Christmas Eve (19 page)

"Say butter."

"Butter?"

Eve caught him looking stupid, and grinned. When he laughed, she took another. Pleased with the results, she passed the camera back. "It's kind of hard, being photographed without clothes. I need props."

She darted away from the table, returned with a silk scarf and a furry hat. "Here," she said, giving him the hat.

She twice wrapped the scarf around her neck. The fringed edge dangled enticingly between her breasts. He longed to smooth the silky fabric over her satiny skin, absorb her heat, but since he was the one who had started this, reached for the camera instead. Eve didn't object when he focused it on her.

A keeper, for sure
.

At her urging, Nick put on the hat.

"Better, but that's not enough." She looked about. "I know. Get your briefcase, then walk towards me."

She's enjoying this
.

Delighted to be ordering him around. He tried for nonchalance as he walked back to her, but it was damn hard with Croupier standing tall.

He could tell that Eve took several images. Sure wished he had some idea how much she'd included in hers. She'd looked so vulnerable when he first brought the camera out, he didn't want to spoil her fun by suggesting cheesecake shots, if that was not what she had in mind.

She beat him to it. While he was reviewing her images Eve got up from the table and walked across the room twirling the long end of the scarf in her hand and humming a burlesque tune most often heard accompanying a stripper.

Nick circled her, quickly taking shots. He liked the view from the rear best, and the way she'd tossed a Betty Grable grin over her shoulder at him.

He knew when to quit. Eve's two-minute skin show had him so damn hot he was afraid the camera would melt. He put it down.

"Come here, woman."

"
Moi?
" She fluttered her eyelashes.

"Yes, you," he murmured, unable to take his eyes off Eve.

Slowly, she unwound the scarf from her neck and wound it around her hips, then wrapped her hands with the ends so that the scarf cupped her butt and her hips moved from side to side as she pranced around.

When Nick's eyes became heated, she grinned wickedly.

"You want me, come get me," she said, a coquette enjoying the effect she had on him.

He strode across the room and crushed Eve to his chest.

"What's the matter, cowboy? Am I more than you can handle?"

"Not quite." He swept her up in his arms.

The far end of the dining room table was bare. He laid Eve down there, her legs bent and dangling over the edge. The vulnerable look had returned to her eyes so he smoothed a wayward curl from her forehead, replaced it with a tender kiss and let his hands wander over her soft, smooth skin.

Eve moaned, all hints of vulnerability swept away by desire.

"That's right, baby. You can trust me," he murmured into her ear.

"Nick..."

"I know. You're safe with me." He caressed her thighs. Ran his hands down her legs, then placed her heels on the table, her knees bent and Eve marvelously open to him.

The kisses he worshipfully trailed up the inside of her thighs made her breath hitch. She threaded her fingers through his hair and shifted her hips. When he kissed her inner lips, she laced her fingers together, keeping his head there while he savored her passion, her need.

She tasted like musky honey.

Like spiked ambrosia.

Like love.

Nick could not get his fill, not with her yearning with passion and his mouth slickened by her desire. He lifted his head slowly, pulled Eve closer, then slid into her. Her heels no longer rested on the table. She'd locked her ankles around his back as soon as he entered her, drawing him into her depths.

He kissed her deeply, letting her sample her taste lingering on his tongue. She shivered, quickening. Her involuntary movement caught Croupier off guard.

He almost came, had to concentrate long and hard not to end his lovemaking before he'd even begun.

"You taste good," he murmured against her lips, silently promising himself to slow down.

Smiling, he kissed his way down to her shoulder, then around one perfect, rounded breast. Eve moaned. He laved the dark circle surrounding the crest, once again letting his tongue seek out each tiny ripple, each need-driven pucker, then sucking the entire crest into his mouth.

"Nick..."

With a knowing smile, he gave Eve's second breast the attention it so justly deserved, all the while gently rotating his hips.

She shattered, bathing him in the white hot heat of her climax as her muscles contracted and squeezed. "That's my baby," he murmured, pillowing his head on her cushiony breast while he caught his breath. "Let yourself go."

