TheSurpriseChristmasBride Read online

  “Casey, you could have told me.”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  “I didn’t think I had to. You had a fiancé. You were getting married today.”

  “You didn’t notice that the dress was white?”

  “I didn’t think that meant anything anymore.”

  “Now you know.”

  He shoved one hand through his hair and stared up at the ceiling. Shadows darted across the open wood beams.

  “You should have told me.”

  “If I had, you might not have wanted to—”

  “Damn right,” he interrupted.

  “See?” She stretched and winced a bit at the movement.

  He closed his eyes briefly. Damn. Her first time and he’d treated her like she’d done the deed a hundred times before.

  “Did I hurt you?” he asked, already dreading the answer.

  “Hurtme?” She pushed herself up on one elbow and looked down at him. “It was…wonderful. I didn’t know it would be like that at all.”

  “What were you expecting?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” She sighed and drew one finger down the middle of his chest. “I suppose I knew it would feel nice, but how could I have expected anythingas dramatic as that?”

  He grabbed her hand and held it tight. Hard to believe, but one simple touch of her finger had his body leaping to life again.

  Looking up at her, he studied her fine almost elegant features, the mass of blond hair ruffled around her head like some sort of rumpled halo and the soft shine in her eyes. What in hell was wrong with her fiancé? Why hadn’t he married her? And for God’s sake, why hadn’t he sleptwith her?

  Before he could stop himself, he blurted out that last question.

  Immediately her features shifted, hardened. She pulled her hand free of his, then flopped over onto her back and crossed her arms over her naked breasts.

  “It never came up.” Then she stopped shortly, thought about what she’d said and added, “No pun intended.”

  “I don’t get it,” he admitted, and levered himself up on one elbow to look down at her. “I didn’t think anybody waited for marriage anymore.”

  “Excuse me for being a dinosaur.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “If you’re thinking I saved myself for you,forget it.”

  “I didn’t say that, either.” Had talking to Casey alwaysbeen this confusing?

  “I came to you once and you made yourself very clear. You weren’t interested.”

  “I think,” he said wryly, “that we’ve pretty much disposed of that notion.”

  Her lips twitched. “You have a point.”

  “What’d you say his name was?”

  She paused for a moment as if trying to remember what they’d been talking about. Then offhandedly she said, “Steven.”

  “Steven,” he repeated quietly. “The man must be out of his mind.”

  She drew her head back and turned to grin at him. “Why, Jake Parrish! I believe that is the nicestthing you’ve ever said to me.”

  His eyes rolled heavenward as he turned onto his back to stare at the ceiling again. “Let’s return to what just happened.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, moving to rest her head on his shoulder. “Let’s.”

  “Cut it out, Casey,” he warned, and tried to inch farther away from her.

  “You can’t pretend you don’t want me anymore, Jake,” she said, and skimmed one hand down his body toward his already hard arousal.

  “Casey, dammit!” He caught up her hand and held it tightly. “You’re a virgin.My sister’s friend. A…a kid!”

  “Taking your objections one at a time,” she said, pausing only to plant a quick kiss on his chest, “as you have no doubt observed, I am not a virgin anymore.”

  “Lord.”

  “As to being Annie’s friend, of course I am. So what? Everybody is somebody’sfriend.”

  “Knock it off, Casey,” he grumbled as her teeth scraped across his flat nipple, sending shock waves of desire through him.

  She lifted her head and smiled at him. “As for the last objection, I think even you have to agree that I’m not exactly a kid anymore, either.”

  He inhaled sharply, then released the breath slowly, painfully.

  Casey smiled to herself. He was weakening. She glanced below his waist. Well, not allof him was weakening. Hesitantly she moved to touch him.

  He gasped through clenched teeth, and as her fingers curled around him, she felt him shudder. An incredible feeling of power rose in her. Jake Parrish wanted her. He could deny it all he wanted to. His body couldn’t hide from her.

  Her heart felt full enough to pop. Now she knew why she’d been so relieved when Steven jilted her. Of course she hadn’t wanted to marry the man her parents had chosen for her.

  She still had too many deep feelings for Jake.

  “A virgin,” he muttered thickly, disgustedly.

  Casey leaned over him, her hair falling over one shoulder to drag gently across his chest. She placed a brief tantalizing kiss on his lips, then lifted her head to look at him.

  “Jake, one virgin more or less isn’t going to mean the downfall of the nation. You’re not a criminal. You didn’t tie me down and force me.”

  At that notion he groaned again.

  She grinned. “If anything, Itook advantage of you.”

  “What?”

  “Sure,” she said, warming to her subject. “I seduced you with my wicked city wiles and then had my way with you. You being a poor innocent country boy, you had no choice but to go along.”

  A reluctant half smile hovered around his mouth.

  “Feel better?”

  “Maybe,” he said.

  “Well,” she whispered as she bent to kiss his flat nipple, “I have an idea on just how you might positivelyfeel better.”

  “Casey,” he said, and cupped her face with one callused hand, “we can’t do this again. Once was a mistake. Twice would be downright foolish.”

