Page 54 of Catching the Mistletoe

Before I could reply, the lights dimmed, and soft, romantic music filled the air.

“Oh, here comes Cassidy Jones.” Arabella breathed, shifting in her seat to see the stage better.

“Cassidy James.” I corrected.

She rolled her eyes at me, a smile playing on her lips. “Whatever. She’s amazing.”

The crowd began to clap as the singer walked out onto the stage, a spotlight following her. She was indeed amazing. Her voice was silky smooth, her energy infectious, and the whole room was spellbound as she sang. Except for me. I couldn’t take my eyes off Arabella. She was rapt, swaying to the music, her eyes shining. Fuck, she was beautiful.

After Cassidy’s set, Ted took the stage again, announcing a silent auction that was going to be happening in the adjacent room.

Arabella nudged me with her elbow. “Should we go check it out?”

“Sure.”

She stood, and I followed, Evelyn and Sam tagging along behind us. We wandered into the auction room and started to look around. Arabella paused at a table, her eyes lighting up as she reached for a snow globe. It was beautifully crafted and contained a winter wonderland scene. “Wow.”

“That’s gorgeous.” Evelyn agreed.

“It is.” She put it down, wandering on to the next item. And the next. We lost Evelyn and Sam by the time we’d moved onto the next table. Arabella was looking at a painting and I was scanning the items, not really interested in anything more than trailing behind Arabella and breathing in her scent. “Did you just sniff my hair?”

“Yep.”

She snorted, her eyes dancing. “I’m thinking ‘your way’ might be harder for you than for me.” She went to move on, but stopped short so that I bumped into her and grabbed hold so she didn’t fall over. “Oh, sorry!”

“Humph.”

Onto the next item and she was brushing against me as she reached over to pick up a Christmas themed stationery set.

“Watch yourself, Arabella, or I’ll make you beg for it.” The way her eyes darkened had me thinking all sorts of dirty thoughts and wondering if I’d taken on more than I could handle.

She set the stationery down and moved onto the next table, me hot on her heels. The way she bent over as she reached for a necklace, shooting me a look over her shoulder, that let me know what she was doing was absolutely deliberate.

When she straightened, I pressed up against her back, my hands on her hips, my mouth by her ear. “Keep this up, and I’m going to have to drag you out of here.”

“Promises, promises.”

And that’s pretty much how the rest of the gala played out. The only time she wasn’t trying to mess with me was when we were up on stage and she was giving her speech.

By the time we returned to the RV, it was all I could do not to drag Arabella straight into the bedroom. The flicker of uncertainty in her eyes brought me back down to earth. “We’re just gonna take it nice and slow, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go get ready for bed, then.” She was trying to act cool, but I could see the nerves hovering beneath the surface.

We went about our usual routine, then I pulled back the covers and we crawled in, Arabella snuggling against my side. It was bliss, holding her in my arms, feeling her breathe, the scent of her filling the air. I’d planned just to hold her until she went to sleep, but she was running her hand lightly up and down my back, shifting against me. This wasn’t a game, though, not messing with me like at the gala. She was restless, needy.

Rolling onto my side, I cupped her cheek, tilting her face up so I could brush a soft kiss against her lips.

“Mmm, I love the way you kiss me.”

I smiled, brushing another light kiss against her mouth before moving down to her neck, then her collarbone, kissing and licking and sucking. Cupping her ass, I pulled her closer, so she could feel how hard she made me. Her breathing was ragged, and the heat was rolling off her, burning me.

I lifted her top, cupping her breast and brushing my thumb over her nipple. Her back arched and a soft moan fell from her lips. “You’re driving me crazy.”

“Good.” Kissing my way back up her neck, I captured her lips in a deep kiss, swallowing her moans as I kneaded her breast, teasing her nipple with my thumb.

“I need...” She sounded desperate, and it was so fucking hot, it was all I could do not to grind against her.

“What do you need?”

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