Sweeter Than Chocolate: Valentine's Day Anthology

by Gina Kincade

  She hadn’t seen him. No one could. Not until the sun descended. And once the sun rose, he’d be gone.

  Magnus had one night to find her. The woman who might free him. The person who held enough compassion and love in her heart to save him.

  He’d searched for years. So many long lonesome years. Magnus doubted such a woman existed.

  After all, how could someone fall in love with a man they just met? A stranger. A man with a past but no future.

  Magnus scowled as he turned away from the window where he’d hoped to glimpse her and continued walking along the path. Eventually, it circled back to Rebecca’s Inn and Restaurant.

  The place was busy tonight, filled with many couples out for a night of celebrating love, hope, and passion.

  His thoughts again drifted to Wendy.

  She was different, so different from the others. Could she be the one? The one who could love him, save him? The other thought that entered his mind made his heart flutter within his chest. Could he return that love? A woman he knew nothing about but intrigued him like no other.

  There was only one way to find out.

  If she called to him, if she dreamed of him, he would go to her. Then he would know if she was the true mate to his soul, the one he searched for year after year.

  He would know after tonight if he had truly found her.

  Chapter Three

  Wendy made her way up to her room, the memory of dancing with Magnus still fresh in her mind and on her skin. When she closed the door to her room, she had a moment of doubt. Maybe she should turn around and find him. Maybe she’d left too soon.

  It didn’t make any sense. She didn’t know him all that well, but the feelings he stirred within her were worth pursuing.

  Making a decision, she left her room and hurried back downstairs. She searched the dining room first, finding the table where she’d sat with him empty and cleared. Then she walked among the few dancers still swaying to the music. A lump in her throat formed as she half-imagined finding him in another woman’s arms dancing to a love song.

  To her dismay and relief, she couldn’t find him there either. She wandered the first-floor rooms, searching for any sign of him, but at last, she gave up. Perhaps he’d gone back to his room?

  “Excuse me,” she said when she’d found the clerk at the front desk. “Could you tell me which room a man named Magnus has tonight?”

  After all, his name was unusual. There couldn’t be more than one Magnus even if she didn’t know his last name.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, there’s no one by that name here tonight.”

  “Are you sure? Could you check?” She leaned on the desk, wanting to peer over at the computer screen to see for herself.

  The clerk tightened his lips but tapped the keyboard and searched the screen. Then he shook his head again, “I’m sorry, ma’am. No.”

  “He said he was a family relation. Maybe he’s not checked in? Do you know of any Magnus related to the family?”

  “I’m not aware of anyone by that name attached to the family, ma’am. Would you like me to call Mrs. MacDougall? Her family has owned this property for over two hundred years. She would know of anyone by that name in her family.”

  “No, it’s late,” Wendy said, although she wanted the clerk to do that very thing. “I don’t want to disturb her at this hour. Thank you.”

  Perhaps Magnus didn’t stay at the inn. With his family running the business, he wouldn’t necessarily be staying here. He had said he liked to stay out of their way. Perhaps he lived off grounds. He might own property nearby.

  She walked stoically back to her room. An ache had begun in her chest. An emptiness that felt too keen. A missed opportunity. And she had only herself to blame.

  Once in her room, she undressed. Sorting through her luggage, she found the seductive lingerie that Eve encouraged her to take. Although Wendy never had any intention of using this on a first date, she couldn’t deny the pleasure of the silk against her skin. She dressed and examined herself in the full-length mirror. The silk wrapped around her curves, emphasizing the fullness of her hips and her narrow waist. Her breasts hung proudly, begging for a man’s attention.

  Well, they’d get no such attention tonight.

  In misery, Wendy climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her, burying her face into the pillow and resisting the urge to cry her woes away.

  It wasn’t worth the wet sheets.

  Eventually, she drifted to sleep, dreaming of Magnus. They danced the night away, and she felt safe and warm in his strong arms. But this time, instead of ending the night with her going to bed alone, he joined her.

