A Santini Christmas (9 page)

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He had never had someone draw his picture, much less paint him. It was a little odd to see himself on the canvas. Still, he had to admit again, she was damned talented.

And the fact that she had spent time working on him was a good sign in his mind.

“
Do you think you have the right to snoop around my apartment?”

Joey stood on the opposite side of the room from Stewart and tried to erase the fear that had gripped her just moments ago. The squeak of the floor had pulled her out of a dreamless sleep. Panic hit first, her heartbeat accelerating. Then, she remembered Stewart had spent the night.

Peeking out of the curtain, she had found him nosing around her work and she hadn’t liked that one bit. She felt exposed, mainly because no one had really been in her apartment other than Sam and Thelma. Since high school, she’d kept her work to herself.

“
I don’t see it as snooping. The pictures were out.”

“
Not that one.”

And that is what embarrassed her more than anything. Painting him had been a moment of weakness…a need that had seemed to drive her to do stupid things lately. She really needed to stop that

“
Yeah, about that. I’m not sure…” His voice trailed off. He looked at the painting then back to her.

Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, she straightened her spine. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“
It’s…” something shifted on his face and his expression cleared. “You only do pictures of people you like.”

“
So.”

Well, that was mature, Joey.

“
So, if you’re working on a painting of me, that means you like me.”

She saw no reason to lie. It would just make her look stupid. But it didn’t mean she had to expose herself to him. Laying her emotions bare would only leave her hurting in the end.

“
A little bit.”

His lips curved, showing her those damned dimples of his, which drove her insane. He was always handsome, but when he smiled at her like that—like she was the only woman in the world—he was deadly. Even knowing that pretty boys didn’t always follow through didn’t seem to matter. And, last night, well, he wasn’t that interested in her. Not now.

“
You like me a lot. I mean, it’s not just a drawing.” He motioned to the stack of papers on the kitchen counter. “No, this took time and effort.”

It had. She had tried to ignore it. For the first time in her life, she had tried her best to ignore the need to paint an object. And of course, she had failed. Giving in just that week, she had started on it.

She tightened the cross of her arms. “And?”

He approached her slowly and pulled her into his arms. She kept hers crossed, not wanting to surrender to the need to slip them around his waist. It would be so easy to rest her head on his chest and just ignore the world.

He leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers. Despite her own needs, she didn’t respond. Instead, she frowned. He pulled back.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
I don’t know what you want from me, Stewart. I really don’t.”

“
What’s that supposed to mean? I think I’ve been pretty open about my feelings from the beginning.”

“
You have, but last night…”

She didn’t want to say he rejected her the night before, although, that’s exactly what he did. It was too embarrassing to even admit out loud.

“
What? I didn’t take advantage of the situation?”

She nodded, feeling her face heat. “Well, not take advantage. You know what I mean.”

He pulled back further but he didn’t let her go. He slipped his finger under her chin and raised her head so she had no choice but to look at him.

“
It would have been taking advantage. And, I’ll admit, it would have been much easier to do that. But I know you, better than you think. You would have used last night’s incident as an excuse. When you come to bed with me, I want you there because you
want
to be there. Not because you want to escape memories.”

She sighed. Damned if he wasn’t everything she ever wanted in a man. Honorable, sexy and dammit, he had a sweet streak.

“
I thought it was because, well, some guys are put off by that.”

“
Are you talking about last night, or the thing from your past?”

So, he had figured it out. “Either. Both.”

He slipped his hands down her arms. “First, last night, well, it made me happy I’m not a jerk like college boy. Seriously, Joey, there is a good chance the man is still talking with a soprano voice this morning.”

Her face flushed and she looked away. “I’m not going to apologize.”

“
Good.”

She glanced back at him.

He nodded. “That’s right. You had every right to beat the shit out of him and I am happy you did it.”

Then, apparently to prove his point, he cupped her face. When he stroked her cheeks, she felt the calluses there from his work. Without closing his eyes, he dipped his head and pressed his mouth on hers. This time it wasn’t just a little peck. This went beyond the few kisses he had given her before.

She let her eyes slide shut and fell into the kiss. Wet, luscious, passionate…there were so many words that would describe the kiss. The one color that came to mind was bright, brilliant red. She felt drenched in it by the time Stewart pulled back. He rested his forward against hers.

“
You have to know it was damned tough to walk away last night.”

Relief rushed through her. “Yeah?”

He chuckled, but it didn’t sound as if he found anything funny. “Yeah. As in, not sure I had a fully functioning brain when I woke up this morning.”

She snorted.

“
It’s not funny. Marines don’t like being shut down, especially when it’s the one thing that’s been on his mind for weeks.”

She tipped her head to the right and studied him. He was telling the truth. From the night he showed up at the bar, it had been like this with him. Most men would have given up long ago, and those turned off by what she had been through would have been gone. Not Stewart.

