The Mistletoe Effect (7 page)

She pulled her lips from his. “Let’s get out of here.”

He regarded her with a cocky smile. “I like you like this, issuing orders, being bold.” He hitched her knee up, curling her leg around his thigh, then trailed kisses along her neck. “Promise me you’ll keep telling me what you want and how you want it?”

She threaded her fingers in his hair and tried to kiss him again, but he evaded her efforts.

“Promise me, Carina.”

She stroked his temple with her thumb, jolted out of her haze of arousal by his earnest tone. “I promise.” Then she licked her lips and added, “As long as you promise to get me out of this ballroom right the hell now.”

His cocky grin returned. “Yes, Miz Dragon Slayer. My place is closest. We can take a golf cart.”

“I have a faster idea. Guess who has a key to the honeymoon suite?”

∗∗∗

Decker was mostly undressed by the time he and Carina poured out of the elevator on the top floor of the east wing that housed the honeymoon suite. He had no idea where his tie had gone, or his vest or jacket for that matter. At least he’d managed to keep his pants on, as well as his dress shirt, though Carina had gotten them fully unbuttoned and the belt unlatched.

It’d never crossed his mind to stop her from ripping his clothes off. He’d all but demanded she take from him what she wanted, and the result was even more exhilarating than he’d imagined during the long, torturous hours of the reception, waiting for this very moment.

Kissing, tugging on clothes, and grasping for skin, they stumbled through the hall toward the door at the end. By the time they’d reached it, he knew he wasn’t going to make it inside the room without having her. She had these magic hands he hadn’t expected; they raked over the flesh of his sides and back and down to his ass, driving him crazy, scorching his already-fraying patience.

Before she’d fully slipped her hand into the ridiculously impractical purse dangling from her wrist to retrieve the key card, he spun her away from him and pressed her front into the door, pinning her with the length of his body. He bathed kisses along her jaw and neck until she hooked her arm around his head and pulled his lips back to hers. They kissed openmouthed and greedy, absolutely sloppy. Deep down, in the part of his logical brain still functioning, he knew he was more skilled than the clunky, fumbling moves he was using on her. He was a better man than to give the woman who’d held him infatuated for more than nine endless years a fast, furious fucking against a hallway door.

But that was all he could seem to do. His dick was hard and heavy in his slacks and her skin was so soft and perfect, begging to be pleasured. He bunched fabric up near her waist until his hands connected with her panty-clad ass. He threaded his hand around the side of her hip and plunged into her panties until his fingers sunk into her slick, hot folds. She arched back, thrusting her ass against his crotch.

Damn, she was so fucking sexy.

He kissed his way from her neck to her ear, then seized hold of her earlobe gently in his teeth as he suckled it. “You want it here? Now?”

“Whatever you want,” she said between gasps for air.

Her answer unleashed a rumble of frustration from his throat. They were back to that, were they?

Using his free hand, he reached into his back pocket and withdrew his wallet. As he flipped it open one-handed, it hit him that he only had his one emergency backup condom. That wasn’t going to be anywhere near enough for tonight, but he’d have to deal with that later. He slipped the condom between the door and Carina’s splayed hand.

“When you want me to fuck you, you open that wrapper and hand me the condom. That’ll be you telling me what you want and when you want it, okay? Like you promised me you’d do.”

At her nod, he let his free hand delve below her neckline. He grasped her nipple between his fingertips, twisting and pulling a little, just enough to make her whimper. Then, with the hand in her panties, he fluttered his fingers lightly over her swollen flesh until she squirmed and arched, digging for more. “You see now? You said whatever I want, but all I want is for you to tell me what you want.”

A rip of a wrapper sounded. He hadn’t thought it possible for his dick to be any harder, for his need to be any more ravenous, until he heard it. She held the condom over her shoulder, twisting her neck to gaze sideways at him. “You need to hear it? Fine. I want you. Right now. Here. I want you to fucking consummate this marriage deal already.”

He rewarded her admission with a harder touch to her clit, the beginning of the friction that would take her all the way over the edge when he was ready to make her come. “Woman,” he drawled. “I do believe you’re catching on.”

