The Twelve Hot Days of Christmas Read online

  “Robert,” a silky voice intoned behind him, and he turned around, Minette still attached, to find Mirelle grinning at him.

  Minette released their kiss, dropping her head to his shoulder with a contented sigh, and he set her on the ground. Once steady, the petite beauty ran over to Martine and hugged her sister. They giggled and waved at him.

  Mirelle placed her hands on either side of his face and gave him a peck on each cheek, then placed her full, red lips against his. With a mew, Mirelle stepped back and fanned herself with a graceful, well-manicured hand.

  “We’ve taught you well, Robert,” Mirelle complimented, her sisters nodding. “You always were a good student.”

  “And you three always know how to say hello with such flair.”

  Mirelle strolled over to Martine and Minette and situated her statuesque form behind her curvy and petite sisters, respectively. They all beamed appreciatively at him.

  Uh-oh. He was fucked. Or about to be.

  “Ladies,” Rob warned, but it was no use. The batting of eyelashes had begun in earnest.

  “Oh, Robby, please don’t make us go. I want to ride on the big boat,” Minette begged, her lip already puckered in a practiced pout.

  “I want to ride on the men who ride on the big boat,” Martine added, blowing him a kiss and winking.

  “Sisters, sisters, I think Robert knows us too well to believe we have only his best interests at heart. Is this not true, my dove?”

  Rob nodded.

  “Robert, my sisters and I are here to help you, to pay our debt to you so we can stop worrying about your happiness,” Mirelle explained.

  Martine and Minette nodded with so much enthusiasm, Minette’s breast popped out of her bright green halter top. She scolded it in French and tucked it back in, but it peeked out the edge of the lucky material. Rob shook his head.

  “You don’t owe me anything. You gave me etiquette lessons, remember? And I wrote a nice little story about your average, ordinary diner, no matter what the locals say about it.”

  “But we do,” Mirelle continued. “You refuse to succumb to our charms because you will have to forget us. None of the others cares.”

  “Because none of the others know they’re going to forget. I do. You guys should be more careful when an investigative journalist starts asking questions. Now, why are you really here, ladies?”

  “We’re here to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life.”

  Rob blinked, taken aback. So they knew his plan and came to stop him before he made a terrible mistake? Shit. Bella couldn’t be a mistake. Rob wanted her too much.

  The last year had been tough. He’d watched his best friend’s younger sister and the drip she dated, Mark, get closer and closer. He knew they had to be fucking, and it drove him crazy.

  He pictured her writhing beneath the creep and wanted to rip his head off. He thought he’d blown it until he heard about the break-up. He booked passage on the Sea Empress and planned on surprising her. Beyond that, he had no idea what to do.

  “I think I can take care of myself,” he said, trying to process it all.

  Mirelle’s eyes narrowed as if she were addressing the dumbest man on Earth, and perhaps she was. She nodded over her shoulder at something behind her. “So you can take care of that?”

  Rob followed her gaze and went cold. Bella, his Bella, hurried toward the door to customs, her short chestnut waves blowing in the wind, as she jostled through the crowd with her satchel. He hardened instantly.

  Her yellow halter dress highlighted her best assets, setting off the elegant curve of her hips and the softness of her tummy, not to mention her round, firm breasts. Even at this distance, she took his breath away.

  His stomach dropped a second later. Bella stopped, looking around as if someone called her name. From somewhere to her left, Mark burst through the crowd, and, as Rob scowled helplessly, he pulled a surprised Bella aside. She stared at Mark, her head tilted as if she didn’t believe what she saw, and Rob’s gut twisted.

  Mark dropped to his knee and placed her hand to his chest. Rob couldn’t hear what he said, but from the crowd’s reaction, he guessed Mark was proposing.

  Rob grabbed the handle of his carry-on and headed the opposite direction, away from the three goddesses and the vision of the woman whom he wanted, giving herself to some idiot. For the second time.

  Mirelle, Minette, and Martine, tits jiggling and hips wiggling, hustled in front of him, blocking his path. He glanced at each of them in turn.