Then, his head thrown back, she took him with her, milking him dry as surely as if she'd used her hand and when the fantastic flight ended, the two of them floated back down wrapped in each other's arms.

* * * * *

That particular round of lovemaking left Eve's knees weak and her nerves raw, and after a nap she sat quietly while Nick took care of some work with the help of his laptop.

She was
not
supposed to be feeling the things she was feeling about Nick. Things like love and happy ever after were not ever supposed to enter her mind.

"Want to see?" Nick asked, interrupting her thoughts.

She looked up at him and smiled. "What?" But she was already on her feet and walking toward him.

"My screen saver." He turned the laptop for her to see.

An image of herself
.

The image was no worse than other pinup shots she'd seen. The scarf covered her butt, although anyone with a little imagination could tell what was hidden underneath. He'd caught her with a wide smile, one that indicated she was having a good time. And she had. That troubled her the most.

"You're not—"

"Do I look like the kind of man who would break a promise? I'm well aware of the danger I'd put you in if these photos appeared on the internet."

"No, I wasn't worried about that."

"Then what's caused that dark look in your eyes."

"Your computer. Where—"

"In my study. No one will see this but me."

"Oh."

"Do you mind?"

"No. Not if that's true." It was flattering, seeing herself on Nick's screen. She looked happy. Like she was enjoying herself. And at that time she was.

Jeffrey never once asked for a photograph. Implicitly she trusted Nick to be discreet.

Later, when the dishes were done and only the food Nick insisted on leaving out on the makeshift buffet was not put away, he said, "I know just the thing. But you'll have to put on your robe and boots."

"What on earth for?" But she smiled, feeling sated and more sexually satisfied than she'd ever dreamed possible.

"I turned on the Jacuzzi earlier. The water should be just about right, now."

"Sounds heavenly. Why will I need boots?" She leaned away, realization dawning, just as Nick tried to kiss the tip of her nose. "No. Let me guess. The Jacuzzi is on the deck."

"What has you so worried? You won't melt." Laughing, he tied the belt of his robe.

"A dip in the Jacuzzi would sound like a good idea.. .if I didn't have to go outside. Have you forgotten it's cold out there?"

"I'll warm you up," he promised, smiling as he waited for her to make up her mind.

After careful consideration, the thought of sinking into a relaxing tub of hot water tempted Eve into pulling on her robe and boots and accompanying Nick outside.

As the door closed behind them, she drew a cautious breath. The first sharp bite of cold air found its way into her lungs, eliminating all thought of sleep. With brisk strides, Nick led her across a wide deck to the big tub in a sheltered corner. Deep snow drifts surrounded two sides.

Apparently he'd cleared the snow from the deck while she napped. Not a trace remained on the redwood steps leading to the Jacuzzi, just a lumpy mound on the deck's far side.

Nick flipped a switch and the cover retracted, revealing steam escaping from the surface.

Eve sat on the padded edge of the tub to slip off her boots, then her robe. As she stood and stepped into the steaming water, cold air assaulted her from all sides. Her breasts tingled. Her nipples puckered and goose bumps stood out on her thighs.

"Much as I'd like to admire you standing there with one foot in the tub, sit down before you freeze."

The warm water felt heavenly and when Nick started the water bubbling, Eve wanted to stretch out and allow her body to float. In moments, her tired muscles no longer complained.

The constant murmur of bubbles breaking the surface of the water made conversation all but impossible. Then Nick wrapped his arms around her, eliminating the need for words. Her body throbbed in response as his exploring lips and raspy tongue spoke to her in a language old as time.

So much for floating. Or relaxing.

S
he surrendered her body to Nick.

He took her right there in the tub, first to the rhythm of the bubbling water massage, then to the incessant beat of Bolero she was able to hear more clearly when the bubbling ceased. Until then, she'd thought she was imagining the constant throb of the music.

"Had enough?" Nick murmured.

Eve's head had lolled back on her shoulders, although her legs still encircled his waist.

"Just say the word and I'll let you rest."

