Love Under the Mistletoe Read online

  With that he simply stepped back, flicking the condom into bin as he went, then pulled his jeans on and without even giving me another glance, turned his back to me and picked up the phone.

  How frigging rude was that? Not to mention confusing. He’d seemed so into it up until his phone rang that I’d almost describe his lovemaking as generous, poles apart from his grouchy behaviour around the house that I’d witnessed. But as soon as his phone had rung he’d snapped straight to back to being shut off again. I didn’t get it at all, but seeing as he was clearly waiting for me to leave the room I grabbed my clothes and left, hurrying back to the privacy of the guest room flushed with shame.

  I jumped straight into the shower and tried to wash away the feeling of smut that lingered on my skin from our hurried encounter. Any pleasure I’d had from my amazing climax had now been tarnished by his rude behaviour and I scrubbed at my skin extra hard to try and cleanse myself. Having sex on a desk with a man I barely knew, what the hell had I been thinking?

  Shaking my head I climbed from the shower and wrapped myself in a large bath sheet, pulling it tightly around myself like a protective shell. Through the open bathroom door I could see it was still snowing heavily outside so it looked like I’d be stuck at least another day. Grimacing I realised that things could get really awkward between us if we didn’t clear the air. Sighing, I began rubbing at my damp hair and decided to be mature about it all, once he was off the phone I would talk to him, try and smooth things out. Plus it would probably be advisable to find out the name of the man I’d just allowed to bury himself inside me just twenty-four hours after meeting him, I acknowledged with a scowl.

  After my shower I dressed in one of the huge T-shirts he had left out for me – one of a small selection of clothes I’d found outside my room earlier, and as I shoved my head though the hole I was immediately surrounded by the scent of him. Inhaling deeply I smiled; he might be a nameless, miserable sod, but God, did he smell good. My mind wandered back to our liaison on his desk. He kissed rather well too, not to mention the other skills he had with that tongue of his …

  Argh! Stop thinking about him like that! I ordered myself as I set about digging through my handbag for my hairbrush before letting out a squeal of delight as I saw a pair of yoga leggings in there. I’d shoved them in yesterday in case I got sweaty when cleaning and wanted to change for the drive home, but I was so thankful for them now. Judging from the size of this T-shirt that completely swamped me, the tracksuit bottoms he’d left out would be useless to me. Luckily I also carried two spare pairs of knickers in my bag, in case of feminine emergencies, so I pulled on a fresh pair and then donned my leggings. No spare bra unfortunately, but I wasn’t averse to wearing my bra for a few days in a row.

  Thinking on my feet I grabbed yesterday’s snow-dampened clothes and headed to the kitchen. I wasn’t brave enough to ask him if I could use his washing machine, but I found some hand wash under the sink and washed out my knickers, jeans, and jumper before wringing them out and putting them on the radiator in my room. Hopefully they’d be dry later so I could at least look normal again.

  Rolling up the sleeves to the enormous jumper that I’d also found outside my room I took a deep breath for bravery and then approached his office, once again finding the door open. Knocking tentatively I stood on the threshold, almost too scared to go any closer in case I became sucked in by the strange magnetism between us again.

  He barely lifted his head from his laptop screen. ‘I’m really busy, what do you need?’ he snapped, causing me to flinch backwards from the discernible lack of warmth in his voice. My heart sunk. He might be a stranger, but inexplicably I felt something towards him. Clearly from his reaction however, what we had shared this morning had obviously meant nothing to him.

  Doggedly trying to ignore the pounding of my heart, I persevered with my mission. ‘I was hoping you’d tell me your name.’

  At my soft enquiry he glanced up from his laptop and met my eye, and for the tiniest of seconds it seemed like his gaze softened, ‘Sean,’ he said quietly, but then blinking several times his shoulders stiffened and he turned back to his computer with a shuttered expression on his face. I felt frozen to the spot, my feet rigidly refusing to move and after several seconds he glanced across again, ‘Anything else?’ he asked icily. This time there was definitely no softening of his expression and I literally wanted to melt into the floor and disappear.

