For those few moments, they seemed inseparable. She’d never felt that intensity of emotion, that unique oneness with anyone else. She’d expected polished technique from a man like Tucker. She’d expected pleasure and sinful delight. But she’d never, in her wildest dreams, expected…transcendence.
She wanted to believe she was special, and that the connection had been as unique for him as it had been for her. But that was probably a foolish hope. He was an accomplished lover, the kind of guy who could have almost any woman he wanted.
In a twist of fate, a blizzard had trapped him with her for the night. He’d gallantly made her feel like the only woman in the world for him. He probably did that no matter who he took to bed, and she’d do well to remember that.
5
TUCKER REALIZED SOON after the most profound cli**x of his life that he was screwed. He’d allowed his hero complex to take over again, and he would pay dearly for that. But hell, she’d been almost engaged to a guy who made her buy the condoms.
That had been bad enough, but when he saw the look on her face when she’d thought he was rejecting her hesitant offer to have sex, he hadn’t been able to stand it. She deserved so much more than the jerk she’d been going with. Tucker didn’t consider himself in the so much more category, but he could at least make her feel good on Christmas Eve.
Well, now, he had. From her wild response and the way her body had clenched his during her orgasm, he was certain he’d given her a happy time. And because no good deed went unpunished, he’d just had the most soul-shattering sexual experience of his life.
If history repeated itself, and it usually did, Lacey would either move on or go back to her ex. Either way he was hosed, and this time he wasn’t sure how well he’d handle it. True, the rebound guy didn’t always get kicked to the curb. He shouldn’t automatically assume that Lacey would do that.
He’d love some reassurance that she wouldn’t, but how did you ask a woman if she’d felt reality shift in the past few minutes? For all he knew, she always responded with that kind of enthusiasm. He rather doubted it, but trying to find out would be awkward, to say the least. He’d sound like a loser lacking all self-confidence.
She slumped against him, her forehead resting on his shoulder, her breathing slowly returning to normal.
He rubbed her back, marveling at the silky texture of her skin. He’d always imagined that she’d feel like this, but imagining and knowing were such different things. Now he’d never forget the softness under his fingertips. And he’d want to experience it again and again. That might not be in the cards for him.
As he thought about that, he decided on his plan of action. He’d suggested that they celebrate Christmas with a tree, candles, a popcorn garland and a bar of Santa soap. They should follow through on that, and maybe when they weren’t in this bed, he’d get an inkling of her true attitude toward him and toward a potential continuation of this relationship.
For years he’d regretted not following up on that kiss. He’d sometimes thought that she couldn’t possibly be as perfect for him as he’d imagined. As it turned out, she was even more perfect.
He finger-combed her butterscotch curls. “If we don’t get that tree decorated soon, Santa won’t leave you any presents.”
She stirred and lifted her head to smile lazily at him. “Who needs presents?”
He considered that a promising statement. “Good point, but after all I went through to bring a tree inside, I think we should put some kind of decorations on it.”
She laughed softly. “Nag, nag, nag.”
“Did you nuke the popcorn?”
“I did.”
“Then let’s go string it.”
She gazed into his eyes. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Crazy as it seems, I am. This is the most traction I’ve ever gotten on the Christmas thing since my mom passed away. I feel a breakthrough coming on.”
She nodded. “Then we should honor that.”
“Thank you.” He was reminded that she was a truly nice person who, if she let him down, would let him down easy.
About twenty minutes later, they’d dressed and laid out their supplies on the kitchen table. She’d volunteered to string popcorn, and he was making a chain of aluminum foil, twisting the foil into links. In his opinion it was an improvement over construction paper and paste, which he didn’t have on hand, anyway.
She poked a sewing needle carefully through a piece of popcorn, her head bent and her expression focused. “I’d forgotten how much I like doing this.”
He thought about mentioning that she looked adorable stringing popcorn, her rosy lips pursed and her brow puckered in concentration. He decided against saying anything. Too many comments like that and he might scare her off.
Glancing up, she noticed his chain. “That’s awesome. I never would have thought of that, but it’ll reflect the light.”
“We used to cut strips of foil and hang it as icicles, but this is better.”
“We need something to give the tree a little color, though.” Lost in thought, she continued to string popcorn. Then she glanced up, her eyes alight. “Hershey’s Kisses! I just remembered I have a bag of them I brought for snacks. Naturally this time of year they’re wrapped in red, green and silver. We can tie threads on them and hang them from the branches!”
“Ingenious.” She didn’t need Hershey’s Kisses when he was prepared to shower her with the real kind. In fact, he already missed touching her, and they’d only been working on this project for ten minutes. At least they’d agreed to only decorate the front of the tree.
A foil chain could be created much faster than a popcorn garland, and soon he had one about twelve feet long. Standing, he draped it on the tree in a zig-zag pattern.
“Very pretty.” Her eyes sparkled in that happy way that made his heart swell with satisfaction. “I’m going to remember that trick,” she said. “It’s really effective.”
“Are you saying you might decorate a tree again next year?” God, he wanted to be there if she did.
Her smile dimmed a little. “I don’t know.”
“I’d help you.” He held his breath.
“That would be nice. I mean, if you’re available.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem.” He could tell she was hedging her bets, but then, so was he. She hadn’t rejected his offer to help her with a tree next year.
He’d take that as a reasonable beginning. “I’ll start on the kisses if you want.”
She lifted her face to his, her lips curved in a tempting smile. “Which kind?”
Lust slammed into him, but he held himself in check, not wanting her to know just how much he craved her. Not yet, anyway. Bracing his hands on the table, he leaned in close. “You tell me.”
Heat smoldered in her eyes, but then she grinned. “Hershey’s, I guess. If you start on the other kind, we’ll never finish decorating this tree, and you did haul it in here at great personal sacrifice.”
“Now that you mention it, shouldn’t you give me at least one kiss in honor of that great personal sacrifice?”
“All right. Just one.” She closed her eyes.
He could have moved a few inches and touched his lips to hers, but he didn’t.
She opened her eyes again. “I thought you wanted a kiss?”
“I do. I thought you were going to give me one.”
“I am. Go ahead.”
“Nope. This is my reward, which means you’re supposed to kiss me.”
“Oh. I see the distinction.” Putting down her popcorn garland, she reached up with both hands, took him by the ears and pulled him forcefully down to connect with her laughing mouth.
He was laughing, too, but about three seconds into the kiss, the mood shifted. With a soft moan, she let go of his ears, tunneled her fingers through his hair and thrust her tongue in deep. Desperate to feel her against him, he dragged her out of the chair and heard it clatter to the floor.
No matter. Keeping his mouth firmly on hers, he scooped her up, kicked the chair out of the way and carried her into the bedroom. Laying her crossways on the bed, he followed her down as he fumbled with her clothes and she wrenched his shirt open, the snaps popping like gunfire.
He hadn’t paid nearly enough attention to her br**sts the first time, but he’d make up for it now. After he yanked her sweater over her head, she arched her back so he could unhook her bra. Soon that joined the sweater on the far side of the bed.
If he’d been hot before, the tactile pleasure of her br**sts beneath his hands and mouth turned him into an inferno. He stroked, nipped and tasted until he was wild from wanting her. But he couldn’t have her until they’d both rid themselves of their jeans.
Gasping, he pushed himself away from her rosy n**ples and stood at the side of the bed so he could shuck his pants. She took her cue from him and wiggled out of hers. That wiggle temporarily mesmerized him as a surge of desire took his breath away.
She wasn’t practiced at being seductive, yet somehow she’d turned out to be the sexiest woman he’d ever taken to bed. Every move she made turned him on. He was fascinated by her.