It Must Be Christmas Read online

  “You’re going to make me come, Nate.” Chloe sucked in a sharp breath. Her thighs quivered around his hand. She was close.

  “Not until I’m inside of you.” Nate pushed himself up and tore into the foil packet. He rolled the condom onto his erection in a single stroke. He jerked Chloe’s underwear off and scooped her leg up in the crook of his arm as he positioned himself at her opening. Her arm came up to encircle his neck and her fingernails scraped over the stubble of hair at the back of his neck. Her eyes held his and a tremor of fear rippled through him. He felt as though she could see right into his soul.

  The darkness that he’d tried to bury threatened to surface and Nate pushed it back down. He needed to stay in the moment. To feel. To do whatever it took to keep that motherfucking endless void at bay. He eased the head of his cock into her pussy and Chloe’s thighs fell open. He took a deep breath and thrust deep inside of her on a guttural exhale.

  This was what he needed. Nate stilled as he adjusted to her tight hold that squeezed him like a fist. He pulled out slowly and thrust again, eliciting a gasp from Chloe. “God, I love that sound.” He kept his mouth close to her ear as he repeated the motion. She writhed beneath him, her hips jerking up to meet his. He rolled his hips, seating himself as deep as he could go and she rewarded him for his effort with another sharp intake of breath. “How do you want it, Chloe? I want to hear you say it.”

  “Just like that,” she said through pants of breath. “Fuck me hard, Nate. And don’t stop until I come.”

  * * *

  When Chloe set out to win a chunk of Nate Christensen’s newly acquired fortune, this wasn’t how she’d planned the night to end. Not that she was complaining. It had been a long damned time since a man rocked her world. And right now the earth was positively quaking beneath her.

  Nate fucked her as though he knew her inside and out. He wasn’t about to pound into her like some groaning mass of man-flesh. He made sex an art form. A sensual dance that left Chloe breathless and trembling, drawing out her pleasure until she didn’t think she could take another moment of his careful assault. She’d known he was intense, that something boiled under the surface of his unshakable façade. What would it be like to bring a man like that to the edge of his control? Lord, she wanted to find out.

  Nate eased the leg he held in the cradle of his arm up higher, allowing him to penetrate her more deeply. She wrapped her free leg around his hip and dug her heel into the muscular globes of his ass as she angled her hips up to meet his. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so good.

  “Your pussy is so tight, Chloe. So wet.” Nate’s voice strained with each word as he lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her as deeply as he fucked her. With the same slow, deliberate motion. His free hand wandered up her torso, over the swell of her breast, and came to rest at her throat. Long fingers gripped her with enough purpose for her to recognize his barely restrained strength. His open mouth searched hers, his tongue danced with hers in a slippery tangle.

  “Faster, Nate. Harder. Make me come.”

  He increased his pace, pounding into her with quick forceful rolls of his hips that caused Chloe’s breath to catch. He kissed her as though he feasted on her mouth, reveled in the taste. And with every low grunt and slap of his skin against hers, her body heated to the point of combustion. Sex with a perfect stranger shouldn’t have been so intimate. Lights on, eyes wide open and searching, inhibitions obliterated. She admired Nate’s fearlessness. The unapologetic way that he took what he wanted.

  Chloe’s muscles contracted. Her core tightened as though her body folded in on itself. The pressure built inside of her and she arched her back, urging Nate deeper. “Come for me, Chloe.” His command pushed her closer to the edge. “Come hard for me.”

  Her body responded to his gruff voice as though it had no other choice. Chloe’s world shattered into myriad particles that swirled in a violent whirlwind. The orgasm swept her away on a tide of sensation and she cried out. Long, drawn-out sobs that grated in her throat. Nate’s jaw squared as he clamped his teeth together. His grip tightened on her throat with just enough pressure to send another exhilarating rush through her bloodstream. He rode her with purpose, his brows drawing down sharply over his intense hazel eyes and he grunted over her like a mindless beast. She’d never seen anything so wild. Primal. Another wave of coiling pleasure rocked her and Chloe cried out again, “Don’t stop. Oh god. Don’t stop, Nate.”

  His wild thrusts became more disjointed. He threw his head back as he seated himself deep and nestled in tight against her thighs. Chloe felt the contractions of his orgasm against the sensitive inner walls of her pussy, a delicious thrum that sent a shudder of sensation through her. So intense.

  Nate rode out his orgasm, his thrusts becoming slow and shallow. He braced his weight on an elbow but he didn’t leave her body as he put his mouth close to Chloe’s ear. “I’m going to fuck you until the sun rises.” His hot breath coaxed goose bumps to the surface of her skin. “I need more.”

  There was a quiet desperation to his words that speared Chloe’s chest. Maybe she’d underestimated the effect his father’s death had on Nate. Maybe his unshakeable façade was just that. A mask he wore to protect himself. But from what?

  She cupped the back of his neck and let her fingers caress the short stubble of his hair. He’d kept the military-style cut despite the fact he’d been discharged months ago. She liked that he grew it out on top, though. A sort of rebellious twist to a conservative haircut. For long moments they lay still, her legs wrapped around him, his cock still inside of her. He buried his face where her shoulder met her neck and inhaled deeply. “Sweet Jesus, you smell good,” he said on an exhale.

  “Are you sure that’s not the liquor talking?” she said with a nervous laugh. “After that workout I probably smell like a locker room.”

  “You smell like sex and honey,” he growled into her ear. “And I’m not half as drunk as you think I am.”

  Her stomach did a little flip.

  Nate pulled out and rolled to Chloe’s side. It surprised her how she instantly missed his weight on top of her, the sensation of him filling her. They lay in silence as he played idly with her hair. Gone was the hardness, the impenetrable shell of Nate’s stoic exterior. Pensive. Introspective. Chloe sensed that he was no longer there with her but millions of miles away in some other moment in time. He was no less intense; even the feather-light strokes of his fingertips carried a focus that was at the same time unsettling and strangely alluring.

  “I really am sorry about your dad.” Her voice was small, as though it couldn’t push past the perimeter of their bodies.

  “Mmm.” The sound vibrated in Nate’s chest. Though it was common knowledge that Nate and his father had been estranged, Chloe couldn’t help but think his death had taken its toll. That despite Nate’s hard-boiled exterior, he balanced on the edge of succumbing to the emotional fallout.

  Silence descended once again and Nate’s breathing became slow and even. Chloe lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling, his arm slung across her waist. She wanted to turn to look at him, but she worried that if he was asleep, she’d disturb him. Icy fingers of fear reached through Chloe’s chest and squeezed her heart. She didn’t know the first thing about Nate. There was no room for tender emotions and concern in a one-night stand.

  With slow precision, his hand wandered from her belly, lower, eliciting chills that chased over Chloe’s skin. He traced the juncture where her hip met her thigh and urged her legs to open. She drew in a sharp breath as his long fingers slid between her lips and slowly circled her clit. Again she was shocked that he knew her body better than she did as he rekindled her passion with easy, gentle strokes.

  “Come for me again, Chloe,” he whispered in her ear.

  She arched into his touch as a moan gathered in her throat. The authoritative edge to his voice made her shudder with anticipation. Did anyone ever deny Nate Christensen?

  FOUR

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