All I Want For Christmas Is You by Jessica Scott

total of one sock, one pair of long john bottoms, a T-shirt and a toothbrush. No toothpaste.” He finally looked up at her. “Why are you here, Sam?”
    The wariness was instantly back, her eyes shuttering closed. “You didn’t answer my text,” she said quietly.
    “The phone still works.”
    She looked down at her booted feet. “I figured it was easier to talk to you in person. You flew all the way here and all that.”
    He looked at her for a long moment. A thousand ideas and harebrained schemes raced through his brain. She was here. They were alone.
    Hell, he was already naked.
    And hello, didn’t his body like the scenic detour his brain had decided to take.
    He swallowed and grabbed his pants off the floor.
    He met her gaze just as the fan kicked on in the small heater.
    He dropped the towel.
    And refused to look away as her gaze dropped down his body and back up again. He stood there, naked and exposed and completely at her mercy.
    He wondered if she knew that she could ask him anything at that moment and he’d probably do it.
    Her nostrils flared ever so slightly. Her eyes darkened. Just a little.
    It was the only sign that him standing there naked sparked any kind of reaction in her. But she didn’t move. And wasn’t that hell on the ego?
    “I’ve got to go buy some clothes,” he said, dragging his pants over his hips.
    “Going commando?”
    “Does that get you horny, baby?” Her lips twitched at the cheesy line from Austin Powers . A thousand small reactions but they added up to convincing him that he had a chance to fix this. A chance to reach her in whatever darkness had pulled her away from him and drag her back to him. Back to them. “I don’t really have many options right now, do I? Not with the storm coming in. And I have no earthly idea where a laundromat is around here.” He frowned. “I should probably know this but I’m drawing a complete blank. Where the hell can I get clothes?”
    “There’s a small trading post down the road in Greenville or you can ride to Wal-Mart in Newport.”
    “Isn’t Newport like an hour from here?” He usually let her drive when they came home. Their visits hadn’t been so long that he’d learned his way around without GPS.
    “Forty minutes.”
    “Seems like I should get what I need closer to home tonight. Or I could just wait until the storm passes.”
    She shook her head slowly. “You don’t want to be riding around without underwear or socks. If you go off the road, you’ll freeze off some of your bits and pieces.”
    He lifted one brow. “Sounds like you might be concerned with my bits and pieces.”
    She lifted one shoulder. “They’re nice bits and pieces.”
    He grinned and said nothing for a moment, not pressing his advantage in the opening she’d just left him.
    He wanted her. He’d love nothing more than to lay her down in that bed and feel her body surround him. He wanted to savor the heat from her skin, the soft, silken wetness between her thighs. He wanted to feel her gasp as he slid inside her. Wanted to feel her breath on his ear, her nails in his back.
    He wanted that and so much more.
    But looking at her standing near the door, seeing the faint hints of awareness sparking in her eyes, he had an idea.
    It was a terrible, terrible idea.
    It was dark and wicked and would either work beautifully or ruin everything.
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
Chapter Seven
     
     
     
    H e’d asked if she’d go with him. To keep him from getting lost and dying in a snow bank on the side of the road.
    She’d thought about saying no. About heading back to her mother’s house and finishing decorating the Christmas cookies with Natalie and her mom.
    But Natalie was being strangely clingy with her grandmother, so Sam let her be when she’d told her mom she was going to go talk to Patrick.
    “Good,” she’d said simply. “Natalie and I will stay out of trouble. Promise.”
    She’d frowned. “What does that mean, Mom?”
    “It means