A Dream to Cling To (15 page)

She grinned and dropped her head back to catch the snowflakes on the tip of her tongue like she used to as a child. “Do we make a wish?”

He looked down at her. “I think the good luck comes naturally now. No wish necessary.” With the tip of one finger he touched a lacy snowflake that had settled on the tip of her nose, then bent and kissed it away.

Her eyes were open, soft and flecked with tiny lights. The fear was gone, the anxiousness he’d seen earlier, and left was a wonderful warmth. It held him silent for a full minute, a minute touched with night magic. “Brittany, you’re going to have to stop looking at me like that,” he said, his words coming out with difficulty.

When she shook her head, tiny snowflakes fell from her hair like fairy dust. “I can’t,” she said simply.

“Then I can’t be responsible.”

“I reached the age of reason long ago, Sam.” Her voice, low and husky, stirred the embers he had tried so hard to smother, and his arm grew tighter around her shoulder, his fingers pressing into her arm.

“You’re doing crazy things to me …”

“Kiss me, Sam.”

“Yes,” he whispered, his breath blowing gently on her parted lips as he brought his mouth down possessively onto hers.

The sky faded out and the earth lost its feel for Brittany as she clung to him, letting his gently probing tongue and the lovely pressure of his mouth fill her with wonder. She answered him fully, her lips fitting to his as one, perfectly. They separated only long enough to breathe in tiny gulps of air, then joined again. This time they both felt a growing urgency wrapping itself around them.

Brittany reached up and circled his neck with her
arms, pressing her body against his, clinging there and willing away reason. One night, one beautiful night. Surely she could handle that much. “Sam, may we go back in now? And don’t worry about protecting me. I’m a big girl.” Her words were spoken softly, but he didn’t miss a single one.

He looked down at her, but she had already slipped her arms from his neck and was turning back, one hand reaching for his as she guided him into the house.

Wordlessly, they removed their jackets and moved back to the fire. Sam poked it into life, then drew Brittany down in front of it. The warmth returned.

“Here’s to our good-luck snow,” he said. He slipped her wine into her shaking hand and clinked his glass against it.

They drank silently, reading the growing desire in each other’s eyes. Brittany was overwhelmed with feeling for this incredible man who was so gentle with her, so caring. Surely no pain could come from that. She set her glass down on the raised stone hearth and watched the firelight shine in his eyes.

“Do you see yourself there, in my eyes?” he asked huskily.

She nodded.

“And how do you look?”

“Cloudy, starry-eyed.”

His arms wrapped around her and he shifted until she was cradled between his bent legs, her back to his front. “That’s how you make me feel, Brittany. Cloudy … and a little bit in awe of this feeling.”

She nodded, gazing at the brilliant orange and yellow spears of fire dancing in the fireplace. They seemed to leap from the fireplace right into her, shooting through every inch of her.

“I’m in awe too, Sam. I didn’t intend to feel this way about you. But I do, and it’s about as controllable as those flames. It’s—it’s all through me, Sam, a forest
fire, out of control.” She rubbed her head back and forth against his cheek.

He nipped softly at her neck as he felt the passion unleash within her. He ran his palms down the length of her arms, his chin tucked closely into the crook of her neck as he, too, stared at the fire. “Have you ever noticed how sensuous the flames in a fire are, Brittany? They dance and curl and twine about each other.…”

The flames
were
like dancers, she thought as she tried to control her heartbeat. And it was a love dance they were doing, winding and twirling, the colors changing just like the myriad sensations sweeping through her. She was lifted by a rush of warmth, then light shivers ran through her, then she was bathed in moist desire. She wet her lips and pressed back into the V of his body.

His hard thighs tightened instinctively around her, locking her against his body and sending a whole new wave of feelings surging through her.

She could feel the hard heat of his arousal pressed into her back, could feel the strong, quick beat of his heart, and she savored the heat that seared her at each point of contact. Her whole body was strangely alive with the sensations that leaped as powerfully as the flames in front of her.

Behind her Sam sensed her excitement and desire. His own was just barely controlled. He slipped his hands down to the edge of her shirt and stroked his thumbs across the soft, creamy skin beneath. It was warm and silky and alive to his touch.

