Navy Christmas (Whidbey Island)

by Geri Krotow

  “Paul told me you didn’t have to give my family any of Dottie’s possessions. She left the contents of the house to you.”

  Serena smiled, her gaze on the Christmas tree. The twinkling lights were reflected in her eyes and they made her long hair shimmer.

  “I believe in the spirit of the law as well as the letter of the law, Jonas. Dottie’s intention was to leave Pepé and me the house, yes, but I don’t think she thought out all the repercussions. She probably would have if she’d more time, if her handwritten notes had made it to Paul before she passed away. He would’ve suggested she allow everyone to take what they wanted. After all, Pepé and I don’t have any memories associated with Dottie’s things.”

  “No, your connection is the house. But still, you could have refused. My family wasn’t overly friendly to you at the start—I’m sure it would have been easier to say no and to keep us all at arm’s length.”

  The lines between her brows deepened and she tilted her head.

  “They weren’t unfriendly, Jonas. Once it was clear who Dottie’s murderer was, they did nothing but support Pepé and me, as much as could be expected when everyone was hit with the shock and grief of her passing.”

  Jonas cringed inside. Of course his family had been nice to her. None of them had hoped, or planned, to live here, in this house, for the rest of their lives. Only he did.

  And only he had been an ass to Serena.

  “I owe you an apology. I’ve been a complete jerk about the house.” This came from his gut, deep inside. He wasn’t playing her to gain leverage, to manipulate her into selling the house.

  The realization stunned him.

  “How can I blame you? I’d have done the same thing. Except...” Her lips curved in an impish smile and it was all he could do to keep to his side of the sofa.

  “Except what?”

  She gave him a slow, seductive smile. “If I were you, I would have contested the will. At the very least, I would’ve kept you from moving in here. Possession being nine-tenths of the law, and all.”

  “Possession?”

  Her tongue came out to lick her lips.

  “I’m not waiting any longer, Serena.”

  “Don’t.”

  She met him halfway and he threaded his fingers through her long, long hair as he grasped the back of her head. Her lips parted immediately on contact with his and Jonas went after the tongue that had flirted with him moments earlier. “Make love to me, Jonas.”

  “Pepé’s...”

  “Asleep. We can stay out here or go to my room. Your choice, sailor.”

  Her words, whispered next to his ear, gave him all the incentive he’d dreamed of.

  “Serena.” He leaned back and took her with him, loving the weight of her, the way she pressed her hips into his. She was moving against him in blatant need, until they were both panting like two Olympic runners.

  Jonas made quick work of her bra, unsnapping the back and reveling in the feel of her breasts in his palms.

  Thump.

  Thump, thump.

  Serena went still, turning her face toward the front door.

  “Did you hear that?”

  Yes, damn it, he had.

  “Get up, honey,” Jonas muttered. “Let me go check it out.”

  No sooner had Serena raised herself away from him, sitting back against the couch, than several loud knocks sounded on the door, followed by the ringing of the doorbell.

  “Impatient guest you have.” He tried to sound calm and casual because he saw the immediate panic in her eyes. It was too soon, too close to the night of the intruder.

  “Go into the kitchen and wait for me, Serena. I’ll answer this.”

  “But, Jonas, it could be another addict.”

  “All the more reason for you to go into the other room. Better yet, take your cell and go into Pepé’s room. Call the cops if I don’t come back immediately after I answer the door.”

  She didn’t hesitate and within thirty seconds had run upstairs.

  The doorbell rang again and the sound of feet shuffling on the porch indicated that the visitor wasn’t going away.

  Jonas looked around. There was a poker lying next to the woodstove. He grabbed it and held it behind the door as he opened it.

  A tall, angry man stood face-to-face with him.

  “Where the hell’s Serena?”

  * * *

  “YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED, mi hermano. You scared the wits out of us, coming here in the dark and pounding on the door like a loco.” Serena poured more coffee for her brother, Armando, while Jonas sat and watched the family reunion.

  Her half brother was lucky Jonas hadn’t shoved the poker...

  “I wanted to surprise Pepé. When my meeting in Seattle ended early, I hopped in my rental car and drove up. I had no idea getting to this island would take so long. And driving onto a ferry—that’s a new one for me.”

  He had the same dark eyes and hair as Serena, but lacked the taller build she’d obviously inherited from Uncle Todd.

  “How many siblings do you have, again?”

  Both Serena and Armando turned toward him as if they’d forgotten he was there. He supposed they had; they hadn’t seen each other in months, and it was clear that Serena’s family was as close as his.

  “There are three besides us. Me, the oldest, and then Armando and his twin, Andreo, and two younger sisters, Silvia and Susana.” Serena spoke, her expression apologetic.

  Jonas knew it wasn’t just about not telling him her family details. She’d wanted to make love, too.

  He couldn’t think about what had almost happened on the sofa or he’d have to stay seated at the table for far too long.

  “So you’re the guy who wants to take my sister’s and nephew’s house away from them?”

  “Armando!” Serena batted at Armando’s forearm, clearly annoyed.

