Damien’s voice interrupted their interlude. “You might want to take this home before you really do end up on YouTube.”
Nick kept her close with an arm around her waist even as they both turned to face Damien. He stared at the two of them, his eyes flicking back and forth between them, clearly weighing what he wanted to say.
“Damien—” Nick’s voice was wary, flat. The tension underlying his tone was echoed in the slight tensing of his fingers on her hip.
“That was quite a show up there.” Damien cut him off, his manner surprisingly neutral. “You made a huge ass of yourself.”
Tessa sucked a quick breath. Recalling their conversation this morning in her kitchen, she desperately hoped Damien wasn’t going to make a scene. Maybe they could go somewhere and discuss it like adults.
“The thing is, I would never even think about doing that for any woman.” He glanced at her and offered an apologetic smile. “Not even you, Tessa. And anybody who’d go to such lengths to get a girl…well, you deserve her.”
Damien stuck out his hand, waiting patiently as Nick reacted more slowly, but eventually grasped in a handshake. Tessa let out the breath she was holding, leaving all the tension of the moment in a puddle at her feet.
“If you two want to leave, I’ve got this.” Damien motioned around the room, his gaze lingering on a woman from marketing in a very short dress.
Tessa looked at Nick. If she read his mind correctly, he was already asking the valet to bring his car around.
With barely a backward glance, they bolted for the door.
Chapter Eight
“Hurry, Nick, Hurry.”
Her words spurred him into action and Tessa gasped as he lifted her up and carried her across her living room to stand in the lowlight of the Christmas tree. Sliding down his body, she grabbed his neck, pulling him down for a frantic kiss. Their tongues rubbed together in a sensuous dance as her hands fisted in his shirt and pulled him closer. Nick’s hands were everywhere—her hair, her ass, her breasts—and she desperately arched into his touch. Finally breaking apart to breathe, they stood staring at each other, chests heaving and eyes darkened with desire.
They’d barely been able to keep their hands to themselves the entire drive to her place. It was relatively short, but felt like forever when all they could manage were brief touches and hurried kisses at red lights. Once over the threshold of her apartment, all bets were off. The jumbled heap of her coat, his suit coat, and their shoes were a testament to the impossibility of waiting one minute longer.
Anxious to resume the connection, Tessa ran her shaking hand along his jaw, rubbing her thumb along his parted lips still wet from their kiss. When he drew the thumb into his mouth, swirling and sucking the digit into the hot cavity, she moaned as a rush of heat settled in her core. Desire swamped her senses, making her giddy with the thought of what was to come. With this man, she wanted to be wanton, decadent, selfish, tender, loving, and generous. Sensations so intense they scared her.
But not enough to stop her.
She withdrew her hand and replaced it with her mouth. This kiss was slower, deeper, but so hot her fingers fumbled as they tried to grasp the hem of his dress shirt and pull it over his head.
Nick reached down to help her. “Here, let me.”
She protested softly against his mouth. “But I want to undress you.”
“You can do it next time.”
Next time? Her brain couldn’t process what was happening now. Tessa was in such pleasure overload she wasn’t sure if she would survive. When Nick pulled off his shirt and she got a look at the broad, muscled expanse of his chest, she decided she didn’t care if she survived this or not. This was a hell of way to go.
“Now you.” His voice was gravelly as he gestured to her clothes.
On shaky legs, Tessa stepped away from him and unzipped her dress. It slid down her skin, pooling at her feet and leaving her in nothing but a silk thong. She licked her lips, scared she wouldn’t live up to his expectations. This had been so long in the wanting, and men weren’t always happy when the fantasy didn’t live up to the reality. Nick groaned low in his chest—a sound of visceral appreciation—and her tension melted away.
His reaction aroused her inner vixen. Reaching up with one hand, she lightly traced her belly, her breast, and back down again, stopping only when she reached the top of the tiny scrap of silk. His hungry eyes had followed the path of her touch, and she literally ached for him to touch every inch of her, and then, when he was done, to start all over again.
