“Did you look outside?” I ask her.

  She nods. “Yep, so I guess, whatever we do, it will have to be inside.”

  My temperature rises just thinking about being with her inside all day. I don’t know how I’m going to keep my hands to myself. “Yep. We can play some board games... read, watch television... whatever you want to do. I’m just glad you’re here.”

  She sets her fork down and blows out a breath. “Okay, well I was thinking that it’s Christmas and I, uh, realized in the middle of the night what I want for Christmas.”

  I set the fork down and lean forward on my elbows. Her face is red, and she’s biting her lip again. She’s embarrassed and nervous. I didn’t even think about getting her anything, but if it’s at all possible, I’ll give her whatever she wants. “What do you want?”

  I hold my breath, hoping that it’s something that I’m going to have around the house. Surely, I can think of something.

  “Don’t look at me.”

  I startle. “What?”

  She rolls her eyes and turns in her chair, facing the wall. “I thought about this all night and told myself I was just going to come out here and say it, but I’ve put it off through breakfast, and now I’m just going to say it.”

  She’s still not looking at me. I touch her arm and feel the same magnetic pull I felt last night. “Whatever you want, I’ll do whatever possible to make it happen for you.”

  I can feel hope flaring in my chest, but I refuse to believe it. I’m not going to let myself hope until I hear the words from her mouth.

  She takes a deep breath, and I wait patiently. “I want... well, last night, you were right. I wanted you. For the first time, I wondered if I really am frigid or not.”

  “You’re not,” I tell her. I know she’s not. She’s way too responsive to be frigid.

  She shrugs. “But you don’t understand. My whole life says otherwise.” She blows out a breath and turns to face me. Her cheeks are flaming red, but once her eyes land on mine, she says it. “I want to have sex with you. I mean, I want to try.”

  Thank God I don’t have any food in my mouth because I know I’d be choking right now. I don’t question her. I jump up from my seat, my cock already hard, and say, “Okay.”

  I reach for her and pull her up. She’s laughing, but she goes into my arms anyway. “Wait, wait. It’s going to be like an experiment. You seem to think that I’m capable...”

  “Yes, honey, I have no doubt I can give you an orgasm.”

  She shakes her head. “No, that’s not what this is about. I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on you. I just want to have sex and...” She scrunches up her nose. “I don’t want it to be awful.”

  I lean over and put one arm under her legs and one behind her back and pick her up. Her arms go around my neck, and she’s struggling. “No, Levi. You’re going to break your back.”

  I walk out of the kitchen, down the hall, and to the bedroom. “You’re light. Quit fighting me.”

  She calms in my arms, and when I get next to the bed, I set her feet down on the floor. She’s tugging on the hem of her shirt. “Wait, I didn’t mean right now... we can wait and maybe work up to it.”

  I shake my head and pull her lower body against mine. She feels my bulge pressed into her belly, and her eyes widen. “No, honey. That’s not how this is going to work. I’m thinking we’ll be snowed in together for probably two to three days. I plan on making the most of it, and that’s definitely going to be with me between your thighs the majority of the time.”

  Her eyebrows arch, and I know she likes the sound of it too. But there’s a hesitancy in her voice. “But what if I can’t... what if I’m awful?”

  I twirl her hair in my finger and tug her face to mine. “You can’t be awful. Heck, baby if you’re half as good as you were in my dreams last night, I’ll sign up to be your sex slave for life.”

  “You dreamed about me?”

  “Yes. All night. I fought with myself all night. If I’d had it my way, I’d have been buried balls deep inside you instead of sleeping on the lumpy couch.”

  She likes what I’m saying, but the look in my eyes tells me she’s scared. I tug at the hem of her shirt. “No pressure. Just let me make you feel good. All you have to do is lie back and enjoy it.”

  She clenches on to my shirt. “But what if I don’t?”

  “You will.”

  She doesn’t believe me. “Are you going to be mad if I don’t?” She’s seriously worried about this. Not worried about her not enjoying it but about how I’m going to feel if she doesn’t.

  “No, baby. I’m not going to be mad,” I tell her. I leave out the part where I know she’s going to enjoy it. She doesn’t believe me, so I’m going to have to prove it to her.

  I pull her shirt up to show her midriff. “Can I take this off?”

  She looks bewildered and overwhelmed at my request. “I usually leave it on.”

  I grit my teeth before I say something she’s not going to like. What kind of man is this Richard? He’s an ass, but obviously he’s a selfish ass too.

  “Honey, just a few rules. We’re not going to talk about before anymore. The thought of you with... just no more. Okay?”

  She nods. “What’s number two?”

  I pull the shirt high on her waist. “Arms up,” I tell her.

  She raises her arms, and I pull my T-shirt off her body. She doesn’t have a bra on, and she goes to cover herself with her arms. I peel them from her chest. “Number two, I’m going to see it all. Bodies touching, skin against skin, I want the whole thing.”

  I wait for her to answer me by bringing the back of my knuckles across her breast. Her nipples are hard, and I stroke them back and forth. Her head falls back, and the groan that comes from her gives me just an inkling of how good it’s going to be with her. “Okay? Answer me, baby. You okay with number two?”

