“Every year I coordinate the name swap in my office, but Nana was the first person I ever played secret Santa for, and for the longest, incidentally. I’m sure she knew it was me, but I never officially fessed up. Not once in all these years.”
She looked so pleased with herself, and she had every right to be. Her love of Christmas and belief in its magic infected everyone around her. His grandmother had always known how giving Josie was, and while Max might have forgotten in the years he’d been away, he’d been feeling the effects of her special attention ever since his return.
Reaching up, he thumbed her lower lip, craving a touch of her soft smile. “My grandmother never told me she had a secret Santa, but I’m sure she enjoyed having one. She loved you.”
Her eyes fluttered shut, lashes fringing in semicircles on her cheeks. She exhaled a warm breath against his fingers. “We’re doing it again.”
“What?”
“Talking. It’s my turn, Max.”
“To get me on my knees?”
“Mmm-hmm.” And as she said it, she scooted off his lap, the silver angel dangling between her breasts.
With a laugh, she grabbed the bakery box from the table and took off toward the stairs, leaving Max staring after her with an erection so hard he could barely move.
Mission accomplished.
If he stood right now, he’d be on his knees.
He honestly couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d been crippled by lust. Not since college, at least. But as he pressed his hand to his crotch to stop the blood flow, Max knew he wouldn’t settle for anything less ever again.
Josie.
He found her upstairs staring across their alley, looking glorious in the glow of the Tiffany lamp, creamy skin bathed in the light, so lovely. He extended his hand, and she slipped her fingers in his and drew him toward the window.
“Come look at my side of the alley.”
He moved to the window, and she stepped into his arms as if she’d waited forever to be there. Her beautiful body aligned smoothly with his, perfectly. “I’ve wanted to cross this alley from the first night I saw you.”
“I wanted you to.”
“Could you see me? I wondered.”
“Only on the first night when you had the light on. But I could always sense you watching. Sometimes the wind would blow the sheers against your legs, and I’d see you outlined in the darkness. It was very provocative.”
She sounded wistful, and he tried to read her expression as she stared through the window. “Are you sorry to see our erotic game end?”
“Yes and no. I wouldn’t trade a second of our time together. I’ve had a wonderful time, Max, but I’ve always known you’d be leaving.”
And that was exactly what Max wanted to hear. She hadn’t considered more nights together because she was convinced he wouldn’t be here, not necessarily because she didn’t want more. It was a step in the right direction. “I wouldn’t, either.”
Josie was about to find out that he wouldn’t let her go so easily.
In one move, he scooped her up into his arms.
“Max!” She hung on as he brought her to the bed and deposited her in the middle.
She stretched out in a display of long curves and bare skin. Stepping back, he admired every inch of the vision she made on the holiday comforter, surrounded by red and green pillows.
“I didn’t think you could possibly be more lovely than you were from across the alley, but you are,” he said.
“You’re doing it again.”
“What?”
“Saying all the right things.” Rolling toward him, she hooked her finger in his belt and pulled him toward her. “Now allow me. I’m tired of being the only naked one around here.”
“You’re only half-naked, Josette.” Capturing her wrist, he stopped her. “It’s my turn to strip and your turn to watch.”
“Be still my heart. Are you going to perform?”
“You’ve raised the bar on performances. I couldn’t hope to compete.”
“No dancing?”
“Just a plain old striptease.”
“There is nothing plain or old about you, Max.”
The look she swept over him assured him she meant exactly what she said. He liked how she made no bones about how she felt, an emotional honesty from long ago that had always made Josie unique.
“Skin, finally.” Hooking her ankles, she watched him with a smile, a vision from his dreams with her breasts popping over the camisole, her bare backside and thigh-high hose.
Her dreamy expression touched him someplace deep, breathed more life into his hope that tonight wouldn’t be their only night. Determination spurred him to make his striptease a good one and, inspired, he took his time unbuttoning his shirt, stripping away the sleeves while he turned his back to her.
He tossed his shirt her way. She caught it and rolled it into a pillow that she tucked beneath her cheek. “Your shirt smells like you.”
He couldn’t touch Josie’s dazzling performances, but he made a show of toeing off his shoes and peeling away his pants.
“Oh, Max. The view is fine from back here,” she said in a honeyed voice. “I should have insisted you perform and let me watch. I missed out on a bunch.”
Max wasn’t sure how much he’d have liked standing naked in his grandmother’s bedroom with no hope of touching Josie, but he liked the excitement in her voice right now.
Liked that she was close enough to touch.
“Will you do the honors?” He strode toward the bed, smiled when she spun up on her knees so fast that her hair whipped around her shoulders and her breasts swayed enticingly.
“My pleasure.”
Slipping her fingers inside his waistband, she maneuvered the briefs over his erection in tantalizing moves. Her hands brushed his skin, made him brace himself against the pleasure that hit hard and fast.
“I should have invited you across the alley sooner,” she said.
“We have a lot of anticipation to satisfy in one night.”
Whether she agreed or not didn’t matter when she trailed her hands down his thighs, dragging the briefs down and exploring the scenery along the way.
