Ten

Luke knew when he kissed Anna the first time that she held back a passionate nature. But he wasn’t prepared for how much she would bring out his own. Her husky voice set fire to him in a way he’d never experienced. Just the touch of her hand on his skin sent shivers rolling through his body.

Her silken heat clamped around him greedily as he tried to pace himself. He wanted to bring her to climax with him, but she was making it fucking hard the way she mewled low in her throat with each thrust.

Rolling to his back, he braced her legs on each side of his hips, then drove up until they found a rhythm that was nothing short of heaven.

Her breath hitched with the deep thrust, and she threw her head back, then cupped her breasts in an offering no man could ignore. He knifed up until he had a pebbled nipple back in his mouth, and then sucked deep as she rode him. She unleashed on him as he drew on her nipple, bucking hard against his cock repeatedly.

Frustration seemed to spill from her as she rocked slower against him, whimpering as she tried to reach for her climax, so he reached up and grabbed her shoulders, anchoring her in place.

She was too keyed up from the long day to let go.

“Look at me,” he ordered.

Her head came down, and he pinned her in place with his eyes. She licked her bottom lip, panting from exhaustion, and his cock hardened further at the thought of that pink tongue wrapped around it.

He grabbed her hand and brought it to their connection, wrapping her fingers around his cock as he found her clit with his thumb and rolled it. “You wanna feel alive?” he asked, slipping out then back into her heat as her hand gripped him firmly. “Then trust me.”

A sob broke the air, followed by tears of grief and exhaustion, so he rolled Anna onto her back and kissed her deeply until she relaxed into him. Then he began a slow pace that built into a white-hot heat she couldn’t ignore.

“That’s it,” he praised as her body relaxed and found a smoother rhythm. “Just feel, don’t think.”

He knew she was close when her nails dug into his back, so he increased his pace until he had to grit his teeth to keep from emptying himself into her sweet heat.

When her back arched as he drove into her harder and her mouth opened on a silent cry, he let go, and they both fell off the precipice into a kaleidoscope of sensations that was nothing short of life-affirming for the both of them.

Luke collapsed, rolling to his side as Anna shuddered with aftershocks. But he kept her anchored to him, his cock still buried deep inside as she clung to him. Then the tears began again, so he wrapped her up tightly and held on while she cried on his chest.

“That’s what it feels like to be alive,” he mumbled in her ear as her breath calmed. He should know; he hadn’t lived for the past four years.

As if she read his thoughts, she questioned, “Have you been living?” then touched her lips to his chest.

He felt the old guilt begin to rise, but he shoved it down easily as the woman in his arms rubbed her face against his chest, and answered without hesitation, “No, I shut down after Matthew died. It was my fault. He got out of his car seat while I was driving and…” He cleared his throat to continue, “And the window was down.”

She tensed hearing his explanation, then touched her lips softly to his chest again. “I’m so sorry, Luke.”

“Yeah. Me too. Matthew was special, like you said. I blamed myself for my sister’s loss. Felt like I didn’t deserve a happy life.”

She looked up into his eyes, then searched his face. “What about now?”

Luke rolled till he had her pinned beneath him. “C.S. Lewis once said that ‘When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.’ I’m thinking that the day your brother slammed into my truck was the day the second blessing walked into my life.”

Anna’s eyes began to tear up, and her bottom lip trembled. She reached up with her soft hand and cupped his cheek, then ran her thumb across his lips. “Merry Christmas, Luke,” she said tenderly, then leaned forward and captured his lips in the sweetest kiss he’d ever received in his life.

My phone rang as the brightness crept beneath the curtains shielding the hotel room from the sun’s early morning light.

I launched myself across Luke’s body, reaching for my cell that was charging on the bedside table. The screen said Mercy Hospital.

“Hello?’ I answered hesitantly, fear blooming inside my chest.

“Ms. Stubbs?” a female voice asked.

“Yes. Is my brother okay?” Luke rolled until his body wrapped around mine, then tightened his hold, giving me his strength for what came next.

She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes, ma’am. It’s a Christmas miracle,” she informed me with a smile in her voice. “He’s awake and asking for you.”

My breath escaped in a whoosh, then I began to shake. “Thank you. Thank you so much for saving his life,” I cried with a smile. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Luke’s breath stuttered in response to my reply, and he kissed my shoulder, squeezing me once for support.

“Take your time,” she said, still smiling through the phone line. “He’s sleeping now, and visiting hours don’t start for another two hours.”

“Thank you so, so much,” I said again. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I rolled to face Luke once I’d hung up the phone, smiling brightly. “She said it was a Christmas miracle,” I exclaimed, then slammed my mouth over his and kissed him with all I was worth.

Luke pulled back after I broke the kiss and searched my face, running his thumb across my cheek to brush away my tears of joy.

“Merry Christmas, angel.” Luke’s voice rumbled in his chest.

I rested my chin on my hands and stared back at him. “Why do you call me angel?”

“’Cause you’re the closest thing to heaven I’ve seen in my life.”

A grin pulled across my mouth, the first real one I’d had since receiving Darryl’s call.

“You know, when you drop the whole Scrooge persona, you’re a very sweet man.”

Luke chuckled, rolled me to my back, and then buried his face in my neck. “I seem to recall that when Scrooge gained his humanity back, he was very, very, accommodating to those in his life.”

“How accommodating?” I asked breathlessly.

“Let’s find out,” Luke whispered into my ear, then gave me the second best Christmas present I’d received that morning.