Sweet Cowboy Christmas: A Sweet, Texas Novella

by Candis Terry

  “Mmmm. Much better.” She reached for his waistband. “Pants too.”

  He moved away, just enough to give her access to his zipper. He quickly removed the slacks along with a pair of black boxer briefs. And then he was back, settled between her legs, erection pressed hotly against her pelvis. He slid his hands up her thighs, over her belly, and cupped her breasts for better access as he took one swollen bud into his mouth, glided his tongue along the crest, and gave a gentle pull with his lips.

  Desire burned through her veins as he kissed his way down her stomach and parted her slick folds with his thumbs. Then he looked up at her from between her legs, a seductive glimmer sparked in his eyes.

  “I want all of you, Faith.”

  Anticipation locked down everything inside her except the awareness of him. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even nod as he lowered his head between her legs and teased her tingling core with the flat of his warm tongue. She dropped her head back and closed her eyes. Sensation took charge, and with a moan that swelled on each slide of his tongue, she knew at that moment she would give him anything he asked for.

  WHEN FAITH CAME apart beneath his hands and the pressure of his tongue, Chase ignored the needy pulsations in his cock and savored the moment.

  Head back, eyes closed, her hands were on her large, firm breasts, fingers plucking her nipples. Her thigh muscles tensed and pressed into his shoulders while her orgasm tasted like honey on his lips. With firelight dancing in her hair and playing across her soft skin, he knew he’d never seen anything more beautiful. Hunger rolled over him in an uncontainable wave, and the moment her heavy panting began to subside into fulfilled moans, he slid up her warm body. She welcomed him into her arms, wrapped her legs around his hips, and drew him down.

  He meant to take his time.

  To make slow, sweet love to her.

  But when the head of his cock nudged the entrance of her hot, moist, tight body, he realized that might have to be on the second round. When she reached between them and gave him a long, firm stroke, he dove into the pleasure of her touch.

  Anxious to feel her surrounding him, he grabbed a condom from his pants pocket, tore open the packet, and she took the pleasure of rolling on the latex.

  With a long sigh, she guided him in. As he fully pushed into her, her body stretched to accept all of him, and her sweet warmth surrounded him. Urgency pumped through his veins, his lungs clutched, and his gut constricted. Embedded deep, he somehow managed to maintain control–even as his dick urged him to push harder and faster. And though he loved hearing her moan his name, the breathy little noises she made weren’t helping his control.

  “Oh, God. Chase.” She let go a sexy sigh. “You feel so good. Harder, baby. Please.”

  He pushed in deeper simply because he had no choice. His body had overruled all his good intentions. He retreated and advanced again, giving in to the absolute pleasure and sensation of being inside her luscious body.

  Over and over he thrust. Slow. Steady. Gentle. Fast. Hard. Deep. All the while, he watched the expressions of passion on her beautiful face. She made him want to last forever just to keep that smile on her lips.

  Then her thick lashes fluttered open. When their eyes met, she wrapped her fingers around his nape and drew his head down for a kiss.

  “Now, Chase.” Her hips arched up to meet his thrust. “I’m about to explode. Give me everything you’ve got. Right . . .” She met his thrust again. Her inner muscles clenched around him. Pulled him in tighter. “Now.”

  The tension and ache in his cock burst like a dam in an explosion of hot, heavy sensation. The vibration of her orgasm radiated along his shaft and squeezed. Pleasure swept across his skin, and he let go with a deep groan that came from somewhere deep in his soul. When she curled her arms around him and sighed with contentment against his chest, he knew he’d found something he’d never expected the day he arrived at the Magic Box Guest Ranch.

  Or maybe ever.

  Chapter Eight

  “I DON’T KNOW what to do with you now.”

  Chase lifted his head from the soft pillow, leaned on an elbow, and noted Faith’s very contented smile. They’d made love again after they’d come upstairs to her bed, and now they lay tangled up in each other. It was the most blissful state he’d ever experienced except when he was inside her warm body.

