Under the Mistletoe

by Fawn Lowery

  If only she could feel the spirit of the season.

  She knew better than to allow her thoughts to get the better of her and she quickly made up her mind to live for the moment—throw caution to the wind.

  “You’re not married or anything, are you, Joe?” she asked suddenly, then wondered why she’d bothered. She didn’t really care if he had ten wives and three-dozen kids—he belonged to her for the duration of their stay at the lodge.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “No. I’m not married—or anything. How about you?” He paused and looked at her.

  The waitress returned just then with the champagne Joe had ordered and they placed their dinner order. The short interruption gave Sonja time to remind herself not to be too forward—if that was possible.

  “Well?” he coaxed.

  Sonja shook her head, sending her long hair bouncing across her shoulders. “I’m free as a bird.”

  His left eyebrow quirked upward. “A beautiful woman, unattached?”

  Sonja picked up her glass of champagne and took a sip. “I’m a workaholic,” she answered. “I haven’t time to devote to a relationship.”

  “So there’s no long term commitment in your future?” he pressed.

  She smiled slowly, amused at his interest in her. It was nice…and very arousing.

  “Long term?” She pretended to ponder her answer for a moment, watching him over the rim of her glass. How does he look naked? she thought, her mind flooded with sensual musings.

  “Is that a no?” he prompted.

  “The future is too far away,” she responded, downing the remainder of liquor in her glass.

  Joe quickly refilled her glass, smiling slightly. “That’s an interesting answer,” he remarked.

  “Well, I’m an interesting person,” she said, then giggled softly.

  His blue gaze washed over her face, pausing on her mouth before rising to lock gazes with her. “I’ve no doubt that you are,” he said in a low tone.

  A flush of heat traveled up her neck, flushing her cheeks. Good grief, she reprimanded herself. He’ll think I’m a total fool.

  “You’re on a business trip?” she asked, quickly calling attention to him and taking the focus off herself.

  He nodded his head at her.

  “Rather a strange time for business—what with it being Christmas,” she commented, slightly shrugging one shoulder.

  “Christmas is just another day.”

  “Really. That’s an interesting outlook.”

  He looked across the table at her, a glimmer of seriousness in his eyes. “I lost both my parents when I was fifteen. Since then there hasn’t been anything to celebrate at Christmas time. So I usually work.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sonja muttered.

  He gave her a quick smile. “So what’s your story—aside from your back-stabbing cousin dealing you a lousy blow?”

  It seemed right that she should tell him about her personal life—her parents’ fate and how she had come to shun family gatherings because of her grief.

  He raised his wine glass suddenly. “Here’s to our spending Christmas together, Sonja,” he offered.

  Quickly she picked up her glass and clinked it against his, taking quick note of the sensual gleam in his eyes.

  Their meals arrived and they turned their attentions to eating. Sonja could feel the effects of the champagne on her empty stomach and knew she needed food to combat the woozy feeling creeping up on her. Momentarily she found herself enjoying the succulent steak, giving her senses over to the gay atmosphere inside the room. The lovely strains of ‘Silent Night’ wafted about the area, entwined with a mingling of voices from the diners.

  Once they finished their entrée, a waitress appeared with coffee and dessert. Sonja gazed down at the large slice of chocolate cake she had ordered and grimaced. Her stomach was full; she had no room for dessert, despite its delectable appearance.

  “I should have passed on dessert,” she confessed, laying one hand on her full stomach.

  “Nonsense,” Joe declared. He reached across the table to Sonja’s dessert plate and forked up a large bite of cake. “Aren’t the holidays a time when everyone indulges?” he asked, smiling. “Open wide.”

  A little surprised but delighted by his brash approach, Sonja opened her mouth for the bite of cake. Carefully, he poked his fork into her mouth, eyeing her lips as she closed them around the tines of the fork and took the bite of cake.

  “Let’s indulge our senses,” he said, smiling at her.

