Page 62 of Clause & Effect
He leans forward and hands me one of the thermal cans filled with the spiked hot chocolate. I take it from him and our fingers collide, sending shivers up my spine. I boldly slide closer to him until our thighs are touching under the blankets. I feel his body tense up against mine as soon as we connect.
“I’m kind of cold,” I lie looking over at him from the corner of my eye.
His blue eyes seem to glow in the night as he looks over at me.
“Good thing I’m warm.”
My heart stutters a bit, pounding harder against my chest.
I lick the bottom of my lip and watch as his gaze turns hooded, and the mood shifts to something electric. He lets go of the straps and the sleigh continues on because of course these reindeer know exactly where they’re going.
Stetson’s arm hooks around my waist, pulling me effortlessly into his lap beneath the heavy blanket. The world tilts—the jingle of the sleigh bells fading under the rush of my heartbeat—as his mouth hovers just inches from mine.
“I’m going to assume the reindeer know where they’re going?” I manage, breathless, my words ghosting against his lips.
His answering smile is slow, dangerous. “You have nothing to worry about when you’re with me.”
His voice is low and rough, but there’s something else in it too—something that slides beneath the teasing heat and settles deep, like a promise I’m not sure I’m ready for. And then I stop thinking.
And only feel.
Stetson. Everywhere. His hands moving up and down my body, over my clothes, the black zip jumpsuit he had me wear to keep warm. No, I don’t have anything on underneath it.
His mouth as his lips part.
His tongue sliding across mine.
His hands digging into my hair.
There’s too much to feel all at once.
I’m lost in the vortex of this sexy man and everything he encompasses.
I’m no prude. I’ve been with guys—experienced and not. But this is unique.
This is something different. He’s making me feel something different. It’s not just passion and the crazy need to have him inside of me, it’s more than that. It’s feeling.
It’s deeper.
Like… this guy. Thisman… he’s…
The one.
I don’t say it out loud, but I’m thinking it—what about the reindeer? Rudolph? Surely there’s some HR clause for this kind of situation.
But then Stetson’s hands slip beneath the blanket, fingers brushing between my thighs, coaxing them apart like he’s parting secrets, not fabric. His touch is heavy yet careful, commanding and impossibly gentle all at once. The air shifts. My pulse stumbles.
His mouth trails down my neck, teeth grazing the spot just below my ear. A spark ignites there, racing through every nerve ending.
“I want you,” he murmurs, voice low and rough, “right here.”
My breath catches. Then he kisses me—once, twice, again—each one deeper than the last until I can’t tell where I end and he begins. The world narrows to sleigh bells, snow, and the sound of my heartbeat tangled with his.
“Oh… Christmas Tree,” I blurt before I can stop myself.
He stills, lips hovering at my jaw, a wicked smile curving against my skin. “Did you just substitute a carol for my name?”
Heat floods my face. “It’s the environment!”
