Ice (19 page)

“Same reason you’re here instead of tucked into a warm bed, I imagine.”

Her mind wouldn’t stop spinning. She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. Her world had been turned upside down. Of course she couldn’t sleep!

Gabriel looked her in the eye. They were naked, wet, face-to-face. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold him, but she didn’t make that move. “Why are you here?” Maybe it should have been obvious, but she was asking more than about just the sex.

He reached out and touched her bruised cheek
with strong and surprisingly gentle hands. “I have a favor to ask.”

“You did save my life,” she said, wondering what kind of favor it might be. Since they were both naked, she had a clue …

“Don’t go back to Portland just yet.”

Even though he’d mentioned that this afternoon, as they’d made their way down the mountain, it wasn’t exactly what she’d been expecting. Reality had descended with a bang, and even though she loved this house, this home, this family … she didn’t belong here. “Why not?”

“Stay here, spend Christmas with us.” Gabriel stopped and took a deep breath. “Let’s see where this goes.”

Her insides leapt and danced. “Let’s see where
we
go,” he clarified, though no clarification was necessary.

“I can do that,” she whispered.

He leaned toward her, peeled the washcloth from her breasts and tossed it aside, kissed her, and sent a bit of water over the lip of the tub. She barely noticed.

“And stop talking about buying a house in Portland. At least until you’ve visited North Carolina a time or two. It’s much warmer there.”

“And you’re there.”

He made an affirmative humming sound as he continued to move forward.

Lolly felt all her cares, all her worries, unwinding,
fading away. “That doesn’t seem at all like too much to ask, all things considered.”

He put his mouth on hers again, and the kiss quickly took on a rhythm. Lolly wallowed in Gabriel’s heat and hardness, she welcomed the kiss, the connection, the warmth they generated … a warmth that transformed her from the inside out.

Gabriel took his mouth from hers, but he didn’t move far. His nose touched hers; he was a breath away. “Lollipop, can I lick you?”

“Yes,” she said, wrapping her arms around Gabriel’s neck and surging into him to send more water onto the floor. “Yes, you can.”