“Do you like what you see?”
“Tessa, you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” His voice was low and hoarse as he took a step closer towards her. “I need to touch you.”
She knew the feeling.
She lifted her hand to stop his progress. “I need to see more of you.”
He let out a huff of frustration, but stepped no closer as he lifted hands to the waistband of his pants and unzipped them, slowly exposing to her hungry gaze the light trail of dark blond hair leading to the hardness pressing against the confines of his pants. With a final push and rustle of fabric, Nick’s cock rose up long and thick against his belly.
“Nick. You’re beautiful.”
To her surprise, Nick blushed at her words and her heart caught at his display of vulnerability. This modest, brilliant, kind, sexy man was all hers. Lucky girl.
Wrapping her in his arms, Nick lowered her gently to the floor, their bodies cushioned by the rug and blankets from the sofa. It seemed so right to be together like this, acknowledging the gift they were to each other.
In the glow of the Christmas lights, she watched the display of emotions flickering across his face at the sight of her—her body open and waiting for him. His obvious approval excited her, aroused her, and caused her body to shift with pent-up need.
She took the moment to drink in her fill of him as well. Firm muscles and long limbs encased in smooth skin covered with a smattering of hair on his chest, which arrowed down to a narrow trail and ended in a darker bush around his cock. He literally took her breath away.
“Wow.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Nick’s heat washed over her as he straddled her body, stroking his hands up her inner thighs and over the thong covering her curls. Tessa arched up towards his touch, desperate to feel him press against her, into her. He stroked her through the silk covering and groaned when he finally delved under the fabric to test her heat and wetness.
“Oh, Tessa. You’re going to kill me.”
More. More. She needed to feel that she was desirable, beautiful, wanted—all the things burning in Nick’s eyes at this moment. His hands shook as he skimmed them over her heated skin and she felt powerful, like a goddess. She’d rocked him to the core.
What a turn on.
Tessa squirmed impatiently as Nick trailed his gaze up from the juncture of her thighs over her body and breasts. When his eyes at last met hers, she crooked a finger at him and beckoned him. “Come here.”
At her invitation, his eyes took on a glint so predatory, so heated that he looked as if he was going to eat her alive.
She really hoped so.
He crawled up her body and caught her mouth in a tongue-tangling kiss that mimicked what he would soon be doing with other parts of his anatomy. His mouth drifted over her skin, licking, sucking, and nipping each curve and crevice. Her hands wove through his hair as she alternately tugged and pulled to direct his mouth to where she most desperately needed it. When he finally sucked on her nipple, she bolted upwards and the sound of pure, unadulterated need came out of her. He stopped and looked up at her, and her only thought was panic that he would stop.
“Don’t stop. Whatever you do, don’t stop.”
With a smile, Nick lowered his head and nipped her breast, quickly following with a soothing kiss. He murmured against her skin, “I won’t stop until you come for me.”
Tessa writhed as he la
pped and suckled her breasts, worrying the hard peaks with his tongue and fingers until she thought she would go out of her mind. It was different when you loved someone, because she’d never felt like this before.
Nick caressed her skin, his fingers dragging across her belly and under the top of her thong, not stopping until his fingers were buried in the wet, slick center of her sex. She bucked upwards, overwhelmed by how easily he manipulated her body, knowing when to stroke and when to back off. Engrossed in the feel of his mouth on her breasts and fingers inside her, Tessa was lost in their passion.
Suddenly, he stopped and leaned his forehead against hers, panting with his own desire. “Tessa, love, I need you.” He feathered kisses across her cheek as his fingers resumed their magic, pumping sleekly in and out of her body.
She dug her fingernails into his shoulders and ground her sex against his hand. “Nick. I need you too. Now. Please.”
