Let It Snow... Read online

  His fingers delved deeper, spreading her, stroking her. She chewed her bottom lip, shocked at how good it felt—his strong fingers wrapped in silky warmth, caressing her clit in delicate circles. Taking her higher and higher, but never over the top. And she suddenly realized the pressure she usually felt to hurry up and come had receded. The climax was worth waiting for because this buildup was so incredibly good. He was coaxing her up step by step, rather than pushing her, in a mad race to get to the top.

  Finally, he slipped one finger into her, sliding deep, her own body’s juices and the chocolate making his penetration easy.

  “Philip, yes,” she cried.

  Another finger joined in, stretching her, filling her slowly, then gliding away. She loved the fullness and the heat, the way he found a sensitive spot high inside her and brought it to life. Loved the look on his face and the sound of his whispers and the feel of his warm breath as he bent closer to her sex.

  “I want to taste you as you come.”

  “Please...”

  “Shh,” he told her, moving his lips ever nearer. He didn’t go right to her clit, but started lower, tasting all that chocolate, pulling his fingers away so he could slide his tongue inside her and lap up every bit.

  This time there would be no stopping the climax. Claire couldn’t prevent a tiny wail of helpless delight as it barreled toward her. Hearing her, Philip moved up, finally sliding his tongue over her clit in a thorough exploration that set her rocketing to the pinnacle.

  She thrust up to meet him, her orgasm setting her free. It was powerful, making her shake, and he moved his fingers back into her tight channel, which spasmed around him while he savored the chocolate and her body’s juices like a man at a feast.

  One orgasm stretched into two. She’d no sooner begun to settle back to earth when he sucked again, a little harder, and another ratcheted out of nowhere.

  “Oh, my God,” she cried.

  She’d never experienced anything like it, never been hit with pleasure after pleasure. He’d been right; holding off, letting her own desires build to the utter peak, made flying off that peak better than it had ever been in her life.

  She’d barely begun to breathe normally when Philip kissed his way back up her body, then leaned right over her face. She smelled chocolate and sex on his breath. Wanting to share, she reached up and twined her fingers in his hair, pulling his mouth to hers. They exchanged a long, wicked kiss.

  “I’ve never experienced anything like that,” she whispered when they finally drew apart. “Nobody’s ever made me feel...”

  “Then the men you’ve known are fools,” he declared.

  He was no fool, though. He was bloody close to perfection.

  “You...you didn’t mind...”

  He barked a laugh. “Are you joking? You taste so good, Claire. So sweet and perfect. I’ve never eaten anything so delicious in my entire life. I could dine on you and nothing else until the day I die, and never be hungry again.”

  That sounded all well and good. But she was hungry, too.

  He might not be able to make love to her tonight, but damned if she was going to let him leave without her seeing the magnificent body beneath his clothes.

  “My turn,” she insisted as she sat up. She wrapped her legs around him before he could back away.

  “Claire...”

  She pressed a hot, openmouthed kiss to his lips. “I know how far we can go,” she whispered.

  And she proceeded to go there. She reached for his long-sleeved shirt and pulled it up, her breath catching in her throat as she beheld the miles of gleaming skin covering a pair of massive shoulders and a powerful chest. He was roped with muscle, beautifully formed. She stroked him with her fingertips, a little amazed, a little stunned. As if driven, she reached out and tangled her fingers in the sparse, wiry black hair on his chest, scratching her nails over his flat nipples, drawing a hiss.

  “You are perfect,” she whispered as she ran her hands down, to toy with the trail of hair that led to the waistband of his jeans.

  When she reached for his belt buckle, he put his hand over hers. “You don’t have to—”

  “Yes, I do.” She stared intently into his eyes, seeing the passion, the need he couldn’t disguise. “I’m desperate to.”

  His breaths quickened, but he didn’t try to stop her as she unfastened his jeans. Unable to reach him, or see nearly as much as she wanted to, she got down from the counter to stand before him, letting her naked breasts brush against his broad chest. Her nipples were still sensitive from arousal, from his heated caresses, and she sighed at the rightness of it, hearing his groan of appreciation.

