He smothered her mouth with another bruising kiss, one strong hand clamped around her wrists, his other gliding down her body past the curve of her ass, grabbing her thigh and guiding her leg over his shoulder.
She loved it like this, so hot and deep, so intense.
Just like Georgie, Ronan was crazy with lust, with wanting for her, baring his teeth like an animal as he rode her harder and faster, grinding her hips and shoulders into the rug, the fire making everything that much hotter between them, that much more slippery.
The sensation of Ronan’s hard body sliding against Georgie’s flesh sent electric tingles up her spine and across her shoulders, and she didn’t want it to end.
Not tonight. Not tomorrow night. Not ever.
“I need to feel you,” she breathed against his lips. “To touch you.”
Ronan released her wrists, and Georgie ran her hands down his back, his muscles rippling beneath her touch as he grew harder, her body stretching to accommodate his perfect thickness.
Suddenly she needed more of him. Deeper. Faster. She sank her fingers into his firm, tight ass, urging him closer, rolling her hips as she and Ronan found their perfect rhythm, sliding together and apart, taking and giving, feeling and touching and tasting every bit of each other until Georgie was right back at that precipice, hanging on by a gossamer thread.
“Let go, baby,” Ronan said, sucking hard on her nipple. “Let it all fucking go. Come for me.”
Those words were Georgie’s undoing.
Heat rushed to her core, and she arched her body, her head tossed back, her eyes closed, her strong and beautiful heart hammering inside as she dug her nails into Ronan’s back and shattered beneath him with a fierce and thundering cry ripped from her very soul, taking with it every last one of her inhibitions, her what-ifs, her fears.
Pure, unadulterated pleasure cascaded through her, lighting her up from the inside as Ronan slammed into her. He was right there with her, and he grabbed her shoulders and let out a primal growl, his whole body shaking with the force of his orgasm as he emptied himself completely, both of them riding the same delicious wave to the edge of eternity.
When it was finally over, Ronan collapsed against her chest, their bodies slick with sweat and desire.
His hair tickled her nose, and Georgie let it fall into her mouth as she held him close. She wanted to capture this moment, to remember it always.
“You okay?” he asked, his breath raw and ragged against her chest.
Georgie laughed. She was more than okay. She was a God damn phoenix, rising out of the ashes of her old life, renewed and remade. Strong and beautiful. On fire.
Ronan had given her that gift.
He’d marked her. Changed her. Unlocked her. And in that moment, tangled up and trembling on the floor in a snowbound cabin at the top of the sky, Georgie made a permanent place for him in her heart.
CHAPTER 16
C hristmas morning dawned early, sun streaming in through the wooden blinds in Ronan’s bedroom. He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet, and he was already hard as fuck, still dreaming about all the things he’d done last night with that gorgeous, fiery redhead.
Nothing in Ronan’s life had ever felt so good.
She’d been so warm and soft in his arms, her lean body perfectly aligned against his chest, his fingers tangled up in her crazy curls as they made love again and again, both of them spent and happy when they’d finally drifted off to sleep.
For Ronan, it had been the most peaceful night’s sleep in a damn decade.
Now, he turned onto his side, reaching for her, aching to tangle his hands in those curls again, to bury himself between her thighs…
But the sheets were icy cold.
He opened his eyes.
His woman was gone.
Well. Ain’t that a bitch of a way to wake up on Christmas.
Ronan sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, trying to decide whether he was more pissed off or sad or what the fuck that hollow feeling inside him was. But there, stacked up in the corner of his room like it belonged there, was Georgie’s endless supply of luggage.
Ronan shook his head, laughing at himself. When the fuck did you become such a pansy, Steel? Jesus.
One night with Georgie Taylor, and he’d gone completely soft.
He fisted his cock.
Okay, maybe not completely soft…
But hell, he wasn’t about to stand around with his dick in his hand. Not when there was a beautiful woman in the house.
Ronan threw on a pair of flannel pajama pants and a hoodie, checking out the scene outside. It was a damn winter wonderland out there, everything covered in a thick, white blanket. It felt like the world had been scrubbed clean and given a second chance.