  “You are in our favor, Robert,” Mirelle said. “You truly care for us. We want you to be happy. You want her, do you not, Robert?”

  Robert met Mirelle’s gaze, and he marveled at the wisdom glittering in the depths of her blue eyes.

  “Then go get her before it’s too late, mon cher.”

  With Mirelle, Martine, and Minette cheering him on, he headed toward Bella and the opportunity to show her just how good they could be together.

  * * * *

  Bella still couldn’t believe Mark had the nerve to put her on the spot like this. How could she have ever thought she loved this conniving asshole? If he thought he’d get a yes by putting her on display, he was fishing off the wrong pier.

  She had just opened her mouth to tell him to fuck off when Rob Waldridge stepped through the crowd, his tight jeans and fitted T-shirt showing off his incredible physique. Mark continued to talk, but Bella couldn’t hear anything except the rush of blood in her ears.

  Rob stared at her, his eyes roving up and down her body as if she wore no clothing at all. Heat rose in her cheeks and the flutters in her stomach inched lower. Her panties grew tighter and wetter.

  He had a hard-on. She saw it, and he knew she saw it. He shifted his weight and for the first time since she’d known him, she realized how well hung he really was. Already some of the rumors were true. Her pussy twitched.

  “Get on the ship, Bella,” Rob commanded, his deep sexy rumble leaving no room for argument, but she tried anyway.

  “I—I…Mark’s proposing,” she stammered, hoping no one in the crowd noticed the tips of her breasts pebbling under Rob’s intense scrutiny.

  “Get on the ship, Bella,” Rob repeated, and made a swooping gesture.

  For reasons she couldn’t explain, Bella yanked her hand from Mark’s and shoved her way through the crowd, leaving him open-mouthed. Rob followed. The heat from his body and his male scent intoxicated her. Her skin tingled. She walked in a daze.

  Once aboard, he only spoke four words, and the flutters planted themselves firmly in her moist cunt, begging for attention.

  “Your room or mine?”

  * * * *

  The tiny hallway on deck 4 didn’t allow for much distance between two people, and Rob made the most of it. He kept his hand on Bella’s lower back, guiding her to his cabin. Her submission to his commands surprised him, and he liked it.

  A click of the OceanKey later, with all extraneous items having landed in various spots on the floor, Rob pinned Bella to the back of the stateroom door. He crushed her full, pink lips with his, urging them apart so he could explore the warm wetness within. She obliged, and his tongue probed hers. Bella tasted of rich chocolate, a delectable treat, and he set about devouring her.

  He moved his body against hers, letting her feel his erection. She stared at him wide-eyed as the smell of her desire drifted up between them. Her cheeks turned pink.

  “So you belong to Mark?” he said, running his hands up and down her body.

  “No. I belong to no man,” she said, leaning into his touch.

  “You’re in my room. You belong to me now. You understand?”

  Bella nodded, trembling. He lifted the hem of her dress and slid his hand between her thighs, massaging the damp material covering her mons. She was hot and wet. Rob stepped back and licked his lips, deciding where to begin.

  In one swift move, Rob reached behind her and tugged the halter tie loose. The cloth puddled at Bella’s fe
et. Holding his gaze, she shimmied out of her panties, and he nearly exploded.

  Rob drank in the sight of her. Soft, curvy, exquisite. Her breasts were just the right size, not too big or too small, with dusky brown nipples pointed directly at him.

  Her soft tummy accentuated the flare of her round hips. The juncture of her thighs sported a honey-colored patch full enough to suggest she didn’t wax, but she didn’t need to. Nature had blessed her with a glorious, inviting mons that awakened a primal mating urge inside him.

  A garden of delights awaited the man lucky enough to find himself between her legs, and he had a sudden urge to plant some seed.

  He reached behind her and locked the door.

  * * * *

  Bella watched as Rob made his way across the room. His confident stride and the way his muscles rippled and flexed as he thoughtlessly tossed his T-shirt on the loveseat sent delicious heat flowing through her body. Crisp brown hair covered his chest and formed a line dipping into his waistband, mesmerizing her.

