“You’re right, you know,” Colton mused. “I never wanted to think my little sister could have sex with anybody. I never wanted to think of you as an adult before. I wanted to keep you a little kid forever. That’s the main reason I. didn’t want you near Ash. I thought he would take advantage of you.”
“Whatever you think of me, Colton,” she replied, “I didn’t take advantage of Ash. I didn’t do anything he didn’t want me to do.”
“Oh, I’m quite certain of that. I’m sure he went ever so willingly to his doom.” He chuckled under his breath. “He loves women. He loves to see how they act and react in bed. He loves hearing their noises and seeing the expressions on their faces when they cum.”
Marlee stared at him. “He told you that?”
“He told me all about it. He tells me more than I ever wanted to know. I’m sure he won’t tell me anything about you, though. He wouldn’t dare. I have to hear that from you.”
“I won’t tell you anything about him or what he does in bed,” Marlee muttered.
“Good. Now let’s get some sleep. There’s only one more shopping day ‘til Christmas.” He winked at me.
Marlee wadded up her wrapping paper and held up the leather riding crop Colton gave her. “Oh, it’s perfect! It’s exactly what I wanted.”
Colton snorted with laughter. “I’m sure it is. Just wait until you’re out of the room from me before you use it on anybody.”
She rolled her eyes and jumped up from the floor to kiss him on the cheek. “You’re the best.”
He surveyed the floor scattered with torn paper and boxes wrapped in plastic packaging. “Is there anything left?”
She fished her long present out from behind the tree. “This is for you, from me.”
He kissed her cheek. “Thanks, sis. You shouldn’t have.”
“Oh, I definitely should have. Just wait until you see what it is.”
He studied the package from every angle. “As long as it’s not some kinky sex toy, I’m sure I’ll love it.”
“No, the kinky sex toys are for me. This is something different.”
He held off as long as he could. Then he ripped the paper free. He stared at the kite for a long time.
Marlee shifted in her seat. “Do you like it?”
He turned to her with his eyes misting over. His voice cracked when he tried to speak, “O-only you could come up with something like this. Do you know I forgot all about this until right now? I wanted one of these so bad when I was a kid. I thought I would never be able to afford one, and I got so busy getting rich, I forgot all about it. Now that I can afford one, I never thought about buying one.”
Marlee swallowed down the lump in her throat. “I’m glad you like it. You can take it out to the beach on your off-days and fly it around.”
He sniffed back tears. “Come here, little sister.” He pressed his damp cheeks into her neck. “I love you. Let’s not let so many years go by before we do this again.”
Marlee hugged him tightly. “I never realized how much I missed you. Let’s do this every year from now on.”
He pushed her back. “Deal.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and turned his attention back to his precious kite. “Ash is gonna hate you for this. I’m going to have to spend a lot more time out of the office on nice days. This is gonna be my new obsession.”
Marlee couldn’t stop smiling. It was the best Christmas ever. She started to gather up the wasted paper. She balled it all up in her hands to throw it in the recycling bin when something heavy fell to the floor next to her knee.
She set the ball of paper aside to see what it was. She picked up a tiny square wrapped in plain brown paper. Scribbled across the top in black pen she read the words, Merry Christmas, Marlee.
She turned the box over in her fingers. “What’s this?” She looked up to see Colton watching her.
“Open it and find out.”
She shook her head. She didn’t need another mystery to solve. She tore the paper off to reveal a small box in bright blue velvet. Across the top, gold swirls spelled out the word Tiffany’s. Marlee’s eyes popped open. “This isn’t from you, is it, Colton?”
Before he could answer, she pried off the top. It snapped back. Nestled in a pillow of white silk sat a white gold ring with a stunning diamond solitaire fixed in the center. The stone gleamed up at her. It whispered its secrets for only her to hear. Marlee’s head shot up. “Colton!”
“I don’t have to tell you who it’s from. He wanted me to put it under the tree for you to find on Christmas morning.”
Marlee stared down at the ring. “I can’t accept this.”
“You better tell him that. He spent a lot of money on that ring. He’s serious about you. I’ve never seen him this serious about anything since we first went into business together. I don’t see him walking away from this.”
Marlee opened her mouth, but she couldn’t form the words. That ring spoke to her in ways she couldn’t understand. It spoke to her heart. Could Ash really feel this way about her? She’d thought it was just that she wasn’t available. How could she accept this? She couldn’t. She’d never let herself feel anything for him, but now she found herself staring her own feelings in the face.
What if...? What if she did let herself feel something for him? What if she let herself be convinced—not by the ring. The ring didn’t mean anything. It was just a vehicle. No, his actions, his face, his words and his kiss convinced her. Nothing else. Then the way he’d mastered her that night. Perfect. She couldn’t walk right for the whole day after. He hadn’t been afraid to do what she’d wanted so badly. To have that hot sex all the time? No more looking for it with boys, that weren’t man enough to man up like she needed.
What if she did quit her job in California to move out here to be with him?
Could she honestly be considering this? Could this really be happening?
Colton stood up. “I’m getting breakfast.”
