“I was recovering from being in a coma. I had been lying in bed for three weeks, and I was in . . . less than prime physical shape. And I didn’t know what kind of a recovery I was going to make.”
“I never had any doubts.”
“But I did. So I set a goal for myself. Running a mile on the indoor track without getting winded, and I did it,” he added with a note of triumph.
“Of course. You had the determination to bring yourself all the way back.”
“And I was thinking about something else, too.” He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “This is probably going to sound like I’m stuck in the nineteenth century or something. But after the way our relationship started, I wanted some time for us to get to know each other. I wanted to find out what we had in common—without sex getting in the way.”
“It makes sense, now that I understand what you were doing. I wish. . .” She stopped and started again. “It was reassuring to find out we had a lot going for us.”
“Yes.” He laughed. “Not only mutual lust.”
“I never thought that was all,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “I’m doing a bad job of this. Because I’m nervous.”
“You?”
“Yeah. I’ve known since I first laid eyes on you that you were like no other women I’ve ever met. And I treasure that. But I wanted you to get to know me. I wanted you to see my good qualities.”
“I always did.”
He closed the distance between them in two easy strides, folding her into his arms. She clung to him, hardly able to believe this conversation.
When she raised her face, he lowered his head, and their lips met in a kiss that turned instantly blazing hot.
She opened herself for him, and his head angled for deeper possession, his tongue playing with hers, then withdrawing and inviting her to follow, which she did, learning the inside of his mouth the way he was learning hers.
By the time he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.
“Our first kiss in the real world,” he said. “Better than in my dream.”
“Yes,” she answered. “But, Jordan, I wish you’d told me what you were thinking.”
“I’m sorry.” He looked totally contrite. “I wanted to show you how good things could be between us—for real. And I couldn’t do it until I was well.”
When she started to speak, he pressed a fingertip against her lips. “This is hard for me to say, and I have to do it fast before I lose my nerve. You’ve saved me once. I need you to do it again. Not because someone’s trying to kill me. I need you to save me from the kind of life I made for myself. I’ve trusted no one, loved no one. I thought I was being smart, but the truth is, I was scared—scared of giving another person the power to hurt me.”
“Oh Jordan, I didn’t understand.” She kept her gaze on him. “I’d never hurt you,” she whispered.
“I know. And being with you made me realize I don’t want to go back to the way I was. I want something a whole lot better—with you.”
She had to struggle to speak past the lump that had formed in her throat. “I’ve wanted to say I love you. I didn’t know if you would want to hear it.”
“Thank God,” he breathed, folding her back into his arms, rocking her against him. “Hannah, when you walked into my shadow life, I didn’t even know I was in terrible trouble. But you forced me to understand what had happened to me. You gave me the strength to break free.” His gaze burned into hers. “I knew that if you’d reached me there, you were going to mean something important to me.” He stopped and swallowed hard. “But I couldn’t stop thinking that I didn’t deserve a woman like you.”
“You deserve every good thing in life.”
His lips crooked into a grin. “Maybe we can start with this.” As he spoke, his hand slipped between them to cup her right breast.
She caught her breath. She had wanted him for so long that the light touch was enough to turn the blood in her veins to fire.
He looked down at what he was doing, watching as his thumb rubbed the hard tip, making it stand out against the thin fabric of her knit top.
“Does this mean you’ve decided to stop torturing us both?” she managed to ask.
“Yeah. But don’t you think there could be a method to my madness? I mean, keeping my hands off you for a month is going to make today very, very hot.”
She grinned at him. “I believe you’re right.”
Then her breath caught as he slipped his hands under her knit top. Reaching to her back, he unhooked her bra. Then he pulled the top and the bra up, baring her breasts so that he could take them in his hands and bend to suck one descended nipple into his mouth, while he teased the other one with his thumb and finger.
She swayed on her feet, gripping his shoulders to steady herself. Reality intruded, and her gaze swung to the window. “Oh Lord, I wasn’t thinking. Anyone can see us.”
He laughed. “I had crews getting this place ready, but you’d better believe nobody is in the garden now but us. I made sure of that.”
oOo
He went back to what he was doing, until she gasped, “Jordan. . . oh, God, I can’t stand up anymore. Please. . .”
