Christmas Down Under: Six Sexy New Zealand & Australian Christmas Romances

by Rosalind James

She stepped in close, untied the bow tie from around his neck, and he saw her breath coming faster at the contact.

  “Could you take these cufflinks off for me too?” He lifted his wrists and watched as she carefully removed the black onyx links and set them on the desk. “And can you do the shirt studs as well? They’re a bit fiddly.”

  His shirt fell further open with every black ornament she removed and placed on the desk with the cufflinks, and her hands slowed.

  “I want to touch you.” She looked up at him. “While I do this.”

  He smiled. “Funny, that’s what I was just going to suggest.”

  He took a breath as she set her palms on his chest, moved them slowly over him. She removed another stud, ran her hands down his abdomen, slid her arms around him beneath the shirt, reached up to kiss the spot above his collarbone, then the place where his neck met his shoulder.

  “You’re so strong,” she breathed against his skin. “I love how big you are. How you feel.”

  He bent to kiss her again as her hands continued to move on his back. “Better take care of the rest of those,” he told her. “Touch me a bit more while you’re there, too.”

  She pulled out the last stud, looked up at him questioningly as she pulled the shirttail from his black trousers. “Can I take it off?”

  “Hoping you will.” His breath was coming faster now.

  She pulled the white shirt from his shoulders, set it on the chair next to the jacket, then turned back to look at him, explore him with her hands again. Over his shoulders and chest, down his forearms with their shifting ropes of muscle, then, more daringly, down his defined abdomen, following the trail of hair that ran from his navel, dipped into his waistband.

  He closed his hands over hers as they moved to the button of his black trousers. “I’m taking that dress off first,” he said. “I need to see you.”

  She reached for her belt, but he brushed her hands aside again. “Oh, no,” he told her.

  “I’m doing this. Been planning it all night.” He unfastened the wide belt, set it aside, then reached around to pull down the long zipper that ran the length of her back. The sleeveless dress gapped as the zipper parted, revealing more of her breasts, the top of her bra. Black, he realized, his pulse giving another kick. He pulled the dress up over her head, dropped it on the chair. Then stood back and just looked.

  Auburn waves fell over her white shoulders, and that was good. A black lace demibra left the upper curves of her full breasts exposed, and matching black lace bikini panties began at the wide curve of her hips, dipped in a V that pointed where he wanted to go. And that was better, but it wasn’t all. He’d felt the top of a stocking as he’d kissed her in the dark, but that hadn’t prepared him for the sight of the wide band of black lace encircling each white thigh, changing beneath to sheer black nylon that ended in the high heels.

  “Shit,” he breathed.

  “Is it all right?” she asked him tentatively. “Too much?”

  “Oh, yeh,” he groaned. “Too much.” He pulled her to him, began to kiss her as he covered a breast with one hand, brought her hips against him with the other. Dove beneath the waistband of the lace panties, rubbed his hand over her backside, felt her response, her hips rocking into him, her mouth opening wider under his own as his hands moved on her. Her own hands sliding over his shoulders, his back, coming down to his waist now. Then she was stepping back, reaching for his button again. Unzipping him, pulling his pants down his legs.

  “Condom in my pocket,” he muttered. He grabbed for it, then hesitated, not sure what to do with it.

  She took it from him, tucked it into the front of her bra. “Ladies’ pocket,” she smiled.

  He watched her face grow serious again as she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his boxer briefs. “I want to take these off,” she told him. “I need to see you, too. All of you.”

  He nodded, dry-mouthed, as she pulled them down. He stepped out of them and his pants and kicked them aside.

  “Oh.” She reached out to hold him. “So much here, too.” She ran her hand over him, and he closed his eyes. Then opened them again, because the sight of her, dressed like that, doing that, was something he didn’t want to miss.

  “Time for you to lie down for me,” he told her. He walked her backward until her thighs hit the bed behind them, came down with her onto it, reached down to pull off first one black high heel, then the other. He moved over her again, kissing her harder now, a hand going to her breast, thumb tracing the edge of the lace. Down to kiss her neck, her throat. And then the flesh rising above that lace bra. Dipping into the space between her breasts, that shadow she’d been showing all night. All his, now. He pulled the condom packet out, set it aside. Then reached around at last, unfastened the bra and pulled it off, exposed her to his gaze.

