Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles)

by Shawn, Melanie

  “Eric,” she gasped as she pushed her mound against his intimate strokes.

  “I love touching you.” His gravelly voice sounded like he was on the razor’s edge. “You’re so soft, so wet, so tight.”

  Her body spasmed at his words and her fingers knotted in the soft cotton bedspread, pulling it up as her arms flexed at the power of the sensations rioting through her. He expertly caressed her at the base of her feminine slit with firm touches.

  She wrapped her fingers around his bulging biceps, anchoring herself to his strength. She began shaking as she felt his muscles bunching beneath her hands while he teased and rubbed her center.

  She didn’t want to have another orgasm without him inside of her but the waves of ecstasy were already cresting.

  “Eric, I want…” she pleaded through heavy breaths, not able to complete her thought. “I need…”

  Just as her body began reaching its peak, she felt the large head of Eric’s shaft push inside of her, stretching her tight passage.

  “Yes, yes!” she cried as he pressed farther, filling her body completely. Her nails dug into his skin as her fingers gripped him tightly.

  He pulled out and immediately her body ached for the feeling of him buried deep inside of her. But before she could voice her intimate desire, he thrust back into her forcefully, sending her body spiraling into release. As she rode out the waves of her shuddering climax, he continued his strong, steady strokes, drawing out the wild heat of her mind-blowing release.

  She felt his entire body tense as he surged inside of her one last time filling her to the hilt. Her body tightened around him as a harsh groan of male satisfaction escaped from his mouth.

  Lying underneath Eric’s naked body as they remained joined together, Lily knew that, no matter how long she lived or what experiences she had, this perfect moment would forever be etched in her memory.

  Leaning down, he rested his forehead against hers as his warm and shallow breaths fanned her face. Kissing the tip of her nose and then brushing his lips against hers, he said, “Next time I am going to take my time and kiss every inch of your body. Lick you, taste you, explore you, and make love to you slowly, thoroughly. This time I just needed to take you.”

  “I thought this time was perfect,” she said as she pressed her lips to his. She felt his mouth turn into a smile and she added, “But next time sounds fun too!”

  He chuckled as he kissed her exactly how he had promised to make love to her. Licking, tasting, exploring her slowly and thoroughly. Flutters of renewed arousal began in her belly as Eric immediately made good on his promise.

  Chapter Twenty

  Wrapping her fingers around her ankles, Lily breathed in deeply, oxygenating her muscles. As she stretched as far down as she could, her nose touched her knees as she pointed her toes. Her body felt better than it ever had. Alive and energized while at the same time completely stress-free and relaxed.

  She knew for a fact that her morning yoga sessions were not the cause of her bliss-like state. Nope, that honor went to her sexy neighbor that she’d been ‘not dating’ for two weeks. At first, when she’d laid out the ground rules of taking things further between them, she’d honestly thought he was just going to get out of the hot tub and that would be that.

  But he’d agreed. Thank God! And they’d spent every free minute they’d had ‘not dating’ each other. She’d been getting the best sleep of her life. On Eric’s nights off, he and Shadow stayed over, and the nights he worked, Shadow stayed with her. She never went to bed feeling scared or uneasy.

  It was amazing.

  The only downside to the entire thing was that she hadn’t been doing a great job of keeping the fact that this was temporary in her mind. It was just like when she’d been a kid and she’d told herself not to get attached to any of the pets at her foster homes, but had her heart listened then? No. Was it listening now? No.

  The more time she spent with Eric, the more she wasn’t sure if it had to be temporary. What if she did come back here after the tour? Maybe this really was her clean slate. She could just be Lily. No past. Just future.

  “So have you decided?” Karina asked as she stretched across the room from Lily.

  Lily froze as her palms moistened with fear. Had she accidently been thinking out loud? Had she forgotten Karina was in the room?

  “Hello?” Karina waved. “Earth to Lily. Have you decided if you want to be on stage as one of the dancers?”

  “Oh!” Lily laughed in relief. “Right, umm…”

  To be honest, she hadn’t really given it much thought. She’d pretty much had tunnel vision that led right to Eric. But as she thought about it now, the thought of being up in front of all those people didn’t really freak her out or scare her at all. In fact, she thought it might be fun.

  “If not, it’s fine. We just need to set up auditions for the second girl,” Karina said supportively when Lily didn’t answer right away.

  “No, I mean, yes,” Lily stammered. “Yes, I would love to do it.”

  “Are you sure?” Karina’s brow furrowed in concern. “Because I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”

  “No, I don’t,” Lily assured her. “I want to, really.”

  “Okay!” Karina clapped her hands together, smiling happily. “Well, I will have Bernie email you the contract and make it official.”

  They stood, gathering their bags, and Lily had to ask. “So what’s the deal with your grandmother and your agent?” Lily had seen Renata and Bernie at Eric’s parents’ anniversary party and they were getting very cozy.

  “Uhh.” Karina shuddered at the question. “Well, I don’t like to think about it too much, but if you ask my grandmother, she says that Bernie is ‘courting her.’ If you ask Bernie, he says that she’s ‘his main squeeze.’”

  “Aww that’s cute,” Lily said as she shut off the lights to the room.