  She winced inwardly, but gave him a smile, anyway. “Be a fool with me then, Jake.” She leaned over him, dropping soft tender kisses on his brow, his eyes, his cheeks. “Just for tonight be a fool with me.”

  Five

  She held her breath, waiting.

  Her stomach fluttered nervously. Her mouth was dry and she was sure that if she held her hands out, she would see them tremble.

  Ridiculous. She’d just made love with the man. What was left to be anxious about? But she knew the answer to that question. Their brief passionate encounter had been exactly what her mother used to warn her about. When hormones and desire get out of control, sometimes you do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do.

  If they made love again, though, it would be because she and Jake both wanted to experience it all again without the wild mind-blurring haze of maddening desire to cloud the issue.

  His brow furrowed slightly, then his blue eyes narrowed as he looked up at her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Something just occurred to me.” He pushed himself up onto both elbows and tipped his head to one side. “You were a virgin and didn’t tell me.”

  “I thought we’d covered that.”

  “What else didn’t you tell me?”

  “What do you mean?” What else wasthere?

  “Casey, are you…do you…? Hell. Are you on any kind of birth control?”

  Oh, Lord. She felt her jaw drop.

  “Damn.” Jake dropped back onto the bed like he’d been shot.

  “I didn’t think,” she said quickly. “I’ve always wanted children and Steven said it was up to me.” She frowned thoughtfully. Steven hadn’t even cared enough to express an opinion about whether or not to have children. She’d never considered preventing a child. For as long as she could remember, she’d wanted a family of her own.

  She touched her flat belly and wondered if Jake had just given her the child she’d longed for.

  He saw her movement and obvious
ly misinterpreted her expression. “There’s probably nothing to worry about,” he said. “The chances that you actually conceived on your first time must be pretty slim.” He inhaled sharply. “But if you did, we’ll think of something.”

  She lay down next to him again and rested her head on his chest. Beneath her ear, his heartbeat thudded steadily. It was a long moment before he draped his arm around her. When he did, Casey smiled.

  “I’m sorry, Casey,” he said softly. “It never should have happened. I can’t even remember the last time I acted before thinking it through.”

  “Don’t be sorry.” She tipped her head back to look at him. “I’ve wanted this to happen for a long time.”

  He gave a choked laugh and shook his head. “You don’t make it easy for a man to feel guilty.”

  “There’s nothing to be guilty about.”

  “You might be pregnant,” he reminded her, and his hand on her arm tightened briefly.

  “But probably not,” she said. “You said yourself the chances were slim.” Although, she added silently, if it was going to happen to anyone, it would probably happen to her. She had always been luckythat way.

  “Yeah. Look.” He gave her a quick pat, then moved away and eased off the mattress. Standing beside the bed, he said, “We’d better find you some dry clothes. You can stay in Annie’s old room tonight. I’ll call a tow for your car in the morning.”

  “Jake—”

  “Casey, it’s over.”

  “It doesn’t have to be,” she said in a rush. She didn’t want this time with him to be finished so quickly. For whatever reason, she’d been granted this one night with the man she’d dreamed about for years. And just this once, she was going to do what she felt she neededto do. Something for her. Something to hold on to in the nights to come. Something to remember forever.

  She wanted this one night with Jake more than she’d ever wanted anything. And this time, she was willing to fight to have it.

  “Casey, we can’t take another chance.”

  “Isn’t there another way? Something we can do?”

  He stared down at her, and in the half-light, she saw the indecision on his features. Steeling herself with a deep breath, she sat up straighter and let the sheet drop from in front of her. His gaze shifted to her breasts, and she watched as lines of strain deepened in his face.

  She leaned toward him, extending one hand. “Jake, this is our night. The night we were always meant to have.”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

  “Yes. I do.” Her fingers trembled and her arm began to ache, but still, she held her hand out toward him. “For some unknown reason, we were brought together tonight. We would be crazy to turn away from it.”

  “Dammit, Casey…”

  A strong gust of wind rattled the windowpane. She gave him a small smile. “It’s a sign.”

  “It’s a storm.” One corner of his mouth lifted slightly as his gaze moved over her again.

  “Just tonight, Jake.”

  “I must be out of my mind,” he muttered as he knelt on the mattress and gathered her close.

  Casey’s pent-up breath escaped in a slow sigh, and she melted against him. The warmth of him surrounded her, and she told herself to remember it all. Her breasts flattened against his broad chest. His arms wrapped tightly around her, his breath on her hair, her name sliding from his throat on a whisper.

  His lips met hers in a slow languorous kiss as he eased them both down onto the mattress. He tasted her bottom lip, then the top. His teeth nibbled at her mouth, teasing her with a promise of more to come. Casey lay across his chest, a willing captive. He cradled the back of her head, threading his fingers through her hair.

  She’d never known that the scalp could be an erogenous zone. But the feel of his fingers against her head sent needles of awareness pricking along her spine.

  In one easy motion he rolled over, tucking her beneath him. He didn’t break their kiss. Instead, he deepened it, his tongue caressing, tasting her. She welcomed his gentle invasion and released the last bit of anxiety hiding in one corner of her heart.

