TheSurpriseChristmasBride Read online

  Casey blinked. Swiveling her head, she followed his progress around the room while trying to ignore the sudden flare of heat in the pit of her stomach.

  Quickly her brain raced back over the memory of that night. She recalled the feel of his hands on her bare flesh. The taste of his mouth on hers. His strangled breath. But mostly she remembered the gentle yet firm way he’d turned her away.

  “Do you mean that you didwant me?” she asked, her voice hesitant.

  “Wantyou?” He laughed shortly. “Oh, I guess you could say that. I could hardly walk for a week.”

  Casey blinked again. She sat up straighter and half turned to look at him. Standing beside the window, he held the drapes back with one hand and stared out into the night. Flashes of white drifted past the window.

  “It’s still snowing,” she said softly, her gaze locked on his tight features.

  “Yeah. Not heavily, though.”

  “If you wanted me, why did you turn me down?” She had to be crazy. Or at least masochistic. Wasn’t being jilted at the altar enough for one day? Did she really haveto know the answer to that question? Even if it meant adding more humiliation to an already full day?

  Yes. She did.

  Besides, Jake’s rejection was five long years ago. All she wanted now was the reason for it.

  When he didn’t answer, she repeated. “Why, Jake?”

  He glanced at her, his expression stony.

  “I had to. You were just a kid.” He shifted his gaze back to the snow. “A man just doesn’t take advantage of a kid’s…crush.”

  “A crush?” She shook her head at him, but he didn’t see her. “I lovedyou.”

  “You were too young to know anything about love.”

  “According to who?”

  “Me.”

  “So you decided to be noble.”

  “I decidedto do the right thing,” he corrected as his fingers tightened on the drapery fabric. “But yeah. I wanted you.”

  A knot of regret for chances missed lodged in her throat. Her gaze swept over him and she noted that he hadn’t changed much in the past five years. Oh, she knew he’d been married. Just as she knew his marriage had been a painful one. Annie had kept Casey up-to-date on him over the years.

  But Jake’s wanting her?

  That was something she was willing to bet that Annie had never known.

  God, how she wished shehad known.

  She heard herself ask the next inevitable question.

  “When did you stop wanting me?”

  Jake turned his head and gave her a tight smile. “I’ll let you know as soon as it happens.”

  “You mean…?”

  He inhaled sharply, turned away from the window and started for the doorway. “We shouldn’t be talking about this,” he muttered thickly.

  Stunned, Casey scooted off the bed and intercepted him before he could leave the room. Her hand on his arm, she looked up at him, willing him to meet her gaze. At last, clearly reluctantly, he did.

  The expression on his face, in his eyes, rocketed through her. Desire. Want. Need. All the old feelings that had burned so brightly between them so long ago were still there. Buried and carefully ignored for far too long, they were alive again now, and there was no way to stop them. Even if she’d wanted to.

  Casey swallowed heavily. If anything, those emotions, those feelings, seemed suddenly stronger than ever before. Maybe that long-ago night and even her botched wedding were just foils used by fate to bring them together when the time was finally right.

  For one incredible moment she felt as though she’d been given a second chance.

  “Jake,” she said softly, “I’m all grown-up now.”

  His gaze swept over her. “I noticed.”

  She smiled. A skittering of warmth shot from her fingertips, still resting on his forearm, straight to her heart. “I told you I wouldn’t ask you again…”

  “A wise decision.”

  “…but I didn’t say what my answer would be if youasked me.”

  “Casey…”

  “I would say…yes.”

  The world stopped.

  She knew it had, because her heart wasn’t beating and she was still alive. It was as if everything inside her and around her was waiting for Jake’s reaction.

  Slowly he lifted one hand to cup her cheek. His thumb traced over her cheekbone with tender reverence. She turned her face into his touch and heard his breath catch.

  “You’re crazy,” he whispered.

  “Maybe. But I don’t think so.”

