Holiday Encounters Books 1-3 Omnibus

by Amy Lamont

  A thrill coursed through me. Of course I wanted him. That was one of the problems I had since the day we met. I wanted him more than I wanted anybody I'd ever met. The thought scared the crap out of me.

  But damned if I'd back down from the challenge.

  “Oh, I want you,” I purred in my most flirtatious voice and looked up at him from underneath my lashes. “But are you sure I won't cramp your style staying here? I know how you rock super stars love your freedom.”

  As I spoke, I reached for the sash on the robe I’d borrowed from him. The one I'd folded myself back into when we got out of the shower earlier. I pulled hard enough to undo the knot and the front of the robe gaped open. It slid to the sides, showing off the swell of my breasts without revealing too much.

  Jared bit his lip and as I watched, I could see the front of his pants tent with his growing erection.

  “You should come over here and let me enjoy the freedom of running my hands and mouth all over you,” he said in a voice that would have melted my panties off had I been wearing any.

  I stood from the chair across from his, letting the robe fall open more. I lifted my hands and slid it over my shoulders before letting it go. As I moved toward Jared, gravity and the weight of the robe did their trick. It fell off my shoulders into a pool on the floor. The only thing remaining was the belt I clutched in my hands.

  Jared didn't move as I stepped forward. His eyes stayed locked on mine. Right now, with him fully clothed, his legs stretched out in front of him, and me moving toward him, naked and more than eager for his touch, he looked every inch the rock star.

  I stepped closer until I straddled one of his knees. His hands rested on the arms of his chair, though a quick peek showed he wasn't totally unaffected. The zipper of his jeans bulged and his fingers flexed once and then again on the chair arm, as if he fought to keep from reaching out to touch me.

  I lifted my gaze to his and held back a grin. He might be doing a fairly good job of hiding most of his reactions from me. But there was no hiding the torrent of emotion twisting behind his eyes.

  I tipped my chin down and did my best to put on a shy and innocent act. Not one of my most believable looks. I held out the sash from my robe. "I thought you might need this.”

  Jared's eyes shifted to the belt and then back to meet mine. A furrow appeared between his brows, but he said nothing.

  “You know,” I explained, “if you want to be completely free to run your hands everywhere, you might want to restrain me so I can't stop you.”

  Comprehension dawned in his eyes and the wicked grin I'd grown to love over the last few months appeared. He shifted forward slightly and I gasped as his jean-covered thigh rubbed right between my legs.

  “I think you're right.” He snatched the belt from my now nerveless fingers. “I think I'd like complete freedom. And I know I like the idea of having you naked and helpless under me.”

  I shivered at his words. “Yes, please,” I whispered.

  He stood, moving my body backward as he did so. He grabbed one of my hands and tugged me toward the bedroom, but he veered past it until we were standing next to the desk in the corner of the room.

  “This might just be the best idea you've ever had,” he said.

  Before I could respond, he tilted me until my back and shoulders rested on the desk. He turned me sideways and pulled both my arms over my head. In seconds he secured my hands together with one end of the sash. I stared up at him, waiting to see what he'd do next.

  I didn't have long to wait. He pulled the other end of the belt over my head and down the side of the desk. He pulled until it was taut, and then he must have secured it to the rung at the bottom between the two desk legs because I found myself completely stretched, my arms over my head, my back arched, and only my legs free to move.

  Once I was completely secured, Jared loomed over me. “You good?”

  I tugged my hands a little, and for the first time realized the power I'd given him. I was truly at his mercy. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip and stared up at him, studying his face.

  I'd never let someone have this much control over my body before. I hadn't really put much thought into it when I handed him the sash, but now a small flutter of fear rippled in my belly. But there was something else there, too. A dark excitement I'd never experienced before. The combination of the two was almost enough to push me over the edge without him even touching me.

  “Jared,” I whispered. I licked my lips.

  He smiled down at me, just a small smile, but enough to reassure me I could trust him with my body.

  “You say stop at any time and we stop,” he said.

  I shook my head, every nerve ending tingling with anticipation for what was to come. “I don't want to stop.”

  He leaned down and kissed me hard and fast. “Good girl.”

  His praise wove its way through me, and the feeling it gave me made my toes curl. The movement made me realize my feet didn’t touch the carpeted floor. I was truly at his mercy.

  He grabbed the wheeled desk chair and steered around to the side where my legs hung over. I tried to shift my chin toward my chest so I could see what he was doing, but he'd tied me with not much room to spare. I could only see him a tiny bit from my peripheral vision. The position was uncomfortable for my neck so I eased my head back down and waited. And waited.

  Something about the sense of expectation made me hyper aware of being naked and laid out in front of him.

  “Jared?” The word left me on a breathless moan.

  As if that had been all he was waiting for, I suddenly felt him. His hands landed on my thighs and moved them apart, holding them down to prevent me from moving them. His mouth came down right over my wet center, his tongue delving inside to taste me. I arched up off the desk as much as his hands and the sash would allow.

  “Oh, God, Jared.” The words were torn from me on a strangled breath.