  “Is it?” Karina asked skeptically. “Is it really?”

  Before they stepped outside, Karina’s security detail was there, in front of them opening the doors. Since the incident a couple of weeks ago, the men that were on her security team had been a lot more visible. It really seemed to bother Karina, but Lily liked it. In fact, if she could have a security team following her around for the rest of her life, that would be just fine and dandy with her.

  Eric and Shadow popped into her head. Her lips turned up as she realized that they were like her own personal security team. She couldn’t believe that in just six weeks she would have to leave them to go on the road. And then what about when the tour was over? Could she really just come back, pack up her stuff, and drive away from them?

  “Hold please. Miss Sotelo.” Smith, the bodyguard that walked her to her car now after every rehearsal, held up his wrist to his mouth. “Unknown package on vehicle.”

  Lily tried to look around him to see what it was, but to no avail. The man was massive.

  “Copy.”

  She had no idea what Smith was “copying” because she couldn’t hear what whoever he was talking to had said in his earpiece.

  “Go ahead, Miss Sotelo. You can open it.”

  Open it?

  As Smith stepped to the side, she saw that there was an envelope stuck in her windshield wiper.

  What the hell?

  She looked up at Smith, who must have seen the panic rising in her eyes because he nodded in encouragement. “It’s okay. You can retrieve it.”

  She figured she might as well get it over with while he was here, just in case it was something to be worried about. She reached up and pulled the white paper from under her wiper.

  Her hands shook as she opened it. A movie ticket fell out into her palm. The note read:

  Meet me at Twin Falls Cinema at 7. I know that we are “not dating” so this is not a date. Just two people who happen to be going to see the same move together.

  E

  “Told you,” Smith said as a smirk crossed his lips.

  Excitement rose insid
e of her as she hopped in her Jeep, waving goodbye to Smith as she mentally scrolled through her clean clothes so she could pick the perfect outfit to wear for her and Eric’s ‘not date.’

  ---~---

  Hands behind his back, feet shoulder-width apart, Eric stood, waiting to see if Lily would actually come and see the movie with him. He knew he’d been pushing it when he left the ticket on her car. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want this to be a “real” relationship.

  But it was, whether she wanted to classify it as one or not.

  Which was the main reason he had a knot in his gut that, no matter what he did, just was not unraveling. The second he’d walked in the station today after dropping off the ticket on Lily’s jeep, he’d been handed her background check. Unfortunately his guys hadn’t been able to come up with much more than Judge Pattinson’s had.

  Part of Eric just wanted to go straight to Lily and ask her. But he knew that if he did that it would be like flicking a card at the bottom of a card house—which Nikki used to do all the time when he was a kid! In the blink of an eye, the entire structure would collapse.

  He had to admit that it did bother him that he still didn’t know anything about Lily’s past. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. A few nights ago she had told him that her mom had passed away when she was three and that she never knew her dad. But that was it.

  When he’d asked her if she’d gone to live with an aunt or an uncle, she’d just shrugged and shook her head. After that, she’d told him goodnight, rolled over, and gone to sleep.

  She hadn’t shared anything else with him since, and he’d been too afraid to ask any follow-up questions. Talking to Lily about her past was like walking in an emotional minefield. One misstep and it was all over.

  So, this afternoon he’d gone ahead and put in a call to his college roommate, who now worked for the FBI. He’d asked Sully to keep it quiet and said that it was personal, not on the books. He knew he would. But Eric still felt like he’d gone behind her back.

  He knew if he didn’t find out the information then Judge Pattinson would. The man still had some serious connections. Calling in a favor seemed like the only option. Eric hadn’t felt like he’d had another choice since she didn’t like to talk about herself, especially her past.

  Not that he hadn’t gotten to know her. He had. And not just the things anyone could know about her from simple observation, like that she was gorgeous, funny, smart, and caring. Which he did know.

  But he also knew that she rubbed her feet together as she fell asleep and she was really trying to eat healthy but had a hard time staying on the ‘no-caffeine wagon.’ He knew that she loved movies and would mouth the words along with the characters if she’d seen the movie before. Even if it was freezing, she wanted ice cream, she always cooked barefoot, and she hummed when she was happy.

  He knew that she liked it when he brushed his mouth against hers while he said all the things he wanted to do to her body. That she liked it when he kissed her just above her pelvic bone while his hands massaged her thighs. That her hands shook when she came and then she always wanted to lie perfectly still, with him still buried deep inside of her for several minutes while she recovered from her orgasm.

  He knew all that but he had no idea where she went to high school.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket. As he pulled it out, he wondered if it might be Lily saying that she wasn’t going to be meeting him. A quick glance at the number told him his suspicion was not correct.

  “Maguire,” he barked.

  “Hey, Chief. Myers and Wilson are both out with the flu tonight. Do you want me to call in Simms?” Officer Larkin spoke quickly, sounding nervous. He must have been the one to draw the short straw, forced to make this call.

  Eric exhaled loudly through his nose, bringing his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and squeezing. He couldn’t believe the hours he’d been keeping to avoid overtime. He now held the only salaried position on the force. If he didn’t pick up the slack then they would be over budget, which was not something he wanted to happen on his watch—especially so soon after having been appointed Chief.