  Chapter Three

  They lingered after dinner, talking, laughing, then moved into the lounge for a nightcap. Sonja was vividly aware of the warm hand riding low on her back as they crossed the wide foyer to the lounge. It was in danger of burning her skin, despite the fact that she still had her clothes on.

  A sensual throb pulsed through her insides. She was wanting Joe in bed—wanted to press her naked body against his, feel him inside her. For an instant she cautioned herself. But only for an instant.

  They chose a small table near the rear of the lounge and Joe ordered more champagne. Sonja leaned forward in her chair, eyeing him with an inspecting gaze. Her vision was slightly blurred, but she wasn’t seeing double yet. A short giggle jumped from her mouth.

  Joe cocked one eyebrow at her and smiled. “Perhaps you’ve had enough to drink,” he commented, reaching for the glass of wine the waitress set on the table.

  “I’m a big girl,” Sonja remarked, grabbing at the glass. “I can handle my liquor.”

  “Can you?” he baited, then allowed her to take the drink from his hand.

  She leaned closer to him. “I can handle anything.”

  His eyes devoured her face, the lowered lashes as she raised the glass to her mouth and took a sip. Then his gaze settled on her lips, the lower slightly fuller than the top, glossed in bright red lipstick.

  “You have a lovely mouth,” he said in a low voice. He reached his right hand out to lightly trace the tip of his index finger along her lower lip.

  Sonja drew in a quick breath and momentarily closed her eyes. The feel of his finger grazing her sensitive lip sent erotic tingles coursing through her.

  In the next instant, Joe lowered his fingers to capture her chin and urged her to meet him halfway across the table. He brushed his lips across hers, lightly, yet offering the sex she wanted in a whisper-soft kiss.

  Sonja raised her hand and clasped his wrist. Her eyes flickered open. There were any number of people in the lounge, numerous couples engaged in quiet conversations at the small tables, but were any of them verbally copulating as she and Joe were?

  She almost giggled out loud. She spent so much time running Mercer Warehouses that she wasn’t really aware of how couples acted in public—or how open they were when it came to sex.

  He chuckled at her show of embarrassment. “I’d like to—“

  “What?” she encouraged as his finger found its way back to her lips. Her gaze held his. If he had any inkling how aroused she was—

  “I’d like to feel those lovely lips closing around my cock,” he whispered. Then he shook his head as though dislodging the notion. “I’m sorry. That was a bit forward—”

  Sonja gave no sign of surprise at his words. It had been a long time since she’d had a man’s cock in her mouth, but she recalled it to be quite an arousing thing. She gazed up at him through lowered lashes, a teasing smile on her lips.

  “Are you big?”

  He chuckled audibly and pulled his hand free of her grasp. “Is that a trick question?”

  Sonja laughed slightly and finished the wine in her glass. “Any other man would have told me his shoe size,” she commented. She liked the fact that he hadn’t boasted.

  “You’ve had too much to drink and I’m taking you up to your room,” he said pushing out of his chair and taking her hand. “You need to be in bed.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Sonja remarked. “But I’m not the least bit sleepy.”


  He paused and pulled her against his side, curling his arm around her waist. She felt the shuddering breath he pulled in as they started toward the door of the lounge.

  “Let’s go to your room,” she suggested, her arm snaking around her waist. She leaned her breasts into his chest. “And I’ll show you how expert I am at sucking cock.”

  * * * *

  She felt so emboldened she could hardly believe it. Her body was on fire—her crotch was moist and her nipples were hard little nubs beneath her cashmere sweater. She couldn’t remember when she’d wanted a man as badly as she wanted Joe.

  She pressed her body against his as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. When Joe steered her along the hallway toward his room, she felt as though she was about to celebrate Christmas in a special way. It was long overdue.

  The second they were inside the room, Sonja began removing her clothes, ripping the sweater over her head, only to have Joe’s hands catch hers before she could completely shed the garment.

  “Let me,” he whispered, completing the removal.

