Page 86 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas

I wanted it—God, did I want it—but I wanted to make sure Remy was okay, so I took a page out of his book.

“Remington,” I said slowly, putting enough pressure on his face to break the kiss. He resisted, but after the tiniest bit more force, he pulled away. His dark brows were knitted together, his pupils blown wide, so all that honeyed, reddish brown I loved so much was completely eclipsed. “Remington, I need you to use your words and tell me that this is okay.”

“It’s okay,” he growled through sharp,sharpteeth.

“If there’s any moment where it’s not, you promise you’ll say something?”

“I will,” he said, pressing his cheek into my palm. “I promise I will.”

“And I promise I will too.”

Another long moment passed as we looked into each other’s eyes. I hadn’t thought it was a real thing anyone experienced outside of romance novels, but there was a connection between me and Remy that I’d never felt in my life. And it was a connection I wanted to cherish and nourish more than anything else.

So, I kissed him again.

It wasn’t the same as the other kisses. It wasn’t fueled by shock and adrenaline or born out of desperate longing. No, it was a slow, tender kiss, opening the door to wherever the night would take us.

And holy fuck, the way that Remy practically melted into me, made me feel closer to him than I thought was possible to be with another human.

Well… Not exactly human, as I had learned. But close enough.

It was a moment of peace between the two of us. No bills to worry about. No kids about to come in the door. Just Remington and Jeannie getting to be just Remington and Jeannie.

I couldn’t say how long we stayed like that, and it didn’t really matter. The kiss lasted exactly as long as it needed to, and when we finally broke apart, Remy looked into my eyes with a question he didn’t even need to ask.

“Yes,” I said with all the enthusiasm I could muster. I meant it right down to my soul. I’d been bearing the responsibility for my own life and Max’s for basically ten long, long years, and it was time for the both of us to enjoy something that was just for us.

That was all he needed. He pulled away from the wall and carried me toward the bed like I weighed absolutely nothing.

I wound my hands through his thick hair, his curls soft but strong beneath my fingers, my lips moving against his withfervor. That passion that had taken a backseat to safety was front and center again, burning with an urgency that couldn’t be denied.

And I wasn’t about to deny it.

I was totally lost in the kiss until Remy turned around. I was confused enough to stop kissing him, but that lasted only a moment when I realized that he had changed our orientation so he could sit far enough back on the bed and have me straddle his lap comfortably.

Even when he was melting my mind, he was still such a thoughtful man.

Fuck, that was far sexier than it had any right to be.

So, I spread my legs, relishing that burning brand that was fighting against his jeans as it pressed into my fleece-lined leggings. For once, I wished I actually bought the thinner, cheaper kind that provided no warmth at all.

Even that layer of material wasn’t enough to stop me from feeling Remy’s length straining for me. If his larger belt-buckle wasn’t in the way, I could slide up and down until I came right then and there.

As greedy as I was, however, Remy held my hips once I started to move too much, his lips going back to my neck, but on the other side so I would have a matching set of his marks.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He wasn’t marking me to own me, but to tell the world that we were linked, that his mouth had been on me and no other would be.

Whoa, slow your roll there, girlie.The somewhat practical part of my mind came swinging in with one last gasp of air before it slipped through the cracks of my brain.

Things between us would no doubt irrevocably change, even if only in small ways. There was no guarantee that what we weresharing now would happen again. Or would even fully happen. The only thing that mattered was now.

“Green?” Remy asked and for a moment I was confused, but then I caught on. After all, what kind of romance editor would I be if I didn’t know safe words? Unexpectedly, my heart surged at the fact that he wanted to be so certain I was not only on board, but that I wasintoit.

Because I most certainly was into it with every fiber of my being.

“Green.”