  He shook his head. “This isn’t about me, Casey. You’re just reacting to being stood up. And that’s no reason to do this.”

  “You’re wrong, Jake.” She turned her face into his palm and left a kiss on his callused flesh. “This has nothing to do with anyone outside this room.”

  He sucked in a deep breath.

  “That night has always been with me,” she said softly. “For whatever reason we have a second chance. Tonight.” She lifted one hand and covered his fingers, still cupping her cheek. “Maybe you made the right decision five years ago,” she conceded. “But whether you did or not, that time is over. Done. For both our sakes make the right decision tonight, too.”

  Another long moment passed in silence.

  “Right or wrong,” he whispered as his gaze caressed her face. “This time I’m asking, Casey. Stay with me tonight.”

  “Yes,” she said on a sigh, and rose on her toes to meet his kiss.

  Four

  Emotion flickered across his features. She thought for one awful moment that he was going to change his mind.

  Then his mouth came down on hers in a hard fierce rush of need. There was nothing hesitant or reluctant in his touch. Instead, she felt his hunger as sharply as she did her own. She gasped at the strength of the desire pulsing through her. Five years disappeared as if they’d never been, and once again, Casey was that twenty-year-old girl offering the man she loved everything she had to give.

  Only this time he gave back more than she could have hoped.

  He parted her lips with his tongue and invaded her warmth with a deep thrust that promised greater delight to come. A shower of sparks ignited inside her at the intimate caress, and she leaned into him, wanting more. He groaned under his breath and reached for the belt of her robe. In one smooth motion he untied the knot and slid the maroon terry cloth down off her shoulders to puddle on the floor.

  Casey shivered as his fingers slipped beneath the edge of the bath sheet still wrapped around her. In less than a heartbeat the towel, too, lay on the braided rug at her feet.

  Her long still-damp hair hung down her back and she trembled slightly. But then he pulled her tightly to him and his hands began to make swift eager strokes up and down her spine, and her shivering had nothing to do with the chill in the room.

  Everything within her responded magically to his touch. It was as if he had reached into her soul and turned a light on all the dark lonely places she had tried for so long to hide. She arched into him, wanting more, needing more.

  He groaned and broke their kiss, lifting his head to gasp for air like a dying man. For one long heart-stopping moment he looked at her. She felt his gaze sweep over her nude body like a caress, and any embarrassment she might have felt disappeared under the light of passion glimmering in his eyes.

  Suddenly, though, he took a half step back from her, and through gritted teeth asked, “Casey, are you sure about this?”

  If she hadn’t been sure before, she would have been the moment he touched her. This was right. She knew it. She felt it.

  It was five long years since she’d been with him in his bedroom. She had done plenty of growing up in that time, and if he wanted to get rid of her again, it wouldn’t be as easy for him now.

  “I’m standing here in your bedroom stark naked, and you can ask me that?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze moved over her again. Thoroughly. “I have to ask. I have to kno
w. I have to know that youknow what you’re doing. This is your last chance, Casey.” His jaw tightened and he sucked in a sharp short breath. “If you want to change your mind, say so now.”

  There it was. His halfhearted attempt to get her to leave. A part of her told her she should take it and run. A voice in the back of her mind shouted for caution. Reason. Logic. But what she was feeling had nothing to do with logic. She took a step closer to him.

  “I want you to make love to me, Jake.”

  He groaned.

  “I needyou to make love to me, Jake.” She reached out one hand to touch his chest. He flinched as if burned. “Now.”

  He yanked his shirttail free of his jeans, then tore the shirt off, sending buttons flying into the shadowed corners of the room.

  Her mouth dry, Casey watched as he hurriedly pulled the rest of his clothes off. When he finally stood in front of her completely naked, she sucked in a breath and stared helplessly.