He wandered out of the room and left her staring at that ring. So this was how Ash felt about her. It had nothing to do with sex, not for her or him. It went so far beyond sex she couldn’t believe it, further than she could have imagined.
She never met anyone like him, either. She never met anybody she wanted to give in to so much, body and soul. She never met anyone she cared so much about.
No. She couldn’t let herself start thinking that way or she would give in. She snapped the box closed and stuffed it into her pocket in an attempt to put this whole thing to the back of her mind, and went to the kitchen to help Colton make breakfast. The guy needed help scrambling an egg. He needed a wife a lot more than Ash did.
She read the comics while she ate and he did the dishes. She got lost in space until the doorbell rang. Her head shot up. Colton hurried down the hall to answer it. She heard voices, and her nerves prickled. She sensed a noose closing around her neck.
Colton strolled back into the kitchen. Sure enough, Ash trailed behind him.
Colton tossed his dish towel on the counter. “I’ve got to run down to the corner and get some more milk. You two talk amongst yourselves while I’m gone.” He slammed the door behind him.
Marlee closed the paper and pushed back her stool. She fixed her eyes on Ash. “I suppose you two cooked this whole thing up, didn’t you?”
He leaned against the counter. “How do you like the ring?”
“It’s beautiful, but I can’t accept it. I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “I’m sorry to hear you say that.”
She jabbed a finger into his face. “That’s the negotiator talking. You’re sorry to hear me say that, but you don’t accept my rejection.”
“Why should I accept it when you don’t accept it yourself?”
“What makes you think I don’t accept it? I just said I don’t accept it.”
“We could be great, you and me,” Ash replied. “We could be better than great. We could be amazing together. I don’t want to let this slip away. We can’t let it.”
Marlee laughed, nervously. “Epic—kind of like that ring?”
He took a step closer. “Give it a shot, Marlee. You know you want to.”
She threw up her hands and turned her back on him. “You just don’t know when to take no for an answer, do you?”
He followed her out to the living room.
She glared out the windows with her hands on her hips.
He came up behind her so close, she stiffened. “You tried to avoid me. The only reason you would have done that is if you felt something for me, too. You didn’t want to admit it. You didn’t want to get involved with me because you planned to leave town. That can change. You don’t have to leave.”
She faced him. “I have other reasons for not wanting to get involved with you. I don’t want to get stuck with one man. I like variety. I like my freedom.”
He waved his hand. “You can go downtown and get yourself a young buck every night of the week for all I care. You can even bring him back to my house, and I’ll watch you crawl all over the floor for him. Just stick around. Don’t walk out on what could be the greatest thing in both our lives.”
She rolled her eyes. “You expect me to believe that? Besides, it’s clear that you think a lot of yourself. You think you could be the greatest thing in my life. ”
He didn’t flinch. He accepted her eyes drilling into his face. He came one step nearer. “I know I could. Tell me the truth. Have you ever had a night as great as we had together? Have you ever had a fling like that with anybody else?”
She looked away. It was true. No man had fulfilled her fantasies like that, Ever. “That has nothing to do with this. I didn’t come here for this.”
He cupped her chin lovingly in one hand and turned her face toward him. He stared down at her with his crisp grey eyes. She could not break away. “Don’t walk away from this, Marlee. Don’t hide from me. Let it happen. It will be good. It will be better than good. You don’t have to hide from it. It might be scary, but we can help each other through this. We can be together.”
Her breath caught in her throat, but she couldn’t answer. She had no choice but to fall into his overpowering presence.
He pulled her toward him by the chin. He guided her face up to his lips.
Those hot demanding lips closed over hers. They blotted out the whole world until nothing existed but him. He was right. It had nothing to do with sex—or maybe it had everything to do with sex. The right kind. Mind blowing. Maybe sex, love and destiny got all mixed up together until no distinction remained between on the next.
His kiss took her breath away, and his granite arms closed around her. Her head sank down on his chest, and her voice broke out of her constricted throat. “Why do you have to be so annoying?”
He squeezed her in his powerful grip. He twisted her spine so her head tilted back. She found herself caught in the undertow of his gaze. “Don’t fight it. Let it happen.” His mouth covered hers.
She had to let it happen. It had already happened in spite of all her efforts. She succumbed to his kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he lifted her off the ground. Her body sizzled from his hard grip.
He fell back on the couch with her on top of him. His tongue excited her in quivering ecstasy. She crawled up to straddle his hips. She couldn’t stop kissing him, faster and harder, deeper and deeper. What was he doing to her? She gave in! No man had ever got her under his spell like this.
He leaned his head on the couch back and let her kiss him. He stroked his hands up her back to her neck. He massaged her neck and shoulders as his strong hands glided down her waist to her hips gyrating on his lap. His breath filled her mind and her soul and her life with his being.
He pushed her back. “Where’s your ring?”
Her eyes popped open. She’d forgotten all about it. She took the box out of her pocket.
Ash plucked it from her fingers. He tugged the ring out of its bed, took her hand and slipped it on her finger.
Marlee held her breath. Was this real? Was that diamond sitting on her finger like it belonged there?
