Kiss Me on Christmas

by Jennifer Morey

  She turned and looked up at him, melting into his eyes.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he said. “I want this. I want what I haven’t found online or anywhere else.”

  Oh, God. Yes.

  “Do want that, too?” he asked. “Do you want what you haven’t found?”

  “Yes.” It came out on a sultry breath.

  He slid his hand along her side to her back. Pulling her against him, he brought his head just above hers.

  “I’m going to kiss you.”

  Her breathing quickened and she tipped her head back a little. Anticipating. Humming with it. She felt outside herself, full of wanting so powerful she swam in it.

  He did kiss her, a featherlight touch at first, then with more pressure. He brushed his lips over hers. His tongue tantalized her. She opened her mouth and he took it with his, sweeping in for a deeper kiss. Her breath tripped into a more needy rhythm, his sounding the same.

  The lights went dark.

  Kane pulled back and she searched around the suite. The only light came from the single candle burning on the table.

  “What happened?” she asked, even though she knew.

  “Must be having problems with the generator.”

  She looked through the windows but couldn’t see much. Dark shapes of buildings blocked some of her view of the stars.

  When she moved her head to peer up at Kane, her eyes had adjusted enough to see him watching her. His striking green eyes enticed her. The fire of his passion ignited her own. She leaned against him and angled her mouth over his.

  She slid her arms over his shoulders. A tingling glow started in the region of her heart and now pooled between her legs. This connection that had sprung between them erupted like sticks of dynamite.

  He lifted her and started to walk. She hitched her knees on his hips as he carried her to the couch. Scotch groaned and jumped off, trotting to a chair and hopping up onto that, curling onto a ball.

  Shanna lay on her back on the couch and Kane lowered himself on top of her. The weight of him felt delicious. His long, lean body pressed in all the right places against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his mouth toyed with hers. His tongue a fluid dance keeping tune to the sensual rhythm. Never had she been with a man who matched her like this, on such an intimate level. Already.

  He rose up and pulled off his shirt. She put her hands on his stomach and ran them over his chest, feeling his pebbled nipples. He came back down and pressed his mouth to hers, resuming his magic. His hardness pressing where she craved him made her open her legs. Groaning, he kissed her neck, tongue wetting a trail of heat down the V of her blouse.

  Too fast.

  His fingers unbuttoned one, then two buttons.

  “Kane.”

  “I want to be inside you.”

  “Oh.” The thought of that filled her with animalistic need. She lifted her hips against his hardness.

  He moved down, taking his erection away from her. She moaned a protest, raking her fingers into his hair. His mouth touched what he’d exposed of her stomach. He unbuttoned the rest of her blouse.

  It was like she was watching herself as she sat up and let him remove the garment and unhook her bra. Now she was bare from the waist up. She lay back on the couch, raising her arms above her head, her forearms on the armrest. He looked down at her, knees between her legs, a man hungry for the taste of his woman.

  Putting his hands on each side of her, he kissed her. The tenderness of it sent tingles all the way to her toes. His mouth slid off hers and moved to her neck again. He groaned.

  Too fast. Too soon.

  “Kane.”

  “I know,” he rasped. “Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid.”

  His mouth came back to hers. The building urgency swept her to neverland. That spark between them that had ignited out of nowhere as soon as the lights had gone out flared.

  She felt his hands on the waist of her jeans and lifted her head to watch him. He kissed her stomach, his tongue doing circles there, sending sensation ricocheting across her skin and deeper. She got dizzy with it.

  He unzipped her jeans and started to pull them down. His green eyes lifted to meet hers. “Just the jeans.”

  She nodded. He left her underwear on as he removed her jeans. He stood from the couch and removed his own jeans, leaving on his green plaid boxers. She could see his erection pushing out the material. Parting her legs as he came back down on her, she groaned when she felt his hardness against her, only their underwear separating their bare flesh.

  He kissed her for endless moments, moving his hips, rubbing against her, stroking her closer and closer to orgasm. She parted her legs wider and lifted her knees, earning herself the sound of a hungry groan from him. Holding his head with both hands, loving the feel of his hair between her fingers, she tipped her head back to catch her breath. He kissed her neck, sucking a little before crawling down her body, planting wet kisses as he went, taking his time at her nipples before moving on to her ribs and stomach.

