White Hot Holidays 10: Silent Knight Read online

  She sighed, a winsome sound that matched the sorrow reflected in her moist eyes. “My parents both died a couple of weeks before the hurricane.” Her attention fell to her wine and she sipped.

  Not a good year, he said, and tipped his glass into his mouth.

  “For the wine?” Her lips twisted.

  No, for you.

  “For all of New Orleans. It helps. All this suffering.”

  He quirked an eyebrow. Misery loves company?

  Her lips curved in a sheepish smile. “That sounded really cold, didn’t it? What I meant was my problems don’t seem as great or tragic. Mom and Dad lived full lives.”

  Magnus leaned toward her, suddenly struck with the need to warn her. If I told you things will only worsen here, that the tragedy isn’t finished, would you leave?

  Noelle’s unease evaporated like rain on a hot pavement. This was the desperate man she’d first encountered. “Leave New Orleans?” She shook her head and smiled. “I believe everything happens for a reason. I have to keep my faith. My father would be disappointed if I didn’t.”

  His lips twisted in a sneer. Preacher’s daughter, do you really think God can protect you from pure evil?

  “He’ll protect my soul. And in the meantime, I do my part.” Even if I only hold strangers’ hands and lie to tell them everything will be fine, because I can’t see what will come.

  Magnus set down his glass.

  Noelle knew the moment had arrived by the tensing of his body and the tightening of his features. His expression, predatory and alert, set her pulse skipping.

  Smothering the excitement that shot through her body, she dragged up an obligatory resentment that he expected her to sleep with him. She sought the shame that should accompany the thought—but found none.

  She knew less than nothing about him but recognized the need hardening his body, filling the erection pressing against the front of his dark jeans.

  Oh yeah, she’d noticed—and thrilled to the fact she elicited that response.

  When he held out his hand for her glass, she opened nerveless fingers to let him sweep it away. Then his arms closed around her, his hands cupped her head, and she was lost to the heat of his searing kiss and the images that flooded her mind of a fiery hell.

  Chapter Two

  Magnus clutched her close, drinking in her sweet breath as she sighed into his mouth. So sweet and hot—like an apple tart dusted with cinnamon, served with the fruity wine. His cock filled, lengthening—the constriction at the front of his jeans a painful, gratifying ache.

  He pushed back the memories that had battered him relentlessly since he’d discovered the horror at the bottom of the pit, determined that his last night wouldn’t be marred by dark visions. He gripped her soft hair tighter, holding her face immobile while he rubbed, licked and sucked at her full bottom lip until she quivered and moaned, the hands resting on his shoulders clutching in desperate spasms.

  This was what he’d wanted—what he’d needed since The Rising. Softness, goodness—here in his arms. He fought against letting any darker thoughts invade this moment and instead concentrated on the passion he would wring from this woman. Noelle.

  She broke the kiss, gasping. “Yes, oh please. I need you inside me.”

  He didn’t like the distance and sealed their lips together, stroking his tongue inward for another taste. So many ways to accomplish that, love. Can you be precise?

  “Mmm.” She pushed at his shoulders and pulled away her mouth. “Wish I could do that,” she gasped. “Fuck me? Is that precise enough?”

  He raised his head to look into her flushed face. The coarse word, spoken so breathlessly from her kiss-blurred lips, struck him as funny. How many times have you used that word?

  Her eyebrows drew together, while she panted like a runner. “I’ve thought it… Time seemed right.” Her legs moved restlessly along his and her hips undulated, rubbing his cock.

  I’ll get there. Promise. His hands roamed the curves he’d been aching to explore, finding softness everywhere. Delight licked like fluttering flames where their bodies met.

  He pulled her flush with his body and widened his stance to rub his thickening cock against her belly. Too many clothes.

  Noelle murmured and wound her arms around his neck, her hands sinking into his hair. When he cupped her bottom, her body shivered and the soft globes filling his hands tensed. Her nose nuzzled his neck. “You have to let me go,” she whispered.

