Free Red Hot Christmas by Carmen Falcone, Michele de Winton Page A

hands through his hair and writhed under him, clearly as ready as he was to consummate their meeting.
          “You feel so warm,” he whispered against her soft stomach. Yet the subdued light from the Christmas tree stole the usual olive tone of her skin and cast an alabaster hue to her body. She was so pale. So delicate. So ready. He pulled the flimsy fabric of her bra out of the way and twirled his tongue around her nipple.
          “Oh. I’d forgotten…”
          “Forgotten me?” Nicolas pulled the zipper and shimmied her skirt and panties down as she lifted her hips from the sofa to ease their progress.  
          “Tell me you want me,” he said.
          “Let me show you how much.” Shrugging off her shirt, Gabrielle lay back, only the scrap of pink translucent lace bra between him and the full expanse of her naked body. She squirmed one hand behind her and shed the last barrier to his gaze. He sat back on his toes, taking her in for a moment. Mine. The word ricocheted through him without warning and he started. What was it in her that brought out the possessiveness of his nature? Maybe it was her size. Her petite frame belied her strength and begged to be protected.
          “Come back down here.”
          Her command brought him back to the moment and Nicolas banished further thought. There was only the smell of her skin, the ache of his need, the tangle of their bodies. He took her lips in a savage duel, the meeting of tongue and teeth matched by hers. Gabrielle’s fingers worked at his shirt buttons and he stripped off the garment, tossing it behind him without a glance.
          “Wait.” Gabrielle struggled back a little, pushed up on her elbows and gazed into his eyes. “This isn’t some trick?”
          “No trick.” He said, glancing at the erect nipples which demanded his attention. “You want to stop?”
          “It’s not that.”
          “Well then, enough talk.” He pushed her gently back against the sofa and traced a rapid path down her body with his hands and tongue. She didn’t protest. Opening her legs he found her hot and willing, the pink of her center moist, ready for his touch. Blowing warm air over her sex, Nicolas smirked as she arched her back, so ripe for him her thighs quivered. Letting his tongue taste her again after all these years brought a groan from the depths of his very soul. He focused his attention and as he nibbled at her inner thighs, then twirled his tongue over her clit, he elicited a moan from deep within Gabrielle’s chest. A moan that made him impatient to plunge his length into her.
          A shrill note sounded from the hall.
          Gabrielle drew in breath as if she were pulling herself up from a deep meditation. “My cell. I have to get it.”
          “Oh no you don’t. You’re busy.” Nicolas continued to kiss her but she pushed him off.  
          “Sorry. Wait, I’ll get rid of him. I just have to check everything’s okay.”
          “Him?” He sat back, the passion dimmed instantly. “Fraser?”
          She paled, then tightened her jaw. “I’m sure it’ll be okay, but I do have to get it. Just one minute.”
          “No.” Nicolas reached for her hand. “You’re not going to him tonight.”
          “I’m not leaving. Not yet.” Was that a smile? Nicolas riled. “But I’m sure you didn’t mean for me to stay here all night,” she continued. “You always said this was your sanctuary.”
          “It is.”  
          “And you let me inside it. I’m flattered.”
          Damn. Despite the breaks being on, his desire was still simmering. His need humming. Her phone kept ringing. “I have to get it.” She crawled out from under him and threw his shirt around her shoulders as she patted to the hall.  
          Nicolas strained his ears to hear, but only caught flashes of the conversation.