  Claire bit her lip as she unzipped his pants, her hand starting to shake as she felt the huge, powerful erection under his fly. Her breath caught when she saw the tip of his cock peeking above the waistband of his boxer briefs.

  “Oh, God,” she groaned, shocked at how big, hard and gorgeous he was. She slid her palm over the head, spreading the moisture there, and then reached inside his briefs to wrap as much of her hand around him as she could.

  “Ah, Claire, you feel wonderful.”

  “You are amazing,” she told him, loving the way he dropped his head back as she stroked him, up, then down, loving the thickness of him in her hand. She was also unhappy that she couldn’t have that thickness in her pulsing, throbbing vagina. But she wasn’t about to send him back upstairs unsatisfied.

  “I’m still hungry,” she said, reaching for the chocolate sauce.

  “You owe me nothing.”

  “This isn’t about owing,” she informed him as she slowly lowered herself to her knees, setting the pot on the floor beside her. “It’s simply about wanting to taste your cock.”

  He thrust his hands in her hair, his hips jerking reflexively as if her words had utterly inflamed him. Well, good. That had been the point. Plus they’d been true.

  She tugged his pants and boxer briefs down, then had to just kneel in front of him for a moment, staring at the massive, proud erection rising from a dark thatch beneath. She scraped her fingernails along his powerful thighs, trying to remember to breathe, wondering if she’d ever be able to take him into her body, much less in her mouth.

  She was certainly going to give it her best shot.

  She leaned over and flicked her tongue against the base of his shaft, hearing his groan of pleasure. Then she did it again, this time swirling the tip over his vulnerable sac before sliding it up the length of him.

  His hands twisted and tangled in her hair, though he didn’t pull her or hurt her in any way. He seemed to like how it felt, because he lifted a few long strands and rubbed them on his bare stomach.

  Claire barely noticed, focused only on kissing her way up the length of him. When she finally got to the top, she flicked her tongue out to taste the fluid leaking from him, drawing another groan from his chest.

  The chocolate could wait. For now, she just wanted to taste man. She opened her mouth as far as she could and sucked him in.

  “Gods, Claire, that feels amazing.”

  She didn’t respond, focused only on laving the engorged head. She sucked him hard while she wrapped her hand around the breadth of him and stroked, up and down. She took him as deep as she could, working him with her hands, building his frenzy.

  Eventually, wanting to experience what he had, by mixing decadent food with decadent pleasure, she reached for the chocolate sauce and scooped up a handful. She looked up at him, watching him watch her, his dark eyes gleaming, his face racked with emotion and hunger. He said nothing as she curled her chocolate-smeared hand around him and stroked some more. Then she moved her mouth back to the tip of him to swallow up that sweetness and masculine heat.

  “You’ll unman me.”

  “That’s the plan,” she mumbled as she stroked and sucked.

  His whole body seemed to grow harder, his muscles flexing, straining, a sheen of sweat highlighting every perfect ridge and slope. He was panting now, striving tow
ard his climax, and she kept pace, stroking harder, sucking deeper.

  “Claire!” he cried out, and tried to push her back.

  She wasn’t having that. The chocolate and the sweat and the cum and the heat were utterly intoxicating. She was greedy for all of it. So she held tight, her fingers digging into his hips as she forced him to plunge harder into her mouth, driving toward her throat. Until at last a guttural cry signaled his orgasm.

  He came in a hot gush and she swallowed greedily, shocked and fascinated at how much she enjoyed this, when she never had before. Something about this big, strong man being made vulnerable because of her, receiving his ultimate pleasure and spewing all that power into her mouth, made her feel strong, confident and surprisingly feminine.

  They’d offered each other pleasure, but they’d also given and exchanged sexual power. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced. And as Philip drew her to her feet, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him for a deep, tender kiss, she began to suspect that it wasn’t the act itself that had been so erotic and blissful...it had been that act with this perfect, incredible man.

