Page 17 of A Mustang River Christmas

Because he hadn’t been able to resist her anymore.

Wanting her had been a sweet kind of torture. Giving in was sweeter still.

It was half wild ecstasy, half pain, and it was all incredible.

She planted her hands on his chest, lowering her head as she groaned, trembling, and he could feel her internal muscles start to pulse around him.

He growled, tightening his hold on her hips, thrusting up inside of her, letting himself claim everything he wanted. Letting himself lose control.

Until he reached the edge of his own control, growling, coming hard with her name on his lips.

Then he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, pulled her underneath him, traced her lips with his thumb as he looked into her eyes.

And that felt good too. Just being inside her, the aftermath of what had just happened washing over him. And then it was quiet. And it was just the sound of his heart beating in his own ears. She let out a long sigh and rested her head against his chest.

“Thank you,” she said. “That was great.”

“Yeah. It was.”

“Do you think it could be... not a one-night stand?”

It had better not be just once. That wouldn’t work for him at all.

“Yeah, I would prefer that,” he said.

She laughed. “These are just the kinds of bargains people make when they want more sex. It’s probably a bad idea.”

“Probably. But it’s been a minute since I had a bad idea. And this one doesn’t feel like it’ll send me to rock bottom.”

She snickered, laughing against his chest.

“Glad it worked for you.”

“We still have a gingerbread house to fix,” she said.

“Well, let’s get up and get dressed. I’ve got more work left in me.”

He helped finish up the gingerbread house, and then they went back upstairs for round two.

And by the time he slunk back into his house, it was five a.m., and Chloe was just emerging from her bedroom.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, Dad,” she said. “Is this a walk of shame?”

“No, it’s not,” he said. “Because I’m not the least bit ashamed.”

He disappeared into his bedroom, and sat on the edge of the bed for a long moment. Then he changed his clothes, and headed out to work with no sleep, and his body buzzing.

Chapter Five

Laney wasn’t new to kitchens. They’d been her world since she was eighteen, and if there was one thing people in kitchens were going to do, it was hook up with each other. Which was why she thought the utter chagrin she felt when Chloe walked in was a little bit over the top.

But for some reason she felt like the words your dad put me through the mattress last night were written across her forehead, and she couldn’t shake the feeling.

But she did her best to keep her head down, and stay focused, because what she couldn’t do was allow any of this to affect her work.

The prototype gingerbread house was fantastic. And as they prepped for dinner, she couldn’t help but continue to marvel at it. The precision and expertise that Pike brought to the table was truly beyond anything she could have managed on her own.

“Is that what my dad is helping you with?” Chloe asked the question while they were busily prepping for the first round of dinner service. And Laney was certain that Chloe would have noticed it before, and so she was intrigued that she was only just now pointing it out.