Page 22 of Cinderella's Christmas Secret

‘Delicious?’ she guessed.

‘You are fluent in Spanish now, are you, Hollie?’ But as she opened her mouth to doubtless make some equally flippant reply, he kissed away the answer, reaching down to slide his finger between her silken folds, enjoying her gasped frustration as he brought her to the edge of orgasm, over and over again. Only when he could bear his own exquisite torture no longer did he position himself to enter her at last—though more slowly and carefully than he had ever done before. And didn’t that make him feel...?

What?

He didn’t know and he didn’t care because his thoughts were being scatter-gunned by Hollie clenching hard around him, her back arching like a bow as she spasmed, and then he too was jerking helplessly in her arms.

For a while there was no sound other than their ragged sighs, and then she drifted her lips to his cheek.

‘Maximo,’ she murmured huskily.

‘Don’t move,’ he instructed unsteadily, because already he was growing hard inside her again. ‘Stay exactly where you are.’

‘I have no intention of going anywhere.’

He gave a soft laugh as he began to move and, while the second time was just as amazing, the third almost defied definition, leaving him gloriously sated and replete.

‘I’ve never done it without protection before,’ he observed after a while, lying back against the rumpled bedclothes, his skin warm with satisfaction.

‘So that’s a first?’

‘Well, by my reckoning, it’s actually the second.’

His head tipped back against the pillow as she giggled and he must have slept, because when next he opened his eyes, the bright light of a winter’s morning had replaced the silvery moonlight of the previous night. He lay there for a moment in silence, aware of Hollie’s head on his shoulder—her hair spread out over his chest like satin. He stared down at the twin crescents of her lashes, dark and feathery against her pink cheeks. Her rosy lips were parted, her breathing slow and steady and he felt a twist of something unknown deep inside him.

She was so damned...unexpected.

He swallowed.

She had surprised him the first time around with her innocence and she had surprised him this time by being so gloriously accessible. Her body had opened up with a delicious familiarity. It was as if she instinctively knew what pleased him—as if they had been designed to fit together perfectly.

What was the matter with him? Almost imperceptibly he shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts which had obviously been skewed by the heady cocktail of hormones which were surging through his bloodstream. But the movement must have woken her, because Hollie’s lashes fluttered open and Maximo found himself dazzled by the light shining from her wide grey eyes. He saw a flicker of confusion cross her face, as if she couldn’t quite work out where she was, or who with—and then her lips curved into a smile which only made him want to kiss her.

‘Happy Christmas!’ she said.

‘And to you,’ he said, his swift smile intended to inform her that he hadn’t had a complete personality change during the night. ‘Hollie—’

‘It’s okay,’ she said quickly, before moving away from him towards the other side of the bed. ‘You don’t have to say a word. I know the score.’

‘You do?’ he questioned.

Hollie couldn’t miss the look of surprise which had darkened his features. Was he worried she was about to start planning some sort of future with him, just because they’d had amazing sex? Was he so arrogant as to imagine that a long night of love-making had turned her head?

And wasn’t he right to think that way when her heart was full of wonder at the beauty of what had happened? But Maximo would never know that. Not now and not ever—because if he did, it would destroy this fragile relationship of theirs.

‘Of course I do,’ she answered, her staunch words helping disguise the distracting flutter of her emotions. ‘We’ve already had the discussion. You don’t want to be involved with family life and I’m cool with that, for all the reasons I gave before. Nothing has changed. I enjoyed last night and I hope you did too—’

‘You know damned well I did,’ he growled.

‘Well, then.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘What’s not to like? Has the snow melted? Because if so, I can be on my way and out of your hair.’

Jumping out of bed, she grabbed the nearest velvet throw—which just happened to be scarlet—and wrapped it around herself, before padding over to the window, aware of Maximo’s gaze burning into her, watching every move she made.

Part of her wondered if it had all been a dream and the snow nothing but a figment of her imagination. Hadn’t she feared that this morning she would look out onto the dull greys and browns of a midwinter garden? But the scene which greeted her was as frozen and as beautiful as it had been the day before. A completely impenetrable world of white. Deep down Hollie knew it would probably be best for everyone if she could make her escape, but she couldn’t help the sudden leap of her heart when she realised that wasn’t going to be possible. Who could blame her for wanting to eke out this sensual liaison for as long as possible? ‘Oh, dear.’

‘Oh, dear what?’

‘Bad news, I’m afraid. There’s no sign of any thaw and it looks like there might even have been a fresh fall during the night. The road out of here is blocked, all right.’ She turned back to face him, wondering what had caused his face to darken like that. ‘Looks like my departure is going to have to be delayed.’

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