, she wanted to finally release it. To revel in being with a man she loved—even if she couldn’t tell him how she felt.

  At the house, they left the car in the garage and walked through the connecting door into the mudroom, where they hung their jackets on hooks before heading into the kitchen. Joy hit a switch on the wall, and the soft lights above the table blinked into life. Most of the room was still dark, and that was just as she wanted it. When she turned to Sam, she went up on her toes, cupped his face in her palms and kissed him, putting everything she was feeling into it.

  Her heartbeat jumped into a frantic rhythm, her stomach swirled with excitement and the ache that had been building inside her for days began to pulse. It took only a second for Sam to react. To have his arms come around her. He lifted her off her feet, and she wrapped herself around him like a ribbon around a present.

  As if he’d only been awaiting her signal, he took her with a desperation that told Joy he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She felt the hunger pumping off him in thick waves and gave herself up to it, letting it feed her own until a raging storm overtook them both. His mouth covered hers, his tongue demanding entry. She gave way and sighed in growing need as he groaned and kissed her harder, deeper.

  His hands, those talented, strong hands, dropped to her bottom. He turned her around so fast her stomach did a wild spin, then he slammed her up against the back door. Joy hardly felt it. She’d never experienced anything like what swept over her in those few frantic moments. Every inch of her body was alive with sensations. Her skin was buzzing, her blood boiling, and her mind was a tangled, hazy mass of thoughts that pretty much went, yes, harder, now, be inside me.

  Her fingers scraped through his hair, held his head to hers. Every breath came strangled, harsh, and she didn’t care. All she wanted, all she needed, was the taste of him filling her. The feel of his hands holding her. Then, when she became light-headed, she thought, okay, maybe air, too.

  She broke the kiss, letting her head drop back as she gasped for breath. Staring up at the dimly lit ceiling, she concentrated solely on the feel of Sam’s mouth at her throat, latching on to the pulse point at the base of her neck. He tasted, he nibbled, he licked, and she sighed heavily.

  “Oh, boy. That feels really...” She gasped again. “Good.”

  With his mouth against her throat, he smiled. “You taste good, too.”

  “Thanks.” She chuckled and the sound bubbled up into the room. “Always good to hear.”

  “I’ve wanted my hands on you for days.” He lifted his head and waited for her to look at him. His eyes were alight with a fire that seemed to be sweeping both of them along in an inferno. “I tried to keep my distance, but it’s been killing me.”

  “Me, too,” she said, holding him a little tighter. “I’ve been dreaming about you.”

  One corner of his mouth lifted. “Yeah? Well, time to wake up.” He let her slide down the length of his body until she was on her feet again. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?”

  “Upstairs, where the beds are.” He started pulling her. “After waiting this long, we’re not doing this on the kitchen floor.”

  Right about then, Joy thought, the floor looked pretty good. Or the granite island. Or just the stupid wall she’d been up against a second ago. Especially since her knees felt like rubber and she wasn’t sure she’d make it all the way up those stairs. Then she realized they didn’t have to.

  “Yeah, but my bed’s quicker.” She gave a tug, too, then grinned when he looked at her in admiration.

  “Good thinking. I do like a smart woman.” He scooped her up again, this time cradling her in his arms, and headed for Kaye’s suite.

  “Well, I always wanted to be swept off my feet.” Really, her poor, foolish heart was stuttering at being carried off to bed. The romance
of it tugged at everything inside her. He stepped into the darkened suite, and she hit the light switch for the living area as he passed it.

  Instantly, the tiny, misshapen Christmas tree burst into electric life. Softly glowing lights burned steadily all around the room, but it was the silly tree that had center stage.

  “What the—” He stopped, his grip on her tightening, and let his gaze sweep around the room. So Joy looked, too, admiring all she and Holly had done to their temporary home. Sam hadn’t wanted the holidays leaking out into the main house, so they’d gone overboard here, in their corner of it. Christmas lights lined the doorways and were draped across the walls like garland. The tiny tree stood on a table and was practically bowed under the weight of the ornaments, popped corn and strings of lights adorning it.