  ‘Nothing, forget it.’ I turned away feeling like a used toy, dirty and unwanted and as I strode away, wanting to put as much distance between us as possible, I made the decision to avoid him until the weather lifted and I could leave. The house was certainly big enough, and he seemed to cocoon himself in his office all day so it shouldn’t be hard to keep out of his way.

  Wandering down to the lounge I padded across to the huge picture windows and as the snowflakes continued to fall in thick swathes outside I felt tears prick at the back of my eyes. My melancholy was partly from loneliness; after all, it was nearly Christmas and I was stuck here, but mostly my tears were of shame. How could I have let myself be used like that? As the snowflakes grew thicker still, I felt my stomach drop with them. This may turn out to be a long, tough few days and the worst Christmas of my life, I thought with a heavy sigh.

  Distracting myself I spent the next hour or two cooking a beef casserole. As much as I wanted to pretend he wasn’t around, in the end I couldn’t help myself and I cooked enough dinner for Sean as well. Considering his callous behaviour before, and since our desk encounter though, I opted to leave it on the stove top for him to find rather than calling him down for it. Hearing his feet descend the steps at about half past seven I grabbed my portion and tiptoed my way through the lounge. Once he was safely in the kitchen, and I could hear the sound of his knife and fork moving across a plate, I snuck up to my room to eat in peace and avoid seeing him.

  Chapter Four

  My avoidance tactics continued for the next two days and were working a treat, I hadn’t had to speak to Sean once. Admittedly I was going a little stir crazy sat in my room, but thankfully I’d at least managed to get enough mobile signal to have a chat with my mum and let her know where I was. She wasn’t happy about the prospect of me missing Christmas dinner, it was a big family tradition in our house, but unfortunately it was still snowing on and off and there was no sign of a thaw happening anytime soon. Christmas was in just two days and I was starting to miserably adjust to the fact that I would probably be spending it here.

  I had managed to cook on both nights so far without Sean disturbing me. Thank goodness he had a well-stocked freezer otherwise we’d both starve to death out here. Unfortunately however, as I had been finishing off the final preparations of tonight’s dinner I had heard him coming downstairs earlier than usual, and hadn’t managed to grab myself a portion as I had on the previous two nights. Retreating from the kitchen and sneaking upstairs I tried to suppress my rumbling stomach knowing that I wouldn’t be able to eat until Sean had gone to bed now.

  It was nearly midnight and the house had been silent for some time so I opened my door and crept downstairs praying that my empty stomach wouldn’t growl loudly and give me away. Clad only in my makeshift nightdress – one of Sean’s huge T-shirts – the cool of the night air made my exposed skin pop with goose pimples, but I continued regardless.

  I didn’t want to risk disturbing Sean by putting on the lights so I instead felt my way along the unfamiliar walls stubbing my toe more than once and cursing under my breath.

  Finally I found the corridor that led to the kitchen and I held my hands out, expecting to feel the door at any moment, but instead they settled on a solid slab of warm male, making me gasp loudly. In a split second, strong arms closed around my waist and pushed me against the cool of the tiled kitchen wall as I let out a startled yelp of surprise. Moments later the kitchen lights flickered on and I blinked in the harsh brightness as I desperately tried to steady my erratic breathing, before finally focus
ing on Sean. His hair was tousled like he’d just woken up, but his narrowed eyes were alert and assessing me as he moved well within my personal space and gripped my hips tightly.

  Over the course of the two days of avoiding him I’d almost forgotten how attractive he was, but it all came flooding back now, especially seeing as the only thing he was wearing were those ridiculously sexy pyjama bottoms again. This man really was something else: tall, toned, and handsome as sin, and once again my traitorous body reacted to his presence by heating with a blush.

  ‘Why are you sneaking around my house at night, Allie?’ he asked smoothly and his velvety, quiet tone sent a shiver up my spine.

  Refusing to show him how badly he affected me I lifted my chin defiantly. ‘I was hungry,’ I shot back obstinately, deliberately trying to ignore the way his thumbs were rubbing circles on my waist and making my legs go rubbery.

