Christmas Belles (Gillies Ridge)

Chapter 8

T HEY ate their dinner in silence.

They’d done talking. It was enough just to be.

Until Richard offered her half his strawberry. Without thinking she opened her mouth, and he forked the strawberry into it.

As she closed her lips around the juicy red fruit she stopped thinking altogether. The day had been exhausting. The back and forth. The resisting. His touch on her knee, her jeans pressed against his thigh. Her head on his shoulder. His smell.

He had played by her rules all day and she was tired of fighting the attraction between them.

She pulled the strawberry from his fork with her teeth and chewed it slowly, enjoying the coolness on the back of her throat.

She never took her eyes of his. “My turn.”

She used her fingers to pick up a tiny sliver of mango. She leant over the table and held it in front of his mouth. He opened obediently but she wasn't finished. She gently teased the mango over the shape of his lips, her gaze following the work of her fingers.

She leaned forward and placed the mango into his mouth, her lips brushing over his to lick the juice away.

He swallowed.

She placed her fingers, one by one into his mouth.

He licked the juice, sucking at each finger as he went. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

“It can mean anything you want,” she said.

He stood abruptly, pushing his chair back and dumping his linen napkin on the table. His hand reached up and laced her fingers with his. Slowly, he moved to her side of the table and drew her to her feet.

“Not hungry anymore?”

“You know how hungry I am. And it isn't for food.”

“You promised me a bath.”

“Later,” he growled.

She laughed softly. Something told her that his patience was at an end. She wondered briefly what he would do if she held her ground.

“Don't even think it.”

“You could always carry me.”

“Excellent idea,” he said, his lips taking possession of hers once more.

Tiredness fled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He tasted like mango.

He kicked open the door of a large bedroom with a king size bed. The city lights streamed in the floor-to-ceiling windows, and she could make out his gaze in the reflected light. If the look in his eyes was anything to go by, he'd been a hungry man for a very long time.

“No more teasing,” she promised.

“It's been a day for it.”

“I didn't think you noticed.”

He placed her gently on the bed and knelt in front of her. Slowly, he nuzzled her T-shirt up over her abdomen, his lips making a trail across her stomach.

She held up her arms and he pushed the T-shirt higher, his lips trailing upwards, even as slow heat rose between her thighs. She fell back on her elbows as he worked the T-shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor.

She ran her fingers through his hair, but it wasn’t enough. She arched her back giving him access to the clasp on her bra while she made short work of Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Skin on skin .

She tried to press against him but found herself held firm. “Ladies first, remember?” He worked her nipples to a peak one at a time.

Her body responded like they’d never been apart.

“Safe sex,” she murmured softly.

He leant over to the bedside drawer. “All part of the service.”

“I should have guessed. How many women have you brought here over the years?”

“We’re going to discuss other women now?”

“My insecurities again, huh?”

He nodded. “We’re equals in every way,” he said softly. “If anything, you've achieved far more then I have.”

“I have, haven't I?” She worked her fingers down his bare chest. “But bringing me to your club without telling me was rather naughty of you.”

“Would you have come if I’d asked?”

He had her there. Would she have had the courage to follow through with their night? “You fed me. With your fork.” She trailed her fingers lower. “It made it very hard to concentrate on eating my—”

“Strawberry?” He said helpfully as he pressed his hips to hers. “We still have too many clothes on.”

Her fingers hooked the waistband of his shorts. “I thought we weren't in a hurry.”

“Parts of me want this night to last forever,” he admitted. “Because I'm not quite sure who you will be in the morning. The cold corporate matriarch. The hot as sin mobster. Or the soft pliable woman underneath me who fulfils every one of my dreams.”

“I thought you liked the mobster me,” she murmured. “Lift your hips.” She tugged his shorts downwards.

“Having a mobster bitch may be one of my sexual fantasies. But if it’s okay with you, we’ll save her for next time. Right now, I’m in the mood to savour every delicious moment of tasting you.”

She watched the dark pools of his irises deepen.

This man.

Her first love.

About to be her lover once more.

She didn't know what tomorrow would bring but tonight, having him here with her, was enough.