  His hands were warm and lightly skimmed her shoulders as he pulled the sweater from her body. The low light in the room gave soft illumination to her alluring curves and velvet skin. He slid his palms along her waist, pausing to hook his thumbs in the waistband of her ski pants. Slowly he peeled the tight slacks along her legs until she stepped out of them.

  She pulled in a deep breath. Warmth in the room engulfed her naked contours, making her nipples pucker.

  He led her to the wide bed in the room and Sonja sat on the edge of the mattress. Her hands rose to his waist, to the closure on his slacks. She wanted to curl her fingers around his hot manhood—to feel his flesh against her palm.

  “You don’t have to—“

  “I want to,” she insisted.

  She hurried to release the closure and unzip his slacks so she could push them down. Her palm grazed his hardness beneath the expensive fabric seconds before she bared him to her eyes.

  A ragged breath caught in his throat as her hands took possession of his flesh. In the next instant, his hands were melding with hers as she guided his cock to her mouth.

  “Oh, baby!” he exclaimed. A shudder of delight shook his big body as Sonja closed her hot lips around his cock.

  He was big and hot, and hammer hard. A titillating thrill coursed through Sonja as she felt his cock slide along her tongue. His hands rose to twine in her hair, then lowered to pluck at her firm nipples.

  Her inspecting fingers slid along the hard length and delved into the bush surrounding his cock, then inched lower to circle inquisitively around his hairy balls, extracting a low moan from his throat.

  He began to move towards her mouth, hunching his hips in a slow rhythm as Sonja’s sucking enticed him to play.

  “Damn, baby!” he suddenly exclaimed and pushed Sonja backward onto the bed. “I didn’t bring you up here for a blowjob!”

  Sonja stretched out on the soft mattress while Joe shed his shirt and stepped out of his slacks and underwear. Fire shot through her veins as she gazed up at him, his powerful naked body illuminated by the nighttime glow from the single window in the room. He was magnificent, and she wanted him so badly!

  “Take me first…then we can play,” she instructed, opening her long legs for him.

  He groaned and levered his body atop hers. “I’ve wanted to fuck you since I first laid eyes on you,” he confessed, ramming his hard cock between her legs.

  Sonja arched her back, opening herself up for his entry. His hot cock lunged inside her hot, wet sheath and began to move as he wrapped his strong arms around her body.

  “I like it hard and fast,” she exclaimed, digging her nails into his muscled buttocks.

  He set a quick rhythm, lunging in and pulling out almost to extraction before shoving back inside her. She felt pummeled by his hardness. Her globular breasts shook with each assaulting move. She held his buttocks in her hands, meeting his thrusts with a welcoming lunge.

  “I’m coming!” she exclaimed. “I’m coming!”

  His movements increased, bringing her ever closer to climax. Her belly tightened as the crescendo of sensations began, quickly spiraling along her limbs. She bit her bottom lip, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as the orgasm rippled through her.

  * * * *

  His fingers closed around her left breast, stroking, teasing. His lips pulled her taut nipple inside his hot wet mouth. His tongue toyed with the sensitive nub, making her gasp.

  His fingers slid through the auburn bush at her crotch, mingling with her wet, slick folds as he sought out her sensitive clitoris and gently stroked her.

  Sonja arched her back and pushed her crotch upward, pressing her clit against his moving fingers.

  “Your body is beautiful,” he murmured.

  “You’re a good fucker,” she replied, shivering as he nearly brought her to orgasm. Her hand searched out his hardness, twining her fingers around its hot base. She hadn’t been so open with a man in such a long time; she’d almost forgotten how aroused she could become. She closed her eyes suddenly as he brought her to orgasm.

  “Oh, my God! It feels wonderful!”

  She withered under his hand, gasping to catch her breath as he climbed atop her body. He entered her quickly, making her climax with even more intensity.

  “Oh, my God!” she yelped again, wrapping her legs around his waist.

