A Thunder Canyon Christmas by RaeAnne Thayne Read Free Book Online

him.
    The thought slid through her mind but she pushed it away. She wouldn’t worry about a little detail like that. Not right now. For now, she only wanted to stay right here, savoring the warmth of his arms around her and the steady rhythm of his breathing, and indulging in this rare, precious moment of peace.
    It was her last thought for some time.
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    This should have been the perfect way to spend a December Friday night. The lights on his Christmas tree glistened brightly and through the window, he could see those plump snowflakes still drifting down.
    When Elise had first fallen asleep, he had taken a chance and reached with his free hand for the remote. Somehow he had managed to turn the TV on low without waking her and had turned to one of the digital music stations offered by his satellite provider, this one playing soft, jazzy holiday music.
    Matt shifted on the sofa. His legs tingled and he was pretty sure he’d lost all feeling in one arm.
    He didn’t mind any of that. What worried him was this unaccustomed tenderness coiling through him as he held the slight woman in his arms.
    He had always cared about Elise and considered her a friend. Maybe he’d been more protective of her than most of his friends over the years, in part because she’d been small for her age and had appeared delicate, even if she really wasn’t, and in part, of course, because ofthe terrible event in her family when she was still a girl—her father’s brutal murder.
    A desire to watch out for her was one thing. This desire for her —to taste her and touch her and explore every inch of that delectable skin—stunned him to the core.
    He had never been so aroused by a simple kiss. If he hadn’t suddenly remembered that she’d had a little too much to drink, he wasn’t sure just how far he might have let their kiss progress.
    Just remembering her sweet response—those breathy sighs, the trembling of her hands in his hair—sent a shaft of heat through him now.
    He tightened his arms around her. What a hell of a mess. He didn’t want to hurt a sweet girl like Elise, but his track record at relationships wasn’t the greatest. He usually leaned toward women who preferred to keep things casual and that was exactly what he told himself he wanted. Fun, easy, no strings.
    He thought briefly of Christine. She was the perfect example. The last thing she wanted from him was a serious commitment. The only reason they started seeing each other in the first place was because neither of them was romantically interested in the other. She wanted to avoid a persistent ex-boyfriend and he wanted to escape his mother’s transparent matchmaking attempts.
    He had enjoyed taking Christine around town for the last couple of months and they had a good time together, but the few experimental kisses they’d shared just to see if things might progress in some sort of natural orderhad left both of them shaking their heads and wondering why they just didn’t spark the magic in each other.
    Christine was far more his usual type than Elise. His few long-term girlfriends had each been dark-haired and tall like her, funny and social.
    Elise couldn’t be more different from what he had always considered his usual taste, yet he’d never known a kiss as explosive and stirring as theirs, or this soft, easy tenderness flowing through him, just from holding a woman in his arms.
    He shifted on the sofa and finally drew his legs up along the length of it, sliding as far as he could to the side to make room for both of them. She murmured something in her sleep then nestled against him, her arm around his waist.
    Her straight blond hair reflected the Christmas lights and he watched them for a moment, then closed his eyes. He would let her sleep for a little while until the effects of the alcohol she’d consumed were out of her system and then he would take her back to Clifton’s Pride.
    He was