The Naughty List Bundle with The Night Before Christmas & Yule Be Mine. Fern Michaels
hunk. When she met his stare, she swore she could feel his touch. His hands—big, strong, callused—sliding under her shirt. Edging up her stomach. Getting closer, so close to her breasts.
Oh, yes, she knew what she wanted. The question was…would she really be brave enough to take it? To take him?
She slipped away from the crowd when someone called her brother’s name. Her elbow bumped into a wall, and the pain barely registered.
Sex with Jonas. Sure, she’d fantasized about just that thing, a time or twenty.
But the real thing? Her throat dried up. Oh, jeez. It would be…
He glanced up at her, and his green eyes seemed to burn right through her.
Incredible.
Because he was a man who knew how to give a woman a good time she’d never forget.
An hour later, Jonas had emptied his second sack. All the presents were gone. The kids had vanished. The staff left at Tate Toys could only be described as skeletal. As he watched, a few more folks trailed for the elevators.
Another holiday party down.
But his job wasn’t finished. Not yet. Santa still had one wish to grant. Hmm. Where was his lady? His gaze swept the room. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been trapped against that back wall.
The spot was empty now. The tree lights twinkled, throwing a mix of colors on the wall. No Christie.
He tossed his hat and the beard down next to the bag. Had she left? Turned tail and run?
If she had, he knew where she lived. Not like he couldn’t find her.
Just in case she hadn’t fled the building, Jonas stalked down the hallway leading to the “lab”—Christie’s domain. Her office was on the right side of the hallway and her playroom, a giant workroom/lab, was on the left.
He went to the right. Didn’t bother knocking. The door was open, so he walked right in and found Christie hunched over her desk.
She looked up at him, her eyes widening. “What are you—”
He caught the doorknob and closed the door with a slow, deliberate move. The woman needs to learn not to tease.
Christie shot to her feet, and the chair rolled behind her with a groan of its wheels. “You were with the kids, you were—”
“Kids are gone.” He stalked toward her. I want a really good time. She’d known she was talking to him. She had to know. Right? “Pretty much everyone is gone but you and me.”
That pink tongue swiped over her lips, and he almost growled. Still playing with fire. Did she know how badly they could both be burned? Time to teach the woman not to play with a hungry man.
He put his hands on her desk and leaned across the heavy wood. “That good time you wanted…”
Her eyes were locked on his.
“You want it here? Now?” How far would she go? He’d caught the whispers while he was handing out the toys. Seemed Christie and her boyfriend, a dumbass named Charles, had split. A chatty chick named Lydia thought Christie was looking for some revenge sex.
He didn’t enjoy being a stand-in.
“Here?” Her voice was a squeak. Her gaze shot to the closed door, then back to him. “But you—”
“I never took you for a tease.” His hands curled, forming fists on the wood.
“I’m not!” Instead of jerking back, she leaned forward and put her face temptingly close.
“Then let’s see about that good time.” He caught her arms, pulled her even closer, and took her mouth. Because no way, no way would she still taste like—
Champagne and strawberries. Woman and lust. Everything he wanted for the holidays.
Oh, hell, trouble.
Christie’s hands dug into his shoulders, and she yanked him closer. Her mouth opened wider, and her tongue slipped right past his lips.
Not teasing.
Revenge sex.
She moaned into his mouth. Two more seconds, and he’d be over that damn desk.
But Christie pulled back. Spots of color stained her cheeks. Her breath came hard and fast.
“Change your mind?” he growled as he forced his body to back away. Either back away or lunge forward. And cops weren’t supposed to lunge at women. Well, not at innocent women.
“No.” Her fingers touched her lips. A quick, light touch. Then she skirted around the edge of the desk and came to him.
Came to him.
“I just wanted to get closer.” She was real close right then. In front of him. Caged between his body and the thick desk. “This is better.” She rose onto her toes again, reaching for him.
Jonas caught her wrists and didn’t let her touch. Not yet. “You really think you know what you’re doing?”
She flinched.
What the hell?
Her pointed chin came up fast. “Despite what you may have heard out there, yes, I’ve got a pretty good idea what I’m doing.” She tried to tug her hands free.
He didn’t let her. “Did you know who I was?” If she said yes, that would be good enough. So what if she just wanted a quick screw to punish an ex for walking? He’d take the pleasure, but she damn well needed to know who was giving her the orgasm that would come.
“What are you—”
“Did you know I was the guy playing Santa?” He’d been called in at the last minute. Daniel had originally hired another—
She laughed. Not the normal response women gave him. “Of course, I knew it was you.”
“How?”
Her voice softened as she said, “No one else has eyes like yours.” Her lips curved in a half smile, revealing the faintest hint of the dimple in her right cheek. “Do you really think I would have just crawled onto any Santa’s lap?”
She’d better not plan to be crawling on any other laps. He moved fast, and in a blink, Christie was sitting on the edge of her desk, he was between her spread thighs, and her mouth was open and ready beneath his.
Her scent surrounded him, light and feminine. Beneath the soft material of her sweater, he could feel her breasts pushing at him. Her nipples were tight, hard, and he was dying to know—would they taste like strawberries, too?
Christie’s hands shoved under his coat, and her palms touched his back. Her touch seemed red hot, scorching his flesh.
He bit her lower lip, that full lower lip that had distracted him more times than he could count. Christie Tate. The woman who’d taught him long ago that smart was so damn sexy.
The woman who’d barely seemed to know he existed, until tonight.
Good time, here we come.
He pulled back just enough to grab the bottom of her sweater, then he yanked it up and over her head. Rudolph landed in the corner and—hell.
A black lace bra cupped her breasts. Black lace surrounding pale skin. His fingers slipped beneath the thin straps, easing the bra off her shoulders. She watched him with those bedroom eyes. Watched and waited and shit, but she had beautiful breasts.
Small, but perfectly round. The nipples were dark pink, so ready for his mouth. He leaned forward and let his breath blow against her nipple.
Her palms slammed down on the desk and she arched her back. “Now who’s the tease?”
The woman had bite. He hadn’t expected that from Christie. Hadn’t expected a lot from her. His mouth