His words made an offer his hands proved he had no intention of making good on, Eve realized as Nick carefully separated the swollen lips of her pussy and inserted a finger, then two, and gently rotated his thumb.

She...

Oh, my
!

"That's it, baby. Come."

Eve whimpered. Cried out. Clawed frantically at Nick's back.

I'm close. So close
.

And just when she feared she would not get there, Nick lifted her up out of the water. Sat her on the edge of the tub and brought her right to the brink of release with his skilled hands and mouth.

She was not certain whether the sudden assault of freezing air on her overheated flesh or Nick's head between her legs heating that flesh was her undoing, but the climax that slammed into her produced a prolonged shriek.

"That a girl," Nick said, cuddling her in his arms as her body, only moments before wound tight as a watch spring, unwound with teasing twitches and her deep sighs.

"Here, let's get you warm again."

Nick sat on the bottom of the tub and pulled her into his lap and without him seeming to move, the fierce bubbling resumed. For a while Eve simply relaxed in the comforting swell.

Gradually, she regained her senses. Became aware of stars shimmering overhead, not just the ones floating behind her heavy eyelids.

Then Nick's cock throbbed persistently against her hip.

She couldn't imagine making love again this soon. In hopes of appeasing him, she caressed the ridged tip of his strong erection with her hand instead. Like a velvet hammer, it filled her palm. Silky hot and alive.

One lingering stroke, one touch trailed along the smooth, hot skin throbbing beneath her fingertips was all it took to convince her body she was far from ready to call it a night. Not yet. Deep inside, she again ached with need only Nick could satisfy.

Wanting to feel his hard body pressed to hers, she turned to face him and brazenly slid the tip of her tongue between his warm lips. As she explored the deep recesses of his mouth, he groaned. And squeezed and caressed the tips of her breasts. Without conscious effort, she found herself desperately trying to mount Nick.

Unbelievably, he set her aside.

Maybe she'd been too forward.

Perhaps she'd misread his signals and he no longer wanted to make love.

He stood, his engorged penis steaming in the pale light, and she almost wept at the thought of that majestic erection going to waste.

She stood too, now filled with remorse, and reached for her robe. But wait. Nick was not getting out after all.

Seated on the padded edge of the Jacuzzi, he opened his arms to her, inviting her to straddle him.

She did, his warm body welcoming her from neck to navel. His powerful stomach muscles contracted, then visibly relaxed as she centered his pulsing cock between her thighs and eased her body down on his.

His first hard thrust seated him, hot and throbbing, at the mouth of her womb. She cried out, ecstatic. No longer aware of the frigid air. Not with Nick's rigid cock heating her from the inside out. He ran his hands slowly down her spine, quite willing, it seemed, to take his time despite the chill of the night.

"Hold on a minute." He halted the downward motion of her body while he searched for something behind him in the snow. "I forgot all about these hot drinks I fixed for us."

He reached further back, feeling for the thermal mugs she'd seen him bring out and  lost his balance. His other arm was still tightly clasped around her. With her legs securely locked around his waist, she fell with him into the mounded snow, landing on top.

Have mercy
!

A soft blanket of icy crystals surrounded her hot flesh. She'd once read about dumping crushed ice on your lover's genitals to bring on ejaculation. Post haste, the article had claimed in bold type, but Eve had laughed at the promised results, assuming the author had stretched the truth.

The author had not, Eve acknowledged, and with her bare butt nestled in this sub-zero snow bank, laughing was the farthest thing from her mind.

Nick sucked in a startled breath, then thrust deeper into her, his body tense.

Eve trembled. Nick thrust again. And again, like a finely tuned, hot, hard piston, he rammed into her, her world composed entirely of freezing temperatures and thrusting heat.

Then her inner muscles convulsed. Nick responded with an exultant, "Yes," and held her tight as his hips slammed into hers over and over again.

"Uh, uh, uh," he moaned while his hot sperm warmed her soul and pushed her over the edge.

Not until his overheated body cooled, making him uncomfortably aware of the icy bed on which he lay, did either of them move.