by CP Smith
“It’s Christmas soon,” she whispered. “I’d forgotten. I’d meant to put a tree up today.”
“I noticed you hadn’t decorated.”
“I didn’t see the need with Gregg out of town, but I wanted a small pine tree for my parents’ ornaments.”
Luke stepped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “How long have your parents been gone?”
“Mom died six years ago from breast cancer,” she answered, brushing snow from a lower branch. “Dad followed her four years later from a stroke. This was going to be my first Christmas in Tulsa since he died.”
He could hear the longing in her voice. The wanting of a past that was no longer there, along with the uncertainty about her future.
“Let’s get our bags and get you settled,” he mumbled, a plan forming in his mind, then he kissed the top of her head and led her to his SUV.
I sat numbly on the bed, trying to erase the image of Gregg’s body convulsing with shock, and brushed the tangles from my wet hair. Then my mind wandered to Darryl and his irrational behavior, and I shuddered. I’d never seen him that angry.
I’d taken a shower to try and relax from the trauma of the day, and when I emerged from the bathroom, Luke was gone. I should have been nervous about sharing a room with him, but I was too keyed up with worry to care. Which was good, because in my haste to get on the road, I’d packed my mother’s flannel PJs. If Luke had harbored any thoughts of us sleeping together, my PJs would stop him cold in his tracks.
My brows creased with the thought. How could I even think about sex, when my brother lay fighting for his life a few hundred yards away?
“And I called him a deviant,” I mumbled to the quiet room.
Grabbing the remote, I turned on the TV. It was set on a local news channel. The station had decided to leave up a Santa Sighting app to alert children in the Springfield area. According to the app, Santa was within a few hundred miles and closing fast.
I smiled, thinking back to my own childhood and the way Gregg and I had tried to stay awake for the jolly old elf. We never caught him in the act, of course, but the memories of a better time eased my anxiety. For the first time since Darryl had called with the news, I felt a sense of certainty that Gregg and I would spend dozens more Christmases together.
The air was cool inside the room, so I got up and pulled on my father’s sweater. I heard the door click open, but I didn’t turn around right away. Instead, I kneeled on the floor to reach a slipper that had managed to find its way under the bed.
“You were gone a long time,” I said as I rose and turned to face Luke. Then I gasped. He was standing in the doorway holding a small pine tree that still had snow clinging to some of its branches, staring at me like he’d figured out the meaning of life.
“You bought a tree?” I asked stupidly, my heart beating rapidly at his thoughtful gesture.
He moved into the room carrying a bag from Walgreens, then set the tree against the wall. “I couldn’t find a live tree this time of night. Luckily, I always carry tools, so I cut one of the smaller trees down from the parking lot.”
I blinked. “You cut down one of the hospital’s trees?”
“You wanted a tree, I got you a tree,” he stated with a shrug.
I looked at the bag, and he raised it. “I bought a couple of ornaments for your parents and brother.”
My nose began to tingle, tears fighting their way to the surface. “You cut down a tree and bought ornaments for my family?”
“Yeah,” he answered hesitantly, his eyes hooded with caution. “Is that a problem?”
Warmth and something I couldn’t put a name to—except extreme wanting—rushed through my body. Here was a man who had lost so much, yet he was still so full of kindness. My heart swelled to the brim, beating fiercely in my chest. I knew at that moment, I wanted him in a way I’d never wanted another man. So I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, then found his mouth. Startle by my bold move, he dropped the bag, then pulled me hard against his body, opening his mouth to mine. Then he kissed me until my mind blanked and all I sensed was his warm mouth and hot, hard body.
I shoved his jacket off his shoulders, then began to pull his flannel shirt from his jeans so I could run my tongue along his hard lines and plains, but he covered my hands with his and stopped me.
“Not like this,” he breathed out harshly, leaning his forehead against mine. “I don’t want you giving yourself to me while you’re upset, then regretting it later.”