Too bad it can’t last.
Darkness banged on the door of his heart, but Ronan locked it down. He still had time with her. Maybe an hour. Maybe a minute. Either way, he wasn’t about to waste another second dwelling on that inevitable goodbye.
Downstairs, the fire was already crackling, the power had been restored, and the whole place smelled like breakfast. Not oatmeal and a protein shake spiked with a shot of vodka, but a real, homemade, loosen-up-your-pants-and-spend-the-whole-damn-day-recovering breakfast.
“What kind of trouble are you getting into down here?” he asked.
“Merry Christmas, sleepyhead.” Wearing nothing but one of his flannel shirts and a pair of hiking socks, Georgie was frying up bacon at the stove, her red hair all over the damn place. Bella was curled up on the floor at Georgie’s feet, gnawing on her favorite bone, happy as a pig in shit.
It was Christmas morning. The storm had passed. The lights were back on. The fire was blazing. Ronan had enjoyed the most mind-blowing sex of his life last night. His dog was happy. And there was a hot, half-naked woman frying up bacon in his kitchen.
Could life get any better?
“Baby,” he said, joining her at the stove, “where have you been all my life?”
Georgie finally turned around, flashing that megawatt kid-on-Christmas grin of hers, and Ronan felt the last chunk of ice crack and fall right off his heart.
“Probably right here,” she said. “I’ve been cooking for at least five years. You sleep like a bear.”
“You wore me out last night, woman.” He looked around the kitchen, noticing all the work she’d done. Not only had she brought in more wood and gotten the fire going, but the table was covered in hot, fresh food—cheesy eggs with broccoli and red pepper, hash browns, a stack of pancakes a mile high, fresh-squeezed orange juice, coffee. She’d even made a centerpiece out of pinecones, boughs, and emergency candles.
“You did all this?” Ronan’s eyes watered.
Must be the candle smoke…
“Well, since you gave the head chef the week off, I kind of had to.” Georgie laughed, and Ronan tried desperately to memorize the sound of it. “I know you’re not into Christmas trees or anything, but I figured you wouldn’t mind if I improvised on a few decorations. Bella helped me pick them out. Didn’t you, girl? After you chased that bunny through the snow, you big goofball.”
The dog barked, wagging her tail like she’d just been awarded a medal of honor.
“Oh, by the way,” Georgie said, “you really shouldn’t keep the emergency flares in the same box as the candles. You almost got a very different kind of wakeup call. And I couldn’t find any pepper, so I had to get the little packets out of those… those army TV dinners, or whatever they are. You’ve got some weird stuff in there, Ronan. Honestly.”
“MREs,” he said, grinning his ass off. Why was she so fucking cute?
“Well whatever they’re called, the next time you try to eat one, you won’t have any pepper. I left the salt, though. But I think they’re mostly expired, anyway. You should probably just—”
“I should probably just…” Ronan slid an arm around her waist, stroking the curve of her breast with his thumb. The soft little moan escaping her mouth made him in
stantly hard again, but more than that, she just felt… right. Damn right in his arms. Right wearing his shirt. Right filling his kitchen with the sound of her sweet voice. Right cooking breakfast on Christmas morning as if she’d been meant to find her way to his doorstep all along.
“You’re a crazy girl,” he said, burying his face in her hair. “A crazy, sexy, incredible girl who crashed into my driveway and turned my whole fucking world upside down in a single day.”
Georgie giggled. “Imagine what I could do with a whole week?”
“I couldn’t keep up with you for a whole week, Cupcake.”
But fuck if he didn’t want to. A week, a month, his whole damn life. He’d merely been existing before she crashed into his life, and now he felt alive, in vivid color instead of shades of gray. Somehow, despite his best efforts, the woman had found a way in, breeching his walls, jackhammering the ice right off his heart.
The thought of letting her walk out that door carved him open inside.
He’d thought he was okay with saying goodbye; he knew she’d be out of there as soon as the storm broke, and they’d given each other one hell of a sendoff last night.
