“Carried away from time to time is one thing,” he argued, breathing deeply. “But what you’ve been doing the last three months is going to land your ass in the hospital. I’ve got to make you see that this shit isn’t healthy. I know you love it, but you’ve got to take a break. I miss you, but at the same time, I hate seeing you so fucking tired when I do get to see you. I don’t want to get the left-over part of you. I want to get you full-on. You’ve got to start taking some time for yourself. I don’t want you burnt out so bad; you end up in the mental ward.”
She got up from where she sat, walked around the table, and had a seat in his lap. “And if that ever happens, I know you’ll be right there to take care of me. I swear to you it’s not going to be like this forever, Layne. I have a deadline on this book and it’s the last one. I’m not signing any more publishing deals. I can’t take the pressure,” she admitted, her voice small in the quiet room. It was as if she was sharing a truth not only with him, but with herself. The sound of the words was rough, like it hurt her to push them out. “I thought it was a big feather in my cap, ya know? It would be the thing that told me I’d made it. But you know what? I’d made it before I ever signed that deal. I hit the USA Today bestsellers list without a publisher or a contract or deadlines; I did that all on my own. Having them emailing me, checking in, checking up, makes me feel like I’m back in Hollywood. It just stresses me out.”
“I knew it,” he palmed the back of her head; slowing working his fingers against her scalp in what he hoped was a soothing motion. It soothed him as much as he hoped it soothed her. “I knew you were stressed.”
“Who wouldn’t be? I’m used to writing on my own schedule, taking the day off when I want to, staying in bed with you if the mood strikes,” she laid her head on his shoulder. “I wasn’t prepared for this and now I have two weeks to get it in to the editor. What I had hoped would be a feather in my cap, has turned out to be a major pain in my ass,” she admitted.
“How much more do you have to do?”
She sighed, not wanting to admit how much work was left. She’d spent the better part of three months trying to figure out who her characters were and the story they wanted her to tell. “I’m half-way done, but I need to do a read-through and I have notes in certain spots where I need to expand. That’s why I was here tonight,” she turned to face him, running her hands along his stubble covered cheeks. “I finally got on a roll and knew if I could just keep going, maybe I’d make a lot of real progress and we could spend Christmas together. I really want to spend Christmas with you and not have to think about this damn deadline,” she let out a soft laugh. “I know that’s a pipe dream, considering how close to Christmas we are now.”
Layne grabbed her chin with his free hand, angling her for a kiss. Their lips met softly, and he let their foreheads linger against one another’s. “We’re gonna be stuck here for a few days, if it doesn’t stop snowing soon,” he warned.
She tried not to think about how it was going to kill her word count, but she did her best to smile. “There’s no one else I’d rather be snowed in with.” In her head, she added if I was done with this damn book. But life didn’t work on just her timetable and it looked like Mother Nature was having a good laugh at her expense.
She just hoped she could get some work done without offending him and without them ending up at each other’s throats while they were snowbound. Any other week of the year, she’d love being stuck with him, would love having all his attention on her, love focusing all her attention on him, too. Truth be told, she’d wanted nothing more while he’d been overseas, but … now wasn’t the time. She had absolutely no time for this if she wanted to make her deadline. She had to get this done and keep her word with the publisher. She knew without a doubt that they wouldn’t be understanding about any delays. If she didn’t turn it in on time they’d have to push back the release schedule and the publisher had already spent tens of thousands of dollars on promo. She did her best to try and not think about what would happen if she blew this. If she didn’t blow this, she was probably going to blow the holiday with her husband.
Try as she might, she didn’t see coming out of this situation a winner either way it went.
That would most definitely take a Christmas miracle.
‡
Chapter Three
Jess cocked her head to the side as she listened to Layne talk on his cell.
“Well, just call us and let us know when it’s safe out there, or when they’ve reopened. We should do all right here,” he glanced at Jess, giving her a wink.
Her cheeks heated at the wink. The heat went straight down her body to the tips of her toes. He’d gotten more handsome over the years as he’d gotten more comfortable in his skin. It’d taken them a long time to get here, where he was relaxed enough with her for the little touches and gestures. They still weren’t where he was completely uninhibited with her, but a Layne that wasn’t selfish with his affection was a sight to behold.
“We’ll sit tight here, Jess usually keeps it pretty well-stocked, and in case you haven’t forgotten, I’m ex-Army. I think we got this,” Layne rubbed his hand over his head, seeming to forget for a moment he had hair, when he dug his fingers into the strands.
His hair had grown out a bit over the past few months. Instead of keeping it military issue high and tight, he’d started to let some of that iron-clad control he had loosen up a bit. It was now long enough that she could thread her fingers through it and pull tightly or tug gently, whichever mood struck her. She grinned, or wherever his mouth happened to be at the time.
“Y’all stay warm at the clubhouse. If there’s any emergencies, be sure and let me know. I’d like to stay on top of things, even though we’re here,” he put his hand on his hip and nodded, even though whoever he was talking to couldn’t see him. “Y’all be safe, too. See ya,” Layne pulled the phone back from his ear and disconnected the call.
