Read One Wicked Christmas for Free Online Page B

all?”
    “I like your kind of surprises.” Cassandra reached out and gently traced her fingertips over the chiseled angles of his face. His sharp cheekbones, the rough bristles over his jaw, his closed eyes and the silken sweep of his brows. He lay there, very still, his eyes shut, and let her touch him.
    Until she swept a soft caress over his sensual lips, and he suddenly caught the tip of her finger between his teeth. She laughed in surprise, but the laugh faded to a sigh as his tongue swept over her skin and he nibbled lightly on her fingertip. A flash of heat swept through her, like lightning. She pressed her palm to his cheek and wished they could be here like this forever, just the two of them.
    Ian put down his glass and wound his arm around her waist, lowering her down onto the blanket. His palms planted to either side of her as he held himself over her on his arms. His dark eyes were hooded and intent as he stared down at her.
    Cassandra let her hands fall to the floor above her head, leaving herself spread out beneath him.
    “Why did you run away this morning?” he said quietly.
    “I didn’t…” she began. But something in his eyes, in the still, taut way he held his body, made her realize she couldn’t hide. Not from him, not from Ian. “It was almost dawn, and I wasn’t sure what to do. What the—the etiquette is in such situations. I didn’t want to be caught sneaking out of your room.”
    “Understandable,” Ian said. “But that wasn’t the only reason.”
    “No.” Cassandra turned her head to the side so she couldn’t see his eyes watching her so carefully. As if he could see all her secrets there. “Oh, Ian. Last night was so amazing. I never knew it could be like that. I’d dreamed about you for so long, wondered what it would be like. And it was beyond anything I could have dreamed of. But then…”
    “Then?”
    “I was afraid.”
    “Afraid of me?” he said, his voice so appalled. He pushed himself off her and started to turn away, but Cassandra grabbed his hand to hold him with her. “I was too rough. I let my own need overwhelm me.”
    “No!” she cried. “You were perfect. I was only afraid of myself, of the way I felt with you. I’ve never felt like that before, so—so wild and free. I was afraid of myself, and afraid of losing you as I did after we kissed in the garden. I couldn’t bear it if you turned away from me again, Ian. I…”
    She nearly said “I love you,” but she bit her lip to hold those words back. She let go of him and turned around to cover her eyes with her hands. It was a shocking realization—she did love Ian, more than she had ever loved anyone. Even Charles.
    But saying those words would surely drive him away forever.
    “Oh, Cassie.” She felt his hands gently touch her shoulders, smoothing a light caress over her arms. He turned her around and drew her close against his chest, his arms tight around her. She buried her face in his shoulder and inhaled deeply of his familiar, delicious scent.
    He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Cassie, I stayed away after that kiss because I didn’t want to hurt you. I was your husband’s friend; I thought you would be disgusted by my attentions. That if you knew the true depths of my desire you would hate me. I couldn’t bear that.”
    “No, no,” she murmured against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. “I thought I disgusted you . That you thought of me only as a friend, and that if you knew the dreams I had been having of you, you would leave me.”
    “Cassie, Cassie,” he said, laughing. “What a pair we have been. I’ve needed you for so long.”
    He took her face between his hands, his thumbs caressing her cheeks as he raised her eyes to his. She peeked up at him, everything blurry through the sheen of her unshed tears, and she saw that he smiled down at her tenderly.
    His lips met hers, softly at first, as if this was their very first kiss. Then he pressed