The Christmas He Loved Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 2)

“Raine,” he began, his throat so tight he could barely speak. He didn’t understand what was happening.

“I don’t want to hear it. I thought you were different.”

What? That pissed him off even more.

“Different from who? What the hell has gotten into you, Raine? I’m not a fucking choirboy.”

Suddenly she was inches from his face, her huge eyes looking up at him all shiny and…hold on, were those tears?

Jake stepped back, confused and overwhelmed with the shit going on inside him. What the hell had he done to her? When had she become this…this…hot chick? She smelled…soft and light. Like peaches and summer.

“I…” she started. “Don’t you want… What’s wrong with me?”

He was shocked and it showed. Raine would have pulled away, but he grabbed her forearm and held her in place.

“Raine, you’re just…” Shit, what the hell was he supposed to say to that? “You’re just…” His

mind frantically worked to find the right words, because in that moment he knew this was important. And why the hell did she have to smell so damn good? His gaze dropped to his hand, to the soft skin beneath his fingers, and that hot, fierce heat inside him erupted. It clutched his heart and squeezed hard, and he glanced into her eyes, surprised at the intensity he felt.

This was Raine. This was wrong.

She made a weird noise and rose up onto her tiptoes, her right hand sliding behind his neck before he could stop her. Her soft, pliant lips touched his, first a hesitant stroke, and then as all the confused feelings inside him collided, he opened his lips and took the tongue that she offered.

His hands fell away, down to her waist, down to that barely covered butt, and though he knew it was wrong—she was so young—he couldn’t help himself. The world had gone to hell. Upside down was right side up.

He kissed her with all the finesse a boy of seventeen could muster. His hands moved of their own accord over soft curves, and as his fingers crept up beneath her T-shirt, over soft, satiny skin. His head was filled with peaches and summer and Raine.

She whimpered beneath him, and the sound drove him crazy. When her other hand sank into his hair, when she pushed her hips into him and he felt the strain of his erection, he panicked.

He’d never in his life felt like this. Like his insides were on fire and his mind was gone. Jake was so hard, he was afraid he’d blow and embarrass himself, and when Raine grabbed his hand and slid it around so that he now cupped her breast—her naked and soft breast—he nearly did explode.

Something penetrated the fog—wind chimes from outside that hit the window—and he wrenched himself away.

“We can’t do this. What the hell, Raine?”

She stared up at him, her eyes shiny with tears, and then she bowed her head—whether from shame or embarrassment, he didn’t know. For a moment there was nothing but silence, and he groaned as the raging hard-on in his jeans threatened to destroy whatever bit of self-respect he had left.

“Why?” she whispered softly.

Jesus, didn’t she know? Jake ran his hands through his hair and took a step back into the shadows. Oh God, he felt like an absolute shit.

Raine covered her mouth with her fist, her cheeks flushed red, that wild hair all over the place. Her eyes were huge, her mouth swollen from their kiss.

He’d never seen anything as hot as Raine Delgotto in that moment. It was then that he realized how much he wanted something he couldn’t have.

“Jesse.” He exhaled harshly. “We can’t because of Jesse.”

Chapter 12

His cell rang and the memories washed away as quickly as they’d come. How long had he been standing there? It was now nearly dark, and a shiver rolled over him as he turned away from the window. He was drenched in sweat and cold as hell.

Jake grabbed his cell from his pocket and took the stairs two at a time, not glancing at it until he was out of the cottage, and even then he took a few seconds before answering.

“Jake?” Raine’s voice was warm in his ear.

“Hey,” he answered, hoping he sounded somewhat normal. He didn’t do the walk down memory lane real well, especially when either Raine or Jesse was involved.

“You sound funny. Where are you?”