  He shoved into her with such intensity as he drove his mouth onto hers for a passionate kiss that served to remind Sonja of the reality of what they were doing. They weren’t just having sex—they were making love!

  Everything about his touch implied there was more than merely the physical pleasure they were bringing to each other—there was intimacy along with the heated passion.

  Passion?

  Was she capable of passion?

  The thought jarred through her brain. She had never considered feelings of passion where sex was concerned, mainly because she had never given a relationship with a man a chance. She was too busy—too busy running the family business—too busy being a female force-to-be-reckoned with in the financial world.

  A long, shuddering breath escaped her throat, the tingles of orgasm coursing throughout her body. Perhaps her vulnerable state was to blame for her sudden revelation. After all, Christmas was an unsettling time in her personal life. Yes. That was it. This man’s hands were no different on her body than any other.

  The hot tips of his fingers gently skimmed the delicate flesh of her left cheek, arched along her jaw and came to rest in the hollow of her collarbone. A warmth unfelt previously zinged along her nerve endings. Her eyes flickered open to find his gaze pinned to her face.

  “Sonja,” he said in a barely audible whisper. He lowered his head slowly and covered her lips with his in a long searching kiss.

  And Sonja realized more was happening to her than she had control over.

  Chapter Four

  She must have dozed off once the sex was over—or at a pause. She lay there, feeling the warm, firm body pressed against her back and thinking about last night.

  How many times had they had sex?

  Or made love?

  Her eyes flickered open. Something had happened in that bed last night, and she wasn’t quite certain what it was.

  Or was she refusing to admit the truth to herself?

  The telephone suddenly began to ring on the nightstand, and Sonja jumped in surprise before reaching a hand out to lift the receiver.

  “Hello,” she said in a sleepy tone, then suddenly remembered she wasn’t in her own room—but Joe’s. Perhaps she shouldn’t have answered his call.

  “Good morning,” a female voice said. “This is Angela. I have Mr. Dix’s conference call on the line. May I speak to him, please?”

  The woman’s words barely lodged in Sonja’s sleep-addled brain. She ran her free hand across her eyes, trying to wake up.

  “Excuse me. What did you say?” she inquired rising up
on one elbow.

  “Is this room 211? I’m calling for Donovan Dix. Is he there?” the voice inquired.

  “Donovan Dix?” Sonja repeated. She levered herself up in bed, swinging her feet to the floor as the name slammed in to her consciousness. “Donovan Dix?” she repeated, turning her gaze on the naked man rousing on the bed beside her. For all intent and purposes she should bash him in the head with the telephone...

  She didn’t give him time to speak—even though he looked as if he wanted to. She threw the receiver on the bed and left the room so quickly she almost threw a hip out of its socket.

  She slammed the bathroom door so hard that the sample bottles of shampoo and conditioner clattered off the sink. She gritted her teeth and began pacing the floor of the room, her bare feet cold on the tiled floor.

  Momentarily there was a soft knock on the door.

  “Sonja, I can explain.”

  “You son-of-a-bitch!” she spat, jerking the door back on its hinges.

  His gaze wafted along her naked length and Sonja’s temper flared again at his brashness. She whisked past him into the bedroom in search of her clothes.

  “Let me explain,” he pleaded following her into the room.

  “What’s there to explain? You deceived me!”

  “Only slightly.”

  She whirled around, glaring at him as her hands rose to prop atop her hips. “There isn’t any middle ground. You let me believe you were a businessman named Joe.”

  “And I am!” he asserted.

  She walked around the room, picking up her clothes and he followed her, trying to pull each item from her hands.

  “The hell you are! You’re the bastard who plans on taking over my business!” She pulled up short and blinked her eyes at him as the truth hit home. “You’re my new business partner.”

  The words seemed to take a bit of the steam out of her tirade. She crossed the room and plopped down on the bed, her naked state momentarily pushed aside. Suddenly she felt like crying.