  She moved her hands towards her breasts to cover them, uncomfortable with his silence. “Big.”

  He pulled her hands away. “Perfect.”

  * * *

  His hand closed over one breast, stroking and teasing, while his mouth moved on the other, found the nipple and took it between his teeth, and the shock of it went through her, straight to her core. Her breath was coming fast now, and a moan escaped her at the feeling of his mouth and hands on her. She felt her thighs falling open, the electric moment when his hand moved down from a breast to cover her, his hands moving to pull the lace panties off.

  Then he wasn’t touching her anymore. He was sitting up and staring down at her as she lay on the white duvet cover, wearing only the black stockings.

  “Bloody hell,” he said, breathing hard now himself. “You’re like Disneyland. Everything I like best, all there for me. And I want to go on every ride.”

  He ran a hand from her breast down her stomach, then lower, looked into her eyes as he began to stroke her, and she knew he was seeing her eyes glaze over as he continued to touch her. “You’re so gorgeous,” he said. “All I want to do is play here all night. Do everything to you.”

  “Finn,” she breathed. “Please. Please.” Her hips moved towards him, her entire body calling to him. He kissed her breasts again, moved lower, and her legs were parting, because she couldn’t help it. He pulled a pillow from the head of the bed and shoved it under her hips, then put a hand on each thigh and opened her to him.

  “Wait,” she gasped as he began to kiss her. “No. Don’t.” She tried to close her thighs, struggled against him.

  He looked up. “What’s wrong?”

  “You don’t … you can’t want to do that.” She was blushing furiously now, could tell that the color was staining her chest and her face as she struggled onto her elbows.

  He came up to hold her, kiss her mouth again. “Jenna. I want to do that so much. You’re gorgeous, and I want to kiss you, and please you.”

  “You do?”

  “Trust me. If you don’t like it, I’ll stop. I promise.” His mouth went to her breast again, his hand stroking her, and her breath hitched. “Now lie back and let me love you.”

  * * *

  He could tell that she still felt shy, at first. And he could sense the moment when the feelings became too much for her, the pleasure too intense. When she forgot to be shy and was rising into him, calling out now, hands clutching his hair as he took her higher, then higher still. When she felt her entire being centered there, where he was touching her, kissing her. He drove her up until she shattered with a long cry, her back arching as she rose into his mouth again and again.

  She was still trembling with the aftershocks as he grabbed for the condom packet. Her hands went to the stockings. “I should …”

  “Oh, no.” His hands closed over hers, stilled them. “We’re not taking those off. Ever since I saw them, I’ve been wanting to feel them against me.” Still holding her hands, he moved over her, looked down to watch as he slid inside, then up again to see her eyes glaze as he filled her. The heat of it, the sight of her mouth opening, her breath coming hard now. Her hands still in his
, her hips rising to meet him. He kept it slow, a smooth rock, watched her, listened to her responding to him.

  “Wrap your legs around me,” he told her at last. He felt the lace tops of her stockings against his back, and his pleasure ratcheted up another notch as the ride continued, higher and higher now.

  “Harder. Please. Finn. Do it harder. Do that to me.” She was crying out at every stroke, moving against him, and he was lost, no control now, taking all of her. He felt her convulsing around him again, the contractions pulling at him. The sensation was too much, and he felt himself going up and over, calling out hoarsely as he emptied into her.

  He rolled to his back, pulled her on top of him, both of them fighting for breath. “Worth waiting for,” he told her at last. “My God. So worth waiting for.”

  She buried her face in his neck as his hand moved over her, stroking her. “Me too. I never knew it could feel that way. That was … it was amazing. Thank you.”

  He smiled lazily. “My pleasure. As you’re a bit amazing yourself. Happy to help you out that way anytime.”

  The next thing he knew, he was waking from a doze he hadn’t realized he was falling into to hear her say, “Finn. We need to get back. We’ve been gone so long.”