  ‘You’ve been avoiding me,’ he stated darkly, and I lowered my head feeling slightly guilty at my childish behaviour. But then I frowned, I was not the one who should be feeling guilty, if he had any manners at all I wouldn’t have felt the need to hide away from him.

  ‘I’m obviously an inconvenience to you so it seemed the easiest solution,’ I muttered thickly, still averting my eyes and realising to my horror that my right hand had moved of its own accord and was now resting on his hip. Pulling my hand back sharply I clenched my fists and stared at his bare feet in annoyance.

  ‘An inconvenience? That’s not quite how I’d describe you …’ Sean murmured, but he left the rest of his cryptic sentence unfinished. Still avoiding his eyes I stared downwards until the temptation to check out his pyjama bottoms became too much for me. They clung to the muscles in his thighs almost indecently, not to mention hugging the bulge that was beginning to form at his groin. Oh God. Closing my eyes I tried to ignore his growing erection and stay calm, but for some inexplicable reason when Sean was around that ability seemed to completely escape me.

  Sean didn’t speak any more, but his right hand lifted and trailed lazily across my T-shirt, circling over and around my body, never fully touching, just brushing over the cotton but teasing me none the less. Finally his fingers traced the neck of my T-shirt, ran across my collarbone, and then skated down the skin of my arm, brushing the side of my breast and causing me to bite back the moan of pleasure that threatened to escape my lips. Such minimal contact, but already I was so aroused and needy that I felt myself getting light headed as his hand continued its tease and returned to my hip. Rationally I knew I shouldn’t be standing here and allowing him to touch me like this, not when he’d been so rude the other day, but the chemistry between us was just so incredible that I seemed helpless to resist.

  ‘Oh, Allie,’ Sean groaned suddenly as he lowered his head and nuzzled my neck spreading a trail of kisses across my collarbone and behind the sensitive flesh of my ear.

  I was all at sea; my head was telling me to push him away because Sean was clearly a jerk, but my body was speaking a whole different language, my flesh was tingling, my nipples had tightened and there was a throbbing ache between my legs that was crying out to be fulfilled.

  I was normally so sensible, would it really matter if I gave in to the feelings within my body just this once? After all, as soon as the snow cleared I’d be out of here and never have to see him again; perhaps just a little selfish pleasure wouldn’t matter, besides, after the telephone call had interrupted us the other day we technically had some unfinished business …

  Finally I gave in to the desires welling within me and with a moan I allowed my hands to unclench and run across his bare back. Trailing up his warm skin I sunk my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck where I tugged gently, encouraging him up for a kiss. Lifting his head from my neck our eyes met and I saw the unshielded openness and desire there, and wondered if perhaps there was a reason he’d been so guarded with me in other situations. But all thoughts were lost as his tongue prodded at the seam of my mouth demanding entry, before it stroked over mine so tenderly that I nearly sobbed out loud.

  ‘You look really fucking sexy wearing my T-shirt …’ he muttered, as his right hand pulled up the hem of my temporary sleeping shirt. I almost giggled at the astonished expression on his face a few seconds later when he discovered that I wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath it. Growling his approval Sean bent to kiss me again as he slid his hand over my belly and down to tangle his fingers in the nest of soft curls between my legs. One finger slid to my swollen slit and he began to rub at the warm moisture he found, while his thumb pressed and circled my clit.

  He might be a virtual stranger, but there really was no point trying to deny the effect Sean had on me; we were barely ten seconds in and I was already dripping for this man. I couldn’t help but moan loudly as his finger slipped inside my eager channel, followed quickly by a second, before he began to rhythmically stroke me. Feeling braver, or perhaps I had just lost my mind, I reciprocated the gesture and pushed a hand inside his pyjama bottoms, tentatively stroking at the red-hot silken flesh I found there, causing him to thrust against me. Groaning loudly Sean began to press a third finger inside of my tight heat, stretching me deliciously and increasing the pace of his movements as I writhed shamelessly against his hand.