  Years of hard work on the ranch had toned his body into a mass of sculpted muscle. His broad chest was tanned, with just a sprinkling of dark hair dusting his sun-bronzed skin. His shoulders looked powerful, his arms strong. Her gaze shifted to follow the narrow trail of dark hair that swept down his abdomen.

  She gasped at first sight of his sex. Hard and ready, he looked huge, and just for a moment, doubt leaped into Casey’s mind. Then he reached for her and all thought danced out the window to disappear in the softly falling snow.

  Cradled close against him, she reveled in the feel of her hard nipples pressed to his chest. She loved the sensation of skin on skin. Warmth to warmth. Hard to soft.

  His arousal poked at her belly, and a slow curl of heat began to unfold between her legs. She moved against him and a low growl of pleasure rumbled from his throat. He dipped his head to hers and once more plundered her mouth. Casey wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself, then returned his touch with her own. Her tongue stroked his, and a well of satisfaction burst open inside her as his arms tightened around her in response.

  As she gave herself over to the delights spiraling within her, Jake slipped one of his hands from her back to smooth over her hip, then slide between their bodies. Her breath caught as his fingertips moved through the nest of blond curls at the apex of her thighs.

  Confidently he continued his exploration and smiled against her mouth as she parted her legs for him. As his fingers dipped lower, his other hand cupped her behind and held her steady.

  She jumped slightly when he located a single spot of sensation. He groaned and deepened his kiss, silently demanding her attention, her passion. As his tongue thrust in and out of her mouth, his fingers moved over her most intimate flesh.

  She trembled violently when a spear of delight lanced through her. Breaking his kiss, she let her head fall back and concentrated solely on the magic in his touch. Her eyes slid shut and bright colors swarmed through the room. Her knees wobbled and she tried desperately to lock them into place. If she moved, he might stop and she knew she didn’t want that.

  As if sensing her unsteadiness, Jake lifted her easily, and carried her the few steps to the bed. Throwing the bedspread to the foot of the mattress with one hand, he eased her down.

  Cool clean sheets caressed her back, but before she could enjoy the decadent sensation of lying naked in bed, Jake was there. Everywhere.

  As if finally unleashing his passion, he devoured her with his mouth and hands. His lips came down on one of her hardened nipples, and Casey gasped at the almost unbearable pleasure shooting through her. Before she could become accustomed to his mouth at her breast, he dragged his teeth lightly across the sensitive flesh.

  “Jake!” She half lifted herself off the mattress, trying to follow him as he shifted position. “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”

  “We’re just getting started,” he said, and gently pushed her back down onto the bed. Dipping his head, he took first one nipple, then the other into his mouth. Using his lips and tongue and teeth, he drove her higher and higher into a world she’d never known existed before.

  Casey moved and twisted in his arms, enjoying his attentions, yet craving something she knew lay just out of reach.

  She had never known. Never guessed that it could be like this. Jake touched her, and her body turned to fire. Her mind dissolved and coherent thought was impossible. Heat shimmered on her skin, soaking through to her bones and lighting up her soul in a wild inferno of sensation.

  The calluses on his gentle hands scratched her smooth flesh, reminding her of his strength. Whisker stubble scraped her breasts, lending another sensation to his lavish kisses.

  It was as if he wanted to know every part of her. Feel all of her. Kiss and taste her. His strong fingers explored her body as he suckled and tenderly pulled at her nipples.

  Then he lifted his head and she looked up, meeting his gaze boldly.

  Desire etched plainly into his chiseled features, he stared down at her with eyes darkened with a passion that only grew stronger as the moments flew past.

  She looked wild, abandoned. Her eyes glittered with desire and her lips pouted as if begging to be kissed.

  Jake surrendered gladly, taking her mouth with his as if his life depended on it. And at the moment, he admitted, it probably did. He tasted her sweetness and loved her eager response.

  He’d been right to turn her down so long ago.

  The wait had definitely been worth it.

