An Unexpected Christmas (12 page)

'I am and all good I hope.'

'Oh yes, all good.' He
reluctantly let go of my hand when Nate stood closer to me. He turned his
attention to the taller man. 'Ah Nate, good to see you. How's Hollywood
treating you?' Nate took his outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake then
quickly let go.

'Not bad.' Nate placed a hand on
the small of my back. 'We seem to be holding up the queue. Merry Christmas.' He
smiled at the vicar then guided me gently through the door.

The snow was still falling but it
had slowed down considerably and children were yelling in excitement and
throwing snowballs. I stayed by Nate's side and we walked slowly back towards
the pub. He waited until everyone had gone inside and then pulled me gently
down the side of the building and pressed me against the wall. He had placed
his hands on the wall on either side of my head and was looking down at me.

I looked up into his eyes and
waited in anticipation. He leaned down slowly and after what seemed like
forever pressed his lips to mine. Our kiss started slowly but soon heated. I
wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer. His arms moved from the wall
and ran over my body; I seemed to want him more the more I was with him.
Eventually he lifted his head and we stopped to catch our breath. He placed
another quick kiss to my lips.

'Sorry,' he whispered.

'Never apologise for kissing me
like that,' I whispered back.

He grinned. 'Come on, people will
start to wonder where we disappeared to.' He stepped back and I took a breath
to steady myself before we headed around the building and in to the heat of the
Hare and Hound.

April

We got back just before midnight
and all headed upstairs. The rest of the evening had been lots of fun and I had
gotten to chat to everyone a little. There was definitely something going on
between Ella and Roddy. They had seemed to stay at each other's side all
evening but her flirting was laboured and nothing like how I had seen her on
nights out in London. I wanted to talk to her about it, to tell her that Roddy
seemed as interested in her as she did in him but from her comment earlier
about not wanting to discuss it I held back.

I pulled on my pyjamas and
crawled under the duvet then reached for my book that sat on the night stand
and settled against the pillows. I had gotten into the habit of reading before
bed and now I knew I wouldn't sleep without reading at least one chapter.

I
must have fallen asleep reading because when I woke my book was still open in
my hand. I looked at the clock next to my bed and saw that it was two in the
morning. I sat up and closed my book, placing the bookmark on the page I hoped
I was up to, and then dropped it on the bedside table. I rubbed my eyes, and my
mouth was so dry that I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep without a glass of
water. So flinging off the covers I padded across the room to the door.

I quietly crept down the stairs
when I heard a noise. I stopped on the bottom step and just listened. There was
a clank of a glass, a quiet bang and a muttered ‘fuck’ which brought a smile to
my lips. It was Nate. He must have had the same thought as I had, that we drank
a little too much in the pub and the only solution was a large glass of water.

I took the last step off the
stairs and padded slowly along the tile floor to the entrance of the kitchen.
The door was slightly ajar but there was no light on and it seemed that Nate
was struggling to find his way around in the dark.

I pushed the door open enough for
me to slip inside then closed it quietly behind me. I waited a moment but he
hadn’t heard me so feeling around to my right I found the small lamp I knew
stood on the sideboard, and switched it on.

‘Shit!’ Nate whipped around and
stared at me, one hand on his bare chest, his other ready to launch the empty
glass at me, his breath was coming quickly with the shock. He stood just
looking at me for a moment and I noticed that he was wearing nothing but a
loose pair of light grey pyjamas bottoms which looked so soft I just wanted to
reach out and run my fingers over the fabric.

‘Sorry. You know that is the
second dirty word you have said in the past minute; you’re starting to ruin
your good guy reputation.’ I smiled at him.

His breathing had slowed back to
normal and he had lowered the glass in his hand he turned away from me and
filled his glass from the tap, took a long drink and muttered. ‘Being good can
be over rated.’ He turned back towards me, leaning back against the kitchen
counter and crossing his feet in front of him. He gave me a look I hadn’t seen
before. He looked quite serious but there was something in his eyes that I
couldn’t quite read, then a smile slowly spread across his face and I knew what
the look in his eye was, I had seen it earlier that night in the alley next to
the pub.

My breath caught in my throat. He
was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. His dark hair was ruffled and messy
and his eyes seemed darker than usual. I knew I fancied him before I met him
but this was something else. I grew hot and my breathing was becoming shallower
and I couldn’t stop myself from licking my lips. All the while Nate was
watching me. I gave myself a quick mental talking too and if he was going to
stand there brazenly looking me up and down then I was going to reciprocate.

