Her Christmas Pleasure by Karen Erickson Read Free Book Online Page B

She could easily drown in them. They were so deep and beautiful. “And yes, Damien, I am sure.”
    He kissed her gently. Then he shocked her by gathering her in his arms and springing from the chair, standing to his full height. She had no choice but to cling to him for fear she’d slip from his grip and drop to the floor.
    “Don’t worry,” he murmured close to her ear, striding toward the bed. “I’ll never let you go.”
    Her heart grew at the promise.
    Sweeter words were never spoken.

Chapter Six
    Damien removed Celia’s half-fallen night rail from her body with shaking fingers, tearing it off with an impatience he would normally never demonstrate with a lady. With previous indulgences, he had always been in complete and utter control. Not only did he want to savor the act with Celia, but he also wanted to ensure her pleasure as well. Hasty, quick fumblings in bed weren’t his style.
    Celia was destroying any semblance of control he had left. Having her near and her body completely revealed for his perusal was enough to shatter his sensibilities. He was filled with the uncontrollable urge to take her. Master her with his body, show her pleasure unlike any she’d ever experienced before.
    Christ. She made him feel like an arrogant, crazed man, full of fire and ready to unleash upon her in a blaze of passion.
    He chuckled. She went from making him a melancholy arse to a whimsical fool. She held so much power over him and didn’t have a clue.
    “Damien.” Her soft voice brought him back. Reminded him he had her in his bed, the coverlet drawn back and her lithe body sprawled across the cool, pale sheets. She was nearly as pale as the fabric she lay on. Creamy, long limbs beckoned, the rosy flush of passion darkening her skin and her pert nipples. Her long brown hair was wound into a thick braid his fingers itched to take apart.
    So he did just that. Reaching for the end of the braid, he untied the ribbon and slowly worked her hair free of its confines. It spread long and wavy across his pillow, demanding he run his fingers through its silky softness and learn its texture. She undulated under his care, her lids lowering to half-mast as he continued to stroke her; she purred like a cat.
    “Join me, Damien,” she encouraged in a throaty, seductive voice, and reached for him.
    Damnation. He’d never heard her sound like that before.
    Deciding it best he do as she bid, he hurriedly removed his clothes, jerked them off with a ruthlessness that surely left its mark. Indeed, there was the tear of fabric, the pop of a loosened button landing on the floor, but he hadn’t a care. Not when he had the woman he wanted more than any other lying naked in his bed.
    He wasn’t that much of a fool to ignore her commands.
    Damien slipped into the bed, drawing the coverlet over their chilled skin. The bed was on the far side of the room, across from the fireplace, and the dimming fire took with it its heat.
    Celia smiled when he slid his arm around her front. His hand settled at her waist, and he pulled her close. He rolled on his side. The faintest tremble moved through her, and her breasts quivered. Gooseflesh dotted her pale skin.
    “Cold?” He kissed her once, a lingering, damp brush of his lips against hers. She tasted sweet, felt so right lying next to him.
    His hopeful heart wouldn’t let him ignore it.
    “N-no.” She shook her head, shooting him a tremulous smile. Reaching for him, she skimmed her fingers along the line of one shoulder, then the other, before they drifted down to trace across his chest, tangling in the curling hair that covered it. “Nervous,” she confessed. “It’s been so long, you see.”
    He saw. He knew. She hadn’t been with a man—her husband—in well over threeyears. And she’d only ever been with Lawrence, so this was all new and different and perhaps…
    Perhaps she wasn’t ready for it, for him yet.
    He parted his lips, but she shushed him by placing her fingers upon his mouth.