A Hamilton Family Christmas - Donna Kauffman Page 0,27

that immediately followed, were as perfect as he could make them. Because there was this feeling, this instinct, this…whatever the hell it was in his gut, that was telling him that they had to be perfect…because he was going to be remembering this exact moment for the rest of his life.

“Jump with me, Emma,” he whispered against her lips. “Just…jump.”

So she did.

She was flying. She felt weightless, her pulse soaring as she coasted along on the currents that were sweeping through her and around her, pushing her along almost effortlessly toward some great and glorious destination. Which was such a ridiculously over-the-top thing to even think, silently in her head, that she should either be laughing hysterically at herself or running, screaming, from the room, and maybe even the house.

Trevor Hamilton had cast a spell over her. And there was no way that it should be working. She was in for the mother of all crash landings. Any idiot could see that. All rational logic dictated that he had to be using her.

But then there was the fact that he had told her why he was there, giving her leverage. One call to Lionel, or Lionel’s people anyway, could certainly make his life difficult. If he was telling the truth about the whole trust fund, family tree thing, that is. But…why make something like that up? If he was going to lie, he could have made up any one of a number of more plausible reasons for snooping about. And it hadn’t sounded like a lie. He didn’t look like a liar when he’d said it.

And, fool or no, this kiss sure as hell didn’t seem like a lie.

So, she kissed him back.

And that made it even better.

Yeah…there might be a crash landing in her immediate future, but this one just might be worth the ride down.

9

Trevor felt her sink into him, and he pulled her, finally, tightly against him. She fit him, which was both stunning and the most natural thing in the world. She was shifting her mouth to fit his even before his hands slid to cup her face.

Those lips of hers, so soft, so…plush. Heaven. And then she parted them, and it was so sinfully sweet, sliding his tongue between them, tasting her so intimately. She wasn’t tentative in tasting back, which should have surprised him, with all her talk of him being out of her league, but didn’t, because it was her frank approach to life that had drawn him in in the first place. He doubted she’d be any less direct with him in this. And given the rock hard state of, oh, pretty much every inch of his body, he was very happy he was right about that.

He turned slightly to pull her more tightly against him, fit her more perfectly between his hips, causing them both to trip over a few scattered books. He’d completely forgotten his surroundings, he’d been so focused on her.

“This isn’t exactly…can we—”

“Find a nicer room,” he finished. “I think there might be one or two that we could choose from.”

“The animals…” She was kissing the corners of his mouth, and now running her teeth lightly along his jaw, which made it almost impossible for him to comprehend any words being spoken, but they eventually sunk in.

“Sleeping. By the fire. Very content.”

“The fire. Should we go…stoke it? Or something?”

“Oh, we’re doing just fine stoking the fire. Come on.” He kissed her again, hard and fast this time, and they were both gasping a little when he broke it off and took her hand. “I’ll lead the way, you provide the light.”

“Oh, right. I—I think I dropped it…at some point.” She crouched down and fished around, finding the flashlight quickly and flicking it back on. “I don’t even remember turning it off.”

He had the immense pleasure of looking into her face now, seeing her eyes, all dark and sparkling when she looked at him. Her hair was a wild halo of curls, which only accentuated the sultry way her lips parted when he tugged her back against him and took her mouth again. “It’s kind of insane, how badly I want you,” he said.

“I’d be insulted, except—”

“Not what I meant.”

She tugged his mouth back to hers and smiled against his lips. “I know. I’m not that lacking in self-esteem.” She crowded her hips against his. “Besides, you’re being pretty convincing about wanting me.”

He laughed. Why was it so easy with her? “Promise you’ll always be this open and direct,”