She glanced up at his face and found his deep eyes burning into her. “That’s where it belongs.”
She couldn’t speak. He was right. It did belong there. It weighed down her hand with its stunning mystic power, but it belonged there. It filled her mind and heart with tales of the future—their future, their future together. Whatever happened, they would face it together.
She broke away from his kiss. “What if Colton comes back?”
“He won’t come back. He told me he would stay gone long enough for me to convince you.”
She swatted his shoulder. “You guys! You’re gonna be the death of me.”
He enfolded her in his arms. “I don’t want to be the death of you. I want to give you life, just as you give it to me.”
She sank down on his lap. Already his monstrous energy infected her with that squirrely excitement down her stomach. She had to wind her hips around on his swelling cock. She had to seize this man in all his magnificence. She had to take the life he gave her and give it back to him tenfold. Whatever he was, she had to accept it. She had to accept herself so he could accept her, too.
She ran her fingers through his buzzed hair. Her hand felt strange with the ring burning a hole on her skin. That ring made her into someone different, someone new. It made her into so much more than a shark on the hunt for man-flesh. It made her into a whole person, the kind of person who could accept love and kisses and holding, the kind of person who could go home with him and live with him in his house.
His mighty arm slipped around her waist. He grappled her down on his upthrusting crotch. He murmured up into her mouth, “Are you mine now? Are you mine?”
She couldn’t contain her rising desire. “Oh, yes! Oh, yes!”
He kissed her, devouring her lips. Then hugged her in closer, until she was achingly close to where he wanted her. He tugged her down onto his hips onto his massive bulge. “Come on, baby. Come on.” His lips inched toward her neck, and he devoured her. The sweet scent of his cologne made her thoughts and emotions run wild. She wanted him more than anything, and not just for sex. She wanted those hands to hold her every day, those lips to caress her neck… She wanted all of him. She wanted to be his and make him hers. She wanted to worship him on her knees just as he worshiped her.
He didn’t have to tell her what to do next. She whipped his belt loose, and her hand plunged inside. She closed her fingers around his cock and stroked it hard.
His breath stuck in his throat. Color spread over his cheeks. He wanted it, too. He wanted whatever she would do to him. She got up just long enough to shuck off her pants. She took hold of his cock, guided it between her legs, and eased her way down onto it.
Once she got into position, she settled down to gazing into his precious face.
Ash gazed back up at her. He never took his eyes off her. He put his hands on her hips and guided her in gentle circles. His cock nestled inside her where it longed to stay. “Later,” he spoke. “I will be punishing you for ever believing you could get away from me. You’ve been a bad girl,” his deep voice purred at her.
Marlee paused as her body shivered. God, she would die from it. Or feel like she’d died and gone to heaven by the time he was done with her. As she had truly been a bad girl this time.
She bent down to kiss his mouth, although his eyes were already kissing over every part of her. They kissed her inside, and where his cock teased her clit. His eyes kissed her ass against his thighs and his pubic bone against her clit.
She mewed softly with heat and yearning.
She caught sight of something bright flashing on her hand. Of course, it was her ultimate Christmas present. He was her Christmas present—him and everything he brought to her life. Her old life withered into nothing. It no longer called to her.
Marlee would go home to that house and stay there with him, he would become her life, and she would become his. They would have Colton o
ver for Christmas dinner. They would joke and laugh together and enjoy the holiday in the city. She would create a new family, a new tradition, a new world with him.
Bonus! Barista & The Billionaire
When the alarm went off in Ivy Zimmerman’s small studio apartment that she shared with two other girls in adjacent studio apartments, it was accompanied by a steady downpour of rain and nary a trickle of sunlight.
She looked at her alarm clock. 6 a.m. She threw her head back on the pillow. While she knew most people woke up early on Monday—it was the start of the work week, after all—she felt pretty sure that for most people, it didn’t mark the near end of her work week. Friday was her Monday, “the weekend” was the hump of her week, and Monday provided only the notice that it was her “Friday” eve.
What little semblance she had of a social life seemed to have flown out the window once she took this new job, entirely by necessity. If she had her way, she wouldn’t be serving coffee to rude businessmen, obnoxious college students, and bratty teenagers. If she had her way, she would be in a much better place in life. If she had her way, she might even have a nice, charming, handsome boyfriend who would complement her.
But that didn’t happen. And now she had to get through her last day of work before she got off on Tuesday and Wednesday, days which would undoubtedly be filled with meaningless network shows, soap operas, and maybe, if she was lucky, a gym visit or two.
She trudged her way to the shower when her snooze disappeared and her alarm went back off at 6:10 a.m. She got herself pretty enough for work and put on her work uniform which always felt as uncomfortable as needles scraping on the skin. People always said she looked beautiful, but the talk got old. Ivy didn’t want the drooling men who went for her just because she had tan skin, noticeable curves, and seductive eyes. Ivy wanted a true man, a gentleman who had his shit together, his body compact, and his goals clear.
But as long as I’m a barista, we all know that’s not happening. So not even worth it.
His Royal Majesty : A Royal Wedding Romance Page 28