  “Mmm.” He ran his hand over her hair. “And we can’t slip out tonight. Pity. What do you think about coming back to the house with me tomorrow, staying with me there for the week? We’re going to have to do this a fair few times to get through everything I’ve thought of. Unless you had plans you don’t want to change.”

  “Nothing that sounds better than that,” she sighed. “But do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “Do you mean, will we jump each other if we’re alone together? That’s what I’m counting on. At least, I plan to jump you. Whether you reciprocate … well, that’s up to you. But that’s my game plan. Since we’re sharing.”

  “I’m working for you, though,” she said. “This time was one thing, and I’m not sorry. But we shouldn’t do this again.”

  “Why not? You’re on holiday. Nothing to do with working for me. We can go away, if that helps. Because I bloody well need to do it again. And I think you do, too.”

  “And what about after that? I don’t want the kids to know. It wouldn’t be fair to confuse them. It wouldn’t be right, or doing my job. Anyway, sleeping with your kids’ nanny? Isn’t that kind of a classic? And not in a good way.”

  He pulled her down to him to kiss her. “If you’re married to the kids’ mum. Which I’m not. Or looking for a bit extra on the side. That’s not me. We can’t help that this is how we got to know each other. And if you want to stop, you can tell me. We just have to keep the two things separate in our minds. There’s the job, and there’s us. The kids, and me. Separate. Easy as.”

  She laughed reluctantly. “You’re very persuasive. But nothing in front of the kids. Not while I’m staying in the house.”

  “Done,” he agreed. “Now let’s get dressed, get back to this party. You’ve got a just-been-done look about you, and I want to dance with you and watch you, and know I did that. And that I’ll be doing it again tomorrow.”

  “Finn!” she laughed. “If I really look like that, I’m not going down there.”

  “No worries.” He kissed her again, then gave her a slap on the bum. “Long as you only dance with me.”

  * * *

  They stepped off the lift, sedate again now. If Jenna’s hair wasn’t quite as smooth as it had been an hour or two earlier, that was understandable. And if his own shirt was a bit wrinkled, well, that was what the jacket was for, wasn’t it?

  Finn saw a group of his younger cousins standing in the hallway near the ballroom, Sean amongst them, and groaned inwardly.

  “Go on ahead of me,” he told Jenna. “I’ll follow along in a minute or two. Less conspicuous.”

  She nodded, said a pleasant hello as she passed the men, and disappeared into the ballroom. Finn strolled up to his cousins, saw that Sean was even further gone than he’d been at dinner. No surprise.

  “Evening, boys. Enjoying yourselves?”

  “You’re already having a bit of that, eh,” Sean challenged, jerking his head in the direction Jenna had gone. “Should’ve guessed you’d be in there before the rest of us could have a go.”

  Sean never even saw the hand that shot out, pinned him to the wall. “Shut yer gate, ya little scunge,” Finn snarled as his cousin choked beneath his hand.

  “Finn.” Liam had his own hands on Finn now, pulling him off, voice urgent. “Don’t be bloody stupid. It’s not worth it. He’s full as a tick anyway. Pull your head in, mate.”

  Jesse weighed in. “Hurt him, and you’ll be suspended. Not good for your kids.”

  Finn loosened his grip, continued to glare as Sean gulped in lungsful of air. “And that’s the only reason I’m letting you go. That, and because Jenna doesn’t need the publicity either. But I’ve had a gutsful of you. If I hear you saying anything like that again—if I even hear that you said it to somebody else—I’ll be doing you over, and no beg pardons. Suspension or no.”

  Sean nodded, staggering a bit, raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Not saying anything,” he agreed hoarsely.

  “Get this arsehole out of here if you want to keep me out of trouble,” Finn told Jesse and Liam with disgust. “I don’t want to see him again tonight.”

  He could stop Sean from saying anything, he realized as he stalked into the ballroom. But he couldn’t stop what other people would be thinking if they saw him with Jenna the way his family had tonight. They were going to have to be more discreet from here on out. For her sake.