Nick grabbed his pants, quickly put on the condom from his pocket and then settled between her thighs. She felt the head of his cock against her entrance and lifted her hips until he was perfectly positioned to take what she offered. His face grew taut, as he gently eased his way inside her, inch by inch, pausing to allow her to grow accustomed to his intrusion and size.
More. More. He was long and thick, and she loved every thrust that transformed the initial discomfort into pure pleasure. Desperate to have more of him, she widened her thighs and moved underneath him, urging him deeper until he was buried to the hilt.
His eyes fluttered shut as he groaned. “That’s so good.”
Moaning in agreement, she tightened her legs around his waist as he locked their gazes and began to move inside her. Nick withdrew from her heat and then entered again, going a little deeper each time. She arched and strained towards him, angling her body to accept all of him. Sweat glistened and ran down heated skin as they picked up the tempo and found a rhythm all their own.
She flashed hot then cold—tense then limp—as the first flutter of her climax rippled up her spine. She lifted her legs higher and wider, offering him all she had to give. Faster, harder, and deeper, he took her until the sounds in the back of her throat accented each pulse of her need. Nick groaned and leaned down to capture her cries in his mouth.
He scooped her up in his arms as he slowed his thrusts and kissed her deeply. Releasing her mouth, he stared into her eyes. “I love you, Tessa. I need you so much.”
His tenderness flowed through her but instead of dampening the frantic passion of moments before, it only served to deepen it, make it flame hotter.
“I love you too.”
Reaching down between them, he found the place just above where their straining bodies were joined and pressed, rolled, and pulsed her clit until her walls clutched and contracted around him. She threw her head back, crying out as she flew apart, losing herself in the pleasure. Feeling his body tense above her, Tessa opened her eyes in time to watch him throw his head back and follow her into the abyss.
Chapter Nine
Unwilling to let this moment end, Nick remained inside Tessa, milking every last bit of pleasure that rolled through them both. Coming down from the amazing high, Nick eased his weight off her body and disposed of the condom before drawing her tightly against him, stroking her back in a lazy caress until their breathing slowed to a normal pace.
Leaning over, he cradled her face in his hands and kissed her with all of the passion remaining after their lovemaking. Her mouth opened under his pressure, and he took the invitation to sweep in and taste the sweetness that was uniquely Tessa. She was a treasure, a gift, and his chest clenched with the knowledge that she’d given him not only her body but her love as well.
Breaking off the kiss, Nick watched her until she opened her eyes. She looked sated, happy, and—thank you, Santa Claus—in love.
She laughed and swatted him lightly on the chest. “You’re pleased with yourself, aren’t you?”
“I think any man who puts that look on the face of the woman he loves is entitled to be a bit smug.”
Tessa’s smile faded, her hand smoothing back the hair from his eyes. “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
He kissed her thoroughly, deeply, only ending it when they were both out of breath.
“I love you. Always have. Always will.”
“Always have?”
“I was an ass to ever let you go in college. If I’d had any idea how many years would pass between now and that one kiss in the library, I would have let you know how I felt.”
Tessa stroked his lower lip, her fingers soft and warm. Her face was so open, he knew what she was going to say before she said it.
“I could have asked you. It was my fault too.” She shook her head, regret casting shadows in her eyes and sucking some of the blush out of her cheeks. “I had feelings for you and I ignored them. We wasted so much time.”
“We were kids. I wasn’t ready to feel what I did. I couldn’t handle what it meant.” Nick knew what he wanted to tell her—ask her—but debated whether it was the right moment.
If there were a book of rules on love, it would probably say that this was too soon. It would tell him to wait until they’d been together X number of months before moving in together, and Y number of years before thinking of marriage. And he was damn sure it wouldn’t have told him to tell her he loved her in a crowded room before they’d even gone on their first date.
Screw the rules.
“Tessa, wait right here.” Sitting up, Nick pulled her with him and indicated that she remain seated in front of the tree.