  She ran her hands across his back, measuring the corded muscles beneath her palms. So strong yet so gentle. His body hovered over hers, covering her, protecting her, enticing her with its very presence. Arching into him, she silently demanded more. She wanted to feel his hands and his mouth on her breasts again.

  She wanted to feel it all.

  Jake shifted slightly and trailed a line of damp slow kisses along the line of her slender throat. He smoothed his left hand over her body, skimming across her flesh with the leisurely tender touch he should have given her before. Her first time should have been special. Gentle. He couldn’t change what had already happened. But he could give her this. Give them both this.

  He bent his head to take one of her nipples into his mouth. She gasped with pleasure, which sent identical waves of delight rippling through him—and he didn’t dare ask himself why.

  Sliding his left hand across her belly, he cupped her center, letting her damp heat touch him, warm him. Something in his chest tightened, threatening to choke off his air. He dipped one finger inside her and groaned at the feel of her body surrounding him. She instinctively drew him deeper within.

  As a second finger moved to join the first, he switched his attentions to her other breast, clamping his lips around the hard pink nub and drawing at it gently. She groaned and spiked her fingers through his hair, holding his head to her breast as if afraid he would stop.

  His heart pounded furiously and he wanted to tell her that he had no intention of stopping, but he couldn’t bring himself to abandon her breasts even that long.

  Brushing his thumb gently across the small hard button of her sex, he felt her body jump in response. His heartbeat accelerated, and the throbbing ache in his groin almost drove him to the point of madness. He had never known such need. Such want. Her slender curvy body beneath his hands brought him more delight than he had ever found before, and he wanted to know all of her. Reluctantly he lifted his head long enough to claim her lips with his.

  He swallowed her sigh as his tongue darted in and out of her mouth. She met him stroke for stroke. Caress for caress. Her untutored enthusiasm fed the fire raging within him until he thought he might explode.

  When neither of them could wait another moment to be joined, Jake reached across her to the bedside table. Yanking open the drawer, he grabbed a small foil packet and slammed the drawer shut again. Hurriedly he provided the protection he should have offered her before. Then he positioned himself between her legs and slowly pushed his way into her warmth. He watched as passion took her. Her head tipped back into the pillows and her eyes slid shut.

  “Jake…” she groaned softly, and held her arms out for him.

  He had to fight his instinct to move into her embrace. Keeping perfectly still in an effort to control his own overpowering need, he inhaled deeply, reminding himself that this time was for her. Buried deep within her body, he looked down at their joining and gently brushed her most sensitive spot with his fingertips.

  She swiveled her hips, and the movement made beads of sweat break out on his forehead. He bit down on the inside of his cheek and concentrated solely on pleasuring her.

  Casey threw both hands behind her head and clutched desperately at the feather pillows. She needed something stable to hold on to as her world began to splinter around her. His fingers didn’t stop. Didn’t slow. Over and over, he rubbed and stroked her center until she felt a helpless wail building in her chest.

  She rocked her hips in a frenzied attempt to scale the peak she’d just begun climbing. And every movement drove Jake’s hardness deeper within her, tormenting her from the inside.

  Her breath coming in short rapid gasps, she opened her eyes and looked at him. His gaze was locked on hers. She couldn’t look away. Green eyes stared into blue. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and she realized that the same agony of need piercing her touched him
, too.

  “Jake,” she whispered, and reached one hand out to him.

  He grabbed it as though it was a lifeline in a stormy sea. Their fingers laced together, she held on tightly as the first shock wave of delight hit her.

  Starting off slowly, it built and built, the pleasure deepening, blossoming until the last soul-shattering spasm shook through her. She heard someone scream, and a small corner of her mind recognized the voice as her own.

  Still holding her hand, Jake covered her body with his and rocked his hips against her. Small ripples of sensation continued to throb inside her. His steady thrusts heightened the sensation. She locked her legs around his hips, pulling him deeper, closer. Before she knew it or could prepare for it, another wave of tiny explosions battered her. Casey cried out and felt his breath fan her cheek. She squeezed his hand tightly when he stiffened, groaned and surrendered himself to her.

  She shifted, draped one leg over his and snuggled her head more firmly into the curve of his shoulder. Jake scowled into the darkness and tugged the sheet higher up over her. Then, keeping one arm draped around the sleeping woman, he stared into the darkness.

  What in hell had he been thinking?

  Disgusted, he admitted that he hadn’t been thinking at all. He’d reacted. Like a damn high-school kid who couldn’t get a grip on his rampaging hormones, he’d grabbed at what was offered without a thought for the consequences.

  She muttered something in her sleep, chuckled softly, then wriggled even closer.

  Small electrical charges fluttered through him and he frowned. All right, so it was more than hormones. He had never experienced anything like that in his life. Just touching her set off some sort of chain-reaction firework display. There was more at work here than simple desire.

  But he wasn’t about to go there.

  He had done the love-and-marriage thing once. It hadn’t worked. No way was he going to try it again.

  Still, he admitted silently, there was another problem to consider. He’d taken her virginity, for God’s sake. Something he’d always managed to avoid before. Dammit, he hadn’t been raised to sleep with a virgin and casually walk away.