A Highlander Christmas

by Janet Chapman

  When Camry started toward the old man, Luke spun her around and started down the mountain. “Come on, Missus Renoir,” he said with a laugh. “Before he turns you into a toad.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  With the rising, nearly full moon lighting their way and the crunch of the cold snow keeping rhythm with their breathing, their mile walk to the tent was made in silence. Cam assumed Luke was trying to assimilate all that had happened. And though she would have loved to explain Roger to him, and Fiona, and the seemingly unrelated chain of events that had brought them to be walking hand in hand tonight toward the rest of their lives together, she honestly didn’t know how to explain something she barely comprehended herself. The only thing she did know for sure was that she loved Luke more than she loved anything else in the world—even her beloved science.

  She suddenly stopped walking.

  “What is it?” Luke asked, stepping around to take hold of her shoulders. “Are you getting cold feet?” He chuckled softly. “Figuratively speaking, I mean?”

  She looked up at him in wonder. “No. I suddenly just realized that the only thing more powerful than my mother’s love for her work is her love for Daddy. Because if I had to choose between you and my work, I’d choose you.”

  “Ahh, sweetheart,” Luke said, hugging her to him, then squeezing her tightly. “Grace never had to choose between anything, because she knew she could have it all.” He leaned back to smile down at her. “I only spent a few days with your parents, but it was long enough for me to see that your father doesn’t have to be a scientist to understand your mother’s passion for her work. He appears to be her biggest fan, supporting her a hundred and ten percent. Didn’t he build her that beautiful lab?”

  “Yes.”

  “He didn’t steal anything from your mother, Camry, he empowered her. And I bet he also encouraged all you girls to go after your own dreams, didn’t he?”

  “Sometimes to the point that we wanted to scream.”

  “And hasn’t your mother always supported your father’s passion? TarStone Mountain Ski Resort couldn’t have become a world-class destination on its own.”

  She smiled up at him. “I guess that’s another thing we can add to our definition of love: its ability to expand exponentially. It’s not at all constraining, it’s unlimiting.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose with a delighted laugh. “And are you ready to add one more passion to your expanding list, Mrs. Renoir? Say . . . something that involves our getting naked together?”

  She toyed with the zipper on his jacket. “I-I’ve heard that when a person gets on a Ferris wheel the first time, the ride can be somewhat scary.”

  He kissed the top of her head, then took her hand and led her toward the tent. “Naw, it’s only scary for the faint of heart. With your highlander genes, it’s more likely the person you’re riding with who’ll be scared.”

  Cam stopped just as she was about to unzip the tent flap and looked up.

  Luke was scared?

  Well, damn. She’d been so focused on her own worry about finally going all the way, she hadn’t even thought about what he must be feeling. Hell, what man wanted the responsibility of introducing a thirty-two-year-old virgin to lovemaking?

  She unzipped the tent and crawled inside, then poked her head out to stop him from following. “Can you give me a few minutes?” she asked. “I’ll start the heater and warm up the tent.”

  “Oh, sure. I’m sorry. Of course,” he said, jumping up and quickly stepping away. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “You take as long as you need.”

  Luke stood in the middle of the tote road, staring up at the night sky, and fingered the perfectly sized stone ring on his left hand as he thought about all that had happened this afternoon.

  Or had it really started long before today? Could finding himself on this mountain, married to the woman of his dreams, have actually begun over a year ago, when he’d tapped the key on his computer that had put him in contact with Podly? At the time, he had assumed the sheer magnitude of what he’d just done was what had caused that spark to run up his arm, jolting him to his very core. Only now he wasn’t so sure it had been guilt making his heart pound wildly, but rather the distinct feeling that some tiny, unseen hand had pushed his hovering finger down on that button.

  Was it truly possible that an imp of a girl, with piercing blue eyes and a contagious smile, could already have been working her magic?

