An Unexpected Christmas

by Shannon Richard

  “Practically.” He agreed prompting an eye-roll, but her annoyance with him was replaced by a smug smile.

  Fuck. He knew what that meant. So much for a lucky hand.

  “Annnnnd gin.” Adele dropped a card facedown on the discard pile before she placed the rest of her cards face up.

  His eyes moved over her melds: three fives, ace through three of spades, and all the queens.

  “You had my ace of spades and my queen of hearts!”

  “Yours? I didn’t realize you owned all of the aces, or that she was the queen of your heart.”

  Queen of his heart. There was something about that phrase on her lips that made him pause for a second…more than a second…many seconds.

  “—but what I do realize,” Adele continued unaware of the pressure now at the center of his chest, “is that just put me over one hundred points, which means I win this round and it’s time for you to take another shot, buddy.”

  Somehow Jace remembered how to speak. “Well, aren’t you a humble winner.”

  “Yup. The humblest.” She grabbed the shot glass and bottle of whiskey from the coffee table, filling the glass to the top and holding it out for him. “Drink up, Kilpatrick.”

  “Don’t get too cocky, Del. We’re tied now,” Jace clarified as he reached for the tiny glass, making a point to brush his fingers against hers when he took it.

  It was such a small amount of contact, and yet she sucked in a startled breath, all of that boastfulness of hers disappearing in an instant. He didn’t take his focus off of her as he tipped his head back and downed the shot.

  “Well, before we start another round, I need to get some water,” Adele shifted where she sat, and if he didn’t know any better, he’d think her voice had wavered just a little bit.

  “All right, let’s break.” Jace stood first, holding his hand out for Adele to grab.

  She hesitated for just a second before she put her soft, warm palm in his. He gently pulled her to her feet and had to resist the urge to pull her into his chest. He didn’t want to let go of her hand, but he forced himself to. It was becoming more and more apparent that touching her was dangerous, mainly because he didn’t want to stop.

  Hell, just being near her was dangerous. A fact that was made clearer as she looked up into his face. Was it possible, or had her brown eyes gotten even more golden?

  Neither of them moved away, in fact, the space between them was getting smaller and smaller. Jace reached up and adjusted the flannel blanket wrapped around her shoulders. And then completely and totally unable to help himself, he lifted his hand and pushed back the hair that had fallen across her forehead. His fingers skimmed over her skin again…the warmth of her spreading up his hand and to his arm before moving out and across his entire body.

  What the hell was this feeling? And why did it seem like he was playing with fire?

  Speaking of fire, the logs behind them fell with a snap, making both of them jump. The sound broke the spell around them as a shower of sparks was sent into the air.

  “Ummm…water.” Adele stepped back, shaking her head slightly.

  The mention of water made Jace realize just how thirsty he was…in more ways than one. “I’ll, uh, put a few more logs on.”

  Not that he needed any more heat. He was already a fucking inferno at this point. The need and desire in him at boiling point. He needed to figure out what was going on or he was going to lose his damn mind.

  It didn’t take him very long to deal with the fire, and once he had, he headed for the kitchen. The multiple candles that were out and flickering on the counter gave just enough light for him to see that she’d already poured both of them a glass.

  Jace washed his hands before he grabbed the chilled water and downed half of it in one go. Adele was standing a bit away from him, slowing sipping hers and looking just as confused as he felt.

  Well, might as well go in for the kill. After finishing the rest of his water, he set the now empty glass down and leaned back against the counter as he looked at her. “When was the last time you had sex?”

  “What?” Adele’s eyes went wide as she choked on her water.

  “You asked me that question. Fair trade. Remember? It works on questions too.”

  Adele hesitated for a moment, and he’d wager there was an embarrassed flush creeping up her cheeks as the seconds ticked by. But embarrassed or not, her eyes didn’t leave his. “It’s been two years.”

  “Two years?” Holy shit.

  “Yes, two years.” She repeated, looking less self-conscious and more confident as she pulled her shoulders back, and stiffened her spine. “Look, Jace,” her voice had taken on that snappish tone that—God help him—he was starting to find really sexy, “sex doesn’t work the same way for me as it does for you.”

  “And how does it work for you?”

  She set her almost empty glass down on the counter and moved closer to him. “It’s not about some momentary relief. It’s not about feeling good just in the moment, it’s about feeling good after too. It’s about having no regrets. Feeling fulfilled. I…” she trailed off, shaking her head.

  “You what?” He prompted, very much wanting to know more. Her words struck home to him, a loud, resounding gong that rang in his ears. It had only been a couple of hours since he’d had similar thoughts, and that empty feeling of wanting more than a quick solo session in the shower. He’d had an overwhelming desire to feel something more.

  Adele’s face got serious as she took another step closer to him. “I have to need someone.” She put her hand to her chest, palm over her heart. “Not just want them. I have to be so caught up in the moment that I reach the point of no return. I want everything right then and there. And if I can’t have everything, I don’t want anything.”

  “And what’s everything?”

