Modern Romance Collection: December Books 5 - 8. Julia James

Had he really thought he knew how much he’d missed her, missed this? He didn’t have a clue. Using his thigh to edge her legs apart, he finished what he’d started. She went quite still and then cried out repeatedly. It was some time before she quietened.

      Her eyes remained closed, Her breathing remained hectic. He caressed her breasts while she recovered, teasing nipples that had tightened into prominent buds very lightly with his thumbnail. Gasping out his name, she rested her head against his chest as he stroked and teased her.

      ‘I think we should take this to bed,’ he said at last.

      She gave him a teasing look.‘Shouldn’t we be strapped in?’

      ‘If that’s what you’d like?’ he offered.

      ‘You’re bad,’ she said as he took her to see the specially designed bed belt. ‘For the billionaire who has everything, I presume?’

      ‘For the turbulence,’ he confirmed.

      ‘Do you expect much turbulence?’

      ‘I expect a great deal of turbulence.’

      ‘You’re worse than I thought,’ she said, laughing and relaxed now.

      ‘Worse than you know.’ Bringing her into his arms, he kissed her. When he let her go she searched his eyes in a way that touched him somewhere deep. Callie didn’t see herself as he saw her. She was a refreshing change. Most women of his acquaintance were overly self-aware, while Callie was oblivious to how attractive she was.

      ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ she asked him softly.

      ‘I’m anticipating having sex with you.’

      ‘That’s convenient.’

      ‘Is it?’

      ‘Yes.’ She bit back a smile. ‘Because I’m doing the same.’

      He moved over her. She writhed beneath him. She opened herself to him, inviting him to explore. ‘Now,’ she said with a kitten smile that made him hungrier than ever. She quivered with arousal beneath his hands as he teased her lips apart with his tongue. As he deepened the kiss she melted against him. He pressed her into the bed to rediscover the contours of her body. She was driving him crazy with lust. He was driving them both crazy, with delay. Lifting her on top of him, he caressed her buttocks, stroking them as she sighed and groaned, until finally he clasped them to position her. Reversing positions, he brought her under him.

      ‘What about your clothes?’ she asked.

      He started to undress, but Callie was ahead of him. Ripping off his clothes, she wasn’t satisfied until they were both completely naked. Taking hold of her shoulders, he held her away from him so he could give her a long, hard look. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he ground out.

      ‘I’ve missed you too.’ She was trembling with excitement and anticipation, asking him with her body to be held, to be kissed, and to be pleasured until she was exhausted. He had no intention of falling short in any way. Throwing her onto her back, he hooked her legs over his shoulders. He took a long, appreciative look, and then dipped his head and feasted while Callie groaned and bucked.

      ‘The bed straps,’ she gasped out.

      ‘Are you asking to be restrained?’

      ‘Sounds as if we’re about to take off,’ she warned, turning her head on the pillows to listen.

      He shrugged as the whine of the engines turned into an imperative roar. ‘I think you could be right,’ he agreed dryly. ‘I definitely think you should be held firmly and safely in place.’ Securing her in a few deft moves, he returned to finish what he’d started.

      She didn’t last long. ‘Aaaah...’ The cry of pleasure seemed torn from her soul. It escalated into a series of rhythmical, primal sounds deep in her throat. They tormented him. She tormented him. His was a seriously painful state.

      ‘Ah...ah...’ she gasped out repeatedly, bucking so furiously that even the straps and his hands had a battle to contain her. Once she was capable of speech, she instructed, ‘I need you inside me now,’ with her customary bluntness.

      This coincided with the pilot applying full thrust. Pinning Callie’s hands above her head on the bank of soft cushions, he did the same. The sensation as the aircraft soared and they did too, was mind-numbing. Whatever he’d imagined about sex with Callie again was nothing compared to this. She was perfection. Her inner muscles gripped him with a vigour he could never have anticipated, and from there it was a wild, furious ride to satisfaction. By the time the jet had levelled out, Callie had enjoyed at least three noisy climaxes, and was ready for more. When she was done, he turned her on her side. ‘Curl up and let me touch you. I want to watch.’

      They were both blunt in bed when it came to what they liked. Callie didn’t just agree to his proposition, she used colourful language to outline exactly what was expected of him. She lifted her thigh to tempt him even more, and angled her hips so he could see everything. He sank deep with a groan of contentment. ‘More,’ she insisted. ‘More.’

      He felt as if his climax started at his toes and then flooded his entire body. They were engaged in a very primitive act. He was claiming his mate. She was claiming hers. Where this could lead he had no idea, and he wasn’t in any condition to reason things through sensibly. ‘I only have one complaint,’ he said, bringing her on top of him when they were quiet again.

      ‘A complaint?’ she queried.

      ‘You should always wear more clothes so there are more to take off.’

      She relaxed and smiled, and, sighing with contentment, she added, ‘Well, that’s your Christmas present sorted out.’

      Then she fell silent. He realised it was only a matter of days before Christmas. There had been so much going on he hadn’t even realised. ‘Hey,’ he whispered, seeing Callie frown. ‘We’re definitely going to be together at Christmas.’

      ‘Are we?’ Her voice was matter of fact. Her stare was deep and long.

      ‘Yes,’ he confirmed, stroking her back to soothe her. ‘You’re not going to be spending Christmas in one room over a shop. I want you to see where I live.’

      ‘I know where you live.’

      ‘I mean Fabrizio.’

      ‘It’s still a palace.’ She sighed as if picturing a world filled with art treasures, flunkeys and hushed decorum, when the truth was a modern palace that was more of a workplace. He had homes across the world where he enjoyed complete privacy, but since his enthronement the palace had become his main residence. He had an apartment there. The palace in Fabrizio was the engine of the dynasty, but his wing was elegant and private. The boy from the gutters had come a long way. ‘Where I live overlooks a lake and gardens, and has every comfort a child could need,’ he reassured Callie.

      Better than one room over a shop, he could see her thinking. ‘I’m sure it’s lovely,’ she agreed, tense now. Turning her back on him, she pulled up the covers and pretended to sleep. She did drift off eventually, while he lay at her side with his arms folded behind his head, checking his plan to make sure there’d be no hitches.

      When she woke, she sat up and spotted the selection of outfits on a rail immediately. ‘Where did they come from?’

      ‘The cabin attendant wheeled them in.’

      ‘While I was asleep? In your arms?’

      ‘You were well covered up. I asked my private secretary to make sure there were some dresses and accessories on board for you, for when you disembark.’

      ‘I’ve got my suit.’

      He glanced at the creased skirt and jacket, still lying on the floor where she’d dropped them. ‘Well, I have to say, this is another first.’

      ‘What is?’

      ‘A woman refusing to look