Christmas Confidential

by Marilyn Pappano; Linda Conrad

  With his body throbbing, he took the kiss deeper. Her mouth was hungry. Hot. Wet. Wild. He swept his tongue inside her parted lips and tasted everything that reminded him of home.

  Lordy mercy, but the woman could kiss. The deep humming groan, coming from low in her throat, told him she was every bit as turned on as he was. It took him back to the last time he and Alicia had blow-your-socks-off sex. Fantastic. Addictive. He remembered and his body responded as it always had. And he craved more—and more.

  His groans matched hers as he pulled back slightly and filled his hands with her breasts. “Alicia, darlin’.”

  She let out a small sob as she gave his chest a halfhearted shove. “This can’t happen. Please.”

  He dropped his hands and shook his head to come out of the haze. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have...” Standing, he hung his head and tried to douse the flames.

  The two women weren’t that much alike. But this one turned him on, and that was dangerous.

  “No. It was mostly my fault,” she said wearily. “I’m just so tired—and scared. I think I’m going out of my mind.”

  What was the matter with him? Here he was, taking advantage of a vulnerable woman in a tough situation. It rocked him to think he’d become a bully of the worst sort. He could barely stand to look at her now.

  “Lie back and take that rest,” he said in the gentlest voice he could find, though it still sounded strangled. “We’ll finish our talk and look for a way out of here in a few hours. After the competition on the slopes. In the meantime, you might as well try to sleep.”

  “I don’t think I can,” she argued. But she leaned against the pillows and closed her eyes.

  He reached for a blanket and pulled it up over her legs. “There you go. I’ll keep watch so you don’t have to worry. Just close your eyes and relax.”

  He moved around to the other side of the bed. “I’ll be right here.” Sitting on the bed, he kicked off his boots and rested his back against the headboard. “I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

  Stupid. He should’ve known from the beginning this was not his deceased wife. In the entire time they’d been together, Alicia had never once shown any sign of fear or vulnerability. Her take-no-guff-from-anyone attitude was something that had made him curious, but he’d just assumed it came from being without a family for so long.

  Elana was different. She reminded him of himself as a young boy. Back then he’d felt like an outcast even with a large family—lost when his mother had been murdered and his father wrongly sent to prison for the crime. His two older brothers, both also young, had been so busy trying to hold things together and support a ranch and six kids that they’d ended up ignoring the emotional needs of the rest of them.

  He glanced over, admiring Elana’s peaceful face while she slept. So beautiful in the warm glow of light streaming through the window. Underneath her vulnerable exterior, had she come from the same place he’d come from?

  Had Elana broken free of her family in the same too-forceful manner as he had on that long ago day when the bullies at school taunted him one time too many? He’d been so vulnerable back then, timid and alone while rumors spread like wildfire during the trial, giving the other kids lots of fodder to tease. According to rumor, his father had supposedly run the ranch into the ground. More, the word was he’d been cheating on his wife until the day she caught him in the act. None of it was true, but every word was like barbed wire to a young Gage’s injured heart.

  He’d remained silent through everything. Not wanting to burden his brothers any more than they already were. He was

  the good boy. The one that never gave anyone any trouble.

  But he remembered the final straw like it was yesterday. His rolling emotions, the fear of being alone and the unreleased grief from losing his beloved mother, broke free that day and he’d sprung at the boy who’d been the worst bully of them all. No one could separate them and the fight turned ugly. When it was done, the other boy, bloodied and broken, had to be taken to the hospital. Gage was expelled.

  That was when his aunt June came back to Chance and moved in. She tutored him for the remainder of the year and then convinced the principal that he’d repented and changed so he could enter high school the next year.

  Meanwhile, his father was sentenced to life in prison, a younger brother died in a ranching accident, his sister had been kidnapped and his oldest brother had joined the army. But Gage never felt shy or vulnerable again. Breaking free had made him tough. And he’d made the decision that seeking justice and protection for others less fortunate would be his life’s mission.

