Elkin Brothers Christmas: The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  He slowed the kiss, his hands running over her hair and her neck. “We don’t have to,” he said against her mouth.

  It made her feel fragile in a way that she hadn’t ever allowed herself to feel. Not since childhood. Not for a long, long time. “I want to,” she whispered back.

  He lifted her off the couch and took her to the bedroom, where he lingered over the undressing process. Gabe slowly pulled her dress over her head and inched her tights down her legs. He traced the lace on her bra, tugged the straps down her shoulders one by one, and then unclipped it with infinite patience. He drew his fingers across the matching pattern on her panties before taking them off, eyes shining like he was unwrapping a Christmas present.

  Gabe bent his head and kissed her an inch below her belly button. Anna was so ready for him that she arched upward, getting caught up in another demanding kiss. He kept kissing her in between his efforts to undo his pants, rid himself of his shirt, and roll on a condom. Then he was nudging between her legs. Oh, she wanted more of that. He let out a low groan at the way she tilted her hips up, begging with her body, and pushed inside.

  It felt like coming home.

  All the air went out of her lungs and flooded back in with a hundred times the oxygen, making everything seem bright and fresh. Gabe filled her in all the ways she needed. He drove out everything but him, and when he moved into a slow, patient rhythm, it was like being rocked by the ocean. Inevitable and sexy and so much bigger than she was. Bigger than her past, bigger than the future—the moment surrounded her.

  Something broke within her as desire wound tighter and tighter at her core. A slow progression that nearly drove her crazy with how deliberate he was. Gabe was completely focused on her—a master in control who constantly adjusted so that her clit got maximum attention. Tears slipped out from the corners of her eyes.

  This was the closest they’d ever been.

  She’d thought it had been earlier when they’d made the bed a tangle of sheets and shut the world out with pure physical frenzy. But this was different. There was no looking away from Gabe. No feeling anything but him.

  And he saw her.

  His eyes raked over her again and again. “Yes,” he murmured. “That’s it.” Anna knew he’d been watching her so intently that he knew, he knew, that the pleasure had built to a peak and was about to crest.

  Her orgasm tumbled over her in a tidal wave of sensation. Gabe kept moving, and before she’d even come down from the high, another one was building. Anna dug her nails into his shoulders, and only then did he pick up the pace. Only then did his expression shift, becoming fiercer and almost elemental somehow.

  Her second orgasm came quicker, like it was moving at a dead sprint, and Gabe tensed above her, driving in deep. Deeper. She could hardly breathe and didn’t want to. She just wanted him. She wanted more of him, until her shuddering finally stopped, and he dropped his head onto her shoulder.

  She wasn’t sure how much longer it was when they lay back against the pillows and pulled up the blanket. Delicious tiredness enveloped her along with Gabe’s arm. She could drift off right now if it weren’t for one thought.

  Borrowed time.

  This moment with him, in bed, his warm, hard body next to hers—it was all on borrowed time. It was easy enough for him to say that Anna didn’t have to be ashamed of her past and that Freddie had been wrong, but that didn’t mean his family would ever agree. And Gabe seemed to dance along the edges of communication with them. He didn’t want to let them in, just like she hadn’t wanted to let him in on this, either.

  Stay with me, she wanted to say, breaking apart the agreement they’d made and putting it out there that she wanted more from him. But what would the outcome be? If he had the choice between a relationship with her and maintaining a relationship with his family, he might choose them. Gabe had admitted he didn’t fit in and admitted he’d had to buck their pressure to start his own career, but the pull of family was strong. A man couldn’t stand up to it forever.

  She wouldn’t risk it now.

  Gabe’s breathing evened out. Too late, anyway. Besides, with her muscles so tired and pleasure still clinging to her veins, it was difficult to stay awake.

