Christmas Cowboy (A Standalone Holiday Romance Novel)

by Claire Adams

  Maybe it was my own mortality. Or maybe it was imagining what my brother had gone through when he died in that crash. When his body was recovered, he was unrecognizable. Through all of the weeks following the plane crash, I’d never once lost my cool. I had to wonder if my concern for Aiden was out of some strange comparison.

  I’d lost the most important man in my life when I’d lost Shawn. Up until that moment, he’d been my best friend. Maybe now I was transferring some of my fear of having a man I care so much about leaving me. The situation had opened the floodgates of emotion that I’d been holding back for so long. I broke down and cried right there in the middle of spooning my rocky road.

  It was more than concern and more than friendship. Was I falling for Aiden Walker? No, he was just a close friend, someone who I could date and have a little fun with, but not much more.

  I wanted more, though. I couldn’t deny that. But if I didn’t work something out in my head, I was never going to have him. But then again, I may not have him anyway. Another spoon, another taste of the delicious chocolate against my tongue, and it hit me: I was falling in love with Aiden, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

  No matter how much I’d wished I could chalk it up to friendship, chalk it up to the accidents and the fact that we’d both lost someone important, that once he was out of sight, he’d be out of mind, I couldn’t. Those were the lies I told myself. Tomorrow, he would tell me everything he’d learned about me. That had to be what he needed to talk to me about, and if it took me another pint of ice cream, I’d figure out how to deal with it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Aiden

  I had decided that starting the night off with a traditional-style date wouldn’t do, so I held my breath and as I drove Lexa to the local Tipsy Paint. Allison had always talked about it, and she’d done several paintings from the place. The woman on the phone explained it as an art class with a BYOB policy.

  Lexa’s eyes widened as I stopped outside the place. I hoped she hadn’t been there before and we could experience this one thing together, but it had been around for a while now, so the chances of that were low.

  “Tipsy Paint? Bre is going to be mad at us both. She’d been trying to get me here for months, but every time we plan it, they’ve been booked on my night off.”

  “Well, my sister used to love coming here, and I thought it beat those sword fighters I mentioned before.”

  She shook her head and gave me a disappointed glare. “Couldn’t book any swordfighters, huh?”

  “No. I’m sorry that didn’t work out. I know how much it meant to you.” I shut off the car and went around to open her door, which she was already doing. So, I took her hand, and she stood, meeting my eyes with a wide grin.

  We went inside, where the instructor had a table set up with two easels and a blank canvas. We began our lesson by cracking open a bottle of wine and choosing our painting.

  “Oh, I want to do this one.” Lexa pointed at a beautiful painting that looked like it could have been inspired by Olde House itself. “It looks like your trees.”

  “If you wish.” I passed the news on to our instructor, who had us prep our canvas with an outline, and then after that, we sat painting until we were done.

  Lexa had a knack for painting, but I wasn’t doing so well. The tree in my painting looked a bit pink for my tastes, and the branches were a tad more like a willow’s than a live oak’s.

  I focused as best as I could while trying to put the finishing details on my canvas. Lexa caught my attention as she giggled. I turned to find her deeply amused, and I dropped my brush and frowned. “Are you laughing at my painting?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m laughing at you. You stick your tongue out when you concentrate. It’s very cute.” I hadn’t been called cute since I was a little boy, and I looked away as I mumbled an “oh man” under my breath.

  “It’s endearing. I like that you are so into it.” She finished her painting and then signed her name, but I still sat there sticking out my tongue.

  It was nice that she’d play with me. I didn’t have to worry about her ever taking things too seriously, and the date was actually fun and different. I finally finished my painting and poured us a glass as we waited on them to dry a little. “So did you enjoy the date? Did I do a good job?”

  “Yeah, you have a real talent.” She glanced at my painting and turned her head to the side.

  “I meant a good job on coming up with something creative.” I knew she hadn’t mean creative in the sense of the arts, but I’d covered both bases.

  “Yeah, I’m having fun.”

  “Well, as soon as those little beauties finish drying, we’ll go grab a bite to eat. I still have something I need to talk to you about. But-”

  I nodded my head toward the instructor, who was cleaning up our mess. Lexa smiled, letting me know she got the message.

  “Yeah, about that. I have something I need to talk to you about, as well.” Her face fell, but I wanted things to go over well, so I brushed it off.

  “Let’s talk about it later. Let’s go eat. I’m starved, and your stomach has made funny noises all night. You’re lucky I found it so charming.” I gave her a little nudge and helped her to her feet.

  The paintings were not quite dry, so we put them in the backseat of my truck and let them ride where they were safe. We headed out for a nice dinner, and then to my surprise, Lexa accepted my invitation to go back to my house.

  I couldn’t wait to be with her, and I still had to ask her if she’d be interested in more. I wanted many other changes to show her I could be someone she’d want to keep around.

  I took her inside totally prepared to talk when she tried to beat me to the punch. “I think we should talk, Aiden.” She took a seat on the couch, where I lowered myself beside her. She fidgeted with the small silver band she wore, and I wondered if it were something special.