  She moans as I tweak her nipples between my fingers and give them a small tug. “Yes, skin to skin.”

  I lean down, kiss her shoulder, and make my way to her breast. I suckle her, and her hand threads through my hair. She’s making the same whimpers from last night when I was kissing her, so I know she likes my mouth on her.

  Without taking my mouth off her, I pull her pants and panties down her leg. She steps out of them, and when I know she’s naked, I pull my lips off her and look her up and down. She’s curvy and takes my breath away. Her body trembles, and I know it’s from need. There’s desire raging in her eyes, and it pushes me further. I want to take her now. Push inside her and make her mine.

  Chapter 7

  Georgina

  I thought about this all night, lying in his bed with the smell of Levi surrounding me. His kiss evoked things in me I’ve never felt before, and I knew I couldn’t just walk out of here without taking this to the next level. I may only have just met him. I may only be here a few more days, but none of that matters. I want to feel and experience everything he’s willing to offer.

  Now, here I am, completely naked in front of him, and my whole body is trembling as if just brought to life. I should feel self-conscious, but I don’t. How could I with the way he’s looking at me? “You too, right? That means you’re taking your clothes off too.”

  He nods. He looks rugged, with his hair going every which way and the stubble on his chin. He takes off his clothes, and the whole time he’s watching me, gazing up and down my body. As soon as he takes off his pants, I gasp and take a step back. “That’s definitely going to hurt, Levi.”

  I don’t say it out loud, but I’ve never seen anything like what he’s got hanging between his legs. He pulls me to him, his hardness pressing against me. I can feel the wet precum on his tip as it paints my belly. “I would never hurt you,” he tells me before pressing his lips to mine.

  The kiss is all consuming, and when we finally pull apart to take a breath, I’m lying on the bed with him settled between my open thighs. I barely catch a breath, and he’s crawling down between my legs, kissing the whole way. With each touch of his lips, my body jerks. He notices it and starts to test the theory. Even though I know it’s coming, my body still reacts to him.

  He reaches between my legs and strokes his finger through my slit. He groans, letting his head fall to my hip. “Baby, you’re so wet. I can’t wait to be buried deep inside you.”

  I lift up on my elbows to watch him. He kisses and licks me, focusing on my swollen clit. “Lie back,” he tells me.

  I do as he says and close my eyes. I try to empty my mind until the only thing I’m thinking about is him and the feelings he’s creating inside me.

  When he gets to a certain pattern, flicking his tongue, circling it around my swollen nub, I whimper. He stops for just a second and does the same thing again. I try to hold it in, but I can’t. The moan escapes, and my hips come up, seeking to be closer. He keeps doing it over and over. More pressure, less pressure. Everything he does, he’s listening to my body and doing what I crave. “Yes. Don’t stop.”

  His hands grip my thighs, and he pushes his face against my center. I can feel myself start to crest. It’s happening. My body starts to shake, my hips buck, and my toes curl. It’s the most intense feeling I’ve ever felt, and fuck, it’s good.

  He doesn’t stop. I ride the orgasm until my body finally starts to relax. Muscles I haven’t used before are taut and hurting, but I don’t care. I’m breathless when he climbs up my body. He reaches for the nightstand and pulls out a condom. I watch as he sheathes himself and then positions himself at my entrance. “I can, you know, give you a turn,” I tell him, gesturing to his hard manhood between us.

  He leans over and kisses me. I can taste myself on him, and the kiss intensifies. “I won’t last. I need in you. Can I have you, Gina?”

  I nod, and he doesn’t hesitate. He plunges inside me. My whole body contracts at the sensation. He waits, letting my body adjust before he starts to move in and out of me. With every thrust, he brings me higher. There’s a build inside me, as if I’m going to have another orgasm. “No way,” I mumble, holding on to him as he plows in and out of me.

  He doesn’t question me; he knows what I’m thinking. “That’s right, baby. I need to come, but I need you to come with me.”

  I’m already shaking my head. “I can’t.”

  He leans in and kisses me. There’s so much in this kiss, trust, longing, desire, want, need, and more that I don’t even want to begin to think about. “You can, and you will. Come on, Gina baby, make me come. Milk me. I need you bad.”

  His movements are reckless and uncontrolled, but he doesn’t stop. When he reaches between us, I flinch as he moves over my clit. One stroke, two strokes and before he even gets to the third, I’m convulsing underneath of him. He groans, I scream, and he pounds into me over and over.

  I’m hot and an emotional mess by the end of it.

  He falls down on top of me, breathless. He’s kissing my arm, and I resist reaching up and wiping the tears from my eyes. So this is what it’s supposed to be like?

  He raises himself off of me, and as I can, I sit up, completely naked, and hightail it to the bathroom. I slam the door and lean against it. As soon as I’m alone, the tears start to flow.

  Levi

  I can hear her on the other side of the door. She’s crying, and I try to think back to what I could have done wrong. I dispose of the condom and stand outside the bathroom door. “Gina, honey. We need to talk.”