He had appeared so many times in
my dreams that I thought I knew what to expect when he stood in front of me in
nothing but pyjama bottoms but my dream version of Nate could not compare to
what stood before me. His chest, broad and toned had a light sprinkling of dark
hair and before he turned I had gotten a glorious look at his back. His
shoulders were large and defined and I wanted to trace my fingers over each
muscle. His stomach too was toned and I wondered how many hours he spent in the
gym. It made me wonder how he saw me and I remembered that I wasn't wearing any
underwear and I felt a blush cover my cheeks.

I was wearing my favourite navy
blue pyjamas that I had bought as an early Christmas gift to myself the year
before. They had been ridiculously expensive for pyjamas but I had been given a
very generous bonus and I wanted to buy something to celebrate and what better
way than band new pyjamas. They were a soft, light jersey material with silk
trimming and were ridiculously comfortable but not the sexiest of pyjamas.

He stood up straight and turned
to retrieve his glass of water then held it out for me. I took a step towards
him and when I took the glass our fingers touched briefly and my skin tingled.
I lifted the glass to my lips and took a long drink of the cold water. It did
nothing to cool my body which seemed to be getting hotter the closer I got to
Nate. I finished off the water and he took the glass off me and placed it back
on the counter. When he turned back he stepped towards me and looked down into
my eyes.

‘I haven’t been able to quite
figure out what colour your eyes are for the past few days. I haven’t seen
anything like them.’

‘I usually describe them as a
dirty hazel.’ He shook his head.

‘No. A golden hazel maybe, or a
rich hazel, but never, a dirty hazel.’ He lifted his hand and slowly brushed it
across my cheek and my eyes slowly closed at the sensation. I heard him lean
even closer to me and then his breath on my face. He pressed his lips gently to
mine and I could feel his warmth radiating from his body. His hands travelled
slowly up my arms then cupped my face. All the while his lips were pressed
against mine. After a moment he lifted his lips from mine. I managed to open my
eyes. He was smiling at me but there seemed to be a slight hesitancy in his
eyes but when I smiled back it quickly dispersed. He kissed me again, this time
it was deeper as he pulled me against him. After only a moment he lifted his
head and smiled.

‘April... for god’s sake; touch
me.’

‘Where?’

‘Anywhere.’ He dropped his head
to mine and kissed me again. Slowly at first and when I lifted my hands and
rested them on his hips, just above the waistband of his pyjama bottoms, he let
out a low growl and pulled me closer toward him. It was then that I could feel him,
hot and hard against me. Something changed in me. I was shocked to begin with,
that was why I had simply stood there, my hands at my sides as he kissed me but
that growl and the feel of him stirred something in me. My hands moved up and
down his back and I could feel the strong muscles under my touch. Breaking the
kiss again he tucked my loose hair behind my ears.

‘I don’t want you to get a crick
in your neck.’ He whispered, then with no effort he lifted me up and I wrapped
my legs around his waist. He turned and walked us over to the large wooden
kitchen table and placed me down gently.

‘See, good guy.’ He shook his
head and laughed.

‘I am not always the good guy. In
fact,’ He reached up and undid the top button of my pyjama top. ‘I can be very
bad indeed.’ He slipped the second button through its hole. His eyes stayed on
mine as he undid every last button slowly and carefully and when he reached the
last one his hands travelled back up the fabric but never touched me.  It felt
like my skin was on fire. It itched and ached for him and I wiggled slightly in
the hopes that he would finally touch me. I wondered if he was just trying to
make me as crazy as he must have felt when I hadn't touched him; I took his
hands in mine and watched our fingers interlock. I needed a moment to gather
myself before he finally touched me.

Nate’s hands seemed to engulf
mine. His fingers were long and strong where mine were small and pale but they
seemed to fit together in a way I could not have imagined.

‘What are you thinking?’ I lifted
his hands to my lips and kissed then softly.

‘I was wondering what magic these
hands could do to a girl.’ I looked back at him and gave him my wickedest grin.
He brought my left hand up to his mouth and slowly drew my ring finger between
his lips. His tongue teasing my skin and his teeth scraped with just the right
amount of pressure. I hadn’t realised I was holding my breath until it all came
out in a rush. He leaned in and brushed a feather light kiss against my lips.