  I spoke before even realising it. ‘Sean … please …’ I whispered against his lips and as he raised his head I shivered at the dark intensity that glinted in his eyes.

  ‘What do you want, Allie?’ he asked gruffly against the skin of my neck as he lowered his head to greedily nibble and lick at the lobe of my ear again.

  He was like a whole different person now, caring and attentive, his bad mood seemed totally evaporated. Perhaps he had been annoyed that he hadn’t got to finish things the other day, I wondered, maybe that would explain his odd mood swings? I had certainly enjoyed the experience on his desk, but the interruption had meant he had gone unfinished. Pondering this I wondered that maybe if I gave a little of myself to him he would start to open up to me.

  ‘Take me. Please,’ I gasped, ‘However you want me.’ I offered, hoping that a bit of control might be the key to loosening him up.

  At my words he raised his face and I could see the anticipation glinting in the blue depths of his eyes. Good God, what was I thinking? I’d just offered carte blanche on my body to a virtual stranger, but before many more thoughts could flood my brain Sean stepped back and gripped the hem of my T-shirt. Without another word he peeled the material off to reveal my trembling body and after smiling darkly at my nudeness, raised his hooded gaze to mine. ‘So many possibilities …’ he murmured, making my arousal and nerves climb even higher.

  Then without another word Sean used my hips to spin me around, pushing gently on my shoulders so I was leant over onto the marble kitchen surface. He kept one hand pressed between my shoulder blades so my breasts swelled against the coolness and made my nipples harden further. Wriggling myself I tried to find some relief, but the almost painful friction of my nipples against the marble only caused my arousal to spiral higher.

  Behind me Sean spread my legs with a push of his foot so he had me splayed, pinned and at his mercy. Biting my lip I stared out of the window at the moonlit garden and falling snow, and as I felt his fingers exploring my wet opening I allowed myself a little smile. Perhaps it would be a merry Christmas after all.

  All thoughts were then forced aside as I felt the hard tip of his erection replace his fingers and push against my wetness before I was suddenly filled in one long, deep, hard thrust. Someone let out a long groan of pleasure, but I was so hazy now that I really didn’t know if it was me or him, or perhaps both of us. Sean briefly sagged against my back breathing heavily, apparently overcome with sensation, before standing and taking hold of my hips with gentle massaging fingers.

  After grinding himself inside of me a few times he withdrew to the tip and then began to thrust more purposefully. His rhythm was fast and relentless, dragging my body back and forth across the counter so my b
reasts were feeling well and truly teased. He was so commanding over the position that I was almost helpless to join in as Sean pounded himself against me leading the pace.

  I had offered him any position, but if I were truthful I felt a little disappointed; I never climaxed when a man was behind me and after the amazing orgasm of the other day I had been hoping for another to remember him by. Just as this thought was flitting though my brain Sean raised one hand and I heard him lick his fingers before they wrapped around my belly and dipped lower to find my needy nub. Rubbing small, wet circles with his fingers while still managing to keep up his punishing rhythm I felt my stomach begin to clench with the promise of release. His fingers deftly tugged and circled my clitoris with firmer movements and an ever faster pace, until suddenly I was clutching the work surface and crying out as my body clenched around him in release and he exploded inside me.

  After working us down from our climax with several gentler thrusts Sean collapsed on my back breathing hard, and held me tightly against him. One of his talented fingers lazily circled my clitoris every now and then, causing me to jerk and twitch against his hand and tighten around him, a feeling he obviously enjoyed because he growled in appreciation. As I was sprawled on the cool marble breathing heavily I became startlingly aware that even though I barely knew this man, he seemed to have an ability to make me feel and do things that I had never experienced before.

  Finally Sean eased out of me and I turned to see him pulling off a condom and replacing his pyjama bottoms before he bent down and tossed me my nightshirt. Where the heck he’d got the condom from I have no idea, but thank God he’d used one, because I’d been so caught up in my lust that it hadn’t even crossed my mind. Flushing at how easy I must have seemed to him I dragged my T-shirt over my head, suddenly feeling tremendously self-conscious.