  His jeans and briefs joined the T-shirt a moment later. He stood, gloriously naked, his large erection dripping and pointing at her from a patch of thick, wiry brown hair.

  He wanted her. Her pussy swelled with longing.

  Rob dug through his bag, searching for something. He held up a silky red scarf and yanked on its opposite ends, as if testing it.

  “Come to me, Bella.”

  She obeyed, and Rob turned her away from him and brought the scarf around in front of her. Catching the other end in his hand, he lifted it to her eyes and gently tied it in place.

  Rob stroked her back, kissing and nipping her neck. He rubbed his cock against her ass, and she tingled all over. The sensations, made even more powerful by her lack of sight, overwhelmed her. She leaned against him.

  “No,” he said, his voice husky with desire. “Stand up.”

  Rob moved in front of her. He suckled one nipple, then the other, causing the tips to ache with need. His lips burned her skin, tracing a path from her breasts to her navel and lower. When his tongue invaded her pussy, caressing her clit, she gasped and grabbed his shoulders for support.

  “You taste good, Bella. I could eat your pussy all night long, you know that?”

  Bella was nearly speechless, lost in ecstasy.

  “I want…”

  Rob interrupted her. “No, Bella, this isn’t about what you want. It’s about what I want. Do you know what I want?”

  “No,” Bella whispered.

  “Then I’ll show you.”

  Something soft touched her shoulder. Another scarf, maybe? Whatever it was, Rob let it drift across her breasts. He crossed her hands in front of her and laid the material across her wrists, teasing her with the coolness and texture. He wrapped her wrists and tied them tight.

  Bella winced, the unaccustomed pressure suddenly frightening and uncomfortable. Rob slid a finger under the binding and moved it back and forth. Bella relaxed.

  Rob picked her up and carried her a few steps, setting her down gently. The floor-length curtain separating the bed from the loveseat tickled her back.

  “Lift your arms,” Rob commanded, and Bella obeyed.

  Rob moved her bound hands around above her head, adjusting the material on something. The warmth of his body and the moist skin of his cock bumping into her as he worked produced an ache inside her.

  When she tried to drop her arms, she couldn’t. She balanced there, naked, blindfolded, bound. Totally exposed, Rob could do whatever he wanted with her and she couldn’t stop him. She didn’t want to stop him.

  “Bella, I’m going to fuck you senseless. You understand?”

  Bella’s voice refused to work, so she tried to nod even though it wasn’t easy with her arms over her head. Her pussy throbbed. She was so swollen and so ready to be fucked. He knew it, but made her say it anyway.

  “Do you want me to?”

  Bella licked her lips and nodded. “Yes,” she managed to whisper. “Fuck me hard, Rob.”

  * * * *

  Rob started at her ankle and licked his way up her calf to her thigh. His wet tongue caressed her skin, enticing goosebumps the closer he came to her pussy. He licked her inner thighs, adding his wetness to hers, and gripped her soft ass.

  His rough fingers massaged her cheeks as he rubbed his face in her mound. Rob spread her legs and feasted on her, sucking her clit and licking her folds until she squirmed, the exquisite pleasure almost too much to bear.

  The tension building for years now morphed into the beginning of a desperate need for immediate release. When Rob’s hot tongue slipped inside her tight opening, teasing her, she thrust her hips forward, needing more.

  “Fuck me, please, Rob,” Bella begged. “I can’t take any more.”

  “I’ll fuck you when I’m ready, and I’m not ready yet.”

  Rob wound his arm around Bella’s waist, steadying her and penetrating her with one finger. He waited for her body to accept it before pushing even deeper.

  He rubbed her pussy, adding pressure to her most sensitive spot. Her pleasure built and built. He brought her to the edge and she lifted herself to him. Rob pushed two fingers into her tight hole, stretching her and filling her.

  He thrust gently, moving in and out, settling into a steady rhythm, stroking her and filling her as she moved her hips back and forth. Her pussy spasmed, grasping at his fingers.

  Suddenly, everything stopped. She panted, naked and titillated. She wasn’t the only one. With the room silent, she could hear his breathing, as heavy as hers. Without warning, he swept her up into his arms with a feral moan and unhooked her wrists.

