Belle shivered as Rafe’s mouth touched her neck. A sense of total and utter unreality stole over her. Here she stood, in the dark, wrapped around the guy she’d had a major crush on since she’d been twelve years old. Hell, that very morning, she never even imagined he’d thought of her this way.
“You taste good, Belle. Delicious and sweet with just a little spice.” The low vibration of his voice echoed up her spine. The warmth of his hands at her hips, just barely touching the bare skin peeking below the hem of her sweater and above the waist of her trousers sent waves of pleasure through her.
Even as she searched for words, his tongue made its way, slow and sinuous, up her neck and to her ear. His breath stirred tendrils of hair that’d escaped the barrette holding it back from her face.
“I think I’m going to need to kiss you, now. I’ve been wondering all night long if that lip gloss is flavored. Are you old school like that?”
Holy sweet baby Jesus on a skateboard. How on earth was she supposed to answer him when he said stuff like that? When he pressed against her, his body work-hard and strong. His cock a solid, hot weight against her belly.
“Watermelon,” she managed to gasp.
“Well now, I definitely need a taste of that.”
He angled his head and his mouth moved to hers, his clear, sleepy brown eyes seeing right straight through her.
And when he kissed her, her entire body went boneless as she held on, her fingers digging into the material of his coat. His mouth was softer than she’d imagined, hot, wet, he tasted of coffee, salt and something else she couldn’t identify but wouldn’t ever forget.
His kiss was slow and heady. He took his time like a man who knew what he was about. Like a man who knew she wasn’t going to bolt. He explored her mouth, his teeth catching her bottom lip, his hands firming their hold, settling beneath the sweater, fingers splayed against the sensitive, bare skin of her hips. His thumbs slid slowly back and forth, back and forth in the hollow of her hip bones.
Her nipples throbbed in time with the slide of his thumbs, shooting straight to her clit.
“Belle? Rafe? You guys there?” Brian called from the other room and Rafe stood back, breaking the kiss. At least his chest heaved and he appeared to be as affected by the kiss as she had been. Cripes, she wasn’t sure when the last time a kiss had nearly made her come, or even if a kiss had ever so aroused her.
“Yeah. I’m just helping Belle bring her suitcases in,” Rafe answered Belle’s oldest brother without moving. He grinned at her slowly and dragged his gaze up above her head. She followed and noted the mistletoe.
“Oh!” She blushed, mortified. Here she’d thought he was on fire for her and it was just the damned mistletoe? “Duh.”
He reached and took her chin in his fingers, shaking his head. “No, Belle. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time, the mistletoe just gave me an excuse. But now that I’ve felt your nipples as you kissed me, now that I know your taste? I’m going to kiss you as often as I can.”
“Oh,” she sighed again. Yeah, it was totally obvious she was a powerful attorney who made her living with her ability to speak coherently.
He chuckled and grabbed her suitcases. “I’m going to put these in the guest room and then we can get on over to your parents’ for dinner.”
Belle heaved a sigh as she leaned against the wall to keep from melting into a puddle of goo. Raphael Bettencourt had just laid the hottest kiss of her entire life on her. Rafe.
The object of many a fantasy and he’d…his mouth…it was…oh wow!
“Belle? You okay? I know you’re tired. Mom and Dad would understand if you’d rather call it a night.” Brian came into the front hall, looking at her worry clear on his face.
She’d been late getting out of San Francisco, heading home for a few days to spend Christmas with her family when she’d had a blow out just miles outside of Davis. Thank goodness Brian and Rafe had come to help.
“You guys didn’t have to come out, you know. I told you I’d have called Triple A.”
She stood straight, enjoying the warm feeling she still had in her stomach.
“Shut up. Your tire is changed and tomorrow we’ll get you out to replace the old one. You don’t need Triple A, you have family. Now, are you okay? You look really pale and you’ve lost at least fifteen pounds since the last time I saw you. That was a year ago though.” He glared at her.
She smoothed down the front of her clothing and tucked her hair back. “Brian, no one knows how busted I look more than I do, okay?” She was so tired. She’d been working eighty-hour weeks for the last year, most notably the last seven months on one all-encompassing project. But it was over and she was taking the first actual time off since December of the year before. Christ, twelve months of eighty-hour weeks and not a single day off. She hadn’t been outside in the daylight except to walk into the courthouse so of course she was pale.
“You don’t look busted. You’re beautiful and you know it. Damn it, Belle, you work too hard! No job is worth this insanity. Your health is important, more important than a corner office. How long has it been since you’ve had any time off?” Brian searched her face.
“Look, Doctor Taylor, I know, okay? Do you think I want to spend every freaking moment of my life working?” Before she could truly get upset, Rafe came back toward the front hall and she stopped herself.
“I’m not going to let this slide, Belle. You can’t do this to yourself and you know Mom and Dad are going to say the same thing when they see you.” Brian put an arm around her shoulder and nodded at Rafe.