  Luke looked over at the tent glowing in the cold dark night, the lantern inside casting the movements of a faint but decidedly feminine silhouette. After today, he had to believe that anything was possible, the undeniable proof being that he had just married the most remarkable, most outrageous, sexiest woman he’d ever met.

  The true miracle here, as far as he was concerned, was that Camry loved him.

  “You must be freezing, Luke. Come in here and let me warm you up.”

  “I’ll be right along,” he called back.

  Luke sucked in a deep breath of cold air, hoping to free the knot that had started forming in his gut during their walk down the mountain. For as focused as he’d been these last few days on actually getting to use one of his condoms . . . well, everything had changed in the maintenance garage, when he had realized that he wasn’t just in lust with Camry: he was in love with her.

  But even in his wildest dreams, he hadn’t expected his honeymoon suite to be a tent, his wedding bed a sleeping bag, or his marriage to be blessed by a . . . wizard.

  And he sure as hell hadn’t expected his bride to be a virgin.

  “Vroom! Vroom!”

  Luke snapped his gaze to the tent.

  “Oh my God, Luke, did you hear that? The Ferris wheel is starting without you! Get in here before you miss the ride!”

  Luke dropped his chin to his chest, the knot in his gut unraveling on a strangled laugh. What was he doing standing out here worrying about his lovemaking living up to Camry’s expectations, when he should be worried about surviving hers?

  He unzipped his jacket and ran to the tent. “You keep your hands away from those controls, lady!” he barked out, dropping to his knees in front of the tent. “It takes an experienced operator who knows what he’s doing to start up that Ferris wheel.” He pulled his sweater and long-john top over his head, then unbuckled his belt and shoved down his pants. “If you push the wrong button, it could take me all night to get it running correctly.”

  “Vroom, vroom,” she purred with a giggle. “Oh! I think I found it, Luke. Quick, get in here and tell me if this is the right button.”

  He had to sit on his jacket to unlace his boots, but instead of undoing them, he ended up with a handful of knots. “Stop playing with the equipment!” He tugged on the mess he’d made of his laces, which only served to tighten them. “That’s my job!”

  When her purr turned to a lusty moan, Luke pulled his multitool out of its pouch and cut the laces on both boots. He shoved off his pants and long-john bottoms, then turned and crawled into the tent. “Do you have any idea what the penalty is for messing with such delicate equip—” Luke snapped his mouth shut on an indrawn breath. “My God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” she whispered back, opening her arms to him.

  But instead of covering her body with his, he settled beside her, propped his head on his hand, and let his gaze travel over her beautiful, naked, inviting body. “Exactly which button did you push that made that wonderful noise?” he asked.

  “The ‘vroom, vroom’?”

  “No, that sweet little lusty moan.”

  “Oh, that noise.” She pointed down at her belly. “You could try pressing here and see what happens.”

  Luke dipped his finger into her belly button, and she gasped loudly.

  “Nope, that’s not it,” he muttered, walking his fingers toward her breasts.

  She immediately stopped him. “Your hands are cold.”

  Luke flopped onto his back and fol
ded his cold hands behind his head. “Then I guess the amusement park’s shut down until they warm up.”

  “Maybe I can hurry the process along,” she murmured, rolling over and crawling on top of him. She walked her warm fingers up his chest to his shoulders, and leaned down and touched her lips to his. “I wonder what buttons you have,” she said into his mouth. “And what sort of noises I can get you to make.”

  She certainly got a groan out of him when she wiggled her hips up the length of his shaft just as her mouth took possession of his. And while she made delicious love to his mouth, Luke tried to think where he’d put his ditty bag.

  He suddenly bolted upright, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from falling. “Dammit, the condoms are in the snowcat!”

  She leaned away to see his eyes. “We don’t really need them . . . do we?”

  “That is one decision we are not making today.”

  She shot him a smug smile. “Then we’ll just have to use the condoms I brought.”

  Luke reared back. “You brought condoms?”

