Magic at Midnight by Marteeka Karland Page A

he didn’t seem to notice. His hold never loosened.
    “Jacques.” The protest forming on her lips died when everyone in the room started the traditional countdown to the new year.
    “Ten! Nine! Eight!”
    Jacques held her close, not moving. Not letting her pull away. Jeannette's heart pounded. Something wasn’t right. She could feel forces shifting, moving against her, driving her toward Jacques no matter how hard she wanted to fight it.
    Okay, so that wasn’t exactly true. She didn’t want to fight her attraction for him exactly. She just didn’t want to wake up to an empty bed the next morning.
    “Seven! Six! Five!”
    He turned her. Gently but firmly until she faced him, his big, muscular body pinning her against the doorframe. Jeannette was sure her heart was going to explode. Omigod! Was he really going to kiss her? She could handle one little New Year’s Eve kiss. Couldn’t she? Her gaze fell to his perfect, lush mouth. She couldn’t stop her tongue as it darted out to moisten her lips nervously.
    “Four! Three! Two!”
    Sweet Jesus, if he didn’t kiss her, she’d be completely mortified! Jeannette’s body clenched; sweat dotted her upper lip. She’d not been this nervous since final exams in med school.  It was only a kiss, for heaven’s sake! She’d been kissed before.
    “One! Happy New Year!”
    The crowd cheered joyously, but before they could start a rousing chorus of “Auld Lang Syne,” Jacques  did indeed kiss her. Well, kiss was too poor a term for what the man did to her. He fused his mouth with hers and took possession of her every sense. All Jeanette could do was cling to him and hope to hell he hadn’t already captured her heart just as easily.
    Happy celebratory noise wafted around them, but to Jeannette, it was merely a dull roar. Jacques consumed her. His strong hands molded her softer curves as if he had every right to touch her. Somewhere in her mind, she knew she should protest, but deep in her soul, she knew it was futile. Jacques was only claiming what had been his for a very long time.
    His tongue danced with hers, coaxing her to explore as he did. Her fingers found the silky curls of his hair and tangled there as if they had a life of their own. Pulling back wasn’t an option. The feel of his lips, possessing hers, was too much to resist. Jeannette wasn’t certain she wanted to resist. Had she not dreamt of this for a very long time? Would it really hurt? Just one little kiss? Perhaps if it had been “just one little kiss” she’d have been able to walk away, but she very much doubted it. In any case, when Jacques finally lifted his head from hers, he didn’t let her go.
    Those clear, green eyes captured hers, seeming to speak without words. Lust and need seemed to make his eyes shine. Jeannette recognized the determination in his face from their med school days. There was something he wanted and Jacques never stopped until he’d reached his goal.
    He pulled her to him, a tight embrace. Was it her imagination, or was his heart pounding just as hard as hers? He rested his chin on the top of her head. Jeannette was glad because she used that time to try to get herself together. She had to walk away. Now.
    “Don’t even think ‘bout runnin’ from me, cher .” She barely heard him over the din of laughter and song. “It’s past time we did this.”
    She didn’t know what to say. Wasn’t sure she could speak even if she did. All she could do was cling to his shirt and try not to let her rubbery knees collapse her in a heap at his feet. There was no way she could resist if he pushed her into his bed. She simply didn’t have it in her to resist the hard perfection of his body or the deep, sexy Cajun drawl. Combine that with the kind of man she knew him to be and she was nothing more than putty in his hands. She’d go to his bed, willingly, and damn the consequences.
    With no further preamble, Jacques scooped her up and slipped into the hallway. “Wait,”