Page 25 of Cowboy's Christmas Wife

Laura swallowed hard. “I suppose not,” she said, and it came out in a croak. The way he looked at her, like she was something he just couldn’t wait to put his hands on, made her feel hot even as she shivered. “Should we finish up here?” she asked, gesturing toward the pots and casserole dishes.

Daryl considered it for a half a second. “They’ll be there later,” he muttered, reaching out to her. He didn’t grab her and pull her in; he wanted her to make a choice here. Tentatively, she put her hand into his. “You sure about this, Laura Jo?” he asked.

“Just kiss me.”

Daryl didn’t need to be asked twice. He did pull her in now, and their lips met somewhere in the middle. Her head spun like it always did when he kissed her, and she clung to him, needing him closer. Daryl reached down and wrapped a hand around each of her thighs. He lifted, and she jumped a little and looped her legs around his waist. He grinned into their kiss, and he nipped at her bottom lip, slipping his tongue into her mouth and stroking hers as he set her down on the far counter. His mouth dropped away from hers as he trailed kisses down her throat. She was wearing a soft pink sweater with a wide, boat neck, and she had never been happier for her wardrobe choice than when his lips peppered kisses across her collar bone.

Daryl found the edge of that sweater and played with it. “Can I take this off?” he asked.

Laura’s first instinct was to rip the thing over her head, but she shook her head to clear some of the lust fog. “Is your brother going to come out here for a snack, you think?”

He looked deeply unhappy about that thought, which meant that he agreed it was a real possibility. “My bedroom?” he asked her.

“I’ll check on Lily first,” she said and slid of the counter. The move put her whole body against his, and he didn’t step back to give her an inch of space. She gasped a little when she felt him thick and hard against her hip. “Then meet you in your room.”

Daryl kissed her again, deep and possessive. “I’ll check on Lily,” he said, brooking no arguments. “I want to walk in and find you on my bed, waiting for me.”

Laura snickered softly. “Bit of a fantasy for you?”

He gave her a look that made her feel weak in the knees. “You have no idea, Laura Jo.” He backed off, and the sudden coolness made her gasp aloud. “Go,” he said. “I’ll meet you there.”

Laura did as he asked. She walked quickly and quietly passed her room, where Lily slept. She then passed Kyle’s room, which was largely quiet except for what sounded like videos being played on his phone. She opened the door to Daryl’s room, and instead of turning on the overhead light, she found a lamp on his bedside table and turned that one. His room was tidy, but looked lived in, and he had a spattering of pictures covering his dresser. She stood stock-still for a moment, considering, and then she plucked her sweater over her head and pushed her jeans down her hips. She was grateful that she’d selected one of her few matching sets of bra and panties today. They were a soft pink cotton: pretty but not overly fancy.

She climbed onto Daryl’s bed and lay back among the pillows, trying to find the best pose for this. She never waited for someone like this before: what was she supposed to do with her hands?

Laura didn’t have to wait long: Daryl opened the door. “Lily’s fine; I grabbed the—” His words came to a squeaked stop when he got a look at her. He had the baby monitor clutched in his hand. “Oh, honey,” he practically purred. “You look so beautiful.”

She bit back a protest—she didn’t always feel that way, to be sure—but she raised her hands out to him. “Come here?”

Daryl put the monitor on the table with the lamp and climbed into the bed with her. His lips found hers for a quick kiss, and then he urged her to lie back as he settled against her side. His fingers reached up and plucked at the hard outline of her nipple through her bra. She sighed and arched into the touch, and Daryl pushed the cup of the bra down, exposing her nipple to the air. “So pretty,” he murmured and bent down to take her nipple into his mouth. Laura sighed again, louder this time. Daryl spent the same amount of attention on her other nipple before he began moving south. When he came to her thighs, he asked, “Can I?”

Laura wasn’t altogether sure exactly what he wanted to do, but whatever it was, she wanted it. His fingers reached for the sides of her panties, and once he’d gotten her to lift her hips, he pulled them down and then off in a smooth motion. She parted her thighs and moaned when he slid his shoulders between them, opening her wide. He sucked in a breath, and then he leaned in and kissed her there, at her very core, the way he kissed her mouth. Reverent and determined to search out all of her hidden place. A surprised moan tore from her throat, and he pulled back just enough to shush her. “We don’t want to disturb anyone,” he said with a wicked grin.