  “Don’t brilliant minds think alike? You’re not the only horny toad in this tent.”

  Luke shuddered. “Let’s not refer to ourselves as toads, okay?”

  “Ohhhh, do that again,” she said on a moan, wiggling intimately against him. “I think you just found one of my buttons.”

  Luke held himself perfectly still. “The condoms.”

  “Under my pillow,” she murmured, pulling his face toward hers so she could attack his mouth again.

  Luke blindly felt behind him for her pillow while she conveniently worked herself into a really good frenzy, kissing him senseless and running her hands over his shoulders, her nails sending shivers coursing through him. But he suddenly stilled again when he found the condoms and counted out three sleeves.

  Three packs per sleeve equaled nine.

  Holy hell, did she think he was Superman?

  He snatched up one of the sleeves, wrestled his mouth from hers, and set her away. She immediately snatched the packs out of his hand, tore one open, then scooted down his legs and started to roll the condom down over him.

  Luke gritted his teeth against the explosion of sensation—both visual and tactile—that shot through every cell in his body as she awkwardly attempted to sheath him. The lantern cast its glow on her beautiful breasts, her movements making her peaked nipples brush his thighs. Her hands caressed his scrotum as her fingers slowly slid down the length of his shaft, and Luke felt beads of sweat break out on his forehead. Which was why just as soon as she was done, he snatched her hands away and rolled on top of her.

  “My turn to drive you insane,” he growled, settling between her thighs.

  She immediately lifted her hips, her hands clutching his shoulders. “Yes, make me insane,” she pleaded with ragged urgency. “I want to feel you inside me, Luke. Deep, where I ache.”

  Her tension was palpable, her desire desperate. Searching for any sign of discomfort, Luke eased himself down until he was poised to enter her, then reached between them and caressed her intimately. She was surprisingly moist and slick and ready for him—except that she seemed to be holding her breath.

  “If you pass out, you’re going to miss the best part,” he said with a forced laugh, feeling somewhat desperate himself. He kissed the tip of her nose, then locked his gaze back onto hers. “Close your eyes and picture yourself opening up for me. Feel me sliding into you this first time, Camry, and savor each little rippling sensation.”

  He lowered more of his weight and pressed into her, feeling her stretch to accommodate him as he brushed his lips over her eyelids, then trailed tiny kisses across her cheek. “Lift your hips,” he said into her ear. “And meet me halfway.”

  He felt her heels press into the sleeping bag beside his thighs, and Luke slipped deeper as she lifted toward him. “Feel yourself surrounding me, making me yours,” he continued soothingly when her breath caught on a gasp.

  He seated himself fully, capturing her sound of distress in his mouth, then immediately stilled, lifting his head to smile into her wondrous eyes. “Hello, wife.”

  She hesitantly smiled back. “H-hello, husband.”

  “Are you okay?”

  She thought about that, then nodded. “I’m okay. S-so that’s it? This is what I’ve been missing all these years?”

  Luke arched a brow. “What exactly were you expecting?”

  “Well,” she said, the corners of her mouth turning up, “I guess I expected fireworks or something. Or at the very least, some moaning and shouting.”

  He raised his other brow. “I heard moaning.”

  Two flags of red appeared in her cheeks. “I meant from you.”

  “Oh. Well, Mrs. Renoir, just as soon as you give me the nod that it’s okay to move, I’ll see if I can’t scare up some moaning and shouting.”

  “So that’s what’s wrong with this Ferris wheel? It’s not moving?” She made a tsking sound. “And you said you were an experienced operator. Um . . . why are you trembling?” she asked, her hands flexing on his shoulders.

  “Because you are so damn hot and tight and beautiful, it’s taking every ounce of strength I possess not to drive into you like a mindless idiot.”

  Her eyes widened, her mouth forming a perfect O.

  Feeling his restraint slipping, Luke forced a smile. “Here’s an idea: Why don’t you move first?”