  He couldn’t. Instead, he drew up her skirt in back and plunged beneath to cup her again, only a flimsy layer of nylon between his hands and her soft bottom. He kneaded her buttocks and kissed her again and then lifted her high. Put your legs around my waist.

  He walked them to the door and pressed her back against it, anchoring her there to free his hands. His fingers pulled at the skirt, bunching it above her waist, and then he slid them between their bodies and beneath the band of nylon at her hips. Her head fell back against the door, her mouth gaping as she drew jagged breaths. When he touched the crisp, curling hairs covering her pussy, her eyes widened.

  Arousal scented the air between them—hers—redolent and sweetly pungent. He slid into the moisture that seeped to coat her pussy but hadn’t the space to slide deeper along the plump, furrowed lips. He found the knot at the top of her cleft and circled it gently.

  Noelle’s body jerked and her eyes slid closed. A hand left his shoulder and clutched her breast as though it ached. She moaned and squeezed, and her legs tightened as her hips lifted into his fingers.

  Suddenly, he wanted to see the nipple studding her shirt in a sharp point. He stepped away from the door and helped her lower her trembling legs. Then he lifted the hem of her brown shirt and pulled it over her head. He paused, his gaze falling to her round breasts. Brown nipples like small soft cones stood out from her milky skin, tipped with stems that begged plucking.

  Going to one knee, he caressed a breast with his cheek, rubbing beard stubble on the baby-soft crest then licking the softer underside, until her hands sank in his hair to guide him to her nipple. He stuck out his tongue to touch the straining tip and her breast tightened. Her back arched to force him to take her deeper, but he resisted and swirled over the nipple in a slow circle, wetting it.

  “Don’t tease, Magnus.” She rubbed her inner thigh up his side, impatience huffing her breath.

  He hooked an arm beneath her knee to bring it to his shoulder, never stopping his slow exploration of the velvet-soft areola that surrounded the erect tip. Undo the waistband of your skirt.

  She let go of his hair in an instant, digging through fabric for the button. When the tightness at her waist eased, he pushed the garment up and over her head. She was clad only in white nylon panties and suede boots, Magnus didn’t bother suppressing a growl.

  Hair dimpled the smooth fabric at her crotch, a wet stripe darkening the center. His nostrils flared to drag in the scent that tugged at his cock as he stared at the widening spot of dampness.

  Noelle’s hands rose to cover her breasts and the leg supporting her weight quivered.

  Without pausing to gauge her emotions with a glance upward, he slid fingers beneath the nylon and straight inside her clasping pussy. Creamy moist heat surrounded his fingers and he rotated his hand to scrape knuckles against her inner walls.

  Noelle’s breath hitched and her belly jumped as she flung out her arms, smoothing them on the door against her back.

  Two fingers stroked inside her pussy while his thumb glided outside the nylon—lower, until he found the indentation of her asshole.

  She jerked, hard. “Magnus! No!”

  But he wouldn’t be deterred by her modesty. So much passion shook her body, he was determined to wring every bit of satisfaction from her—and strip her of inhibition.

  Crouching lower, he pushed aside the nylon to lick her swollen cunt, spending long moments teasing her clit, all the while rubbing endless circles on her anus—now bare of fabric.

  When he touched the
tip of his tongue to the tightly puckered lips, she keened and pulled at his hair.

  But he wasn’t finished yet.

  Pressing his thumbs on either side of the tight orifice, he opened her and laved the tender tissue, licking over and over until her hips circled to follow his motions. Fluid leaked from her spasming pussy, dripping down to add moisture, inviting him to penetrate her deeper.

  He fingered her, teasing the tip into the opening and swirling cream to ease the burning he knew she experienced.

  She hissed air between her teeth as he pressed deeper still into her asshole, pushing inexorably against the muscles that constricted to fight the invasion.

  He plied her pussy with deep tongue thrusts to encourage her to relax. Open for me.

  “Wicked. Wicked,” she whispered.

  Nothing’s wrong if you like it. Tell me you don’t.

  “Wicked,” she repeated, then her thighs opened wider, her glistening pussy making sucking sounds that had Magnus cursing the tightness of his pants.