  His only response was to pull his tongue back and plunge it again and again into my waiting heat, and to slide one of his hands down so he could thumb my clit.

  I yanked at the sash mindlessly as I writhed under his tongue. I wanted to drop my hands to his head, to hold him to me so there was no chance of him stopping.

  He pulled back a little, his tongue leaving me. I could feel his hot breath on my thighs and other parts of me.

  “Please, Jared.”

  He leaned back down and sucked my clit between his lips. He replaced his tongue with his fingers, using them to plunge even deeper, thrusting into me again and again.

  I came apart, my head thrashing on the desk, my body arching out of control, my toes curling. An explosive, mind-numbing orgasm ripped through me and my eyes snapped shut. White lights went off behind my eyelids.

  And in the middle of it, as wave after wave of pleasure rolled over me, Jared stopped working on my center and in seconds released himself from his pants, sheathed himself with a condom and entered me in a single, deep thrust.

  “Oh, God.” His rough entry into my already quivering core brought me right back to the edge. And while Jared rode me, pushing into me again and again, I found my release again, unintelligible words, whimpers and moans falling from my lips.

  He leaned over my body until his mouth was beside my ear. “That's it, baby, take all of me.”

  I rocked my hips up to meet his relentless pounding and before the last aftershock rolled through me, his entire body tensed, every muscle rigid as he found his own release. With a groan and a few more thrusts of his hips, he collapsed on top of me, his breath hot and heavy in my ear.

  God. Even that was enough to send tingles along my skin again, small shocks, echoes of what came before.

  He tucked his face into my hair and kissed my temple. “Holy shit, baby. We might be dead in a week.”

  His words startled a laugh from me.

  He leveraged himself over me and stared down into my face, his eyes roaming and studying e
ach of my features. He brought a hand up and pushed my heavy hair back from my face in a gesture so tender, my laughter faded, a small lump forming in my throat.

  “You okay, baby?”

  I stared at him a long moment, reveling in the warm concern he let me see, before I nodded. “I’m good.”

  He grinned. “You’re good?”

  I offered him an answering grin and did my best to give a nonchalant shrug. No easy feat when my hands remained tied over my head. “Sure. That was…nice.”

  “Nice, huh? I think you can do better than nice.” He turned his head to look toward the clock on the bedside table. “But it looks like it’s time for me to head to the studio. Maybe I should just leave you tied here to think about whether or not you can come up with a better adjective than nice for what just happened here.”

  My eyes grew wide. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Oh, baby, is that a challenge?”

  The amusement lighting his eyes let me know he was teasing, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Especially when I had visions of the housekeeper coming in and finding me here trussed up like a Christmas goose.

  “No, no. No challenges here. You’re right. It was better than nice.”

  “How much better?” he teased.

  “On a scale of biscuits and gravy to lasagna, I’d give that a chocolate mousse,” I said.

  He laughed and leaned down to snatch me into his arms again. As much as I enjoyed the feeling of his body shaking with laughter against mine, I was ready to have my hands back.

  I cleared my throat. “An appropriate reward might be, I don't know, releasing my hands." I gave my arms a meaningful tug and bugged my eyes at him.

  He stood up and came around to my side, reaching for the sash of the robe. His eyes roamed my body, starting at the top of my head and making stops at my lips, the tips of my breasts, my belly, and lower, before his gaze came back up to meet mine.

  “Damn, you're gorgeous.” His voice came out on a growl and he leaned over me and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. “Thank you for trusting me enough to let me tie you up.”

  As he spoke, he lifted his hand to my wrists and slowly worked the belt from around them. I stared up into his eyes, which remained intent on mine. Something did a slow, languorous somersault in my stomach at his words.

  I tried to tamp down my reaction. But I liked knowing he understood how much trust was involved in what we’d done. I wasn't a girl who gave up control easily.

  “You're welcome.” How I managed to get the words out through my suddenly dry throat was beyond me.

  He pressed one more, quick kiss on my lips and then stood, the robe belt falling from my hands at the same time.

  I sat up on the desk, but before I could wiggle off the surface, he'd retrieved my robe and brought it over to me. Instead of just handing it over, he put his hands on my hips to ease me off and then he held the robe open, folding me into it.

  I held the ends closed in front of me, but he moved to free the sash from the table rung and in moments had it wrapped around me and tied closed.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. I didn't know why I felt the need to whisper, except it felt like something happened between us in the last few minutes. Something about the way he acknowledged the trust I put in him caused a warm, glowy feeling to lodge somewhere near my heart. I most definitely wasn't ready to examine the feeling, but neither was I ready to break the spell we'd fallen under.

  He tucked a few wayward strands of hair behind my ear and put a hand on my belt to maneuver me closer to him.

  “I wish I didn't have to go to the studio.”

  His quiet words made me smile. And if I were being honest with myself, I'd have to admit I hoped it meant he felt whatever was going on between us, too.

