“We should do something about this bit of information.” His hand slid up under the shirt she wore and trailed across her tight nipples, eliciting a gasp from her. “I think we should see where else this pie tastes good.”
Kassia shivered at the implication. “Yes.” When he pinched one, her breath hitched before she recovered. “Now.”
Heath drew her head back to his for another kiss. When they broke apart, he smiled at her, a smile that made the clenching in her stomach increase. “I like the way you think.”
Heath stood in the doorway of the laundry room, staring at the phone in his hand. After his talk with Kassia last night, he had this urge to call his brother and Seamus’ parents. He couldn’t quite call Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary.
Peeking over his shoulder, he sighed when he didn’t see Kassia. Perhaps she hadn’t returned yet; she’d gone down to the corner store to grab a few things she claimed were must haves. Suck it up, Rebel. It’s a phone call. Just place the damn thing and get it over with.
So, he did. While it rang, he walked back to the bedroom, grateful the pain in his leg was fading. It still hurt like a bitch and he would always limp, but it wasn’t the kind that made him want to curl up in a ball and drink until he forgot his own name. At least he had learned to be much more mobile.
“Hello?”
The voice on the other end startled him; he’d been so lost in thought about his leg. Clearing his throat, Heath said, “Hi Rick.”
“Heath?”
“Yeah. Look, sorry to bother you—”
“Oh my God, you’re not bothering me. I’ve been trying to reach you ever since word got out you had been released and were coming home. We thought you’d be coming here but you never showed.”
“Why would I come there?”
“Because you should be around family while you’re recovering.”
That was his brother, idealistic. Biting back his caustic remark, Heath searched for the right words. “I’m not coming back there. It’s no longer my home. Look, I didn’t call to hash this out, I just wanted…wanted to tell you Merry Christmas.”
“It’s so good to hear your voice, Heath. Hang on. I know Mom would love to talk to you.”
“Sorry, man. I have to go. Take care.”
“No, wait, Heath.”
It didn’t matter; he ended the call on his brother’s plea. “Fuck!” He tossed his phone to the side and scrubbed his hand over his face. Perhaps that hadn’t been such a good idea, after all. What the hell had he hoped to accomplish anyway? Mend fences? Get welcomed back home with open arms?
“You know your phone is ringing, right?”
Kassia’s voice had him looking up into her concerned face. Just being in her presence soothed him.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Okay. I’ll be in the kitchen putting away groceries.” She gave him a small smile and backed out of the room. She wore tight jeans and a sweater which hit her knees, green and white. Her hair she’d piled on top of her head, securing it there with a Christmas bow. Woman looked absolutely adorable.
She popped her head back in. “Answer your phone.”
* * *
Heath walked down the street, not really paying attention to anything but the call he’d made to his brother. He still hadn’t answered any of the continually incoming calls. As he waited for a light to change in his favor, his cell rang again.
“Hello?” He didn’t take his eyes off the light, needing the full time to make it across.
“You didn’t pick up again. I thought…well, I thought you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”
“What do you want, Rick?”
“I’d like to see you. So would Mom and Dad,” he added in a rush.
The light changed, and he began his way across. “Not hardly. Don’t bother lying for them, kid. It’s not very becoming. I’m well aware they want nothing to do with me.”
“It’s not true, Heath. They want to see you. They just didn’t know how to approach you after, well, everything that happened.”
He sidestepped a woman pushing a stroller, frowning when he immediately wondered if it truly was a child in there or something much more sinister. Shaking his head, he focused a bit more on the conversation he was supposed to be having.
“Whatever you say, man.” He didn’t have it in him to fight this battle anymore. He just didn’t. The wind picked up and swirled around him.
“When can I see you?” Rick insisted.
“I don’t know. When do you have some time?” He thought a moment. “It would have to be after Christmas.”
“Where are you?”
“In Mass staying with some friends.”