  Soon he was kissing her, his lips covering her mouth, her tongue tangling with his in a dance that created heat coursing through her body.

  Wendy moaned.

  When she heard her name whispered seductively in her ear, her eyes flew open.

  She had been dreaming. Or was she still dreaming? Magnus lay stretched beside her, his hand pulling playfully at her hair as he whispered her name.

  “You called my name in your sleep. Do you dream of me?” His husky voice sent sensuous shivers across her skin.

  “You’re here.” She’d searched for him after their dance to invite him to her room for the night. She wanted him in her bed. And here he was like a wish come true. It was like magic. Like she’d summoned him, and he’d come to her.

  “I was looking for you.”

  Magnus smiled. “That’s why I’m here now.”

  “I’m only here for two days,” Wendy confessed. “Tomorrow I go home. My best friend arranged this blind date and, well… You know he never showed, and it got me thinking… Tonight, I’m not looking for… I normally don’t do this sort of thing. What I mean to say is… I thought maybe you’d want to…ah…”

  Damn, why was it so difficult to put her thoughts, her desires into words? She’d known men who made it look easy to ask a woman to sleep with them for the night, no strings attached.

  What she wanted was to feel loved again, if only for one night. To feel the touch of a man’s hands on her skin, to feel the press of his hard length deep within her. She wanted to feel desired.

  She wanted sex. Plain and simple.

  “Wendy?” His breath blew across her cheek as he spoke gently against her ear. She caught the scent of cinnamon and pine, a pure masculine aroma.

  “I…um, I want… Well, I’m alone and you’re alone and we could…”

  “Do you want me to make love to you, Wendy?”

  “God, yes,” Wendy sighed, thankful to put that bit of awkwardness aside. “I want that very much.”

  She caught his grin in the low light of the room and then his lips covered hers and just like her dream, he was warm, wet and skillful with his tongue. As he kissed her, he placed one large hand flat on her belly. She was keenly aware of that hand as he caressed the silk of her lingerie with his fingertips.

  Slowly, his hand inched upward toward her chest where he captured one breast, cupping it in his large hand. Her nipples tightened at the touch and his thumb brushed over her.

  She gasped at the sensation strumming through her and moaned into his mouth.

  “Ah, Wendy,” Magnus said, pulling his lips from hers and kissing his way toward her breast. When his hot, wet mouth engulfed her nipple, she thought she might orgasm from that single touch.

  It had been so long, and Magnus was so incredibly hot. She laced her fingers through his dark hair, feeling the silky strands as she stroked his hair, enjoying the sensations he created with his tongue against her breast.

  Distantly, she was aware the hand that had once cupped her breast, now caressed the skin of her belly, moving slowly lower, his fingers dipping beneath her panties to find the damp curls at the juncture of her thighs.

  Her chest heaved with each breath as she felt him dip one long, large digit inside her wetness. She gasped for air as he stroked her there, bringing her close to climax as he continued to suckle her breast
.

  “Oh, Magnus,” she whispered his name, her hips beginning to buck against his hand. “Magnus, please.”

  “What do you want, Wendy?” He released her nipple. “I’ll give you what you want. All you need do is tell me.”

  “I want you,” Wendy gasped. “Down there. Please.”

  “My mouth or my cock?”

  At his question, he inserted his finger and she thrust her hips forward.

  “Your mouth, no, wait,” she moaned as she considered her options. “Please, Magnus, give me your cock. It’s been so long. Make me come.”

  “Anything, Wendy,” he said, removing his hand and her panties, then covering her body with his. He covered her completely, and she welcomed his weight although he kept himself lifted slightly over her so as not to crush her. “I’ll give you my cock and later I’ll give you my mouth.”

  The tip of his length prodded against her for a moment before finding her opening. She gasped as his hardness penetrated her, slipping inside her, stretching her fully.

  He was huge. Far larger than she had originally imagined, but her body welcomed him, cocooning him in her warmth.