‘It isn’t just my hands that know
a little magic.’ I couldn’t stop myself; I unlinked our fingers then ran my
hands up his chest and over his shoulders and pulled him towards me. He lowered
his lips to mine again but unlike the feathery kisses he had been bestowing on
me this was hot and passionate and demanding as if he didn’t kiss me it would
kill him. I kissed him back with the same enthusiasm and I couldn’t stop my
hands from flying over his chest, shoulders and back, trying to feel all of him
at once. His skin was soft but pulled tight over strong muscles and I hadn't
felt anything like it before. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me
closer to him. He trailed kissed down my neck and along my collar bone and
that's when I heard something.

'What was that?'

'What was what?' Nate asked still
continuing to kiss along my skin.

'I heard a door.' My voice
dropped to a whisper.

Nate lifted his head and listened
for a moment then dropped his head back to my neck and kissed me. 'We should
probably stop.'

My eyes had drifted shut at the
sensation and my head had moved to the side to give him better access. 'Hmm
you're probably right.' I pushed one hand into his hair and rested the other on
his shoulder.

He moved his hand under my top
and it fell open revealing my breasts to him. His hand moved up my side and
around then brushed against my nipple. I gasped then let out a moan.

'We really should stop now,' he
murmured against my lips.

I kissed him and pulled him
closer to me. 'Yeah, we should definitely stop.' I kissed him again and ran my
hands over his shoulders and down his chest. I still couldn't get over how
amazing his body was and I wanted to touch every inch of him.

His mouth was at my collarbone
and I opened my eyes and was mesmerised by his hand still on me. His fingers were
long and lean and looked tanned against my pale skin. The things they were
making me feel filled me up and I felt that I might burst.

'I'm going to stop now.' His
voice was rough and thick with passion and that sound vibrated through me.

'Uh-huh.' It seemed I had lost
the ability to form actual words and I knew I didn't want to stop.

Nate let out a growl then lifted
his mouth from my neck and kissed me deep and urgently. He had removed his hand
from my chest and placed a hand on either side of my face. He lifted his head
and looked into my eyes. He stood looking at me for a moment. 'This isn't
right.'

His words hit me and I felt the
pain in my chest. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want me. I could feel
the tears begin to form in my eyes and the overwhelming urge to cry hit me. I
lowered my gaze and tried to quickly cover myself back up but Nate was too
quick and he grabbed my hand and flicked my top back open and gazed back down
at me.

'Beautiful.' It came out as a
murmur then he lifted his eyes to mine. His expression was serious and I waited
for him to tell me it was all a mistake, that he didn't want me, just another
good look.

'April, this isn't right. We are
acting like teenagers who are afraid to get caught.' I just stared at him. 'I
don't want the first time we make love to be on my mother's kitchen table,
scared that she might walk in.' He brushed his thumb across my cheek and it was
only then I realised my tears had escaped. 'The first time I make love to you I
want to take my time, I want to be in a bed and I don't want to worry that
someone will walk in on us.'

I nodded, finally understanding
what he meant, my heart was still racing from the thought of him rejecting me
and then from his words. He wanted to 'make love' to me, not just sleep with
me, it would mean something and a small panic settled itself in the back of my
mind. I watched as he then slowly did up the buttons on my top and lifted me
back off the table. As I was about to turn and head back out of the kitchen he
stopped me and pulled me to him lowering his head and capturing my lips with
his. When he lifted his head again he smiled down at me, 'this doesn't mean I
won't be doing
that
at every opportunity.'

I let out the breath I had been
holding and smiled back at him. 'Promise?'

He kissed me again, deeper and it
made my head spin. 'Promise.' He reached down and linked his fingers with mine.
'Come on, we better go to bed.' I raised my eyebrow in question and made him
smirk again, ‘you are naughty. I'm going to have to keep my eye on you.'

I smiled back at him. Everything
that had happened I would remember for a long time. Long after Christmas and
long after I said goodbye to him. I knew that I would still have an internal
battle about sleeping with him and I knew that if I did I would be in more
danger of falling completely in love with him, if I already hadn't. I didn't
want to think of the devastation that I knew was inevitable but just bask in
the moment and the things he was making me feel to savour them and store them
away like precious jewels I could take out and gaze upon when I needed to.