A
ding
sounded. The elevator door opened.

Carina went rigid. “Oh my God.”

His mind going straight into protector mode, Decker stepped back, releasing the bunched fabric of her dress at the same time as someone behind them gasped. He whirled around, shielding Carina from the view of the elderly couple who were gawking at them. Then he did the first thing that came to mind. He raised his hand and pointed at the door behind Carina. “Honeymoon suite. We just got married tonight.”

The gentleman scoffed and shook his head, then opened the door of his suite. “Take it inside, would you? Damn newlyweds. Phyllis, I told you staying in the east wing was a mistake.”

“You were right, dear.”

“So sorry,” Decker heard himself say, though the only thing he was sorry about was the couple’s ill-timed return to their room.

Behind Decker, he felt Carina moving. In another moment, their own door was open and she was tugging him by the arm inside.

The door was heavy and swung closed behind Decker, enveloping them in darkness and silence. They crowded close, as though they didn’t have a huge suite as their playground. Decker’s pulse pounded out a sharp, fast rhythm as she lifted his shirt. Her hand smoothed over his abs, then breached the waistband of his boxer briefs. Her fingers closed around his shaft.

He tipped his head back and groaned, letting her know the pleasure she was bringing him, not only with her hand but also with her boldness. She stroked the length of him with a friction so sweet, so maddening, he had to grit his teeth and brace every muscle in his body to endure it.

Then something cold touched down on the tip of his erection—the condom. Wordlessly, she rolled it on, letting him know loud and clear what she wanted from him. The next sound was a zipper unzipping. Her dress, he assumed. He lent a hand, pushing the neckline down over her shoulders, and she pulled her arms free of the sleeves. The dress fell to the floor.

Decker splayed his unsteady hands over her shoulders and breasts and lower, feeling what he couldn’t see in the darkness—her absolutely nude body, every perfect curve of flesh and angle of bone beneath. Even her Halloween panties were gone. Taking her cue, he stripped the rest of his clothes off and stood before her in the darkness, his dick throbbing inside the condom. But still he waited. This was so much better than the rush job he’d attempted earlier.

She touched him tentatively, her hands exploring his chest. Then her fingers wove into his hair, tugging him into a kiss. It was far less frantic than their kisses in the hall. The lack of light and sound made every action, every touch, more sensually acute. He gathered her tightly up against him, letting his tongue explore hers as his hands worked their way over her back and ass.

He almost spoke—almost let her know how sexy she was and how badly he wanted to be inside her, how he wanted to make her scream in pleasure—but the silence pressed down on them with a heavy intensity that precluded words.

His first instinct was to lay her back on a bed and bring her pleasure with his tongue, but there’d be time for that later. She’d sheathed him in a condom for a reason and it was time to reward her boldness. He looped his arms around her back and kissed her, urging her to turn toward the door. He took her wrists in hand and placed them palms down against the door, then pinned her body in place with his hips, putting them in the same position they’d been only minutes earlier on the opposite side of the door.

“Where were we?” he whispered, dragging his lips along her shoulder.

Sweat made their bodies slick and turned Carina’s skin sweet to his tongue. She twisted her neck and kissed him, her one hand coming back to clutch at his backside. They were back to being primitive again, sloppy and wet with their kisses, grunting instead of using words, their movements clumsy.

Decker’s hand slid along her ass, down and around, all the way to the wet heat between her legs. She spread her legs and arched her back, giving him free access to her body’s center. He spit on his other hand, coated the condom with it, then bent his knees and lined himself up with her entrance. His mouth on her neck and breathing through flared nostrils, he inched himself into her, relishing the sensation of parting her swollen flesh, torturing both of them with the sweet agony of locking their bodies together for the first time.

He slid his shaft out of her in slow motion, savoring the friction.

The door rattled with his first thrust at full power, a perfect accompaniment to her moan of pleasure. Seizing hold of her hips in both hands, he braced his feet against the floor and thrust again.
Rattle
. Oh, yeah, this was going to be a hell of a ride.