  She took a deep breath before going on. “Everything is that, I can’t stop, I can’t pull away, I can’t breathe kind of passion. It’s a need to feel them against me, over me, inside of me. It’s a desperation that’s clawing to come out. But it’s also about wanting more. It goes beyond not being able to walk away before the sex, but you can’t walk away after either. Once isn’t enough. Twice isn’t enough. Ten times wouldn’t be enough.”

  Well, damn. “So that’s everything.” He repeated her words, feeling an odd sort of ache in his chest. He thought it was because he’d never experienced that before…but the more he looked at Adele, the stronger that ache got.

  “Yes.”

  “And it’s been two years since you’ve felt it.”

  “No.” Adele shook her head, her eyes leaving his as she glanced to the side, tracing her finger along the edge of the countertop. “It’s been longer than that.” Her voice had gotten softer, a departure from her impassioned sexplanation from a moment ago. “There were a number of years where I settled, but it got to the point where I was tired of putting myself out there, and then regretting it afterward because it wasn’t enough.” She took an unsteady breath before looking back up at him. “So I told myself it was all or nothing.”

  “And you never felt that with Troy? The all or nothing?”

  “You really want to know this?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Okay.” She straightened her shoulders. “I wanted him, but I was working up to the needing him. And look, we weren’t saints by any means. We fooled around quite a bit. Hell, we were together for four months and I’m not a freaking robot. It’s just that I needed more. It takes me a while to get to the sex level. It isn’t instantaneous. It never has been. There has to be trust. Some level of it at least. I thought…I thought I was almost there…thought Troy respected me and what I needed. But clearly my instincts were completely and totally wrong when it came to him.” Her voice broke on those last words as tears welled in her eyes.

  She was hurting, doubting so much of herself, and everything in him wanted to fix it, wanted to take away her pain. His own instincts took over, and he took a step closer to
her, close enough now to where he could reach out and touch her. But he kept his hands to himself…for the moment.

  “Your instincts weren’t wrong. It’s why you waited. Why you didn’t sleep with him.” He reached up and grabbed another strand of her wayward hair, pushing it back before tracing the shell of her ear. “What are your instincts telling you right now, Del?”

  “W-what?” The word came out on a whisper as all of the air left her lungs. So she was affected by him. It wasn’t a figment of his imagination.

  “What would happen if I kissed you right now?”

  “Why would you kiss me, Jace?”

  “I think it would be an effective way to address this newfound tension between us.”

  “There isn’t new tension between us.” Her breathing was uneven now.

  “No?” His hand moved to her jaw, cupping the side of her face.

  “No.” Adele’s entire body responded to his touch, a shiver of pleasure running through her. She pressed her cheek into his hand as she slowly closed her eyes.

  “You know, you’re one hell of a costume designer, but you’re a terrible actress.”

  Her eyes open oh-so-slowly, now looking drowsy…drugged. She shook her head as if she was trying to shake herself of the reaction he had on her. It didn’t work, the heat and want were etched onto her face, not something easily erased.

  “Don’t kiss me, Jace.” There was that pain in her voice again. “Not if you’re trying to prove a point…or because you feel badly for me or something. I don’t want your pity kisses, Jace. If you’re going to kiss me, you better follow through. You better mean it.”

  “I mean it,” he whispered right before he covered her lips with his.

  Chapter Seven

  Everything

  What was even happening?

  Jace Kilpatrick was kissing her. That was what was happening. Was it real? It couldn’t be. It was a dream. It had to be a dream. A dream she never, ever wanted to wake up from.

  The thing was, Adele had been dreaming about this man for years. Six freaking years of imagining what it would be like to kiss him, and her imagination had never come close to what was happening now.

  It was slow and tender at first, soft kisses against her lips, gently nibbling. But then his free hand landed on her hip, wrapping around her waist and pulling her body flush against his. The movement surprised her, and her mouth opened on a gasp. It was then that he took full advantage of that opened mouth.

  The second his tongue touched hers a moan escaped her lips. It was a long, low moan too, one that should’ve been embarrassing, but as her greatest fantasy had come to life, she didn’t care in the slightest. In fact, her hands moved up to the back of his head, the blanket around her shoulders falling to the floor as she wound her fingers in Jace’s hair. She held his head to hers, matching him kiss for kiss, their tongues tangling, breaths mingling.

  One of his hands made its way to the back of her head, pulling out the hair tie and letting her hair fall down and around her shoulders. And then his hands were in her hair, tilting her head to the side as he slanted his mouth over hers and deepened the kiss.

  God, this was unreal. It was like he was swallowing her whole.

  He shifted against her, his erection pressing into her thigh. Even in the overwhelmed state she was in, there was no doubt in her mind that he wanted her.

  Before she knew it, he had her backed up against the counter. Both of his hands dropped to her waist and he lifted her up to sit down on it. Her legs wrapped around him automatically, ankles locking at his back.

  His hands moved up to her head, cradling her jaw as he pulled away. His eyes were filled with the kind of passion that made her stomach fill with a million butterflies. He was looking at her. Really looking at her. It wasn’t a trick of her imagination or an illusion from the flickering candles around them. The desire was real and glowing in his eyes.