“It’s getting warm,” she murmured.

He kissed the crook of her neck. “Here, this’ll help.” The bottom button slipped open easily, and he continued all the way to the top, his fingers sure as they rubbed against her skin, his hands reassuring. He parted the fabric and gently cupped her ribs with his large hands, his fingers creating wonderful patterns as he slowly massaged her skin.

She sighed as pleasure filled her. Sam was so sure,
so tender, that she barely felt it when he undid the front snap of her bra and slipped it aside.

Sam’s breath caught as he looked down at the creamy curves of her breasts. Her skin was flawless, her breasts full and firm as they rose and fell with soft pressure into his palms.

He’d dreamed of this, of holding her like this, but she was far more beautiful in reality, far lovelier than any fantasy he could have created in his mind. “Oh, Brittany, you’re so lovely.”

With the grace of the dancing flames he moved from behind her and stretched out along the floor, drawing her down in front of him after he effortlessly eased her out of the flannel shirt and bra. “The fire will warm you,” he whispered into her hair.

“My handsome, loving eagle scout,” she murmured.

She lay there, half naked, feeling no fear or alarm or inhibition as his gaze took in the lovely contours of her breasts. She felt only happiness with this man who cradled her head gently against his forearm and looked down lovingly into her eyes.

He abandoned his own shirt on the couch and her gaze rested on the marvelous thatch of tawny-colored hair that covered his broad chest, glistening with tiny beads of moisture. It was the same Sam who had come to her in her dreams, leaving her reluctantly at dawn. But he was here, really here. She reached up and touched the blond curls, twisting them lightly between her fingers. “Oh, Sam,” she murmured dreamily, “you’re so beautiful.”

“We’re beautiful, Brittany. Together.”

“I’m drifting, Sam. I’m in another world.…”

“It’s the omelet, Brittany. I didn’t mention its side effects, I guess.” His husky laughter touched her heart.

“I … would … like … that … recipe,” she managed weakly as she moistened her lips.

“We can probably improve on it if we work at it.” His fingers moved playfully across her breasts, and he
watched as the pale brown nipples tightened and grew firm beneath his touch. Her soft moan was music lighting his soul. “You’re so beautiful, my darling, lovely Brittany. So beautiful …”

His head dipped until he touched each breast with his lips, first one, then the other, slowly tasting the sweetness of her flesh until her body writhed beneath his hot tongue. “Oh, Sam—” she cried, tangling her hands in his hair as his head moved lower, tracing a hot moist trail down her stomach.

She bit on her lip, unable to fathom the depths of her pleasure. She knew she was in paradise, and she didn’t ever want to leave.

Sam lifted his head and ran his hand over her, slowly moving lower, covering every inch of her stomach in warm strokes until his fingers touched the top of her jeans. They rested there for just a fraction of a moment before unsnapping the clasp and lowering the zipper, then slipping beneath the material. He could feel her consent, and understood simply and surely that she wanted him to know all of her.

A hot sweetness spread like wild honey down to her loins, and she felt moist and weightless all through her body. It had been so long. A huge rush of happiness, so powerful it brought tears to her eyes, swept over her.

He saw her tender expression and paused. “Brittany …?”

Her hair floated around her shoulders as she nodded, one tear trailing in slow motion down her cheek. “Oh, Sam. Dear, dear, Sam. I want you so very much.…”

“You’re sure, Brittany?”

“It’s probably the only thing in my life right now I know for sure.”

His smile filled her as his fingers continued exploring beneath her jeans, caressing her abdomen, rubbing across her hips. With the strength of his namesake he peeled the denim and silky panties down her long slender legs, leaving them in a pile at her feet. In
another single movement he joined them with his own. “There …”

He gazed at her stretched out before him, his eyes traveling the full length of her body, and he couldn’t speak. She was incredibly lovely, soft and perfect and beautiful.

Forcing breath into his lungs, he leaned on one elbow and traced a path up her body with his hand, slowly roaming over her creamy skin. The desire to please Brittany, to bring her to ecstasy with him, was so enormous a need, it nearly overwhelmed him. It wasn’t a selfish quest as it sometimes was. Brittany was too important, too special, already too much a part of him for him to think of her in any casual way.

