The Magic of Christmas

by Alyssa J. Montgomery

  It was also his hope that the concert would inspire her to think more seriously about her own music so she wouldn’t waste the talent she possessed.

  ‘I enjoyed every second of tonight,’ he told her when they arrived at the door of the suite he’d booked for her. ‘His playing was truly outstanding, but watching you enjoy the music was the richest experience I’ve ever had from a recital.’ He stepped away from her as he saw the desire in her eyes and sensed her need to close the distance between them. ‘Tomorrow we get to explore Vienna.’

  Her lips curved into a smile. ‘Are you going to tell me what we’re going to see, or are you going to make each sightseeing attraction a surprise?’

  ‘We’re going to start off the day with a city cruise, then we’re going to tour and have a picnic lunch at Schönbrunn Palace.’

  Grace sighed. ‘It’s going to be fabulous.’

  ‘Sunday, you get to choose. We can either do a tour of buildings where great pianists such as Beethoven, Strauss, Haydn and Schubert all lived or we can visit the Hofburg Palace, where we can see The Spanish Riding School—the traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses. We’d get to see a performance and see the horses train.’

  ‘As much as I love music, the idea of the riding school appeals more.’

  ‘Then, consider it done.’

  ‘Jack—’

  ‘Grace—’

  They both spoke at the same time.

  ‘You first,’ he said.

  ‘It’s been such a great night. I don’t want it to end.’

  He schooled himself to ignore the breathless catch to her voice and the invitation in her eyes. The last thing he wanted was for her to come to his bed out of gratitude.

  Summoning up a light smile, he tried to keep his voice even. ‘Tomorrow will be an early start and a long day. We’d better both get to sleep.’ And, if he took her to bed tonight, he was almost certain that’s where they’d spend the rest of the weekend.

  ‘When we were at your father’s engagement party, you told me you found me attractive.’

  He swallowed. ‘Yes.’

  ‘It’s mutual,’ she husked.

  ‘Grace.’ The syllable was a warning as she reached up and ran her hands along his shoulders. ‘Please don’t ask. I can’t give you—’

  ‘I’m not asking for forever, Jack, but please give me tonight.’

  How could he when he felt like he’d be taking more from Grace than he could give?

  ‘You told me to have courage,’ she half-whispered. ‘Have you any idea how much courage it’s taking to tell you what I want?’

  He glimpsed the small tremble of Grace’s lower lip before her teeth closed down on it. It was clear she called on every ounce of her courage as she swiped the key card for her hotel suite and pushed the door open.

  He had to ignore the invitation. ‘I have the suite across the hall.’

  ‘There’s only one way this night could be any better, Jack. Please, make it perfect for me.’

  Pure, unadulterated need pounded through him.

  Make it perfect for me.

  It was what she wanted.

  It was what they both needed.

  Damned if he wasn’t overcome with the need to make this so perfect it would eclipse anything she’d ever known with any other lover.

  ‘Yes.’ The word emerged as a guttural plea from him as raw, primitive desire broke free of all the self-imposed bonds of propriety that’d held him back from fulfilling this heady, aching need between them.

  With a growl of desire, he swept Grace up into his arms and strode into the sumptuous suite, then shouldered the door closed behind him.

  Chapter 14

  Grace was only barely aware of the opulence of her surroundings as Jack cradled her to his rugby-honed chest and strode through the suite until he found the master bedroom.

  Housekeeping had turned back the massive bed.

  There was a lamp on the bedside table which cast a soft light over a room fit for a king, but Grace didn’t bother looking around in any great detail. Her attention was focused upon Jack. From the first moment she’d seen him, his masculinity called to her femininity at a potent, visceral level. She’d always thought her fantasies about him would remain empty, yet here she was being set down on her feet as though she was the most precious woman in the world.

  His arms wrapped around her, enfolding her in the protective strength of his embrace. She melted against him, moulding herself against every contour of his athlete’s body.

