Page 39 of Hope and Hot Chocolate on Mistletoe Lane

Paul grabbed a condom from the table beside us then he handed it to me. ‘Please put it on me, Hols,’ he begged, sounding equally desperate as me.

My body tingled with anticipation as he sank onto the edge of the bed and I leaned down to slip the condom on him slowly, enjoying the way his breath hitched at my touch.

‘I want you back on my lap,’ he said, looking up at me with fire in his eyes. ‘We couldn’t do this down there but here, we can.’

‘Hmm,’ I said, thinking about how much I’d wanted to in the café. I sat astride him and eased myself down onto him.

‘That’s it,’ Paul gasped when he slid inside me. I wrapped my arms around him as he clutched my waist, our lips finding one another again as I moved up and down on top of him. ‘You feel incredible,’ he said, leaning back to brush my hair from my face again. This time, he pulled it into a ponytail with his hands, smiling when I let out a moan.

‘So do you,’ I gasped as pleasure ran through me.

‘That’s it, move exactly how you want it,’ Paul whispered into my ear as I clutched him harder, moving faster on top of him. He let out his own moan when I moved my hips.

‘You like that?’

‘I love it,’ he replied, his grip on my waist stronger as he lifted his hips to meet me thrust for thrust.

My body heated up we moved faster together, pleasure pooling inside me, desperate to be let out. I gasped as I tipped over the edge, hitting my peak faster than I was expecting. I was soon shuddering against him, crying out his name with abandon. As I clung to his shoulders while my body throbbed with delicious vibrations, Paul lifted up on the bed, pumping into me a few more times before he cried out with release too. Then he found my lips, moaning as he kissed me and trembled beneath me.

‘God, Hols,’ he breathed then, pulling back to look at me in wonder. He reached up to sweep my tousled hair off of my face then lifted me gently down onto the bed. He tossed the condom aside and laid down beside me, wrapping his arms around my slick, satisfied body. I rolled into him, curling into his nook as we panted in time, our heart thumping fast inside our chests.

‘I know,’ I agreed, feeling incoherent after the way he’d made me feel. ‘Why did we wait so long to do that?’

Paul chuckled against me and kissed the top of my head. ‘It was worth the wait, that’s all I can say.’

‘I don’t want to move.’

‘Don’t,’ he replied huskily. ‘Stay here and relax,’ he added, smiling as he held me closer and tighter. ‘You feel like home,’ he added, his voice barely audible.

My whole body tensed for a second at those words until I forced myself to relax again into his embrace. I wanted to say it back but I was too scared to. That had been the best sex of my life with the man I’d known the longest. And we had felt like the perfect fit. Now afterwards, we still felt that way draped over each other, entwined like a knot. I was unsure where I started and he ended. It was terrifying.

I wanted to stay here forever, and also to run away and never come back.

28

PAUL

I could see Holly was starting to worry. She had thrown caution to the wind with me and acted on the palpable tension between us and enjoyed the passion as much as I had but now we were in each other’s arms, she was growing quieter and quieter. We felt so close and I loved that feeling but I could tell she was on the verge of freaking out because of it. I didn’t want her to run like she had after our first kiss. Hell, she’d run years ago because she just liked me. Now, we had slept together. I didn’t want her to regret a second of it. Because I definitely didn’t.

‘I’m starving – you?’ I broke the silence with something mundane to catch her off guard. To be fair, it was way past lunchtime now and that had been a pretty good workout so I did need fuel.

Holly glanced up at me through those long lashes of hers. ‘I could eat,’ she said, looking relieved I wasn’t confessing some deep feelings to her or something.

‘Great. Let’s go,’ I said, ignoring my body wanting to stay curled up all warm with her for as long as possible. ‘I’ll make us something downstairs while we finish up decorating.’ Maybe I was being a bit bossy – which she seemed to enjoy in the bedroom though was probably unlikely to out of it – but I didn’t want her to think of a reason to go just yet.

Holly lifted off me and I swung my body round to get out of bed, missing the warmth of her soft skin against mine instantly.

I heard her pulling on her clothes as I did the same. ‘How about one of our hot chocolates?’ she asked me softly.

I looked over my shoulder as she pulled her jumper back on. Did she realise she’d used the word ‘our’? I swallowed hard. ‘Absolutely. You can’t decorate for Christmas without a hot chocolate.’

‘Oh, is that a Paul Ryan rule?’ she asked, the tease back in her voice and eyes. I was relieved she wasn’t panicking right now.

‘Santa made it the rule, actually,’ I replied, teasing her back.

We finished getting dressed and left my bedroom. I wondered if it would smell like her perfume in my bed later. I hoped so.

‘Oh, well, if Santa says so then we have to do it,’ she said as she shook her head at me for being silly. It reminded me of how we’d joked around growing up. It felt good to be doing it again. I held my door open for her, touching the small of her back as she went through and she looked up at me, smiling shyly. My heart squeezed in my chest.