Christmas Alpha Read online

  And it was Finn’s guess that she wasn’t even aware of it.

  He was very much aware of it as he followed her into the studio and watched her sit down on the ivory sheets.

  He had photographed nudes before, dozens of them in the early days of his career, and he had always approached it clinically, no matter how beautiful the model. He had only been interested in how the woman looked through the lens of his camera.

  It was totally different with Eva. She was different. She wasn’t a professional model, for one thing, and her earlier bravado had deserted her now that they were back in the studio. He could feel her tension as he moved forward and posed her before stepping back to look at the result.

  He had placed Eva kneeling on the ivory sheets, facing him, legs slightly apart, her back straight and thrusting those full breasts forward.

  Sweet Jesus, she was sensuality personified!

  Finn drew in a deep breath and retreated behind the safety of his camera before he forgot the reason they were both here. Unfortunately for his aching cock, Eva looked just as good through the lens of his camera as she did in the flesh.

  She also looked terrified.

  “Try to relax, Eva,” he advised gruffly.

  Hah, that was easy for him to say, he wasn’t the one kneeling on silk sheets wearing only his underwear!

  Eva’s mother had always warned her that one day her fiery temper would get her into trouble—and it looked as if today was going to be that day.

  What had she been thinking, throwing off her clothes like that, strutting down the hallway half-naked in order to challenge a man like Finn Devlin?

  She doubted she had been thinking at all beyond showing him she wasn’t the little prude he obviously thought her to be.

  Well she had certainly succeeded, if that had been her intention!

  “I said relax, Eva,” Finn sighed. “If you clench your teeth any tighter together you’re going to break your jaw!”

  Eva tried doing as he asked, but relaxing her jaw just meant her teeth now chattered together instead.

  Finn was right, she couldn’t do this. She really wasn’t what he wanted—

  “Would you feel more comfortable if I took my clothes off too?”

  “No!” Eva’s protest was a mix between shock and laughter.

  Finn tilted his head out from behind the camera to waggle his eyebrows at her suggestively. “I really wouldn’t mind—”

  “I said no, Finn,” laughter won out, Eva chuckling as she gave him a reproving shake of her head. “You seem to have a fetish for wanting to take your clothes off.”

  As he presently had—still had—a raging erection, he would actually prefer not to take his clothes off right now.

  But Finn had thought he’d seen the glitter of tears in Eva’s eyes a moment or so ago, and guessed she was on the verge of making another bolt for it. And he really didn’t want her to do that now that he had seen how stunning she looked through the lens of his camera. Now that he had seen she was indeed that rare thing, a woman of innocent beauty and innate sensuality.

  He very much doubted, that at twenty-two, Eva was still an innocent, but she had such a look of purity shining out of those moss-green eyes, as if none of life’s disappointments or ugliness had touched her yet.

  That combination of the innocent and the sensual siren was what Finn now desperately wanted to capture with his camera. A woman who was both beautiful and innocent, and yet possessed such an aching sensuality she was capable of ripping a man’s soul from his chest—

  Before trampling all over it, he reminded himself sourly.

  It was time he concentrated on what he was doing, he dismissed in self-disgust. Past time, if he was going to start waxing lyrical about a woman’s innocence.

  “Tilt your head back, Eva,” he rasped gruffly. “Yes, just like that.” His camera clicked. “Lick your lips.” He clicked again. “Arch your back.” Click. “Now lean back on your hands.” Click. “Put your head forward and allow your hair to fall slowly down over your breasts until it drapes over your thighs.” Click. “Again.” Click.

  Eva completely lost track of time, along with her embarrassment, as Finn took photograph after photograph, treating her as if she were nothing more than a lifeless mannequin, and he was the window-dresser.

  He had touched her on a couple of occasions when she hadn’t quite gotten the pose right, but his touch had always been completely cool and businesslike. Partway through the afternoon he had thrown off his t-shirt again in the warmth of the room, before continuing to take photographs as if both of them weren’t almost naked.