  Jealousy reared its ugly head. Had someone bought that for her? Recently? I suddenly wondered how many others she had flocking around waiting to have her. Not if I can help it.

  “Let me go first.” I cleared my throat and sat back on the sofa and angled myself toward her. I stroked her hand and met her eyes. “I’ve wanted to explain something to you all night and ask you a question, too.” She kept her eyes on me as if I were a ticking time bomb about to detonate.

  “Yeah?” Her chest rose and fell, and she seemed a bit shaken, but I knew she had to sense the urgency in my voice.

  “When my family died, I got really bad off. I stopped talking to anyone and basically shut down. I didn’t even go the gym-”

  “Or a barber.” She held up her finger to interject.

  “Or a barber, very funny, but yeah. My point is, I haven’t been able to open up to anyone, and not just about my family or any of those issues, but I mean, it was hard to be myself. I stopped eating right, exercising, started drinking, and lots of other things you don’t need to know about.

  “But the point I’m making is, I haven’t felt like myself or been right for some time until you came along. I can talk to you. You make me want to get up and do things and face the world. Head on if I have to.” She cringed a bit and then looked away, which gave me a sinking feeling in my gut. “I really like you, Lexa, and I hope you feel the same.”

  “I do.” She leaned in and kissed me as if to show me how much she wanted to prove it. And then, before I could get another answer from her, she deepened the kiss and inched closer.

  I had expected that she’d be willing, but her eagerness was a bit surprising and refreshing. Even so, I pulled away. I wanted to talk about us without falling into sex and forgetting to communicate. “I’m glad you want more. I feel like we need to talk about that.”

  She nodded, but took off her top. The bright blue silk slithered down her leg and to the floor where it looked like a puddle, and I couldn’t keep my eyes from checking out her ample breasts, swelling up over each cup until she reached back and popped he
r bra clasp.

  “I think we’re great together, Lexa.”

  She got a pained look on her face, but then seemed to fight it off as she cupped the back of my head and pulled me back for a deeper kiss, which ended with her straddling my lap and pulling her straps off her shoulders. The blue bra slipped off as easy as the blouse had and ended up landing on top of it.

  “We are amazing together, Aiden. I don’t want it to end, either. I hope you always remember that and this moment and know how much you mean to me. No matter what.” Her mouth closed on mine again. Something about her seemed so desperate, as if she was trying to hold onto me. As if I was going anywhere. Not a chance.

  “I’m not going anywhere, and I won’t forget it. Ever.” I ground myself against her core, and she slipped up her skirt showing me her panties, which matched the teal blue bra and blouse at my feet.

  I gripped her hip and tugged her closer, trailing my hand down to cup her ass. My fingers trailed along the elastic of her panties until I found my way inside them. I loved her in her panties, and I decided right then I was going to fuck her around them.

  She reached for my cock, placing her slender hands inside my zipper and stroking me through my boxer briefs.

  “You want it?” I whispered the words into her ear. She shuddered, her skin prickling with goosebumps as she ground her warm, wet channel against my hand.

  “Yes.” Her answer was but a breath in my ear, and I nudged her up, still working her core as she took off my shirt. I stood and slipped my hand free so I could tug down my pants until I was standing there naked.

  “God, Lexa. You are the perfect woman for me.” I couldn’t help but think of how much she’d pulled me out of my head and made me feel alive again.

  “Promise me you’ll always remember that.” There she was, talking as if she wasn’t going to be around much longer.

  “I will, but you’re not going anywhere, Lexa. I’m not letting you get away from me. I want you, and I have always had a way of having exactly what I want and taking it the way I’m going to take you.” Her eyes were so focused on mine that I never saw her blink as she nodded.

  “Please.” Her eyes softened, and I decided that her stress was just her longing, and I was more than willing to make the rest of the world go away for her until there was nothing but the two of us left in it.

  “You’re a good girl already, Lexa, taking care of me how you do.” I eased back on the bed, pulling her on top of me. She lay close, stretched out above me and resting her weight on me. She was as light as a feather, and it made me want to pick her up and put her right on my cock. It seemed as though she was listening, too.

  A second later, she rose up and straddled my hips, sandwiching my cock between her already soaked lips. She rocked up and down, spreading her nectar all over my shaft and making me want to come before I’d even gotten inside her. And, she liked the teasing, too. She leaned in and dragged her tongue against my tight nipples, biting and tugging as if they couldn’t possibly be as sensitive as her own.

  The sensation went right to my cock, causing it to twitch against her, and she let out a little giggle. “I felt that. I want to feel it inside me.” She reached down and closed her hand around my cock to pump it a few times. It felt amazing, especially when she added a bit more pressure and cupped my balls.

  I hissed through my teeth and urged her ass up enough to stand my cock against her entrance. Then I gripped her waist and tugged her down, slicing through her sex with my throbbing length.

  I would make sure she never wanted to leave me. That night, she’d become mine.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Lexa

  His cock slid home and spread me with such intense heat, it was like a knife slicing through me — only the pain was pleasure and I wanted more. There was something different about him that night, something that could only be described as determination, like he couldn’t hold me close enough or kiss me hard enough, something that made me need to be a part of him as if I could bury down in his soul and live there.

