Cinderella's Christmas Secret - Sharon Kendrick Page 0,34

layer of anonymity, as well as enhancing her already aroused senses. And it was Christmas morning, wasn’t it? A time of magic and secret wishes, when anything could happen. She sensed he wouldn’t judge her if she said yes, because this was a time out of life and she wanted it. She wanted it very badly.

‘Yes, please,’ she said simply.

‘Which?’

‘You know which.’

He made a low growling noise beneath his breath, as if her easy capitulation had pleased him. Then he put the empty glass down on the stone floor, very carefully, and took her in his arms. He brushed her hair from her cheeks, looking down at her for a moment, his gaze crystalline and hard. She’d thought he might kiss her, but he didn’t. Instead, he laced his fingers through hers and led her towards the stairs. It felt very grown-up but...it also felt very disappointing and it wasn’t until they had reached the upstairs floor that Hollie raised her face to his in question. Because hadn’t she secretly been longing for the ultimate castle fantasy of Maximo sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her to his lair?

‘You want to know why I didn’t carry you this time?’ he guessed.

‘Yes.’ Hollie nodded, marvelling at his perception even as she resented it. Just how many women had he carried to his bed over the years? she wondered.

‘Because you’re pregnant,’ he admitted. ‘And I’m terrified of dropping you.’

It was a surprisingly tender admission and Hollie felt her skin grow warm. ‘You’re way too strong to drop me—and I’m not made of glass, Maximo.’

‘I wouldn’t bring up the subject of glass right now if I were you.’

His teasing broke a little of the tension until he stared down at her again, his expression dark and unfathomable, and she could see a pulse beating wildly at his temple. ‘But since we’re on the flat again...’

And this time he did pick her up, striding along the corridor to a room just beyond her own, kicking open the door and giving rampant life to her foolish fantasies. It was a room a little larger than her own and just as sparsely furnished, though the bed was much bigger. But Hollie barely noticed the equally haphazard bedclothes, or the thick paperback which was lying open on the locker. All she could see was the man who was lowering her onto the mattress, his aristocratic features dark and shuttered as he made sure she was covered by a feather-soft eiderdown, before stripping his clothes off.

She lay and watched as he peeled off his shirt, his skin gleaming like living metal in the bright moonlight which streamed in through the windows. She observed the line of black hair which arrowed down from his chest to his navel and as he began to slide the zip down, he lifted his head to slant her the sexiest smile she’d ever seen.

‘Does it turn you on to watch me undress?’ he murmured.

Hollie nodded. She liked that he wasn’t treating her as a novice, which essentially she was. Last time they’d had sex it had all been so new and so incredible—as if she hadn’t been able to believe that someone like Maximo was in bed with someone like her. But while she might be new to all this, even she could acknowledge the undeniable chemistry which burned between them and she was determined to enjoy every second of what came next. She wasn’t going to long for the impossible or wish things had been different. That ship had sailed. She was going to live in the now.

The mattress dipped as he came to lie beside her, taking the baggy hem of the T-shirt she was still wearing and running the tip of his finger over it. ‘You have me at something of a disadvantage,’ he murmured. ‘You’re still wearing this, while I am completely naked.’

‘Surely it’s me that’s at a disadvantage,’ she returned, lifting her arms above her head without being asked so that he could peel off the offending garment and drop it to one side of the bed.

Maximo pulled her into his arms, brushing aside the thick fall of her silky hair as he pressed his lips into her neck. He hadn’t thought this would happen. God knew, he hadn’t intended for it to happen—but in the end she had proved too much of a temptation and, besides, which of them was he protecting by resisting something they obviously both wanted? Not her, who was so hungry