  After a long minute or two, he shook his head. “That tree is sad.”

  “It is not,” she argued, spearing it with a critical eye. “It’s loved.” She looked past the tree in the window to the night outside and the fairy lights just visible through the swirls of snow, and her heart dissolved all over again. Cupping his cheek in her palm, she turned his face to hers. “You lit up Holly’s world today with those strings of lights.”

  He scowled but there wasn’t much punch to it. “I hated seeing her check for signs every day and not getting any. But she never stopped believing.”

  Her heart actually filled up and spilled over into her chest. How could she not love a man who’d given life to her baby’s imagination?

  “I put ’em on a timer,” Sam said, “so they’ll go off and on at different times and Holly will have something to watch for.”

  Shaking her head, she looked into his eyes and whispered, “I don’t have the words for what I’m feeling right now.”

  “Then we’re lucky. No words required.”

  He kissed her again and Joy surrendered to the fire. She forgot about everything else but the taste of him, the feel of him. She wanted to stroke her hands all over his leanly muscled body, feel the warm slide of flesh to flesh. Lifting her face, she nibbled at his throat and smiled when she heard him groan tightly.

  She hardly noticed when he carried her through the main room and dropped her onto her bed. Wild, was all she could think. Wild for him, for his touch, for his taste. She’d been alone for so long, having this man, the man with her, was almost more than she could stand.

  He felt the same, because in a few short seconds, they were both naked, clothes flying around the room as they tore at them until there was nothing separating them. The quilt on the bed felt cool beneath her, but he was there, sliding on top of her, to bring the heat.

  “Been wanting to peel you out of those sweaters you wear for days now,” he murmured, trailing kisses up from her belly to just below her breasts.

  “Been wanting you to do it,” she assured him and ran the flat of her hands over his shoulders in long, sensuous strokes.

  His hands moved over her, following every line, every curve. She gasped when he dipped his head to take first one hard nipple then the other into his mouth. Damp heat fractured something inside her as his teeth, tongue, lips teased at her sensitive skin. She was writhing mindlessly, chasing the need, when he dipped one hand to her center and cupped her heat completely.

  Joy’s mind simply splintered from the myriad sensations slamming into her system all at once. She hadn’t felt this way in...ever. He shifted, kissing her mouth, tangling his tongue with hers as those oh-so-talented fingers dipped inside her heat. She lifted her hips into his touch and held his head to hers as they kissed, as they took and gave and then did it all again. Their breath mingled, their hearts pounded in a wild tandem that raced faster and faster as they tasted, explored, discovered.

  It was like being caught in a hurricane. There was no safe place to hide, even if she’d wanted to. And she didn’t. She wanted the storm, more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Demand, need, hands reaching, mouths seeking. Hushed words flew back and forth between them, whispers, breathless sighs. Heat ratcheted up in the tiny bedroom as outside, the snow fell, draping the world in icy white.

  Sam’s hand at her core drove her higher, faster. A small ripple of release caught her and had Joy calling his name as she shivered, shuddered in response. But she’d barely recovered from that tiny explosion before he pushed her again. His fingers danced over her body, inside and out, caressing, stroking until she thought she’d lose what was left of her mind if he didn’t get inside her. Now.

  Whimpering, Joy didn’t care. All she could think of was the release she wanted more than her next breath. “Be inside me,” she told him, voice breaking on every word as air struggled in and out of her lungs.

  “Now,” he agreed in a strained whisper.

  Shadows filled the room, light from the snow, reflections of the lights in the living area. He took her mouth again in a frenzied kiss that stole her breath and gave her his. She arched into him as he moved over her, parting her thighs and sliding into her with one long thrust.

  Joy gasped, her head tipping back into the pillow, her hips lifting to welcome him, to take him deeper. His hands held her hips, his fingers digging into her skin as he drove into her again and again. She locked her legs around his hips, pulling him tighter to her, rocking with him, following the frenzied rhythm he set.

