Page 75 of His for the Holiday

Quickly releasing me, he rolled over and nearly fell off the bed in his haste. He came back with a foil package he was already biting open. I watched as he climbed back onto the mattress, rolling the latex over his length, but not before I’d seen how wet he was.

Partially from me, I was sure, but a lot of it was just him. I knew that got to him too!

My heartbeat thrummed with excitement and exhilaration that I affected him this way. I pulled him back into my arms when he was ready and fed him into me slowly, my eyes on his until he started thrusting inside me and I couldn’t keep them open anymore.

His mouth was on my throat. My body fused against his and moved with him as if we’d become part of the same whole. I gave myself over completely, even reaching my peak at the same time he did, and I fell asleep with him almost directly after.

I woke up in Hawk’s arms, warm and feeling so cherished and loved that I kept my eyes closed for a few moments, just breathing in the musky, masculine scent of him. With his heart beating evenly against my ear, I held him tight but didn’t give in to the urge to drag my fingertips across his skin.

I didn’t want to wake him. I just wanted to be right here.

Forever—if possible.

When I remembered that it wasn’t going to be forever, a soft sigh escaped and I finally opened my eyes, but the first thing I saw made me smile again.

It was finally snowing outside. A thick blanket of white turned the town in a winter wonderland for Thanksgiving. As if he’d heard the excited tenor of my thoughts, Hawk’s eyes blinked open and he smiled too.

“Look at that,” he murmured huskily, his voice still thick with sleep. “Your dad is going to be happy. He predicted snow instead of rain today.”

I held him tighter, finally flicked my gaze up to his face, and took in the strong profile of it from this angle. It hurt like hell to know he might be leaving soon, especially since we hadn’t talked about what happened next.

In the quiet of the early morning and with the snow coming down outside, I realized that as much as I wanted to hang onto the peace of this moment, I needed to know what was going on.

Before I could ask, however, Winnie’s voice filtered into my bedroom.

“Mommy, it’s snowing! Come see, it’s snowing,” she called. “Grammy made pancakes. She said you have to come now and that she expects Hawk to come too, but come see the snow first.”

I groaned, lifted myself up on my elbow, and quickly twisted to make sure my bedroom door was closed. When I saw that it was and that Hawk had even thrown the lock, relief washed over me.

“We’ll be right there, honey,” I replied. “Just give me a minute and go tell Grammy I’m on my way, alright?”

“Okay,” she yelled, and I heard her footsteps thundering against the floor as she raced back to my parents’ house.

Hawk collapsed back on the bed, laughing before he groaned. “God, we can’t catch a break, huh?”

“Well, we could’ve talked last night.”

His eyes were filled with desire and amusement as he shook his head at me. “Nah. I liked how we spent our time. I’ll see you later?”

I frowned. “What do you mean? You’re not coming to breakfast?”

He chuckled. “I can’t lounge around on Thanksgiving in the same clothes I wore to the play. I’m just going to go clean up and then I’ll be back. Promise.”

Lifting himself up, he brushed a kiss to my cheek. I leaned into his touch. “I’ll miss you.”

“Same, but I really won’t be long,” he promised, his voice all low and sexy again. “Just because they all know I slept here last night doesn’t mean I want to be rubbing it in their faces all day. I just need to grab a shower and some clean clothes, and then I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah, okay,” I agreed, recognizing the logic in his argument even if I didn’t want to.

Before he rolled out of bed, he wound his fingers into my hair once more and gave me a hot, hard kiss that left me wanting more before we parted ways, but even as I watched him go, there was none of that usual what-if worrying that I’d felt before.

I knew he would keep his promise and be back with his family in just a little while, and I grinned as I sank back down on the mattress, hopeful excitement blooming like a rose in my chest. Hawk and I had faced so many challenges together and I knew we had more to face yet, but I also couldn’t help feeling like we’d gotten so far and been through so much that nothing could stop us now.

Nothing except for a possible impending, lengthy separation, my ex still being in town, getting Winnie’s approval for our romantic relationship.

I sighed, but the hope was still there.

It felt like our bond was stronger now than it’d ever been before. If we could just get out of our own way and stick together, we could make it. We could finally get the happily ever after I’d been imagining with him since I was sixteen years old—and Winnie would finally get her happily ever after too.