Second Chance Christmas: BWWM Interracial Romance (Holiday Happiness Book 2)

by Roxy Wilson

“Yes, I’m guilty of that idiocy and more. I was a jerk, a loser, an idiot. Call me names. Curse me. Hit me. But please don’t ask me to leave you again. I loved you with all my heart and soul…”

  Her eyes flashed towards him. “You didn’t show any love in the past three days.”

  A smile flitted across his lips. “Oh baby, if only you knew how I felt trapped here with you. I wanted to make love to you. I wanted to forget everything and start all over again. But the reason I couldn’t do so was because after the first time I got hurt so badly, I wasn’t willing to risk that pain anymore.”

  “I never hurt you. Perhaps, I should have told you about Sebastian since he made his first pass at me. But I just couldn’t bear to see that look in your eyes when you discovered that your best friend was an asshole.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” he announced. “In fact, he’s already dead.”

  She sniffed. “He’s scum. And shouldn’t be given that much importance.”

  “He wasted four years of our lives.”

  “We wasted them because of our own stupidity. I made a mistake by not coming clean earlier and you…well, you know what you did.”

  Toby tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. She was so beautiful, so innocent. He wished that he could take her in his arms. Was it too soon? He’d only ever loved Brielle. No other woman came close to her. Even during all this time when he tried to hate her, he couldn’t actually feel those negative thoughts because his love for her was so strong. It never died. “I love you. Always have, and always will.”

  Fresh tears poured down her cheeks. “Oh…Toby.”

  When she rested her head on his chest, he dared to put his arms around her. The scent of her, the mere touch of her, was enough to make him crazy. When she raised her chin, he kissed her. Her lips moved under his, slow and steady, while her tongue dove in to taste the recesses of his mouth. Toby deepened the kiss as his tongue danced with hers. Her breath was hot against his mouth, her lips soft and yielding. It was the same as it had always been. His gut exploded with passion and need. Sensations careened through his nerves. He didn’t want to stop, didn’t want this to end.

  How could he have been stupid enough to let her go?

  Fate gave him a second chance, and he wanted to grab it with both hands.

  “Toby,” she breathed out his name when he lifted his head.

  He wasn’t aware which one of them made the first move but soon they were ripping each other’s clothes off. It felt good to have her body under his again, her curves as delightful as they always were. When she speared her fingers on his chest, an electric current zinged its way up his veins. He sighed as his lips claimed hers again. His muscles rippled under the pads of her fingers. He removed her bra and tossed it away. Now all she wore were thin panties. His breath hitched in his throat as he gazed down at her naked glory. She was a goddess and all he wanted to do was worship her beauty.

  His body longed for hers.

  He wanted to make her his again.

  Her fingers brushed over his hair gently. It was a gesture so full of love that his heart swelled with emotions. Toby bent his head, and his mouth settled on her firm breast. Her skin was as soft and fragrant as he remembered. Her body arched under his. His tongue flicked over one hard nub and she moaned with delight. Raw need, wild and crazy, pulsated through his body. Her hand speared through his hair, clutching him close as he tugged and caressed her nipple. Unable to take the sweet torture anymore, he shrugged out of his pants. Naked, he covered her body with his. A fire, hot and fiery, spiraled deep within him. His penis dug into her taut stomach as he covered her breasts with kisses. Her hands settled on his shoulders as he spread her legs with his knee.

  He should wait, take it slow, make this count, but it had been too long already. Waiting to take her again after an absence of four years was impossible—and she seemed as ready and eager as he was.

  Thank God.

  But with an immense effort, he exercised control over his body. He wanted to savor and relish her beauty. Her scent hit his nostrils and unleashed a storm that he’d curbed for four long years. When his fingers slipped between the curls at the juncture between her thighs, she was moist and ready for him. She bucked under his assault. His finger slid inside as she panted with need. Her lips parted and her head moved side to side as he pleased her.

  “Now, Toby!” she muttered. “Now.”

