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“You’ve never said that to anyone?”
“Nope.”
“What about Dalia?”
With his eyes open and fixed on hers, he shook his head and then kissed her again. “I was saving it for you.”
“Gavin,” she said with a sigh. “Please don’t walk away from me again.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“I love you, too. I’ve loved you for so long I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love you.” Ella would never forget the way he looked at her as he kissed her again and again and again.
They began to pull at clothes, equally frantic in their efforts to bare each other.
The fla
This was madness, she thought. Utter madness. And love. Gavin Guthrie loved her. In light of that amazing revelation, all the pain and agony of the last few months fell away into the nothingness of the past. What did it matter now that they had this, now that they had each other? He plunged into her, his fingers digging into her shoulder and hip as he held her in place for his fierce possession.
“God, Ella . . . You feel so good. So hot and tight.” He swooped down on her mouth, his tongue mimicking the strokes of his cock as his chest hair abraded her nipples.
It was too much. It was not enough. It was everything she’d always known it would be but so much more, too. He’d never been like this before, unleashed and unrestrained, and she loved it. She loved him. How freeing it was to be able to admit that to herself and him, too.
He broke the kiss and shifted his focus to her nipple, sucking and tugging and licking while she held on tight to his hair, as if she could control the uncontrollable.
“Ahh, Ella. Ella, Ella, Ella . . . I love you so much.”
His words triggered the release that had been building from the moment he brushed his lips over her knuckles. She came so hard she saw stars.
“Oh Christ . . . Ella . . .” Groaning loudly, he rode her orgasm into his own, surging into her repeatedly until he dropped, spent, on top of her. “Wow.”
“Mmm, wow indeed.” She ran her fingers through the damp strands of his hair, loving everything about him, even when he was sweaty. That thought made her giggle.
“What’s so fu
“I was just thinking that I even love your sweat.”
“That’s sexy, babe.”
“It is. I love that I made you sweaty.”
“You make me very sweaty, among other things.” He ran his hand over her hip, up to her ribs, stopping to cup her breast. “Are we going to be okay, Ella? Are we going to be able to make this work?”
“As long as you stay with me rather than ru
“I will. I’m here to stay.”
“Then we’re going to be just fine.”
* * *
They slept in the next morning and stopped at Megan’s diner for breakfast before heading to their afternoon shift at the Christmas tree farm. As they got out of Gavin’s truck, Landon walked over to greet them. He wore his usual seasonal uniform of heavy coveralls, a skullcap and leather gloves. His face was red and ruddy from the hours spent outside in the cold. He shook hands with Gavin.
“Thanks a lot for coming to help,” Landon said.
“My pleasure.”
“I’m not sure we can afford a professional tree cutter of your caliber,” Landon said with a teasing smile.
“I’ll give you the friends and family rate.” Gavin paused before he added, “Thanks for what you did last night, Landon. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”
“You didn’t,” Landon said, his amiable expression hardening. “He did, and we don’t want his kind around here. Personally, I can’t believe anyone in this town would say such a thing to you, knowing who you lost over there.”
“Means a lot to me. Thanks again.”
Ella rested her hand on Gavin’s back, offering her support.
He smiled at her and put his arm around her. “Is this where we go our separate ways?”
“Yep,” she said. “I’ll be over there.” Ella pointed to the shack where her mother and Aunt Ha
“Come on, Gavin,” Landon said. “I’ve got a whole bunch of cutting for you to do.” In addition to the tag-and-cut program, the Stillman Family Christmas Tree Farm supplied trees to retailers all over the state and the rest of New England.
“I love to cut,” Gavin said. Before he let Landon lead him away, he kissed Ella square on the lips in front of her brother, her mother, her aunt and anyone else who might’ve been looking. “Save some hot chocolate for me.”
“Oh, um, I will.”
He smiled at her before he walked away, whistling as he went.
Ella watched him go, her lips tingling from the kiss. In four hours, they could make their escape and return to his place until family di
“What?” she asked them.
“You,” Ha
“It’s certainly not all of a sudden.” Ella stepped into the small wooden structure, where the scent of chocolate and cider mixed with the pervasive fragrance of Christmas coming from the thousands of trees on the property. Ella loved it here. She always had.
“Is that right?” Ha
“Uh-huh,” Ella said.
“You approve of this?” Ha
“Hardly matters if I do,” Molly said. “Ella is a grown woman who knows her own heart. But for what it’s worth, I think the world of Gavin, just like I thought the world of his brother.”
“He sure is easy on the eyes,” Ha
“You don’t know the half of it,” Ella said with a dirty wink.
“Oh my ears!” Ha
“Thank you, Auntie.”
“I’ll talk to you this week,” Ha
“Yes, you will.”
After Ha
It would be even more so this year, with Hunter and Megan’s wedding the weekend before the holiday.
Watching the kids consume their donuts with barely restrained glee filled Ella with yearning for the family she’d nearly given up on having. Last night, Gavin had told her he loved her. In the bright light of day, everything seemed possible now that she knew for sure he felt that way about her. That changed everything.
“You’re fairly glowing today, my dear,” Molly said as she doled out cider to another young couple who were heading off to find their tree.
“I’m happy.”
“It makes me happy to see you happy. You’re in love then?”
“Madly.” What a relief—an overwhelmingly powerful relief—to be able to admit how she felt about Gavin. Finally.
“How does he feel?”
“The same.”
“Oh, El,” Molly said, tearing up. “That’s so wonderful.”
“Yes, it is.” Ella gazed out at the distant fields, where she could see Gavin working beside her brother as they loaded trees onto a flatbed. “It might seem like it happened fast to everyone else, but it didn’t. There was nothing fast about it.”
“I know that, sweetheart. We all do.”
“I guess I wasn’t as circumspect as I thought I was when it came to him.”