Temptation at Christmas Read online

  The one he couldn’t have once this cruise was over.

  His ‘plan’ rolled through his mind and he smiled to himself. The situation Mia found herself in right now, could feed directly into that plan of his. Now, his idea didn’t only benefit him—but her, too.

  “You don’t have to sleep on a couch, Mia—”

  “Well,” she said, “I’m not staying in my parents’ suite. What if they get frisky? I can’t hear that.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to think about that either,” he said. “And I have a solution. You can stay in my suite.”

  The ship rose up on a wave, then slapped down, making her stagger forward. She slapped both palms on his chest to steady herself. Sam’s heartbeat jumped into overdrive.

  As if she knew what he was feeling, she shook her head and said, “Oh, no. That is so not a good idea.”

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, a smile curving his mouth. “Don’t trust yourself around me?”

  “Hah!” She grinned and shook her head. “You would think that, but no.”

  He didn’t believe her. Even over the roar of the storm, he could hear her short, sharp breaths. “Then what’s the problem?”

  “We’re divorced, Sam.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Not officially,” she amended, shaking her head. “But still.”

  “It’s a two-bedroom suite,” Sam reminded her, his voice compelling. “You’d have your own room.” However briefly.

  As if she’d heard his thoughts, she snorted. “And how long would that last?”

  “As long as we need it to.”

  “So,” she said, “ten seconds?”

  He grinned. “I think it’s a great idea.”

  “Of course you do,” she countered, shoving her wet hair off her face.

  “Think about it.” Sam kept his gaze fixed on hers and he could see, even in the dim light, that in spite of her arguments, she was tempted.

  Damn, he’d missed this. Just talking to her. Standing so close to her that he could see her pulse pounding. Looking into green eyes that danced with magic or flashed with fire. He hated that he still missed her. Hated knowing that he probably always would.

  He leaned one hip against the railing. Below him, the ocean churned, crashing against the boat. “If you were staying in my suite, Maya and Joe would have a room to themselves...”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Maya could probably use the break...”

  She laughed. “Now you want to do Maya a favor?”

  He shrugged. “I’m a great human being.”

  “Sure.” Shaking her head, she looked out to the sea again, so Sam couldn’t read her eyes. But he heard the indecision in her voice when she said, “Us sharing a suite would just create more problems, Sam.”

  “How? Like you said, we’re already divorced. What else could go wrong?”

  She looked at him. “You know exactly what.”

  “So again. Don’t trust yourself?”

  “It’s not me I don’t trust.”

  He slapped one hand to his chest and feigned innocence. “Hey, I’m a boy scout.”

  “Not how I remember it,” she muttered.

  Sam grinned. He knew how to manage a negotiation and the first step was always, don’t show how much you want something. So he’d back off. For now. Let her think about his offer for a couple of days. Always allow the target to think they were in charge. Even when in reality it was Sam’s game.

  “Think about it, Mia. A room to yourself. Gotta be better than the couch in Maya’s suite...”

  Shaking her head, she stepped back and looked up at him. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

  “Damn straight.”

  “Well, that’s honest at least.”

  “It’s a new thing I’m trying.” He ran his fingertips down the length of her arm.

  She shivered and said, “You’re staring at me.”

  “Yeah,” he said, moving in closer.

  “You’re going to kiss me.” Her tongue swept her bottom lip and sent a shot of fire racing through him.

  “Yeah,” Sam said. “You have a problem with that?”

  “No.” She shook her head slowly for confirmation and added, “I should, but I really don’t.”

  “Good to know.” He took her face between his palms, let his gaze slide over her features, painting new memories in his mind. The curve of her cheek, the sigh of her breath, the dip in her top lip that made him want to bite it.

  Slowly, so slowly it ached inside him, Sam lowered his head and slanted his mouth over hers. That first taste of her filled his head, his body. She swayed against him and Sam held onto her as if it meant his life. And maybe it did. Because kissing her, feeling her kiss him back, made his heart jolt in his chest as if he were being electrocuted. Every cell in his body sparked into life and hunger for her grew.

  Mia wrapped her arms around his waist and he threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her head still. His tongue danced with hers, their breaths mingled, becoming one, then sliding apart again, separate but joined, apart but together.

  Seconds ticked into minutes that flew past and at the same time seemed to last forever. And when he finally lifted his head to look down at her, the wind died, the thunder stopped and it felt as if the world was holding its breath while a different storm raged between them.

  “This is crazy, Sam,” she whispered.

  “I don’t care,” he admitted.

  Six

  Mia didn’t care, either.

  Crazy or not, she wanted Sam so badly, it was all she could think about. All she could see. Her hand in his, she held on as he practically ran to the stairs leading up to his suite.

  The ship rose and fell with the still roiling waves and Mia hardly noticed.

  At the top of the stairs, Sam stopped and took the card key from his shirt pocket. Mia shifted from foot to foot—edgy, needy and well beyond trying to hide what she was feeling.

  “Hurry, hurry...”

