The Christmas Wish (18 page)

“Damn right, you shouldn’t have said it.” Tyler’s voice was calmer but still contained an edge.

“Daddy?” Tyler turned toward the kitchen doorway that led to the hall. “Is everything okay?” Charlotte stood there holding her blankie and rubbing her eyes. Tyler wanted to go to Brinn, to run to her, to tell her what an idiot his little brother was and apologize, but right this very minute he had to get Charlotte back to bed. “Hey, bug. Everything is fine. We were just talking.” He walked to Charlotte and scooped her up into his arms. “Are Ashley and Grace awake too?”

Charlotte shook her head no, and Tyler shot Kent a quick look over his shoulder. He’d deal with him later. Right now he had to get Charlotte to bed and find a way to salvage his relationship with Brinn.

Brinn put on her most comfortable flannel pajamas and climbed into her bed. A very cold, very empty, and very big bed. In the weeks that she’d been seeing Tyler, she’d grown used to his body next to hers, his arms around her as she fell asleep. Tonight, her heart hurt and her body ached. She’d cried buckets of tears and her face was puffy and she was tired. Tomorrow she needed to be at the Grande early, and there was the unveiling, and then somehow she needed to explain to Ma that she had been right when she’d said Brinn wasn’t enough for Tyler Emerson.

She’d just pulled the quilt to her chin when the doorbell rang. She didn’t want to answer the door. Maybe it was Tyler trying to sort out why she’d run off. The bell rang again and then there were hard knocks on the front door.

“I’m not leaving until you answer, and it’s cold out here. Starting to snow.”

Her heart ached. She didn’t want to talk to Tyler, she didn’t have the energy. She’d ignored his calls and texts. Space and time to sort out her feelings was what she needed.

“Please, Brinn.”

Brinn threw back her covers and padded through the house. She pulled open the front door.

Her heart kathwacked against her ribs. One look into his sad eyes and she knew. Damn, she knew. She absolutely loved Tyler Emerson.

“Brinn, Kent is an idiot.” The words flew from his mouth and then his lips were on hers. His arms grasped her. The warmth of him, the scent of him, the overwhelming need for Tyler combusted into a flame.

Tears streamed down her face as his lips devoured hers. He walked them back into the house and kicked the door closed with his foot. His face was cold upon hers, his hands pulled at her flannel shirt, and his fingertips quickly warmed as they pressed to her skin.

“Oh, Brinn, Brinn, Brinn.” He peppered her face with kisses. Her nose, her eyelids, her cheeks. She could only cling to Tyler, hoping deep in her heart that he knew what she’d heard and that he didn’t agree with what Kent had said. He pulled off his coat without taking his lips from hers. His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, and her mouth opened to his. Their tongues tangled. He lifted her into his arms and they were moving through the house, then he set her down in front of her bed and stripped her shirt from her body. His hands were on her breasts

“You are beautiful. Your beauty takes my breath away.” He ducked his head and his lips found her tight bud of a nipple, and he slipped it into his mouth.

Her sex clutched and she was wet for him, wanting him inside her, wanting him to take all of her. His lips slid across her chest to her other breast, and his hand slid to the waist of her flannel pajamas. He pressed the bottoms down over her hips and reached around and cupped her ass to pull her closer. His cock pressed against her hip through his jeans.

“I want you, Brinn.”

She pulled at his shirt. Her fingers needed to feel his skin. He ripped the shirt over his head, as she unbuttoned his jeans. He was out of his boots and jeans in an instant, and she stood before him naked while his eyes roamed over her.

“You’re gorgeous. Your body—oh my God, Brinn, I love every inch of your body.” His eyes locked with her eyes. “Your body is perfect.”

He stepped to her and his lips trailed down her body until his mouth was just above her sex.

“You’re wet for me, baby, so wet.” He pressed her back to the bed and knelt on the floor before her. He slid each of her legs over his shoulders and his tongue slipped up the side of her folds. “So hot, baby, so wet, so beautiful.” His finger slid into her and pulsed in and out while his tongue slid through her sex. “This is what I want; you’re what I want.”

She lay back and arched forward into his mouth. God, this was what she wanted. Tyler with his mouth on her. He slid a second finger into her and she tightened. His lips clasped her nub, which was swollen with desire. He pulled hard on her, his lips and his tongue circling her engorged clit.