  By the time Finn stepped out from behind his camera as an end to the session, Eva’s back was aching, she had completely lost her earlier inhibitions, and it was dark outside.

  “I apologize to models everywhere!” She fell back on the silk sheets to stare up at the ceiling, arms spread wide. “This is much harder work than it looks when those models strut their stuff down the catwalks!”

  Finn’s previous cool professionalism had deserted him, and been replaced by Finn Devlin the man, the moment he’d stepped out from behind the camera.

  With a vengeance.

  His cock had reared up painfully again inside his denims, and now it wanted out. Or rather...in!

  “Have you fallen asleep down there, darlin’?” Without realizing it he had moved to the side of the bed—no doubt pulled there by that fecking piece of invisible string!

  Eva had noticed that Finn’s voice deepened and his accent grew stronger when—

  She made the mistake of opening one eye, only to find herself looking straight up at Finn as he bent over the bed. And her.

  She quickly closed that eye again, slowly lowering her arms to her sides before freezing all movement, ceasing to breathe, as the mattress dipped and she could feel the heat of Finn’s body on the bed beside her.

  She licked her lips. “What are you doing?”

  His breath was warm against her cheek. “Whatever it is, I can’t seem to stop myself.”

  Eva’s fingers slowly curled into the bed sheets beside her in an effort to stop herself from reaching out and touching him. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Finn.”

  He laughed throatily. “Sure, and you must have heard that when a man’s blood goes south he isn’t capable of thinking at all?”

  South? Did that mean that he… Oh dear lord, yes, that was most definitely a wickedly hard and denim-covered erection now pressing against the bareness of her hip.

  Eva had no idea where all the blood had gone from her own head, but as Finn’s lips skimmed lightly across the lobe of her ear, that highly sensitized lobe of her ear, she found it impossible to think either.

  She could only feel.

  And it felt sooo good, time seeming to stand still, the two of them cocooned by that eerie wind and snow-dampened silence outside, as Finn ran the heat of his tongue slowly along the shell of her ear. He didn’t touch her anywhere else as he supported his weight with his elbow, his breath hot and seductive, the silky darkness of his hair brushing against the warmth of her throat.

  Eva’s fingers curled into painful claws now as she fought her need, the compulsion, to touch all that hot naked flesh she had been looking at for the past two hours.

  Hot licks of pleasure were coursing through her, her nipples tight, tingling, just aching to be touched, and between her thighs slick and wet.

  She’d only met this man a few hours ago, she reminded herself desperately. They couldn’t… She couldn’t…

  Eva groaned low in her throat, eyes opening wide, as Finn’s fingers brushed along the length of her spine before unfastening her bra, her breasts springing plump and free as he slipped the straps down her arms before tossing the scrap of lace to one side.

  “Jesus, these are fecking gorgeous, woman!” His eyes were dark, devouring, as he gazed down hungrily at her breasts for several stunned seconds before lowering his head to rasp his tongue across one swollen and elongated nipp
le.

  Time and time again that tongue stroked and rasped as the finger and thumb of his other hand squeezed and rolled its twin. Finn’s breath was ragged when he finally took the fullness of one nipple into the wet heat of his mouth and began to suckle, drawing in hungrily, hard and deep.

  Eva’s back arched in pleasure, her hands coming up to clasp onto the bareness of his shoulders as the swollen folds between her thighs became even slicker, wetter with her juices, the air filling with the scent of her arousal.

  She groaned again as Finn’s fingers pulled on the nipple he wasn’t sucking, fingers squeezing to the point of pain before stopping, and then squeezing again, that steady rhythm of pleasure pain, on both her nipples, causing her clit to throb and swell, needy for more.

  Eva was mindless with that pleasure now, only Finn’s mouth, Finn’s hands, becoming real to her as he continued to suck her nipple deeply into his mouth, his teeth an almost painful bite in rhythm with the squeezing of his finger and thumb.

  Her breath left her in an aching sigh as Finn breathed raggedly and released her nipple from his mouth.