“What was that all about?” Jessica walked over to the window and gasped when she saw it was a complete white out. She couldn’t even see the twinkling holiday lights of the square anymore.
She watched as he walked over to the loveseat she kept in the room and shrugged his cut off, hanging it over the back of the couch.
“That was Rooster. They’ve shut down basically everything at this point. Unless you have a medical emergency, you aren’t to be on the roads. It could be three or four days,” he got advanced towards her.
“That means we’ll spend Christmas here together then,” she mentally counted the hours, then the possible days they would be together.
“Good thing I have your gift in my saddle bags,” he flashed a heart-stopping smile as he sauntered over to her.
“And good thing I never took yours home,” she sassed back at him, meeting him halfway between where she stood and where he’d been standing.
“So the question is,” he hooked his arms around her neck, pulling her into his body, “what are we gonna do with all this togetherness?”
“I have a book to finish,” she said the words carefully, hoping like hell she wouldn’t mess with his mood. If they were spending the next couple of days together, she didn’t want to start it out on a sour note. Hopefully, they could make up for lost time … after she got the book out of the way.
“You’re not gonna let that go, are you?” he moved his hands up to her neck, bracketing both sides of it so that his fingers curled together.
“I can’t,” she frowned, hoping he understood the importance of what she was doing. Not only was it keeping her word, but she was legally bound, too. “There’s a contract.”
“How about this?” he leaned in, kissing her lips softly, letting them linger together for a breath, before pulling them apart. It was an easy seduction he hoped she couldn’t say no to. “You spend the night with me, and I’ll give you a full twenty-four hours before I start harping on you about taking it easy. Since it’s just the two of us, the day we celebrate won’t matter at all.”
Mentally counting the hours, she wondered if it would work, and she desperately wanted to spend the night with him.
“Thirty-six hours,” she countered.
Layne tapped her nose and smoothed the wrinkle out of her forehead. “I can see you’re stressed about this. I’ll give you your thirty-six hours after we spend tonight together.”
It wasn’t hard for her to come a decision. “Deal.”
She watched as his eyes flashed, his smile became sexier, his eyes more hooded. “Then prepare yourself gorgeous, because if you need inspiration for that sex scene you were about to write. I’m about to give you some.”
She swallowed roughly. “Fuck,” she breathed.
“With pleasure,” he ran his hands to her hips, gripping them, and turned her towards the window. Moving her body with the pressure of his, he pushed her up against it. “Relax, and enjoy it.”
The dark tone of his voice made her close her eyes and give herself over to him.
*
“Hands up here,” Layne grasped her wrists and pushed them so that they rest on the cold pane of the window above her head.
Usually he would never allow this to happen in such a public place, but knowing the city was shut down made him adventurous, no one would be walking down the street and gazing up into the lighted studio tonight. They might as well be alone in the world.
Layne leaned closer to her, nosing her hair over her shoulder, letting his lips connect with the soft skin of her neck. Lifting his eyes, they connected with hers in the reflection of the glass. “Do you trust me?” his voice was dark to even his own ears. After all these years, he still questioned if she would trust him, if she would give herself up to him. Sometimes, he still wondered if she’d say yes or no. Had absolutely nothing to do with her, but everything to do with him and how he occasionally felt about himself.
“With everything,” she whispered on a gasp when his hand moved up her body and closed around her breast.
It still made his chest puff out, to know she did trust him with everything. Given their past, she probably shouldn’t, but she’d been able to put that darkness behind them and love the man he’d grown to be. He was a lucky bastard in every sense of the word.
Burying his face in her neck, he ran his hands up her arms, entwining their fingers together against the coolness of the window. The way their wedding rings made a noise as they came together making his breath catch – sentimental fuck that he was. He took their combined weight on his biceps, grinding his hard dick against her soft ass. His teeth scraped across the smooth skin on the side of her throat as she leaned her head back against his shoulder.
“Kiss me, Layne,” she begged.
It took a little maneuvering, but he managed to bring their lips together, coaxing her tongue with his. Their moans were soft in the room, but he refused to change their position. He knew certain things about her and the position they were in was one of submission for her. She fucking loved when he exerted his strength over her.
When neither of them could breathe any longer they broke apart.
“You ready, baby?” he asked.
Almost immediately, her answer was yes.
‡
Chapter Four
Layne pushed Jessica’s head forward, letting it hang from her shoulders as he again grasped her by the hips, and pulled her back towards him. This time it was with enough force to make her stumble against him and instead of stopping her, he pulled them further into the middle of the room until the back of his knees hit the bed.
Using the tips of his fingers, he ran his hands underneath her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. Before she could say anything to him, he’d done the same with the sweatpants she wore, leaving her in nothing but her bra and panties.
Letting his eyes run over her back, he felt a surge of adrenaline as he realized she had on a matching set. The matching set meant she was horny and Lord above, so was he. Stress affected her in different ways, and this was one of the more enjoyable ones he’d discovered.