  It was impossible to refrain from reaching up under his tuxedo jacket, tugging his shirt from the waistband of his pants and letting her hands play over the smooth, broad expanse of muscles at his back.

  So firm.

  So much strength.

  Never had she felt the contrast between male and female as sharply.

  Arching her neck back so she could look up at him, she wanted there to be no doubt in his mind how she wanted this night to end. ‘I want you to make love to me, Jack.’

  Lowering his head to place kisses along the line of her jaw, he barely stopped as he reached her ear and rasped, ‘I’ve tried so hard to resist you.’

  But he wasn’t resisting her now. His voice was thick and when he raised his head to look at her, his blue eyes were dark with desire.

  ‘You don’t have to resist.’

  ‘Thank God.’

  His expression was almost savage with his need—the masculine angles and planes of his face reminded her of a warrior who’d fought a hard battle. There was a triumphant light in his eyes as he looked at her—as though he was about to claim her as his ultimate victory prize.

  She’d never felt so valued or desirable, and—although she knew Jack’s one-night rule—she wanted to give herself to him more than she wanted to draw her next breath. One night in his arms and the promised euphoria of becoming his lover would be worth it. It would surely be easier to live with the highs of this one night than endure the regret of never knowing him as a lover.

  Tension radiated from him. ‘You have way too many clothes on.’

  ‘So do you.’

  There was no finesse in the way they stripped each other of their clothes. This was no sensual unveiling but red-hot need which dictated their frenetic pace. He shrugged each of his shoulders to help her remove his jacket, but after that she was on her own as he expertly found the concealed zipper of her dress and started peeling it away.

  He was still in his trousers when she stood naked and he eased her away from him while she was still trying to remove his clothes. His gaze swept down her body. Such was the appreciation in his eyes that if he was a warrior, then she was surely a goddess at whose temple he’d come to worship. Lowering his head, each kiss he bestowed upon her nipples was one of homage.

  Grace trembled as his mouth left her breasts and began to plunder the softness of her lips with desperate desire. He demanded her uninhibited response and she reciprocated willingly. Pleasure engulfed her as his tongue probed along the seam of her mouth. The erotic exploration made her tremble with stark hunger, her body aching for his hands to smooth over her and sculpt her form to his—her hands aching to explore his body in the same way.

  The unmistakable nudge of his steel-hard erection had her gaze lowering to the bulge in his trousers. Her innermost muscles clenched and heat pooled between her thighs. Any reserve she might’ve had was obliterated by a frantic, pulsing need—a yearning for fulfilment that drove every other thought from her head as she stroked his erection through his trousers and felt him swell even further beneath her touch. As he strained against the fabric, she found the trouser button and pulled down at the zipper eager to unveil and caress the length of him, but she didn’t get quite that far.

  A muscle worked in his jaw as his hot, heady gaze swept over her, lingering on the column of her neck before focusing on her breasts. The flesh swelled and her nipples hardened to nubs as they jutted forward offering themselves up for his pleasure.

  G
race leaned forward. When his hands cupped her breasts, she exhaled a swift breath of satisfaction. He tantalised the dusky rose nipples, continuing to tease her by using his thumb to rub over them. Sensation speared straight down between her thighs and she let out a low little moan of delight.

  His smile was knowing and he increased the friction before drawing the peaks out between his thumb and forefinger.

  If the action was designed to kick her senses into overdrive, it succeeded.

  It was so much, yet not nearly enough.

  ‘That’s so good,’ she groaned as her breasts throbbed in pleasure.

  Jack laughed. ‘I haven’t even started yet.’

  He was telling the truth. As he lowered his dark head towards her chest she realised that he hadn’t even begun a prelude of seduction yet. Her legs weakened and she struggled to stay upright as he laved her nipples with his tongue, grazed the tips of his teeth erotically over her sensitised flesh and slowly drew her whole nipple into his mouth—tugging on it delicately then more voraciously until her need grew white-hot.