  “Now I’ve heard that a woman,” his voice seemed to throb along each and every one of Eva’s already sensitized nerve-endings, his breath cool against her hot, wet nipple, “can be making out the weekly shopping list inside her head,” his breath moved higher, “or organizing the laundry, at the same time as a man is making love to her.”

  Eva was so lost in the lustful sensations coursing through her body, the building of that pleasure to an almost unbearable degree, that it took her several seconds to realize what Finn had just said.

  She opened her eyes wide to find herself looking straight into wicked blue eyes as Finn leaned on his elbow beside her, one eyebrow raised mockingly.

  She swallowed before answering him. “What are you doing now?”

  Finn was breaking that fucking piece of invisible string, that’s what he was doing!

  Yes, Eva looked as sexy as hell, and the little whimpering noises she made as he pleasured her twisted his insides with need. So much so that he could have gone on suckling and pleasuring her for hours.

  But he wasn’t going to.

  This woman had arrived on his doorstep just hours ago, for the sole purpose of delivering a parcel. A parcel he didn’t want. Or need.

  Just as he didn’t need or want to become involved with an innocent like Eva Shaw!

  Chapter 6

  “Damned if I know, darlin’.” Finn ran his fingers through his hair as he sat up to swing his legs to the floor. He stood up, only to catch his breath in his throat as he glanced back at Eva splayed across the bed, covered only by that one small triangle of black lace, her breasts so big and plump, nipples red and swollen from where he had suckled them, and the skin around them abraded by the stubble on his chin.

  Finn’s denims went uncomfortably tight at the sight, his cock throbbing even more painfully, letting him know it still wanted in.

  His mouth tightened as he turned away. “Probably force of habit.”

  The phrase resounded starkly in Eva’s mind.

  She had been audibly panting and groaning with her need for more, and Finn dismissed the whole incident as being a force of habit? As just being something he did with all of his female models? One of the perks of his working day?

  Well to hell with that! Of all the arrogant, impossible, egotistical bastards—

  “Why don’t you run along to the kitchen and see what you can find in the fridge to make us for dinner, while I finish tidying up here?” he suggested distractedly as he moved to turn off the lights.

  Eva rolled over to the other side of the bed to stand up and retrieve her t-shirt from the floor, pulling it on before answering him; her bra could wait. “I’m not sure which century you were born in, Mr. Devlin,” she bit out scathingly. “But I suggest that you ‘run along to the kitchen and see what you’re making me for dinner. I’m the guest here, remember?”

  “But not an invited one,” he reminded, his voice hard.

  “Go to hell!”

  Finn felt a moment’s regret as Eva stood up to collect the rest of her clothes from where she had dropped them on the floor earlier when she undressed. Giving him a perfect view of the delicious twin globes of her bottom as she bent over, that scrap of black lace barely covering the cleft between her two cheeks.

  He drew in a sharp breath. “I’ll go and deal with my parcel while you finish putting your clothes on, then we’ll both go and see what we can find in the fridge to eat for dinner,” he finally compromised.

  “You sound like a horse-trader,” she snorted as she sat on the side of the bed to pull on her denims.

  “Also in the blood, darlin’.” Finn gave her a wicked grin as he picked up his own t-shirt, deliberately whistling under his breath as he left the studio.

  Eva’s shoulders slumped the moment she was alone.

  This whole thing was insane. She was insane, throwing her clothes off in a fit of frustration, and then posing half naked for hours while Finn photographed her. She had all but invited him to take advantage of her and the situation.

  She finished dressing quickly before standing up to walk over to the window, pressing her hot forehead against the cold pane of glass as she stared out at the snow still falling heavily outside. Usually she loved snow, especially this close to Christmas. But not today. Not when it meant she had to continue to be an uninvited guest in Finn Devlin’s house. A man of such lethal magnetism, she had gone further with him in one day than she had with Tom in two months of dating—

  What on earth...?

  There was someone outside in the snow!