  Magnus paused for a moment once he was fully sheathed within her.

  “Wendy…” He breathed heavily against her cheek. “Oh, Wendy...”

  He remained still, but she didn’t want stillness. She wanted movement. Hard and fast. She wriggled her hips. He sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Please, Magnus,” she whispered urgently. Her hands explored the breadth of his large, muscular chest, reveling in the feel of his bare skin. She didn’t even know when he’d taken his clothes off. And she didn’t care. She enjoyed the feel of his naked body on top of her.

  He moved his hips, rocking from her and then thrusting into her. It took her a moment to adjust to the rhythm of lovemaking, but she was pleased that her body remembered the movements.

  He took her hard, just as she’d begged, his cock plunging into her repeatedly, her muscles clenching and tightening around him. The pressure built within her, the exertion caused a fine sheen of sweat to bead over her skin, and she gasped from the pleasure of a man taking her body.

  She called his name, again and again, whispering and then shouting as she felt the climax swelling within her. He grunted with pleasure and the guttural sound caused her to fall over the edge.

  Wendy’s body tightened around him, her muscles clutching him as she gasped her release. At the feel of her orgasm, he throbbed within her, heat pulsing into her and she cried out his name one last time before her body crumpled onto the mattress.

  But he wasn’t finished with her. Not yet. After a moment, he stirred to life within her.

  “We have all night long, Wendy, my love,” Magnus whispered against her cheek. “I promised you my mouth, too.”

  Her skin tingled with awareness, and she swore her toes curled in heightened pleasure as he kissed his way slowly down her body.

  Chapter Four

  Magnus stood by the window, pulling the curtains aside as he watched dawn’s light chase the night away. Would he see the sunrise? Or would he disappear as he had so many times in the past?

  His heart thumped with rapid anticipation.

  He glanced at the bed where he’d left Wendy curled within the warm sheets. Her ginger hair splayed across the pillows like flame licking against the white linens.

  She was beautiful. And she matched his passion in lovemaking. Her body fit perfectly to his as if she’d been made for him. Even thinking of her made him hard again. He wanted to wake her one last time, make love to her before he discovered his fate.

  But if he wasn’t meant for her… If they weren’t meant for each other… He didn’t want her to watch him fade from this existence. It wasn’t a sight that could be easily explained, and he hadn’t had time for such explanations last night.

  Not that they hadn’t talked. He was pleased with their conversation in between bouts of lovemaking. She’d told him about herself and her best friend, Eve. About moving from America to Scotland and her transition to a foreign land. And he’d talked briefly about his family life, his sister and her husband, their children and his life with them.

  The little they shared was enough for him to sense there was more to this woman than met the eye, and he desperately wanted to learn more of her. He wanted to spend his nights making her scream his name in passion and his days talking with her, learning of her likes and dislikes.

  Time would tell if they were meant to be together or apart.

  She stirred once while he stood waiting. He watched her smile in her sleep. Could it be that she dreamt of him again? Yes. He sensed it. He felt her calling to him still.

  Wendy had a gorgeous smile. Her lips curved in a sensuous way that made him yearn to kiss her. His chest ached at the thought of never seeing her smile again. He wanted nothing more than to be given the chance to make her smile.

  Tears gathered at his lashes, but he chased them away as he focused once more on the rising sun. The rays grew brighter, the sky clearing until the darkness nearly vanished.

  He felt it before he witnessed it. As the sun rose above the horizon, his body pulsed with the power of the magic that made him corporeal for one night a year. A tingling began at the tips of his fingers and toes. He lifted his hand in front of his face, watching with horror as his hand faded away.

  So, she was not the one. Not the one to love him.

  Despair ate at his soul, not because he was doomed again until next Valentine’s Day, but because he’d not have the chance to see her sweet smile again. Or hear her laugh. Oh, what would her laugh sound like?

  He cast one last, longing look at her sleeping form and whispered, “Farewell, Wendy.”

