Her lips are soft, and I can taste the cool traces of peppermint. She is always sucking on a candy cane as she works. I wonder what else she nibbles on when working during other parts of the year as my mouth molds to hers. Will she taste of chocolate in the spring? Popsicles in the summer? Pumpkin in the fall? I’m desperate to know.

Hope moans softly as my tongue passes through her lips to taste the inside of her mouth. Her tongue meets mine and a waltz of their own begins. I grip her tighter to me. This is far from a traditional kiss from a dangling mistletoe. My hand leaves hers to brace the back of her neck, tilting her head to open her more to me. My fingers curl into her hair at the nape of her neck.

Her fingers curl into my back, gripping the fabric as she gasps into my mouth. Just as I’m desperate for every taste she could possibly have, I’m desperate for every noise she could possibly make.

CHAPTER7

HOPE

I’m dizzy.Spinning from the dancing to my stomach doing summersaults. I have to hold onto Trent to keep from floating off, feeling lighter than cotton candy, and dizzier the longer he kisses me. The longer he steals my breath and demands more from my eager lips.

He grants me the gift of air after what seems like hours without it. His forehead rests against mine, both of us panting and flushed. My scalp tingles as his fingers flex in my hair, gripping ever so gently, keeping me close to him. His arm around my waist tightens, and my lower belly fills with excitement…feelsexcitement

He’s hard. Rock hard and big. We’d only kissed.

One helluva a kiss.

The blue of his eyes melts like glaciers, the dark cloudy blue slipping away to a glossy stricken gaze. His lips graze over mine, reminding himself of how my lips feel without stealing my breath this time.

“Wow.” I can hardly be called eloquent.

To my pleasure, Trent struggles for words, “Agreed, wow.”

I wiggle, and his stiffness digs into my lower belly. “I’d ask if that’s a candy cane in your pocket but I don’t think I know of one that big.”

Trent’s jaw clenches and for the first time he looks away, ready to run from me. Decorum on his mind. I tighten my grip on his back and tug him slower. My thighs clench as his erection presses into me.

“Do you like it?” His voice octaves lower, intimate as he asks me.

“Where are the girls?” I ask quickly, glancing at the ajar ballroom doors.

He understands and quickly answers, all while his fingers curl into my dress, sliding it up my legs and hips bunching the fabric. “Distracted upstairs.”

“Good, I can unwrap you.” I tug on his belt, dragging him from the center of the room. We don’t need mistletoe anymore.

“As much as I’d love to make better memories in this room. Not here,” he growls softly, tugging me away from the tree skirt I’d been leading us to.

“No?”

“No.” He confirms, gripping me tightly and leading me out of the ballroom.

On the third floor, he leads me to his room. The king’s castle has a king’s bed. Inside, the click of a lock triggers him and he’s on me immediately. Trepidation fills me as he smothers me with kisses, not just on my mouth but everywhere on my too-hot skin.

He resumes pulling up my dress until it’s gliding up my arms and being tossed aside.

“Jingle Bells,” he groans, stepping back to take me in. My arms cross over my bare stomach bashfully, my breasts barely contained in their bra, taut from the languid tension in my body. He starts at my feet, eyeing the opaque black hose and licking his lips, he spots the glimmer of red underneath that is my underwear. At my hips, he reaches out, plucking my hands away.

“I want to see all of you.” His wish is my command. I drop my arms to my sides and squirm under his appraising gaze. It makes me flush, my insides twist, and my red panties dampen. His eyes linger on the breasts then my neck and settle back on my face where his lustful gaze softens. “Maybe we should have stayed by the tree. A gift like you can only be found on Christmas Morning.”

“It’s not Christmas.” I work my hands down his chest, enjoying every ridge and peak. “And it’s night,” I add quickly, stifling a giggle.

A turn of his lips has him smirking and he nods. “I’m going to ravage you senseless and then we’ll see how quick your comebacks are.”

He does just that. I’m dizzy again. I don’t even get a chance to unwrap him like a gift, as he steers me towards his bed, mouth relentless. He kisses hard, soft, invasive, and shallow. His hands grip my hips, I didn’t think anyone had big enough hands for them, but his clasp onto me is just right.

“I can’t help but wonder what if you taste like candy canes everywhere,” he groans.

He doesn’t stop kissing me as he sits me on the bed, spreading my legs by pushing himself between them. He clutches my face, ensuring he’s mapped out every inch of my mouth before allowing me air.