  I had been so scared that he’d learned something about me that I didn’t think things could be worse, but as his intensity grew, as he became more fevered, more determined, I couldn’t help but fear that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. Maybe even more, if that were even possible.

  The idea of me falling in love with him had been scary because no one wants a broken heart. But I’d already accepted the fact that I deserved it. With all my lies, I’d take my lumps and move on somehow when he was done with me. How could it be that he’d fall for me? Had he?

  His eyes were softer tonight, and though we’d had amazing sex many other times, this was different, as if each move was designed to draw me closer and make me fall for him. As if he were desperate to keep me.

  His arm closed around my waist as he brought himself forward and captured my mouth with a slow, languid kiss. I melted against him, cupping his face and stroking his beard as I rode him gently.

  We barely moved, and yet it was all we needed. The pleasure was so intense that I could feel my release building as my walls swelled around his cock.

  His hand brushed my hair back, and his eyes searched across my body as if looking for my soul. It was so subtle, the entire act as if we were making love.

  Fear washed over me making me uneasy. When I trembled, he pulled me closer, and as if I weighed absolutely nothing, he stood, my legs wrapped around him to keep me from falling, but I wasn’t going anywhere. His cock was keeping me in place.

  He stepped over the pile of clothes at his feet and walked upstairs to his room. He took a moment to pull back his covers before placing me on the bed. His cock pulled free, leaving me wanting more. “If you’re cold, we can get under the covers.”

  “I’m okay, but this is nice.” I wanted to reach for him, to claw him back toward me and guide his cock back home, but he wasn’t in any hurry.

  His eyes locked on mine as his thumbs slipped into the elastic of my panties, which he’d left in place, despite his cock slipping in around them. But now he tugged them down to my knees and planted a soft kiss on my mound. A shudder went through me as he climbed on the bed, easing himself down between my legs and pulling the covers up over his shoulders.

  “I’m not cold anymore. I need you back inside me.” I rubbed my legs against him, trying to urge him up, but he slipped two fingers between my lips and dipped them into my soaking entrance. He kept them right on my spot as he worked his mouth against my clit. My body trembled as my first orgasm tumbled forth while I bucked against him. A cry of pleasure bubbled from my throat.

  “That’s right, come for me.” He watched me quake beneath him as he continued his ministrations with a wild look in his eyes. Then he kissed his way up and aimed his cock before easing it into my pulsing, aching, dripping walls.

  “Fuck, you’re soaked, Lexa. You’re going to milk my cock so fucking good with those quakes.” He ground his hips against me, his head diving to the depths of my channel, grazing my most tender spot along the way.

  He was being so tender with me, but I needed him raw. I needed him to take me hard and relentless. I didn’t deserve this slow and tender care. The soft touches that reached right to my heart, they were murdering me inside. The guilt of my lies was making every sweet gesture painful.

  “Fuck me harder, Aiden.” I grabbed hold of his ass and thrust my hips against him hard; he responded by giving me what I asked for.

  “Greedy girl.” He rolled us over, and I straddled his hips. “Take all you want.”

  I rode him fast, grinding myself against him now and then, but never slowing down. He watched me with a grin on his face, cupping my breasts and tweaking my nipples until a delicious wave of pleasure ached. The word greedy had done more to bruise my spirit, but I needed him to know this was all I would take from him.

  But did I deserve it?

  I collapsed against him, and he scooped me up and brought me to the edge of the bed where he held me face down, his h
and planted firmly against my back, as he rubbed his cock between my ass cheeks.

  “You can’t run out of energy now, baby girl. I’m only getting started.” The feel of his cock as it brushed against my clit made me ache, and then he slipped it back into my channel, thrusting forward with such force our bodies clapped together. He reached for my hands and pulled my arms back, holding them for leverage as he fucked me just how I’d asked.

  I needed to be taken. I needed the ease of lovemaking to end and for him to give me just what I deserved. He gripped both my wrists with one hand and the other pushed against my star, rubbing the place as I cried out. I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t want that part of me, too, but a second later, he slapped my ass so hard, another release throbbed through me.

  “My girl likes that, don’t you?” I cried out when his hand came down again, this time a little harder.

  “Yes.” His spanking was softer the next time, and he rubbed the tender spot for me.

  “Your little ass is so pink.” He pulled away and kissed the tender spot, urging me over. I covered my face, hoping he wouldn’t see the guilt that was no doubt written there as if carved into stone.

  He parted my knees and centered himself, but then stopped suddenly. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing, please.” I tugged his hips forward with my feet.

  “Did I hurt you? Tell me if I did.” His finger lifted my chin, and his eyes met mine. “It’s not my intention, Lexa. If I’m ever getting too carried away, you tell me.” He meant every word. His eyes had filled with more care than I deserved.

  “No, it’s amazing.” I gave him a lazy smile and then nudged him again with my heels.

  “You’re amazing, Lexa.” He brought his lips to mine and gave them a peck. “We make a hot team, you and me. Don’t you think?”

  “Yes. I’m just… I don’t know.”