A Steele for Christmas Read online

  The nipples of her breasts stiffened even more under the assault of his practiced tongue and the area between her legs was wet from the attention of his fingers. Moments later his mouth replaced his fingers and she screamed out his name.

  “Eli!”

  “I’m here, baby, and I don’t intend on leaving you or letting you leave me,” he whispered huskily.

  And then he was pulling her up on all fours and her pulse quickened, her heart pounded in her chest and heat rushed through her bloodstream when he hovered behind her, grinding his hips against her rounded backside. She felt all of him, as he rubbed his shaft over her hips, seeking the entry to her womanhood from behind.

  He found it and she felt the heat of his chest on her back when he mounted her that way, his strong legs and thick thighs locking her body to his. “I love making love to you, Stacey,” he whispered in a heated breath close to her ear. “But even more important is that I love you in every way a man can possibly love a woman, even this way. Feel the love. Feel the emotional entanglement.”

  And then he thrust inside of her wrapping his arms around her in such a way that her hips were rendered immobile. He began pounding into her hard. Fast. Deep.

  Eli gritted his teeth as he continued to make love to Stacey, frantically, desperately and wildly. Nothing could have prepared him for the intensity of this lovemaking and he knew as feverish as what they were doing was, they were not having sex. They were making love. They would always make love when they came together this way.

  And then an explosion hit her body. The satiny cheeks of her backside began to tremble in a force that nearly bucked him off her. But he held on, continued to thrust inside of her. And when she screamed his name, his body reacted and he erupted and kept on coming inside the woman he loved. The only woman he could ever love.

  When she screamed his name again, he knew there was no way she could assume there was no emotional entanglement between them again.

  Stacey couldn’t move. Even when Eli lowered her body down on the bed then joined her to wrap her into his arms, she was too exhausted to do anything but breathe and that was barely. OMG. That had to be lovemaking at its most intense. Now her body felt limp, drained but totally satisfied.

  “Did I make my point?”

  She heard Eli’s question but was too weak to lift her head to gaze at him. Yes, he had made his point, although it was still hard for her to believe. “You love me,” she said in a voice that still sounded stunned.

  “Yes, I love you and one day I will hear you tell me that you love me back.”

  Stacey fought back the tears as she garnered the strength to lift her head to stare into the beauty of his green eyes. “I love you, Eli. I love you so much and not in a million years did I think you could love me back. I had accepted the kind of marriage we would have and knew after that year I would walk away. I wouldn’t be like Liz and run behind a man who didn’t want me.”

  He reached out and caressed the side of her face with his fingers. “Now you know how much I want you and just how much I love you. To me, one is just as strong as the other. You are my life and on Christmas Day I intend to make you my forever wife.”

  “So I’ll get a Steele for Christmas,” she said as her lips curled into a happy smile.

  “Baby, you’ll have a Steele for the rest of your life. That, I promise you.” And then he lowered his head and captured her lips, sealing the vow he’d just made.

  Epilogue

  Christmas Day

  Eli glanced around the room where his wedding reception was being held. The Steeles liked getting together and when the reason was a wedding, that made things even better. The small wedding he and Stacey planned had gotten kicked by the wayside when a number of people wanted to witness for themselves another one of Drew’s boys being taken off the bachelor list.

  He looked over at his four remaining single brothers who were standing across the room with their cousin Vanessa, her husband, Cameron, and their eight-month-old son, Steele Cameron Cody. They had gotten over their irritation with him since they all liked Stacey. Besides, since all four were convinced what happened to him and Galen was a fluke and in no way would happen to them, they felt safe and secure in their bachelor status.

  At the rehearsal dinner last night, his cousin Taylor had announced that she and her husband Dominic were expecting another child in the summertime, and everyone had celebrated that good news. And it was good to hear that Marcus, their cousin Chance’s oldest son was doing well at the university and had decided to go to law school. Eli was pleased to hear that.

  Eli’s gaze shifted to his parents, namely his mother. She was happy. She’d been able to bag two daughters-in-law within a year’s time. That wasn’t bad. His marriage to Stacey had given his single brothers a slight reprieve, but he’d warned them not to get too comfortable. Their mother wouldn’t be satisfied until they were all happily married.

  He shifted his gaze yet again to come to rest on Cohen, who was talking to Dee. He remembered what Stacey had told him about the couple, but for some reason, they didn’t seem too happy with each other now. He wondered what was going on with that.

  He glanced down at his watch. Stacey had gone upstairs to change. They would be leaving for Paris in a few hours. Every time he thought about the fact that she was legally his wife, he felt a rush of heat consume him. She was everything he could possibly want in a woman.

  A few days ago, he had presented her with a huge treasure chest and when she’d opened it she looked at him confused. Until he had explained that all the items inside the chest had been things he’d purchased from her shop for no apparent reason, other than to pretend he wanted to buy something just to see her. There were magazines he hadn’t read, candy bars he’d never eaten and a lot of other miscellaneous items that had probably totaled up to a lot of money that he didn’t consider as wasted. Seeing all the items collected made him realize that he had loved her even then.

  And then he couldn’t help but chuckle at the time a couple of weeks ago when he and Stacey had traveled to Memphis to attend Dee’s parents’ anniversary party. He had made sure everyone, especially Wallace and Gail, had known just how much he loved and adored Stacey. He was certain he hadn’t left any doubt in anyone’s mind that not marrying Wallace Flowers was the best thing she could have done and the man really had done her a favor.

  “Looking for me?”

  He turned and smiled. His wife had surprised him and come from behind. He raked his gaze up and down her outfit. She was wearing a cute short red dress and a pair of black leather boots. Since he’d told her how much he enjoyed seeing her legs, she made it a point to show them to him every chance she got.

  “Yes, I was looking for you,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Are you ready to start our honeymoon, sweetheart?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes, I’m more than ready.”

  He lowered his head and kissed her and knew it was just one of many they would share during their lifetime together.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1435-4

  A STEELE FOR CHRISTMAS

  Copyright © 2011 by Brenda Streater Jackson

  All rights reserved. The reproduction, transmission or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission. For permission please contact Kimani Press, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Toronto, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ® and TM are trademarks. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and/or other countries.

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  * Steele Family titles

  † Westmoreland Family titles

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue