The Broody Brit for Christmas (Holiday Springs #1) - M.J. Fields Page 0,37

facing the fire, she shakes her head no.

Something has shifted in the air between us, yet there’s a calm presence, a weight seemingly lifted, clothes literally shed.

When she turns around and lifts her eyes to meet mine, there is heat in them, a sharp contrast to the tiny goosebumps covering her body.

I nod, walking closer at a slower pace, fighting the obvious pull between us.

She looks down when I’m less than a step away from her. I force myself to stop, let her take this at her pace, knowing she’s not in the greatest of places.

Her fingers shake as she begins to unbutton her cream-colored silk top, and my body begins to burn with every soft inch of her beautiful body that she exposes to me.

My heart beats wildly against my chest, and it feels like it’s beating for the first time in years.

When the shirt floats to the floor below her, pooling at her feet, she looks up. “I don’t want to be in Holiday Springs anymore.”

I nod. “Tell me where you want to go, Nikki. I’ll take you anywhere.”

She smiles sadly. “Take me to bed.”

I swallow hard as she unfastens the front clip to her lacey plum bra that matches the strip of lace covering her pussy.

When it falls to the floor, and I don’t advance, afraid I’ll be unable to stop myself from tearing the only scrap of fabric covering her body and filling her full of the escape she’s clearly seeking, I still hold steady, knowing that I don’t want to be just an escape. I want to be more.

Rule Number Twelve

If your mind says no, ignore it. Listen to your body

Nikki

Standing before him almost completely exposed, I feel desire’s heat turn to a more familiar kind of heat, resembling shame, rejec—

“Don’t you dare think I don’t want to ravish every inch of your beautiful body, Nikki.” He runs his hand over his obvious erection. “The only thing I want more than to ease this ache for you is to know that the first time I’m inside you… won’t be the last.”

Numb from being cold, numb from feeling unwanted, I close my eyes shut as tightly as I can, a juvenile move, but what else can I do?

When I hear a thud, I open my eyes and see his pants on the floor, and then his shirt drops beside it. My mouth dries as I stare at his perfect pecs, down to a six-pack, and finally down to the deep V pointing to his cock.

“You said three dates before I may be able to have you.” His voice is a deep, rich timbre. He steps forward, his hands grabbing my hips, the shock of how it feels to be touched by him, like jumper cables... electric.

But nothing could prepare me for what’s next.

His large calloused hands slide up my body, pulling me against him as his fingers dig into my flesh. In my ear, he whispers, “So fucking sexy.”

My hands are on his waist, my fingers running up and down the divot that defines the unbelievably sexy V, and I smile as his body twitches in reaction to my touch.

My body, seconds ago cold and shivering, is now a furnace of heat. Desire renders all emotions before it inferior.

His hands travel up my body, my arms, his fingers flexing as if he needs to know I’m real, but I know that’s impossible.

His hands now cup the sides of my face, tilting my chin upward so that I am closer to him —less than a breath away— than I was inside his vehicle.

“Do you have any idea how badly I want you?” He doesn't give me a chance to answer. Instead he nudges me with his hardness. “How long I have wanted you?”

“We just met,” I pant.

He leans in, rubbing his nose across mine, and even that connection makes my insides clench, causing me to whimper.

“I’ve been waiting, Nikki, waiting for someone to look at me the way you did the first time we met. It wasn’t just another invitation from a woman I knew just wanted the fucking she sensed my body was built to deliver. You are so much more than a fuck. You’re the fucking prize.”

I whimper, “Here I am.”

“Yeah,” he sighs, “here you are.” He places a kiss on my forehead.

The way he said it was like hearing the word goodbye. A wave of desperation, no, a tsunami of despair, threatens to drag me into a whirlpool from which I’m not sure I’ll