  This was the moment he’d been secretly longing for ever since he’d laid his eyes on her. The time for patience was long gone. Passion, need, and heat—they all roiled and coiled in his stomach. Removing his finger, he took position. With a hard thrust, he pushed his penis deep inside her. Now, they were joined in the most intimate way possible. Her eyes were glazed over as she arched under him, her body his for the taking. He plundered and looted to his heart’s content with each firm thrust. The ride was wild and dangerous.

  Desire glided and swelled inside him in frothy waves. He could feel her sway on the edge of the steep precipice that waited for them. Pleasure, agonizingly strong and powerful, palpitated. She sobbed out his name as he increased the tempo. Her hips moved in unison with his. Together, they moved as one body until finally the orgasm ripped within her. She squealed and thrashed as he maintained the rhythm, until he spilled his seed inside her.

  And just like that, they were back as they had always been.

  Together.

  Chapter Nine

  “Looks good,” said Lexi as she came to stand beside Brielle. “We’re done.”

  “Wait,” said Brielle, “there’s one more thing left to do.” She reached up and placed the tiny angel on top of the Christmas tree of the senior citizens’ home.

  They stood back to survey the result.

  “Now, it’s perfect,” said Lexi, her face beaming as she smiled.

  “I’m going to serve dinner in a few minutes,” Brielle promised. “What’s Toby doing?”

  “Cole and he are regaling the residents with some lame jokes.”

  Brielle glanced over and was amused to see the residents laugh heartily at something Toby said. Her gaze traveled to her sister who was watching him, her upper lip curled in disdain. It would take her sisters a while to forgive Toby. After all, they saw the heartbreak that Brielle went through when he dumped her without a reason.

  She patted her sister’s hand to gain her attention. “I know that you don’t particularly like him at the moment, but give it a try. He’s back in my life.”

  Lexi closed her eyes for a moment as she held Brielle’s hand. “I’ve always liked that damned bastard. It’s…I don’t want to see you hurt. What if the same thing happens again?”

  “It won’t.”

  Worry swirled in her eyes. “He was swayed by Sebastian’s words once; he could do it again. I don’t know…” She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, as if putting the matter to rest…at least for now. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “You don’t need to worry about a thing.” Brielle leaned over and gave Lexi a kiss on her cheek.

  “I hope so, Brielle, I really hope so.” Lexi squeezed her sister’s arm and then grabbed her in a warm embrace.

  After Lexi strolled off, Brielle stepped into the kitchen. Lexi’s words didn’t worry her. She and Toby had learned their lesson. They wouldn’t let anyone push them apart with such ease. Still there was one concern left.

  They’d spend their first day back from the cabin at Brielle’s. They made love as if it was their last time together. They hadn’t gone to sleep until dawn. It didn’t seem as if they’d fallen asleep that long before Brielle sensed Toby leaning over her and felt his warm lips kissing her forehead.

  “Where are you off to?”

  He raised himself from his leaning position. “I’m going to pay Sebastian a visit.” A frown marred his features.

  Good grief! I knew Toby wouldn’t let sleeping dogs lie.

  Brielle swept her bed-head away from her forehead, reached over to her bedside table, pic
ked up her smartphone and checked the time, and then glanced at Toby. “You know what time it is, Toby?”

  “Yep.” His frown deepened. "Time to do something about what that asshole did.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re going to do the man bodily harm.” When she saw the anger just beneath the surface threatening to boil over, a slight chill coursed through her body. “Toby, don’t go doing anything you might regret.” Her gaze followed Toby’s, and she gasped. In her agitation she didn’t realize that the blanket had loosened from around her and her breasts were now exposed, the nipples pebbling under his gaze. She got up and kneed her way towards him, draped her arms around his neck, and pressed her breasts against his chest. She reached up and nibbled and flicked her tongue against his ear, just the way he liked it. He groaned in response to her seductive assault…

  But she couldn’t deny the fact that it was time to take care of that pesky problem.