  15

  The knock at the door of the suite the next morning startled Anna awake. She threw back the covers on instinct, but Gabe’s arm was still around her, holding her close. She let out a little groan that was half excitement and half disappointment that someone wanted their attention. Anna blinked a few times. She couldn’t answer the door naked, that was for sure. She rubbed a hand up and down Gabe’s arm, coaxing him awake. Goosebumps rose on his skin at her touch.

  The knock sounded again.

  “There’s somebody at the door,” she whispered, feeling suddenly like they’d been caught doing something illicit. It was a thrill, in a way—her heart raced, and adrenaline rushed in, making her breath come quickly. That was the fun kind of thrill. They were supposed to be doing this. Gabe’s phone buzzed on the bedside table. Another knock.

  Gabe sat up next to her, his face red from the pillow where he slept. He made a small noise of protest as he registered her words. “Who’s here?”

  “Your brother?”

  Irritation flashed across his face, and then he was out of bed, grabbing for his pajama bottoms.

  Anna admired how they displayed his body to utter perfection, forgetting she needed to get dressed as well. She only started moving when Gabe pulled his shirt over his head and went for the door. Ooh, he looked good.

  Anna would much rather think about how good he looked than the fact that she’d hadn’t been entirely honest with him last night. Everything she said was true, but she had left things out.

  That didn’t matter now. Anna moved down the hall to listen. “What’s going on?”

  “There’s a storm,” she heard Chase say, his voice muffled by the space between the bedroom and the door. “We’re short-handed because some of our staff got stuck at home, and we’ve got people who showed up just before the storm hit.”

  “Okay?” Gabe sounded confused and still sleepy. Anna slowed down the pace of getting dressed. Maybe he’d come back to bed. That would be the ideal situation. Gabe back in bed, and the rest of the world far away. She hadn’t heard anything about a storm coming to the area, either. How bad could it be?

  “The booking system’s also down. And nobody knows how to fix it. Except you.”

  Okay, so they weren’t going back to bed.

  “We’ll be there in twenty minutes. Just let us get dressed.”

  “Get dressed? What have you been doing in here? You weren’t sleeping, were you...” Gabe shut the door, cutting off Chase’s joke. His footsteps came quickly back to the bedroom.

  Gabe’s eyes were filled with a determined light when he came back into the room. “It’s all hands on deck downstairs. Jump in the shower—we’ve got to get ready.”

  Just over twenty minutes later, they descended into the lobby.

  “Chase really undersold this,” Anna said, taking Gabe’s hand. “I thought he meant a couple of families.” There were at least thirty people in the lobby, all milling around at the front desk while the staff clicked at their computers. A general grumbling filled the space, none of the guests happy with the delay.

  The mood in the air was familiar to her—and not a welcome one. It was the mood of a group of people who were inconvenienced, and they were not going to be happy unless something was done. Right now.

  “Jonas is up there,” Gabe said, pointing out his brother at the reception desk. “But he looks like he’s in over his head.”

  They made a beeline for the desk. If Anna knew anything about people with reservations and commitments, it was that the unhappiest of them would look for anyone to unload on.

  “Jonas,” she said, moving to stand next to him. “Let me help.”

  He looked at her, eyebrows raised, and it seemed as though he was on the verge of saying no. At that moment, the volume in
the room rose a notch.

  “Trust me.” She put on her most professional, welcoming smile. “I know what to do.”

  “Go ahead.” Jonas ceded her some space, and Anna went out in front of the counter and waved her arms, aiming for silence. The guests quieted down, silence spreading like a ripple in a pond outward from her.

  “Welcome to the Elk Lodge,” she began, keeping her smile in place, but an empathetic look in her eyes. At least—that’s how she hoped she looked. “We’re so glad you arrived safely, despite the storm outside. Unfortunately, we’re experiencing some technical difficulties that are making our check-in process frustrating. We have a person here to fix the system, and it should be up and running shortly. In the meantime, we’d like to invite you all to the hotel’s restaurant for a complimentary breakfast.”

