A Blazing Little Christmas(4)
Heat that had nothing to do with the roaring fire poured through her. Looking at him now, it was impossible to believe their relationship could ever teeter on the brink of imploding. Or that their sex life was suffering. How was it possible that for weeks she hadn’t found a way to wade through the morass of stress and make love to this man who could make her nipples hard by just standing there? Surely with this time alone, away from everything and everyone that had been conspiring to pull them apart for the past four months, she’d be able to relax. And together they’d find a way to solve their problems. All they needed was a break. And here, at the Timberline Lodge, that’s exactly what they’d have.
Thank God.
When he reached her, he didn’t say a word—he just pulled her into his arms and kissed her. A deep, lush kiss that tasted of pent-up frustration and anticipation. One that revved her pulse and ended way too soon. After he lifted his head, his eyes were smoldering. “We’re all set. Our cabin is just a short walk and overlooks the lake. You ready?”
“Absolutely.” She lightly bumped her pelvis against his. “Are you ready?”
A half laugh, half groan escaped him. “God, yes. Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about it until I get you alone. But once I do—” he yanked her tighter against him, making it very obvious that he was indeed ready “—you’re in big trouble.”
Good Lord, she hoped so. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted up on her toes to brush her lips over his. “Oh, yeah? Watch it, big guy. Maybe you’re the one who’ll be in trouble.”
“Sweetheart, I’ve been in trouble since the first moment I saw you.”
“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”
He shook his head, framed her face between his large hands that still bore a hint of chill from outside and looked at her through suddenly serious eyes. “Best damn thing that ever happened to me.”
Jessica’s heart flipped over and she swallowed around the sudden tightness in her throat. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. “Everything is going to be okay, Jess. I promise. Have I ever broken a promise to you?”
She shook her head and their noses bumped. “No.”
“And I’m not going to start now. We’ll work this out. All of it.”
She leaned back and looked at him. There was no doubt he believed what he said, and that confidence, along with the love shining in his eyes, bolstered her belief that he was right. And here, in this cozy setting, where it was just the two of them, free from all the outside pressures that constantly bombarded them, the way it had been for those first six glorious months they were together, before they’d announced their engagement and all hell broke loose, all seemed right with the world.
“You are, without a doubt, the sweetest, kindest, most patient—not to mention the sexiest—man I’ve ever met.”
“Can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you say that,” he murmured, punctuating each word with a nibbling kiss along her jaw. “Now about that ‘sexiest’ bit…I’m dying to give you a personal demonstration.”
“Hmmm…a tempting offer, but my fiancé will be arriving any minute now and he might object.”
“Damn. I might have guessed you were taken.” He slipped his hands inside her coat and ran his palms down her back, leaving a trail of heat in his wake. “Your fiancé is one lucky guy. I hope he tells you that every day. Right after he tells you that you’re the most beautiful, sexy woman on earth.” He nuzzled her neck. “And that no one smells better than you. And that he loves you so much he can barely think straight most of the time.” He lifted his head. “Does he tell you that every day? Because if he doesn’t, I’ll have to hurt him. Bad.”
The wave of love that washed over her nearly drowned her. “He tells me.”
“Good. Then he can live to see another day.”
She shot him an exaggerated leer. “Now, about that personal demonstration you mentioned—”
Her words were cut off when he grabbed her hand and started across the lobby with such a brisk, long-legged stride, she had to jog to keep up. Laughing, they half ran, half skidded across the parking lot to Eric’s SUV, which was already covered in snow. After retrieving their overnight bags, they held hands and headed down the tree-lined path leading toward their cabin. Snow fell in a white silent blanket, coating the roofs of the cottages dotting the trail. Smoke puffed toward the slate-gray sky from the chimneys, indicating the occupants were enjoying the intimate warmth of a fire. Their progress was slowed by catching snowflakes on their tongues and exchanging lip-warming kisses, each one lengthier and deeper than the one before, notching up their arousal. She hadn’t felt this carefree since they’d announced their engagement, and she offered up a silent thank-you that they’d decided to take this weekend for themselves. Everything is going to be fine, her inner voice whispered.