  She turned and quickly called out to Finn, only to frown as she turned back to the window and saw there was one there. No matter how she strained to see through the density of snowflakes, the pale shadow she thought she had seen beneath the trees had now gone.

  But there had been someone there. Eva was sure of it. A shadowy figure standing amongst the fir trees that surrounded this side of the house.

  Perhaps it was someone else caught in the snowstorm, and looking for shelter?

  At this rate, Finn was going to think he’d opened a hotel for all the strays from the snowstorm!

  Although Eva couldn’t claim she wouldn’t welcome the distraction of another person after—

  “What is it?” Finn demanded sharply as he strode quickly back into the studio.

  “There’s someone out there.” Eva didn’t turn to look at him but kept her face pressed against the window, her gaze fixed on the place where she was sure she had seen that shadowy figure.

  Finn joined her by the window. “I can’t see anything...”

  “I saw someone, I’m sure of it.”

  “Maybe it was an animal you saw?” He shrugged beside her. “I haven’t seen any, but I believe there are supposed to be deer in the area.”

  “I think I’m capable of telling the difference between a deer and a human being, Finn.” Eva turned to him impatiently. “And that out there,” she nodded towards the window, “was walking on two legs, not four.”

  Finn gave an exasperated shake of his head. “What do you expect me to do about it? No,” he stated firmly as she raised her brows pointedly. “I said no, Eva,” he repeated as she continued to look at him with those bewitching green eyes. “I am not going to the bother of getting dressed in my winter gear and going out in that,” he gave a nod at the storm still raging outside, “just because you think you saw someone out there.”

  “I did see someone out there,” she insisted stubbornly.

  “Oh for the love of… Okay. Alright. I’ll go.” He grimaced in impatience. “But only if you agree to cook dinner,” he added challengingly.

  “Horse-trader!”

  “Bossy witch!”

  Eva grinned at him, unconcerned. “You haven’t tasted my cooking yet.”

  “You really don’t want to taste mine!”

  Eva gave him a slow and deliberate stare from h
is head to his toes. “You don’t exactly look as if you’re fading away.”

  “I have a strong constitution.”

  “You’re going to need it with my cooking,” she assured him dryly.

  Finn folded his arms in front of his chest, muscles bulging beneath the short sleeves of his navy blue t-shirt. “I’ll risk it.”

  “You’re a brave man, Finn Devlin.”

  Finn went to collect his heavy coat before pulling on his boots, followed by his hat and gloves, and heading for the front door.

  He had deliberately downplayed Eva’s claim just now, wasn’t about to let her see how worried he was. Could it have been Moira out there? Watching the house? Watching him?

  Surely if Eva couldn’t leave, then Moira wouldn’t be able to get in either?

  Unless she had driven in before the storm hit so badly...?

  This house was miles from its nearest neighbor—Lucien really did value his privacy—and the chances of anyone else finding themselves stranded out here were virtually non-existent. It had been pure fluke, the delivery of that bloody parcel, that had resulted in Eva being caught out by the weather.

  Or luck?

  Eva was entertaining. On so many levels. She had a mouth on her, and he didn’t mean those made-for-sex lips. A spirit that refused to give up. And yes, she was also sexy as hell.

  That ‘sexy as hell’ part had almost caused Finn to completely lose control earlier. Before good sense prevailed and he pushed her away by being deliberately dismissive.

  If Eva really had seen someone outside just now—and she seemed convinced that she had—then surely they in turn would have been able to see the lights shining in the house, if not Eva silhouetted in the window. If that was the case, why hadn’t they headed towards the house rather than away from it?

  Finn thought of the parcel he had opened a short time ago, and its disturbing contents, wondering once again if Moira could already be here...

  “Find anything?” Eva prompted lightly twenty or so minutes later when Finn, having already removed his coat and boots, now stomped into the kitchen and headed straight over to stand by the hot stove to warm himself. She had kept her tone deliberately light so that Finn wouldn’t see how glad she was to see him safely back in the house.