As Xenia herself had just learned, having sex early in a relationship really seemed to up
the zip factor.
Not That she was having a relationship with Justin. She wasn't, she knew that. No matter how intense their sex had been last night, no matter how close to him she'd felt. A new closeness. But that still made this nothing more than an affair. And heck, if all affairs were like this, she was beginning to understand why people had them, even if they went nowhere.
She lifted her gaze from the white computer screen to the white blanket of snow beyond the window and remembered being pressed against that very glass last night, yipping and yowling her head off. Then shecaught her breath, her pussy tingling beneath her jogging pants.
Get back to work, she told herself.
At the end of the last scene, Xenia stopped to freshen her coffee, then returned to the computer. Outside, the first snow to fall since her arrival began to waft down in soft, pretty flakes. She thought of Justin's silly pet name for her snowflake and smiled.
That's when she heard his footsteps on the stairs. He'd slept in this morning, but she'd refused to let herself stay in bed with him. She'd been burning to write and thinking that snuggling too much with her lover could only lead to her doom.
"Hey, snowflake, what's shakin?"
She turned to find his hair mussed, and the lower half of his body clad in flannel pants dotted with miniature beer mugs, which she thought cute. His bare chest, however, far surpassed cute.
"My book's shakin'," she said, getting to her feet. "Sleepyhead."
He cast a lazy grin. "You wore me out last night."
She met him halfway across the room in a comfy embrace. "Try having four orgasms in one night, buddy," she teased.
He tilted his head, peering wistful y off into the distance. "I did that once. Many years ago, back when I was a young stud."
"What are you now?"
"A more mature stud," he said with one arched brow, "who's only good for a mere two or three." He concluded with a wink.
Her breasts practically swelled as she remembered their shower, and their sex in the window. "Mmm, last night's two were heavenly." She lifted a small kiss to his sumptuous mouth.
"I was thinking," he said slowly, "that we could make today fun, too in a different way."
"Oh?"
"Why don't you let me steal you away from your work for an afternoon on the slopes."
Xenia pulled in her breath, weighing the invitation. Part of her was thrilled, and dying to accept. She hadn't skied in ages and knew she'd enjoy spending a snowy day with Justin, even if he had to give her a refresher course on the finer points of the sport.
"Fresh powder coming down," he said, motioning toward the window in an attempt to sway her. And she was just about to say yes when she stopped herself. "I can't, Justin."
He looked sincerely disappointed. "Really?"
"I've backed myself into a corner with this book," she explained. Which was the truth. "I have a looming deadline, and if I stay on my current pace, I might be able to keep paying my rent. But if I stop writing now, even for a day, there's a chance I'l lose my rhythm I'l get too far away from the story and won't be able to get back into it with the same speed." She pressed her palms to his sexy, muscular chest. "I would
love to ski with you, but I really can't. Forgive me?"
She couldn't quite read his eyes when he stayed silent for a minute, but he finally said, "Make it up to me later?"
"Any way you want" She dropped her hands to his ass and squeezed. Of course, she'd left out all the other practical reasons she was turning him down. Besides having a book to write and bil s to pay, she also had a heart to protect. This was al about sex, her and him, and if she let it become about anything more, she feared she'd start getting too attached to him. Hell, maybe she already was she doubted she could share such intense intimacy and not feel a sense of loss when it ended.
