Unwrapped (9 page)

“So,” he said after taking a sip, “start talking. What the hell happened to you?”

She bit her lip, tilted her head. “I just realized I
had
to get over my hang-ups if we were going to be happy together.”

Simon let out a heavy breath and gave his head a short shake. “I still can’t quite believe it, Em. You were…astounding. How? How did you get over them?”

She smiled. “That would make a good story for…the next time we have sex.”

“Like, you mean, tomorrow morning. Or tomorrow night at the latest. Since tomorrow
is
Christmas and we have families to see and turkeys to eat and presents to open, I might give you the morning off,” he concluded with a wink.

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Lacey Alexander

She leaned in for a quick kiss. “Tomorrow night—it’s a date.” Then she glanced at the red stockings hanging on the mantel. “And speaking of presents, I actually have a few more for you. Although only little ones, since
this
was your biggie.”

“Trust me, sugarplum, I’ve never gotten a better gift in my life.” He put down his wine and moved toward the fireplace to retrieve both their stockings. Bringing them back to the couch, he sat down and started in on his.

He quickly ripped the red foil paper from the first small gift he pulled out, and Emily saw the edible body paints she’d purchased. “Are those silly?” she asked, wondering now about her choice.

Simon laughed. “No way, sugarplum. Anything that allows me to get more of your body sounds fun to
me
.”

“I kinda…ventured into a sex shop,” she admitted. There weren’t many such establishments in the area, but a phone call to Dawn had helped her find one where other women shopped and she didn’t feel freakishly out of place. Dawn had met her for lunch and they’d gone together.

“Now
that
I would like to have seen,” Simon said with a wink as he extracted his next gift. Removing the paper, he found a DVD featuring Kama Sutra techniques.

“Nice,” he said. “And from the same store, I bet.”

She nodded. “I know I’m doing pretty good here, but I figure we might want to find even more ways to experiment.”

His dark gaze met hers. “Absolutely, my sweet girl.”

Finally, he opened the last little package stuffed in the stocking—a pair of silk boxer shorts, red with white fur trim and the plastic embellishment of a black belt. She knew she was pushing it with that one, and Simon just shook his head. “Reindeer pants are bad enough, Em, but you really want me to wear Santa shorts?”

She simply nodded, flashing her sweetest “pretty please” expression. She thought them adorably cute.

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Unwrapped

After a moment, he let out a sigh of concession. “Fine. For you, I’ll wear the damn things.”

And she smiled. “I’ll even let you wear this, too,” she added, reaching up to remove her red Santa hat—which had amazingly stayed on through their whole encounter—

and place it on his head. Which was when she realized how hot he looked that way, wearing nothing but the hat. She knew she hadn’t managed to hide her lascivious reaction, so she said, “Okay, maybe we can forget the boxers.”

He quirked a grin. “That’s my newly naughty girl. Ready for
your
present now?”

Again, she nodded, and Simon handed over her stocking. It seemed unusually light, but she hardly cared what was inside. This year had been all about
her
gift to
him
.

Reaching inside, her hand closed around something small and velvet, and she pulled out a miniscule red box. “Hey, this matches my outfit,” she said.

Then stopped. And gulped.

Because of what it looked like. A…ring box.

She shifted her gaze to Simon’s, searching his eyes.

He only gave her a warm smile and slowly said, “Open it.”

Taking a deep breath, Emily lifted the lid to find a gorgeous marquise-cut diamond ring inside. And then she lost the ability to breathe at all. “Simon, is this…”

When she looked up, Simon had dropped to one knee before the couch. “Will you marry me, Emily?”

All the blood drained from her face. Simon wanted to
marry
her? Even before tonight—before she’d shown him the new, improved sexual her?

She couldn’t talk—but she threw her arms around his neck, knocking him backward a bit until he managed to get them both back upright. “Is that a yes?”

She found her voice. “Oh God, yes! Yes, I’ll marry you, Simon!
Of course
I’ll marry you.”

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Lacey Alexander

He pulled back, releasing a sigh. “Because, to tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure.

Lately, things have been…weird, and I haven’t been…very nice.”

“Well, who can blame you? I was messing up a major part of our relationship.”

He looked her in the eye. “In all honesty, Em, that’s really been wearing on me lately, making me question our future together. But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t give up on us. I knew I wanted to be with you forever, no matter what. And what you gave me tonight… I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

With that, Simon drew the ring from the box and slid it onto Emily’s finger. Gazing down at it, she lifted her other hand to cover her mouth, still stunned. “I can’t believe I get such a wonderful man—for life.”

He smiled. “
I
can’t believe you just fucked my brains out.”

She lowered her chin, delivering a seductive look. “There’s more where that came from, baby. And you may not even have to wait until tomorrow night. I might just have to have my way with you again right now.”

She watched the heat of desire reinvade her lover’s eyes and realized, more fully than ever before, how much she’d been missing by letting so much sex with Simon pass her by.

“You know,” she said, holding up the hand bearing her new engagement ring,

“sometimes the best gifts come in
small
packages. And then, other times,” she went on, perusing his whole body, top to bottom, still naked but for the Santa hat, “the best gifts definitely come…unwrapped.”

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About the Author

Lacey Alexander’s books have been called deliciously decadent, unbelievably erotic, exceptionally arousing, blazingly sexual, and downright sinful. In each book, Lacey strives to take her readers on the ultimate erotic adventure and hopes her stories will encourage women to embrace their sexual fantasies.

Lacey resides in the Midwest with her husband, and when not penning romantic erotica, she enjoys history and traveling, often incorporating favorite travel destinations into her work.

Lacey welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

Also by Lacey Alexander

Behind the Mask
anthology

Brides of Caralon: Seductress of Caralon

Brides of Caralon 1: Rituals of Passion

Brides of Caralon 2: Master of Desire

Brides of Caralon 3: Carnal Sacrifice

City Heat: Lynda’s Lace

Hot In the City: French Quarter

Hot In the City: Key West

Hot In the City: Sin City

Hot For Santa!

Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC

on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

www.ellorascave.com