Even her simplest touches sent his pulse rate soaring.
She slithered half-off on the bed, until she could reach his feet then motioned him to step out of the briefs. With her sweet backside high in the air, the shimmery hose and stylish pumps enticed him until his erection swelled even harder.
She noticed.
Flinging aside his briefs with a triumphant smile, she slipped her fingers between his thighs, skimmed her way toward his erection.
He grabbed a condom from his wallet and a cookie from the bakery box, then moved back to the bed, set the items down on the nightstand and sank down beside her.
“Looks like you’ve thought of everything,” she said.
“Not quite. I should have brought peppermint flavored condoms.”
“I like peppermint.”
Her laughter filtered through him, and she reached out to touch him, her fingertips lightly stroking that sensitive place inside his thigh. His erection jumped toward her hand like a heat-seeking missile, and she twirled a fingertip along his length, a smile on her lips as she dipped down to flick her tongue over the head in a wet stroke.
Her touch galvanized him, and it took him a full minute to realize that if he let her take control of him now, he’d never get it back. So he caught her against him, and she went over in a fluid roll, let him maneuver her against him into a position that fitted them neatly against each other. Side by side. His face to that sweet place between her thighs. Her face to his.
“Can you guess what cookie this is?” he asked, dragging his tongue a lazy stroke over the trimmed hairs at the apex of her thighs, savoring the almost taste of her heat.
Exhaling a shuddering breath, she shivered when he dragged his tongue over her again.
Then stretched out and grabbed the cookie, then dropped i
t onto her stomach, where it landed icing side up.
69.
He met her gaze over the expanse of her beautiful body. “I’ve waited a long time to touch you.”
“Me, too, Max. Me, too.”
EACH TOUCH of his mouth on her skin, each touch of his strong hands caressing her body felt unreal. Even in her wildest fantasies, Josie couldn’t have imagined the reality of Max in her bed, the way his eyes glinted with purpose as he lowered his face between her thighs….
The first brush of his mouth made her jump, a wild reaction of anticipation, and surprise. He shouldered his way between her thighs boldly, nestled himself into a comfortable position as though he planned to stay a good long while.
His smile vanished as he went down again for another tantalizing taste, only this time he dragged his tongue along her moist folds, a delicious stroke that made her quiver. He seemed attuned to her every reaction, knew when to tease and when to let her catch her breath.
And when he wiggled his tongue inside, pushed deep with a lazy stroke, he had her digging her fingers into the comforter to hang on. He pleasured her with a skill that made her nearly forget that she had a part to play here, too. But how could she do anything but hold on tight as he licked, nibbled and sucked his way along her sex with that lethal mouth?
She stretched out against him and distracted herself with his gorgeous body. Dragging her hands along his legs, through the smattering of silky hairs along his hard thighs, she grazed the backs of his knees with erotic touches. He shivered, and she smiled. He was ticklish.
She hadn’t read that in the business section.
Although she’d known this man her whole life, there were so many things about him that were total mysteries. She’d never felt that lack more than right now, with her fingers exploring his, with her cheek resting against his thigh, with her mouth brushing kisses along his skin.
He had gorgeous legs, long and not overly muscled, but she couldn’t remember ever noticing them before, and she’d spent her fair share of time looking at him. But now she admired him with a woman’s sight, experienced him with a woman’s responses.
But nothing in her experience had prepared her for his mouth working magic between her thighs, and she moaned when he caught that little bud between his lips. Josie grabbed his calves and hung on as he indulged that place where every nerve ending seemed wired. Ribbons of fire curled in on themselves and made her burn.
It wasn’t until his erection bumped her cheek that she remembered the missed opportunity here, and in a lightning-fast move, she zeroed in on her target.
Wrapping her fingers around him, she guided him toward her mouth…. In one slow pull, she took control. She explored the hot velvet hardness of an erection that was as sculpted and beautiful as the rest of him.
He let out a low groan, and his whole body gathered tight in reply. She delighted making him react to her touch. Then he redoubled his efforts until she squirmed, too, with need.
She made love to his erection, sucking him inside as far as she could. Tonight was all about making memories, and she wanted Max always to remember their night together.
She used her hands to assist each stroke, creating a suck zone on the upstroke before releasing him in a dance of wet tongue and nibbling teeth. She fondled his velvety scrotum in her palm, explored his intimate places with curious fingers.
She thrilled when he rocked his hips, a gentle thrusting that proved she was driving him wild, wearing away his careful control and pushing him closer to the edge.
But Josie should have known that Max would give as good as he got. He sank a finger deep inside her, and they started a rhythm that mimed lovemaking, her knees clinging to his head, his hips indolently thrusting.
Hunger mounted, liquid heat that surged through her, fantasies transforming into stunning reality, more incredible than imagination could have ever allowed. A mind-numbing pleasure, the sort that dissolved her into a mass of greedy impulses, her sex clenching in needy bursts that made her ride his mouth.
And Max knew, oh, he knew exactly what to do. Thrusting his tongue deep, he slithered his finger backward, pushing her impossibly farther, applying just the right pressure, touching, thrusting….
