Page 44 of Confessions of a Christmasholic

He mock-shuddered. ‘My daughter will either be the president of the world or the leader of a gang in the biggest prison in the UK.’

Sutton grinned. She loved how he saw his kids clearly but still loved them with every part of him, right down to those impressive big feet. She glanced at them in their black woollen socks. They said that… Oh, God, was she going to repeat the cliché, even mentally? Couldn’t she be alittlemore original?

She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, she saw Gus’s flirty, sexy-as-sin half-smile. ‘I would give anything to know what you were thinking,’ he told her, his voice deepening.

She could either lie, flirt or give it to him straight. ‘I was wondering how big your dick is, considering how very big your feet are.’

He placed his arms on the back of the couch and stretched out his legs. ‘Why don’t you come over here and find out?’

Right, why on earth did she think she would catch him flat-footed? Gus was a grown-up, aman, he’d been around, and a little bit of sexual straight talk didn’t frighten him. She dropped her eyes and took in his long, rangy body, loving the way his long-sleeved T-shirt hugged his chest and arms and drifted over his flat stomach. He wore khaki fatigue pants, the ones with side pockets, and his thick erection tented them. She placed her tongue on her top lip, eager to touch, to taste, to explore him.

She returned her eyes to his face and saw the challenge in his eyes, but also understanding. Sutton knew she was in the driving seat. She was living in his house and could be considered vulnerable – she had little money and nowhere to go – but making love was entirely her choice. He wouldn’t pressurise her into doing anything she didn’t want to. If they made love, or didn’t, it wouldn’t change anything outside this room.

Tomorrow morning, whether they bonked their brains out or nothing happened, she’d still have a place to stay, a job to do. Gus would not yank away her safety net.

‘Sex is sex. Everything else we agreed upon has no relevance to what happens between us.’

He often read her mind…how did he do that? While she didn’t need his reassurance, she did appreciate his words. Man, she adored straight-talking people, she always knew where she stood with them. And after Layla’s lies and deceit, Gus’s honesty was a breath of fresh air.

‘Thank you for saying that,’ she told him.

He held her eyes for the longest time before he lifted his chin in a ‘come here’ gesture. ‘Now why don’t you come over here so I can kiss your sexy mouth?’

ChapterTen

Sutton didn’t hesitate; she simply scooted across the sofa and slung her knee over his thigh, settling her core on his hard erection, and lowered her mouth to his. She wanted this, wanted the connection, for him to touch her and make her feel like a woman. It had been so long since she’d had sex. And while holiday sex had been an option, she hadn’t met anyone on her travels she wanted enough, or liked enough. And because she’d been so busy in the months leading up to her trip, dating was at the end of her long list of priorities.

‘It’s been a while,’ she told Gus, worried her rusty skills might disappoint him.

He gripped the back of her neck and looked into her eyes, amusement and ruefulness turning the navy to cobalt. ‘It’s pretty simple, Sutt. We kiss, then we touch, and at any point you want to stop, you tell me, and I stop. Even if I’m balls deep inside you. You say the word and I’ll pull it back.’

She couldn’t imagine that happening, but she appreciated him saying so. Needing to feel his mouth under hers, she placed hers on his and explored his surprisingly soft lips, enjoying the occasional tickle from his stubble. She traced the seam of his mouth with her tongue and when he opened for her, slipped inside. Her fingernails dug into his muscled shoulders, and she spread her knees, trying to get closer. She loved his mouth, tasting whisky and hot man, sin and sex, control and chaos.

Sutton pushed her fingers into the hair at the back of his head to keep his head in place, enjoying her foray into his mouth. His hands landed on her hips, he squeezed her and then, in a split second, she lost control of their kiss. He took over, his tongue sliding over hers in a deep kiss, frying her synapses and heating her skin.

She pulled her mouth off his, her breath coming in soft pants. ‘More,’ she told him, her voice raw with need.

He watched her for just a few seconds, and then moved, banding his arms around her waist and lifting her as he rose to his feet. She thought about his core strength, and was briefly impressed, but his next kiss was a blowtorch to dry kindling, sending flames running through her system. Sutton locked her hips around his waist, wishing they were naked.

Gus carried her across the room and into the hall, his mouth fused with hers. He started climbing the stairs, and Sutton ran her hands down his broad back, over his hard ass. She lifted his shirt and pushed her hands between his belt and his bare skin, under his underpants, and groaned when her hand wouldn’t go any further.

‘Want you, want you,’ she chanted, placing her mouth on his neck, and sucking gently on his skin. ‘I can’t wait to get naked.’

‘Shhh,’ he warned her. ‘We do not want the twins to wake up.’

She giggled. ‘They’re with Moira, remember?’

Shock skittered over his face. ‘Shit, they are.’ He grinned at her. ‘Then let’s make some noise, baby.’

Sutton smiled against his mouth. This was their time, adult time, sex time. Gus and Sutton time.

Gus carried her down the long hallway and kicked open his door. He lowered her to the bed, and stepped back, toeing off his trainers. And when he pulled his T-shirt up and over his head, Sutton leaned back on her elbows and looked at him, taking in his V of chest chair, his flat nipples, the scar on his collarbone.

His low-riding trousers showed off his washboard stomach and the hint of sexy hip muscles made her mouth water. Needing more, she reached for the buckle on his belt, but his hand around her wrist, gentle but strong, stopped her progress.

‘Fair’s fair,’ Gus told her, reaching for the hem of her shirt. He pulled it up and stood back to look at her violet-coloured bra, and sighed, appreciation in his eyes. ‘So sexy,’ he murmured, his finger tracing the swell of her breast. Her nipples were on fire and they needed attention. Her whole body did.

She was a hot ball of need and want, and when their eyes collided, she swallowed. She was okay with wanting this man, sex was a biological need. But she wasn’t comfortable with knowing he got her; he seemed to be able to easily tell what she was thinking, how she was feeling. What she needed in bed and out of it.

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