  Settling his mouth around her clitoris, he sucked hard and sank his index finger into her ass.

  Noelle screamed and her body vibrated, shivering as waves of pulsing ecstasy rippled through her core, squeezing her sphincter around his finger as he fucked it in and out.

  When the pulses slowed, he sucked gently on her clit, milking her for every last quiver and cry.

  At last, she hung limply against the door, eyelids dipping sleepily.

  He drew out his finger slowly and delivered one last kiss to her drenched pussy and folded her inside his arms.

  She hugged him, a weak embrace that accompanied a long pent-up sigh. “I think the earth moved.”

  He started at her choice of words and then relaxed. She’d enjoyed the sex. Poor baby didn’t realize he still needed his own release. He walked her to her bed and waited while she slid across the covers.

  I’ll be right back.

  She murmured and pressed her face into the pillow. “I’m way past embarrassed, but you’d better wash your hands.”

  He chuckled. I’ll do one better.

  She dozed before he reached the door of her bathroom.

  Inside, he stared in the mirror, not recognizing the flush of warmth that bronzed his cheeks or the slight smile that curved his lips. He stripped and turned on the faucets in the bathtub, adjusting the nozzle of the showerhead to release the spray. Then he stepped into the water to wash away her sweet scent that clashed so horribly with the lingering stench of the graveyard.

  * * * * *

  Noelle stirred, waking with a jerk when her hand encountered the body stretched on the mattress beside her.

  He’d turned off the lamps, leaving the curtains at the French doors open—only the light from the streetlamp outside to chase away the shadows. Noelle breathed in the scent of bath soap as she ran a tentative hand along his arm. His skin was warm and still moist from his shower. Without the confusion of his earlier sensual onslaught, she sought a furtive glimpse into his thoughts, hoping for another chance to sort out the frightening images that had bombarded her earlier when he’d kissed her. But she found nothing, save an aching fullness in his loins that dominated his thoughts.

  Magnus stared at the ceiling, one arm curved beneath his head. You don’t have a Louisiana accent.

  “I never said I was from here.” She kept her voice even and her fingers soothing, not daring to let her gaze roam lower for fear she might lose her nerve.

  Why won’t you leave? It isn’t home.

  “I didn’t fit in Nebraska. I do here.”

  He turned his head toward her. Would you like me to leave?

  His solemn expression tugged at her heart. Is he afraid to feel too much? That was a sentiment she could well understand. The currents of attraction surrounding them were powerful. If she let herself, she could drown. “Do you think you should? Leave, that is?”

  Ask me to stay. If you want me.

  Keep it light, she told herself. For his sake as well as yours. “I still haven’t gotten the fuck I asked for.”

  His lips tugged into a smile. That word again. It just doesn’t sound natural coming from your lips.

  “How would you know? Think you know me?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in challenge.

  His expression shuttered. No. I guess I don’t. So how would you like it?

  The sexy drawl that whispered through her mind had her nipples tingling. “I don’t know. Surprise me?”

  His lips stretched tight with a wicked, sexy smile. Too late to change your mind now. Climb over me—I want to lick your pussy first.

  Shock, frightening and thrilling at the same time, had her eyes widening. “But I haven’t bathed!”

  I’ll take care of that right now. His eyelids dipped, and he stared at her nipples as they drew taut and erect.

  She’d issued the challenge. He’d called her bluff. Who was she kidding? She was dying for what came next. Sucking in a deep breath, she rose on her knees and gripped the back of the sofa as she swung one leg over his head. “I’ve already come this way.”

  I’m still hungry.

  “There’s food in the fridge,” she quipped, feeling awkward and too exposed—again.

  Stop stalling. Widen your legs and come lower. Don’t you want to feel my tongue on your clit?

  A short laugh gusted out, and she let him guide her with his hands on her bottom until he squeezed her to indicate his satisfaction with the position.

  He sighed, looking comfortable with her calves pressed to the mattress on either side of his head and his hot breath blowing over her open pussy.

