Overnight Cinderella by Katherine Garbera Page B

More than anything in the world he wanted her moving under him on a bed.
    Cami tucked her bare feet under her and leaned against the back of the sofa. Her eyes were sleepy and held a dreamy expression.
    â€œLasagna always reminds me of Christmas,” she said.
    Lasagna would always remind him of her, he thought, but kept silent. She’d enchanted him in the restaurant ordering in Italian and telling him about her grandmother who always searched Cami’s cabinets when she visited looking for bottled tomato sauce.
    She took a sip of her Frangelico. “What reminds you of Christmas?”
    Duke looked away. Nothing and everything reminded him of Christmas. It seemed the one timeof year that he’d craved family more so than at any other time. Rebecca had been the same way. Both of them trying to make some sort of Saturday Evening Post picture-perfect holiday and neither acknowledging that they’d failed.
    â€œCome on, Duke, tell me your secrets.”
    â€œWhy don’t you tell me yours?”
    â€œOh, so you want to bargain?” She swirled the amber liquid in her snifter and then sighed.
    â€œOkay. When I was a kid my parents spoiled us hopelessly. There was always a mountain of presents under the tree, but I had this secret wish…”
    â€œTell me,” he said, leaning closer, seeing in his mind’s eye the quiet boy looking under the cheaply decorated tree for a present marked Twelve-Year-Old Boy.
    â€œI wanted to be beautiful like Gabriella, my sister.”
    He didn’t know what to say. True, Cami wasn’t classically beautiful, but there was a sensuality and freshness she exuded that made him forget other prettier faces.
    â€œI know that sounds shallow, but it was hard living in her shadow.”
    â€œNo. I know what you mean.”
    â€œYou do?”
    He nodded, taking a long sip of his after-dinner drink. He let the hazelnut and berry liquor wash over his tongue and wished that it were Scotch instead of brandy.
    â€œWhat did you wish for?” she asked, her voice soft and sweet.
    He looked into her wide brown eyes and realized he couldn’t tell her while he was looking at her. Hell, he shouldn’t be here at this moment with this woman.
    Instead he brushed his mouth against her ear. “I’ll tell you what I’d wish for now.”
    â€œWhat?”
    He whispered into her ear the delicious things he wanted them to do together when they made love.
    She blushed. Duke pulled her to him. He couldn’t wait any longer to feel her in his arms. To taste her sweet lips and to touch her soft skin.
    Her arms wrapped around his neck and held him tightly while her lips sought his. He may have suggested the embrace but Cami took complete control. Where had her ardent response come from? Cami was a sweet innocent who’d let him have control up until this moment. And he wasn’t sure he liked her new aggressiveness.
    Moving his head to the side, he thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, calling upon every practiced move he knew to wrest control from her. His hands slid up her torso and searched out her nipples. They hardened at the first touch of his caressing fingers. Cami moaned in a softly seductive tone, which drew him deeper into the web he purposely wove.
    He molded her flesh and knew in a blinding instant he had to taste her. He slid his mouth from hers down her neck. Slim and graceful, her skin smelled sweet. Her pulse beat wildly at the base of her throat and he nipped at it. Cami started then tightened her hold on him.
    His lips left her neck to suckle at her left breast through the fabric of her shirt. Yes, he thought. This is what he’d needed. This woman with her quirky grin, generous heart and energetic ways, setting him on fire.
    He wanted more than a kiss, but the soft woman who’d shared her secret longings wasn’t a woman he could love and leave. Reluctantly he let her go.
    Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated and her