  Elana moaned in her sleep and he felt her fear like a living thing. Leaning over, he pulled her close to his chest and let his body heat along with his solemn promise of protection seep into her even as she slept. He would never let any harm come to her.

  She might not be Alicia, but she was a woman in trouble. That’s all he needed to know.

  * * *

  Elana’s subconscious mind lifted her back to a Christmas from long ago on the wings of a dream.

  The Austin night was as cold as the day had been long. She’d met Gage for a late night supper in a quaint bistro near the river.

  “How was your day?” he asked as he reached for her hand across the table.

  “Boring without you.” That was the truth but the lies tripped easily off her tongue for the rest of the conversation. “I toured the state capitol, did a little shopping and walked across the university’s campus.

  “How was your day?” she asked brightly. “How’s the case coming?”

  Gage grinned at her and began the retelling of how he’d almost wrapped up his case by getting a line on the man who’d scammed an elderly woman out of her retirement account. Elana sipped her wine and nodded in all the appropriate places.

  She was almost ready. After carefully laying down the clues for her husband to find so he could crack his case and put the Russian mobster responsible for this scam behind bars, she’d spent the rest of the day making her own plans.

  Out of time, she knew she couldn’t spend even one more wonderful night with Gage. Meeting him here in public was pushing the envelope, but she’d had to see him. Had to set up the scenario for her accidental drowning scene.

  “You are so beautiful,” he murmured as he leaned over and seared a kiss across her lips. “I can’t wait to get you back to the hotel room.”

  How was she ever going to do without him? He was the most sensual man she’d ever met. And the most plainly decent human being she knew. The last year with him had changed her. Made her wish she could be the person he thought she was.

  Because of his influence, she’d even changed her ways enough to secretly help solve his investigations. After being one of them, she understood the Texas underworld crowd and knew where to point the clues, something she’d never thought she would do.

  But what if there were no lies between them? How would their lives be different then?

  Sighing, she smiled at him across the table while thinking that it was just as well she’d begun their relationship with lies. Gage had a strong knight-in-shining-armor complex and would want to protect her instead of running from the danger. Silly man. Regular people just aren’t capable of standing their ground against an all-powerful and unseen enemy.

  This morning that point had been brought home to her with a bang. As she’d carefully planted the last clue to lead Gage and the police to their man, she’d been spotted by the very Russians she left behind long before she met and married him.

  She was well aware of what being seen by those creeps meant. It was time to go again. Start another new life. She’d thought of going to Gage for help, but she couldn’t let him get involved in her danger or he might die trying to save her. So she’d come up with a plan to die first.

  But she was still devastated about not having him in her life after tonight. It hurt just to consider living without him. Hurt so badly that she couldn’t think about it right now.<
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  Instead, while they ate their light bistro meal, she let her mind take her back to last night. The last night they would ever have together.

  He’d ordered room service so they could spend more time in bed, and that had been fine by her. Being with Gage was all the sustenance her body needed. She’d thought she might starve without him.

  “Here you go, darlin’.” He fed her the last of a chocolate chip cookie while nuzzling her neck.

  Man sure knew how to get her back into bed.

  Hooking her arms around his neck, she pressed her hips against his and rocked. Which was all the invitation he needed. He raised his head and kissed her, with those amazing lips of his blazing hot trails and tasting twice as spicy as their meal.

  The fireworks between them really began as he held the kiss and lifted her off her feet, taking them both back to bed. She couldn’t contain a giggle as he fumbled around, stripping the robe off her shoulders and shoving his boxers down and out of the sheets.

  But the laughter soon died in her throat, the victim of her humming moans of pleasure. His clever fingers danced along her body while his mouth came down on the tight peak of a nipple—and she was a goner.

  Entwining her legs with his, she got as close as she could but it was still not close enough. “Please, now,” she said in a breathless voice she barely recognized. “We’ll do all the other stuff—but later. Right now I need...”

