Kit’s fingers delved beneath the cup of her bra and found her nipple. He gave it a squeeze and Spencer cried out, half-certain she was going to come from that one simple touch.
Except with Kit it wasn’t a simple touch. She felt every brush of his lips against her flesh, every tug and pull of his nimble fingers deep in her core. And not just the core pulsing with the need to be filled with him. She certainly felt him there, but she felt him somewhere deeper as well. Somewhere dangerously close to her heart. Which is why it had hurt so damn much when he’d hopped out of her bed and straight into another woman’s.
“Tinsley,” she gasped, pushing away from Kit despite her body’s protests. “I woke up alone, and you were with Tinsley.” Tinsley, the gorgeous former prom queen who he had loved once upon a time.
The long column of his throat worked as he tried to regain his composure. He was breathing like a Kentucky thoroughbred on the first Saturday in May, but then again, so was she.
“You think I—”
“I don’t know.” Looking at him now, seeing the hurt and disappointment in his eyes, she couldn’t make herself believe he would ever do something so callous as spend an entire night making love to her and then find his way to someone else’s bed the next day. Kit wasn’t that kind of guy. Deep down, beneath all of her hurt and insecurities, she knew he wasn’t. “I just know I woke up alone, and then everyone said you were with Tinsley—”
“Fixing the door her drunk-ass father broke down when she refused to let him in her apartment.”
“Oh.”
“Oh is right.” He scrubbed a hand over his face so hard it turned his skin red. “Do you want to know the best part? While you thought I was out screwing someone else , I was driving my friend Tinsley crazy by telling her all about the hot professor I was falling in love with.”
Time stopped. Or maybe it was just Spencer’s heart. Either way, the world went wonky for a few seconds while her brain tried to process what he said.
“You were falling in love with me?”
That couldn’t be right. They barely knew each other.
Except, she had already fallen, hadn’t she? That was why it had hurt so much when she thought it hadn’t been real. It was why she ran away rather than staying to face him. How could she look him in the face and know he didn’t feel the same way about her as she did him?
“I started falling the moment I saw that damn red satin bra.” His eyes dropped to her breasts as if he had x-ray vision. “By the time I saw the pretty tits it supports, I was already a goner.”
She was crying again. She wanted to be the kind of badass heroine who could lay it all out on the line without even blinking, but she hadn’t been built that way. She was the kind of girl who sobbed during every single backstory segment on the Olympics, and that kind of girl couldn’t listen to a man declare his love without weeping.
“I wish I was braver,” she admitted. “I wish I had trusted you. I wish I had waited to hear your side of the story.” Her voice broke over a sob. “I wish I hadn’t ruined everything.”
Kit’s hand enveloped the side of her face. She hadn’t realized she was shaking until she felt herself tremble against his palm.
“And I wish I had been there when you woke up. I can’t blame you for thinking I wanted nothing more than a one night stand when I treated you like one.”
“Too bad this isn’t one of those Christmas movies where we make a wish under the mistletoe and get a chance to do it all over again. To do it right,” she said through her sniffles. The tears had stopped flowing, thank God, but she was still a mess. Kit didn’t seem to notice, though. He was looking at her as if she was the only woman in the world, which in turn made her feel like she was the only woman in the world.
It was a heady feeling.
“I would give anything to go back and do that night over,” Kit said and his hand trailed from her cheek to her neck. His thumb stroked along the underside of her jaw. “And not just so I could make sure you knew how much I wanted you, but how much I wanted us.”
Spencer could think of more than a few reasons she would like to relive that night herself. Her entire body throbbed at the memory of all the things he’d done to her, all the things he made her feel.
And suddenly she was struck by inspiration.
“What if we could start over? What if we could make our own Christmas miracle?”
Kit’s eyebrows did an adorable scrunchy thing. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Spencer stood up and removed her top with one quick movement. Heat flared in his eyes and an answering flame shot through her body. “What if we tried again?” She reached for him, and he took her outstretched hand and let her pull him up without hesitation. “What if we reset the clock? Here. Tonight. And in the morning, we do it right.”