  Her tongue swept over his and he groaned, relishing the electricity that shimmered between them. He had never felt so alive. His body hummed with restless energy and demands he hadn’t experienced in far too long. He needed to be inside her. Needed it more than he cared to acknowledge.

  Breaking their kiss, he moved to kneel between her legs. Drawing her knees up on either side of him, he looked down at her open pink flesh and rubbed his thumb slowly, deliberately, over the hard nub of her pleasure.

  Her body twisted, her back arched and her head tipped back into the mound of pillows behind her. Two fingers slipped into her damp tight heat and she inhaled sharply as if caught unawares. As he continued to stroke her, she planted her feet and lifted herself into his touch. His fingers moved deftly on the most sensitive part of her flesh, and her hips pumped in a wild rocking motion that pushed him nearer the edge of control.

  “Help me, Jake,” she whispered brokenly. Her fingers curled into the sheet beneath her. “That feels so good,” she managed to say on a gasp. “I need…”

  “I know, baby,” he said, his voice low and strangled. “I need it, too.” Jake swallowed heavily, winced against the pain of his aching groin and moved his hands to cup her behind. He couldn’t wait another moment to claim her. To slide into her heat and become a part of her. He had never known such want. Such a desperate longing to join with a woman. To feel her body close around his. To taste her. To swallow her breath and make it his own.

  Lifting her hips for his entry, he pushed himself deeply into the warmth he had waited so long to find.

  She gasped in pain.

  He froze.

  Her back bowed.

  He cursed.

  Her eyes flew open.

  Staring into those meadow green eyes, he managed to snarl. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?”

  She wiggled her hips, inhaled sharply, then sighed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Does it make a difference?”

  Deep within her tight hot body, he throbbed for release. The damage was done. There was no going back. Even if he wanted to. Which he didn’t.

  “Not anymore,” he said, and eased his body out of hers only to push his way inside again.

  “Jake!”

  Her nails dug into his shoulders. Her legs lifted and locked around his hips. He moved and she moved with him. He became caught up in the age-old rhythm, and everything but the need for completion disappeared from his mind.

  Sliding one hand between their bodies, Jake found again the tender nub of flesh that held the k
ey to her release. As he stroked her, he watched wonder slowly dawn on her face. Her eyes closed, she bit down hard on her bottom lip and lifted her hips high, arching into his touch, straining.

  When the first tremors hit her, she shouted his name and dug her fingernails even deeper into his back. The ripples of satisfaction coursing through her grabbed at him. Her body convulsed and tightened around his, squeezing him until with one final thrust, he emptied himself into her and collapsed like a dead man atop her.

  He tried to speak. But first he had to find out if he could still breathe.

  A tentative shallow breath of air entered his lungs and he accepted it gratefully. His heart felt as though it was about to burst through the wall of his chest. He knew he should move. He was probably crushing her slender body, but somehow, he couldn’t find the strength or the will to lift himself off her.

  He’d never experienced anything like that before. Oh, making love had always been good. Although he hadn’t been with a woman in longer than he cared to think about. Ever since Linda, Jake had steered clear of females. Once burned, forever shy.

  Still, had it been so long that he’d forgotten how explosive it could be? How incredible?

  No. He frowned and finally rolled to one side of her. It wasn’t just making love. It was making love with Casey that had made the experience so…He let thatthought fade away. It was much safer to attack than to sit idly by.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Hmm?”

  Jake watched her as she stretched and smiled,for God’s sake.

  “I said, why the hell are you still a virgin?”

  “I’m not anymore,” she replied in a well-satisfied tone. “Thank you very much.”

  “Thank you?”

  “Well, yeah.” She shot him a quick confused look. “Sorry, I’ve never done this before. What is one supposed to say after one has been thoroughly…”

  “Ravished?” he finished, scowling at her. “Deflowered?”

  She laughed. “Deflowered? Jeez, Jake, you sound like a Puritan!”

  Puritan? Him?

  “Don’t worry, OK? I don’t think my father even ownsa shotgun.”