  * * *

  IT WAS VERY LATE by the time Philip returned to his apartment. After that intense oral pleasure, he and Claire had thoroughly scrubbed the kitchen, then gone back to her apartment down the hall. He’d been incredibly tempted by her offer of a hot, steamy shower together, but once she’d searched her place and realized she had no sexual protection, he’d kissed her good-night and taken his leave. If they’d gotten naked again, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from possessing her. And he suspected she wouldn’t have wanted him to.

  A trip to the nearest store was first thing on his list for morning.

  “Well, how was it?” a voice asked as he reached his door.

  He glanced over his shoulder and saw both his compatriots, peeking at him from across the hall. Teeny was so much taller, his gleaming round eyes were a good foot above Shelby’s.

  “We had a...very nice evening,” Philip said, hearing the satisfaction in his own voice. He didn’t elaborate. What he and Claire had shared was nobody else’s business but their own.

  “Is it settled, then? Is she the one?” asked Shelby.

  Philip didn’t even have to think about it. “She is most definitely the one.” Whatever feelings he’d had for Claire before paled in comparison to what he felt for her now. Having spent so many hours in her company—some just walking and talking, some being more intimate than any he’d ever spent in his life—he knew he was falling in love with her.

  “When is the wedding?” Teeny asked, his expression as close to happy as it ever got.

  Philip laughed softly. “I haven’t even proposed to her yet.”

  “Well, why not?” Shelby let out an annoyed sigh. “You know she is the one, so tell her who we are, and we can get out of here.”

  “I have to court her.”

  Shelby blew out a rude sound. “Just give her some diamonds. That’ll convince her.”

  “Have you forgotten that the entire reason we came here was so I could make sure my future bride loves me for myself, not for what I can bestow upon her?”

  His cousin suddenly snapped his fingers. “That reminds me! You will never believe what Teeny and I watched on that television device tonight! It was your story!”

  Teeny piped up. “It was quite remarkable, Your Highness, as if some performers had decided to act out your life.”

  Curious, Philip waited for an explanation.

  “It was a film,” Shelby explained, nodding his head and sounding knowledgeable—as if he knew all there was to know about this world already. “A film about a prince and his very handsome, talented, witty, well-dressed manservant, coming to America to find the prince a bride who would love him for himself.”

  Shocked, Philip felt his mouth fall open. “What happens?”

  “They go to work in a fast-food restaurant, mopping floors, and live in a tenement building much like this one.”

  Teeny broke in again. “At one point, the manservant pretends to be the prince and woos the heroine’s sister with talk of his—the real prince’s—wealth.”

  Shelby glared up at the bodyguard. “That’s beside the point.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Philip warned his cousin.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it!”

  Sure he wouldn’t.

  “Does the prince win the maiden?” Philip asked.

  “He does, Your Highness, although he fears all is lost when she finds out he has been lying to her. In fact, he goes back to his kingdom in sadness and disappointment, and it isn’t until he is at the altar about to wed another that he realizes she has come after him.”

  Claire wouldn’t be able to come after him if Philip left without her. As of right now, she didn’t even know his world existed. Few on Earth did, though most Elatyrians knew about their neighboring world, some even moving back and forth between them on a weekly basis. But she certainly would have no way of finding it.

  “Are you saying I need to tell her the truth?” he asked.

  Teeny nodded and Shelby did too the very same instant. These two never agreed on anything.

  Philip answered his own question. “I will,” he stated firmly. “I need just a few more days, then I’ll be completely honest with her and ask her to come back with me to Elatyria.”

  “She’ll say yes,” Shelby insisted loyally.

  Teeny didn’t look so sure.

  “What is it?” Philip asked the frowning man.

  “Well, that brother of hers...”

  “Have you seen him?”

  “I saw him,” Teeny admitted. “He and another man were up the block this afternoon. Mr. Freddy was pointing toward the shop, appearing nervous and guilty.”