He located his suit jacket on the floor by the door. Extracting the small box, he rolled it between his fingers, thinking that the importance of the contents was vastly out of proportion to the actual heft of the item. He held the future in his hands and it weighed next to nothing.
Turning back to Tessa, he momentarily stalled in his progress when he took full view of her sitting next to the tree with her tousled blond curls cascading over her skin and reflecting the fire of the lights. She was his gift, his joy, and he wanted her to be his forever.
Crossing the room quickly, he knelt in front of her, lifted one of her hands, and placed the box in the open palm. Tessa gasped, the sound loud in the hush of the night. She stared at it her chest rising rapidly in time with her elevated heartbeat.
“I’m sure you figured out by now that I’m your Secret Santa. I loved buying you those gifts. But there’s one last gift in the song, and I want to give it to you even though logic tells me it’s way too soon.”
He paused and her gaze transferred from the box to his face. She looked shaken, a little pale, but nothing in her expression told him to stop.
“I don’t know anyone who knows me as well as you do. You tolerate my charts and lists and processes. You have equally appalling taste in TV, and the most generous heart. I think I know everything about you and then you surprise me every single day.”
Nick reached out and took the box from her grasp, opening it with a little click. The ring was a single solitaire. The sides of the band were etched with delicate designs that a local artisan had done. It had spoken to him the minute he’d seen it in the case. Its beauty, grace, and artistic flair were quintessential Tessa.
“I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I want to lie down with you at night, and wake up with you in the morning. I want to spend all of my days with you as my best friend, my lover, and my wife.”
His fingers were shaking as he pulled the ring out of the box. Nick took a deep breath to steady his voice as he reached for her hand. It was warm, fitting in his own as the ring slid down her finger—a perfect fit. The vision of her wearing his forever on her slender digit was overwhelming, the emotion of the moment threatening to spill out of his eyes and over his cheeks.
“Tessa, will you marry me?”
Later, to their kids and grandkids, Nick would recount to them how she never hesitated in her answer, the love in her eyes s
hining fierce and true. Her voice, unlike his own, was steady as a rock.
“Yes.”
This kiss was the sweetest yet, filled with passion, desire, love, and the promise of a lifetime of Christmases to come. He savored her taste, the soft give of her curves under his hands, the silky whisper of her curls against his skin. The kiss ended with her sitting in his lap, her bottom pressing against the erection clearly demonstrating where he wanted this to lead. Maybe they’d make it to the bed this time.
Tessa nuzzled into his body, her soft lips tracing a path of fire on his neck and jawline. Her journey was broken by a long sigh and a giggle as she settled against him. “Best. Secret. Santa. Ever.”
“You think?” Nick grinned against her hair as he recalled the fun he had thinking of and buying those gifts. “I couldn’t swing the platinum mine in verse four. Sorry.”
“Hmm, that’s okay.” Tessa swept her hands over his chest. He shivered at the tender caress until she playfully poked his side. “I’m disappointed you didn’t buy me the house, though.”
“Well…” Nick hesitated to confess what he’d been thinking. Damien had suggested a new car, but Nick had other plans for his bonus money.
“Nick! You didn’t!”
“No.” He grinned in spite of the flush of embarrassment creeping along under his skin. He wondered what Tessa would think when she heard his news. “I looked at a house, though. It’s just outside of the city with mountain views and a place for your studio. It was only an id—”
Tessa cut him off with another kiss, this one tender, wet, and full of gentle promise. “I love that idea.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Nick stared down at the woman in his arms, remembering how long it had taken them to get to this place. He’d screwed up years ago, but maybe it was for the best. The wanting made this so much sweeter.
“Merry Christmas, my love,” he whispered against her skin, savoring the sweet warmth of her.
“Merry Christmas, Santa…baby.”
Turn the page for a sneak peek at Robin Covington’s newest Indulgence romance, His Convenient Husband!
Secret Santa Baby Page 4