  The storm claimed them. Hunger roared up into the room and overtook them both. There was nothing in the world but that need and the race to completion. Their bodies moved together, skin to skin, breath to breath. They raced to the edge of the cliff together, and together they took the leap, locked in each other’s arms.

  * * *

  “I think I’m blind.”

  Sam pushed off her and rolled to one side. “Open your eyes.”

  “Oh. Right.” She looked at him and Sam felt the solid punch of her gaze slam into him. His body was still humming, his blood still pounding in his ears. He’d just had the most intense experience of his life and he wanted her again. Now.

  He stroked one hand down her body, following the curve of breast to belly to hip. She shivered and he smiled. He couldn’t touch her enough. The feel of her was addictive. How could his craving for her be as sharp now as it had been before? He should be relaxed. Instead, he felt more fired up. The need building inside him was sharper now because he knew what he’d been missing. Knew what it was to be inside her, to feel her wrapped around him, holding him tight. To look into her eyes and watch passion burst like fireworks on the Fourth.

  It felt as if cold, iron bands were tightening around his chest. Danger. He knew it. He knew that feeling anything for Joy was a one-way trip to disaster, pain and misery. Yet it seemed that he didn’t have any choice about that.

  “Well.” She blew out a breath and gave him a smile that had his body going rock hard again. “That was amazing. But I’m suddenly so thirsty I could drink a gallon of water.”

  “I’ll get some,” he told her, “as soon as I’m sure my legs will hold me.”

  “Isn’t that a nice thing to say? There’s no hurry,” she said, turning into him, snuggling close. She buried her face in the curve of his neck and gave a sigh. “Here’s good.”

  “Here’s great.” He rolled onto his back, pulling her over with him until she lay sprawled across his chest. Her blond curls tumbled around her face and her eyes sparkled in the dim light. “You caught me by surprise with that kiss.”

  She folded her arms on his chest and grinned down at him. “Well, then, you have an excellent reaction time.”

  “Not complaining.” He hadn’t been prepared for that kiss, and it had pushed him right over the edge of the control he’d been clinging to for days. Wincing a little, he thought he should have taken his time with her. To slowly drive them both to the breaking point. Instead, he’d been hit by an unstoppable force and hadn’t been able to withstand it. They’d rushed t
ogether so quickly he hadn’t—Sam went completely still as reality came crashing down on him, obliterating the buzz of satisfaction as if it had never been.

  “What is it? Sam?”

  He looked up into her eyes and called himself every kind of name he could think of. How could he have been so stupid? So careless? It was too late now, he told himself grimly. Too late to do anything but worry. “Joy, the downside to things happening by surprise is you’re not prepared for it.”

  She smiled. “I’d say you were plenty prepared.”

  He rolled again, flopping her over onto the mattress and leaning over her, staring her in the eyes. “I’m trying to tell you that I hope to hell you’re on birth control because I wasn’t suited up.”

  Nine

  Sam watched her as, for a second or two, she just stared at him as if she were trying to make sense of a foreign language. And since he was staring into those clear blue eyes of hers, he saw the shift of emotions when what he’d said finally sunk in.

  And even then, the uppermost thought in his mind was her scent and how it clung to her skin and seeped into his bones. Every breath he drew pulled her inside him, until summer flowers filled every corner of his heart, his soul.

  What the hell was wrong with him? Focus. He’d led them both into a risky situation, and he had to keep his mind on what could, potentially, be facing them. It had been a long time since he’d been with anyone, sure. But it was Joy herself who had blown all thought, all reason, right out of his head with that one surprise kiss in the kitchen. After that, all he’d been able to think about was getting her naked. To finally have her under him, over him. He’d lost control for the first time in his life, and even though the consequences could be steep, he couldn’t really regret any of it.

  “Oh. Well.” Joy lifted one hand and pushed his hair back from his face. Her touch sent a fresh new jolt of need blasting through him, and he had to grit his teeth in the effort to hold on to what was left of the tattered threads of his control.