Page 64 of Her Christmas Wish

She nearly wept when she felt his touch, on first one breast then the other. Even through her dress, he made it happen. He hadn’t forgotten.

Just as she knew what his straining pelvis against her thigh meant. He was ready to explode.

Aching as much as she was, needing his touch so desperately, and finding the bliss again in his touch as he gave it to her, she couldn’t deny him the same...recognition.

The same glory.

Lifting her body enough to get her dress up, she watched him breathing hard as she yanked at her panties, and then, pulling the elastic band of his trunks, she lowered them enough to release his penis and straddled it.

He thrust as she lowered, a dance they’d perfected many years before.

One that lasted only seconds, before they were convulsing around and within the other. The final stanza, the last step.

Before reality returned.

Chapter Twenty

It took about ten seconds for Gray to recover enough to know that he’d made a colossal mistake.

Sage was already off from him, rapidly yanking her dress down to her ankles. A sure sign, if he’d needed one, that the world had just turned blacker than the night.

He’d had sex without a condom. Something he hadn’t done since...Sage.

And he’d had sex with Sage.

Who, thankfully, had been a stickler for remaining on birth control. Due to her cycle, not her sex life.

Which did nothing to protect against the splintering of a very fragile, incredibly important, newly forming platonic friendship.

Nope, he’d just blown that straight to hell.

No matter who’d climbed on top of whom. He’d had a chance to say no.

As thoughts splayed across his mind, Gray lay on his back in the sand, tempted to just bury himself right then and there, but when he figured that would be akin to walking away from her again—something he’d promised never to do—he righted his trunks and sat up.

He wasn’t going to tower over her.

The next call was all hers.

“Okay, well, I guess that was bound to happen. Got it right out of the way, there, didn’t we?” Sage blurted, walking a small circle around herself, as though looking for something. Her shoes were already hooked around her fingers. The clutch she’d been wearing all night hadn’t come off during their romp.

But then the whole thing had taken less than a minute.

Definitely his worst sexual moment of all time, in terms of respect, consideration, caring, relationship.

And one of the most powerful, incredible minutes he’d ever experienced.

Sage came to a standstill over him. Just stood there. Looking down.

He’d never felt lower in his life.

“Are you waiting for me to apologize?” Her words started out strong. Segued to something akin to petulance by sentence end.

He glanced up at her. “What for? We’re two adults. Clearly consensual.” So why did he feel like he was the one who owed a million apologies?

“I came on pretty strongly,” she said, when he wished she would just let things go and...sit down beside him for a minute or two.

Let his body...and his mind...regroup.