Page 27 of Hot in the City
He let her down, but her legs were shaky. She clung to him, and if her hand ended up under his shirt, stroking his flat stomach, so what? He kissed down her throat, his hand cupping the underside of her breast, now his thumb stroked back and forth across her hard nipple, while he licked the shell of her ear. She ached. God, she ached for him.
He took her mouth again, more possessive this time. Oh, wow. The man could kiss. How lucky could she get?
Before she knew what was happening, the song had finished and the band started playing a stupidly loud version of some Kings of Leon song. They broke apart, watching each other, both breathing heavily. His shirt was half unbuttoned where she'd tried to get at more of skin. A nice V of hair on his chest taunted her, tempted her to touch.
"Stay with me tonight?" His voice was gruff.
Yuki bit her lip. "At the hotel?" She hesitated, but only because of stupid rules. "It's not really allowed."
He shrugged, one eyebrow lifted. “Want to be a little bit naughty?"
Oh God, he was cute. She ran her hand over his jaw again, planting a fairy kiss on his mouth. "Mmmm. And a little bit nice, I hope. Let's go."
Chapter Five
The Palladian Hotel
Three A.M. on Christmas Eve
Sneaking into the hotel like a thief in the middle of the night, where he was a lawful paying guest, wasn't something Declan had on his Christmas bingo card. But with Yuki holding his hand, it was a hell of a lot of fun. Sprinting past Reception without being seen was going to be the tricky part.
They stood behind a marble column right inside the hotel's front entrance, Yuki's body hidden from view behind him. The concierge desk was empty, closed down for the night, and the lighting in the foyer was dimmed.
Yuki swivelled this way and that, checking out the scene. She whispered, "I think we could sneak over to the elevators by the restaurant, but we'd need to be quick."
"Okay. On the count of three..."
But sleigh bells jingled from outside, someone chuckled, and a whole lot of footsteps echoed down the empty street. Someone was singing Santa Claus is Coming To Town.
Declan took a deep breath, then tugged on Yuki's arm. "Wait. Listen."
They both turned and stared out the large plate glass windows facing the street. Santas were coming. A whole group of them, walking, stumbling to the hotel’s entrance. They had to be drunk. The singing was awful.
One of the Santas swiped a key card and the front doors swooshed open. And in they danced, all dressed up in full red and white regalia. Declan whipped his head around. He blinked at Yuki, whose mouth was hanging open. What could only be described as a conga line of Santas came dancing right past them, into the foyer.
He and Yuki glanced at each other again. He nudged her arm, then nodded in the direction of the elevator. He held up his hand, waiting for the oblivious Santas to dance past their position, singing Frosty The Snowman now. He nodded again, then mouthed: three, two, one. He went first.
They ran, along one wall, like their pants were on fire. Maybe they were, so to speak, because he'd never wanted anything more than to get Yuki into his bed. Behind him, Yuki let out a yelping noise, and he turned to find her rubbing her head, and a hatless Santa rubbing his.
"He slammed right into me," she stage-whispered in Declan's direction.
Santa was unsteady on his feet. He pointed at Yuki. "Sorry. Wait... You're the nice one from Reception. The one who found me the good whiskey." The man's head turned as if in slow-motion to Declan, giving him the once over. "You sneaking in?"
Declan nodded, craning his neck to see if the night manager had heard all the noise. Ten metres of foyer separated them from Reception, and no one was walking their way. They were safe, for now.
Yuki said, "He's my boyfriend. I'm not supposed to stay here overnight."
Declan's face heated and his grin was probably manic. Boyfriend? He liked the sound of that.
The hatless Santa frowned, his stick-on beard flapping on one side. "Bah humbug! Leave it to me." He tapped the side of his nose with one finger.
He dashed over to one of his younger man-in-red-suit friends, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him over. "Give the girl your hat and jacket." The other man shrugged, his eyes unfocused, and mildly confused.
"Yuki. That's my name."
Yuki took the offered costume and quickly put it on over her dress. She swam in it, petite as she was. She tucked her hair into her jacket and adjusted her hat, then caught Declan's eyes. Her dark eyes sparkled with mischief. She was cute as a button, or a fake Mrs Claus on the run from the law.
The first man nodded, saying under his breath, "I'm Brian, but you can call me Kris Kringle." Brian/Kris grabbed his own jacket by the lapels and took it off, handing it to Declan. Declan dressed too, scanning the space for the manager at the same time.