“Over Christmas? You’re with friends instead of family?” Rick couldn’t even begin to hide his surprise.
“They’re all I’ve had since I was eighteen, kid. I didn’t get the holidays like you did. But this works for me. Anyway, I can’t leave until after the New Year.” Not true, but he wanted to spend as much time as he could with Kassia. “I could meet you somewhere the second weekend in January.”
“Will you come home?”
He shook his head, stomping the snow off his boots before he entered the house. “Nope. I’ll meet you in town, though.” His stomach churned at the mere thought of returning to his hometown. Buck up, solider. Oh, that’s right, he wasn’t one of those anymore.
“The diner on Main, Jack’s.” A slight pause before Rick continued, “Can you be there around eleven?”
Eleven on a Saturday. Christ, everyone and their mother would be there. “Sure thing.”
“Can’t wait to see you, brother. And Heath?”
“Yeah, kid?”
“Merry Christmas.”
“Yeah, same to you.” He ended the call and shook the snow out of his hair, uncertain of the emotions running through him.
Kassia squealed and hugged Heath as she stood before the eight-foot Colorado Blue Spruce tree in Balt’s open living room. “Thank you,” she said, kissing him. “It’s beautiful.”
Heath may not have fully understood her desire for wanting a tree, but the way her face lit up made the pain in his side and leg from carrying it totally worth it. With an easy smile, he stared down at her as she clasped her hands before her and captured her lower lip in her teeth.
“I’m glad you like it.” He placed an arm around her shoulders and nuzzled her hair for a moment. “I didn’t know what he had in the way of ornaments here, so some will be delivered later on today with some lights.” In truth, he’d gone crazy at the store, buying up anything he thought she may want to put up in the place or on the tree.
“I don’t know what to say, this is more than I could have hoped for.”
Kassia snuggled up against his side, and the gentle scent of her shampoo filled his senses. Who knew he had a thing for a light spicy scent? Then again, and more likely the truth, he had a thing for the woman beside him. She could wear any scent or none at all and it would be perfect for him.
For a moment, Heath allowed himself to picture this scene in a house of their own. Maybe a child or two running around and perhaps even her belly swollen with one. His heart clenched with longing, startling him into nearly gasping aloud. Brushing his lips across her temple, he tried to regain control of his mind’s direction. Standing there with Kassia made his past life even less desirable. He wanted to stay with her. He wanted her. No other woman had affected him to even entertain the idea.
She squeezed him one more time before slipping out of his embrace and heading to the kitchen. Heath followed and saw his pills and a glass of water on the counter.
“You forgot to take them today,” she said over her shoulder as she slid a silicone sheet filled with cookie dough drops into the oven.
Scooping the pill bottle into his hand, he opened it and took out the three white discs. “Yes, honey,” he retorted even as a smile filled his features. He didn’t want to take them but knew he still had to. The pain would be debilitating if he didn’t. To
ssing in the medication, he swallowed it down with the water. He’d done a lot on that leg today; it would make him pay for it later. Not that it mattered to him. Her smile was worth it all.
He went to take a shower, trying to ease up the soreness he knew was on its way. After he had finished and dressed, he went back to find her still in the kitchen, cooking. Succulent scents wafted up from the numerous sheets around the countertops.
“Looking to feed an army?” he asked, teasingly.
Closing the door of the stainless steel range, Kassia looked back and stuck her tongue out at him. The doorbell rang, stopping anything she may have been about to say. He watched her wipe her hands on the towel over her shoulder and head for the front door. His gaze stayed on the seductive sway of her hips in her pinkish-gray, semi-fitted flare pants. When her gasp of surprise reached him, he followed the path she’d just taken.
It was his items from the store. After he positioned himself behind Kassia, they stood in silence as bag after bag was walked in through the door. Snaking his arm around her waist, he pulled her back against his chest, leaning down to kiss the tip of her ear when she sank into him.
“Thank you,” she whispered as the door closed behind the delivery crew, “but, this…this is too much.”
