Hot Christmas Nights by Farrah Rochon Read Free Book Online Page A

hell
is
this?”
    A peal of laughter tumbled out of Nyla’s mouth. “It’s soda. I know it has a bit of a bite, but it’s really popular here.”
    “A
bit
of a bite? It damn near snatched my lips off.” He set the bottle on her side of the nightstand. “You can have the rest of that. I’ll stick to water,” he said, tipping back the half-full bottle of water he’d taken from her apartment earlier. “Good call on dinner, though. Whether it would make me give up Big Macs entirely is debatable, but I can stand to eat a meal like this five days a week.”
    “I told you,” she said with another laugh. “Just wait until tomorrow. Your taste buds are in for the experience of a lifetime.”
    His gaze dropped to her lips. “I hope that applies to more than just my taste buds,” he said, his voice low, husky.
    It was obvious they were no longer talking about food. The air in Nyla’s lungs constricted as she stared at Aiden’s mouth. He swept his tongue along his bottom lip, clearing a droplet of water. A tingle started in her belly and moved lower.
    “You’ll have to wait and see,” she returned in an equally hushed tone.
    The lightheartedness of a few moments ago evaporated. In its place stood a heady dose of desire. It pulsed around them, saturating the air, and bringing the reality of their impending night together in this small hotel room into stark relief.
    A silent warning rang through Nyla’s head. This felt all too similar to what she’d experienced three years ago, when their playful banter soon escalated into something much more serious.
    Yet, in the face of every consequence she’d suffered for falling for Aiden once before, the yearning to climb into bed with him and explore all the new dips and contours of his body was so strong Nyla could barely stand it. The devil on her shoulder urged her to give in to the impulse. Everyone thought they’d done more than they had anyway; couldn’t she give in this one time?
    What was she thinking?
    Nyla jumped up from the bed. Avoiding Aiden’s eyes, she said, “If you don’t mind, I’ll go first in the bathroom.” She grabbed her toiletry bag from where she’d tossed it on the dresser.
    “Nyla?” Aiden called. She looked back at him. “Ignoring this won’t make it go away,” he said.
    She tried to tear her eyes away from the truth staring back at her, but she couldn’t, because it
was
true. This feeling wasn’t going away. It hadn’t lessened one bit in the three long years they had been apart. She wasn’t foolish enough to think that it would do so now that she was right here with him again.
    But she only had to ignore it for two days. And she
would
ignore it. The high price she’d paid for disregarding her common sense and giving in to her feelings for Aiden had burned her once. She would not get burned again.
    Without another word, she slipped into the bathroom.
    * * *
    Aiden stuffed the empty food cartons in the trash bin at the end of the narrow hallway and headed back to their room.
    Their
room.
    His steps slowed as he came upon the door. He captured the handle, then released it, his hands falling to his sides, his limbs suddenly so heavy it felt as if the entire weight of the world was pulling him down.
    He took a couple of steps back, until he reached the wall opposite the door. He stared across the hallway to the room he would share with Nyla, and thumped the back of his head against the wall.
    How was he supposed to get through tonight? His eyes fell shut as a pain-filled groan climbed from his throat. His skin felt tight, his stomach a jumble of knots. Every fiber in his body hummed with electricity just at the thought of being in that room all night with Nyla.
    Why did she have to be every single thing he could ever want in a woman?
Everything
.
    And it had nothing to do with the fact that she was beyond gorgeous—which she most definitely was. He’d dated attractive women in the past. Even though he suspected that some of them had