“Hey, what’s wrong?” His hand cupped the side of her face and his thumb wiped a tear from beneath her eye. “Why are you crying?”
“Because tonight couldn’t have been more perfect. Because I love you.”
“I love you, too, Allie. More than anything.” It was true. He loved her more than the company he built from the ground up. More than any future that was spread out in front of them. He loved her more than himself.
With that, Hudson dipped his head and kissed her again, a slow, intense, full-mouthed seduction that had her fingers raking into his hair. He gathered her into his arms and laid her out on his king-size bed, then stretched over her with a tempered control that was a complete contradiction to the pounding erection in his pants. His hands brushed her hair away from her face, his thumb lingering to caress her cheekbone.
“I love the way you feel on top of me.” Allie slid her foot along his calf.
Hudson’s hand smoothed down her thigh and curled her leg over his hip. “How do I feel?”
“Hard.” She rocked her hips against him and smiled. “Very hard.”
“Fuck, Allie,” he hissed.
She pressed her lips to the straining muscles in his neck, running her mouth up until she got to his jaw. It was a matter of seconds before he needed more, so much more. He needed all of her, every inch of her flesh, hot and writhing against his. He needed to make love to her with the starved desperation of a dying man in search of God.
He swept the sheer fabric of the baby-doll to the side and up her ribcage. Her body arched and her nipples strained through the thin fabric. With an impatient hand he tugged the satin down and the tip of her breast tightened further from the cool rush of air. Unable to stop himself, but like he would if presented the choice, he curled his tongue around the peak, sucking it into his mouth. His tongue swept in and out, flicking then sucking while his hands roamed and her body undulating under his. Impatient fingers curled around the edge of her lingerie. “I want this off.”
Allie stripped the fabric from her shoulders, then pulled it over her head. When she tossed it, the material floated to . . . the bed? The ground? Hell if he cared. His eyes were locked onto every inch of her perfect skin. His hands caressed from her neck to her hips and he followed their path with his open mouth. He moved over her, leisurely pressing kisses to her skin, letting his lips linger longer the lower he went. When he’d finally settled between her thighs, he swept a hand up her leg, gripped the back of her knee, and lifted it over his shoulder.
Dipping his head, he ran the flat of his tongue right up the center of her. Allie’s breath hitched and the air rushed out of her lungs. He stroked her in long, slow sweeps, then dragged his tongue deeper, getting a perfect taste of her.
“Oh, God . . . Hudson . . .” Allie moaned, and her fingers twisted into the sheets.
“Feel good?” He flicked over the most sensitive part of her.
“Yes . . .” Her voice trembled just like her body.
“So sweet, you kill me.” A dangerous lust took hold of him, and with a deep rumble in his chest he locked his hands onto her thighs, splitting her wide and penetrating her with his tongue. He thrust into her with deep, sensuous laps, and in no time she was shattering apart under his mouth and glistening his lips. Her head fell back and her spine arched as she bowed off the bed. And shit, the sound of her crying out his name made his cock kick behind his fly, dying to get out. He reared up and nearly ripped his zipper off as he yanked the thing down, pitching the pants to the side with the same urgency.
With a shift, he settled his weight back onto her, his biceps flexing as he propped himself up on his elbows. The tip of his cock brushed against her hot core, and a fresh wave of need crashed into him.
She gazed up at him. God, if she spent the rest of her life looking at him that way, he was liable to spend the rest of his inside of her. “Make love to me, Hudson.”
“Always.” He dropped his mouth to hers as he surged inside her, her nails digging into his shoulders. He drew his hips back, then the base of his spine flexed as he pushed into her again. Allie’s slender hands drifted down his back to his bare ass, pulling him deeper.
Hudson’s head shot up and a groan broke free of his mouth, his muscles chorded and tight from the pleasure that coiled up from his lower body. His broad back flexed and released with each thrust of his hips, the rolling penetrations gliding him in and out as he found a rhythm that had his body on the perfect type of autopilot.
“Ah, God . . .” Allie arched, her chin lifting toward the ceiling and the tips of her breasts brushing against his chest. Fuck, the sight of her beneath him about made him come right then and there. He closed his eyes, but this time he wasn’t plagued by the contaminating thoughts of the past. No nightmares threatened the pureness of his pleasure. It was just the two of them straining against each other, their panting breathes mingling with the sounds of their lovemaking.
Allie locked her legs around his waist, a throaty version of his name rolling off her tongue as her body began to tighten around his cock. He crushed his mouth against hers and began to really move, his hips swinging of their own volition. His thrusts became shorter, faster, and tighter with each relentless drive.
“I want you to feel me come inside you.” He managed to force the syllables out of his mouth between breaths.
“Yes . . . Don’t stop . . . I’m so—”
Fast as a lighting strike, an orgasm seized her body. The vise grip she had all around him was too much, and the release that had been brewing deep within him shot down his spine. He came hard, his body snapped tight, his hips locking against her sex, while the lingering pulses of her orgasm just about shorted out his brain.
Collapsing on top of her, he turned his face into her neck and tried to catch his breath.
“Merry Christmas,” she murmured as her fingers stroked languidly down his back.
And it had been. All thanks to her. Despite everything, Allie had gone to great lengths to make their first Christmas together special, not only for the two of them, but for Nick as well. The realization not only hit him hard, it made him fall in love with her all over again.
Chapter Twenty-two
Hudson opened one eye. The first thing he saw was the woven pile of feathers, twigs, and string that now dangled over his bed. He’d half expected a family of birds to set up shop in the thing, but if it actually managed to keep his nightmares at bay, so be it. The second was Allie, standing beside the bed wearing a pair of his pajama pants and one of his long-sleeve T-shirts.
“What happened to the woman I took to bed last night?” He rolled over on his side, the sheet shifting down on his hips.
Allie gave a small laugh. “You didn’t expect me to cook breakfast wearing that, did you?”
“No, I expected you to ride my cock wearing nothing.”
She gasped as he gave her hand a sharp tug and yanked her back into bed with him. “Hudson, Nick and Harper are here.”
“I wasn’t planning on inviting them to join us.” Harper struck him as the type of woman who valued sleep, and there was little doubt that Nick was still clocking in the Z’s. When he was using he’d be up for days, but now he had likely slept soundly for nine out of the ten that had passed. “And if memory serves, their presence didn’t stop you from enjoying yourself last night.”
He started to push her shirt up but she batted his hands away. “I mean they’re probably hungry.”
“I’m hungry.” He went to work on the string of her—make that his—pants.”Besides, I thought you were supposed to open your presents on Christmas morning?”