Page 38 of Snowed In With the Maverick
“Yes,” she finally managed, but she was more than okay. She was sparkling.
It was everything, and still not enough.
After she got a hold of her breath, Andrea kissed him again, then reached down and ran her palm across Seth’s hardness through his jeans. It was all the invitation he needed to stand up and shrug them off, followed by his boxers, and he stood in front of her, his impressive erection a promise of continued pleasure. She watched in anticipation as he extracted his wallet from his jeans and removed a condom, ripping the foil wrapper and gazing at her, his eyes filled with need, the fire crackling behind him.
Andrea lay back on the couch, drinking in the sight of his naked, muscular frame glowing in the faint light of the flames. In a moment, he was on top of her again, waiting for her invitation. She parted her legs and allowed him to move into the space between them, then took him in her hand and guided him inside her, an easy task after what he’d just done for her.
Seth let out a low, rumbling groan as he entered her. He began to slowly thrust in and out, but Andrea wanted more. She grasped his waist, guiding him deeper inside. Their bodies moved in tandem, silently speaking to one another as the glow of the fire continued to warm their bodies despite the storm raging outside.
Even though she’d already climaxed once, Seth was attentive, quietly asking her what she wanted, what felt good.
Feeling him inside her, seeing the determination and desire in his eyes—it was better than any fantasy she’d had of her and Seth together. The chemistry that had already existed between them before this moment had ignited, and it seemed like lunacy that she’d even for a moment thought she should keep Seth at bay.
“Faster,” she whispered, when it was clear he was holding back for her sake. But she wanted it to be about him now, and he seemed happy to oblige.
And when he finished, he lay on his side and pulled her in close beside him, kissing her deeply through his heavy breathing.
Andrea was floating on a wave of bliss. It was physical, but that wasn’t it. She wanted Seth, every part of him, and as she melted into his arms, it still didn’t feel close enough. She inhaled deeply, savoring the warm, spicy notes of his aftershave, and the firmness of his chest against her cheek.
They lingered in the moment, wrapped up in each other. Seth ran his fingers through her hair, the soft crackle of the fire filling in the silence. And when Andrea found his lips again, he accepted her silent invitation to have her once more.
The night hours blurred as they lost themselves in each other, finally drifting off into a blissful, exhausted sleep.
Chapter Twelve
Seth was in the dreamy middle area between sleep and awake when a light roused him from his slumber. He blinked slowly, his gaze drawn to the colorful lights on Andrea’s Christmas tree, glowing once more and heralding the return of power to the ranch. A gentle humming filled the air as the heating system kicked in, and an appliance chirped back to life from the kitchen.
Soft, pale light filtered through the window, hinting at early morning. Seth propped himself up slightly, breathing in the cool air. The fire had dwindled down to a sprinkling of glowing embers. After they’d made love again, Seth had vowed to stay awake and tend to the fire throughout the night, but he’d only managed to stay awake until Andrea fell asleep in his arms, and the steady metronomic rise and fall of her chest against his forearms had lulled him into a deep, satisfied slumber.
Talk about a room upgrade.
The warmth of their bodies under the heavy duvets had allowed them both to sleep in blissful unawareness that the room had cooled considerably as they slept.
It would take a while for the heater to bring the place back to a comfortable temperature, so Seth decided to light another fire in the meantime. He moved slowly, trying to extricate himself from the covers without rousing Andrea. He took a moment to admire the smooth, pale skin of the shoulder that was exposed above the blanket, and the soft fine hairs on her neck that he’d kissed only hours earlier. She was asleep now, but the vivid memory of their night together was enough to arouse his already attentive morning situation.
Pulling the blanket up over her a little farther, Seth managed to get off the couch without waking her up. He pulled on his jeans and sweater, which were in a pile on the floor, and quietly set about adding some kindling and two more logs to the fireplace. He balled up some pieces of newspaper and placed them amidst the wood, then lit a match and watched as the flames curled themselves around the kindling.
Once the fire was going again, Seth moved to the kitchen as Andrea continued to sleep. It didn’t take long for him to find where she kept her tin of coffee. He set up the drip pot, then stood at the sliding door to the back deck off the kitchen, gazing at the thick blanket of pure white snow on the ground, sparkling in the early morning sunshine under a crystal-clear blue sky.
Sun was nice, but it also meant cold temperatures. He held his hand up to the glass, and this was confirmed. They were lucky to have power back again.
The door also looked out at the county highway that Seth knew passed by the ranch, but any trace of a road was invisible under the snow. It would take a few hours before the two municipal plows made it out this far. Downtown would be the priority.
Seth waited for the coffee to finish dripping, the pot sputtering and the nutty aroma of the grinds promising a quick escape from the fatigue. He replayed in his mind the events of the night before. The perfection of it gave him a moment of pause that it could only have been a dream. But he’d awoken with her in his arms, and he could still feel her on him.
He pulled two mugs from the cupboard. One had a University of Alberta logo on the front, and the other, a pastel floral design. He liked how nothing in her cupboard matched, unlike the expensive sets in his own kitchen, fine bone china in ecru that his mother gifted to him a few years ago for his place on the Triple T.
After pouring the coffees and adding a splash of milk to Andrea’s, he brought the mugs back to the living room and found her propped up on one elbow, looking out the window, her hair cascading down her back and sun lighting up the delicate angles of her face.
She turned her head as he entered the room, and the soft upturn of her lips as their gazes connected shook him right to his core. It was an image he wanted to remember forever.
“You made coffee,” she said. “The power’s back on.”
“Came on about fifteen minutes ago.” He approached the couch, then placed her mug on the table.
“I like your priorities,” Andrea said.
I like everything about you,Seth thought as he took a small sip of the hot coffee.