  But on the other hand, he was tired. He’d basically been surviving over the last month on three- to four-hour naps between shifts. And since he and Lily had started ‘not dating,’ it had been even less.

  Did he want Larkin to call in Simms? Hell yes. Did they have that kind of overtime in their budget? Hell no.

  “I’ll be in at ten,” he answered sharply.

  Shit.

  As he disconnected the call, he saw that it was 7:01 p.m. Instead of being disappointed that Lily hadn’t shown up, he was actually relieved. If he left now, they could spend the three hours he had before he had to be back at the station ‘not dating’ in bed.

  With a smile on his face, he quickly moved towards the parking lot. He’d just unlocked his SUV when he noticed Lily’s red Jeep pull in. She parked several spaces down, and he watched her as she checked her makeup and hair in the mirror before taking several deep breaths and exiting her vehicle.

  Watching her, he couldn’t help but smile. She was adorably sexy and well…just…amazing. And she had absolutely no idea. Eric hoped that in whatever time he was lucky enough to get to spend with her he could show her just how incredible she was.

  “Hi,” she said tentatively as he walked to meet her.

  “You are so beautiful,” Eric breathed. He knew that that wasn’t the most traditional greeting but he just couldn’t help himself. Every time he saw Lily he was struck again by her breathtaking beauty. He wanted to take her home, strip her out of her black skinny jeans and beige sweater, and show her just how beautiful she was.

  “I bet you say that to all your friends you happen to be seeing movies with,” she teased.

  Right, the movie.

  Damn, why had he thought a movie would be a fun time?

  ---~---

  Best. Not Date. Ever.

  Lily could not control her facial muscles, which kept pulling into a smile as she bumped up over the curb and pulled into her driveway. Her fingers twisted the key, turning off the engine, and she involuntarily let out a little squeal of delight. She was so glad she’d met Eric at the movies because she didn’t think that even if he was in the car she would have been able to disguise her overwhelming happiness.

  She knew that for most girls a simple movie would probably not top their list as the most romantic date activity. But to her, it was just that. All the years she’d spent in movie theaters trying to block out her life, her reality, she’d never thought that one day her life and her reality would actually be better than what she saw playing out before her on the big screen.

  Eric hadn’t stopped touching her the entire time they were seated in the dark, cool auditorium. Even now she felt the lingering effects from his touch. Her legs tingled the entire path his large hands and skilled fingers had worn as he intimately massaged her thigh, each pass moving higher and higher up her leg until he would almost reach her center. Then he would start back at her knee again.

  Her neck still tickled from the several times he had leaned down and whispered something in her ear during the movie; sometimes it had to do with the action that was taking place on screen and sometimes it had to do with the action that was taking place off screen.

  She’d barely been able to sit through the whole movie.

  Never before in her life had she wanted a movie to end. It didn’t matter if it was boring. Or if the acting was so bad that she cringed. Even if the plot had more holes than Swiss cheese, she always felt the same twinge of disappointment when the credits rolled.

  Until now.

  Tonight she hadn’t been able to wait for that sucker to end. Not because it had been a bad movie. Far from it. She’d just wanted it to be over so she could get back to her life. The one that was so much better than the movie.

  Just as she reached for the handle of her Jeep, her door flew open and Eric reached in, picking her up and
throwing her over his shoulder. She found herself once again squealing in delight.

  “I got called into work,” he said as he stalked towards her front door.

  Disappointment tamped down some of the thrilling high she’d just been feeling.

  “But I have an hour and I plan on making the most of it,” he promised as he used his key to unlock her door.

  Annnnnd the thrilling high was back.

  After hearing the door slam shut, she felt her body sliding down Eric’s rock-hard chest as he lowered her to the ground. Placing one hand on her hip and threading his fingers though her hair with his other, he lowered his head, gently brushing his lips against hers.

  Feeling a rush of urgency wash over her, she whispered, “We can go to my room.”

  His voice was rough with desire as he backed her up until she felt the cool solidness of ‘their’ wall behind her. “I’ve missed this wall.”

  She exhaled in a small, anxious sigh.

  His full lips softly grazed hers as he spoke. “I like this wall. I never got to do all the things I wanted to do to you up against this wall. And I only have an hour. If I take you to bed, I won’t get back out of it tonight.”

  She swallowed a groan as his mouth crushed hers in a smoldering kiss. Fevered with desire, she reached up, wrapping her hands around his strong neck. As her fingers tangled in the soft hair at the base of his neck, she knotted her hands, tugging back so she could kiss him harder. Deeper.

  A guttural moan vibrated from deep in his chest as he picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist. Though the soft jean material she wore, she could feel his rock-hard member pressing firmly against her center, causing her inner walls to pulse with need. Her hips rocked against his length, trying desperately to find release.

  Wanting to feel his skin, she released her hands from his neck and pulled his long-sleeved shirt up, tugging firmly. Not able to get the garment off on her first attempt, she moaned in frustration. She broke their kiss for only a moment as he removed his shirt. Then a sinful smile broke out on his face as he peeled her out of her sweater.