  She wanted to watch him but sensation made her dig her head back into the couch and arch her back. Kane curled his fingers against her skin as he took hold of the hem of her underwear. She lifted her head in time to see him look up at her, his eyes on fire with want. It drove her over the edge.

  He pulled her underwear down just a little. An inch.

  More.

  His tongue explored what he’d exposed.

  More.

  Still watching her, he pulled her underwear down another inch. He was almost there, teasing the perimeter of what yearned for him. She relaxed against the pillow, putting her arms above her head again, looking at him. She felt drugged with anticipation. He pulled her underwear down more, exposing just enough. His tongue touched her.

  The trigger-sharp sensation made her close her eyes and a sound exhaled from her.

  He slipped her underwear down more. Totally exposed now. And his tongue found her. An instant later, she came. The most incredible orgasm she’d ever had. She didn’t even know if she made any sounds. He’d transported her to oblivion. His answering groan suggested she had.

  Pulling her underwear all the way off, he stood and removed his. She thought he’d take her right there on the couch. She was feeling enough like a wet noodle to let him. But instead he bent and lifted her, carrying her naked to the bedroom.

  Depositing her on the bed, he kneed her legs apart. He didn’t wait. Propped above her, he drove himself into her and started pumping his hips. She thought he’d continue on that way, bringing her closer to another peak with each thrust, but he didn’t. He slowed, easing the crescendo into a tortuous ache, until she felt his penetration everywhere in her body. Sensation numbed her to anything but the feel of him reaching for that deep, elusive place.

  He began to groan with each impassioned breath, telling her he was close. His pleasure stimulated hers. She burst from the inside, gripped by the tumultuous release, feeling his at the same time.

  He stayed on top of her, catching his breath along with her. It took a while for the sensations singing inside her to calm. She could stay like this for hours. It felt so right. So terrifyingly right.

  Chapter 5

  S hanna woke slowly. She stretched long and languidly, blinking away sleep. It took her a moment to remember where she was.

  Kane.

  Last night.

  Oh, dear God…how had it happened so fast?

  Rolling her head, she saw him lying next to her, the covers down to his waist, one manly hand resting on his abdomen, the other beside his head on the pillow. He was more handsome in the morning light than he’d been to her last night.

  She felt her face heat as she recalled how many times they’d made love. Or had that only been sex? They hadn’t known each other much longer than a day. And yet it felt as if she had known him all her life.

  More than sex.

  Would he feel the same?

  Uneasiness spread through her. She slinked out of bed, findi
ng her clothes and taking them out into the living room to dress. Hearing the refrigerator in the bar area, she realized that at some point during the night, the power had come back on. Moving to the window, the city sparkled under a clear blue sky.

  She couldn’t tell if the hotel was running on a generator or if the city had gotten the power restored.

  She found the remote and turned on the television. A news program showed a Christmas tree in downtown Seattle, the lights on and twinkling.

  “I woke up and you were gone.”

  She spun around to see Kane standing in only his jeans.

  “The power is back on,” she said.

  He glanced at the television, but his attention returned to her. She began to feel awkward, not knowing how he felt now that it was morning. Hell, she didn’t even know how she felt.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She nodded, feeling ridiculously sensitive.

  He walked over to her. Kissed her. And then his green eyes smiled down at her. “Thinking I’m going to run?”

  She breathed a laugh. How did he know?

  “I’m not.” His arms slid around her and he brought her close.

  Pressing her cheek against his, she savored the feeling, breathing in his smell. “What happened last night?”

  “I don’t know. Something good.”

  She smiled and kissed his cheek.

  “I didn’t plan it.”

  “I didn’t, either.” She kissed him again, marveling how secure she felt doing so.

  “I want to keep seeing you.”

  This was such unfamiliar territory for her. She couldn’t remember ever feeling like this with any other man. So good…and…so sure.

  But she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life with a man who put his work first. Yes, he’d claimed he no longer wanted that, but how long would that last? Would he grow unhappy with a woman who needed him that much?