A sound flew from her mouth. A deep gasp and high-pitched desire. A growl came from Tyler. A deep-throated, possessive need. Her hands clutched the comforter on her bed and her back bowed. She was so close. His tongue circled her clit again, and her head pressed back into the mattress. How could she think he didn’t want her?

He pulled his mouth from her. “How can I show you? How can I prove to you that you’re mine now? That every inch of you is mine and that I love every single bit of you.” While he spoke, his fingers continued to glide in and out of her. His words were gone and his mouth was back on her wet pussy, sucking her and pulling her. She was so close. Every muscle in her body tightened. The lights shattered behind her lids and his name was on her lips as she dropped over the edge into an ocean of pleasure.

“Tyler, oh my God, Tyler, I’m going to come!”

His tongue circled faster and he sucked harder. Gasps of air. She clawed the bed, taking in every last shred of pleasure with the orgasm Tyler provided.

*

She was heavy-lidded on the bed. He pulled his mouth away from her sex and kissed up her thigh. His cock was hard. He wanted to plunge into her. His balls hot with come, he could barely stand to be above her, looking at that gorgeous body. Her black hair was wild and curly and surrounded her face, her breasts taut and perfect, a flush from the pleasure he’d just provided her all over her body. He pressed his finger to her nub and bent over her.

“I am going to make you know that I want you. That I love you, that I desire you and think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. After tonight, you will have no doubts.” He took his finger from her sex and licked it, then trailed it up over her body. He plucked her nipple and her back bowed again. Damn, he needed to be in her. To plunge his cock deep inside the warmth of her body. He bent over her and kissed her lips. Those plump and swollen lips. The head of his cock nudged her folds. Her entrance was wet and swollen and ready for him. He inched into her, her eyes heavy with pleasure and her breathing raspy. He would take her over the edge again and again tonight. He would leave no doubt in her mind that his desire for her was deep and possibly unending.

Her sex clenched around him and he slid in slowly. He held himself above her with one arm and his other hand slid down her belly and found her slick clit. His fingertip pressed against it.

“Oh, Tyler,”

He could barely hold back. God, his balls were ready to explode, and yet her pleasure was all he wanted. The pleasure on her face. He needed her to know that her pleasure was what he wanted.

“Oh God, yes, please I want you inside me. Please, Tyler.”

He pressed forward, his fingers still massaging her clit. Her hips arched up. He was nearing the edge of his restraint. He glanced down at the union of his cock and her pussy, the spot where they met. Her body clenched around him and he could wait no more. He pressed deep into her, and her legs wrapped around him. She pulled him deep into her, then her body arched and moved.

“Oh my God, I’m going to come again. Tyler, again.”

With her word, he slammed into her body, thrusting forward and pulling back, his arms around her torso. His lips pressed to hers. She clung to him. Her body shuddered and her muscles grasped him. His balls pulled up and come shot through him, hard and fast, a deep heat that burst from him and into Brinn. A long, hard sound rose from his chest and flew from his lips. “Brinn, oh my God, Brinn. Brinn.”

Her body tightened around him and he collapsed on top of her, trying to gather his breath, trying to gather himself. Never had he felt such an intense orgasm. Never had he felt so close to a woman, so wanted, so encapsulated. He finally lifted himself from her and his lips found her nose and each of her eyelids.

“I love you, Brinn Bartoli, do you understand? I love every inch of you. Your body.” He looked down at her exquisite body that gave him so much pleasure. “Your body is perfect.”

Her gaze slid from him. Tears formed in her eyes. How could she cry after what they’d just experienced together? Didn’t she know that he was telling her the truth, that he wanted her? That he wanted only her.

“I…” She looked at him. “I was so scared. I was scared that you didn’t really… that you weren’t… that I’m not…”

“Brinn, you can’t manufacture this. I want you. I only want you. I love every inch of you.” What could he do to make her believe in the love he felt for her? Make her be certain that she was what he desired? No one else. He couldn’t explain his feelings with words, but damned if he wouldn’t like to spend the rest of his life trying. She filled something in him with her smile, her laughter, her joy, and her caring. “Please forgive me for my idiot brother. Please.”

A small smile curved over her face. “Did you say that you loved me?”

Tyler nodded and smiled.

“You know, I love you too.”

