Christmas with a SEAL. Tawny Weber

was beneath that look. Then he met her gaze.

      “You’re like something out of a dream,” he murmured. He reached out, just one finger, and skimmed it over the curve of her breast.

      Frankie barely kept from whimpering. She was pretty sure melting into an orgasmic puddle at the first touch would blow her sophisticated facade. Besides, she wanted more.

      So much more.

      Whisper soft, his finger traced a circle around her nipple.

      Desire, sharp and needy, blasted through her, exploding in all the right places. She curled her toes to try to keep from falling out of her shoes.

      Her breath came out in a surprised “Oh.”

      How could such a simple touch feel so good in so many places? Her knees trembled, and she squeezed her thighs together to intensify the pleasure building in her core. She wet her lips. She’d planned to tell him what she liked, how she liked it. But she had a feeling that he’d find so many new ways to pleasure her, ones she’d never even imagined.

      As if reading her thoughts and ready to prove her right, Phillip flicked his thumb over her nipple. Then, before she could even murmur her approval, he pinched it between two fingers, still rubbing with his thumb.

      Desire spiraled in a tight coil, filling her core with wet heat. Excitement built as sensations bombarded her. His thumb was rough, his palm warm. Color exploded against her closed eyelids, the miniorgasm rocking her body.

      She shuddered with pleasure. But it wasn’t enough.

      She wanted more.

      She needed more.

      Her hands raced over his body. He was so hard, so deliciously hard. Done waiting, she skimmed her hands over his rock-hard abs, delighting for only a second before grappling with his belt buckle and ripping at his slacks. They had to go. She had to feel him.

      “Hurry,” she demanded, shoving his pants off his hips. She felt him kick them away, but didn’t have time to do more than suck in a breath before he had her against the wall. His hands gripped hers, pulling her arms over her head. His mouth raced over her throat, down her chest. When he sucked her nipple between his teeth, Frankie bucked against him.

      Her fingernails dug into her palms as she strained against his grip, wanting to touch, needing to give him the same pleasure he was offering her.

      “We shouldn’t be doing this. It’s crazy,” he muttered, pulling away. Thankfully not too far, though. Just enough for Frankie to see his face.

      Her breath knotted in her chest. She tried to swallow, but it took her three attempts before air hit her lungs.

      It wasn’t the idea that he would call it quits before they finished what they had started that made her want to cry. It was the look in his eyes.

      There was so much pain in those green depths, and it was buried so deep that she wondered if he even acknowledged it. It tore at her heart, making her want to pull him close and soothe him. To offer her shoulder, to find a way to heal him.

      But she knew he wouldn’t accept it.

      Her goal tonight had been to heal her broken imagination. To use her fantasy as a key to reopen her creative doors.

      Now all she wanted was to make Phillip feel better than good. She wanted him to feel incredible. So incredible that he forgot those secrets tearing at his soul. So incredible that he found peace.

      So incredible that he never forgot her.

      “Why is it crazy to feel good?” she asked, finally responding to his comment.

      She saw the response in his eyes before he said a word. That rigid control of his was shoving aside the passion, replacing it with logic. Talk about crazy.

      Frankie pressed her finger against his lips before he could voice his thoughts. She shook her head, giving him her sexiest look.

      “You do make me feel good, Phillip. So good. The way you touch me, it’s getting me excited. Thinking about what’s coming next, it’s making me so hot.” She rubbed her finger over his bottom lip, her eyes locked on his as she stretched to brush a kiss over that lip. She arched her brow, then without warning, gave him a gentle nip.

      He hissed. His fingers tensed on her hips, as if he couldn’t decide whether to push away from her or pull her closer.

      She figured it was the least she could do to help him figure it out.

      She moved her hand down so both palms were on his chest, circling, caressing.

      “You want me,” she told him, sliding one hand lower to cup the hard length of him pressing against her thigh. “You can have me. All you have to do is let go. Quit worrying. Quit thinking. Just feel.”

      Brows furrowed, he looked as if he didn’t understand. Had he never let go? Never let himself be free?

      Suddenly desperate to give him that, Frankie ran her tongue over his lip. When his eyes glazed, she gave his lip another little nip, then sucked it into her mouth and soothed the flesh with her tongue. At the same time, she curved her fingers around his erection, squeezing gently as she rubbed her thumb over the velvety tip.

      He growled, shifting so their bodies were pressed together, her hand trapped between them.

      One hand tunneled into her hair, tilting her head, his tongue sweeping past hers to take over the kiss. Even as his mouth sent her reeling with desire, she was blown away by his tenderness.

      His other hand swept down, his fingers skimming over her skin so softly that she shivered. He cupped her breast, gently weighing its fullness while teasing the tip. Heat curled tighter, wet and needy between her thighs.

      Frankie wrapped her leg around his, curling her foot behind his thigh to pull him closer, to press her aching core against his heat.

      Suddenly, before she even realized he’d moved, Phillip was kissing his way down her body. His hand still cupping her breast, he sucked one nipple into his mouth. Frankie gasped as pleasure shot through her body.

      Then she stiffened, every one of her senses going on full alert as his fingers slipped along the elastic of her panties. She could still feel everything else he was doing, and it was all making her crazy with desire. But it was all going on in the background, while center stage was his hand, her panties and what came next.

      She was pretty sure that it would be her.

      His finger slipped under the silky fabric.

      She held her breath.

      Ever so gently, he touched her swollen bud.

      Frankie gasped. Need coiled tighter within her.

      She was so close, the edge of delight within reach. She could feel it, the key to everything she wanted, dancing there on the tip of his fingers.

      But she couldn’t go over, couldn’t let herself. Not until she knew he was right there with her, free from those demons she’d seen in his eyes.

      “Are you letting go?” she asked, her words coming in pants. “Are you feeling, just feeling?”

      “I feel you,” he said, the words themselves as exciting as the feel of his mouth brushing over her nipple as he said them. “I promise the only thing in my mind right now is you. How you feel. How you taste. How much I want you.”

      Frankie whimpered, not knowing how she managed to hold back the orgasm those words inspired.

      “I want you to want me so much you can’t think at all,” she said, shifting the hand trapped between them so she could touch him again. As if anticipating her move, he shifted.

      Sliding his body down hers, every delicious inch of him skimming her body on his way down, he dropped to his knees at her feet. His hand still worked her breast, even as he lifted one of her legs and draped it over his shoulder.

      Frankie’s breath hitched as she