The Billionaire's Christmas (A Sinclair Novella) (12 page)

“I’m no angel. I’m just a woman who’s going to go crazy if you don’t fuck me right now.” Emily ran her hands down his back and latched on to his fine ass, clawing at him, aching to have him claim her. “I’m begging, Grady. I need you.”

“Condom,” he growled against the side of her neck.

“I’ve been on birth control for years for my periods. Do you trust me?” she gasped.

“Hell, yes. And I’m damn glad you trust me, because I’m not sure if I could move right now. Nothing has ever felt this good,” he said gruffly, and then swooped down to capture her mouth with his.

Emily could taste herself on his lips, and it only made her need him more. Her legs wrapped around his hips, urging him closer.

Grady entered her like his control had snapped, his cock embedding itself inside her to the hilt. He groaned, thrusting his tongue deeply into her mouth as his cock buried itself into her heat. He retreated and entered again, his groan even more tortured. Pulling his mouth from hers, he rasped, “You’re so tight.”

“It’s been a while,” she panted, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold on tight.

“Mine,” he growled, his hips thrusting, his cock entering her again and again.

“Yes,” she whispered harshly. “Oh, yes, Grady.”

He took her body over, possessing her, claiming her with every stroke of his cock, touching places inside her that no one had ever touched before. He filled her completely, his pace increasing, his body demanding more and more. Emily gave him everything she had to give, moaning and throwing her head back as Grady slipped his hands beneath her ass and started to pummel himself into her with a force that took her breath away.

“Too hard. But I can’t stop,” he rumbled, sounding tortured.

“Don’t stop. Take what you want. I’m right here with you.” Emily loved his out-of-control dominance, and she didn’t want him tame. “More,” she pleaded, reveling in the feel of Grady’s cock hammering in and out of her, claiming what belonged to him in the most elemental of ways.

“Love you, Emily,” he said fiercely as he pumped into her over and over again.

She wanted to tell him she loved him too, but her climax hit her hard, rocking her body with intense spasms that robbed her of speech. She moaned incoherently, her channel clenching hard around Grady’s cock.

His mouth covered hers, swallowing her sounds of ecstasy, and releasing his own groan as her climax milked him. His warm release exploded inside her as he kissed her senseless, as though he were trying to continue to claim her even after he already had her.

Releasing her mouth, he rolled, his cock disconnecting, her body splaying over his. They lay there together, both of them panting and out of breath. The moment she was able to speak, she blurted out, “I love you too. So very much.”

He kissed her forehead, her lips, her cheeks, every spot on her face before he answered, “Stay with me, Emily. Every day will be like Christmas for me.”

Emily swallowed back tears, hearing the vulnerability so very clear in his voice. “I want to give you Christmas every day. I want to make you happy, Grady.”

“You already do,” he said in a husky voice. He shifted her body gently to his side, covered her with the comforter and slid out of bed. Emily sighed as she watched his incredible body move across the room and take something out of the pocket of his soaked jeans.

“Damn. I lost my contacts in the water,” she said, disgruntled, just now noticing that her vision was blurred.

Flipping on the light on the bedside table, Grady handed her a velvet box that was waterlogged and dirty. “I’ll get you more. It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re safe. You took several years off my life, woman. You have to stop doing that. And I swear I’m going to clean out every store in the area to supply you with plenty of boots,” he said gruffly. “Those sneakers are hazardous to my health.”

Emily looked down at the box in her hand, her fingers starting to tremble.

“I wasn’t really out on business. I needed to pick this up. I had a good friend who told me that I should marry you as soon as possible. I think it’s the best advice that Simon ever gave me.” He reached over and flipped open the box.

Emily’s breath caught; the diamond inside the box was absolutely breathtaking. “Oh, my God.”

“Marry me, angel?” He pulled the ring from its resting place and tossed the box on the floor.

Emily’s tears began to flow like a river down her face. Grady didn’t give her much time to answer as he lifted her hand and slipped the enormous diamond onto her finger. “Were you going to give me an option?” She hiccuped on a sob, her heart squeezing so tightly in her chest that she was short of breath.

