Merry Kisses (Riverbend Romance 5) by Valerie Comer Page B

Her laughing eyes shone up at him above cheeks rosy from chill. Above lips curving in invitation.
    Heath scooped a handful of snow and pressed it into a tight ball with both hands.
    “You wouldn’t dare!”
    “You don’t think so? I’m just accepting the challenge you’ve set before me.” He pinned her against the snow with one arm and a knee, showing her the snowball. Then he carefully slid it across her forehead, across her cheeks, and across her mouth in a slow zigzag.
    She stared at him, eyes wide.
    Heath tossed the snowball over his shoulder and heard it skitter down the path. “I just want you to know I could have smeared your face with that. I could have scrubbed it into your hair.” The brown hair that lay splayed across the white snow with a sparkle of its own. “I could have pushed it down your neck.” He leaned even closer. Mere centimeters separated their faces. “But I didn’t.”
    “I would’ve deserved it.” Her words were only a breath, as soft as the gently falling snow.
    “We don’t always get what we deserve,” he whispered back. He bent the remaining distance and brushed his lips across hers just once, never breaking contact with her eyes as they widened.
    “Heath?”
    Did she have any idea what that brief connection had done to his insides? Fireworks ricocheted from side to side throughout his entire body. Heath rolled over and clambered to his feet before offering her his hand. A moment later she stood on the path facing him.
    Heath stuffed his gloves in his pocket and fingered the clumps of snow out of her long brown hair. It was a mess — a gorgeous mess — tumbling past her shoulders and down her back, where it curled against his fingers as though laying claim.
    Time stood still. His hands abandoned her hair for her waist and tugged her closer, which was barely possible.  
    Her arms wrapped around him as she nestled against his chest.
    Heath inhaled. Exhaled. Felt her matching breath. Lord? I hope this is Your answer, because I’m going for it.
    He brushed his cheek across her damp hair then dropped a petal-soft kiss on each eyelid in turn, feeling the flutter of her lashes in response. Her face tipped to welcome his. This time, when his lips met hers, it was a seal, not a request.

    * * *

    Sonya’s knees all but dissolved under the sensations coursing through her body. Only the contact with Heath’s lips kept her upright, as though they provided a magnet that held her in place. She clung to him with all the strength she could muster and felt the muscles in his arms around her ribcage ripple in response. His hands splayed across her back. Even through her coat she could feel the warmth of his touch.
    Heath deepened the kiss, claiming her, and she responded in kind. She was his. He was hers. For all the flirting she’d done in the past five minutes — daring him to catch her and conquer her — she hadn’t expected the depth or the tumultuousness of her emotions. She didn’t give way lightly, though Heath had seen little evidence of reluctance.
    Never had she felt more alive. She’d waited twenty-seven years for a connection this deep. Could this really be love? The true, forever kind of love that Kelly, Sarah, and Carly claimed found them over the past few months?
    Was Heath the one?
    He pulled away, just far enough to rest his forehead against hers. “Sonya.” He sounded out of breath. Like his, her lungs were starved for air. It was all she could do not to gulp in deep mouthfuls, but every other cell of her being was starving for this man. To repeat the soul-changing experience she’d just had.
    Sonya stretched the tiny space between them and caught his mouth again, tasting him, a bit more controlled this time. He responded with tantalizing kisses, lightly exploring her mouth, her cheeks, her throat.
    A few minutes later he slowed then stopped, his face pressed against hers. Only the movement of his hands against her back and hips proved the restraint he