  “You ready to get rid of me already?” he asked.

  “No.” She chuckled. “But you’re a paying guest, and we just did that. Several times. So now I don’t know whether to not charge you for your cabin or–”

  “How about I stay right here with you?” He kissed the tip of her nose. “In your bed.”

  Her gray eyes widened just slightly. “For the rest of your stay?”

  He nodded.

  “But won’t that seem like I’m charging you for . . . sex? Like a hot-stone massage or something?” She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I wouldn’t even know how much to charge. I mean, I’ve never done that–”

  He silenced her with his mouth, tasting the sweetness of her kiss, knowing he wanted to close his eyes at night with the taste of her on his tongue and wake each morning with it on his lips.

  He chuckled. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “I know. But I’ve never been in this position before.”

  “Are you worried about what the others will think?”

  “Of course not.” Her fingertips caressed his cheek. “You should know by now I play by my own set of rules. They just wouldn’t want to see me get hurt.”

  “Neither would I,” he said. And meant it. “Ask me to stay, Faith.”

  After a long pause she said, “I can’t, Chase. You have a lot of healing and exploring to do to find your place in the world again. But for tonight, I’m all yours.”

  When he began to protest, she pressed her finger to his lips. “One day at a time,” she said. “Then if it ends, neither of us will be hurt.”

  He didn’t concur.

  He didn’t oppose.

  But later that night, after a dinner of cowboy grilled steak and the ice-cream-sundae desserts they’d prepared together, he moved into the lodge house and into her bed.

  TWO DAYS AFTER the charity barn dance and two luxurious nights spent in the haven of Faith’s arms, Chase found himself pushing a wobbly cart through the store, following her lead through the toy department.

  “Why are girls so consumed with Barbie?” he wanted to know.

  She looked up from the pink boxes in her hands and laughed. “Beats me. I’ve never been able to figure that out. Maybe it comes from our insatiable craving for perfection. Even when we’re just children.”

  He leaned in and stole a kiss. “I think you’re perfect.”

  A little sigh pushed through her lips as she dropped the boxes down into the ever-growing pile of toys in the cart. “Chase Morgan, are you going to make me so hot and needy I have to drag you into the furniture department and have my way with you?”

  “Yes.” He smiled.

  She laughed. “Okay, just let me finish with the items on this list first. Kids before lust.”

  He kissed her again and refrained from sharing his thoughts that sometimes kids came from lust. And that was okay with him too. A surprising revelation since he’d never really considered having his own family before.

  Faith had changed everything.

  The easiness and familiarity between them had been like this from the moment they’d gone skin on skin. Heart-to-heart. Somehow it seemed like they’d gone beyond the physical and made some kind of metaphysical connection that night. He couldn’t figure it out, and he wasn’t complaining. Except for the fact that she currently had him working as her personal assistant in a superstore with big rollback signs and people running around in blue vests.

  He’d never been in a Walmart before. Hell, in New York, the only shopping he’d ever done in an actual brick-and-mortar store had been to stop in at the neighborhood grocer when he ran out of something. His shopping had
been either done online or by his administrative assistant. His groceries had been brought in by the woman he’d hired to maintain his house. And most nights he ate dinner out.

  Faith checked off everything on her pink aisle list, and they rounded the end cap into what Chase would have to describe as Transformers Alley. He almost laughed. Once upon a time, he’d given his best shot to secure the advertising contract for the summer blockbuster movie. He could have made millions. Now he was just as happy watching the woman in front of him picking through boxes of the much-desired toys like they were candy. Each action figure she selected would go to an underprivileged child. And that was better any day of the week than picking up a hefty paycheck.

  Focused on the fit of Faith’s delectable derriere in her Wranglers, Chase flinched as a woman in a vibrant blue muumuu and orthopedic shoes grabbed his arm.

  Bright red smeared her crinkled lips as her mouth dropped open, and she gasped. “Fancy seeing you here. I thought you’d be headed back to New York by now.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Lewis. Don’t you look pretty today.”

