Page 48 of Wintertime Love (Holiday 2)

The next few days go by in a flurry of activity.

The Christmas market is being set up and the entire town is decorated from top to bottom, sparkling. The flux of tourists also increases and that means the diner is busier than usual.

It’s three weeks till Christmas now and the B and B is filled to the brim with guests, leaving Aunt Vee with no time on her hands. Finn, who’s integrated himself into my family unit with an ease that is purely him, assists my aunt who sings praises of him.

I sulk at this. “Why doesn’t she just adopt you?”

Finn grins. “Darlin’, you sound positively jealous.”

“I’m not exactly hiding it,” I mutter.

He kisses me and my black mood vanishes into thin air.

The entire town is now aware that Finn and I are dating, if you can call it dating. I’ve discovered that my rakish Irishman has a darkly possessive side. And it thrills me for some reason.

One of the guests, noticed me moving about the house in the morning and he showed up at my diner, flirting and laying on the charm as thick as he possibly could. While Finn hadn’t been there at that particular moment, Danny and Nick, the interfering assholes, made it a point to track down my lover and tell him everything with a second by second byplay and commentary.

Of course, my hot headed Irishman had to show up and brood in a corner the whole day, just glaring at hapless customers. No amount of coaxing or begging would get him to leave. Meanwhile, the two blabber mouths decided to sit in the opposite corner of the room and wait for the show.

I charged them extra for the coffee.

Then, the man of the hour showed up, bearing a rose and sweet words that fell on deaf ears. That was when Finn decided to make his move, vaulting

over the high counter and kissing me senseless in front of the entire diner.

His mouth on me, like always made me tremble in his hold, and the mug in my hand, slipped and crashed to the floor. Later on, I made sure Danny and Nick paid for the damages.

After a smug look at his devastated rival, Finn decided to leave me a disorientated mess, and walk out.

It took me a minute or so to get my wits back together as I growled and flung my apron at Stacy, stalking out to track my lover all the way to his room and attack him.

I was pinned to his bedroom door and fucked seven ways from Sunday, as he made me repeat who I belonged to till I was left a blabbering mess. He was relentless in the way he played my body, as he made sure he had licked and tasted every part of me all while his hands had mapped every inch of skin, branding me as his.

He was a cruel lover that day, dragging out so many orgasms out of me till I couldn’t even count anymore and yet I had never been more satisfied in my life. I couldn’t walk for hours after that and he held me in his arms, peppering me with affectionate kisses and murmuring sweet nothings in that accent of his that had me addicted to him.

The next day, I showed up shame faced and embarrassed as Stacy had tucked her cheek in her tongue and pretended she didn’t know why I was paying her extra for overtime. I had received a small note from the two trouble makers in question which had read, ‘You’re welcome’.

I also didn’t seem to be able to walk straight for the whole of the next day.

If it hadn’t been obvious to anyone before now, Finn had made sure that the message had been received by everyone in the vicinity.

Clara Winter had been thoroughly claimed.

I scowl at him and he smiles back.

I growl, and he swallows my words with a kiss.

He teases me, showers me with affection, takes away my ability to think with his hands and his hot mouth, and I know I’ve already fallen into this pit that I can no longer climb out of.

I have never been so openly adored and sometimes it seems too good to be true.

It’s like one of those dreams that you don’t want to wake up from but there is a stirring in your gut that serves as a warning. I’ve always been tough as I try to live in the moment. So I valiantly try not to think about the fact that this same man who teases me and claims my body at night, branding me with his touch. The man who haunts my thoughts every waking moment ? is actually a business tycoon who is bound to return to his world at some point ? leaving me, a small town business owner, behind.

I try not to dwell on it too much but it’s hard not to at times when he lounges in one of the booths, working with his earpiece in. With a sharp look in his eyes, his mouth moving softly as he speaks to someone on the other end of the line or as his fingers move across his sleek looking laptop.

Finn’s never once brought up where this thing between us is going. I have to wonder though, if I’m just a fling to him. The thought hurts more than it should. So much for never letting a man trap me.

I never thought I would be reduced to this, my heart getting entangled in what should have remained a brief fling with a sexy man. But the more time I spend with him, the more helplessly lost I feel. Drowning in this turbulent sea of emotions, wanting some confirmation that I won’t be abandoned and yet, too scared to ask for it.

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