  Meeting Kane, making love with him, made her realize just how close she’d gotten to giving up finding that special someone. She’d stopped believing in herself, that she was worthy of the kind of man she yearned for but had never admitted to wanting. Kane was that kind of man. Worthy of her. And she was worthy of him…but would he recognize that after fishing the sea of women he had?

  Disheartened and losing that floating, secure feeling, she pushed away from him and turned toward the window.

  “Shanna.”

  He stood behind her. Reluctantly, she turned.

  “I feel the same as you.”

  She breathed a laugh. “How do you know what I’m feeling?”

  “I was in bed with you last night.”

  “What am I feeling, then?” He had a magical way of pulling her out of her sadness and turning it into happiness.

  “You’re wondering if this is going to last. You’ve gone on so many dates that part of you expects it to end.”

  She nodded. He was amazing.

  “Well, I want it to last.”

  Her throat tightened with emotion. “So do I.”

  A lopsided grin shaped his mouth. “Wait here.”

  Perplexed, she watched him go to the bar and open a cabinet. When he straightened, he held a wrapped gift the size of a shirt box.

  She looked from it to his face. He’d gotten her a Christmas present? She was too stunned to move.

  He approached with a grin as though he knew. He knew too much about her already.

  She took the present.

  “Open it,” he coaxed, sounding pleased with himself.

  “I didn’t get you anything.” She hadn’t even thought to. Did that make her selfish?

  “You can get me one next year.”

  The reference to such a far-off day told her just how invested he was in this. Looking up at him, she laughed. Taking the gift to the couch, she sat and opened the ends first, and then tore enough of the wrapping to expose the box.

  “How did you get this wrapped?” she asked as she pulled the white shirt box free.

  “Had some at my office.”

  She sent him a quick glance. “You have wrapping paper at your office?”

  “My assistant does.”

  Smiling, she dropped the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside lay papers. A contract. A rental contract.

  Shanna went still, so stunned she could barely process what this meant. She’d thought he’d gone to the office to work on Christmas Eve, but he’d gone to draft her a new contract. The onslaught of tears burned her nose and moisture sprang to her eyes.

  She looked up at him, speechless against the power of her emotion. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. Gone so far out of their way just for her. All the years she’d struggled with dating, feeling so alone and unwanted, and now this. It was worth the wait.

  “I read the one you signed and I agree—it’s not a fair contract,” he said. “I pay my managers commission on the contracts they sign, but only to encourage them to get a lot of them signed. They have strict instructions not to gouge anyone, but in your case the manager gouged. You weren’t the only one. I’m going to fire him after the holiday.”

  Shanna lowered her eyes and read the terms. She couldn’t believe it. He’d lowered her rent below what it had been before she signed the renewal.

  “All you have to do is sign,” he said.

  She looked up at him again. His eyes glowed in the morning light, meeting her gaze with satisfaction and what might turn out to be love. She took in the rest of him, the hair on his chest that tapered to a line down his stomach, the shape of his groin in the jeans, his bare feet. She couldn’t believe he wanted her. But the way he’d made love to her last night, and his thoughtfulness in giving her this present, was enough to convince her he did.

  She was no longer afraid of falling in love with him.

  Putting the box on the couch beside her, she stood and walked to him, launching herself against him. When he caught her, she wrapped her legs around him and started kissing his face, the corners of his eyes, his nose, his cheeks, his mouth. His arms felt delicious around her waist, holding her effortlessly, making her feel light and airy.

  “Thank you,” she breathed.

  He walked toward the bedroom. “Don’t thank me yet.”

  “Mmm…is it time for your present now?”

  “Yes. How many are you prepared to give me?”

  “As many as you want. However and wherever you want them, too.”

  “Oh my God…”

  She laughed. “Merry Christmas.”

  He lowered her onto the unmade bed. “Merry Christmas.”

  There was that energy again, growing stronger, sweeping her into the light of new love. “Kiss me.”

  And he did.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4312-9

  BLACKOUT AT CHRISTMAS

  Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  KISS ME ON CHRISTMAS

  Copyright © 2009 by Jennifer Morey

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.


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