Tyler’s heart nearly burst from his chest. He rolled back and pulled Brinn on top of him. “Really? Why don’t you spend the rest of tonight showing me how much?”

His cock was already hard again.

“I think I’d enjoy that.” Brinn bent down and those gorgeous, full lips were on his.

The foundation had held. Brinn went to the Grande early and checked. She’d also made certain that every other part of the Christmas castle looked perfect for the unveiling that afternoon. Then she’d headed back to Bea & Barbara’s to help out in the bakery for a while before she went and changed for the ceremony. She was attending the Grande Christmas party that evening with Tyler. They’d go immediately after the unveiling.

“Hey. So you seem much happier today than last night.” Alison put a fresh apron on over her head. “What gives?”

Brinn and Alison were alone in the bakery. Ma had left to change for the unveiling, and Brinn would leave soon too. Ma was closing the bakery for a couple of hours.

“Tyler came by last night.” Heat crept up her neck. She was tired and a little sore, but in all the right places.

“And?” Alison reached for a bottle of soda and cracked it open.

“And we worked it out.”

“I told you. He has it for you. You can see it in his eyes. The way he looks at you.”

A hot feeling pulsed through Brinn. When she was with Tyler, she did feel beautiful and loved. She was going to surrender to those feelings and just let the two of them be. She wasn’t going to second-guess or worry or do all those things she had been doing. She had to believe Tyler. So what if his little brother was an idiot? Weren’t she and Deborah completely different? The things that Deborah wanted in life—a rich husband, no career, and to shop her way through the world—were much different than what Brinn wanted. She accepted that about her little sister, and while she didn’t like what Kent had said and thought he was an idiot, she couldn’t blame Tyler for being related to him.

“I’m going to go home and get ready for tonight.” If she left now she might even be able to squeeze in a nap before the evening events. Why wasn’t she more tired? Probably because she’d been with Tyler all night, and she knew she would see him again soon.

“Brinn, I am so happy for you. I think…” Alison’s words drifted away. “Well, I just think you guys are perfect together.”

Perfect? That was an awfully tall order for any relationship, but Brinn accepted that she and Tyler were well suited. The sex was great, they wanted similar things, he made her laugh and feel beautiful. Really, what more could she ever want? Nothing. Maybe they were perfect together, for each other. After last night, she knew that his feelings for her were true. He’d spent the entire night proving it to her, that he loved every inch of her body. He’d touched and licked and caressed every part of her until she’d finally acquiesced and surrendered to his love. To the idea that yes, Tyler Emerson, as gorgeous as he was, thought she was beautiful.

Alison clasped her in a giant hug. “You deserve this. Don’t forget. You are brilliant and amazing and kind and beautiful.” Alison stepped away from Brinn. There was a tear in her eyes.

“Thank you for listening to me last night.”

Alison waved her off. “That’s what friends do, we listen to each other. We hand each other tissues. One of these days it’ll be your turn to prop me up when I’m sad.”

Brinn couldn’t picture Alison getting worked up about anything. Brinn lifted her coat from the back hook and put it on. She’d drop the day’s donation to the food bank and then get home. She needed to do her hair, her makeup, and hopefully grab a few minutes sleep before she went to the unveiling. She was nervous and excited and wondered if she could corral the butterflies in her stomach.

*

“Are you ready to go see Brinn’s castle?” Tyler leaned down and looked into Charlotte’s eyes. While a smile curved around her lips, her eyes looked a little glassy to him. He pressed his palm to her forehead. “Mom, does she feel warm to you?”

Carol pressed her hand to Charlotte’s forehead. “You know, I thought her color was a little off today. But she ate well.” Carol waited for a moment. “I’m going to get the thermometer. She may be a little feverish.”

Tyler lifted Charlotte and held her tight. “How do you feel, bug?”

“I want to see Brinn and the castle and the princess and I want to see Santa and make my Christmas wish.”

Tyler’s heart grew heavy. Charlotte’s Christmas wish wouldn’t come true, and if he was completely honest, he really didn’t want it to. Sure, he would love it if Charlotte could spend some time with Charlize on Christmas Day, but he definitely didn’t want all the drama that came with Charlize and the entire Dumont family. He took a long breath and exhaled. He would endure it if it meant that Charlotte got to spend Christmas with her mom.