I smirk, knowing this already. “I think I need to feel how much you love me like this.” Grabbing her ass, I move us to the bed and bring my weight down on top of her. “I love you, Em. So much that I’d die without you.”
Our mouths come together in a tender kiss that comes with age and maturity. Although we have been known to get down and dirty with sex, this isn’t the time. Reaching between us, Emelia frees me, and I slide into her with ease, shuddering as she tightens around me.
“My sexy husband,” Em whispers. “I love the gray around your temples.”
Bursting out laughing, I pause mid-thrust and fail miserably at the glare I try to direct her way. “I’m making love to you and you’re telling me I’m old.”
“Anyone who stands in the middle of a room while holding his wife in the way you did tonight is not old.”
Groaning, I thrust hard and feel Emelia clench so tightly around me that my eyes cross. Pleasure tears through my groin and lower belly as her fingernails dig into my ass and she moans. Not just any moan. No, not Emelia. It’s long and drawn out while her pussy milks the heck out of my dick as I shudder through a powerful release.
“I love you, Dante,” Emelia whispers. “You’re my everything.”
Emelia
Wrapped in a blanket from the back of the sofa, I sit on the love seat in our room at Blossom Creek Inn looking out into the snowy night. The white flakes are thick and heavy, my favorite.
Dante snores softly from the bed, which tells me he’s settled. It’s been a lot to take in today. The way our lives are changing and the way our two children are moving forward with their lives. I knew Emma wasn’t happy, even when she kept telling me she was. Her whole life had been the restaurant, and although I’m nervous not having her close in Essex anymore, it fills my heart to know she has a good man who loves her by her side.
Dante has been my whole world for as long as I can remember, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. He was sexy as a priest, and even sexier as my husband and the father of our children.
His hands come around my waist and haul me into his lap.
“I thought you were sleeping,” I comment, settling into his embrace.
“Not when I could hear you thinking.”
Sighing, I admit, “I wasn’t thinking anything bad. Just thankful Emma is finally happy and with a good man.”
“And what about our son?”
I chuckle. “He reminds me of Diego when he was Levi’s age.” My twin brother was a handful and very much a lady’s man until he fell in love with Rae. “I have a feeling Vivien is Rae in this situation. Did you see the way Levi watched her? I’m fairly sure he wanted to eat her.”
Coughing with laughter, Dante says, “I bet he did…later.”
“Oh God! Stop! I cannot think about our children doing what we do.”
“Think about how they’d feel if they knew we had mad hot sex in the middle of the living room last week?”
“Probably the same way as we would thinking about our parents having sex,” I add dryly, knowing Dante always shudders at the thought.
“Now I feel like hurling,” Dante mutters.
“Stop being a baby.” I pause. “Tell me what you think is going on with Ryker?”
Dante sighs and plants a kiss to the top of my head. “Ryker is like his dad used to be. Into fast cars and fast women, until of course, his dad married the town vet and came home. We all wondered what would happen between them as Sarah was married at the time. Aiden found a way, though. Ryker will find his way home as well.”
“It worries me that he’s running from something and I don’t know how to help him.”
“Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, he was paying attention to the woman he ran off the road.”
“Beatrice. And I had noticed. She looked annoyed at him.”
“Playing hard to get,” my husband chuckles. “All the De La Fuente men play hard and love harder. Beatrice doesn’t stand a chance with Ryker on her tail.”
“Stubborn too,” I add. “Let’s go back to bed. I want to cuddle my husband and fall asleep in his arms.”
“Anything for you.” Dante kisses my upturned lips and carries me back to bed.
THE END
I hope you liked this small glimpse into my new series, Blossom Creek. Book two featuring Levi De La Fuente will be out during the first part of 2021.
If you’d like to read Emelia and Dante’s forbidden love story, please read Love in Purgatory ~ turn the page for an excerpt.
Sneak Peak
Love in Purgatory
Nursing a whiskey in his hand, Dante sat in the dark living room. It had been a long day of trying to act as though he didn’t have a lot on his mind when his head was so full—about to explode. A bit like how his heart had felt when he saw Kasey’s truck in the ditch during the snowstorm at Thanksgiving. He’d feared for his siblings, but the relief he’d felt when Emelia came into view was nothing like it should have been for a sibling. Nothing could have stopped him from holding her in his arms…it didn’t matter how wrong it was or how others had looked at them. All that mattered was that he could touch her to make sure she was real.
He sighed and took a long draw of his whiskey as he looked around his father and Lucia’s living room. He always felt welcome, but the house never felt like home because he’d been away from the family as a child—completely by his own choice. At first it was because of how angry he’d been with his father for marrying Lucia…recently, it had been because of their daughter.