  “Where are we supposed to keep our things?” someone fretted from the front of the crowd.

  Anna waved one of the reception staff members forward. “We’ll watch over any luggage you’d like to leave here while you have some breakfast. It will be looked after the entire time you’re eating until the last piece is picked up. If you’ll all follow me, I’ll lead the way.”

  She held her breath but tried not to let it show.

  Then the first members of the crowd came toward her, and the rest followed.

  Anna got everyone settled in the restaurant, which was open for breakfast but not expecting a crowd of that size. She made quick friends with the hostess, and once everyone was seated, Anna went around to each table to speak with the guests personally.

  Yes, a very sudden storm, she repeated so many times she lost count. Completely unexpected glitches with the system. We’re working hard on it right now. No, of course there won’t be any problem with your reservation.

  By the time she’d made the rounds, it had been almost forty-five minutes.

  She found Gabe and his brothers, along with Elin, in a large office behind the front desk. Gabe tapped quickly at a computer, windows popping up and closing again faster than she could keep track. Elin came up to her and took her hands. “Thank you for your quick thinking,” she said with a tired smile that squeezed at Anna’s heart. “I should have offered breakfast right away, but my nerves got the better of me.”

  “It was nothing,” she assured the older woman. “This is what I do for a job. It’s second nature to me.”

  Elin’s eyes glistened with tears. “I’m so glad Gabe has someone like you.” Another flicker of guilt. If Elin only knew. “Gabe,” she said, louder. “This woman is a walking miracle. I hope you know that.”

  “I do,” Gabe said, stopping what he was doing for a moment to look up. Too bad the expression on his face didn’t match his words.

  Anna went to his side and put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the engagement ring’s weight on her finger. It felt heavy, but it was still fake. It didn’t really mean anything, no matter how wonderful Elin thought she was. “Is everything okay?”

  “The booking system is a mess. I don’t know why Jonas didn’t upgrade years ago.” He let out a short breath. “But it’s no problem—you’re the star of the show here. Great job with crowd control. If you keep it up, nobody will even remember this happened.”

  You’re the star of the show. Anna stood stock still. He was obviously frustrated. Why?

  Jealousy.

  Anna knew Gabe didn’t need accolades from his family. Was he jealous of the way Elin had accepted her just now, and for the way she’d found a place for herself when he thought he didn’t have one? How could he still be hung up on this? They’d talked about it, and she’d agreed to be the best fiancée he could hope for. That meant impressing his family. That meant stepping in during an emergency like this one.

  “I’ll stay out of your way,” she said, trying not to let the pain echo in her voice. She started to move away, but he grabbed her hand in midair and pulled it to his lips, pressing a kiss against her skin.

  “I meant it,” Gabe said, his voice low and urgent. “You’re doing a great job.”

  Some of her irritation dissolved. This was all becoming more complicated than she’d counted on. Anna leaned down and kissed him on the lips, which earned them a whistle from Chase.

  Jonas came over then, and she left to chat with Elin about the storm.

  “I knew there were bookings for the weekend, obviously, but I didn’t think they’d all show up early to beat the storm.” Elin shook her head. “I should know better after all these years.”

  “It sounded like the storm took a surprise turn—wasn’t it supposed to hit south of us?”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  This was the kind of conversation that Anna craved—simple and without any hidden meanings. They were just discussing the weather. Was that what other families could count on? She could be totally sure it wouldn’t turn into a commentary on her father’s failings or a diatribe about the men her mother brought home or any of that. Longing hit hard.

  If she were really Gabe’s fiancée, she could put up with the high standards and the little tiffs between brothers if it meant being part of this family.

  “Almost done, Gabe?” Jonas brushed by, putting a hand on Anna’s arm to step around her. “People will be done eating soon. We can’t keep them waiting.”

  “I am almost done,” Gabe answered, not looking up from the screen. “But I wouldn’t have had to do this if you used better software. All this could have been avoided.”