  Then he disappeared.

  ***

  Wendy blinked her eyes against the sunlight streaming through the curtains that had been parted from the windows. Had she opened them before she fell asleep last night? She couldn’t remember.

  When she moved, her body protested in a most delicious and yet, sore way. She moaned, remembering last night with Magnus. It was one of the most incredible nights she’d ever spent with a man.

  He’d done things to her that she’d never let anyone do. Maybe it was the wine that had helped relax her, but she hadn’t regretted a single moment.

  Wendy grasped the bedsheets to her naked chest and rolled in the bed, expecting to find Magnus beside her. To her dismay, she lay alone in the massive bed. She sat up, searching the small room.

  “Magnus?” She called for him, wondering if he might be in the tiny bathroom attached to the room. There was no sound and after she fought against the sheets tangled around her legs, she found the bathroom empty.

  Dismay turned to alarm, but she tried to calm her racing heart.

  Maybe he went in search of a bite of breakfast. Her stomach grumbled at the thought.

  It made sense. And she wished to join him, but she wanted to clean up before she saw him again. It was one thing to look seductively ravishing with her hair strewn across the pillows while they made love but glancing in the mirror Wendy groaned at the sight of the mess of tangles atop her head.

  After she showered and dressed, she eagerly left the room and nearly skipped down the stairs in her happiness. During their night of lovemaking, she never knew a man so willing to give her orgasm after orgasm. He was a thoughtful and considerate lover, and she craved to see him again.

  Not only for the sensations he caused to her body, but their late-night conversation had been left unfinished. She’d told him about her traveling to Scotland for work and meeting Eve who quickly became her best friend. But she hadn’t given him equal time to talk about his past. He’d told her briefly about his sister and her family, but he had mentioned little else. Whenever she questioned him, he’d distracted her with kisses and caresses.

  Not that she minded in the least.

  But Wendy now regretted telling him last night that all she wanted was a one-night stand. Not that she’
d said it words, but she was sure he’d understood her intentions.

  She wasn’t typically that kind of girl. But after being stood up on Valentine’s Day and thinking she would never meet a man who made her heart skip a beat, she had been willing to do just about anything to feel desired again.

  A one-night stand with a sexy stranger might do the trick. Now, however, she wanted more from him. She had felt a connection that had gone deeper than a physical relationship, and she wanted to explore that more. Wendy tried not to wonder if that would dismay him.

  “Hello,” Wendy said to the woman at the desk. It wasn’t the same clerk from yesterday when she’d checked in. This woman wore a classy blue dress with sharp lines. She was older, with a splash of gray at her temples and tiny laugh lines crinkling near her eyes. Her hair was pulled into a knot on the top of her head.

  “Good morning,” the woman said, smiling as she met Wendy’s curious gaze. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Ah, yes,” Wendy said, returning the woman’s smile. “Very well, thank you.”

  “Good,” the woman said, then pointed to the dining area. “We have breakfast ready for all our guests. You can help yourself to whatever you like.”

  “Thank you. Again.” Wendy turned in the direction of the dining room. It was the same room where she’d eaten dinner last night. The Valentine’s Day decorations still covered the walls and tables in splashes of red, white and pink. One long table was set against a wall filled to the brim with plates of food. Ham, eggs, bacon, and a variety of baked treats and other hot food.

  The delicious aroma of breakfast filled the air making her stomach groan with hunger, but Wendy ignored her thoughts of food as she turned her attention to the people occupying the seats at the tables. She searched each face, looking for the man she’d spent the night with only to find none that matched.

  Frowning, she returned to the woman at the desk.

  “Excuse me,” Wendy said. The woman lifted her head from some papers she’d been reading and smiled at Wendy’s interruption.

  “Yes?”

  “I wonder if you saw a man coming downstairs not long ago. I thought he might have come for breakfast, but I don’t see him. He’s tall with dark hair and blue eyes. His name is Magnus.”