“Glad to oblige.” He slicked her slacks and panties down her legs, then lifted her up and set her on the chest beside the couch. On his knees, he pulled off the pants, then removed her sandals. And while he was on his knees, he brought her hips to the edge of the chest and opened her legs so that he could press his mouth to the hot core of her.
I’ve been dreaming of this,” he murmured. “Dreaming of tasting my fill of you.”
“Oh, God, I’ve never . . .”
She felt him smile. “I like being the first to give you that pleasure.”
Gently but insistently, he ran his hands up her inner thighs and into her intimate folds, opening her. Totally vulnerable to him, she squeezed her eyes closed and braced her arms against the top of the chest
“Lord, you are so pretty—all rosy and wet and swollen for me.”
She gasped at his intimate kiss, her whole being focused on the delicate, knowing strokes of his tongue, as it glided from her vagina to her clit, then returning to dip inside her.
“Jordan, don’t make me come like this,” she gasped. “I want you inside me.”
“Lord, yes.”
He picked her up and carried her to the couch where he laid her down, then tore off his own clothing in record time. Seconds later, he was horizontal with her, gathering her close, his hips rocking against her as his cock slid against her slippery folds.
“Jordan. . . Please, now.”
“Like this?” He changed the angle of his hips, plunging into her before going still above her.
“Look at me.”
Her gaze locked with his as she absorbed the joy of their joining.
“This is real. And forever,” he said.
When he began to move, she was consumed by pleasure and staggered by the heat and power of this man who had claimed her for his own. And she knew this was no dream. This was the beginning of her new life.
His eyes were a glittering, brilliant obsidian, and they seared into her as he planted words in her mind. Finally, my love. His silent speech stunned her.
“I thought we’d lost that.”
“I hoped we hadn’t.”
She held his gaze as she watched pleasure transform his features before lowering his head to cover her mouth with his in a kiss that completed their joining.
He found a driving rhythm that she matched as she grasped his shoulders. When his hands clasped her bottom, to hold her tight against him, the tension inside her rose almost beyond bearing.
She was carried up and up to a high plane where the air was almost too thin to breathe, and pleasure washed through her in a surging tide of sensations. She knew he was with her all the way as orgasm grabbed her, drenching her body and her soul with ecstasy that seemed to go on and on.
As aftershocks rippled through h
er, he rolled to his side, taking her with him.
Long minutes passed as his fingers stroked lightly over the sweat-slick skin of her back, and his lips nibbled the side of her cheek. She clung to him, fulfilled in a way that was completely new to her.
“Was that worth a month’s wait?” he finally murmured.
“You know it was.” Then she added quickly, wanting him to understand, “But don’t ever do that to me again. I was in agony, not knowing if you felt the same way about me that I felt about you.”
“I’m sorry,” he answered, then added in a contrite tone, “I won’t do anything like that again.”
“Thank you.”
He sat up and reached toward the bottom of the Christmas tree, picking up a small box that he’d set at the edge of the presents.
She saw his serious expression as he handed it to her.
“Open it.”
When she did, she found a stunning emerald-cut diamond ring inside and drew in a quick breath.
His voice turned anxious. “Hannah, will you marry me?”
The proposal sent a shiver through her—a mix of excitement and pleasure and nerves. But she was bold enough to say.
“Yes. If I can be your true partner.”
She heard him swallow hard. “I’m not used to. . . consulting anyone, but I’ll try to learn.”
It was what she had hoped and more than she expected.
“Thank you,” she breathed, knowing he had given her a gift more precious than any diamond ring.
His smile was tender as he slipped the ring on her finger. “I’m getting the best of the bargain. You’re one of the strongest, bravest women I’ve ever met, the most tender and the sexiest. And beautiful, too. The woman I waited all my life to meet.”
She flushed. “I don’t see myself that way.”
“Because you’re also modest. But never sell yourself short. You are the only person who could have saved my life, and I thank God every day that Frank Decorah sent you to me.”
“You sound like you’ve met him.”