“No,” he answered, shooting her a wicked grin. “But a guy is supposed to ask.”

Not able to wait a moment longer, Emily threw herself into his arms, hugging him so tightly she was probably choking him. But Grady didn’t complain. He pulled her against him, holding her like he’d never let her go.

“It was going to be a yes anyway,” she told him softly, laying her head against his shoulder.

“I know Hope can be convincing, but did you really think I had a wife?” Grady tilted her head up to look into her eyes.

“Honestly, I just reacted. I’m sorry. This is all pretty scary. I’ve never felt like this before, and I guess I just thought it was all too perfect to be real.” She sighed, wondering now how she ever believed it as she looked into Grady’s eyes, seeing the intensity of his love for her shining from their smoky depths. “I knew I could end up destroyed and hurt.”

“No one will ever hurt you again,” he answered hoarsely, his voice pulsating with emotion. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her into his lap. “If they do, I’ll have to kill them.”

Emily smiled against his shoulder, knowing Grady would always have protective, dominant instincts, but she wasn’t complaining. His love would always surround her, and she would always feel the same protective feelings for him. “I’ll shower you with so much love that you’ll learn to love Christmas like I do someday,” she told him confidently.

“I’m already liking it. It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m pretty damn happy,” he replied, his voice muffled against her hair.

“What would it take to make you love it?” She squirmed in his lap, feeling the hard, hot protrusion against her ass.

He moved at lightning speed, putting her on her back as he came over her, his eyes mischievous and wicked. Moving between her thighs, he pinned her hands over her head. “You . . . in my bed . . . all night long and all day tomorrow. I think I’d be deliriously happy by the end of tomorrow and love Christmas. I might just stroll through Amesport handing out candy canes and wishing everyone as merry of a Christmas as I just had.”

Emily laughed merrily. “I think I’d like to see that.”

“You know how to accomplish it,” he challenged.

“I promised to show you a merrier Christmas,” she said thoughtfully.

“Yeah. Yeah, you did.” Grady swooped down and kissed her before adding, “But I thought you weren’t going to do what we just did.”

“No woman could resist a Christmas present like you,” Emily told him with a contented sigh.

Grady broke into a sexy smile that melted her heart, and then he kissed her, a Christmas kiss that promised her forever.

They never made it out of bed until the next evening, and they were both so happily exhausted that it was all they could do to eat, and then take themselves straight back to bed, the candy canes completely forgotten.

But it was the merriest Christmas Grady and Emily had ever had.

One week later, Grady found himself back at the Youth Center, but he wasn’t exactly going reluctantly anymore. Grady Sinclair was throwing a party, and he was actually the host. He’d had very little time to arrange it, but he’d pulled off a pretty decent New Year’s Eve bash.

The party was in full swing, the band he’d hired filling the hall with music that had most of the folks of Amesport out on the makeshift dance floor.

He smiled as he watched Emily hugging her parents and laughing. God, she made him happy, and he felt every possessive instinct in his body stand at attention when he saw the flash of his ring on her finger, almost unable to believe she was really his.

Her mom and dad had been surprised when Grady’s private jet had picked them up at the airport, but they had taken everything in stride. They’d come to meet him and attend the party to make their daughter happy. Really, Grady thought that was pretty extraordinary. Maybe it was normal behavior for loving parents, but normal was something he’d never experienced with his own mother and father.

Honestly, his childhood
had
been fucked up, but Emily made up for all that and more. If he had to do it again just to find his way to her, he’d do it in a heartbeat. He’d moved to Amesport to finally try to find some peace. Since he’d already owned property on the peninsula, he’d thought the small town would be the perfect place to avoid people. But he realized that real happiness couldn’t be found in a location. His real joy was Emily, and he was quickly realizing that all people were not like his father, that he really didn’t need to isolate himself. He might never be a social animal, but he wasn’t afraid of people anymore. Emily loved him. If she could accept him, maybe others could as well.