Then Josie came apart again, spasms that burst as weltering heat inside, made her lose the rhythm as she rode the ache, the pleasure crashing in on her over and over simply because Max wouldn’t stop.
6
JOSIE DIDN’T REMEMEBER when she lost hold of his erection, but when her heartbeat finally slowed its gallop and she could open her eyes again, she found her cheek resting comfortably against that pulsing hard length.
“I thought it was my turn,” she managed to get out.
Max peered up from between her thighs with a satisfied smile. “I told you, fair’s only fair. You’ve had me on my knees for weeks. I’ve got some catching up to do.”
Josie wasn’t on her knees but on her back, where she would likely stay until this dreamy languor wore off. But that would require too much energy to explain, so she just exhaled heavily and closed her eyes again.
Max disentangled himself and maneuvered around until he could pull on a condom. Then he reached for her.
It took a few boneless maneuvers, but she finally lay draped on top of him, her hair cloaking them like a blanket. As much as she liked being cocooned together, she could only rally enough energy to kiss his throat.
“You killed me,” she said, deciding there was no point in denying the obvious.
She just held her mouth poised above the pulse point that beat so steadily beneath his skin and savored the feel of his arms around her, his body spread sexily underneath her, all male hardness and strength.
“You feel alive to me, Josette.” And to prove his point, he raked his hands down her back, cupped her bottom with both hands and ground against her with a needy erection.
Miraculously, her sex gave a moist throb in reply.
“Life signs. Who knew?”
“Told you.” He breathed the words against her ear and won another achy response from a body that couldn’t decide whether to ride that hard length or roll over and play dead.
She didn’t have much time to decide. The clock ticked on, and while she’d always known Max would be leaving for his high-powered life again, somehow right now, while lying satisfied in his arms, she regretted all the potential opportunities to climax over and over again she would miss.
So many possibilities…Snuggling close on New Year’s Eve while the sky filled with fireworks…On Valentine’s Day wearing the sexy red lingerie he’d sent her…In the middle of the night while they were drowsy…At dawn when they awakened in each other’s arms to greet the new day.
Max didn’t give her time to dwell on this change of mood. Flashing a smile of pure promise, he worked his way inside her wet heat in one long, slow, push that stretched and filled her until she could only gasp.
Josie thought he’d annihilated her with that last orgasm, but she was wrong. All it took was his body stretched underneath hers, his hot length inside, and he not only proved she was alive, but on fire.
Then he began to move.
Drawing out almost completely, he pushed back in another stunning stroke. She moaned this time, and he caught the sound on a kiss. Thrusting his tongue deep, he mirrored the motion of his hips until thoughts fell away, and she knew nothing but the feel of the man underneath her, inside her.
He started up a sultry rhythm with long, lingering strokes that brought her back to life. Wrapping her arms tightly around him, she braced her knees tight to hang on, and met his kiss with a demand of her own.
Those other orgasms had been foreplay compared to what was building now. And Josie rode this glorious wave, her body surging as she raked her hands over him, crushed her breasts to his chest with each driving stroke. She finally sank her fingers into his shoulders to hang on, amazed by her response to him, by the urgency that dragged her from her daze.
She met him stroke for lusciou
s stroke, awed by how their bodies came together as if they’d waited forever for the privilege. And perhaps they had. She’d lusted after Max for so long…and she’d teased him mercilessly across the alley. Was it any wonder why they came together now as if they’d been made for each other, as if this pulsing rhythm she experienced could only happen in his arms?
Her answer lay in each sweet stroke that made her body want, made her mouth seek his wildly, made her ride that ache even harder.
Max must have known, too. He bombarded her with sensation, grazing his hands along her ribs, zeroing in on her breasts. Cupping her in his palms, he caught her nipples and tugged hard. More pleasure crashed through her, and she moaned, the sound escaping in a raspy burst that won a growl from him.
His restraint wavered when he trailed his mouth down her throat, a barrage of kissing and nibbling and tasting that left fire in his wake. Arching against him, she braced her thighs tight, used her weight to roll to her side.
Max caught her around the waist before he slid out. He thrust back inside hard enough to force the breath from her lungs, and she gasped as he dragged them over in one strong, contained move.
Suddenly, he was on top, his broad shoulders blocking out the world. She could only stare up into his beautiful face, memorize each detail, the hunger that sharpened his features, the pleasure that made his gaze caress her as if she’d honored him with the privilege.
A memory to last a lifetime.
That thought spurred her to action. Arching her hips upward to take him deeper, she dug her fingers into his bottom to ride each stroke longer, harder, testing his control.
And she knew she’d pushed too far when he ground out a throaty growl and sank his fingers into her bottom to speed up their pace. He buried his face in her hair, his cheek against hers, and for long stunning moments they could only hang on to each other as they came together in a pleasure so intense they couldn’t stop thrusting, couldn’t stop riding a crest that was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.
Then she lay wrapped tight in his arms, trying to catch her breath while their Christmas Eve moon rose higher above their alley, and Josie wished this night would never end.
Red Letter Nights Page 18