He slipped one hand between her legs and sought the tender flesh of her inner thighs. It was silky and smooth and his fingers slid sensuously over it until he could feel the delight surging through her.

“Oh, Sam …” Her eyes shut as she seemed to spin above the earth. “Your touch is as magical as your omelets.”

“It’s the one I’m touching who’s magical.” His hand moved to stroke the gentle slope of her hip, then slipped on down until it brought all of her body into full and astonishing bloom.

“Oh, Sam, my Sam. I love you.” Her arms reached up and curled around his neck as she released the pent-up love that had been threatening to explode inside her. It had been there for many days now, pushed down deep where no one could see it and she didn’t have to think about it. But beneath Sam’s gaze and loving caresses, nothing was secret anymore.

“I love you, Brittany,” he whispered back.

She clung to him, pulling him down until his body lay heavily on her own, until the hot hardness of his desire pressed against her skin and his lips finally met hers in a loving and passionate kiss that seemed to suck every tiny ounce of breath out of both of them.

Before his desire raged out of control, Sam pushed himself slightly away from her. “My, oh, my, Brittany Ellsbeth Winters, you sure can kiss,” he whispered thickly.

“Sam, I do want you.…” Her eyes were dewy, the golden flecks brighter than firelight. And for the first time since meeting Brittany those few weeks before, Sam saw no fear in those magical eyes.

Brittany moved her hands from his shoulders to the springy thatch of hair, then slid her palms down the wide expanse of his chest. She wanted desperately to know every inch of him, to tuck it all away in her memory. The plane of his abdomen was flat and hard. She kneaded it lightly, pressing, wanting to get closer and closer until there was nothing left between them, nothing to keep her separate from him.

When her hands continued exploring, he moaned helplessly, his body moving to the rhythm of her, wanting her more than breath or life itself.

“Brittany, be mine.” He lowered his body over hers, his hands moving up to cradle her head. “I want to love you, my beautiful, special Brittany.”

Tiny kisses covered his face in reply as she pulled him close, and when he finally eased himself into her, she arched her back in joyful welcome, crying out her love in total, complete abandon.

Her face glowed with dazed delight as he moved within her, and the love pouring from her eyes sent him to deeper and deeper depths, until neither heaven nor earth could stop the enormous explosion of love that sent them soaring together above snow-kissed pines and into a galaxy of their own.

The bed was soft as a cloud, cradling her body and lulling it back to earth. Brittany stretched one arm across the downy comforter and smiled a joyful smile in her sleep.

Sam was leaning lazily on one elbow, watching in
wonder her every move, every expression that flickered across her face. He found watching Brittany sleep fascinating, and loved the tiny changes that moved her eyelids or twitched her lips.

He wondered if she even knew she was in bed. She’d been sound asleep in front of the fire, her limbs tangled deliciously with his, when the fire had finally died and he’d lifted her carefully in his arms and carried her off to bed.

He hadn’t seen the bedrooms before and didn’t know if he had the right one or not, but it didn’t matter. At the top of the stairs he’d found a large airy room with a wonderful four-poster that seemed just right. He and Brittany fit together in it perfectly and that was all that mattered in the world.

Now the filtered light of morning was falling on her in soft, slanted lines and he found himself wanting to record this time because it was far more special than any other morning in his life.

“You’re doing it again,” a faint voice murmured.

“What, love?” He leaned closer to catch the muffled sounds.

Her eyelids didn’t move. “You’re watching me, Sam. Watching me sleep.”

“Mmm.” He kissed each lid. “And I’m finding out wonderful things about you while you sleep.”

“Oh?” One brow rose slowly.

He nodded and moved his hand to tease the pale rise of breast just visible above the edge of the sheet. “Your breathing is as soft as a kitten’s purr, and you smile at dawn.”

She shivered. “I do?”

“You do.” He smiled as his fingers continued their sensuous travels.

“What else do I do, Sam?” Her husky voice stirred him and he felt a familiar tightening between his loins.

“Things like this.…” He lifted her hand and rested
it on his chest, then rotated it downward in slow, lazy circles.