Grady’s eyes strayed to the other side of the room, watching his siblings all gathered together, looking like they were actually enjoying the party, maybe because it had brought them all together again. Hope had come from Aspen, minus her loser boyfriend, and his brothers Evan, Dante, and Jared had all arrived together a short time ago. Even Jason had showed up, claiming he had nothing better to do for New Year’s Eve.

Grady’s eyes narrowed on Dante, noticing how exhausted his brother looked. Dante, a year younger than Grady, had taken his own path after he’d left the Sinclair home when he was eighteen. He’d gone to college for a criminal justice degree, joining the police force in Los Angeles, quickly and aggressively moving up the ranks to become a homicide detective. Was he happy? Grady noticed the dark circles under Dante’s eyes, and the weary expression on his face. Maybe Dante had just been working crazy hours lately, but Grady had a feeling that Dante probably looked exactly the same most of the time. How could he not? Dante worked homicide in the worst district in Los Angeles for murders, many of them gang related. That kind of job had to eventually take its toll on a cop.

His wayward thoughts were interrupted as Emily came toward him, her hips swaying in a red cocktail dress that he really thought should be illegal. It clung to her curves and exposed more skin than he thought she should be showing, but she looked so incredibly hot that he was hard the instant she smiled at him.

“I still can’t believe you arranged all this. God, you look gorgeous in a tuxedo.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “You’re amazing, Mr. Sinclair.”

Grady raised a brow at her, knowing a challenge when he was confronted with it. “I thought I told you that I’d make you pay for calling me that. There’s a lot of Sinclairs. I want to be special.”

“You never told me exactly how that punishment would work.” She’d moved closer, talking to him in her
fuck-me
voice, right next to his ear. “I might like it.”

Okay . . . the party had been a great idea, and it had made his woman happy, but he was ready to take her home now. “I’ll show you when we get home.” Thank God all of his siblings had their own places.

“Hope apologized. Poor thing. She was mortified when she heard what happened. You shouldn’t have told her,” Emily scolded lightly. “I like her. I like all of your family.”

“It seems strange, all of us together again.” Grady wrapped his arms around Emily’s waist. “I missed them.”

“Maybe they can stay for a while,” Emily said hopefully.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Grady warned her with a frown. “It’s a miracle that we’re just all in the same place right now.”

“One minute to midnight,” a happy male voice pronounced loudly, making himself heard over the music.

Grady snagged two glasses of champagne from a nearby table and brought one to Emily. His siblings, Jason, and Emily’s parents all gathered around them, and Grady’s heart felt as full as it could possibly get. He was here with the woman he loved, all of their family around them. It just didn’t get any better than this.

“I can’t wait until later,” Emily whispered into his ear in sultry voice.

Okay . . . maybe it
could
get better later, but he was still pretty damned contented.

“Are you tipsy?” he asked Emily with a smile. She’d told him earlier that she got a little wild when she drank, so he’d made damn sure her glass was full all evening.

“Maybe just a tiny bit,” she admitted, holding up her index and thumb with a fair amount of space in between.

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

The entire hall exploded with cheers, the New Year being properly greeted by the people of Amesport.

After Emily had hugged everyone in the family and bussed them all on the cheek, she grabbed Grady’s hand and tugged him onto the dance floor. “Dance with me,” she insisted, throwing her slightly intoxicated self into his arms without inhibition.

Grady swooped her up into his arms, letting her feet float slowly back down to the floor. “Happy New Year, angel.”

“Happy New Year, love,” she answered, her eyes glowing with happiness. “Tell me your New Year’s wishes and I’ll make them all come true,” she told him with conviction.

Grady smiled down at her. “I wish that you would love me forever.”

She smacked him playfully on the arm before letting him swing her into a dance to “Auld Lang Syne.” “You already have
that
. Think of something else.”

“Impossible, angel. You already made anything I could wish for come true.”

Her eyes started to shine with unshed tears. “I love you, Grady.”

He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear, “I love you too. Thank you for giving me back the holidays. What’s your New Year’s wish?” He wanted desperately to give Emily anything she wished for and more.