Chapter 20
Kit’s brain stopped working the moment Spencer removed her shirt. Dear sweet baby Jesus born in Bethlehem, that woman had amazing taste in bras. This one was all black except for a single tiny red stain bow right in the middle.
Her hands burrowed under the hem of the shirt she’d let him borrow. Curious fingers trailed over his stomach and up his sides, leaving goosebumps and lust in their wake. His man nipples were so hard he was fairly certain he could cut glass with them.
“Spencer, I need you. I need skin on skin.” He thought he might die without it. Without her. Thankfully, she was more than willing to oblige. With a few jerks and flailing elbows, the shirt he was wearing was gone, as well as his sweatpants. He’d taken a page out of Spencer’s book and foregone putting his boxers back on, taking a perverse pleasure in knowing that his most intimate parts were touching the same fabric her intimate parts had touched. Her leggings were soon gone as well, and his cock gave a little salute, excited to know it would soon be touching something other than cotton.
“Speaking of Christmas miracles,” Spencer said as her hand wrapped around his hot, pulsing length. “I thought I had built it up in my mind like that tree in A Separate Peace, but it really is as big as I remember it being.” At her praise it grew even larger, and Spencer hummed out her approval. She dropped to her knees and laved the tip of him with her hot, wet tongue. She wasn’t the first woman to ever give him a blowjob, but damn if he could remember any of the others. It was like every sensation, every experience was new and different because it was her. Spencer. The woman he’d managed to fall in love with in just a few days.
He had never believed in love at first sight before. Hell, he’d been half convinced love was some made-up fairy tale like Santa Claus and Christmas fairies. But he knew better now. From the first day, he was sunk. And it wasn’t just because she was the sexy librarian trope come to life. He loved the way she was always the first to laugh at a joke or cry at some sappy sentimental scene in a Hallmark movie. He loved the way she was always trying to make things a fun adventure for his nieces even though they weren’t at all receptive to her efforts. He even loved watching her read. The woman couldn’t hide her emotions, and she experienced the full range when she was wrapped up in a book. He’d never known someone as unguarded as she was. In a world full of jaded people who either concealed their every emotion or no longer felt them, Spencer shined like the sea at noon.
It took every bit of will power he possessed, but he somehow managed to pull himself out of the warmth of her mouth and lift her to her feet. “I need to taste you,” he said, meaning every word. He craved her like Santa craved cookies. It was terrifying, this need, but it was also freeing. After years of chasing the idea of home, he’d finally found the one place — the one person — he never wanted to leave.
And he wasn’t leaving her again. If he had his way, she would never wake up alone, left to wonder where he was and why he wasn’t by her side. He would be there, morning after morning, to bask in her warmth.
Speaking of beds…
Kit bent to place one arm beneath her knees and then swept her up in his arms. She squealed and wrapped her arms ar
ound his neck, causing her luscious breasts to press into his chest. He’d intended on marching her straight to the bedroom, but he couldn’t stop himself from taking her mouth with his and thoroughly exploring it right then and there. She tasted of grapes and Spencer.
“Kit,” she moaned, writhing in his arms. “I need more. I need you.”
He needed no more encouragement. One advantage to her living in an apartment the size of a breadbox was it only took a few steps to get to her bed. He laid her down gently, as if she might break, even though the desire to toss her down and ram himself into her until she was undeniably his was overwhelming. But this was his do-over. His chance to get it right. The last time he let his lust get the best of him, but this time he was determined to take it slow. Once he had her resting comfortably against the pillows, he took the time to look at her, memorizing the hard pucker of her nipples and the blush that spread from above her clear blue eyes, along her slender neck, across her gorgeous breasts, over the slightly curved plane of her stomach, and all the way down her sexy-as-hell legs. There hadn’t been a tree or any other sign of the holidays in the living room, but here she had a strand of multicolored lights strung along the headboard. They were the only source of light, and the effect of their soft, warm light playing across her soft, perfect skin was mesmerizing.