Emelia lived to drive him crazy and he wished she’d find a man of her own to keep her away from him. Perhaps the longing for someone who was forbidden—she was his sister after all…and he was a priest—would disappear. Deep down he knew nothing would release him from the feelings he had for her, and the jealousy of seeing her with another man would probably kill him.
The silence would get to him one day, but, so far, the alcohol worked fine at numbing his heart. At least, it did until he looked at the entrance of the living room and saw the silhouette of Emelia. She stood and observed him without making any move closer.
He didn’t trust himself while his emotions were all over the place. Her scent was still inside him from when he found himself beneath the mistletoe with her. It had taken everything in him to only peck her cheek.
Shaking his head, Dante placed his empty glass on the side table. He stood and moved toward her, craving her touch no matter how wrong God said it was.
Emelia was breathtaking. Wide eyes, high cheekbones that were accentuated by the tiny, curling tendrils escaping the heavy, silken mass of black hair, and a small frame that fit against him perfectly. She looked more delicate and ethereal than ever in her leggings and fitted shirt, and he walked closer like a man caught in an enchantment.
His heart pounded in his chest at the sight before him. She was the only one to ever tempt him to break his vow to the church, and it was wrong. So wrong.
He clenched his fists, averted his gaze and tried to step past, but her hand on his wrist stopped him. Her touch warmed him in places that should be dead. When she wasn’t there, those places were dark and hidden—dormant until Emelia touched him. He used to be able to ignore them but now, he found them, more difficult than ever to ignore.
“We’re under the mistletoe,” Emelia whispered.
It was pure torture.
“Emelia,” he groaned in a whisper of desperation.
She moved in front of him and met his gaze. His heart stopped before it started up a frantic beat as his blood pulsed through his body. His body hummed, his hands shook as he fought the urge to touch her.
No matter how much he knew it was wrong, he couldn’t fight it. He curved his hand over Emelia’s hip and tugged her closer, her shirt gripped in his fist.
She reached up and cupped one side of his face, tears gathered on her beautiful long lashes.
No one would know.
He dipped his head, and, for the first time in over six years
, he was about to sample the only woman who would ever hold his heart.
Her scent was under his skin, and the feel of her hands as they rested against his chest made his heart pound faster with desire. He’d only ever felt heart throbbing desire once before, and that had been on her twenty-first birthday when she’d kissed him, and made him see what was right in front of him. Kissing her and craving more with her had sent him running to the church.
But as their mouths hovered a mere inch apart, Dante couldn’t close that distance between them, even though his body burned to taste her, and feel her against him.
His hand trembled in her shirt with the desire he felt, but what made him cross the line was the sight of more tears on her beautiful face. He couldn’t handle her tears anymore.
Their mouths touched in a whisper of a kiss and, with the brush of their tongues, the growl he’d held in check at the back of his throat burst forth. He dragged Emelia against him and kissed her as though he was drowning. Maybe he was and she was his lifeline.
Shivers of desire raced through him as Emelia whimpered while his tongue explored the recesses of her mouth. No space separated them as he continued to kiss her hungrily, like a man starved.
He couldn’t stop now that he’d started and, as his lips left hers, he nibbled at her earlobe before he seared a path down her neck before reclaiming her swollen lips.
Emelia’s hands held his head in place while she returned his passion. Her mouth searched out his tongue, as her body moved restlessly against his, heightening his arousal.
The thought of having her in his bed while they both writhed in pleasure as he entered the heat of her body brought him back to reality.
He broke from the kiss and, when Emelia tried to hold him to her, he shook his head and backed away.
“That was wrong,” he hissed between clenched teeth.
It was wrong, but nothing had ever felt so right.
As he gazed at her through hooded eyes, he let out a shudder of need and drew in a sharp breath. Emelia stood where he’d left her, unmoving as tears seeped out of her eyes and down her beautiful face. She’d paled since he’d stepped away, and her arms wrapped around her stomach as though to protect herself.
He was a priest, and should feel remorse for what he’d just done with his sister, but he couldn’t get there. What he felt for her was wrong on so many levels, but Emelia was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and his love for her would always be inside him.
But as she stood before him, looking destroyed, he had no idea what to say or do to take her heartache away. He knew that she loved him just as much as he did her, and that he was the only one who would be able to please her, but that would never be possible.
No matter how much it hurt him, he needed to be strong for the both of them because he knew Emelia would always be around him, wanting him, if he let her. Something had to be done to put a stop to it—to put a stop to the tortured feelings between them.
“That can’t happen again, Emelia,” he started, and had to take a moment to breathe and get himself under control because he wanted to shout. He wanted to let his anger at the unfairness of their situation spill out for the world to see, but he couldn’t…and, in the end, he didn’t. He drew in a deep breath, the words coming out on a sigh that showed how exhausted and tortured he was. “You know why this is so wrong. We need to stay away from each other.” He fought to hide his emotions before he opened his mouth again. “You need to find someone else. Someone who will...love you,” his voice cracked.
