Her Christmas Fantasy & The Winter Bride by Lynne Graham, Penny Jordan Page B
Authors: Lynne Graham, Penny Jordan
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up her face towards the still falling snowflakes and breathing in the clean, sharp air, a blissful expression on her face as she studied her surroundings, happiness bubbling up inside her.
âI still canât believe thisâ¦that itâs actually snowingâ¦on Christmas Day⦠Do you realise that this is my very first white Christmas?â As she whispered the words in awed delight she closed her eyes, took a deep breath of snow-scented air and promptly did what Oliver had warned her not to do and lost her footing.
Her startled cry was arrested almost before it had begun as Oliver reached out and caught hold of her, his strong hands gripping her waist, holding her tightly, safelyâ¦
Holding her closely, she recognised as her heart startedto pound with unfamiliar excitement and her breath caught in her throat. Not out of shock, Lisa acknowledged, her face flushing as she realised just what it was that was causing her heart and pulse-rate to go into overdrive, and she prayed that Oliver wouldnât be equally quick to recognise that her shallow breathing and sudden tension had nothing to do with the shock of her near fall and everything to do with his proximity.
Why was this happening to her? she wondered dizzily. She didnât even like the man and he certainly didnât like herâeven if he had offered her a roof over her head for Christmas.
He was standing close enough for her to smell the clean man scent of his skinâor was it just that for some extraordinary reason she was acutely sensitive to the scent and heat of him?
Her legs started to trembleâin fact, her whole body was trembling.
âItâs all right,â she heard Oliver saying calmly to her. âIâve got youâ¦â
âYes,â Lisa heard herself responding, her own voice unfamiliarly soft and husky, making the simple affirmation sound something much more sensual and inviting. Without having had the remotest intention of doing any such thingâit simply wasnât the kind of thing she did, everâLisa found that she was looking at Oliverâs mouth, and that her gaze, having focused on it for far, far too long, was somehow drawn even more betrayingly to his eyes.
Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the way he was looking back at her, his head already lowering towards hersâas well it might do after the sensually open invitation that she had just given him.
But instead of avoiding what she knew was going to happen, instead of moving away from him, which she could quite easily have done, she simply stood there waiting, with her lips softly parted, her gaze fixed on the downward descent of hishead and his mouth, her heart thudding frantically against her chest wallânot in case he kissed her, she acknowledged in semi-shock, but rather in case he didnât.
But of course he did. Slowly and deliberately at first, exploring the shape and feel of her mouth, shifting his weight slightly so that instead of that small but oh, so safe distance between them and the firm grip of his hands on her waist supporting her, it was the equally firm but oh, so much more sensual strength of his body that held her up as his arms closed round her, holding her in an embrace not as intimate as that of a lover but still intimate enough to make her powerfully aware of the fact that he was a man.
Lisa had forgotten that a manâs kiss could be like thisâslow, thorough and so sensually inventive and promising as he hinted at all the pleasures that there could be to come. And yet it wasnât a kiss of passion or demandânot yetâand Lisa was hazily aware that the slow stroke of his tongue against her lips was more sensually threatening to her self-control than to his, and that she was the one who was having to struggle to pull herself back from the verge of a far more dangerous kind of arousal when he finally lifted his mouth from hers.
âWhat was that for?â she asked
âI still canât believe thisâ¦that itâs actually snowingâ¦on Christmas Day⦠Do you realise that this is my very first white Christmas?â As she whispered the words in awed delight she closed her eyes, took a deep breath of snow-scented air and promptly did what Oliver had warned her not to do and lost her footing.
Her startled cry was arrested almost before it had begun as Oliver reached out and caught hold of her, his strong hands gripping her waist, holding her tightly, safelyâ¦
Holding her closely, she recognised as her heart startedto pound with unfamiliar excitement and her breath caught in her throat. Not out of shock, Lisa acknowledged, her face flushing as she realised just what it was that was causing her heart and pulse-rate to go into overdrive, and she prayed that Oliver wouldnât be equally quick to recognise that her shallow breathing and sudden tension had nothing to do with the shock of her near fall and everything to do with his proximity.
Why was this happening to her? she wondered dizzily. She didnât even like the man and he certainly didnât like herâeven if he had offered her a roof over her head for Christmas.
He was standing close enough for her to smell the clean man scent of his skinâor was it just that for some extraordinary reason she was acutely sensitive to the scent and heat of him?
Her legs started to trembleâin fact, her whole body was trembling.
âItâs all right,â she heard Oliver saying calmly to her. âIâve got youâ¦â
âYes,â Lisa heard herself responding, her own voice unfamiliarly soft and husky, making the simple affirmation sound something much more sensual and inviting. Without having had the remotest intention of doing any such thingâit simply wasnât the kind of thing she did, everâLisa found that she was looking at Oliverâs mouth, and that her gaze, having focused on it for far, far too long, was somehow drawn even more betrayingly to his eyes.
Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the way he was looking back at her, his head already lowering towards hersâas well it might do after the sensually open invitation that she had just given him.
But instead of avoiding what she knew was going to happen, instead of moving away from him, which she could quite easily have done, she simply stood there waiting, with her lips softly parted, her gaze fixed on the downward descent of hishead and his mouth, her heart thudding frantically against her chest wallânot in case he kissed her, she acknowledged in semi-shock, but rather in case he didnât.
But of course he did. Slowly and deliberately at first, exploring the shape and feel of her mouth, shifting his weight slightly so that instead of that small but oh, so safe distance between them and the firm grip of his hands on her waist supporting her, it was the equally firm but oh, so much more sensual strength of his body that held her up as his arms closed round her, holding her in an embrace not as intimate as that of a lover but still intimate enough to make her powerfully aware of the fact that he was a man.
Lisa had forgotten that a manâs kiss could be like thisâslow, thorough and so sensually inventive and promising as he hinted at all the pleasures that there could be to come. And yet it wasnât a kiss of passion or demandânot yetâand Lisa was hazily aware that the slow stroke of his tongue against her lips was more sensually threatening to her self-control than to his, and that she was the one who was having to struggle to pull herself back from the verge of a far more dangerous kind of arousal when he finally lifted his mouth from hers.
âWhat was that for?â she asked
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