  “Elana, wake up, darlin’.”

  Gage’s insistent demand irritated her. Before anything else happened, she wanted to go on with what they were...

  “What?” Opening her eyes, she saw him hovering over her trying to untangle their bodies, and realized where she was. And who she was—Elana Kelly. “Oh, I was dreaming. But...” She clutched at his shoulders trying to hold him to her.

  “It’s time to get up,” he mumbled as he tried backing away from her arms. “This—is not a good idea.”

  “Why not?” She wanted him so badly now she thought she might die of it.

  “Because we’d both be thinking of someone else. This—” he waved a free hand between their bodies and tried scooting backward “—is just a matter of coincidence. It’s not real.”

  “Wait.” She nuzzled as close as he would let her and thrust her breasts against his chest.

  What was so wrong with having one more blazing night to remember? Who would it hurt? “Let’s just close our eyes. And we’ll pretend to be whoever we want.”

  Chapter 6

  Already as turned on as he’d been in years, Gage wondered why not? Why not spend a few hours pretending, if she was willing?

  The lust he felt for her, this lush woman, was strong. Looking down into her eyes, he realized she was watching him with serious intent. Waiting for him to say something.

  “I don’t need to pretend,” he said as he moved against her and pressed his erection into her belly. “But I didn’t plan for this to happen. And I don’t want you to feel like I’m taking advantage of the situation.”

  “It’s me that’s taking advantage, love.” She kissed him again, wild and hungry. “And I didn’t plan it, either.”

  Out of breath, he lifted his head. “Seriously, Elana. Be sure this is what you want. Another kiss like that one and it will be too late to stop. And I have nothing in mind beyond one night.”

  She gripped his shoulders and tugged him down to meet her lips. “Good,” she whispered against him.

  And then it was too late.

  The next kiss was hot and amazing. Fiery and wet at the same time. He felt such a hunger in her, as though she’d been starving for his touch. It stoked his own needs, his own hunger, to a fevered pitch.

  Leaning up on one elbow, he slowly unbuttoned her blouse and laid her open to his gaze. Her bra was white lace, more utilitarian than erotic, but he thought it was the sexiest thing he’d seen in longer than he could remember.

  “Hold on.” She sat up and removed the impediments to his touch, the shirt and bra, while he sat back and indulged himself in the sight of her exposed breasts.

  What a beauty she was. Lush, full peaked breasts, with peach-colored nipples just begging to be fondled and adored. At the moment, he didn’t want to consider that her breasts seemed fuller than the way he remembered Alicia’s. This wasn’t about Alicia anymore. He only wanted to fill his hands and eyes with the woman lying beneath him.

  A masterpiece on canvas could never match her intensity and simmering looks.

  She tugged at his shirt buttons. “Too many clothes between us, to my way of thinking. Take it off.”

  Screw the buttons. He reached down and jerked the hem up and over his head. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Five long, lonely years dissolved in a blaze of heat as he lowered his head and drew her nipple into his mouth. Elana arched her back, letting him splurge on the feast of her body. And feast he did. He consumed her; tasting, sucking, nibbling and fanning the flames between them. Her body was pure shimmering smoothness under his hands and mouth, and he wondered how he had survived for so long without.

  Reaching for his zipper, she tugged on it and the look in her eyes turned hazy with desperation. “Please,” she begged.

  He covered her hand with his as together they slowly lowered his zipper. “I...” He hadn’t come prepared for this.

  Then he remembered something. Standing, he shucked his jeans and dug in the pocket for his wallet. Deep inside one of the wallet’s inside slots he found a couple of ancient condoms. They might be out of date, but still better than nothing for a one-night stand.

  For no matter what else this would be, or what tomorrow would bring, tonight was definitely a one-night stand.

  He threw the condom on the nightstand and loomed over her. “Take the rest off. Now.”

  “Gage.” A whisper of desire in the night.