No one will ever love you as much as I do.
Emelia stumbled into the wall as she tried to back away from him, tears flowing freely down her pale face. “You’ll always be the man I love, Dante,” she whispered. “I get where you’re coming from...but it hurts more being away from you than it does being with you.”
“Dammit, Emelia.” In a blink of an eye, he stood in front of her with her face cupped in the palms of his hands. “Don’t.” He brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “We both need to move on and, as much as it kills me to say that, we don’t have a choice...I’ll always love you.” He kissed her forehead, and lingered while he breathed her in. “I’m leaving. I don’t want to, but it’s what I have to do.”
He breathed deeply and walked away from her as Emelia’s sobs followed him all the way to his bedroom.
He closed and locked the door, and leaned against it with his heart in pieces. And while he was in the seclusion of his room, he finally did something that he hadn’t done since his mother died…he let his tears fall.
He was in purgatory.
Thank you for reading Christmas at Emelia’s, and thank you for your reviews! It’s really appreciated.
Subscribe with your email to be alerted about new releases, sales, and events.
http://ronajameson.com/suscribe
Other books by Author
NEW SERIES - Boston Bay Vikings
Book 1: Camden: on the ice
NEW SERIES - Blossom Creek
Book 1: Christmas at Emelia’s
Bad Boy Rockers
Book 1: My Brother’s Girl (Sizzle) (Jack ‘Jack’ & Thalia)
Book 2: Past Sins (Spicy) (Reece & Callie)
Book 3: My Best Friend’s Sister (Sultry) (Donovan & Mara)
Book 4: Never Let Go (Savor) (Ryder & Dahlia)
Book 5: Saving Jace (Sinful) (Jace & Savannah)
Book 6: Silent Night (Novella)
Kincaid Sisters
Book 1: Meant to be Mine
Book 2: You Were Always Mine
Book 3: Will You be Mine
McKenzie Brothers
Book 1: Seduce (Michael & Lily)
Book 1.5: The Wedding (Novella)
Book 2: Rapture (Sebastian & Carla)
Book 3: Delight (Ruben & Rosie)
Book 4: Entice (Lucien & Sabrina)
Book 5: Cherished (Ramon & Noah)
Book 5.5: A McKenzie Christmas (Novella)
De La Fuente Family (McKenzie Spinoff)
Book 1: Love in Montana (Sylvia & Eric)
Book 2: Love in Purgatory (Dante & Emelia)
Book 3: Love in Bloom (Mateo & Erin)
Book 4: Love in Country (Aiden & Sarah)
Book 5: Love in Flame (Diego & Rae)
Book 6: Love in Game (Kasey & Felicity)
Book 7: Love in Education (Andie & Seth)
McKenzie Cousins
(McKenzie Spinoff)
Book 1: Baby Makes Three (Sirena & Garrett)
Book 2: A Business Decision (Michael & Brooke)
Book 3: Secret Kisses (Charlotte & Tanner)
Book 4: Kissing Cousins (Rachel & Alexander)
Book 5: If Only (Madison & Derek)
Book 6: Princess & the Puck (Paige & Seth)
Book 7: A Bakers Delight (Sofia & Shane)
Book 8: A Cowboy for Christmas (Olivia & Geary)
Book 9: A Secret Affair (Joshua & Mallory)
Book 10: One Christmas (Dylan & Jenna)
Book 11: The Pregnant Professor (Jaxon & Poppy)
Book 12: It Started with a Kiss (Ryan & Gretchen)
Jackson Hole
Book 1: From This Moment
Book 1.5: When we Meet (Novella, in the back of From This Moment)
Book 2: New Beginning (coming soon)
Romantic Suspense
Lawful
Stryker
Standalone Novella’s
One Dance
Educate Me
Pure
Holiday Season
Kissing Under the Mistletoe
A Soldier’s Christmas
Jingle Bells
Written as Rona Jameson
Butterfly Girl
Come Back to Me
Summer at Rose Cottage
Tears in the Rain
Twenty Eight Days
Acknowledgements
Editor: Nadine Winningham
Proofreader: Nadine Winningham and Lynne Garlick
Cover De
sign: Robin Harper, Wicked by Design
About the Author
English born Rona Jameson is an author of romance who currently resides in Ireland with her husband, four children, one dog and one cat. She’s been writing since 2013 as Lexi Buchanan, which is where you can find her more explicit writing.
Follow on social media:
Website: http://ronajameson.com
Email: [email protected]
Christmas at Emelia's: Blossom Creek Novella Page 9