I'm rewarded with a smile and then he sweeps me up into his arms and carries me toward the bedroom. I'm intensely grateful it's a small cabin, because it's only seconds before he lays me down on the bed, eying me with awe and pride like I'm the most beautiful woman he's ever seen.
He helps me pull the sweatshirt over my head, and chuckles when I wiggle my way free of the borrowed sweatpants. He takes them from me, tossing them into a pile on the floor, before returning his focus to me.
There's an intensity in his gaze when he looks me up and down, and I don't want to squirm or hide myself. I let him look his fill, then reach for him. He comes to me and allows me to undress him as well, relishing the feel of his muscled skin as he's now the one shivering beneath my touch. The sharply cut surface of his chest tapers to the lines of his abs and lower, to the arrow of his hips pointing down. Down to where his desire for me is most obvious.
He's thick and rigid, and in the dim light I catch the shine of fluid at the tip. Before we're done, I want to taste him, and I can tell by the way he's eying me that he has a similar plan. But first, I want him inside me. Need him to fill me up.
He seals his mouth to mine, and we roll back onto the bed, and I'm not cold at all. I'm burning up from the inside as he plunders my mouth with his tongue while his hands work magic on my body. Stroking over my nipples until they're hard and aching, trailing his fingers down over my rounded belly and tickling my hips. Until he's there, at my center, and teasing that most sensitive part of me to life. He learns with each caress what makes me arch up and gasp, or beg for more, and I'm so wet when he finally slides a finger inside me. He glides in and out, stretching me and spreading my own fluid around until there's no resistance, and he adds another finger to the mix.
I can feel it when he curls them just right, up against the wall of my core, and his thumb ghosts over my clitoris, and I bow up, my cries of pleasure unexpected as the wave hits me hard.
There's unmistakable satisfaction I hear in his voice when he says, "So beautiful."
Then he positions his tip at my opening, holds himself over me on his forearms and kisses me as his cock presses inside. Inch by slow, delicious, torturous inch. Until he's finally fully seated and we're both panting with need.
And he begins to move.
12
LEO
Celeste is everything I never dreamed I could have in my life. She's kind and generous, smart, and gorgeous, but the way she meets my passion with her own is so open and willing. She's hot and tight, and her body clutches at mine as if she never wants to let me go. Her fingernails dig into my back perfectly. The little pinpricks of pain are the perfect counterpoint to the pleasure I feel each time I stroke forward and then pull back. My head is spinning and all that exists in this moment is me and this wonderful woman, the heat and desire building between us. It's perfection.
The silken glide of my cock in and out of her draws cries and gasps from her, but I want more. I want her to scream my name, proof she's not holding back, so I begin a punishing rhythm in and out as I suck one of her nipples into my mouth. Her hips jolt up and I'm rewarded with a moan. Her grip on me ratchets up and I pick up speed, switching to the other nipple and laving it with my tongue, dragging the edge of my teeth over the tip.
Celeste cries out, a beautiful sound, and I feel it when the building pleasure spreads out through her body. Her wallsconvulse around my length, her legs lock around my hips to hold me there, and yes, that's my name she's screaming.
Having achieved my goal, I stop holding back and let go. Losing myself in her body, the feel of her, the way it feels to be held by her, each stroke dragging me closer to the finish. Until pleasure builds at the base of my spine, then spills out of me, and I surge forward, burying myself inside her. I fill her full and stay there. My breath is ragged and hers is too.
I roll to the right, keeping us joined, but pulling her onto my chest so I don't crush her beneath my weight. It's tricky, but I manage to get a blanket tugged up over us, so she won't freeze if we fall asleep.
"Merry Christmas, Leo," she says, and her voice sounds dazed. Drugged by the pleasure, I hope. "You're my gift."
Her words make my heart pound with happiness. "Merry Christmas, Celeste. You're mine."
I press a kiss to her head and trace my fingers over the skin of her back. Her breathing evens out and I know she's fallen asleep in my arms.
What I don't expect is that I fall asleep in hers.
EPILOGUE
THREE MONTHS LATER
CELESTE
I wait at the restaurant, my leg bouncing with nervous energy as I scan the parking lot through the window. Leo said he'd be here, that he could get a pass tonight, and my body aches with missing him. I traveled here to see him one more time before he has to deploy, but it's unlike him to be delayed.
A contingent of soldiers enters the restaurant and my heart soars, but Leo isn't among them.
"Ma'am?" The server is standing beside my table, a steaming drink on her tray. "This is for you."
She sets the mug on the table in front of me and gives me a smile, then steps away to take an order. The sweet smell of hot chocolate wafts up and I'm thrown back into the memory of that night. Snowed in, Christmas, wearing sweats borrowed from the man I was falling in love with.
I take a sip and close my eyes, savoring the taste, and wishing Leo was here with me.
When I open my eyes once more, I think I'm dreaming. Because Leo is here.
Beside my table.