“I won’t regret my decision,” I told him, then buried my face in his neck and touched my tongue to his salty skin. He sucked air sharply into his lungs as I nibbled my way to his earlobe.
“Jesus,” he groaned before grabbing my ass and lifting me from the floor. Then he took the three steps to the bed and fell, twisting as we went so I landed on top of him. “Tell me something,” he whispered into my ear, peeling my father’s sweater up my arms, then twisting it so my hands were trapped. “Do you shop at Trader Joe’s often?” His mouth was twitching as he watched for my reaction.
Busted.
“Um,” I murmured.
He rolled me to my back and pinned my arms above my head, leaving the sweater in place so I couldn’t use my hands. “You followed me through the store, didn’t you?”
I rolled my lips between my teeth. I was positive he hadn’t noticed me in the store. “You weren’t supposed to recognize me.”
He grinned. “I didn’t until tonight, but you crawled away from me on your hands and knees, leaving me with a specific view. I would remember that ass anywhere, baby.”
I blinked. “You were watching my ass when I crawled away?”
His mouth twitched. “No, I was wondering who’d be caught dead in that sweater. But I didn’t recognize it until you were on your knees just now, so I’m assuming it was your ass that caught my attention, not the sweater. It’s a great ass, by the way,” he said smoothly, then nipped my lips before burying his face in my neck. “I think we should get some sleep. The sun will be up in no time.”
He was trying to distract me. Thought I needed more time to decide if I wanted to sleep with him. Most men would have taken the advantage I’d given Luke, but even though I could feel his hardness pressing against my stomach, he was still giving me time to change my mind.
My mother used to say there were two types of men in this world. Real men, and boys with hair on their upper lip. The second type clings to their women, wanting to be mothered and taken care of. Basically have their asses wiped for them. Real men, she said, put their women and children first. They are the hunters among men. The alphas who stand between you and the rest of the world because their whole focus, their whole reason for being, is you.
Luke, not that I’d had any doubts before, was a real man. And his effort to protect me was futile. I wanted him more than ever for the very reason he held me now at arm’s length.
Wrenching my hands from where they were pinned, I threw the sweater to the floor, grabbed his face, and then pulled his mouth back to mine.
“I need you inside me,” I begged against his mouth. “I know what I’m doing. I promise. I just need to feel alive for once instead of alone and scared. Please, Luke. Please make me feel alive.”
Luke’s eyes blazed instantly, then he captured my lips in a deep kiss that curled my toes, as raw desire ignited.
My hands moved to his shirt and began to unbutton it, desperate to feel his skin. Moments later, his bare chest was all I could see, and I ran my hands down the taut flesh covering hard steel.
Luke hissed at my touch as if I’d burned him, then kissed me deeper, his tongue fighting for dominance with mine as he pushed my top up to run feather-light touches up my side.
I needed to feel his skin on mine, but my flannel PJs were in the way. Our thoughts seemed to be in sync, though, because Luke grabbed the hem of my top and pulled it up until my breasts were on display. Then he lowered his mouth to my nipple, sucking
deeply until my blood rushed to the surface, sensitizing it further as it seared hotly in response.
Like a switch had been flipped, my body reacted and a dull ache began to pulse between my legs as a whimper of need spilled from my lips.
Lifting my hips, searching for friction to ease the building need, I writhed on the bed as his hot mouth moved to my other breast and attacked my neglected nipple.
Luke breathed, “Shhh,” against my breast as I squirmed uncontrollably, then my bottoms were gone and his mouth was on me. Sweet torture assaulted me as his tongue danced across my heat, pushing me closer to release.
My hands tangled in his hair as he flicked his tongue against my swollen flesh. Need burning hotter with each caress. I would explode soon if he didn’t give me what I wanted; filling me until I felt whole.
“Luke, please,” I begged.