“I talked to him on the phone. He’s quite a guy. And very mysterious. I don’t think we’ll ever know the whole truth about him.” He laughed. “But right now, I don’t want him in bed with us. He gathered her to him for a long, passionate kiss that had arousal stirring deep within her again.
He nibbled at her ear as he whispered, “I think we should celebrate our engagement. Don’t you?”
She marveled at the new freedom in him—and in herself.
She grinned and slid her leg over his hip, bringing his erection into instant contact with her. . .”
“Your pussy?”
Her eyes widened. “You read my mind?”
“Uh huh. It seems to happen when we’re . . . close.”
He nibbled his way down her neck to her breast. “Probably you’re reading my mind now.”
She laughed. “It would be hard not to, under the circumstances.”
“Let me be clearer.”
Pictures came to her. Very graphic pictures, and she knew he was going to take her on another wild ride. The ride of her life.
He gathered her to him and whispered in her mind. This is just the beginning for us, sweetheart. Just the beginning.
THE END
Afterword
Thank you for purchasing CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it.
If you enjoy my books, do me a huge favor. Please go back to www.amazon.com, and leave an honest review. Authors live and die by their reviews. The few extra seconds it takes are really appreciated. Thank you!
oOo
If you enjoyed CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE, you may also enjoy other Light Street Press books by Rebecca York:
DECORAH SECURITY AGENCY BOOKS
To purchase On Edge (a Decorah Security prequel novella) simply click here.
To purchase Ambushed (a short story) simply click here.
To purchase At Risk (a novel) simply click here.
To purchase Chained (a novella) simply click here.
To purchase Dark Moon (a novel) simply click here.
To purchase Hot and Dangerous (a short story) simply click here.
To purchase Dark Powers (a novel) simply click here.
To purchase Decorah Security Collection (an anthology including Ambushed, Hot and Dangerous, Chained, and Dark Powers) simply click here.
OTHER REBECCA YORK ROMANTIC SUSPENSE STORIES
To purchase Nightfall (a novella) simply click here
To purchase Hero's Welcome (a short story) simply click here.
To purchase Conquest (a short story) simply click here.
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PRAISE FOR REBECCA YORK
Rebecca York delivers page-turning suspense.
—Nora Roberts
Rebecca York never fails to deliver. Her strong characterizations, imaginative plots and sensuous love scenes have made fans of thousands of romance, romantic suspense and thriller readers.
—Chassie West
Rebecca York will thrill you with romance, kill you with danger and chill you with the supernatural.
—Patricia Rosemoor
(Rebecca York) is a real luminary of contemporary series romance
—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World
Rebecca York’s writing is fast-paced, suspenseful, and loaded with tension.
—Jayne Ann Krentz
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling Author, Rebecca York is a 2011 recipient of the Romance Writers of America Centennial Award. Her career has focused on romantic suspense, often with paranormal elements.
Her 16 Berkley books and novellas include her nine-book werewolf “Moon” series. KILLING MOON was a launch book for the Berkley Sensation imprint. She has written for Harlequin, Berkley, Dell, Tor, Carina Press, Silhouette, Kensington, Running Press, Tudor, Pageant Books, and Scholastic.
Her many awards include two Rita finalist books. She has two Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times: for Series Romantic Suspense and for Series Romantic Mystery. And her Peregrine Connection series won a Lifetime Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense Series.
Many of her novels have been nominated for or won RT Reviewers Choice awards. In addition, she has won a Prism Award, several New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf awards and numerous other chapter awards.
Contacts
Rebecca York loves to hear from readers!
Web site: http://www.rebeccayork.com
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @rebeccayork43
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Blog: http://www.rebeccayork.blogspot.com
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oOo
BOOKS BY REBECCA YORK
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Copyright Information
Published by Light Street Press
Copyright © 2013 by Ruth Glick
Cover design by Earthly Charms
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CH
APTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AFTERWORD
DECORAH SECURITY SERIES BY REBECCA YORK
MORE ROMANTIC SUSPENSE BOOKS
PRAISE FOR REBECCA YORK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CONTACT INFORMATION
COPYRIGHT
CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE (Decorah Security Series): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novella Page 8