  Sebastian.

  Janay joined her in the kitchen. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “What now?”

  “Roger’s event has been cancelled,” Janay announced.

  Brielle turned to face her. “Why?”

  “They’re not saying anything. Roger called to tell Lexi that he changed his mind about the event, but I know for a fact that they’re still going ahead with it.”

  “So they chose another event management company?”

  “They’re still looking,” she said.

  There was something more to this tale that Janay wasn’t saying. “What is it? This is the second event that has been cancelled this week. Tell me the full story.”

  “Alrighty. It’s not confirmed. So you have to promise me that you won’t breathe a word to Lexi and Cole.”

  Brielle rolled her eyes. Janay had a love for dramatics. What could be so awful? Sometimes people cancelled events for little reasons. It wasn’t necessarily a reflection on their services. “Okay. I promise.”

  “You remember Arianna, Cole’s ex-fiancée?”

  “How can I forget her?”

  “Yeah. Well, she may think she had the right to change her mind and try to slide Lexi out of the picture so she could wriggle back in, but Cole did file a complaint against her. And she was given a year of community service.”

  “So?”

  “I’ve heard that she’s spreading nasty rumors about us and our company.”

  Brielle wasn’t sure if she believed this tale. Why would Arianna do this? Sure, she’d wanted Cole back, but he was already involved with Lexi at that time. It was stupid of her to think that if she managed to push Lexi out of his life, he would go running back to her. She should have tried to talk to him instead of pulling the kind of stunts that she did. But why would she now try to do them further harm? “She must have learned her lesson.”

  “She didn’t. They should have put her in jail. But it was her first offense.” Janay shook her head as if she couldn’t believe that the justice system could have made such a big mistake. “Anyway, she’s the one who’s going around telling everyone that we cheat our clients on bills, we overcharge, and that we don’t supply whatever we promise.”

  “What?” Brielle’s mouth suddenly went dry. If Arianna persisted, she could single-handedly destroy their business. “Are you sure?”

  Janay pressed her lips together in a thin line. Her eyes were determined. “I will be. There’s no way I’m leaving this alone until I get to the bottom of this. If she has picked a fight with us, she’s going to regret it.”

  Brielle put a hand on her shoulder. “Be careful. Don’t say anything to Lexi or Cole until you’re sure.”

  The sisters didn’t talk about it anymore. For the time being, Brielle put the matter out of her mind. As expected, her meal was a big hit. When they exited the building, Toby brought out his car. They went to her apartment. “I’m going to make some coffee,” she said as Toby left to go upstairs to change. He was staying with her now. In fact, he had more or less moved in. Since he didn’t have his own place in the town as yet, it was easier for them to live in her apartment than to shuttle back and forth from his hotel.

  As she prepared coffee, Brielle heard the doorbell ring. She opened it. “Hey, Sebastian. Come on in.” She moved out of the way to allow him to step inside. Her heartbeat raced, even as she closed the door behind them. She took the coat he extended to her and hung it over the coatrack. Then she faced him. “What a pleasant surprise!”

  He smirked. “You didn’t expect me to ignore your message, did you?” He chuckled. “I got here as fast as I could.”

  “It’s been years since we last spoke to each other, so I wasn’t sure if you’d come by.”

  “Brielle, Brielle, Brielle.” He followed her into the kitchen, a cocky grin on his face. “You know I could never ignore you.” He gave her a conspiratorial wink. “Especially if you want me to come.” He chuckled. “After all, that’s what friends are for.”

  The double entendre didn’t escape Brielle and she was disgusted by it and by him.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Friends? Is that what you had in mind?”

  His expression was that of utmost curiosity. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean…Toby’s definitely out of my life. So why can’t we give it a go?” She stepped away from him when it appeared as if he was going to rest his hand on her shoulder. “After all, it was because of you we broke up.”

  Sebastian frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Come on.” Brielle forced a smile on her lips. “You know he saw the two of us at the park and jumped to conclusions.”

