Christmas Nights(27)

She suddenly tore her lips free. “Upstairs,” she said, the single word barely audible.

Travis had to forcefully shake his head to break through the fog of lust clouding his brain. “Why…?” he asked, curling his hands under her breasts to cup them and rolling her hard nipples between his fingers through the thin cotton of her shirt.

She shifted her hips restlessly, sending another hot jolt of need and hardening his cock even more. “Because…” A low moan escaped. “What if Stella comes downstairs? We can’t…”

“Right.” He finally got it. Only Janie could make him forget her daughter happened to be nearby. He adjusted Janie in his lap and stood with her in his arms. She gave a little squeak and gasp, but curled her legs around his hips. He moved swiftly, striding to the stairs and walking up. With every step, her hips shifted against him. He could feel the damp heat of her through their clothing. He shouldered through the door to her bedroom and had to force himself not to slam it shut, seeing as that could easily awaken Stella.

Without letting her go, he stepped to the bed and turned, sitting down with her in his lap, a bundle of lush curves. He started to kiss her again, but she put a palm on his chest and pushed him back. She reached down with one hand and lifted the hem of her shirt. With a whoosh, it flew over her head and fell to the floor in a rumple. His eyes dipped to see her nipples, taut and peaked, through the black lace of her bra. The dusky pink winked at him through the lace. He didn’t wait and leaned forward to swirl his tongue over the lace, growling against her skin when she cried out softly. He alternated between her breasts, drenching the lace with licks, kisses and soft bites. She interrupted him when she yanked at his shirt, tossing it aside where it fell in a heap by hers. The next few moments were a blur. In a tangle of limbs and in between kisses and rough touches, their clothes were torn off. He found himself stretching out beside her, tracing her curves again, this time savoring the feel of her silky skin. He coasted over the soft curve of her abdomen and dipped down between her thighs, almost groaning aloud when she sighed as he dragged a finger through her slick folds.

He rose up on an elbow and trailed his lips behind his touch, pausing to look up at her when he reached the juncture between her thighs. Her head was thrown back against the pillows, her hair a dark tangle around her face and her skin glistening in the dim light. He delved into her channel with one finger and then another. With her hips arching into his slow strokes, he brought his mouth to her. She tasted salty and sweet and nearly drove him mad with the restless roll of her hips and her breathy cries. He settled in to try to drive her as wild as she drove him. Licking, stroking, sucking and plunging his fingers into her drenched channel again and again, he didn’t stop until her body went rigid and her channel convulsed around him.

He mapped his way back up her body, leaving a trail of wet kisses across her belly and breasts. In the haze, he managed to remember to snag a condom out of his jeans, which had fallen to the floor, and roll it on. He eased his weight atop her, pausing with his cock resting right at her entrance. He could feel her wet heat against him and had to fight to force himself to slow down, hanging onto a thin thread of control.

“Janie.”

Her eyes opened, hazy with passion. He brushed her tangled hair off of her forehead. Her palm slid down his spine, and she curled her legs around his hips. “Travis. Now!” She flexed against him as she spoke, her words rough and demanding.

The thread of his restraint snapped, and he surged into her in one deep stroke, seating himself fully inside of her.



Janie heard her rough cry as Travis sank inside of her. She was so out of her mind with need, she barely recognized herself. Everything had been whittled down to this moment—nothing but sensation and this incandescent intimacy between them. His gaze was almost navy, darkened with passion. He held still for a long moment, and she felt her body relax around him. She tried to catch her breath, but she couldn’t. The moment he started to move, the echoes of her last climax began to spin, building and swirling into another knot of pleasure in her core.

He drove deeply, again and again. His hands curled over hers, and she held on with everything she had. With his hips pounding against hers, she flexed into every stroke as the pressure built inside again. She was losing control and barreled toward another release. His hands gripped hers tightly as tremors began to wrack her body. With a deep surge inside, the wave broke and sharp streaks of pleasure rippled through her. Her channel throbbed around his cock as he went taut as a bow and cried out roughly. She felt the crescendo rise and fall within him before he eased against her, immediately shifting his weight to one side.

