Chapter 11: Christmas Eve

In the dark, Astrid's hands found the buttons of her own shirt before mine.

She undid them one by one, and I heard the soft sound of cloth giving way.

"Slow," I said.

"I don't want slow tonight."

"You said you didn't want to think. Slow is how you stop thinking."

She stilled, and then she laughed under her breath.

"When did you get so wise?"

"Four days ago, when you held my hands to the stove."

I stood and led her to the bunk by the wrist.

I lit the small candle on the shelf, because I wanted to see her.

The flame threw her shadow huge against the log wall, and her face in the glow was wide open.

"Sit," I said.

She sat on the edge of the bunk with her hands in her lap, looking up at me.

I knelt on the floor in front of her and took off her boots, one at a time, and then her socks.

Her feet were cold, and I wrapped my hands around them until they warmed.

"Nobody has ever touched me like this," Astrid said, her voice rough.

"I know."

"You make me want everything."

"Then take everything," I said.

I pressed my mouth to her ankle, and she drew a sharp breath.

I worked upward from there, an inch at a time.

By the time I reached her knee she was gripping the blanket with both fists.

"Bea."

"Not yet."

I unbuttoned her pants and drew them and her underwear down, and she lifted her hips to help me before spreading her thighs.

When I looked up, her eyes were shut and her mouth was parted.

"Look at me," I said, the way she had said it to me in the bunk.

She looked, and the candle shook in her eyes.

I took my time.

I kissed the inside of her thigh, felt the long muscle tremble under my lips, and then settled my mouth directly over her wet pussy.

She put her hand in my hair, lightly at first, then tighter.

My tongue licked a slow, flat stripe up to her clit and I pushed two fingers deep inside her.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Snowed In With the Park Ranger Who Hates Rangers from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.