  Sebastian looked as if he wasn’t sure how much she knew. “Is that what he told you?”

  “He hinted about it at the party.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. Our marriage was crumbling anyway. Did he ever ask you what was going on between us?”

  “No, he never did.”

  “I guess he just needed an excuse to back out of the marriage,” said Brielle as she poured coffee into two cups. “But if we were to get together, what would you tell him? Wouldn’t he be upset that his best friend is dating his ex-wife?”

  “He doesn’t need to know. Toby will probably go back to Europe. That’s where his company’s headquarters is.”

  “But I thought he was planning to set up a base here. We wouldn’t be able to hide this from him forever.”

  Sebastian laughed. Brielle couldn’t help but be disgusted by the fact that he really was a handsome man. And his good looks probably ensured that he never ran out of female attention, which was what made him so arrogant. “Listen, honey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First there has to be something between us, and then we can worry about Toby.”

  She fluttered her eyelashes. “Something? That doesn’t sound promising. I was under the impression, while I was married to Toby, that you wanted me to sleep with you.”

  He reached out and touched her arm. This time Brielle willed herself to stay still. “And I still do. You’ve still got curves in all the right places.” He leaned forward as if trying to get within touching distance of her. “If you hadn’t dillydallied back then, we could have been doing our thing right under Toby’s nose, and he wouldn’t have had a clue.”

  All of a sudden, the hair at the back of Brielle’s neck raised.

  There was another presence in the room.

  Oh gosh, this better work.

  Brielle took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “It was wrong to even think about cheating on him,” she said.

  Unbeknownst to Sebastian, Toby stood a few feet behind him, at the entranceway of the kitchen. He must’ve heard them talking and rather than cause a commotion from the get-go, he’d decided to eavesdrop on their conversation. Judging by the expression on his face, he’d overhead most, if not all, of it. She hadn’t told him what she’d planned to do. Just like how she’d given little thought to brewing her specially prepared tea—the secret of which was still unknown to Toby, even though he’d tried to inveigle her to s
pill the ingredients—she’d given very little thought to the events that were unfolding right before Toby’s eyes. More so because she didn’t want him prepared and ready for a fight as soon as Sebastian walked in.

  “I wasn’t prepared to break my marriage vows just to have sex with you.”

  That look in his eyes was leery. His hand caressed her arm. “But you’re not married now.”

  She stepped away from his touch. “No, I’m not. But you’re still the same scumbag that you ever were,” she announced in a clear voice.

  She laughed at the comical expression on his face. He didn’t have a clue as to what she was up to. It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. “What the hell are you talking about? You called me here...”

  Brielle pointed towards Toby who was hulking behind Sebastian. As if sensing that he was in bigger trouble than he realized, Sebastian whirled and stepped back when he saw Toby. “You?”

  Toby’s lips peeled back from his lips. A low growl escaped his throat. “Yes, me.”

  “She called me here. Check her phone,” said Sebastian. He was positively trembling. “She sent a text.”

  Toby stepped inside. “And you came running, eager to sleep with my wife, you asshole.”

  Sebastian opened and closed his mouth, as if he was trying to figure out the best thing to get him out of this mess. “I wanted to tell her in no uncertain terms that...”

  “I heard the whole conversation, you fool.” Toby’s eyes glowed. His cheeks were flushed with color. “You lied to me.”

  Sebastian gulped. “I...”

  “You told me that she wanted to sleep with you, but the truth is you’ve always had your eyes on my wife. You made me end my marriage.” He shook his head. “Well, that was my fault.” Toby raised his arm. Before Sebastian could as much as blink, his fist connected with Sebastian’s nose. There was a sickening, crunching noise. Sebastian screamed and staggered backwards. “That’s for trying to seduce my wife back then.”

  Sebastian clutched his face. “You—You bastard! You broke my nose.”

  Toby took a step forward and raised his arm again. This time the blow landed in Sebastian’s stomach. “And that’s for your lies.”