  “Can you hand me some clothes?”

  She opens the door and holds her hand outside of it.

  I grab my T-shirt that I had on and hand it to her. She takes it and shuts the door again. Mere seconds go by, and she’s opening the door, a smile plastered to her face. “Thank you,” she mumbles as she walks past me.

  “Thank you?” I stutter. I walk after her and grab her arm, pulling her around to me. She looks like a woman devastated instead of a woman that just had not one, but two orgasms. “What do you mean, thank you?”

  She shrugs. “I mean you did it. You proved me wrong. I can have an orgasm. Congratulations.”

  I shake my head, trying to keep up. “What? You think this was a game? That I made love to you because I wanted to see if I could be a stud and bring you to climax? Is that what you think?”

  She shrugs and still won’t look me in the eyes. “Don’t call it that.”

  “What?”

  She stiffens. “Making love. We didn’t make love.”

  Outrage pours through my veins. “The hell we didn’t.”

  She’s watching me. Disbelief and hope are both buried in her big brown eyes. “We did, Gina. If that wasn’t making love, then I don’t know what it was.”

  “We just met... we’re snowed in together... I’m leaving...”

  I pull her against me. I’m still naked, and my cock is still semi hard, wanting to be back inside her, but this is too important to just ignore.

  “Yeah, we just met. And thank fuck we’re snowed in together. And I know you’re leaving, but that doesn’t mean something can’t come of this... of us.”

  Her eyes are round, and she rears back at me in surprise. “What does that even mean?”

  I clench my fists at my sides to stop myself from closing in on her. She needs her space, and I’ll give it to her, at least until she tries to leave me. Then there’s nothing that’s going to stop me. At least that’s what I tell myself. But when she turns to walk away from me, I can’t let her. She needs to know. “It means that I love you, Gina.”

  She whirls around to face me. “You can’t.”

  I pounce on her then, wrapping my arms around her. She struggles, fighting to get away, but this is too important. I can’t let her go until she understands. “Listen to me,” I tell her, my mouth right next to her ear. “I love you, Gina. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. This isn’t a game to me. This wasn’t meant to be a one-night stand. I want us to be together.”

  “How? You don’t even know me...” she says.

  “I know your favorite color is red. You like sweets, but your favorite is banana pudding because you convinced yourself it’s healthy since it has bananas in it. You love your job, and you can do it from anywhere. You want to travel, and even though you didn’t think you’d like to ski, you love it here in Winter Falls.”

  “You remember all that?”

  I shake my head. “I remember everything you said. Since I first saw you, you have been my focus. I haven’t been able to think of anything else.”

  She’s practically melting against me now. “How... but I don’t... we can’t...”

  I put my hands on each side of her face and force her to look at me. “I’m not letting you go, Gina. If you want to take this slowly, that’s fine. If you want to move here to Winter Falls, that’s fine. If you want me to follow you all over the country, that’s fine. I’ll do whatever you want as long as you give us a chance.”

  I’m holding my breath, waiting for her to respond to me. I told her what I want, and it’s in her hands now. “Are you sure?” she asks me.

  I push the hair off her face. “I’m sure.” She nods but doesn’t say anything. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Gina.”

  Her hands go to my waist. This is probably not a conversation to have naked, but I’m not going to take the time to put on clothes. “I think you were right.”

  My heart is racing in my chest. “Right about what?”

  “When you... when we...” She shakes her head as if fixing her thoughts. “It felt like making love to me too.”

  I let out a breath, and my forehead touches hers. “Fuck yeah, it was.”

  Her hands trail up my chest. “I want this, Levi. I’m scared and afraid you’ll change your mind, but I want this. I’m all in.”

  I pick her up, swinging her around in the living room. Her legs go around my waist, and her hot core is against my abdomen. I stride with her down the hall back to the bedroom. “Where are you going?”

  I toss her onto the bed and follow her down. “It’s Christmas, baby, and I just got my miracle. I’m going to celebrate.”

  She’s smiling up at me, all insecurities are gone. “We should probably put up a tree.”

  “I’ll put up a tree after we’re done... probably tomorrow... or the next day.”

  She laughs. “But Christmas will be over then.”

  I shrug. “Yeah, well then you can just help me put one up next year. I need inside you, Gina.”

  She slides her arms around my neck, smiling. “Next year?”

  I kiss her cheek and whisper into her ear, “Yeah, baby. And the year after that too.”

  She reaches down between us and wraps her hand around my hard shaft. “I like the sound of that.”

  I moan. “Me too.”

  Hope Ford Books and Bio

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  USA Today Bestselling Author Hope Ford writes short, steamy, sweet romances. She loves tattooed, alpha men, instant love stories, and ALWAYS happily ever afters. She has over 100 books and they are all available on Amazon.

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  Saint and Marley

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  Copyright © 2021 by Lucy Darling

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  Chapter 1

  Saint

  A smirk pulls at my lips when I read the weather report. A terrible plan is starting to form in my mind. One that involves an adorably tiny town deputy.