  He shot her a fast look, grinned and quickly slid the key card in and out. The door clicked open and he stepped inside, pulling her in behind him. The room was dark, with only the palest of light streaming through the wall of windows, displaying the stormy ocean beyond the safety of the ship.

  She didn’t care. She didn’t need light. She needed him.

  “Now, Sam,” she whispered, “now.”

  “You got that right,” he muttered and yanked her into his arms. Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he kissed her throat, tasted the pounding pulse point there and Mia let her head fall back on a sigh of pleasure.

  It had been so long. Too long since she’d felt his hands and mouth on her.

  He lifted his head long enough to claim her mouth with his and when their tongues tangled together, Mia was lost. She met him, stroke for stroke, as he walked her backward until her back slammed against the closed door. He broke their kiss as his hands moved up and down her body, cupping her breasts, sliding down to cover her core until Mia writhed against him, arching into his touch.

  It wasn’t enough.

  “Damn it,” she whispered, “we weren’t supposed to do this.”

  “Baby,” he countered with a half smile, “we were born to do this.”

  Hard to argue.

  She unbuttoned his shirt and slid her palms across the broad chest she remembered so well. He hissed in a breath and she smiled to herself, loving that he was as affected as she was. He was beautiful. Muscled, tanned, and so strong, he took her breath away.

  “That’s it,” he muttered, lifting his head to look into her eyes. “Clothes off.”

  “Oh yeah.” She pushed at his shirt, dragging it off his shoulders and he did the same for her, tearing off her windbreaker and then the shirt she wore beneath it. Then his clever hands unh
ooked the front closure of her bra and a heartbeat later, his palms were covering her breasts. She hissed in a breath and let it slide from her lungs. “Sam...”

  His thumbs and forefingers tweaked and pulled at her nipples until Mia whimpered and bit down on her bottom lip to keep from moaning. “That feels so good,” she said brokenly.

  “Tastes even better,” he assured her and bent his head to pull one erect nipple into his mouth. His lips and tongue and teeth pulled at that sensitive bud and Mia was helpless against the onslaught of sensation.

  She held his head to her with one hand when he suckled her and she felt that pull deep into her center. Mia licked her lips, watched him sucking her nipple and whispered, “You’re killing me.”

  “No,” he murmured against her skin, then lifted his head again to look at her. “I want you alive and screaming my name.”

  “Good chance of that,” she admitted and swallowed hard as one of his hands dropped to the unbuttoned waistband of her jeans and shoved them and her black panties down. Instantly, she stepped out of them, kicked her jeans and panties aside and gave him free rein over her body. His palm covered her heat, his thumb rubbing, rubbing over that tiny bud of coiled need until she groaned aloud and swiveled her hips against his hand.

  While he stroked her into mindlessness, she quickly undid Sam’s pants, then freed him, curling her fingers around the hard, thick length of him. Sam growled and she smiled to herself, loving the power she had over this strong man. She stroked him, rubbed the tip of him and listened to the harsh, fast breaths that shot from his lungs.

  Mia trembled from the need coursing through her. Hearing his response to her, seeing it reflected in his eyes, fed the desire consuming her. And every time he touched her, that pounding drive inside hammered harder, faster.

  He dropped both hands to her butt and lifted her off her feet. A rush of fresh excitement slammed through her as she wrapped her legs around his hips and felt his erection brush against her core.

  “We’re not going to make it to the bedroom this time,” Sam murmured.

  “Not even close,” she agreed and gasped when he pushed himself inside her.

  This was what she’d needed. What she’d missed so desperately for the last few months. The way Sam filled her. The way their bodies fit together—as if they were each the missing part of the other.

  Mia took a breath and held it, savoring the feel of Sam buried so deeply within her. It was, as it always had been, magic. Then he moved and she moaned, letting him hear what he was doing to her. The amazing friction of bodies sliding together. His fingers curled into her butt hard enough to leave imprints on her skin. His breath filling her lungs as he kissed her again, driving his tongue into her mouth, claiming everything she was, silently demanding she hold nothing back. And she didn’t. Mouths fused, they tormented each other with the tangle of tongues, the rasping breaths that slid from one to the other of them.

  Her hands moved over his back, her nails dragging across his skin and he shuddered as a groan rolled from his throat. His hips rocked hard against her, pushing his erection deep inside. She wiggled against him, wanting more of him. “Harder, Sam. Harder.”

  “Hold on, honey,” he said and quickly set a rhythm that she fought to match.

  Desperation fueled his moves and her reaction. There was so much here, so much she’d missed. This was the danger with Sam. That she’d never felt like this with any other man. He was the only one who could make her experience the physical and emotional at the same time.

  Again and again, he rocked in and out of her body, pushing her higher than she’d ever been before. Her heels were locked at the small of his back and she pulled him closer, silently demanding more of him.

  The low tingle of expectation erupted at her core and Mia chased it, knowing what was waiting for her. She wanted it. Wanted him. He kept her racing toward completion, not giving her a chance to think, hardly allowing her time to breathe. And she didn’t care. Who needed to breathe when there was so much more?

  His fingers dug into her butt and she squirmed against him. “Sam... Sam...”

