Page 16 of Mistletoe and Holly

I chuckled. “Yep. But you’ll find out what happens next tomorrow night.”

“Just one more chapter? Please?” she begged.

Chuckling again, I shook my head. “One chapter a night. That’s the deal.”

Any other night, I might have caved because I loved that she loved books and reading so much. But not tonight. Not when Shephard was sitting right next to me on the edge of her bed with an arm casually draped around me and his fingers tracing invisible patterns up and down my waist.

“Okay,” she grumbled. “Can I at least keep my nightlight on and readCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryuntil I get sleepy?”

Thank God, a way to compromise that would still keep her in her room.

“Absolutely.” I bent down to kiss her forehead before standing up and walking toward the door. “Sleep tight, sweet pea. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

“Night, princess,” Shephard said quietly as he kissed her head and tugged her comforter up around her shoulders. “See you in the morning.”

He came to join me in the doorway, and without another word, we walked out and shut the door behind us. With a soft smile, he grabbed my hand, bringing it up for a kiss before leading me back into the living room.

A knot started to form in my stomach at the thought of what the rest of the night might hold, and suddenly I started to question whether I was really ready to do anything more than kiss him tonight. Even though every cell in my body was screaming for more whenever he touched me, I wondered if I could really make love to someone who wasn’t Owen.

But I should have known Shephard would read me like a book. Sitting on the couch, he gave my arm a slight tug and pulled me down onto his lap, folding his arms around me and planting a kiss on my temple.

“Holly, I’ve waited for almost twenty years to make love to you. And I’ll keep waiting for however long you need. I could just sit here holding you like this all night and still be the happiest man in the world.”

I smiled and kissed him as some of the nerves melted away. “I love you. So much.”

Deep down in my heart, I’d already known that he’d never ask me for anything I wasn’t ready to give, but I hadn’t even realized how much I needed to hear him say it out loud.

“I love you too, baby,” he whispered as his mouth found mine again.

What started out as a simple peck stretched on and on as our lips effortlessly moved together and our tongues started to dance, seeming to be just as desperate for the closeness as the rest of us. Shephard’s hand slipped under my shirt, making me gasp as his calloused fingers gently glided over my stomach and curled around my waist, pulling me tighter against him.

I quickly shifted my position and straddled his legs, sliding my hands over his shoulders and under the neckline of his shirt. Rightly taking that as permission to continue his exploration, he skimmed his arms up my back and caressed my shoulders as his mouth left mine and moved to pepper kisses along my jaw and down my neck. I could feel his dick harden beneath me, and I started to rock over him, desperate for the friction.

“Shep,” I breathed. “Oh, God.”

“You should see yourself right now,” he rasped, claiming my lips again. “Head back, eyes closed, that gorgeous brown hair falling all over your shoulders, those sexy as fuck little noises you’re making. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

Damn, the way he sounded as he said that. Like he was holding onto his control by a thread. Like it was taking everything he had to hold back, follow my lead, and let this move at my pace.

And I realized I didn’t want him to hold back. I wanted this. I wanted him. All of him. I wanted everything he’d been waiting for years to give me.

“Bedroom?” I murmured against his lips.

Pulling back, Shephard put a hand on my face as he fixed his gaze on mine, like he was searching for even a hint of hesitation. “You sure, sweetheart?”

I nodded. “I’m sure. I want this. I wantyou.”

He groaned as his mouth crashed onto mine in a fierce kiss that held delicious promises of things to come. I started to move off his lap, but before I could, he gripped my legs and rose to his feet, making me let out a little squeal of surprise, which he chuckled and swallowed in a kiss. He cleared the distance to the other side of the house in less than ten seconds, kicking the bedroom door shut behind us before walking to the bed and depositing me in the center.

Shephard quickly went to lock the door – and thank God he’d thought of that, because I definitely hadn’t – then came back to the bed and crawled over me, sliding an arm under my shoulder as he kissed me with so much tenderness that it made a lump rise in my throat.

“Stop me if you need to, baby. It’s okay,” he whispered, then moved his free hand to the hem of my shirt. “Can I take this off?”

I smiled and nodded. “You don’t have to ask. I’m okay, I promise.”

Rising to his knees, he pulled me up into a sitting position and lifted my shirt off, his eyes widening as he hungrily raked them over my body. I got up on my knees and pulled him into a kiss, tracing the curve of his bottom lip with my tongue as I started to slide his shirt up, letting my fingers trace the curves of his toned abs as I did. His breath hitched, and he broke the kiss for just long enough to tug the fabric over his head and toss it on the floor. Then his mouth descended on mine again as he lowered me down onto the pillows. Curling my arms around his shoulders, I pulled him closer, needing the space between us to disappear, and moaned into his mouth as sparks of electricity raced over me at the feeling of his skin against mine.

“I love you so damn much.” His voice was hoarse as he gulped in lungfuls of air.

---