But now that the hour of her imminent departure was closing in, Ronan couldn’t fucking bear it. He didn’t want to know what tonight would feel like without her in it. What he would feel like. Maybe it was crazy, but hell, it was real. And he wasn’t ready to give it up.
He lifted her hair and pressed his nose to the back of her bare neck, inhaling her sweet vanilla scent. He knew the reality, knew his words wouldn’t change it for either of them. But he had to say them anyway, because if there was anyone listening, any fucking Santa Claus Christmas miracle magic left to make it happen, he had to give it a shot.
“Stay with me, baby,” he whispered. “Just stay.”
CHAPTER 17
“I ’ll miss you, Bella.” Georgie pressed a kiss to Bella’s face and rubbed her belly. “Keep your daddy in line for me, okay? Don’t take any shit from him.”
Bella barked and licked Georgie’s face, wagging her cute little doggy-butt like today was just the best day ever.
Georgie couldn’t argue with her. Other than the goodbye on the horizon, it really had been the best day. The best night. The best of a lot of things, all thanks to the sexy-as-hell, crazy mountain recluse standing by the front door.
They’d taken their time with breakfast, sneaking a kiss here, a touch there as they worked their way through the feast. They talked and laughed, even as Ronan’s earlier words still hung between them—a question unanswered, potential unmet.
Stay with me, baby…
God, how she wanted to. More than anything. But that wasn’t reality. Their night together had been the most amazing of Georgie’s life, but it was a fantasy. Hidden beneath the snow, the world had stopped for a time, and somehow they’d found themselves together, suspended in a beautiful, frozen moment that just wasn’t meant to last.
The sun had risen this morning, and real life with it. The power and phones had come back, and soon the tow truck would be here. Georgie was all packed up, dressed again in her Christmas elf costume. She’d be spending the rest of the day with her family, and by tomorrow morning she’d be heading back to Denver, boarding a plane for New York. And Ronan would be here, two thousand miles away from her bed. From her heart.
She gave Bella one more kiss, then stood up to say the big goodbye. The one that was going to hurt the worst, because everything that came before it had been the best.
“I’m still deciding whether or not I’ll miss you,” Georgie teased. She stood on her tiptoes and looped her arms around Ronan’s neck. “Maybe. Probably. A little bit.”
“Then don’t I get a belly rub, too?” He grabbed her hand and slid it inside his sweatshirt, pressing it against his firm abs.
Georgie sighed. She’d have dreams about the rock-hard ridges and planes of his body for years to come. The muscles. The tattoos. The scars. The stories. All of it.
“Pretty sure you got enough of a rubdown last night,” she said.
“When it comes to you, Cupcake, I’ll never get enough.” He dipped his head low and captured her mouth in a kiss, a gentle brush of lips that quickly deepened, turning hungry and all-consuming as he slid his tongue into her mouth, devouring her. It was the kind of kiss she felt all the way to her toes, her heart beating its strong, now-familiar beat.
Don’t go, it seemed to say. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go…
Georgie pulled back, taking his face into her hands, memorizing the feel of his stubbled jaw, the look of fire in his fierce, flint-gray eyes. “You, um… you kinda saved my life last night.”
He touched his forehead to hers, his whispers falling hot on her lips. “You kinda saved mine, too.”
She kissed him again, then pressed her ear to his chest, listening to the strong, solid beat of his heart.
It all seemed so unfair.
Georgie had grown up in Colorado never having crossed Ronan’s path, and now she lived in New York. He’d traversed the globe a dozen times over, and now he lived here, in a cabin high up in the Rockies. If not for a freak of nature, an unintentional detour on the road of life, they would’ve continued on their separate paths never having met.
But now that fate had brought them together, Ronan would always be a part of Georgie’s life, even if only a memory—one pristine, perfect evening when the world was sound asleep beneath the snow and she was safe in his arms.
Georgie didn’t want Ronan as a memory, though. She wanted the real thing. No matter how many times she tried to let him go, she couldn’t.