  “If you were working at the resort, you could have designed software specifically for us.”

  “You couldn’t afford me,” Gabe shot back.

  Tana appeared at her side. “Let’s leave them to it. Don’t you think?”

  Anna was about to say yes. The front desk staff would be able to run reservations in a few minutes. It would be nice to unwind with tea or coffee or any number of things, especially with her new friend. There were lots of options at the Elk Lodge.

  A voice rang out in the lobby—angry and loud. It was a blustery tone that sent a twist of anxiety through Anna’s gut.

  “Uh oh,” Tana said, shaking her head.

  Elin closed her eyes, trying to shut the sound out.

  “I’ve got it,” Anna said. “I’ll let them know about breakfast. With the snow coming down the way it is, we shouldn’t have to worry about any more arrivals.”

  Anna straightened her shoulders and calmed her mind. That spike of anxiety had been nothing but residual adrenaline, she decided. One more set of guests on edge wouldn’t do her in. But as she prepared to step back out into the reception area, the noise got louder. This wasn’t just one angry guy—he’d come with quite a few guests, by the sounds of it.

  Waiting wouldn’t make it any better.

  Welcome to the Elk Lodge, she thought. Hopefully, from there on out, the conversation would be fine.

  Three steps and she was back to the reception desk. “Welcome to the Elk Lodge,” Anna said, but then all the words she’d planned to say fled from her mind.

  She’d prepared herself for an angry man. She’d prepared herself for a moderately large group. But she hadn’t prepared herself for Freddie, her ex-boyfriend, his parents, some people she didn’t recognize, and a woman clinging to his arm—his new girlfriend.

  Freddie’s lip curled with disgust. “I can’t believe this. What are you doing here?”

  16

  “This really would all be better if you were here,” Jonas said, leaning on the desk where Gabe was still working on fixing the system. “Haven’t you ever considered it? Would you consider it now?” Jonas wouldn’t stop needling him about working at the Elk Lodge.

  “No. And no, I’m not considering it now.” Gabe put the final keystrokes into the program and set the reservation system back to rights. It would at least function well enough to get them through the day, giving Jonas time to decide what he wanted to do about the software. Gabe would be back home by the time that was all said and done. “And I wish you’d stop—”


  “You can’t afford to be here. Why would anyone even let you onto the grounds?” A loud, male voice coming from the direction of the reception desk interrupted their conversation.

  Gabe got up out of his seat before he could process what he’d heard and rushed out to the reception area, close on Jonas’s heels. What he hadn’t expected was to find Anna the object of the man’s attention. She stood behind the desk with another one of the reception staff members next to her. But it was Anna’s demeanor that caught and held his gaze. Lost and terrified were the two words that came to mind.

  “Who is this woman?” The man shouting at Anna had a woman on his arm, her fingers locked tight around his bicep, her face drawn up into an expression of disgust.

  A jolt of anger shot down Gabe’s spine.

  “She’s an ex.” The man rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about her. I’m just not thrilled to see someone working here who doesn’t belong. Given her family’s business, she probably got a job here so she can siphon money from the resort.”

  “That’s not true,” Gabe said, glancing around to address his family. He turned his attention back to the man. “You’re speaking about my fiancée,” Gabe said, stepping up to Anna’s side. “That’s why she’s here at our family-owned resort. Is there something we can help you with?”

  “It’s Freddie,” Anna whispered, and Gabe’s heart broke for her. The ex who hadn’t thought she was good enough. This was supposed to be a holiday getaway with nothing but snow and family dinners and charm, not a chance for some jerk to confront her at the Elk Lodge.

  Freddie’s mouth had dropped open, and furious red splotches blotted his cheeks. His eyes swung wildly between Anna and Gabe. He took a step back as if to take in the entire scene again and make sure he was in the right place. “How the hell are you engaged? I just dumped you a month ago.”