Page 115 of The Christmas Fix
Cat smothered a laugh and watched Noah try not to flip out over Sara’s hair.
The party over, they left in families and twosomes carting leftovers and kids until it was just the two of them.
Noah slipped his arm around Cat’s shoulder as they waved Sara, Mellody, and Ricky off. And by the time the headlights came on in Mellody’s car, Noah was dragging Cat back inside.
He kissed her, and she tasted sweetness.
“Don’t you think we should talk?” she asked.
“Talk later.” He bent low tossing her over his shoulder and headed for the stairs. Cat shrieked as he jogged up them, his shoulder shoving its way into her solar plexus with every bounce. He tossed her with less ceremony and more enthusiasm onto the mattress.
Laughing, she bounced once against the wall of pillows. “Just how many drinks have you had?”
“Why?” Noah asked, kicking off his slippers and yanking his t-shirt over his head.
“Because there are rules about taking advantage of partners when they’re inebriated,” Cat reminded him.
“You’re a really good person, you know that?” Noah insisted as he unzipped his jeans.
Cat bit her lip as they slipped low over his hips offering a view of that v of muscles she loved to bite.
“I am pretty great,” she agreed.
“It’s no wonder I’m in love with you,” he said conversationally.
Cat blinked.
With jeans low on his hips, Noah crossed to the dresser. He opened a drawer with a flourish and pulled out a matchbook. Striking one, he lit the two pillar candles in front of the mirror.
“Noah.” She said his name softly, not even sure of what she could or should say next.
“It’s funny how you can go through life and be as careful as possible, follow all the rules, and then BAM!” He plugged something into the wall and the floor lit up. He’d strung Christmas lights over every piece of furniture and the floor the whole way around the room.
“Anyway,” he hooked his thumbs into his jeans and slid them down his thighs. “I’m going to ask you to stay tomorrow. And I’m giving you a head’s up on that because I want you to really think about it.”
He was hard already, a spectacular specimen in the soft glow of Christmas lights.
He crawled up the foot of the bed toward her. Cat felt her breath catch in her throat at the beautiful man who loved her, covering her body with his. He pressed her into the mattress with his weight.
“Tonight, I’m either going to convince you to stay or give you a memory that will stay with you forever.”
“And ruin me for other men,” Cat guessed.
“That too,” Noah said, cupping her chin in his hand.
“I love you, Catalina King. I didn’t mean to, and I’m not sure how it happened. But I’d be a fool if I just let you walk away.”
His mouth finally shut the hell up and got to work brushing soft kisses over her mouth, her nose, her eyelids. Together, they wrestled her shirt free and then her pants. He stroked her, every inch of her massaged, oiled body, igniting wants so terrifying that Cat wished she could forget them.
Her bra seemed to disintegrate, her underwear evaporated, and then it was just skin against skin. He kissed her from forehead to toes and back again, unhurried despite her begging him for more, despite how his hard-on throbbed against her. He tickled and teased her with his tongue, stroking between those slick lips at the apex of her thighs until she trembled over the edge into a breathtakingly beautiful orgasm. It was like having the sun rise in her body, bit by bit, flooding her with light.
When she moved to take control, to touch him back, Noah cuffed her hands over her head. “Just take.”
It was an order she’d obey this time. Every cell in her body tingled, primed for more pleasure.
He settled himself between her legs, lazily rolling on a condom, pausing to lap at both breasts until she was writhing again. Helpless, vulnerable, deprived, she opened for him, tempting him with rolls of her hips.
When she felt like she’d die if he didn’t slide home into her body, she begged him tearfully to fill her. And he did. One languorous push, and he was sheathed inside her. Whole. Full. Joined. Her body recognized his as part of itself.