They just felt right together. Like they’d been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance at something great. Georgie didn’t know how to make it work, or whether it even made sense to try. All she knew for sure was that if she walked out that door without saying anything, it would become the single biggest regret in her entire life.
No more living on the wrong side of the window. You promised.
“Ronan,” she said, “I know it’s crazy, but I just… I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Yeah, well.” Ronan sighed, his breath warm in her hair. “Maybe I don’t want to say goodbye either.” He pulled her tighter against the solid wall of his chest, locking her in his embrace. “Maybe I want to keep you here. And then drive you to your parents’ place later. And then bring you back here and keep you some more. Maybe that’s what I want.”
“Maybe that’s what I want, too.” Georgie’s voice trembled, her whole body flooding with warmth. “But… but what happens after that?”
Ronan pressed his lips to the top of her head. Georgie fit there in his arms so snugly, so perfectly, it was as if that spot was made just for her, and he’d been waiting all these years for her to show up and take her place.
“Dunno,” he said. “But that’s the thing. Twenty-four hours ago? I did know. I knew exactly what my life was all about. I knew how every damn day would start. How every night would end. And then out of fucking nowhere, this hot, redheaded, elf hooker shows up on my doorstep, and nothing makes a fuck lot of sense anymore.”
Ronan’s laugh reverberated through his body, making Georgie laugh, too.
He pulled back so he could look her in the eyes, and cupped her face in his big, strong hands. “Far as I’m concerned, we only got one choice—figure this shit out. I don’t give a fuck how crazy it is, or how far apart we live. I told you last night, and I meant it. You’re mine, Cupcake. Non-negotiable.”
“It’s that simple, then?” she asked.
“Simple, complicated, impossible. Doesn’t matter. It’s the way it’s gonna be.” He crushed his lips against hers, claiming her in a possessive kiss that left no room for interpretation. She moaned into his mouth, her legs going weak as he threaded his fingers into her hair.
“But Georgie?” He backed her up against the wall and kissed the corner of her mouth, slowly making his way across her jaw to her ear as his hands wandered down her arm
s, her hips, under her dress. “That celibate architect roommate of yours? He’s gotta go.”
“What?” Georgie laughed. “You’ve got nothing to worry about there—his A-game sucks. He’s never once made me Alfredo sauce.”
“And now he never will, because he’s leaving. What a fucking tragedy.”
Georgie didn’t argue. She didn’t care. Right now, all she cared about was Ronan’s mouth on her neck, his rough, demanding fingers slipping inside her panties, stroking her until her legs trembled.
“Ronan Steel,” she panted, quickly losing her ability to form words. “You’re so… oh my God, you’re so bad.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” He pushed his fingers in deeper, thrusting in and out, slowly massaging her clit with his thumb. Heat gathered between her thighs, pulsing outward until everything in her felt hot and slippery. “Just wait until I get you naked again.”
“Why wait?” Georgie hooked a finger into one of the stockings, sliding it down her thigh.
“Ah, nope.” Ronan grabbed her wrist and tugged the stocking right back up again. “Not happening.”
“But I was—”
“Sorry.” He flashed a wicked smile that sent an electric jolt to her core. “The candy-cane tights stay on today, Cupcake. You just close your eyes and let me worry about the rest.”
Georgie had no choice but to obey, leaning her head back against the wall as Ronan dropped to his knees and buried his head under her dress. He slid his fingers out of her slowly, then filled his hands with her ass, his tongue tracing a slow, torturous pattern from the top of one thigh to the other, hot breath ghosting over the triangle of her panties, teasing her as only Ronan could.
She loved his teasing, though. Loved his touch. And she was so, so grateful for every happy accident that brought her careening into his driveway—into his life.
“You taste so fucking good,” Ronan moaned. “I’ll never stop craving you.” He bit the lacy edge of her panties, pulling them down her thighs, unwrapping her once again. His mouth on her sensitive skin was warm and soft, but she knew what was coming next, and there would be nothing soft about it.
Snowed In with the Bad Boy (Bad Boys on Holiday Book 1) Page 9