  Philip’s blood raced through his veins. He could think of no reason for Claire’s brother to be skulking around, showing people where she lived and worked, unless he was in more trouble and was counting on his sister to get him out of it.

  It was time to teach that pup a lesson. Past time.

  But until Philip got hold of him, it was back to full-time guard duty for him and his friends.

  “I know, I know,” Shelby said, as if reading his mind. “I’ll take the first watch tonight. Teeny will relieve me in four hours. I assume you intend to guard her tomorrow?”

  “I certainly do,” Philip said. He’d planned to give her some time, to perhaps wait until late afternoon to stop in and see how she was feeling about things, after all that had happened tonight. Now, knowing she might be in danger, he couldn’t afford to wait. “Thank you, my friends.”

  Murmuring good night, Philip went into his sorry little apartment, which, he had to admit, looked much better than it had ten days ago, when he’d first seen it. Though he hadn’t spent a great deal of money, in case Claire or anyone else should come up and wonder how he could afford it, he and his friends had invested some physical labor. It had felt good to scour, fix walls, seal windows and clean. Philip was used to a lot of physical activity at home—mainly riding, jousting, and occasionally leading a battle against the brigands who sometimes invaded the kingdom from the desert. Other than walking around the city, he’d had no outlet for his pent-up energy here, so working on these rooms had been cathartic.

  He wondered what Claire would think when she saw them. He also wondered how she’d feel about leaving this behind.

  Part of him suspected she would not want to go, since she appeared devoted to her small shop. But there were candy shops in his world, too, and while she might be the first royal princess to have a job, that’s what she would have if that’s what she wanted.

  First, though, he had to convince her to come with him. Which wouldn’t be a problem if she truly fell in love with him.

  The question was, would she? And did he have enough time for her to?

  His month of freedom was more than halfway over. He had to leave a few days at the end for the return, and had already decided he
would have to depart New York City on Christmas Eve to make it home in time. Which meant he had less than two weeks to capture the love of the woman who’d win his.

  He’d possessed her body tonight—and the memory of what they’d shared would haunt his dreams and his fantasies for the rest of his life. Now he needed to lay siege to her heart.

  6

  THOUGH SHE WOULD NEVER regret the incredibly sensual interlude she’d shared with Philip, Claire couldn’t help wishing it hadn’t been a workday. Because the next morning, she was weary and dragging. She felt drugged. Maybe she’d OD’d on chocolate.

  “But oh, God, what a way to go,” she whispered as she put the finishing touches on some beautifully decorated sugared plums. She’d already been at work for two hours, finishing up the special orders she’d neglected the night before, and realized it was time to open the shop.

  After starting the industrial-size coffeepots, she lifted the chairs off the small tables and set them in place. Then she pulled open the blinds and went to unlock the door, flipping the sign from Closed to Open.

  Through the glass, she was surprised to see a small line of people waiting outside.

  “Please come in!”

  She stepped back and gestured for them to step in out of the blustery morning air. Claire had been in business for almost a month now, but this was the first time people had actually been waiting for her to open. She couldn’t contain a rush of pleasure and satisfaction at having come this far, this quickly.

  With a smile on her face, she served coffee and pastries—something she’d recently added to the menu to appeal to the breakfast crowd. Plus there were plenty of order pickups, orders placed, and on-the-spot treats purchased.

  It wasn’t until nearly eleven that she had a chance to sit down, feeling both exhausted and energized, somehow. And of course, that was the moment when her lover—well, her oral lover, anyway, since they hadn’t taken that oh-so-intimate final step—walked through the door.

  As always, Philip filled up the room. He had such presence, an almost regal air. His amazing body was always perfectly straight, his jaw tilted slightly as his beautiful bedroom eyes surveyed the room. The guy could part a crowd—she’d seen that last night—and could dominate a large space. Suddenly, the walls seemed much closer, the room more intimate, and the setting far more private than a shop that had been filled with people ten minutes ago.