The only sound in the room was their rough breathing, slowing in unison. After several long moments, she felt him push up on an elbow and somehow managed to drag her eyes open. When she met his gaze, the moment felt raw and bare, the intimacy so acute, it grabbed ahold of her heart and stole her breath.





Chapter 18





Janie stood in the audience, cheering along with everyone else as Stella played the final notes in the recital. A gorgeous live spruce tree decorated with lights and red bows provided the backdrop of the scene with lights and spruce wreaths hanging festively throughout the auditorium. Travis was standing at her side. In the years Stella had been playing the piano in school performances, Janie had become accustomed to the rush afterwards. Diamond Creek felt both small and large in these times. Many parents and locals crowded the auditorium, and the space felt enormous. Yet, many of the faces were familiar. It was strange to have someone outside of her family and friends here with her. The cheering gradually died down and people began to gather their jackets and file out of the rows of seats.

Janie’s mother stood on one side of her with Travis to the other. Leslie nudged Janie’s elbow. “Are we going backstage?”

Janie glanced to her. “Of course. Let’s give it a few minutes though. It’s a bit of a madhouse at first.” She plunked down in her seat, only to glance up at the sound of her name.

Tess and Nathan were weaving their way through the aisle. “Hey!” Tess said with a wave when she reached the end of their row.

“Hey, didn’t know you two would be here tonight,” Travis commented.

Nathan flashed a roguish grin. “Of course. With Tess’s business, you know we don’t miss a single one of these.”

Tess ran a fundraising and event coordinating business, which covered most of Southcentral Alaska. She was routinely responsible for helping coordinate various local events, including the run of holiday recitals for the high school. Tess elbowed him in the side with a roll of her eyes. “That’s not the only reason we come. I wanted to be here tonight to see the first performance,” she said with a smile at Janie. Her eyes flicked to Travis and back, a subtle gleam entering her gaze.

Janie’s mother smiled proudly. “Stella was amazing, as always. If you ask me, she’s the star of every performance.”

Tess grinned. “Of course she is!”

A family friend approached and the conversation expanded. A little while later, Janie was standing with a hip hitched on the back of one of the seats while Nathan and Travis talked fishing. Tess was at her side and leaned down. “In case you were wondering, Travis can hardly keep his eyes off of you,” she said in a low voice.

Janie glanced to her, a flush spreading up her neck and face. She shook her head the tiniest bit. “You can’t help but tease.”

Tess’s expression sobered. “You’re my friend, and it’s nice to see you happy. Even better, nice to see a guy drooling over you the way you should be drooled over.”

Janie blushed a little harder and rolled her eyes, disconcerted to think any man noticed her that way. “Okay, enough.”

A while later, the group slowly broke apart and Janie, Travis and her mother made their way backstage. When they entered the area, Janie saw a stack of pizza boxes on the table against the back wall. She looked up at Travis. “Did you…?”

He nodded. “Yup, had it delivered. Don’t worry, I won’t get them pizza after every recital, but since this was their first performance, I thought they deserved it.”

Her mother burst out laughing. “They’ll love it no matter what!” She squeezed his arm. “I like you, Travis.”

Janie’s heart did a little somersault and flutters twirled through her belly. She was starting to worry her feelings for Travis might be a lot more than like. His arm was draped over her shoulders, the heat of it comforting and distracting at once. With her pulse racing, she took a breath and glanced around. In addition to the pizza, someone else had brought platters of holiday cookies and mulled cider, the scent filling the air and carrying the holiday feeling from the recital backstage. At that moment, Stella walked over to them, a piece of pizza in her hand. “Thanks Travis!” She bounced to his side and gave him a half-hug with her free arm.

A while later, they walked outside of the school into the cold night. The air was sharp, bordering on brutally cold. Stella was still chattering almost non-stop. She was always like this after a performance, high on adrenaline and buzzing with energy. They rode home in Travis’s truck. While Stella talked and Travis gamely humored her, Janie was quiet as she watched the nightly landscape. The moon was close to full, its light casting a glow across the bay and onto the snowy ground. The stars were bright against the velvety sky.