  She scrambled to lose the slacks and panties. After she’d lain down and gazed up at him with longing, he discovered he couldn’t move. She was so beautiful that he felt consumed by her. Paralyzed, mind and body, with arousal.

  “Please...please,” she begged again.

  Taking his hand, she brought it to her belly and then pushed lower. That was all the coaxing he needed. He knelt on the bed beside her, letting his fingers draw erotic circles around her belly button. Sliding his hand lower along her fine flesh, he dipped his head and replaced his hand with his tongue.

  Her breath caught and she squirmed when his fingers moved lower, tunneling through the curls at the apex of her thighs. “Gage.” Her raspy whisper spoke to her growing need.

  With the tip of his finger, he found her hot, wet center and eased inside. So tight. So slick. He used his thumb to manipulate her engorged nub, and she went wild, thrashing and rotating against his hand.

  For an instant, he thought of Alicia. But then Elana moaned something that sounded like Gaelic words and the thought flew out of his hazy mind. She was close to an edge. Real close. He could tell by her low moans of pleasure. But he was losing his self-control at too great a pace to keep her there until she came. It had been far too long for him.

  Growling out an inaudible cuss word, he reached for the foil packet and covered himself. Before she reacted, he parted her thighs with a knee, moved over her and drove into her waiting warmth.

  He’d wanted to pace his need. But he lost it instead. Lost all sense of where he was and who he was with. Had he ever wanted Alicia this badly? He couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone this much and surely not this fast.

  Pounding into her, he couldn’t make himself slow down. Not even when the fear of being too rough finally dawned on him. But from somewhere outside the mists of his own need, he knew she was meeting his hips stroke for stroke. Knew she’d wrapped her legs around his waist and was crying out with breathless abandon while he plunged to her very center.

  Sweating and beyond rational thought, he felt only vaguely aware of her nails biting into his shoulders. But he remained hyper-aware of her calling out his name as her internal body con
vulsed around him.

  He rammed into her one last time, riding the wave of a shared release so explosive and intense that the whole room shook with the force of it. Seeing fireworks behind his eyelids, he drew out every last sensation.

  Collapsing on top of her, he listened to his thundering pulse and tried to calm his erratic breathing. Seconds later he rolled to one side, capturing her in his arms and bringing her along as he went.

  But the moment he’d tucked her in close to his heart, Gage knew he’d just done something stupid. Stupid because he still didn’t know who she was for sure but understood very well that she wouldn’t be sticking around long enough for him to find out.

  And danged if suddenly he didn’t want to know her better. He wanted to know what made her happy and sad. Whether she liked horses and rainy weather or fast cars and sunshine. And most of all, which of a thousand places to touch on her body was the one that pleasured her the most. He wanted endless hours of this euphoric feeling. And lots more of what they’d found in each other’s arms tonight.

  He felt tormented by not knowing exactly who she was. No way could she be his dead wife. Alicia was never known to be cruel. Besides, he would’ve recognized her in bed even after all these years, wouldn’t he? At several points during their lovemaking his thoughts turned to Alicia. But then in the next moment the woman beneath him seemed a complete stranger who’d gotten under his skin in less than twenty-four hours. Was it his own heart that had caused him to make up similarities?

  The confusion was driving him insane. But he couldn’t help himself. He wanted her. Whoever she was.

  * * *

  Elana snuggled close to his chest, close enough to feel his heartbeat against her cheek. What a mistake she’d just made. Making love to him again would end up being the death of her.

  They’d always been very different people. He was a hardworking private investigator with a savior complex. And she, the daughter of gypsy criminals, was on the verge of an identity crisis. But the sex...the sex had always been spectacular. Tonight was no exception. She’d almost forgotten the kind of pleasure Gage could provide. Or rather, she’d managed to push it out of her mind. But now she’d had a big fat reminder that would forever leave her longing for his touch and dreaming of his kiss.