  The second she tentatively squirmed—which sent rockets of pleasure shooting through him—Luke realized that had been a really bad idea. He dropped his forehead to hers with a groan. “No, don’t move.”

  “I’m sorry. Am I too damn hot and tight and beautiful for you?”

  He snapped his head up to stare down at her, and found her smiling at him.

  “Vroom-vroom, husband,” she whispered.

  The last thread of his restraint broke on a bark of laughter. Luke dropped to his elbows to lace his fingers through her hair, and attacked her mouth as he lifted his hips just enough to push into her again. Swallowing her moan of pleasure, he repeated the action, rising back up so he could watch the play of emotions on her face.

  Her hands moved from his shoulders to his chest, her fingers kneading into him, her encouraging mewls growing demanding. Her breathing turned ragged as he increased his rhythm, and Luke felt her tightening with building energy as she rose up to meet his thrusts. He reached between them and caressed her, watching her eyes glass over as she arched up into his touch.

  “Come with me, Luke!” she cried, her breathing growing more ragged as she moved restlessly, straining toward her release.

  Luke rose to his knees, grasped her hips, and pulled her into his thrusts. He wanted to whisper encouragement but found he was beyond speech, every fiber of his being completely focused on the explosion building inside her.

  He suddenly stilled, holding her high on his thighs, and reached down and caressed her again. Her climax broke with a cry of utter abandon, and she tightened around him in pulsing waves of molten heat.

  His own climax hit hard and fast, tearing a shout from his throat as her wild convulsions pulled him into the maelstrom, his mind emptying of all thoughts save one: that miracles packed one hell of a powerful wallop.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I am so going to kill my sisters,” Cam muttered as soon as she could speak, her racing heart threatening to crack her ribs.

  “Why?”

  “For neglecting to mention how mind-blowing sex really is.”

  Luke rolled toward her and propped his head on his hand. “Mind-blowing, huh?”

  Silently thanking her very wise mother for teaching all her daughters about the delicate subtleties of the male ego, Cam reached over and patted Luke’s heaving chest. “I’m sure it was because I had such an experienced operator at the controls.”

  He grunted agreement, then flopped onto his back. “So long as you realize that it wouldn’t have been mind-blowing with any of your old boyfriends. If they were so dumb the
y didn’t even realize they weren’t having sex, they sure as hell wouldn’t have known which buttons to push, much less when.”

  Cam snuggled against him with a sigh of utter contentment, her amused smile turning into a yawn. “You better get some sleep,” she murmured, resting her cheek on his thumping heart. “Because just as soon as I get my strength back, I’m going to start pushing your buttons.”

  Luke was reluctant to open his eyes, worried that if Camry knew he was awake she might attack him again. The insatiable woman had somehow managed to keep the Ferris wheel running all night, at times so fast that he’d gotten dizzy. She’d also managed to put a healthy dent in her stash of condoms, and Luke decided he was buying himself a red cape and a T-shirt with a large S on the front of it.

  “Are you awake?” she asked from the depths of the sleeping bag, where her cold nose was pressed into his ribs.

  “No.”

  “Is the sun up?”

  “It must be, since I can see my breath.”

  The edge of the sleeping bag folded back, and two sleepy green eyes blinked up at him. “I suppose we’re going to have to get dressed and go rescue Max and Tigger before Roger spoils them rotten.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” Luke said, not moving. “You trudge right up there and save them while I stay here and pack up camp.”

  “Oh no.” She threw off the sleeping bag and immediately started scrambling into her clothes. “You’re coming with me.”

  “He’s your long-lost relative. You should spend some quality time alone with him before we leave,” he said, sitting up and looking around for his long johns. Finally remembering he’d undressed outside, he pulled the sleeping bag back up around his shoulders. “Can you reach outside and get my clothes?” he asked, seeing as how she was already mostly dressed. “The heater must have run out of fuel.”