‘Good. Because I want it all with you. Everything with you.’ He suddenly moved. ‘Starting now.’
‘Now?’ She chuckled.Finally.
‘Now.’
He whisked her Merino jumper over her head. Desire deepened in his eyes as he gazed at her breasts, and she was so glad she’d been too lazy to bother with a bra that morning. She hated the time it took to shimmy her jeans and panties down her hips. Fortunately, he’d kicked his jeans off already, and now desperate hunger pulsed through her.
His laugh slid into a groan as she reached for him. ‘Darling, I’m not going to last...’
‘So hurry up and make love to me,’ she ordered. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’
In the split second before he kissed her, she saw his expression crumple—revealing all the raw emotion. The love. The need. The leap of joy.
Then his kiss was hard, deep and so hungry, and she met it, matched it. She was absolutely aching. They tumbled to the floor and there wasn’t time for more. There was only the driving need to be together.
‘It’s not like anything else ever,’ he muttered as he moved over her.
‘I know.’ And, as innocent as she’d been before him, she did know that there was no joy like this.
She wrapped around him, letting him love her like no one ever had. And she loved him too—chanting his name, her love for him, over and over until she was so overcome with ecstasy, she could no longer speak.
Long, breathless moments later, he pulled her to rest in his arms, his body cushioning hers.
‘Alex found Ellie.’ His chest rumbled when he finally spoke ‘They’re together.’
‘Together?’ Violet echoed, then lifted her head to look him in the eyes. ‘You mean...together?’
He nodded, tenderness gleaming in his eyes.
‘How do you feel about that?’ she pressed him.
‘I just want them to be happy.’ His smile began to deepen. ‘And, if they’re half as happy together as I am when I’m with you, then they’re very lucky.’
He drew breath. ‘It’s going to take some time, I guess, for everyone to get used to everything.’ He ran his hand across her back, keeping her warm and close. ‘I need to return to Manhattan for New Year’s Eve. I really want you to meet them. Will you come with me?’ He paused as he watched for her reaction. ‘We can have another couple of days here first, though.’
‘I would love to meet them,’ she murmured. ‘And I would love more time here first too.’
‘I love it here too. But we’re going to need to spend a lot of time in the city.’
‘Fortunately, I love the city too.’ She chuckled. ‘And I’ll be with you.’
‘Yeah...’ He glanced above her at the Christmas tree and regret tinged his features.
‘What is it?’
‘I never got you a Christmas present,’ he said.
She reached out and retrieved the strip of tinsel that had fallen from her shoulders and draped it across her chest. ‘You’reall my Christmas and birthday presents rolled into one. I never need anything else.’
‘Not even a little thing?’ He shifted her just a little, only so he could reach his jeans and pull from his pocket a little box.
‘Roman...’
It wasn’t a little thing. It was a ring. A beautiful, gleaming piece of art.
‘I’ve never seen a stone that colour.’ She couldn’t stop staring at it. ‘It’s beautiful.’ It was set in platinum—a multi-faceted oval that drew her eye deeper into the stone.
‘It’s a violet diamond.’