With a growl, he stripped off the rest of his clothes, centered himself against my core, and then surged forward until he was sheathed fully. Then he moved, and I thought I would die from the sheer bliss of it.
Ten
Luke knew when he kissed Anna the first time that she held back a passionate nature. But he wasn’t prepared for how much she would bring out his own. Her husky voice set fire to him in a way he’d never experienced. Just the touch of her hand on his skin sent shivers rolling through his body.
Her silken heat clamped around him greedily as he tried to pace himself. He wanted to bring her to climax with him, but she was making it fucking hard the way she mewled low in her throat with each thrust.
Rolling to his back, he braced her legs on each side of his hips, then drove up until they found a rhythm that was nothing short of heaven.
Her breath hitched with the deep thrust, and she threw her head back, then cupped her breasts in an offering no man could ignore. He knifed up until he had a pebbled nipple back in his mouth, and then sucked deep as she rode him. She unleashed on him as he drew on her nipple, bucking hard against his cock repeatedly.
Frustration seemed to spill from her as she rocked slower against him, whimpering as she tried to reach for her climax, so he reached up and grabbed her shoulders, anchoring her in place.
She was too keyed up from the long day to let go.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
Her head came down, and he pinned her in place with his eyes. She licked her bottom lip, panting from exhaustion, and his cock hardened further at the thought of that pink tongue wrapped around it.
He grabbed her hand and brought it to their connection, wrapping her fingers around his cock as he found her clit with his thumb and rolled it. “You wanna feel alive?” he asked, slipping out then back into her heat as her hand gripped him firmly. “Then trust me.”
A sob broke the air, followed by tears of grief and exhaustion, so he rolled Anna onto her back and kissed her deeply until she relaxed into him. Then he began a slow pace that built into a white-hot heat she couldn’t ignore.
“That’s it,” he praised as her body relaxed and found a smoother rhythm. “Just feel, don’t think.”
He knew she was close when her nails dug into his back, so he increased his pace until he had to grit his teeth to keep from emptying himself into her sweet heat.
When her back arched as he drove into her harder and her mouth opened on a silent cry, he let go, and they both fell off the precipice into a kaleidoscope of sensations that was nothing short of life-affirming for the both of them.
Luke collapsed, rolling to his side as Anna shuddered with aftershocks. But he kept her anchored to him, his cock still buried deep inside as she clung to him. Then the tears began again, so he wrapped her up tightly and held on while she cried on his chest.
“That’s what it feels like to be alive,” he mumbled in her ear as her breath calmed. He should know; he hadn’t lived for the past four years.
As if she read his thoughts, she questioned, “Have you been living?” then touched her lips to his chest.
He felt the old guilt begin to rise, but he shoved it down easily as the woman in his arms rubbed her face against his chest, and answered without hesitation, “No, I shut down after Matthew died. It was my fault. He got out of his car seat while I was driving and…” He cleared his throat to continue, “And the window was down.”
She tensed hearing his explanation, then touched her lips softly to his chest again. “I’m so sorry, Luke.”
“Yeah. Me too. Matthew was special, like you said. I blamed myself for my sister’s loss. Felt like I didn’t deserve a happy life.”
She looked up into his eyes, then searched his face. “What about now?”
Luke rolled till he had her pinned beneath him. “C.S. Lewis once said that ‘When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.’ I’m thinking that the day your brother slammed into my truck was the day the second blessing walked into my life.”
Anna’s eyes began to tear up, and her bottom lip trembled. She reached up with her soft hand and cupped his cheek, then ran her thumb across his lips. “Merry Christmas, Luke,” she said tenderly, then leaned forward and captured his lips in the sweetest kiss he’d ever received in his life.
My phone rang as the brightness crept beneath the curtains shielding the hotel room from the sun’s early morning light.
I launched myself across Luke’s body, reaching for my cell that was charging on the bedside table. The screen said Mercy Hospital.
“Hello?’ I answered hesitantly, fear blooming inside my chest.