  No Livestock Involved

  “Got everything you need?” Finn asked his mother the following morning. “I’ll have my mobile on. You can call me anytime.”

  “No worries,” Maureen said. “We’re going to have heaps of adventures, aren’t we, kids? Go on, now.” She reached up and pulled her son down from his considerable height for a hug and kiss. “It was good to meet you too, Jenna,” she added, giving Jenna her own kiss. “Have a safe trip, and a good holiday.”

  “Sure you don’t want me to give you a lift to the airport, Jenna?” Sarah asked helpfully, watching with interest from one of the lobby’s big chairs as Finn gave each child a final kiss goodbye. “I thought your flight was leaving after Finn’s. Do you really want to hang about in the airport all that time?”

  “Ah …” Jenna looked to Finn in confusion.

  He straightened up and looked at his sister. “I need to have a bit of a talk with Jenna. This past week was pretty busy. Plans to make.”

  “I see.” Sarah was smiling now. “Plans.” She got up to give Jenna a warm hug. “Enjoy your holiday. Hope you have heaps of adventures yourself. See you next week.”

  Finally, the taxi was pulling away from the hotel. Jenna gave one last wave at the kids out the rear window, then settled back with a sigh. “I have a feeling Sarah knows.”

  “She’s not a gossip,” Finn said. “She’ll tell Kieran, that’s all. But I don’t want to think about my sister just now. I have some other things in mind. Those plans we need to talk about.” She made a face at him, indicating the taxi driver with her head, and Finn laughed. “For now, though, I’ll hold your hand. How would that be? Discreet enough for you?”

  They had to forego even that simple contact when they reached the airport. As always, Finn spent a few minutes having his picture taken with fans of all ages, signing autographs, and generally showing his most pleasant face. Finally, though, they were sitting at a table in another Koru Lounge, having a coffee while they awaited their flight.

  “Now I see why these lounges are necessary,” Jenna said, “after a couple trips with you. It’s not just about the VIP treatment. Does all that happen every time?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll wear a hat and sunnies sometimes. That helps a bit. But I’m tall enough that I’m usually recognized eventually. With me, it’s mostly the young kids, the rugby-mad ones.
I don’t get the mob scene that some of the boys do, specially the backs. Reckon forwards aren’t flash enough. And I’m not one of the lookers.” He smiled at her protest. “No worries. Just as glad not to draw the crowds.”

  “But if they recognize you, you have to pose with them, sign autographs?” she asked. “Believe me, no U.S. athlete would do half as much of that as you do. They charge for autographs, you know. If they sign them at all.”

  He laughed. “Like to see the response to that idea here. You can’t be a tall poppy, specially as a senior player, setting an example for the younger boys. You’re an All Black 24/7, on and off the field. If you aren’t willing to live that way, you aren’t worthy of putting on the black jersey. Because it’s not really about us. It’s all about the jersey.”

  “Except that you’re the one doing all that work,” she pointed out. “It’s not the jersey signing those autographs.”

  “Which I’m well compensated for. You won’t hear me whingeing about my hard luck,” he told her firmly. “Anybody’d want to be where I am. Specially where I am just now.”

  He took her hand again under the table, threaded his fingers through hers. “Not to mention where I’m going to be in a few hours.”

  * * *

  Jenna woke, confused for a moment by the sloping shape of the ceiling overhead. She was in Finn’s bed, she realized as she came to full consciousness, pulled herself up against the massive headboard. Naked. And alone.

  She got out of bed, looked for her clothes. Nothing.

  Downstairs, she remembered at last. They’d finally got up the evening before to go out to the pub for dinner. And he’d started undressing her again at the front door. She flushed at the recollection.

  She was in the passage, headed for her room, when Finn appeared, fully dressed in T-shirt and jeans, at the kitchen doorway. He looked her up and down with a smile. “Wearing my favorite outfit, I see. That’s the thing I appreciate most about you, I’ve decided. How you give me exactly what I want.”

  “Somebody took off my clothes last night,” she reminded him. “And failed to collect them for me this morning when he got up.”