She had to bite back a groan when he licked into her again; her whole body trembled as he stroked her with broad stripes of his tongue. “Daryl, I—” He dipped a finger inside her, and her hips bucked into the touch. It had beensolong. “I want—”

He moved back a bit so that he could meet her eyes, but he crooked his finger in a “come here” gesture that stole her words, her breath, as pleasure spiraled through her. “What do you want, Laura Jo?” he asked, voice husky. When she didn’t answer right away, his thumb came up to brush at the bundle of nerves that made her whole body shake. She moaned, and he moved up to swallow the sound in a kiss. His lips were wet because of her and tasting herself on his tongue made her head swim. She moved her hips, riding his hand, as his touch teased her to dizzying heights. “What do you want?” he asked again, this time against her mouth.

“You,” she cried out. “I need you. Please!”

Daryl’s eyes grew dark. “You’ve got me,” he told her and circled her nub with his thumb. Her body arched against him, chasing that sensation. “I’ll give you whatever you want,” he promised.

The more he touched her, the more tightly she felt herself winding up, like she was building up toward something explosive and unstoppable. He moved down her body again and replaced his thumb with his mouth. He wrapped his lips around that most sensitive part of her and flicked out with his tongue. The tight feeling that had been building snapped, and she clawed at his sheets as her body rode his hand and his tongue, whimpering as her body clenched and fluttered. Daryl pulled away, shushing her when she made a wounded noise, and she watched in a half-daze as he stripped out of his clothes.Holy shit. He looked even better out of his clothes than he did in them: all tanned skin and hard muscle. Daryl grabbed a condom from his bedside drawer and quickly rolled it over himself.

He crawled back onto the bed and hooked a hand around her calf, spreading her even more open for him. He paused—hesitated—and Laura reached out to him. “Please,” she said. Daryl leaned down to kiss her, and she reached down and wrapped her fingers around the hard length of him. He choked out a groan. “Don’t worry,” she murmured. “I’m not going to tease you.” She angled him so that he was nudging at her opening. Daryl moved his hips slightly, sinking into her.

Laura nearly winced at the stretch that she hadn’t felt in such a long time, but before he could do something stupid and noble, like pull away, she wiggled herself into a better position, and he was able to press all the way inside. She swallowed hard, meeting his eyes; they wore identical almost-shocked expressions. After a moment, Daryl started to move against her, and Laura breathed out a sigh of near relief. She clung to him as they moved together, building a delicious rhythm that made her want to call out her pleasure to the ceiling.

Daryl kissed her hard and sped up the rocking of his hips. Laura was almost there; she just needed a little push. She reached between them and touched herself, moaning at the feeling of him moving into and out of her. Daryl looked down between them and muttered something about her being “the hottest damn thing I’ve ever seen, oh myGod,” and that sent her flying over the edge again. He cursed aloud, following her.

They lay there, panting against each other, and when he moved to remove the condom and toss it in the wastebasket, she got the giggles. She started laughing—at what she didn’t know, maybe at just how good she felt. Instead of being irritated or offended like Clark would have been, Daryl laughed with her. “Little bit of a delayed wedding night,” she murmured, “but I’m pretty sure that topped my first one by a mile.”

Daryl looked down at her, fond, and kissed her softly. “You have no idea how awesome that is,” he said in a voice chock full of male pride.

Laura laughed and dug her fingers into his sides, tickling at him. He jerked and moved to the side so that his weight was crushing her into his bed. They continued giggling and mock wrestling for a minute, but finally subsided into quiet breathing, their bodies tangled together. “Should we talk about it?” she asked, after a minute of silence.

“Probably,” he said and leaned up on his elbow. “Is this going to be weird?”

“Sleeping together?” Laura asked, and Daryl nodded. “It might be, but I didn’t imagine this as a one-time thing, did you?”

---