Taking her moans as a cue, he pounded into her hard, over and over, working up a heavy sweat, his pulse racing, grunting and panting along with her noises of bliss. Then, shifting his weight and the angle of his thrust, he pressed his torso against hers and wrapped his arm around to reach her clit. The moment his fingertip touched down on it, her moan turned into a cry. He got his face near hers, cheeks touching, and surged into her.

She rolled her head back to rest against his shoulder and took what he gave her, every inch of his length, every swirl of his finger, his sweat, his sounds. He’d never felt so much like an animal, lost in his base needs. She cried out her release, her body jerking, her head falling forward again. With a roar, he gave himself permission to let go, surging into her with erratic, selfishly brutal thrusts that made the rattling door sound like it might blow off its hinges.

When he was fully spent, he held himself inside her and bathed her back and shoulders with kisses, wishing he had the words to let her know how amazing that had been.

“Are you okay?” he asked instead, separating their bodies and taking a step back.

“More than okay. You?”

“Yeah. Wow. Uh …” Hands on his hips, he fought to catch his breath.

“I’m going to turn on a light, okay?”

“Yeah. Hopefully there’s no one sleeping in the bed, right?”

She gave a wheezy laugh that let him know he wasn’t the only one short of breath. “Oh my goodness, can you imagine?”

With a click, a light in the corner turned on, casting the room in a golden glow. There was no bed in sight, only a sitting room decked in lavish holiday décor flanked by a kitchen and dining room table on one side and double doors on the other that most likely led to the bedroom. A bottle of champagne was on ice in a bucket on the kitchen counter.

“Want some champagne?” Carina asked. She walked past him, and his eyes dropped instantly to her gorgeous rounded ass. If he’d thought Carina’s body lying poolside in a bikini was heavenly, then beholding her naked and knowing he was going to get to see her like that on a daily basis for the next three weeks was many steps beyond. Nirvana.

He followed her to the kitchen, thinking to open the bottle for her, when he noticed a basket sitting on the counter next to the champagne bucket. The first items in the basket to catch his attention were condoms. Those were going to come in handy tonight. Then he caught sight of a riding crop. Curious, he took a closer look. In the basket were all kinds of kinky supplies a couple might need, from lube and a blindfold to dildos—and all were Christmas themed, including a pair of red panties sporting a mistletoe sprig over the crotch.

He picked up the riding crop and gave it a swish. “This isn’t a standard honeymoon suite basket, is it? Or is Briscoe Ranch Resort more progressive than I’d given it credit for?”

“It’s the gift that I and the other bridesmaids gave Haylie at her bachelorette party. A Naughty Newlyweds basket. She asked me to have them here tonight along with their luggage.”

“What did you contribute?”

She pointed to three tubes. “The lubricants, the cock rings—”

Cock rings?
He picked up the ribbed green latex cock ring and stretched it into a wide oval. “My, my, Mrs. Decker.”

“I like the way you say that. You make it sound so dirty, like Mrs. Decker is my stripper name.”

He got a perverse pleasure in calling her that, too. “You are just full of surprises tonight.”

Her eyes flashed. Was that defensiveness he saw? “I might be a pushover and a workaholic, but I’m no prude. Is that so surprising?”

“Not anymore. Not after that.” He tipped his head toward the front door.

The resort staff’s whispered insults and needs-to-get-laid-to-get-the-stick-out-of-her-ass theories about the icy Miss Briscoe had always pissed him off, but he must have bought in to the idea somewhat, because he’d always imagined that sex with Carina would be more of a showcase for his expertise in the sack. She’d be naïve and pliant and him just a fucking stud, melting her with each swipe of his tongue or thrust of his dick. But she was his sexual equal in every way. She’d blown his mind.

Now that he knew firsthand just how wrong everyone was about her, he felt like he was the keeper of the world’s best secret. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to make use of this bounty of riches.” His gaze skimmed over their choices. “What would you like to try first?”

Her hand closed over a length of red rope. “Do you know how to tie a good knot?”

He took the rope from her and stretched it between his hands. “Woman, I’m a cowboy by trade. Don’t go questioning my rope-handling skills.”

She rewarded his answer with a smile. “You know what I think?”