“You are so beautiful,” he breathed, knowing he would see this image in his mind whenever he closed his eyes for the rest of his life. He would be a ninety-year-old man, living in a nursing home somewhere, unsure of his own name, but he would still remember this night and how Spencer looked as she gazed up at him with her heart in her eyes.
She might not have said she loved him yet, but she would. Sooner than later. He was certain of it.
“You make me feel beautiful.” She spread her legs slightly so he could see her wet, pink folds. “And you make me ache. God, Kit,” she moaned. “I ache for you so bad.”
“Ditto, sweetheart.” His cock throbbed with the need to be inside her. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”
“Then come here,” she said, reaching for him, and he was not strong enough to resist. He came over her, supporting his weight on his elbows as his mouth worshiped her skin. He pressed an open mouth kiss to her neck, between her breasts, along her side. There wasn’t an inch of her that didn’t call out to him, tempt him to kiss, lick, and nip.
Her hips rose, seeking contact. She brushed against his cock, and he could feel how wet she was. They both moaned deep in their throats, a perfectly harmonized hallelujah chorus.
“Condoms. Top drawer,” she panted, once again sliding against him. Kit didn’t have to be told twice. Balancing on one knee and elbow, he ripped open the top drawer of the bedside table and quickly located the distinctive golden box. Unwilling to remove his body from hers for even a moment, he ripped it open with his teeth and dumped the entire contents on the mattress. He started to grab a packet, but Spencer’s hand stopped him.
“Here,” she said, plucking up a packet and tearing it open. “Let me.”
He once again braced himself on his elbows and lifted himself up as far as he could so she could wiggle down to where Little Kit was eagerly begging for her attention. Her thumb stroked over his tip, smearing the bead of moisture gathered there, and he had to bite his lip to keep from coming right then and there. The abuse of his lip continued as she oh-so-slowly rolled the condom into place and then gave it a few experimental jerks to ensure it was secure.
“Guide me into you,” he bit out between clenched teeth. If he wasn’t careful, this would all be over before it even began. It was too much. What she did to him was too much. What he felt for her was too much.
Finally, he was inside her. Her muscles squeezed and clenched, welcoming him home. Once he was fully inside her, he held himself still, marveling in the feeling. She was warm, perfect, and his. He would do whatever it took to make it so.
“I never knew,” Spencer said, her breath tickling the shell of his ear. “I never knew it could be this good.”
“Me either,” he admitted.
She pressed a kiss to his jaw. It was a sweet little peck, almost chaste despite the fact he was buried inside her, and it was nearly his undoing. “Make love to me, Kit,” she whispered.
He pulled back and then plunged in again. They both cried out. Her heels came up to rest on the back of his thighs and he decided they could do slow and steady the next time. He took her mouth with his, swallowing her cries as they both chased release. She found hers first and he quickly followed.
Several moments later, as they lay cuddled together beneath the covers watching the last of the snowflakes dance outside the window, Spencer said, “I can’t do casual. I’m just not built that way. So, if you—”
“I don’t want casual with you, Spence.” In his mind he’d already started rearranging the furniture in his house, making room for her stuff. He didn’t tell her that though. It wouldn’t do to scare her off now. Not when he wanted a forever with her.
“Will it bother you,” he asked, painting intricate patterns on her shoulder with a strand of her hair, “that I won’t be able to talk Chaucer with you and your friends? That I will be the handicap on your trivia team?”
Spencer rolled onto her back so she could look him in the eye. “First, I have never sat around with my friends and discussed Chaucer, or any other long-dead author who I was forced to read. Most of my friends don’t even know who Chaucer is, and the people I hang out with from my department are much more interested in discussing the dean’s illicit affair with one of the adjuncts or whether or not they’ve changed meat suppliers in the campus deli. And secondly, I’m not on a trivia team, and even if I was, I doubt you would be the handicap. My knowledge of sports facts, song lyrics, and other such trivial things is sadly lacking. The one time I tried to play at a bar with Travis and his friends I was quickly put in charge of keeping everyone’s drinks filled.”