“Ms. Stubbs?” a female voice asked.
“Yes. Is my brother okay?” Luke rolled until his body wrapped around mine, then tightened his hold, giving me his strength for what came next.
She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes, ma’am. It’s a Christmas miracle,” she informed me with a smile in her voice. “He’s awake and asking for you.”
My breath escaped in a whoosh, then I began to shake. “Thank you. Thank you so much for saving his life,” I cried with a smile. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Luke’s breath stuttered in response to my reply, and he kissed my shoulder, squeezing me once for support.
“Take your time,” she said, still smiling through the phone line. “He’s sleeping now, and visiting hours don’t start for another two hours.”
“Thank you so, so much,” I said again. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I rolled to face Luke once I’d hung up the phone, smiling brightly. “She said it was a Christmas miracle,” I exclaimed, then slammed my mouth over his and kissed him with all I was worth.
Luke pulled back after I broke the kiss and searched my face, running his thumb across my cheek to brush away my tears of joy.
“Merry Christmas, angel.” Luke’s voice rumbled in his chest.
I rested my chin on my hands and stared back at him. “Why do you call me angel?”
“’Cause you’re the closest thing to heaven I’ve seen in my life.”
A grin pulled across my mouth, the first real one I’d had since receiving Darryl’s call.
“You know, when you drop the whole Scrooge persona, you’re a very sweet man.”
Luke chuckled, rolled me to my back, and then buried his face in my neck. “I seem to recall that when Scrooge gained his humanity back, he was very, very, accommodating to those in his life.”
“How accommodating?” I asked breathlessly.
“Let’s find out,” Luke whispered into my ear, then gave me the second best Christmas present I’d received that morning.
Eleven
I tugged Luke from the hospital gift store, smiling at the teddy bear I’d bought my brother. It was Christmas Day, so I couldn’t go in empty-handed to his room. I was scanning the shelves, looking for something that reminded me of Gregg, when I came across a stuffed bear that was holding a guitar. It was perfect, since Gregg was nothing but a big old teddy bear where I was concerned.
I was light on my feet as I bounced impatiently for the e
levator to take us up to the ICU. Luke grinned, his hand at my neck squeezing lightly in response to my mood. One floor from the ICU, the doors opened and the hospital chapel came into view as an elderly couple stepped inside the elevator. Luke’s hand squeezed my neck again, and I looked up at him.
“I’ll be right up,” he said, looking at the chapel doors.
My eyes softened and I whispered, “Take your time.”
He looked back at me and brushed a kiss softly across my mouth before he exited, winking at me with heat in his eyes as the doors closed and he disappeared from my sight.
My whole body warmed in response. I was in trouble if a single look could sear my blood so easily.
I headed to the nurses’ station and signed in once I arrived at the ICU, then practically ran to my brother’s room. His eyes were closed when I entered, but the breathing tube that had kept him alive the night before was gone.
I watched as he breathed on his own, counting the times his chest rose and fell, holding my own breath as I waited for the next rise.
“You gonna stand there and watch me sleep, or get your pale ass over here?” he whispered with a dry, scratchy voice.
The sob that escaped my throat made him smile. Only a brother would get a kick out of seeing his sister cry over him.
“You’re such an ass,” I hiccupped, dragging a chair with me to sit next to his bed.
His hand reached out weakly until I grasped it and squeezed. “Anna Banana,” he mumbled. “Why the hell would you bring up Jenny Stevens as a reason for me to live?”
He was definitely feeling better if he was ready to argue with me.
“You fought for her,” I defended. “You were desperate to go out with her.”
“I wanted to nail her. She had the biggest breasts in our class.”
I blinked. “Deviant,” I snapped.
His eyes closed and he smiled. “I’m just pulling your leg. Jenny was my ideal. I wasn’t hers. It broke my heart when she said no. Just so you know for next time, bringing up my failure could have killed me,” he said with a grin.