“No, you deserve all of this and more.” He turned her so they were facing one another. “I want to give you a Christmas you’ll never forget. Please let me do this for you.” Heath held his breath as she stared at him.
“Why?” There was no coyness in her tone, no suspicion as if thinking it were a payment for sleeping with him. Nothing but honest-to-goodness curiosity.
He trailed a hand up her arm, feeling the floral graphic that ran the length of her long sleeve, until he reached her shoulder. “I want to keep the sparkle I see in your eyes and on your face when you speak about the holiday, even though you try to keep it hidden.” With his other hand, he cupped her cheek and stroked her lower lip with his thumb.
The smile that filled her expression reached depths of his heart he hadn’t been sure he even had anymore. And he understood in that moment why some men got out of doing the type of work he’d been doing before his injury. Shaking his head at them when they talked about how a certain woman made them feel now made him want to apologize. Not that it mattered now, he was out, but he could at least see it from their point of view now.
“I’m gonna go see what you got me,” she said cheerfully, placing a light peck on his lips before heading toward the living room, almost skipping.
Heath remained by the door for a moment, leaning against it and trying desperately to control the goofy grin threatening to spread across his face. The place smelled like cookies, other sweets and pine. He loved it. They spent the remainder of the day decorating, and after dinner was done, she disappeared.
Entering the living room, he found Kassia seated cross-legged, cleaning up the extra boxes of ornaments. “Everything pass muster?”
“Yes,” she said as she got up on her knees and looked into a box on her left.
Seeing the tight fabric hugging her curves sent his body into overdrive. He adjusted himself before he managed to tear his eyes up off her ass and into the box she pulled things out of. His breath caught when she turned her head and glanced at him from through the strands of her silky hair. Her gaze dragged up his body and back down to stop on his crotch. Passion flared, and she shoved the box out of her way before crawling on her hands and knees to stop before him.
Heath swallowed as she sat back on her heels and reached up to the button on his Wranglers. The blinking holiday lights added a gentle look to the woman before him. The soft Christmas music created a private world where just the two of them existed. A low hiss escaped him as her soft hand circled his cock and removed it from his pants.
Along his length, she stroked, not rushing, just exploring. Her second hand joined the first, and he spread his legs a little farther apart. His hands clenched at his sides as her heated breath travelled along his hardness only to be followed by warm moisture as she placed her mouth over the head of his erection.
“Kassia,” he groaned, even as his hips flexed forward as if by some unseen force. His eyes rolled back as her mouth easily accepted him. Her tongue swirled around the top before stroking down the underside and back up again. Up and down his shaft, she bobbed her head, the pressure increasing steadily but backing off before he could find his release. Her hands only adding to his pleasure as they teased the part of his length not in her mouth keeping up the snugness around him.
Holy shit! Tingling began in his lower back and spread throughout his body. When he felt his balls began to tighten, he allowed his hands to entangle in her hair. Thrusting in and out of her mouth, he looked down. Her eyes, the shade of silken cinnamon, waited for his gaze. They smoldered with emotions as her luscious lips kept the perfect pressure applied to his cock. There were no words to explain how it looked to see his pale length slipping between her dark lips.
“Kassia,” he shoved out through clenched teeth.
“Hmmm?” she vibrated her question along his penis, rocketing more electricity through him.
“I’m almost there, sweets.”
Her mouth curled up at a corner, and she increased the heaviness of her touch on him. One hand slipped between his legs and teased his balls. Fingers tightening around him, she fisted him in time with her mouth, and Heath couldn’t take it anymore.
Gripping her hair, Heath powered into her in an almost animalistic way, but from the gleam in her eyes, she didn’t seem to mind.
“Fuck!” he shouted when he felt her teeth graze him lightly. Two more thrusts and he unloaded in the back of her mouth. Her lips clamped down around him as her hand stroked the rest of him until there was nothing left in him. She released him, slowly placing a kiss on the sensitive head of his cock before carefully putting him back inside his pants and closing them up.
