UnexpectedChristmas Read Online Free Page B

damn near dropped it as she handed it to him, leaning
close to him to place it in his hands. Did she have any idea how she could arouse
a man, with her flushed cheeks and gorgeous hair? She hadn’t formed it into a
bun again, thank the lord, but swept it back into a long fall that she’d
brushed behind her back. It hung thick and heavy, a glorious mass any man would
want to bury his face in. And she was familiar with dining with removes?
    He tamped down his thoroughly inappropriate desires and,
smiling at her, attacked his food.
    Finally, feeling better than he could ever remember, he
heaved a sigh and leaned back in his chair. She refused more than one glass of
wine and he sat sipping his second.
    “I’m consumed with curiosity about you, my lovely cook. You
seem not really at home in a kitchen, although you’ve accomplished wonders.
You’re a lady. Why were you traveling alone and unprotected? You are an enigma
to me.”
    She flushed a becoming rose but said nothing until she’d
taken his plate and carried it to a large pan already filled with water.
    “I couldn’t bear to use that filthy sink. I thought I’d keep
our dishes separate and a little cleaner.”
    Damn and blast. She’d been working as hard as he had. Come
to think of it, there were shadows under those remarkable eyes. And she wasn’t
about to trust him with the story he was becoming increasingly determined to
know.
    “Let’s go sit by the fire. I’ll take two candles and read to
you from a book I have with me. Does that appeal to you?”
    She let out a sigh of pure bliss. “Wonderful. What is the
book? Although I’ll enjoy listening to almost anything tonight.”
    He motioned her closer to the fire, setting one candle
beside her and one so the light shone on the book in his hand.
    The thought of what he’d like her to enjoy tonight made him
shutter his eyes. His one desire would be to bring her pleasure before he
buried his already rigid cock in her and released himself.
    Crossing his legs, he leafed through the book to give
himself a chance to speak normally.
    “It’s an old favorite of mine. Inventive and it relaxes me
every time I read it. It’s a good book to travel with. Shakespeare’s Sonnets .”
    Her start of surprise amused him.
    “Some of those are far from relaxing, sir.”
    So she’d read them. He smiled at the added clue.
    “Do you have any favorites, Caro?” His voice caressed her as
he thought of how far he could take the conversation if she confessed to liking
the subtly disguised erotic ones he favored.
    She blushed but shook her head. “No, no favorites.”
    You’re not telling the truth, little imp.
    He grinned. “Then I’ll read one of mine to you. Sonnet 18.”
    As he flipped through the pages to find that particular sonnet
he looked up and saw her lips moving with the opening lines, “ Shall I
compare thee to a summer’s day ?”
    Without finding the passage, he fixed his eyes on hers and
began to softly recite the poem. As he’d expected, she followed him silently,
her lips moving in harmony with his.
    He said nothing when they’d finished, hoping she recognized
the question in his piercing eyes.
    She looked at him as if he’d attacked her and she stiffened.
    “You chanced to pick one I happen to be familiar with. I
think it’s time for bed. It’s been a hard day for us both.”
    The room had gotten much hotter than the warmth the meager
fire in the hearth provided. He conceded temporary defeat.
    “Perhaps I can read more to you tomorrow. You sit here and
relax a bit. I’ll bank the fires and bring in more wood.”
    As he strode out he wondered what the hell he was doing.
He’d never seduced a virtuous miss. Surely he hadn’t changed that much, had he?
It was only the enforced proximity and knowing they had no chaperone that
spurred him to be so outrageous.
    Well, no more of this blatant flirting with an innocent. But
damn it was fun seeing that perfect complexion blaze with color when