  Her body became a squirming mass of need and her short fingernails dug into the muscles at his shoulders in an effort to anchor herself and stay upright.

  When he drew his head away his breath was warm against the nipple that was still damp from his attention. ‘You’re every bit as sensitive as I dreamed you’d be. I want to taste all of you, Grace.’

  ‘No.’ She stalled him as he would’ve fallen to his knees before her. ‘I want you naked first.’

  He straightened and her hands reached out and ran over the hard, muscled ridges of his abdomen before her fingers scrabbled in feverish anticipation to tug at his waistband and push his trousers to the floor. Her hands were hungry to be everywhere on his body and to strip him of his boxer shorts.

  When at last he stood naked before her, her heart must surely have seized because it quivered in her chest and deep breaths were impossible. The sight of the sheer virility of his body, his narrow hips, solid rugby thighs and, most of all, his magnificent arousal jutting from his groin, gripped her with urgent, carnal need.

  ‘You want to keep going with what you’ve started?’ Now the grey dominated his irises, his desire turning into molten silver as he issued the challenge.

  ‘Yes.’ There was nothing to think about. The light of almost-reverent admiration as he looked at her body inspired her confidence. Any doubt she may’ve had about whether her relative inexperience would be enough to satisfy him receded.

  He wanted her.

  Grace.

  Never had she felt so comfortable with her femininity. Never had she felt so strong. ‘I’m all yours, Jack.’

  She reached out her hands and a second later she was back in his muscular arms, against his chest and being carried over to the king-sized bed.

  After lowering her onto the bed, he joined her and used his hands on either side of her to brace himself as he began all over again to explore her body with his mouth. The kisses began on her forehead, his lips pressed against each eyelid then trailed over her cheek, and along the line of her jaw.

  Oh dear Lord.

  Her body bucked as he nibbled at the delicate shell of her ear and used his tongue to trace the outline there. As he kissed down the sensitive column of her neck, his mouth paused at the region above her collarbone and arousal quaked through her.

  Grace’s hips angled in their quest for the most intimate contact with him. Her fingers tangled in his hair, played down his spine, adored the valley of his back and cupped over the firm muscles of his backside, urging him to join with her.

  ‘Not yet.’ His words were throaty.

  ‘I’m going to die of anticipation.’ One hand slid around under his hip and she sought his erection.

  He sucked in a sharp breath and her lips curled into a smile of sheer feminine power as her fingers firmed around him. Her fingertips released him and delighted in a tactile exploration to discover the long length of him and to play with the heavy weight of his arousal. She was consumed by the feel of him, committed to delivering pleasure with each of her light touches along his most sensitive flesh.

  He twitched beneath her touch then his whole body shuddered when she allowed her forefinger to smooth the drop of moisture she found, over the head of his penis.

  ‘Two can play at that game,’ he growled, moving one hand between them, down over her stomach and between her thighs to the place she was already slick with her need.

  Gripping him, she moved her hand up and down his shaft while his fingertips swept up her moist seam and settled on the small nub of nerve endings at the top.

  Oh dear Lord.

  A maelstrom of delightful sensation made her hips jerk forward and her hand closed more firmly around him.

  ‘I’m so ready for you,’ she breathed out.

  His fingers tugged at her clitoris and elicited a deep moan of longing. ‘Patience, Grace.’

  Jack moved further down the bed, kissing along the slight jut of her hipbone while his skilful fingers moved rhythmically against her clitoris in an erotic dance which made pleasure ripple out from that feminine epicentre until she was in a mindless state of ecstasy. She was unaware of anything but the sexual tension building inexorably and her own whimpers of delight.

  Closing her eyes, she angled her hips even more insistently against him and her fingers grasped at the sheets, bunching up the fabric as she hung on.

  ‘Open wider for me, sweetheart.’ The warmth of his breath against the silky skin of her inner thighs and the brush of his hair drew her attention just before his hands urged her legs wider apart and he claimed her clitoris with his mouth.

