Reads Novel Online

Snowbound

« Prev  Chapter  Next »





and went up on tiptoe to throw her arms around his neck.

John caught her close and kissed her. The words

made what they did now easier, as if in talking openly

they had shed any need to be self-conscious.

She pushed his flannel shirt off, then made him help

take off the T-shirt beneath it. Fiona lifted her arms

with breathtaking trust so that he could remove her

chemise. She did flush when he looked at her small,

high breasts, but she arched her back willingly when he

cupped them, then bent to kiss each.

He hadn’t had the foresight to ditch his boots and socks,

and had to sit down to do that. She knelt and helped him,

when she wasn’t nipping at his earlobe or stroking his

thigh. He was so hard by the time he was done, he didn’t

think he could have gotten his jeans unzipped without

help. The feel of her fingers as she undid the button, then

eased down the zipper, was like coming into contact with

a live wire. Felt in every corpuscle of his body, and damn

near painful but the best pain he’d ever imagined. He was

gasping by the time she freed his erection.

She made choked little sounds as she stroked him.

He had to grip her hand.

“I’m…on the thin edge here.”

“Oh.” A slow, satisfied smile was incredibly erotic.

“Shall I make things worse?” Before he could answer,

she stood, put her hands at the waistband of her flannel

pajama bottoms and pushed them down until they

pooled on the floor and she could step out of them.

He growled something; her name, an expletive, he

didn’t know. She was exquisite. Pale-skinned, fine-

boned, long-legged, with those perfect, small breasts

and just enough curve at her hips. Hair as dark as that

on her head curled at the apex of her thighs. John

groaned, gripped the arms of the chair and momentarily closed his eyes.

Then he surged to his feet, lifted her high and deposited her on the bed, coming down on top of her. As naturally as if they’d made love a thousand times before, her legs parted to welcome him, tangling with his. It was

all he could do to grope in the bedside drawer, find a

condom and put it on.

Foreplay might not have been what it should be, but

she didn’t seem to care and he couldn’t have waited

another second to enter her. The feel of her enclosing

him, not just her core but her arms and legs, and her

mouth open against his, was the most glorious sensation he’d ever known. When almost immediately her body spasmed, and she whispered his name against his

lips, he had the dazed thought that he’d found heaven

on earth. Then he let himself drive into her once, twice,

a dozen times, and empty himself of all his bitterness

in a climax that shattered him—and yet left him whole

on the other side.

THE FIRST DAYS were wonderful. Fiona didn’t think

she’d ever been happier in her life.

She got up early and kneaded dough while he heated

the ovens and spooned muffins into tins. Once the bread

was in the oven, she slipped on a wool sweater and

stepped outside on the front porch with him, each of

them cradling a mug of coffee, to watch dawn lighten

the sky. The first morning it came gradually, charcoal-

gray becoming infinitesimally paler shades until they

could see fine snowflakes floating toward the ground,

moving so slowly it was as if time itself had slowed, too.

The second morning, she understood why John didn’t

care that no movie theater was within driving distance.

Hollywood couldn’t touch this show.

The colors alone stole her breath. She had seen

glorious sunsets, but these colors had more delicacy.

She couldn’t have named the vivid hues. The words

“pink” or “peach” were woefully inadequate. And all

the while, the world was utterly silent, as if it, too, held

its breath.

When the show was done and morning arrived, she

looked up at John and said, voice hushed, “I never knew

what I was missing.”

“It’s not the same down there.” He, too, spoke quietly,

as if out of respect. “Until I came up here, I didn’t know.”

“Surely in Iraq, with open desert…”

He shook his head. This time, his voice was flat.

“No. Dawn there…it was splashier.”



« Prev  Chapter  Next »