A Sheikh for Christmas (All I want for Christmas is... 1)

She raised her knees so they rested on either side of his slim hips then rocked her hips against him, savoring his low, rough groan as her wet core slid along his hard length. “Do it!”

“Fuck, yes!” Daveed entered her in one long thrust then rested atop her, trailing kisses along her cheek to her ear while she locked her ankles around his butt, digging in her heels to urge him on. When he began to move inside her, withdrawing nearly to his tip before pushing back into her again, it sent sparks of desire throughout her body.

“You feel so amazing inside me,” she said, matching him thrust for thrust, her body bowing upward as his lips returned to her hard nipples. They found their rhythm and soon both of them were teetering on the edge of orgasm.

Daveed changed his angle of penetration slightly so that there was friction on her swollen clit each time their bodies strained together and that was all it took. Mel threw her head back and cried out as she climaxed hard around him.

He didn’t last much longer. A few frantic thrusts then his whole body tightened and he gave a guttural moan as he came hard inside her. Afterward he collapsed atop her, his head resting between her breasts as they both drifted off into a deep, sated sleep.

* * *

Early morning light was streaming through the blinds in the guest room when Daveed blinked his eyes open again. Somewhere during the night, he must’ve switched off the lamp on the nightstand and pushed Mel’s bag onto the floor because they were both sprawled across the entire bed now, their limbs entwined beneath the fluffy down comforter. She looked so peaceful in her sleep, all signs of stress and worry erased. Hard to believe he’d only known this gorgeous woman a few days. She’d somehow taken up residence in his heart, filling a hole he hadn’t even known existed. With her he felt completed, confident, ready to conquer any challenge. How he would live without her now was beyond him, but he would. She deserved the full package. A man who was settled, who had a home and a life of his own, not some wandering spook like him who never knew where he’d be from one month to the next. She deserved a true prince, not a man who walked away from his title and his family to pursue a life of danger and uncertainty. In other words, she deserved better than him. Walking away from her now would ensure she’d get it too. No matter how hard it would be, he’d walk away from Melody, because it was the right thing to do for her.

Wanting to touch her soft skin one more time, he reached over to trace a finger across one of her golden eyebrows then hesitated as a buzzing sound issued from somewhere on the floor.

Shit. His phone. Carefully, so as not to wake Mel, he rolled over and fumbled his hand over the side of the bed to grab his jeans. There was only one person who would call at this ungodly hour. Sure enough, when he clicked on the device, a text from Heath popped up onscreen.

Hit dead end on Aileen’s trail.

Her boss won’t talk & left for extended holiday.

All firms clean too.

Got nothing else.

Any ideas?

With an exasperated sigh, Daveed leaned back against the pillows and scrubbed a hand through his hair. As if sensing his disappointment, Mel rolled over and blinked her eyes open to squint up at him.

“What is it?” she asked, her voice husky from sleep.

The sound sent a thrill of awareness through him before he tamped it down. He’d sworn to help Murphy and Heath find Aileen and he always kept his promises. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure what else to try at this point when every lead they got seemed to get them nowhere.

He exhaled slowly and rolled his neck. “I got an update from Heath on the investigation into Murphy’s sister’s disappearance. They’ve hit another wall.”

“Oh, no.” She pushed herself up to sit beside him, clutching the sheet to her breasts. “That’s awful. He’s got to be worried sick by now.”

“Yeah, he is. The longer people are missing the less chance we have of finding them.”

“What about those firms we went to the other day? Did any of them know anything about her?”

“No. And they all checked out too. Heath ran them through his father’s contacts.” Daveed put the phone down and rubbed his face. “Murphy went over to try to talk to her boss at the newspaper, but he’s gone now for the holidays and refused to talk to us anyway. We got nothing at this point.”

“Huh.” She frowned and crossed her arms, slumping against the headboard. Her hair stood out in disarray around her head and Daveed didn’t think he’d ever seen anything more adorable in his life. “I don’t know. I still think one of those firms knows something they’re not telling us.”

“Good luck getting in there again. Heath said they’re beefing up security for the holidays, so that basically means our chances of slipping past the security guards again without a pass has gone from slim to nil.”

“A pass.” She tapped a finger against her full bottom lip, drawing his attention to her mouth once more. Not that it had ever gotten far away. Next thing he knew, she was climbing out of bed and taking the sheet with her. Good thing he still had the comforter to keep him warm. She rushed out of the bedroom then returned a few moments later with the previous day’s paper. Mel tossed it down on his lap then climbed back onto the bed to kneel beside him. “I think I have a way to get us back in there again.”

He switched on the bedside lamp and stared down at the front page of the business section. There was a picture of the atrium from the skyscraper and a headline stating that the eco-energy firm in the building was holding a press conference that day to announce their new plans for the upcoming year. “Okay. They’re holding a press conference. That might create a distraction, but we’d still need to get past all the extra guards to get inside.”

“Not if I get a press pass to attend.” Her small smile widened into a wicked grin. “Heath isn’t the only one who’s got connections, you know. My father knows all sorts of people around town. Let me make a few phone calls and see what I can come up with.”

11

Two hours later, Daveed sat with the guys at a restaurant across from the skyscraper at 124 West 52nd Street. Media vans lined the curb of the street in front of the building, with their antenna raised and satellite dishes aimed skyward. Mel had been inside for about a half hour now, having managed to snag a press pass from some friend of her father’s, who worked for a local village paper. Hopefully, no one would look too closely at it, since he doubted any security guard would buy that the Quilting Corner Register would be at all interested in covering a story about new advances in hydro-thermal energy.

“God, they got that placed bedecked in so much Christmas crap it looks like a holiday hard-on,” Murphy said, scowling into his coffee. “Bah humbug.”