  ‘Jack!’ His name was wrung from her on a gasp of ecstasy as she revelled in the way he alternated between an erotic sucking of her most sensitive spot, running the tip of his tongue along her seam and plunging into her depths with his fingers.

  Her body demanded an urgent release but he held her teetering on the edge for what seemed to be an eternity. Her internal muscles strained, responding to the clever caresses of his fingers and trying desperately to reach the highest, most pleasurable pinnacle of paradise. She thought she’d hover there forever until his teeth grazed at her and pushed her over the precipice, finally delivering the promised, rapturous release her body begged for.

  ‘You’re so responsive,’ Jack murmured coming back up over her body and nuzzling her neck. ‘I want you to know every single pleasure—to wring every seductive sensation from your body and have you know ecstasy like you’ve never known before.’

  He’d already achieved his last goal, but there was no time to bask in the heady wonder of her orgasm or to thrill at the promise of his words. Her mind had barely registered that Jack had pulled away from her and donned protection, when he was repositioning himself at her entry.

  Then, the tip of his erection nudged and glided into her, stretching her to accommodate his powerful length and melding their bodies so she knew an all-encompassing rightness in being one with him. Her core felt searingly hot with a renewed raging, unfulfilled passion only he could quench.

  ‘Grace.’ His eyes were intense blue as he uttered her name on a raw gasp that communicated the depth of his need.

  Grace gave an involuntary, breathless gasp at the sheer perfection of their joining, and still it got better with each deep, slow thrust. Head swimming in sweet sensation, she lost sense of everything but the rhythm of their lovemaking and the mastery of his possession—giving herself over totally to him and wanting to follow wherever he led.

  Her hands tightened on his hips. Her muscles clenched around him in delicious spasms of delight and she cried out as her climax reached its crescendo and she lost the rhythm of their coupling as it overwhelmed her. Wave after wave of rapture exploded through her, buffeting her with an intensity like none she’d ever known as Jack continued to thrust into her. Only when her limbs were languid and the tremors had lessened did he still.

  Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw
the faint glistening of perspiration over his muscles and saw how they were corded down his neck and shoulders in his struggle to maintain control. His face was a taut mask and she realised what it was costing him to hold off on his own completion.

  Grace ran her fingernails down his spine and raised her hips, eager to pick up the rhythm again so he could find his release.

  ‘Yes,’ he moaned as he matched her and drove into her relentlessly.

  ‘Let go, Jack,’ she half-whispered to him in the seconds before he tensed then shuddered over her in an intense climax that had him calling her name on a deep groan of release as he spilled himself.

  Her name.

  He captured her lips in a kiss filled with both passion and tenderness before disposing of their protection and drawing her to rest in the circle of his arms.

  With Jack she’d truly learned the depths of her body’s needs. He’d shown her how beautifully those needs could be fulfilled. Now she knew an absolute sense of rightness lying here with him in the aftermath of their lovemaking—a contentment she wanted to commit to her memory because she knew she loved Jack—had fallen in love with him within days of meeting him—and would never love anyone else.

  ‘Fantasy has never been this good,’ she told him dreamily, snuggling her cheek against the cushion of his chest and delighting in the intimacy of being able to hear every strong beat of his heart.

  His arms tightened around her, drawing her closer to him as they lay with their limbs entwined in this intimate cocoon. ‘Nothing has ever been this good.’

  Grace slept for a while before she awakened lying spooned against him. Despite the dull ache of overstretched muscles deep within her, every nerve ending hummed in a symphony that was both satisfied but at the same time greedy for an encore of their lovemaking.

  She turned carefully in the circle of his arms intent on bringing him into wakefulness in the most pleasurable way. She lifted a finger, circled each of his masculine nipples then followed the line of hairs that trailed down under the sheet to his groin.

  His eyelids opened and he looked at her with the lazy, knowing smile that instantly turned her on.