“Matching set huh?” he questioned in her ear as his hands cupped her tits, the pads of this thumbs strumming her already hard nipples. “Were you hoping to see me at some point tonight?”
“I’m always hoping to see you,” she admitted, gasping when he sat down on the bed, pulling her with him until he sat with his back against the headboard. She sat between his legs, propped up against his chest. She reached behind her, her fingers grasping at his clothing, trying to touch any piece of him that she could. But he grabbed her wrists and held them to her side. “This is about you gorgeous, not about me. This is totally for you.”
“I’m so fucked,” she whispered on a breath as he ran his hands over her body.
“You sure will be, babe. No doubt about that.”
Layne pulled her snugly against him so that her back fit to his front. Like two pieces of a puzzle, they fit together perfectly. Her soft edges took in his jagged ones with ease, making sure they were a cohesive unit. This way, as she sat in the cradle of his thighs, not able to touch him, he knew he’d be able to give her pleasure, and that’s what he wanted to do more than anything. Telling Jessica not to work, telling her not to think about writing for a period of time, and expecting her to relax were all nice things to say, but he knew she wouldn’t listen. She flat-out didn’t know how to do it. He knew though, that if he could make her come hard enough and overwhelm her emotionally and physically with the way he loved her, he could make her sleep well for at least one night.
“Layne,” she spoke on a harsh intake of air as he ran his hand down the side of her neck, pressing his palm to her chest, fingers down until he encountered the lace edges of her bra.
“Lean your head back against me, and just enjoy it, babe. You can do that right?”
She answered him by letting her head fall back to his shoulder, her red hair becoming a crimson river down his arm.
Satisfied that she’d taken his direction, he used his other hand to snake around her waist. The tips of his fingers dented her thigh as he pushed, making sure her legs were spread wide. “Keep them open, Jess, don’t you dare close them.”
She whined against his throat as she turned her head into the strong column, sucking on the skin she could reach. He allowed her to, because he loved the way her lips felt on him, loved the way she still kissed him like she was shy. When they both knew she was anything but.
Moving his hand along her smooth skin, he stopped as he reached the juncture between her thighs. Before he even moved his hand over her panties, he could feel the pooled wetness, could feel the heat coming off of her in waves.
“You like when I take charge don’t you?
Using her sharp teeth, she bit into the flesh of his neck as she nodded. That little bit of pain was enough to make him stop messing around. Shoving one hand down inside her bra, he cupped her flesh, teasing her already hard nipple with the palm of his hand. He flexed his wrist, making her squirm against him.
“Please,” she begged against the column of his neck, the noise muffled.
“You want my fingers inside you?” he asked, wanting to make her tell him, wanting her to help him take control of her pleasure.
“Yes,” she lifted her hips so that she came in contact with his fingers. “Put them inside me,” she begged.
“I don’t think so, not just yet,” he pushed aside the wet fabric at the center, and his finger went to work on her already sensitive clit. “How much can you stand?” he asked, chuckling darkly in her ear.
“Not nearly as much as you think I can,” her voice was guttural as she spoke the words.
Layne couldn’t wait to see just how much she could take.
*
Jessica pushed up against his fingers, trying to take him deeper, but Layne had a firm grip on his passion. He teased her, dipping only the tips of his fingers into her hot core before withdrawing and moving back up to her clit.
“Stop teasing me,” she huffed out a breath as he pulled on
her nipple at the same time he pulled on her clit.
“Patience, babe,” he preached to her as he leaned down, kissing her neck.
Patience, her ass. She’d been in the middle of writing a really hot scene when he’d busted into her sanctuary and demanded she eat and relax. She was trying to relax, but fuck if he wasn’t making it hard to do so. Especially when she wanted her husband six ways from Sunday.
“How am I supposed to relax and have patience when I’m horny as fuck?” she asked, taking her hand off the bed and moving it down to join his between her legs.
Her fingers mingled with his as she grabbed hold and showed him how she wanted him to move them. Both of their fingers entered her body and she thought she would come apart when his other hand abandoned her breast, moving down to flick her clit.
“Fuck, Layne,” she closed her eyes tightly against the sensations coursing through her body. It wasn’t like this all the time with them. More often than not they were slower lovers, who liked the tease just as much as they liked the orgasm. Tonight was an entirely different story. She wanted this more than she wanted her next spot on the USA Today list.
Realizing she had a free hand, she trailed it up her body, pulling the cup of her bra down so that she could take over what he’d been doing before. Using her thumb, she strummed the hard nub, gasping when she felt it harden and swell even more against her flesh.
All at once she realized that even though she was participating, she was totally at Layne’s mercy. She sat in his arms, his fingers invaded her flesh, her back rubbed against the hard cock poking her in the back, his teeth worried her throat, and good Lord, his scent was almost enough to make her come on its own.
Her hips jerked against him, losing their rhythm as she pressed up against him and then pulled back. Press and pull, give and take, pressure and release.
A Heaven Hill Christmas Page 2
