“Thank you.” And the rest? She sat back quickly, catching his gaze again. “And you’ll be there?”
“As long as you want me.”
Wasn’t that a loaded question? She shifted, straddling him to be able to reach his lips easier. “I want you. I want you now.”
She wanted to be held and caressed. Distracted from the heavy burden in her brain. He kissed her with just the right touch of compassion and rising lust, and her body softened. Warmed in all the right spots. He ran his fingers down her back, and she arched against him, breasts growing heavy with anticipation.
He kissed her jaw, held her firmly, yet tenderly. A wave of need swept past, followed by guilt. She’d been turned on back at the climbing wall as well, and that had nothing to do with Derrick.
She pulled away. “Oh damn.”
A low rumble of discontent escaped his throat as he paused. “What?”
“Oh damn, I need to tell you…” Sure, how was she supposed to say this? Mortification hit hard, and the heat flushing her face was more from shame than the expectation of Derrick’s lovemaking.
She didn’t realize she’d dipped her head until his fingers under her chin brought her gaze back to meet his. “Mel? What? Is this something to do with me watching the shoot? Is that going to embarrass you—?”
“Oh hell, no. I’m just trying to tell you…” She’d sworn to be honest in her relationships, and she wasn’t the type to let a situation start that could cause them trouble down the road. “I need to tell you about Nathan and me.”
One brow snuck upward, his expression highly amused. “You mean the fact he wants to get in your pants, or the fact he turns you on?”
Her jaw must have hung open for a full minute before she found her voice. “You’re kidding. You figured that out how?”
Derrick grinned. “Sweetheart, I’m not stupid. I know a guy putting on the moves when I see it. And your response? You have this little habit of flushing right here—” He dragged a finger down her throat and over her chest. “When you get excited, it shows.”
She was so embarrassed. “I had a crush on Nathan from the time I was about thirteen. I followed him around Katy’s and his house one entire summer. He must have been so freaked at having a teenager dogging his heels.”
Derrick stroked her back, smooth and even. Tantalizing circles that pulled her a tiny bit closer to him on each rotation. “And did you do anything about that attraction?”
“I was fifteen, he was like twenty. Of course not.”
“So, you’ve got the object of your teenage crush hanging around.” Derrick linked his fingers with hers. “Mel, I’ve been enjoying our time together, a lot. I don’t think the fact the guy turns you on is bad, it proves you’re human. Call me crazy, but the fact he’s attracted to you is okay with me as well. Maybe that’s a guy thing—I’ve got you, he doesn’t. You know, caveman attitude.”
Melanie laughed softly. Sexy, kind and understanding. She’d have to have her head examined to give this up. “You are who I want to be with. Not him.”
His grin lit the room. “Then I don’t mind if he gets your motor running, as long as I’m the one in your bed.”
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
Melanie grabbed him by the shirt and clung to him as their lips meshed. A gentle caress of mouths, with no teeth, no frantic moving to the next stage. Almost as if they were exploring each other for the first time.
It was an offering, a sacrifice. Something to affirm that while having Nathan show up created a new situation between them, the foundation they had built was solid and worthwhile.
Derrick rolled her under him on the couch, working his way down her body. Removing her clothes, kissing all the tender spots he’d discovered over the past months. His fascination with her breasts made her smile.
“I still can’t believe you like them that much.”
Derrick hummed happily. His palms forced her nipples upward so he could more easily suckle one, then the other. “More than a mouthful is too much.”
She laughed. “Barely a mouthful. Oh, that’s good.” She held on to his head, keeping him close. His lips surrounded one tip, his fingers pinching and drawing the other nipple tight and ready for his hot mouth to lick. Circles followed by long, slow licks. A shiver raced along her spine and she pressed harder to his lips, looking for a little more.
The soft fabric cradled her torso as he tugged her toward the end of the couch. She laughed as he pulled her yoga pants from her in one smooth practiced move. Somehow he caught her panties at the same time, and she lay sprawled totally naked before him.
He stared at her, his gaze intent, hunger on his face. “I know why Nathan wants you.”
She hesitated. Why was he bringing up Nate?
Derrick rose to his feet, looming tall and muscular over her. He still wore all his clothes, and she realized with a start she wasn’t embarrassed in the least to be completely naked before him.
“You have no idea how beautiful you are.” He rasped out the words—lusty and low.
“Right.”
He squatted beside her, shaking his head slightly as he drew a finger down her body. “Your body is powerful. Slim in the right spots, curved perfectly in others.”
His palm cupped her hip for a second before slipping back to cradle her ass.
The expression on his face, even more than his words, stroked her. “I’m glad you like how I look.”
He grinned wickedly. “And the way you smell.”
“Oh my God.” He had picked up her legs and draped them over his shoulders, and her sex clenched. Wanting something to grasp, to fill her. She didn’t have long to wait. Maintaining eye contact, he lowered his head and breathed in deeply.
“The way you taste.”
Priceless
Lena Matthews
All she wants for Christmas is him. All he wants is everything…for her.
Urban Fairytales, Book 3
As Christmas bears down on Eric Athers’s empty wallet, one question plagues him: What to get the love of his life when he has less than nothing?
It doesn’t help that his wife, Nia, who works extra shifts to support him through his medical residency, practically glows with holiday spirit. Her determination to put the “Merry” in Merry Christmas only serves as a painful reminder of everything he’s unable to provide for her.
Nia loves her husband to distraction, and she can’t for the life of her figure out how someone so smart can be so dumb when it comes to something as simple as a little holiday. Christmas is so much more than presents and shopping malls.
All she has to do is show her own personal Scrooge that the best gifts come from the heart.
Warning: This story is guaranteed to melt your snowman.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Priceless
Copyright © 2011 by Lena Matthews
ISBN: 978-1-60928-576-0
Edited by Sasha Knight
Cover by Scott Carpenter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: November 2011
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Epilogue
About the Author
Look for these titles by Lena Matthews
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Copyright Page
Priceless: Urban Fairytales, Book 3 Page 13