  “Come on baby, go over,” he whispered, staring into her eyes as he claimed her over and over. “Let me watch you. Let me see your eyes.”

  She wanted him to see what he did to her. Wanted him to know what she was feeling. Mia met his gaze, and held nothing from him. For this moment, all that mattered was Sam and what he was doing to her. She read her own need in his eyes and that was all she needed to finally rush toward the cliff’s edge and eagerly jump over.

  Mia screamed his name and held onto him tightly as her body exploded from the inside out. Wave after wave of pleasure rocked her, taking her beyond what she thought she could stand, forcing her to feel more and more.

  She clung to him, the only stable point in a suddenly upside-down universe. Mia had missed him so much. Missed these moments. The touch of his hand, the warmth of his mouth and the incredible explosions of sheer pleasure that they shared.

  Moments, hours, years later, Sam finally let go, gave himself up to the same release she’d just experienced, and Mia tightened her grip on him. Holding him to her, loving the way his body bucked and how his eyes went dark, nothing there but the glint of passion.

  He called out her name as she held him and locked together, they slid down the other side of need.

  * * *

  When his head cleared, Sam looked into Mia’s eyes and gave her a smile. Their bodies were still joined together, and the hum of release was still swimming through his veins. Being with Mia again smoothed out every jagged edge inside him. Sam felt as if after months of being stranded in the icy cold, he’d somehow found his way to a fire that warmed every inch of his body and soul.

  And need erupted inside him again. He knew he’d never have enough of her. Be close enough to her.

  His hands cupped her behind and his dick jumped to life inside her. “That was...”

  Mia took a deep breath. “Yeah, it really was.”

  “But I’m not done,” he admitted, leaning toward her to kiss her once, twice. He wanted more of that fire. The welcoming heat.

  When he pulled his head back, she licked her lips, as if savoring the taste of him. And again, his dick reacted.

  “I should go,” Mia said softly and he felt a sharp stab of disappointment. That lasted only a moment though, before she said, “But I’m not going to. Because I’m not done, either.”

  “Thank God,” Sam murmured and tightened his grip on her, easing her away from the wall.

  She laughed and the shuddering of her body sent jolts of new pleasure through his. “I can walk, Sam.”

  “Yeah, but I like you just where you are.”

  “Hard to argue,” she said as he headed across the darkened room to the master suite. Wiggling against him, she moaned softly at the resulting buzz of sensation.

  “You keep that up, we’re not going to make it to the bedroom this time, either,” he warned.

  “Right.” She nodded solemnly, then grinned. “So hurry up.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Sam had always liked that about Mia. She had no problem letting him know how much she enjoyed sex. How willing she was to try anything.

  Instantly, his memories filled with images of her in his bed, against a wall, on the floor, on his kitchen’s granite countertops, laid out like a goddess waiting to be adored. And he’d done his best. That night stood out in his mind and had haunted him ever since they’d split up.

  It hadn’t lasted. He’d lost her. Lost everything because as amazing as the sex was between them, it hadn’t been enough to keep them together. But this time with her was something different. Impermanent. Perfect. And he wasn’t about to question it.

  Now he had her to himself again and he didn’t want to waste a second of it. Sam pushed through the open door to his bedroom, stalked across the floo
r and then laid her down on the king-sized mattress. They were still joined and he didn’t want to break that bond, but he did anyway. It almost killed him to pull free of her body and hearing her groan of disappointment didn’t help any.

  “Don’t,” she whispered, lifting her hips, letting him see her need. “Be inside me, Sam. I need you inside me.”

  “I need that too, Mia,” he assured her, then went up on his knees and leaned over her.

  He dropped his head to her breasts and took first one then the other of her hard, dark pink nipples into his mouth. He loved the taste of her. Always had. And her scent filled his head, fogging his brain as he inhaled her deeper, making that scent a part of him.

  Mia held his head to her breast and arched her back, moving into him and when he suckled her, she gasped. His dick aching, his blood pumping, he forced himself to slow down. To appreciate everything about her that he’d missed.

  Her skin was so soft, her body so curvy and lean at the same time. And so willing. So eager.

  He trailed his mouth down her rib cage, across that flat abdomen of hers and down to her center.

  “Sam?”

  “I’m hungry for you, Mia,” he said, catching her gaze with his. He paused briefly to watch her eyes flash and then he knelt between her legs, held her open for him and covered her with his mouth.

  “Sam!” Her shout echoed in the room and reverberated in his mind, his soul.

  He ran his tongue over her center, licking, nibbling. Her legs trembled in his hands, but she lifted her hips blindly, helplessly, trying to feel more. He sucked at the nub of sensation crowning her core and he felt her body shake. Her breath quickened with every stroke of his tongue.

  Sam listened to her whimpers, moans, pleas for release and those soft sounds fed the fires inside him. He pushed two fingers into her depths while his mouth worked that tiny nub of passion until she was a breath away from completion.

  Then he stopped.

  “What? What?” Her eyes sprang open and she stared at him. “You can’t stop now. What are you doing to me, Sam?”