“I fucking hate your ex-boyfriend.”
“Yeah, well, I do too.”
The confession shouldn’t have caused him so much joy and relief, especially considering he was the one with her naked body pressed against his, but it did all the same.
“Listen, I know you hear ‘professor’ and you think that I’m some sort of untouchable brain trust,” Spencer continued. “I get it. I used to be that way, too. But, Kit? I’m me. Just Spencer. The girl who needed you to cut the wrapping paper because she always measured it wrong for whatever gift she was wrapping is the same girl I am 365 days out of the year. I like books and I know a lot about them. I studied hard, and I like sharing what I know. That’s why I do what I do. Being a professor doesn’t make me smart, it makes me lucky to be able to do something I love.” With one finger she traced the lines and grooves in his arm. “It’s kinda like how a girl could be easily intimidated by this amazing body and think she’s not worthy of it, when really it’s just a result of you doing the work you love.” Her eyes lifted to his again, so blue and full of trust he had to kiss her.
“Let’s make a deal,” she said, once he let her breathe again. “Let’s ignore the voices in our heads that tell us all the reasons this won’t work and listen to each other when we tell ourselves why it will. And when we find ourselves confused as to how exactly we got this lucky, we’ll just remember it was simply the best Christmas gift Santa ever gave us.”
“I never dared asked him for something as good as you,” Kit said, his palm sliding up her stomach to tease the underside of her breast. “The sight of you in that red stain bra, definitely, but this… I never dreamed this was possible.”
“I dreamed, but I didn’t believe,” Spencer said, her eyes closing as he rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger.
“Tis the season to believe.” He ran the tip of his tongue over the nipple he’d been torturing. Just a flick. A tease. She squirmed against him, her hip caressing the erection that was more than ready for round two. “Merry Christmas, Spencer.”
“
Merry Christmas, Kit.”
366 Days Later…
“Thank you, Aunt Spencer!” Maddie wrapped Spencer in a quick embrace before running off to show Beth her gift. “Look! It’s the new ninja princess book, and the author signed it! She even wrote me a message!”
“I told you she would love it,” Kit’s voice rumbled in her ear, causing goosebumps to race down her spine. Even after a year, he had the power to reduce her to mush with just a single word or look. The past twelve months hadn’t been without trials, but they’d made it through all of them together.
“She still hates me,” Spencer groused, leaning against Kit’s shoulder. “I don’t mind getting socks for Christmas, but did she have to buy me men’s athletic socks with odor protection?”
She could feel Kit’s quiet laughter rumble through his body. “Subtle she is not.”
Spencer tried not to let Maddie’s enduring hatred bother her too much. In a way, she was a bit envious of the girl’s ability to be so open and honest. When Beth had tried to discipline Maddie for saying she didn’t like Spencer and didn’t want her at family functions, Spencer had stepped in and asked that Maddie be allowed to express how she felt with no censure. Sure, it sucked that the kid didn’t like her, but the other kids gave her all the snuggles she needed. And maybe if Maddie was allowed to spread her wings now she would never allow another person to clip them like Spencer had allowed Travis clip hers.
“What are you two whispering about over there?” Rita asked as she set a tray of scones on the coffee table. Mack and her mom had been a little surprised when Spencer and Kit had finally shown up the day after Christmas last year and announced they were now a couple, but their shock quickly turned to joy. They even came down to Nashville and helped move all of Spencer’s stuff to Kit’s house in February, never once mentioning how impulsive it was to move in together after only knowing each other two months. When Spencer had asked her mom about it, Rita only said, “Love has it’s own schedule.”
Spencer Nation's Christmas Miracle Page 9