  “Oh.” The elderly woman blushed and fanned herself, kicking up an overpowering scent of menthol that made his eyes tear. “You can call me Gladys.”

  Faith came back down the aisle and dropped four Optimus Prime Transformer action figures into the cart. “I talked him into helping me with shopping for the charity Christmas morning,” she said. “Then, most likely, he’ll head back.”

  “Trying to get rid of me again?” Chase didn’t like the sudden detachment in her voice.

  She shrugged. “Just accepting reality.”

  Gladys’s rheumy eyes darted between the two of them. “Well, that’s too bad. Be nice for you to have a man around the ranch.”

  “Don’t forget Bull,” Faith said. “He’s quite a lot of help with everything. So what are you buying today, Mrs. Lewis?”

  Faith’s detour in conversation raised the hairs on the back of Chase’s neck. Like someone had flipped a switch, she went from hot to cold.

  And he didn’t like it.

  “Epsom salts. The weather’s suddenly going colder kicked in the gout in my danged feet. Before they go purple on me, they need a long soak. Then I’ll be good as new and ready to boogie.”

  After delivering that bit of wretched information, Gladys gave them a wave and walked away, orthopedic shoes squeaking on the tile floor.

  Chase turned to Faith. “What was that all about?”

  She pulled a Paw Patrol On-A-Roll Marshall and Fire Truck from the shelf and tossed it in the cart. Then she dragged her attention away from the list in her hand and met his gaze.

  “I love being with you, Chase. But I’m not crazy enough to try to convince myself that you’re going to stay here forever. You worked hard for your career and your life in New York. You’d be a fool to just walk away. Despite what happened to you, you’re smart enough to figure out how to blend the passion you have for your work and your new outlook on life. And . . .” Her shoulders lifted on a sigh. “As much as I want you to be here, I know I’d never be enough.”

  Her ex-fiancé’s slur hung silently between them.

  All you really are is a hillbilly who should never have left the farm.

  Stunned, Chase watched her walk away. This time her honesty hit him like a sucker punch.

  But this time she was wrong.

  Faith was the most incredible woman he’d ever met in his life. And he’d met plenty. As smart as she was, he couldn’t believe she’d buy into the bullshit that jerk had tried to feed her. But as he knew, sometimes wounds went deep, and it appeared Faith had become the victim of some old-fashioned bullying.

  For years, Chase had viewed Christmas as the enemy. The one constant in his life that wounded him over and over again. Faith had opened his eyes and his heart. And for the first time in what felt like forever, he looked forward to the celebration. But mostly he looked forward to opening his eyes on Christmas day and seeing her beautiful face first thing.

  The past was past.

  And at the moment, the future looked damned bright.

  Chapter Nine

  EARLY CHRISTMAS MORNING, Chase woke with Faith warm and sweet in his arms and Doc settled in at the bottom of the bed around their feet. The night before after they’d wrapped what seemed like umpteen hundred gifts, they’d made love with insatiable hunger.

  On her part, it seemed like she thought it was their last time together. On his side, the hunger came because the more time they spent together, the more he wanted her.

  How had they become so unbalanced when just a few days ago it seemed as though they were both on the same page?

  Beside him, he felt her come awake and enjoyed the little sigh she hummed as she nestled her luscious body closer.

  She turned her head and smiled up at him. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “This is the best I’ve had since I was eight years old and got my very own horse.”

  She chuckled. “You’re comparing me to a horse?”

  He shook his head. “Comparing you to the best gift I ever received.”

  “Awww.” She turned to face him, pressing her plump breasts against his chest and wrapping her leg around his thigh. “You say the nicest things.”

  “I do?”

  She nodded, and the silk of her hair glided across his chest. “And memorable too. I believe one of the first things you ever said to me was that you’d eat anything.”

  He laughed and hugged her close. Then he proceeded to prove there were more delicious things to devour than a morning breakfast of eggs and toast.

