Page 60 of Pining for Christmas

A pained grunt. His hands leave my body, and by the time I flop over onto my back, Reid’s already standing beside the bed, yanking his shirt over his head. It flies through the air, ghostly in the gloom, and I’m glad my eyes have adjusted enough to see this: Reid Merryweather’s bare chest in all its glory.

The sculpted planes and toned abs. The scattered dark hair on his chest that forms a line trailing down, down, down, disappearing beneath his waistband.

Reid flicks his pants button open. “You’re sure about this?” He sounds strained.

“So sure.” Wrestling my way out of my borrowed pajamas, I barely blink as I watch my boss strip down to nothing. As more of that pale skin is revealed, his eyes dark and unreadable in the shadowed room.

He’s so handsome. Does he even realize that?

When I’m completely bare, Reid goes still. Standing over me at the bedside, he inhales, long and deep—then gusts out a slow breath. Like he’s wrestling for control.

“Come back,” I say, raising my arms. And it’s just like earlier, but this time, he comes. Reid climbs back onto the bed, settleshis weight on top of mine, and now we’re chest to chest. Face to face, with nowhere else to look, no way of pretending this isn’t really happening. That we’re both still dreaming.

Do I want to pretend that?

Of course not. I’ve wanted this for so long.

“Hey, boss.” My arms wind around his neck, and I kiss the tip of his nose. “Nice ass.”

Reid

“Nice ass,” Noelle says, grinning at me in the darkness. She’s stretched out below me, hair spread across the pillow, her arms wound around my neck. The tip of my nose tingles where she just kissed me.

Her bare body is so soft and warm. So welcoming, too, her thighs hitching around my hips, while her breasts mold to my chest.

I’m so hard my gut aches.

But we fit together just right. Slot together like we were made for each other, and Christ, I need to keep a lid on that nonsense. Just because Noelle wants to hook up, that doesn’t mean she feels the same way I do.

One night together doesn’t mean she’s craving forever.

“What do you, ah.” How to proposition my assistant? Shit, I’m going to hell. “What do you want from me, exactly?”

Noelle leans up and kisses my mouth this time, slow and coaxing. I follow her back down to the pillow, my heart slamming against my rib cage.

Whatever she wants, I’ll give it. Whatever she wants, that’s whatIwant. Because I’ve dreamed about this so many times, pictured how Noelle would taste, sound, smell, and feel, and she’s already better than any of my fevered imaginings.

“Everything,” Noelle says against my lips. “I want everything.”

Well, fuck. “Everything?”

“Uh-huh.” She kisses along my jaw, all the way to my ear, then nibbles at my earlobe. “I want you to take everything you want, Reid Merryweather. Use me like I’m yours.”

Mine.My heart lurches.

If only.

But for tonight, that’s what she’s offering. Right? Noelle’s giving me an all-access pass. She’s writing me a blank check.

And… everything?

There aren’t enough hours left before dawn for me to do everything I want with this woman. A week wouldn’t be enough. Nor a month. A year. A lifetime.

Because I’m already rocking against her, sliding along her seam, and it’s so good. She’s slick and plump and ready for me. Noelle is eager for this, and so am I.

There will be time for other things before dawn. Time for tasting every inch of her body and shouldering my way between her thighs; for licking her, deep and merciless, until she cries. I may not be experienced in that department, may have shunned all human contact before, but I’m a fast learner, and I amverymotivated.

Right now, though, if I don’t get inside this woman, I’m going to lose my goddamn mind.

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