  Already, liquid trickled from her, and her thighs were still sticky from their earlier encounter. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks and chest at the evidence of her unquenchable desire for this man.

  When his clever fingers parted her folds, and his nose and chin burrowed into her inflamed and swollen tissue, she forgot about her hot cheeks. All her attention focused on the glide and lap of his slightly raspy tongue, and the hints of his true voice in the growls that emanated from his throat and vibrated on her sensitive flesh.

  Play with your breasts.

  “I’d rather you did that.” But she complied and massaged her achy nipples with her palms.

  Did you like it? he asked, circling a finger on her asshole to make sure she got his point.

  Noelle groaned and pulsed her hips, rubbing her pussy on his tongue. “Yes. I loved it.”

  Maybe we’ll try something more later. He pressed the tips of two fingers into her unmentionable opening.

  Noelle jerked. “Maybe you’d better get that cock of yours up here fast,” she said, gasping when his tongue delved into her and fluttered. “I’m gonna come all over your mouth.”

  Preacher girl, you sure lost your inhibitions fast.

  “I’m frustrated as hell. Please, Magnus.”

  Don’t you want to see me before I come inside you?

  “If what you rubbed against me earlier is any indication, that might not be a good idea.”

  He nipped an outer lip and swatted her bottom. You want it—you have to take it.

  He was serious. No smile curved his sexy mouth. His eyes glittered in the darkness as he watched her scoot lower down his body until his cock bumped against her pussy—and she was only at his waist! Her throat tightened.

  Maybe you should look first, his voice came softy.

  She shook her head and slid lower, letting the crown push into her body. The broad head stretched her, but she leaned up and bobbed on it, slowly easing the tightness with the moisture rushing to greet his cock and the slackening of her inner muscles as her excitement increased.

  Relax. You don’t have to take all of me. Go slow.

  The low rumble of that inner voice and the tension in his thighs encouraged her to keep trying to fit his cock in her tight channel. The man was loving it. “Do all the girls have this problem?” she asked, wincing a bit as she scooted deeper on his shaft.

  Some m
ore than others. Magnus’ hands rose to cup her breasts, squeezing them and then tugging the lengthened nipples until she thought she might come from just his manipulation of her breasts.

  “Any more than me?”

  Wanting comparisons?

  “Not really. Just making sure there’s nothing wrong with me.” She bit back a grin at his snort.

  Noelle sighed, forgetting about the length she had yet to swallow inside her body and rocked up and down his cock, sliding deeper. She could brace her hands on his shoulders now, and she liked the sight of him lying beneath her. His jaw was taut, his nostrils flared. Everywhere she could see, tension sharpened his muscles, making him more dangerous looking, more appealing, as he approached his release.

  She ground down, taking more, and circled her hips, liking the drag and pull of all that rock-hard muscle crammed inside. As she worked, her breaths grew choppy and her thighs burned from the exercise. “Don’t suppose…you’d like to trade places?”

  Let me guess. You’ve only done it missionary style.

  “How’d you know?” She yelped when he rolled suddenly, settling his large frame over hers without losing their connection.

  Better?

  “Oh yes.” She widened her legs around his hips, opening to the powerful glides that pushed his shaft deep inside. Then her belly tightened and a curl of tension clamped around his cock. “I think I’m c—”

  I know. Hold on. He surged inside, the powerful thrust lifting her bottom from the bed. He groaned and his jaw tightened, his eyes squeezing shut as he stroked deeper, sharper. Don’t move. Don’t help.

  “Can’t…” She took it—every thick hammering stroke as he pounded against the cradle of her thighs. His ass and thighs flexed faster and faster with so much force he shoved her up the bed until her head was in the sofa cushions.

  But Noelle didn’t care. Release broke like a wave of heat that stretched her throat around a scream. When she came back to herself, Magnus rocked in shallow swells, shuddering as his body spilled hot waves of seed inside her.

  She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. He settled at her side and drew deep, ragged breaths into his lungs but didn’t move away when she skimmed her hands up and down his slick back, soothing him. Soothing her as well into sleep.