  “Hey, I’m only asking for the facts, mi hermana. What kind of brother would I be to let someone threaten your well-being?”

  “Cut it out, Armando. You mean to tell me you support us living out here?”

  “I want you to be happy. You’d never be happy back in our tiny town. Mama and you would be at each other’s throats in two seconds flat. Plus the entire town would expect free legal advice.”

  Serena laughed, throwing her head back in a way that made Jonas long to kiss the hollow of her throat. “True,” she said. “But what can you expect—they all more or less raised me since Mama had me as a teen.”

  “Yes, she was married to Dad by the time we came along. We’ve all stayed.” Armando winked at Jonas. “Serena’s the black sheep. She left us.”

  Serena rolled her eyes but Jonas saw the affection she had for her brother.

  “How’s your love life, brother?”

  “Hey, not in front of your novio, sister.”

  “He’s not my—”

  Jonas didn’t speak Spanish but he knew the blush on Serena’s face meant her brother had hit pay dirt.

  “Novio?”

  “It means boyfriend or sweetheart.” Serena wouldn’t meet his eyes as she interpreted.

  “It can mean fiancé, too.” Armando grinned slyly. “I’m sorry if I broke up your time together, Serena.”

  He turned to Jonas. “This is an awkward way to meet but I trust we’ll become good friends.”

  “Sure.” Jonas wasn’t about to get cozy with Serena’s family. He was having a hard enough time keeping her from becoming part of his family.

  If he was going to get physically involved with her, he had to be more careful...

  A feeling of inevitability washed over him as he watched Serena laugh at another of Armando’s jokes. It might be too late.

  Was he falling for Serena? More than phy
sically?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Whidbey Island

  Five days before Christmas

  SERENA FOUND JONAS’S house easily enough. His address was written on a sticky note in her kitchen, where he’d left it when he’d gone home after the intruder incident.

  Armando had scared the wits out of her last night! She put her car in Park and set the brake. Since it was Saturday, she was betting that Jonas was home, and from the looks of the truck in his driveway, he was.

  She could still back out. Start the car, throw it in Reverse and return home.

  Armando had offered to take Pepé out for brunch, where Emily was going to meet up with them and then go to the movies. Serena had canceled her plans with Emily, but since Emily had become part of her family, Pepé’s family, it was good to have Armando meet her. He’d be able to give her mother a positive report—that Serena and Pepé were happy in Washington State and that it wasn’t a temporary arrangement. Maybe Juanita would find her way out here for a visit at some point.

  She flipped down her visor and took a last look at herself. Would her eagerness appear obvious to Jonas? Why didn’t she just hang a sign around her neck with Sexually Needy emblazoned on it?

  Only after she rang Jonas’s doorbell did she wonder if maybe he wouldn’t want her at his place, uninvited.

  She’d been about to make love to the man last night and had never even seen his home. Maybe she was a little too desperate.

  Or maybe she was thinking of Jonas as more than a fling.

  Her thoughts slammed to a stop the minute the door opened and tall, sexy, sweaty Jonas looked her over from head to toe.

  She’d dressed with care but not so much that her brother would make wisecracks. She’d unbuttoned her blouse to her cleavage in the car, and she’d worn her high-heeled boots. Jonas’s hair was damp at the ends, his workout shirt stretched taut over his chest. He was breathing hard, his lips spread wide in a wicked grin. “Are you selling cookies?”

  “Something like that. May I come in?”

  Jonas glanced over at her SUV. “Where’s Pepé?”

  “With Armando and Emily.” Was he going to make her stand out here, feeling like a desperate fool?

  “For how long?”

  “The afternoon.”

  His eyes blazed with comprehension. In one movement Jonas hauled her into his foyer, shut the front door and had her up against it, his lips locked on hers.

  Serena could have asked him to shower first, or to get her a glass of water, or to see his house.

  Instead, she closed her eyes, wrapped her leg around his hip and kissed him back.

  Whether the shivers he sent down her body were from the way he stroked her waist, then moved around to her buttocks, pressing her closer to his erection, or from the thrill of finally letting go of all her reservations, she didn’t know.

  She didn’t care about anything except getting Jonas to keep kissing her, stroking her, arousing her to the heated point she hadn’t felt in forever.

  Maybe ever.

  The realization made her pull back from his kiss and look into his eyes. Jonas breathed in and out for a few heartbeats before he opened his eyes and revealed how much he wanted her.

  “It’s not always like this, Jonas.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “What we have here, it’s—”

  “Not something that has to be put into words, Serena.” He kissed her again and she yielded to the exhilarating sensation of being in his arms. He was the man she found the most attractive since her husband.

  The most exciting since she was a teenager and kisses were new.

  “Come with me.” Jonas stepped back, holding her hand. He waited until she smiled at him before he led her into his home.

  She got a glimpse of a gas insert fireplace, a kitchen done in warm cherry wood, an open laptop. A water bottle, almost empty, on the kitchen’s black granite counter.

  Stairs up to another hallway—into Jonas’s bedroom.

