A Fairytale Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

drove all but the last crumb of decency from him—the seamed stockings he had admired earlier were attached to a black silk garter belt.
    A
garter belt
.
    Garter belts drove him insane. He was a sexist pig when it came to garter belts.
    He tried one more time to tell her the truth, but he couldn’t even manage to get her name out.
    “Ahh,” Madeleine whispered. “This is crazy. I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but I think I’m falling in love with you.”
    And on hearing those words, John Patrick Riley of Muleshoe, Texas, knew two things for certain. First, that this would be the most incredible night of his life.
    And second, that it would never be repeated.

Chapter Five
    “D amn, Madeleine,” he said, dropping his shirt to the floor. “You
did
have too much to drink.”
    Feeling curiously bold, she stepped out of her dress. “Drinking just makes me more honest. I’ve never told a man what I’ve just told you. I trust you. Call it instinct, whatever. With you, I feel safe saying anything.”
    He ducked his head, looking endearingly bashful in the dimness as he removed first one shiny black cowboy boot and then the other. She was faintly amused to see that he wore white athletic socks.
    But when he removed his trousers, her amusement changed to sheer, unadulterated lust. She stared at him in the faint glow of the lithophane nightlight near the bed. This man was U.S. Grade-A beefcake. He ought to have a ratings sticker on him.
    “You’re staring, ma’am,” he said.
    She swallowed past the dryness in her throat. “The last time I saw a body like that,” she admitted, “I was in a museum in Italy.”
    He laughed and drew her close, so that she could feel the silky-warm firmness of his muscles and inhale theexpensive scent of his cologne and the unique essence of him—a thousand times more evocative than the cologne.
    “You’re not half-bad yourself, ma’am,” he said, releasing the hook of her strapless bra. He groaned, a compliment more eloquent than words. He skimmed his hands down to caress her, and she had never felt so cherished or secure.
    He seemed to take particular interest in her garter belt. She’d bought it on a whim to go with the vintage dress, never dreaming that anyone would actually see it on her.
    He didn’t just look; he seemed to inhale her through his eyes. Being the object of such rapt, undivided attention was heady indeed. His total being, every inkling of concentration, was centered entirely on her—her pleasure, her sensibilities, her needs, her desires.
    And that, she realized, was why she was going to love this man. He couldn’t care less who she was, where she lived, what she owned. He seemed to anticipate her needs before she did, knowing just where she ached for him, just how she wanted to be touched.
    He lingered over her stockings; he went down on one knee like a modern-day Prince Charming as he rolled the sheer silk down first one leg and then the other. Then he rose to kiss her, his mouth as tender and sweet as his hands were wicked. He eased her down on the bed, and there was a dreamlike quality to the moment. She had a strange sense of déjà vu, and she knew exactly why. She had experienced a moment like this in her dreams. She had never dared to imagine it could actually happen.
    She sighed and arched toward him, winding her arms around his neck and kissing him boldly, using her tongue as he had used his. Her hands went wandering, seeking, even teasing; discovering the shape of him, the way he was made. His was not a physique sculpted by trainersat a gym; he had a sleek, big-bodied healthiness that seemed to come naturally.
    Of course, she didn’t know. There was so little she knew about him. That mysterious edge added to the deliciousness of loving him this way. He showed her kaleidoscope colors and shooting stars; he gave her the sensation of soaring, reaching. Their joining was a beautiful dance, its rhythms as frank and necessary as a