  I raised my hands to rest them on his chest, bracing myself there so I could lean up and place a soft kiss against his jaw. I loved the scrape of his whiskers against my lips. “It's okay. We'll have lots of time together this week. By the end of it, you'll probably be more than ready to send me on my merry way.”

  I ignored the sharp twinge that idea caused, and tucked it into my mental file of emotions I wasn't going to examine. This week was going to be about fun and relaxing and getting my head on straight so I could go back to school and work with renewed purpose. Not so I could examine any growing feelings I might or might not have for Jared. That would be a futile proposition.

  Jared wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. “I still can't believe you agreed to come with us. I've never looked forward to going on the road this much.”

  I pressed my face into his chest, inhaling his warm, musky scent. “I should probably have my head examined. What kind of girl goes on tour with a rock band?”

  “Hey, I'll have you know lots of women would kill to be invited to go with us.”

  I laughed at his indignant tone.

  “I don't doubt it,” I said wryly. “But in case it escaped your notice, I'm not lots of women.”

  He pulled back just enough to look down at me, all traces of amusement and indignation gone. I fought the urge to hyperventilate at the intensity of his gaze.

  “Believe me, Paige, I know you're not like the rest of the women. It's why you're the only one I'd ever think of inviting along with us.”

  My heart flipped in my chest as my pulse sped up so fast it seemed I could feel the blood thrumming through my veins. Before I could formulate a response, he hugged me hard, pressed a kiss to my temple and then stepped away from me.

  “There's a key card here.” He pointed over to the top of the dresser. “You can hang out and wait for me or if you want to go get some clothes, you can come back whenever you want. I should be back in two or three hours.”

  I nodded, still trying to process his earlier words as he gave me instructions.

  He picked up his wallet and a few things from the top of the bedside table, snagged his black leather, soft-as-butter jacket, and then strode to me. He kissed me long and hard, stealing my breath.

  “That might hold me until I get back,” he said.

  And in seconds he was gone.

  I don't know how long I stood there after he left, motionless, my fingers pressed to my lips. It was only when my phone rang that I snapped out of my thoughts and the fog lifted a little.

  I ran to grab my phone when it was on the last ring. The display showed me it was Emma. Was I ready to talk to her?

  I sighed and sent the call to voicemail. I had some things I needed to do before I spoke to her.

  Chapter Seven

  An hour later, I'd dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt I'd rummaged from Jared's stuff. Even pulled as tight as I could get them, the pants hung dangerously low on my hips and pooled over my feet. And the t-shirt all but swallowed me whole. But this outfit still beat my hospital scrubs by a mile. No way I'd put them back on my clean body.

  I sat in one of the black and white striped upholstered chairs in the living room, holding my phone and staring at it as if it held the answers to all the questions in the universe.

  No such luck. With a sigh, I swiped my thumb across the front. I navigated to my email app, and with my stomach churning, I emailed my instructors to let them know I had a family emergency that would keep me out of class for the next two days and that I'd return to classes the Monday after spring break. I decided to also call the secretary at the department in case they didn't get my emails right away.

  She was so nice about my need to take the days off, I started to feel guilty about my lie. As she wished me good luck with my family situation, I was relieved that I could hang up. Two more minutes of her sweet, solicitous attitude and I'd be blurting out my plans to spend the week with a rock band and begging her forgiveness.

  As soon as I hung up, I finally listened to Emma's message. It was just a quick check in. I hadn’t seen her or Katelyn or Jade in a couple of days. Fairly normal considering we all had crazy schedules.
/>
  Since I hadn't shared with any of my best friends that I was seeing Jared, I wasn't looking forward to explaining my absence.

  I hated lying to my friends, and I couldn't explain, even to myself, my need to keep what was between us private. But for whatever reason, I felt protective of the time I spent with Jared, unwilling to share even a second of it.

  With a sigh, I dialed Emma's number.

  “Hey, I was about to send the troops out for you,” Emma said, skipping any of the customary greetings.

  I laughed. “Darn it, you mean I could have had a bunch of hot military guys showing up looking for me? I should have waited longer to call you back.”

  “Hmm, we’ll have to keep that idea in reserve.”

  I could hear her smile.

  “How are things? How's the writing? How's Nate?” I fired out the questions in rapid-fire, hoping to deflect any and all attention from me. Emma wrote a sex column and did a bunch of other freelance writing gigs. She'd also recently become involved in a hot and heavy relationship with a billionaire, emphasis on the hot. So that should be more than enough to keep the talk away from what I'd been up to.

  “Ugh, don't get me started. It's famine time for my writing. I had no queries out the last few weeks, so when I finished my last article a few days ago, I had no new work lined up. And Nate, he’s out of town and I haven't gotten so much as a text from him in two days.”

  Her voice softened when she first said Nate's name, but by the time she finished, I could easily hear the note of melancholy in her voice. “I'm sorry, Em. I'm not worried about you and work. You know you'll have more than enough to do once word gets out you have an opening.”

  And it was true. Emma's writing was in demand, and she never went long without someone looking to hire her. But I wasn’t sure how to reassure her about Nate. Not a happy feeling since I was the one who gave her the push into his arms in the first place.