  Serena paused. “Wow.”

  “Did you think I slept in a twin bed?”

  She gaped at the massive king-size bed with four pillars that would fit as well in a castle as in Jonas’s very masculine room.

  “Where did you get this?”

  He shrugged out of his shirt. The view of his chest, sprinkled with blond hair the same shade as that on his head, made her forget her question about where his furniture came from.

  “Antique market, Belgium. Can we talk about it later?” He was next to her, kissing her, undressing her.

  “Sure. Oh. My.”

  His caresses kept her warm as he moved on to her blouse, her jeans.

  “I need a shower, and you’re coming in with me, Serena.”

  “Yes.”

  She stood in front of him in her laciest bra, the one she’d bought online a few weeks ago. When she’d realized her libido had awakened from its long slumber.

  When she’d admitted to herself that she wanted to go to bed with Jonas.

  “I like this.” Jonas had two fingers under the strip of lace that covered her hip, holding her thong in place. He gently tugged on the elastic band until her breasts were crushed against his chest.

  “You’re beautiful, Serena.”

  “Thank you.” Shyness tried to come up and strangle her arousal, but she fought it. Jonas made her feel beautiful, whole, sexy.

  Jonas made her feel.

  He shucked off his workout shorts and stood in his briefs in front of her.

  Serena giggled at the Christmas cartoon characters printed on the cotton fabric.

  “Hey, they’re my workout underwear! If I’d known you were stopping by I wouldn’t have worn anything but a towel to the door.”

  “Merry Christmas, indeed.” She nipped at his lower lip, her hands reaching for his erection.

  Jonas’s hands covered hers and held her still. She groaned in protest. Feeling Jonas react to her was the biggest thrill she’d had in a long time.

  “Let’s take it slow, or this will be over before it starts. I’ve dreamed of this for so long.”

  He unhooked her bra and pushed her straps off, sucking in his breath when her breasts spilled out of the red lace cups.

  “I’ve always been, um, endowed.”

  “Oh, baby, you’re perfect.” He cupped both breasts reverently and bent to kiss one nipple, then the other. When he sucked on one of them Serena’s knees buckled and she leaned against him.

  “What was that about taking it slow?”

  Jonas laughed and she felt the reverberations as they shook his upper body.

  Before she knew what he’d planned, Jonas bent down and hoisted her over his shoulder, holding her steady with a strategically placed hand on her bottom.

  “Jonas!” She clung to his waist, his smooth back her view. And his ass...

  He set her down on a soft rug in a bathroom with a sleek, modern shower, then turned on the faucets.

  “Did the house come like this?”

  “No, I did it. I like to work with my hands.”

  He demonstrated his talent as he led her into the dark brown shower stall. There were at least eight or twelve—who could count when Jonas was about to make love to her—faucet heads, streaming perfectly warmed water all over her body.

  It was the most sensual shower Serena had ever experienced.

  “Come here.”

  Body against body, Jonas leaned down and kissed her, hard. Serena held the back of his neck and kissed him with all the sexual frustration he’d created in her these past few weeks. Since the day she’d walked in on his conversation with Doc Franklin at the clinic.

  His erection was against her and she had a moment of clarity.

  “Jonas, condoms, w
e need condoms.”

  He reached up to a shelf above her head.

  “I brought them in with us.” His smile was positively wicked, the water running down his head and over his muscled shoulders as though he was the model for a military recruiting poster.

  “Well, you are a health professional.”

  “I am.”

  His hands were on her breasts and, with the protection issue addressed, Serena gave in to the passion Jonas lit inside her. She didn’t know if she needed his tongue or his hands on her more—both evoked a simmering sexuality whenever he was near.

  “I don’t want to wait for the bed, Serena, but I want you to be comfortable.”

  He’d stopped, caring about her comfort.

  “Take me now.”

  “Put this on me.” He handed her the condom packet and she willed her hands to stop shaking.

  “My hands are too wet.”

  Jonas laughed. “Here.”

  He gave her a washcloth and she dried her fingers quickly before tearing open the package. When she slid the condom over his erection, Serena felt a surge of possessiveness. As if she was staking her claim on him.

  He lifted her chin with his finger and looked down at her. “I’ve wanted this for a long time, Serena.”

  “Me, too. Please, Jonas. Now.”

  He moved her against the shower wall and, bending his knees, entered her in one slow, savory motion.

  Serena panted with her wanting, her desire. The initial sensations of a climax began and she couldn’t hang on. “Look at me, Serena.” He stroked in and out, the sensation obliterating her ability to think clearly.

  She stared into his sea-blue eyes and let him watch her as she started to come. Only when she reached her full climax did she close her eyes and cry out, her head against the shower wall, water running down her body. The impact of his lovemaking on her sent wave after wave of sensation through her.

  Jonas finally surrendered to his own climax, his hoarse shout echoing in the tiled stall.

  Serena luxuriated in the weight of him against her, their naked bodies connected as intimately as possible, leaning against the hard wall of the shower. This was how life was meant to be lived.