Page 41 of The Christmas Romance Wish

The fuzz of his recently shaved facial hair rubs against my cheeks as the kiss deepens and goes in unexpectedly delightful directions as we explore each other with more desire than I’ve ever experienced.

My skin is warm and it’s welcome.

My chest is full because I’m wanted.

My mind is quiet because I’ve found refuge.

I let this kiss become my home and I never want to leave.

Alex

CHAPTER 11

The snowstorm continues to bluster outside the Jeep, but with the thermal blanket wrapped around Emmie and me in our own little cocoon, I almost forget where we are and what’s going on.

As we kiss, she lets out a contented little sigh. Drawing back, her long hair falls in waves around her face. Emmie’s lips and cheeks are pink and her lips swollen ever so slightly. With her in my arms, even though I’ve experienced so much war, I feel peaceful at last.

Her gaze is a daze and I may as well be up in the clouds.

“Wow,” she says.

At almost the same time, I say, “Whoa.”

“That was...”

But words don’t come. They don’t need to. We both feel it.

She burrows into me, her petite and curvy figure snug against mine.

After a beat, I say, “Sounds like the hiccups are gone.”

“Mmhmm,” she says dreamily. “Maybe we should make sure.”

“As we say in the military, one is none, and two is one.”

“Does that mean this is our first kiss again?” Sitting up, her eyes drop closed as she leansin.

Once more, our lips press together, the kiss a seal between us.

My fingers tangle in Emmie’s silky, shiny hair. She’s all the soft femininity missing from my life, but with a mouth that speaks the truth. Funny truths, hard truths, important truths. Even her kiss is the truth.

Her lush lips, like sugar plums, press against mine, telling me she wants this as much as I do.

The kiss lengthens between us, warming me through.

Her hand drags across my back.

Mine traces the gentle line of her jaw.

When we part, I’m reluctant to emerge from the fog of the kiss, afraid she’ll disappear. But for now, we’re stranded. Neither one of us is going anywhere.

Which means we might just have to kiss again.

Afterward, she nestles against me, warm now even though the storm continues to rage outside the Jeep. The sky darkens and Emmie’s long lashes drop, her eyes fluttering closed.

At last, the hiccups are gone. She relaxes into me, warm and safe.

I trace my finger over the shell of her ear. I study the slope of her nose and the bow of her lips before we lose light entirely.

---