  “Del,” he whispered as his thumbs traced over her skin. “What are your instincts telling you? Tell me what you want.”

  “Everything, Jace. I want everything and I want it now. Please don’t stop.” She was sober enough to say yes and mean it, but just tipsy enough to let her true desires fly off the tip of her tongue. She had no idea what was going to happen after this, and she didn’t care. She wanted this moment with him, wanted everything he’d give her for as long as he’d give it to her.

  As for her instincts? Well, they were giving her a green light. She wasn’t going to second-guess them for even a moment. She’d waited too damn long and was done denying herself what she’d wanted for all of these years. There was no stopping for her, because there was no part of her that wanted to stop.

  Her hands went to the hem of his shirt and she tugged up. He let go of her face and helped her strip him of one the barriers between them. He then returned the favor, pushing his hands under her shirt and lifting it over her head.

  The air in the kitchen was a little chilled, but it didn’t affect her. Not with Jace so near and the current fire that was coursing through her body.

  Adele wasn’t sure what she enjoyed more: getting to put her hands on his chest, feeling his skin under her palms; or the way he was looking at her. She was wearing a black lace bralette and yoga pants, and he was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.

  He reached up to her neck, tracing one of the lacy straps down and to the center of her chest. The material made a deep “V” which showed off a rather impressive amount of her cleavage.

  “I’ve been thinking about your breasts all damn day,” he said as he found one of her nipples through the material. His thumb gently rubbed over the puckered bud, such a small movement, and yet she felt it with a jolt between her legs. But that jolt was nothing, nothing, to the sheer sensory overload of what happened next.

  Jace’s head dropped, and his mouth covered her breast, sucking her nipple through the lace of the bra. Adele’s hands slammed down onto the counter, gripping the edge for dear life as her back arched and her head fell back. Another of her long, low moans filled the kitchen.

  He moved his mouth to the center of her chest, burying his face in the depths of her cleavage, licking and nibbling before moving over to the other nipple, and showing it the same attention as the first. She had no idea how long he spent admiring her breasts, but it was some time before he started to kiss his way back up her neck and he found her mouth again.

  “I want to explore every inch of you,” he told her between kisses. “It’s almost hard to figure out where next. Almost.” His fingers hooked in the tops of her yoga pants and he pulled them down. “Lift up.”

  She did as she was told, hoping beyond hope that his next destination was where she thought.

  Once her pants and socks joined the rest of their clothes on the kitchen floor, he leaned past her, grabbing the candles closest to them and moving them to the other side of the counter. Once he was centered between her legs again, he gave her another long, lingering kiss.

  “Lay down, Del,” he whispered against her lips.

  Again, she did as she was told, sucking in a shallow breath when the cold marble hit her overheated back.

  “Another thing I’ve been thinking about all day.”

  Goosebumps broke out across her skin as his hands moved over her body. First, he traced his fingers over the tattoo at her side, then over and down to her belly, before coming to a stop at the top of the very same red lace panties he’d seen her wearing that morning. But his hands skipped over them, running down her thighs, over her knees, and to her calves. He pulled her legs up, placing her feet flat on the counter, her toes just going over the ledge.

  Running his hands back up and along the inside of her legs, he stopped when he got to her knees, pushing them wide.

  All Adele could do was watch him. Watch as his gaze lingered between her spread thighs. Watch as his magnificent chest rose and fell, his breaths unsteady. Watch as he continued to touch her.

  T
his…this was happening. This was really happening.

  His hands were at her sides again, and he lightly traced the lace at her hips, before slowly moving in. One of those cocky grins was spread across his lips, one of those grins that she hated that she loved so much, “Let’s see how wet you already are.”

  The sensation of his fingers skimming over her was too much. As much as she didn’t want to miss a second of this, she couldn’t stop herself from closing her eyes. Her back arched as he pulled the material to the side and slid a finger inside of her.

  “Fuck, Del.”

  Her eyes snapped opened. The cockiness from just moments ago was gone, now replaced by a raw and real hunger.

  His finger disappeared, and she felt the loss of him. But the loss wasn’t felt for long. He dropped down between her thighs, his mouth replacing his hand.

  “Jace.” She gasped his name, her eyes closing again as he licked and lapped at her.

  His strong, calloused palms gripped her thighs, the pressure not enough to keep her from moving, but enough to feel her move. The scruff of his beard abraded her sensitive skin in the most delicious way. It took the man no time at all to find her clit, showing the little bud the perfect amount of attention.

  The onslaught of pleasure was more than she’d ever known and she was pretty sure she was going to float away on it. Reaching up and over her head she grabbed onto the other side of the counter, holding on for dear life.

  She wasn’t sure how much more she could take of this, but at the same time, she never wanted it to end. How could something be too much, and yet not enough? The quickening in her belly was getting stronger and stronger. Pressure building…climbing…and then her orgasm slammed into her.

  “Jace!” This time his name on her lips was a scream so loud that it echoed through the entire cabin.

  He didn’t let go of her, his hands tightening on her thighs as she writhed around, his mouth continuing to move over her, bringing her down with slow, twisting laps of this tongue.