Kassia looked up at him and ran her tongue around her mouth before pushing to her feet. She slid her arms around him and rubbed seductively against him. “Thank you for today,” she purred. Then, she slipped away before he could say anything.
The feeling that had enveloped him because of her actions left as her words sank in. Was that why she did what she did? As like a payment? He frowned at the thought. No, I can’t think like that. Perhaps he shouldn’t but damn the little devil on his shoulder. He did.
Heath headed for the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, Kassia leaned over the counter and was frosting cooled cookies. She hummed along with the song that played, and her body swayed in time with it.
“Hey,” she said, looking up at him with a wink. “Wanna cookie?”
He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “I’d love one,” he murmured as he nibbled along her neck.
“Then, take one. I’m not a cookie,” she remarked playfully.
“But you taste wonderful.” He kissed her again, her sultry laugh making him smile even as he held her closer.
“I talked to my brother,” he admitted, reaching for a frosted snowman.
“And?” She looked up at him, true desire to know what happened in her gaze.
“I’m going to meet him in January.”
“Good for you, Heath.”
“Come with me?”
“Does he live down the street from here?”
“Well, no. They live in South Carolina.”
“Sorry, I’m only here until Balt gets back from his vacation of whoring his way through the Caribbean. Then, my ass is hoping on a plane and assuming they can actually take off, after using a truck full of de-icer on the wings, I’m getting back to Texas where I can be warm. Walk from my house down to the Gulf. Lay on the sand and thaw out from being up here, wear a bikini without wondering what the hell is going to freeze off.”
“Are you saying I’m not keeping you warm enough?” He pressed her against the counter.
“No,” she gasped. “You keep me plenty warm, Heath. Plenty. But we don’
t spend all day in bed.”
“Not for lack of trying,” he admitted. “You were the one who wanted to get up and bake today.”
She laughed. “So I was. You need to go home, Heath, and visit your family. It’ll be good for you.”
He doubted it, but didn’t really care. What was important to him—Christmas was two days away. Heath didn’t want to think about life without her beside him. So, all he had to do was figure out a way to keep her in his life.
Chapter Five
Kassia took a drink of her hot cocoa. Christmas Eve’s eve. This past week with Heath had been nothing short of magical. Wonderful days of playing house. A time she wouldn’t ever forget. Sighing heavily, she tucked her feet under her where she sat in the microfiber chair and placed the hot mug on the coaster. The snow still fell like mad outside and she stared at the flakes, allowing them to lull her into a trance of sorts.
Okay, so this cold weather hadn’t been such a bad experience for her. Her opinion, of course, had been swayed by the presence of one Heath Dixon. She’d actually even gone to the park and made snow angels with him, had a snowball fight with him and some other children, and had just learned to enjoy colder weather. Granted, she wouldn’t be moving to a state with this type of weather, but she could at least say she had some fond memories of being in snow.
Oh yeah, definitely some fond ones. She didn’t even fight off the satisfied smile which lifted the corners of her mouth as she recalled the amazing way she’d been woken this morning. Heath’s head beneath the covers and between her legs. Not a bad way to start a day, if she were to make an opinion on it.
Her cousin’s house phone rang, startling her out of the mesmerized state she had fallen into. Glancing at the phone, she merely waited for whomever to leave their message. Balt could—and usually did—call in and get his messages. Wasn’t anything she had to worry about. Staring back out the window, Kassia listened to Balt’s soothing voice before the beep.
“Heath!” a feminine screech exploded out of the black box. “Heath Dixon, I know you’re there, pick up the damn phone.” A short pause before the voice began again, softer this time, almost cajoling in its tone. “I’m supposed to be your wife, Heath…”
A Naughty Little Christmas (Cowboys, Cops, and Kilts: 8 Seasonally Seductive Romances from Bestselling Authors) Page 20
