Free The Magic Of Christmas by Bethany M. Sefchick Page A

wanted him.
    Except now that she was free to leave, his spell lifting, she found that she didn't really want to go.  Whatever was here within these walls was comforting.  It healed something inside of her that had been broken for so long that she had simply forgotten what it was like to be whole.
    Silently, she turned to leave, taking one last look out the window to the swirling, blowing snow.  The blizzard that was now raging seemed to match the one inside of her.  For once, her thoughts were clear.  It was her emotions that were in a whirl.  They had been since that day on her front porch that summer night so long ago.  The night she had reached up and pulled Logan's lips to hers, demanding that he give her the first kiss of her life before he left town for good.
    And he had obliged.  Even now, she could still feel the press of his lips against hers, the unskilled movements that still left no doubt that he wanted her, too.  The heat and the pressure mixed with the softness.  The way he had smelled so clean and fresh, like the summer thunderstorm that had just passed.  The way she had lost her heart to a boy who so many considered beneath them.
    She might have initiated the kiss, but he had quickly taken control, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him.  It was the first time she had even been pressed against an aroused male, and though it wouldn't be the last, it was by far the most memorable.
    He had wanted her.  Her.  Not her father and not her mother but her.  He found value in her.  He had desired her for herself.  He had kissed her back and enjoyed it.  Then, his tongue had prodded open her lips and she had given in instantly, allowing him to take what he wanted from her, deepening the kiss in the way her unskilled, youthful mind hadn't realized was possible.
    It had been memorable.  It had been perfect.  It had been everything to her.
    That night, Cecilia Marie Linden had looked at Logan Drake Valliente and fallen in love for the first and, most likely, last time in her life.
    For her, there would only ever be this man who now called himself Drake Vale.  And he didn't know that he held her heart.  She had never told him.
    Cecilia was halfway across the room before she stopped and looked back to find Drake watching her, his eyes dark now even without the special contacts.  She could see so much pain and confusion there, and her heart broke, not just with need but with love.  How could she walk away from this man?  Then again, how could she not and still hope to keep her sanity?
    "It was always you, Cecilia," he said softly.  "I don't want to confuse you even more, but you deserve to know.  Those other women?  Each time I took them into my bed, I wanted them to be you.  I judged them all by you and only you.  My Celli.  Do you remember the first time I called you that?  I do.  Because after that, there was never any woman who could compare to you."
    She had been fastening her cape around her shoulders, but she stopped, his words rooting her to the spot.  "Why?"  All the other words that had been spoken between them tonight were just filler.  This was the heart of the matter, at least for her.  "Why, Drake?"
    He stuffed his hands into his pockets and finally, she saw the boy she remembered beneath the sexy, sophisticated veneer.  "Because I love you, Celli.  I've loved you since the moment I came into your home when I was ten, all dirty and smelly and you put your arms around me and hugged me.  You made me feel like a person.  Like I mattered.  That I mattered to  you .  You gave me a reason to live, to want to see another sunrise.  And I think..."  He paused and blew out a breath so that he could collect himself.  "And I think that after all this time, you deserve to know the truth.  I owe you that much."
    Drake had never told a single soul about that day, not even his Aunt Agatha.  He had been at his lowest that cold March day.  He had suffered another