Read Online Unholy Nights: A Twisted Christmas Anthology by Linda Barlow, Andra Brynn, Nicole Blanchard, Alana Albertson, Carly Carson, Kara Ashley Dey, Cherie Chulick - Free Book Online

nothing had actually happened. Maybe I'd imagined the whole uncontrollable lust thing.
    Obviously, it had been controllable, since neither of the two older guys had planted a Christmas kiss on me under that mistletoe.
    "Way to go, Hol," I told myself, figuring that just because I'd been feeling relatively attractive for a change in my sexy stilettos and my sleek black dress, with my hair holding its wave for once and my cheeks a little flushed from all the holiday excitement, I'd been imagining that all the guys in the room, even the older and impossible ones, were hot for my bod. Absurd!
    As for my own lusty feelings, it didn't take much to unleash those. I was twenty. Sex hormones were surging under the surface 24/7. Standing under normal, unenchanted mistletoe with a couple of hot guys–and old or not, there was no denying that those two were hot–would naturally make me wonder how it would feel to kiss them. Or better still, how it would be to have two forbidden guys fighting over me. Particularly since one of them hadn't seemed too interested in my even sexier roommate.
    Mistletoe was mistletoe. People had probably been using the stuff since pagan times to incite a little lust on the Longest Night.

8. Chemistry and the Moon
    I was looking for Julie, but she wasn't the first person I found. As I was hurrying back up the hallway I ran into Will, tripped on my stilettos, and would have gone down if he hadn't grabbed me around the waist. That hot feeling that had boiled up under the mistletoe came surging back. For the first time since our night together, Will was touching me.
    "Holly?" He sounded surprised. "You're here."
    "That's right." I was suddenly and unpredictably annoyed. "So what?" Which wasn't at all what I imagined I'd say if this moment ever arrived.
    "So...uh...I guess you didn't go to Singapore to be with your family for Christmas?"
    "You saw me on campus the other night." Despite the chemistry, which was just as strong as ever, I felt combative. I was tired of yearning after this guy. There were other men in the world, some of whom might actually find me attractive. Even if they were way older than me. "Have you seen Julie? I'm looking for her."
    "No, not recently." He sounded jumbled and maybe a little nervous. But he had remembered that my dad lives and works in Singapore. Give him points for that. I managed to steady myself and look up. I saw a lot of yummy chest and shoulders, swathed in the pure white of his shirt, and above that his muscular throat, his quizzical half-smile. As I met his gaze, his expression grew warmer and his green eyes gleamed.
    I remembered that gleam. Screw it! I pulled away, taking a couple of steps back. I could hardly believe my own actions, which weren't in any of my mental scripts. "I have to find my roommate."
    He stopped me. One of his hands gripped my wrist, giving another jolt to my already-swimming head. I felt as though I'd been drinking all evening, when all I'd consumed had been half a cup of eggnog. "Holly, wait." His voice was urgent. "I need to talk to you."
    "Why now? It's not as if you haven't had plenty of chance to talk to me before this."
    I could see the flush rise on his cheeks—a slight coloring showing beneath the darker shadow where his whiskers would come in. He was clean-shaven, but his beard would be thick if he ever let it grow, and I knew how rough and raspy it could get during the night. How it felt against my bare skin.
    "I'm sorry about that." His eyes met mine. "I guess I should have called you."
    No shit, Sherlock. I shrugged, confused now, and trying to feign indifference. "Whatever."
    His green gaze pierced me, slicing right into my bones. His hand was still gripping my wrist, and he resisted the tug I made as I half-heartedly tried to break free. He nodded toward the back of the house. "Come with me. I know a quieter place." And he began walking back the way I had come, pulling me along with him.
    I thought about jerking my wrist from his