She shook free of his hands, then cupped his face much as he had hers. Rising to her tiptoes she kissed him. A tickle in her throat warned of the fear that normally gripped her. In the next instant, she brushed it away. This was Stewart and with him she never had to fear anything.

Feeling bolder, she opened her mouth, tracing the seam of his lips with her tongue. He opened his and groaned. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. The hard ridge of his penis pressed against her and, again, there was no fear. Instead, that same craving she’d had before, the thing that had driven her to paint the man, took over. Before she was ready though, he pulled back. He drew in deep breaths, gulping at the air like a drowning man.

“
If we need to stop this, it has to be now.”

Each word was spoken with precision, as if he had to concentrate on them to be able to say them.

She smiled and shook her head. “I don’t want to stop.”

He looked up at the ceiling and said, “Thank you, Jesus.” He bent over and picked her up, lifting her so she was draped over his shoulder.

“
Stewart.”

He laughed. “You have to give me this, Joey.”

He carefully set her on the bed.

“
We’ll go slow.”

She knew then he understood what had happened before. She also realized he was the perfect man to take to her bed for the first time. He would be understanding.

He undid the sash on her robe, laying it open slowly.

“
You know you don’t have to be so gentle,” she said half jokingly.

He shook his head as he cupped her face. Then, he trailed his fingers down her body. She was still wearing her panties and the shirt from the night before.

“
I’m not being gentle. I’m savoring this moment. I wasn’t sure it would ever happen.”

Just hearing that gave her the confidence to lift up and kiss him. The simple touch of her mouth against his drew a shudder from him. Joey pulled back and stared at him. He opened his eyes as his mouth twisted.

“
What?”

It took her a moment to come up with the words. “I just never understood.”

“
That you could be my downfall?”

“
No.”

“
Well, damn, I shouldn’t have told you.”

She lifted her hand to trace his jaw. “It’s a new feeling.”

He leaned down and gave her a long, wet kiss. It was her turn to shiver. When he pulled back, his eyes had grown darker.

“
How about we destroy each other, baby?” he asked.

She laughed and pulled him back down. This time, he covered her body completely. There was no doubting his arousal as she felt him hard against her belly. Instead of rushing it, he kissed his way down her body, as if savoring the taste of her flesh. He pulled her shirt up, following it with his mouth. He was going too slowly for her. She wanted his wicked tongue on her. Everywhere.

With jerky movements, she worked her shirt over her head and was rewarded as he took one of her nipples into his hot mouth. She had expected to feel apprehension…but there was none. Instead, she wanted to indulge, to be taken over by him…and to take. She wanted to touch and taste like he was. At the moment, Joey couldn’t figure out how to move though. He was killing her with every touch of his hands and his mouth.

He kissed his way across her belly. He tugged at her panties and she lifted up to help him. Instead of just falling on her, he rose up to his knees, taking her foot into one of his hands.

“
What are you doing?” she asked.

He said nothing. Instead, he kissed her ankle. Heat swelled through her blood, pushing her already burning passion to new heights. There was no fear, no worries for her. Every time she had tried before this, she had been apprehensive. And now she understood. She trusted Stewart. Something in her knew that he would never hurt her on purpose.

He kissed down her leg, pressing her legs open and setting his mouth on her core. The first swipe of his tongue against her and she was lost. Every lick sent her closer to the pinnacle, but not far enough. Soon, she was moving with him, her moans growing louder by the second. She molded her hands to the back of his head, urging him closer. When she thought it would never happen, that she wouldn’t reach that end, her world shattered, pleasure rippled through her. She moaned his name, long and loud.

Just moments later she lay completely spent, her body a mass of melted bones. He was already pulling off his clothes, throwing them on the floor behind him. She knew how much he liked order, so it told Joey he was barely thinking of anything else except being naked.

He joined her back on the bed and covered her with his body. Stewart leaned down and kissed her. The passion that he felt was easy to taste, as was the pungent desire from her own body. He entered her slowly then.

Joey was still swollen from her release and he wasn’t a small man. She didn’t care. There was no panic like every time she tried before this. Now, there was only the pleasure of being connected to him this way. As he started to move, she felt her own needs building again.

“
Oh, yeah, that’s it, Joey,” Stewart groaned, as his thrusts shook her small bed. She barely heard that. She was blind and deaf to everything but the pleasure they were sharing. It didn’t take her as long this time to reach orgasm. She came easily, bowing up against him, taking more of his cock inside of her. He thrust two more times, then came, pouring himself into her body.

As they lay in bed listening to the December rain beat against the windows, Papa thought he pretty much had the best Christmas Eve in his recent memory. Joey was tucked in beside him and although the bed was too small for the two of them, neither seemed to care.