He didn’t get attached. He hadn’t even done so with Valerie. When she had ended things after falling in love with someone, he had been okay with it. There had been no feelings of possession or obsession. He’d simply wished her well and moved on. Maybe he was feeling this way with Eden because he was getting caught up in the moment. That had to be it.
Thoughts of anything but her fled his mind the moment she leaned up and pressed her mouth to his in a good morning kiss, which he returned. At that moment, it seemed nothing in the world mattered except this. Being in this huge bed with her, the desire he felt, and the sensations swamping his body from her kiss.
He eased from the bed to reach for a condom, then felt the heat of her gaze roam over his naked body as he put it on. Then he returned to bed and her open arms.
**
Eden was convinced there was nothing like a Drew Steele kiss. When he captured her mouth, it made her head reel, her nipples tingle, and the area between her legs throb. He used his tongue like a precision tool, and the expert way he took her mouth was masterful. She doubted she’d ever meet another man like him.
He thought he was simply showing her how to make sure her future lovers knew how to please her, but she knew that few would be as giving and accommodating as Drew. He was unparalleled.
And when he shifted their positions to slide between her legs and then ease inside of her, she quickly added incomparable to his list of virtues. Already, she knew her inner muscles were contracting with the need to feel him. Her gaze drifted up from his muscled chest to his face, and her body began overheating when their gazes met as his body moved inside her. It seemed he was intentionally riding a fine edge between not going too slow and almost too fast.
Unable to look into his eyes any longer without triggering an orgasm, she shifted her gaze, turning to watch the pulse throbbing in the base of his throat. Why did the sight of it make her body even more needy?
When he picked up the rhythm of their lovemaking, adding a sensuous beat, desire overtook her, consuming her like a flame sucking up oxygen. When she forced herself to breathe deeper, she inhaled the manly scent of him, which only pushed her closer to the edge. The sinfully erotic movement of his hips as he stroked back and forth into her wasn’t helping.
Suddenly, a bolt of intense pleasure consumed her and made her scream his name. Somehow, she felt his own climax building and then escalating to a peak in unison with hers. Then he hollered her name just moments before he brought his mouth down to capture hers, kissing her with toe-curling intensity.
At that moment, Eden realized she had fallen in love with Drew.
**
Drew slowly untangled his legs from Eden’s and eased out of bed. A quick look at the clock indicated it was past noon. They had slept through breakfast and would do the same with lunch if he didn’t order food soon. A bed plus Eden equaled lovemaking. That meant they would need nourishment. Besides, this was Christmas Day, and he had something he wanted to give her.
Slipping into his jeans, he went to the living room. He glanced at the television and saw that the Disney Christmas Parade was on. At any other time, he would probably have sat down and watched it, but not now. He had more important matters to attend to—digging out the gift he had purchased for Eden yesterday.
Forcing back the thought that this was another exception, he decided to consider it a parting gift…even though he had never purchased a gift, parting or otherwise, for any of his other lovers. He wondered at the significance of that for a moment, then decided there was none. It was Christmas, and this time of year tended to put people in a giving spirit.
Returning to the bedroom, he eased back in bed and gently woke Eden, who’d fallen asleep again. When he looked in her eyes as she awakened, he had a funny feeling that he would never tire of seeing her like this. “Merry Christmas, Eden. I got you a gift.”
She stared with drowsy eyes at him as the meaning behind his words broke through her sleep-ridden mind. She blinked and then shifted positions to ease up in bed. “You got a gift for me?” she asked in a disbelieving voice.
“Yes. It is Christmas, after all.”
She began nibbling on her bottom lip as if distressed about something. “What’s wrong?”
She met his gaze. “But I didn’t get you anything.”
“You gave me the greatest of all gifts last night.”
She seemed confused by his statement. “What?”
He leaned closer. “You. You gave me a part of you no other man had ever touched. No one else has given me such a gift.” For some reason, knowing he was her first, and for the time being, her only, made a part of him swell. His heart.
His heart? No. He was mistaken. Nothing about a woman ever affected his heart. There was only desire between them, nothing more. Glad he had cleared his mind of that foolish thought, he handed her the box.
He watched her open it, seeing the smile on her face before she looked at him with shocked eyes. “How did you know?”
Drew knew what she was asking. When they had been at the holiday fair held by the Cherokee Indian Tribe, he had stepped away from her for a moment to look at the display of knives whose handles were made from deer antlers. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw one of the women showing her a hand-crafted necklace that she seemed quite taken with. He knew that she was being careful with her money, not knowing what might come up, and wouldn’t buy anything for herself, no matter howmuch she wanted it. So he decided to get the sterling silver, turquoise Cherokee star necklace for her as a gift. He’d gone back to get it when she’d slipped into the ladies’ room.
“An astute lover is aware of everything when it pertains to his woman.” Instead of saying ‘his woman’, he should have said ‘the woman he is with’, but for some reason, he refused to make the correction and just hoped the error went over her head.
“Oh, Drew. This means everything.” She threw herself in his arms, and he held her tight. From the shaking of her shoulders, he knew she was crying. That made him wonder why such a gift meant so much. When she stopped crying and he pulled back to stare into her tear-stained eyes, he asked, “What’s so special about this gift, Eden?”
After a couple of sniffles, she said, “First, because it was from you. And then because it’s the first gift I’ve received that is something I truly wanted and not something someone felt I should have.”
He lifted a brow. “Didn’t you ever make a Christmas list for Santa?”
