Page 9 of Cinderella's Christmas Secret

Consciousness receded and then came back again in a slow and sensual comedown. She was dimly aware of him watching her and waiting for her body to grow still. He kissed each tingling nipple in turn and then reached for something he must have put on the locker, which she assumed must be a condom. Because Hollie knew the rules—even if she’d never had to follow them before now—and sex had to be safe.

But his hands seemed to be unsteady as he unpeeled the foil and she watched like a hungry voyeur as he slid the rubber down over his erect shaft. Part of her was wondering why she wasn’t experiencing a faint wrench of embarrassment, or some element of misgiving at the reality of what was about to happen. But Hollie felt none of those things. Her current state of being was so dreamy and so...complete that she simply opened her arms wide as Maximo came to lie down on top of her, welcoming the warm weight of his body.

He was hard and honed and powerful, yet his skin was silky and warm. She was aware of his rigid hardness pressing against her belly and she could feel her thighs opening for him, as if some inner knowledge was orchestrating her movements, making someone with no experience seem as if she knew exactly what she was doing. He gave a low laugh as he positioned himself over her, his lips brushing over hers as she felt his hard tip seeking entry.

‘Do you want me, mi belleza?’

‘Sí,’ she answered and this made him smile, but as he thrust inside her the smile faded, his eyes briefly closing before he opened them again.

She could feel the sudden tension in his body as he stared at her with a question furrowing his brow.

‘Your first time?’ he verified.

She nodded, wondering if she’d imagined the note of disbelief in his voice, the lump in her throat making words impossible, terrified he wouldn’t want her now he knew that nobody else ever had.

But in that she was wrong.

Very wrong.

Very deliberately, he changed his position, reaching underneath her to cushion her fleshy buttocks with the palms of his hands and bring her thighs up to his hips, so that their bodies seemed even closer than before. He kissed her long and he kissed her hard and just the feel of his mouth on hers was enough to make her relax into what was happening as her body adjusted around him and his incredible width. He began to move again, each thrust seeming to fill her completely—and the sensation of his flesh inside her flesh, of somehow being at one with him, blew her mind as nothing ever had before.

Did she wrap her legs around his waist to make his penetration even deeper, or had he guided her into doing that? Hollie wasn’t sure. The only thing she was sure of was that those feelings were building up inside her again, taking her higher and higher towards another incredible peak. And then she reached it. Almost without expecting to, she stumbled over the edge and went into free fall and Hollie screamed out her pleasure—she who had never screamed in her life. As she began to spasm around him, she could feel his body begin to buck with pleasure as he bit out words in fractured Spanish—harsh sounds which seemed to split the night.

His movements seemed to go on and on and never had she been so aware of each and every sensation. She could feel the ragged pull of oxygen into her lungs as she tried to steady her breathing. She could hear the muffled pounding of her heart. There was a fine sheen of sweat on Maximo’s shoulders and she could detect a raw and very distinctive masculine scent in the air. And now he was heavy against her—as heavy as her eyelids, which felt as if they had been weighted with lead. A sigh fluttered from her lips as she snuggled into his arms and she must have dozed off. Perhaps he did too, for when she woke it was to the realisation that he was growing hard inside her again and Hollie gave a hungry little yelp of longing. Her arms tightened around him and as she began to writhe against him, she could hear herself making wordless sounds of demand against his skin.

‘No.’ Cutting short her next wriggle of anticipation with a curt order, he carefully withdrew from her.

She was aware of him rolling away and then, to her horror—he carefully peeled off the condom before getting out of bed. His black hair was ruffled as he stared down at her, his jet eyes unreadable as their gazes clashed.

‘Where’s the bathroom?’

Startled, Hollie searched her befuddled brain for a coherent response. ‘J-just along the corridor. You can’t miss it.’

After he’d gone, she just lay there, her thoughts in a muddle. At first it shamed her to think she’d just been intimate with a man who didn’t even know the layout of her house, but Hollie quickly remonstrated with herself. She wasn’t going to feel any kind of shame—otherwise what would be the point? And she certainly wasn’t going to start getting squeamish and wonder what he’d done with the condom. In fact, she refused to feel any negativity at all about what had just happened. She’d just had sex with a man she fancied very much and it had been amazing. Women the world over did this sort of thing all the time. She had joined the party at last—she certainly hadn’t done anything wrong.

Sitting up in bed, she smoothed down the mussed tumble of her hair and then Maximo walked back into the room—or maybe she should say sauntered—looking totally comfortable with his own nakedness, in all its olive-dark gloriousness. She half expected him to reach for his clothes and start getting dressed, and she told herself she would be okay with that—because what choice did she have?—but to her astonishment, he climbed right back into bed beside her. And then Hollie experienced a little shiver of self-recrimination. Did she think so little of herself that she’d thought he would be out of there as fast as his legs could carry him?

She turned to face him, waiting for him to take the lead, because what did a woman do in a situation like this? She had no idea and no experience. Was she supposed to praise him, or thank him for the most incredible happening of her entire life? Or act all cool, as if it were no big deal? Why didn’t some enterprising person write a sexual etiquette book for virgins? she wondered.

He lay down beside her and for a moment she thought he was about to lean over and kiss her again and, oh, how she wished he would. But instead, he pushed away some of the hair which had fallen into her face and let his gaze scan over her like a dark searchlight.

‘Your first time,’ he said again.

It was half statement and half question. ‘That’s right,’ Hollie replied, swallowing down her sudden nervousness that this was going to turn into some sort of interrogation session and she would come over as a freak. ‘Do you mind?’

‘Mind?’ He seemed to mull this over in his head. ‘Why should I mind? You’re an adult. You have free will. You came to a decision that you wanted to have sex with me. I’m flattered, of course, and more than a little interested to know why.’

She wondered if he was fishing for compliments. Did he want her to say he was so gorgeous that she hadn’t been able to resist him? And wouldn’t that have been the truth? But Maximo Diaz needed no boost for his ego, not from her. Certainly not when he was lying there, dissecting what had just happened between them with all the cool detachment of a scientist in the lab. ‘Does there have to be a reason?’

He shrugged and the ripple of muscle beneath his broad shoulders was more than a little distracting.

‘Most women wait—though I guess you’ve waited quite a long time already—for a long-term relationship in which they can feel comfortable. Something which has a little more depth.’ He paused. ‘And history.’

It sounded like an accusation. Or a reproach. Was he somehow disappointed that she hadn’t made him wait? ‘Maybe I’m not most women.’

‘No. Maybe you’re not. In fact, I would take that as a given. You are certainly very surprising. You confounded my expectations which, believe me, doesn’t happen very often.’ He gave a short laugh before fixing her with that glittering black gaze again, their bodies still very close, the slick of hi

s sweat-sheened skin sticky against hers. ‘So which is the real you, I wonder—the efficient mouse who slaves away behind her desk, or the minxy hostess in fancy dress who wiggles her bottom so provocatively when she walks?’

---