  A moment of weightlessness later, Bella found herself bouncing on the mattress. She barely got her bearings before Rob mounted her. He crawled up her body, positioning himself between her legs, and pressed his swollen cock against her dripping opening.

  She placed her wrists behind his head and lifted her hips to take him in. With one thrust, Rob planted himself firmly inside her, sunken to the base. He stopped long enough to kiss her, letting her taste her own flavor, and it set her on fire. She tasted good, she thought. She tasted like a woman. Like a woman who wanted a man. And Rob was that man.

  Rob rode her hard, pushing deep and pulling out. His cock took up where his fingers left off, and the delicious friction brought Bella to the precipice again, ready to fall into a swirling pool of sensation the next time he entered her.

  Everything went white. Waves of ecstasy emanated from her pussy throughout her entire body. Tiny sparkles of light glittered in her brain, floating behind her eyelids and filtering through the white-hot bliss enveloping her soul. She screamed when she came, and continued to scream as her rapture ebbed and flowed along with Rob’s increased pounding.

  Just when she thought she could catch a breath, Rob tensed and erupted with a howl, filling her with his warm jism and bathing her pussy with his come. He slid in and out of her so easily, reveling in his climax as he held her tightly beneath him.

  He continued to ride his orgasm, pumping what seemed like gallons of himself inside her, letting her feel his release as much as he did, holding her hips as close to him as he could. After several seconds, he slowed, pushing his cock deep inside her one last time. He buried his face in her neck.

  Bella wanted to feather his body with light caresses, but her hands were tied. All she could do was hold him to her as he lay on top of her, breathing heavily and grunting satisfaction. Bella, her body humming, took a chance and kissed his hair. He stiffened and stilled, and for a moment, Bella feared she’d done something wrong.

  His lips found hers and told her otherwise. They kissed for an eternity, feeding off the intimacy of the act until Rob broke away and swore.

  “Damn, woman.”

  Bella laughed and thought she heard Rob chuckle. He rolled to her side and settled her against him.

  “Rob?”

  “Yes, Bella?”

  “When are you going to untie me and let me go?”

>   “Never.”

  This holiday was shaping up to be the best one ever and the ship hadn’t even left the dock yet. How did that happen?

  “Rob?”

  “Yes, Bella,” he murmured in a seductive, sleepy tone.

  “Merry Christmas.”

  * * * *

  Days later, Mirelle leaned out over the railing on the highest deck of the ship, Minette beside her with her head on her sister’s shoulder. They watched Robert and Bella walk down the gangplank, arms around each other, smiling. Martine, otherwise engaged in activities of a carnal nature with a waiter from the Good Ship Lollipop restaurant, depended on their narration to keep her informed as her amour pummeled her from behind.

  “Oh uh oui yes oui oui!” she cried. “What are they doing now?”

  “Robert gathered her in his arms and is kissing her breathless.”

  “Ooh, how sweet. Oh, right there!”

  “Now they’re waving at us.”

  “Wave—uh huh uh uh uh—for me,” Martine panted. “Oooo la la la la!”

  Mirelle waved while Minette applauded the waiter’s performance. He fell over, his flaccid cock smacking his thigh. He was snoring before he hit the ground.

  Martine suddenly stiffened.

  “Sisters!” she cried. “I have gained knowledge.”

  Mirelle and Minette grinned at each other, and the three French hens, being skilled in the ways of love, knew exactly what to do.

  Four Calling Birds

  by Isabel Roman

  Chapter One

  Lark Summers strode across the American University campus, bundled against the frigid Washington December air. She took a moment to admire the Christmas tree in the center of the courtyard, but for only a moment. She didn’t want to be late for her favorite professor—er, meeting. Her cell phone chirped and she frantically fumbled through her bag so as not to miss the call.

  “What are you going to do?” her excited friend asked. “Are you going to do it? I hope you’re absolutely sure he’s not gay!”

  “He’s not gay,” Lark sighed, tired of this question. “And yes. I intend to tonight.”