  AFTER HER SHOWER, Faith came down the stairs literally glowing from the passion she just shared with Chase. No need for makeup today. When she’d looked in the mirror the woman looking back had a radiance that could only be caused by two things. Making love. And being in love.

  Check.

  And check.

  Since she’d escaped Houston, she’d never spent a Christmas alone. And with the exuberant group that would arrive shortly, she wouldn’t spend this one alone either. Besides the children and their parents, who’d arrive to accept the gifts given by her charity, Paige and Aiden would be there as well as Bull and Shelby and her boys. Even if they didn’t all show, she’d have Chase.

  But for how long?

  How long before he got tired of playing house with her and flew back to Manhattan and picked up where he’d left off with his exciting, fast-paced life? How long before he realized he’d left slow-moving Texas a long time ago for a reason?

  When she got halfway down the stairs, the scent of warm cinnamon buns tickled her nose. The lights were already aglow on the enormous tree, whose lower branches now rested on the cheerfully wrapped presents waiting to be enjoyed by all. A blaze crackled in the hearth. And Bing Crosby serenaded her with “White Christmas.”

  Faith’s heart expanded and sighed.

  Someone had been busy while she showered.

  “Come here, sweet thing.” Chase’s deep voice called out from the foyer. Curious, she went to find him, wondering what he might need help with before their company arrived. When she cleared the dividing wall, she found him at the front door, smiling.

  “Are the guests arriving already?” She laughed. “The eager beavers.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “But I ordered a gift for you, and it finally arrived.”

  “For me?” Her hand settled against her chest. Beneath her fingertips, her heart pounded. “You didn’t have to.”

  He held out his hand, drew her to his side, and looked down into her face. “This was my father’s favorite song. You gave me back the ability to listen to it for the first time since he died. You’re an incredible, special woman, Faith. And as much as I’d like to claim ownership of what I’m about to show you, I think the gift came from someone much higher up than I.”

  Before she had a chance to respond to the warmth of his words, he lowered his head and kissed h
er so sweetly, it brought tears to her eyes.

  “You said you’d never had a white Christmas . . .” Chase opened the double doors.

  Faith gasped.

  “Now you have.”

  Everything was covered in white. The ground. The corral posts. The roof of the barn. Doc’s furry back as he frolicked and rolled around, snuffling his nose beneath layers and layers of white. Fat, fluffy snowflakes fell from the sky in a perfect shower of glistening snow.

  “Oh my . . .” She grabbed Chase’s hand and rushed outside, pulling him behind her. When they cleared the cover of the veranda, she let go, lifted her palms to the sky, and spun in a circle. She stuck out her tongue and felt the icy flakes melt.

  “Snow angels!” She grabbed Chase’s hand again and pulled him to the ground. Beside her, he chuckled. Then they both spread their arms and legs to make angels in the thick fluff of snow.

  Though the cold seeped through the back of her clothes, she lay on the ground looking up into the gray sky, and smiled. “Best Christmas ever.”

  When Chase leaned over her and pulled her into his arms, her heart gave a happy sigh.

  “Merry Christmas, sweet thing,” Chase murmured. Then he lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her lips that absolutely sealed her belief that magic came in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

  WITHIN A FEW HOURS, not an ounce of room remained in the grand living space of the lodge house at the Magic Box Guest Ranch. While the children sat on the floor beside the twinkling tree and the glowing hearth, chattering like mice about their new gifts, their parents sat about enjoying the atmosphere and the sweet hot chocolate Chase had prepared with Faith earlier after they’d brushed off the snow and gone back inside.

  Along with the group that benefited from the generosity of Faith’s charity work, were her sister Paige, Aiden, Shelby, and her three boys, and Bull, who’d played the role of Santa Claus so perfectly that Chase had almost been fooled into believing the jolly old elf actually existed. He’d never seen the old man smile until today. Since then, Bull hadn’t been able to turn off the grin that beamed from behind the fake beard.