Have Yourself a Merry Little Scandal: a Christmas collection of Historical Romance (Have Yourself a Merry Little... Book 1)

by Anna Campbell

  “I shall never get enough of you. Have you not reached that conclusion yet?”

  She giggled. “I have, as luck would have it, I will never get enough of you either.”

  Giles moved over her, settling between her thighs. He captured her lips as he buried his cock in her damp quim. She was always wet for him, and it was one of the many, many things he loved about her.

  Today would be the day he told her of his true feelings.

  The thought excited him as much as being joined with her did, and he kissed her more deeply as he thrust in and out of her.

  His wife was an angel and knew he did not deserve her. But fate had smiled on him and delivered her into his arms. She was a gift he would never take for granted.

  He kissed her neck before capturing her nipple and suckling the hard bud. Her cry of desire drove him on as he pulled his cock out and pushed back in, filling her completely.

  Juliet wrapped her legs around his hips, angling herself so that he drove deeper. She met him stroke-for-stroke, her eyes glazed with desire and moans filling their chamber.

  Her inner muscles contracted, squeezing his cock, as she screamed his name, her release washing through her.

  Giles thrust a few more times, then spilled into her in an explosion of ecstasy.

  Body sated, he rolled them, so she came to rest on top of him, his cock still nestled in her warmth. She lay against his chest, their hearts beating together as their labored breaths filled the bedchamber.

  Giles stroked his hand over her hair as he held her. She was more than he had ever dared to dream of. More than he had any right to hold. With his heart full to bursting, he kissed the top of her head, then said, “I have something for you.”

  “You have already given me so much.” She pressed her lips to his collarbone.

  He lifted her from him and eased her onto the bed next to him. “You deserve more. You are worthy of everything,” he said as he rose from the bed.

  “Nonsense,” she said as she watched him traverse the room.

  He pulled an elongated white box from his drawer, then returned to the bed. “Whether or not you want it, this belongs to you.” He held the box out.

  Juliet sat up and accepted the parcel from him. After studying it with curiosity, she turned her blue eyes on him. “What is it?”

  “Open it and find out,” he challenged. Giles held his breath as she pried the lid off. His pulse speed as she plucked the key from the box, then turned her attention back to him.

  “What does it unlock?” She worried her lower lip as she awaited his reply.

  Giles captured her hand and brought it to rest against his chest. “My heart, darling. It belongs to you now.”

  Her eyes clouded with unshed tears. “I will cherish it always, Giles.”

  He pulled her close and captured her lips. After kissing her soundly, he stared into her eyes. “I love you, Juliet.”

  A tear streaked down her cheek as she said, “I love you too, Giles. I have for some time. I was just afraid to admit it out loud.”

  He kissed the tear from her cheek, then cupped her face in his hand. “You have no cause for fear, darling. Your heart is safe in my keeping.”

  She hugged him close. “Your love is the greatest gift I have ever received.” Then she sprang from the bed and went to her trinket box. “I will cherish and keep it always.”

  Giles watched her as she pulled a long chain from the ornate silver box, then threaded the key through it.

  She strode back to the bed and held the chain out. “Clasp it for me,” she said, then presented her back. “I want to wear it close to my own heart.”

  Her words warmed his very soul. Giles placed the key to his heart around her neck, then fastened the chain. Unable to help himself, he trailed his lips across the back of her neck and down her spine before nipping at her lush bottom.

  “Ah,” she squealed and jumped.

  Giles captured her and brought her back into the bed.

  Juliet laughed as he pulled her against him, her back pressing to his front. “What about our guests?” she asked.

  “They can wait until after I have made love to my wife.” He grabbed her hip with one hand and positioned her so that the hard tip of his cock rested against her quim. She wriggled, inviting him in, and he took her all over again.

  A slow claiming born of love and full of deep emotion. The sort of lovemaking that branded one’s soul and tied two hearts together.

  And as he moved in and out of her, he knew he would never let her go.

  He was home—heart, body, mind, and soul.

  Juliet was his everything.

  Epilogue

  Dover, England

  Clear River Run, six months later

  June 25, 1812

  Juliet tipped her head back, allowing the sun’s warmth to bathe her face. It was a glorious day, and the first truly warm day they had had since saying their vows. In order to enjoy the fair weather, Giles had brought her to their favorite place: the clearing.

  He had once told her that summer was his favorite time of year to visit the forest encircled pond. He had also made her a scandalous promise. One she had never forgotten and fully intended to collect on.

  During the six months of their marriage, the two of them had visited the spot often. Their visits started the day he brought her here to collect mistletoe, and since then, they had returned to ice skate, watch the wildlife, fish, row, and picnic nick. It had only taken one visit for the space to capture her fancy.

  But of all the things they had done here, there was one thing he had promised that they still had not done, and she desperately wanted to. Turning her gaze to Giles, she asked, “Do you think it is warm enough today?”

  The green flecks in his hazel eyes darkened as he gave her a devilish grin. “Come here, duchess.” He bent one finger, beckoning her to him.

  Juliet gave a saucy smile as she slid closer to him. For a moment, she wondered at the wisdom of making love in the open air. After all, the two of them did not have the best of luck when it came to scandalous endeavors.

  Or perhaps they did. It was a scandal that brought the two of them together, and she could not be happier. Giles was a wonderful husband. He loved her deeply and spoiled her to no end. So what if they caused tongues to wag on occasion. They were in love.

  And she wanted to feel the sun’s warmth on her naked body as he thrust into her.

  Giles wrapped his arms around her and eased her back to lie beside him in the blanket they had spread over the grass. “I wondered if you remembered my promise.”

  “It was the first thing I thought of when I felt the warmth of the air,” Juliet admitted. “I crave you, Giles. I want to be laid bare here in our spot. I desperately need to be ravished.”

  He trailed his fingertip along the neckline of her gown. “What else do you want, darling?”

  “I want to feel your cock heavy and hard, filling me,” she said without a hint of shame or embarrassment. There was no need for such emotions between her and Giles. They were friends, lovers, soul mates. With him, she was entirely at ease and free to say and do as she pleased without fear of judgment.

  In fact, her husband encouraged her wanton nature. She daresay he even reveled in it as he often encouraged her to behave in such a way.

  “And what of my hands, duchess?” he asked, his voice thick with desire.

  Juliet swallowed, her eyes fluttering closed. “I want you to touch me everywhere. And I want you to kiss me too. Set my blood on fire, Giles.”

  “You are a wicked woman, darling.” He brought her hand to the fall of his breeches and placed it over his hard cock. “See what you do to me?”

  She curved her fingers around his erection, her quim pulsing with need as she stroked him.

  Giles tipped his head back and moaned. The primal sound of his passion filled the clearing, and she stilled. “You do not think we will be caught?”

  “It is much too late to worry now. Not after you have w
orked me into such a frenzy,” he said, then captured her lips with his.

  All trepidation fled her mind when Giles’s lips took hers. He pressed his hard cock against her, his fingers exploring her as he plundered her lips. His kiss, his touch, sent intense pleasure clear to her marrow.

  The sensations rendered her utterly helpless in the most deliciously wicked way. Her tongue parried with his on equal terms as he worked to unlace her gown.

  Desperate with need, she trailed her fingers across his abdomen and lower, tracing the hard contours of his erection before reaching for the fall of his breeches. The desire to feel his warm, satiny skin drove her wild as she worked to free his cock.

  He trailed kisses down her throat to her breasts as her gown came away. Giles sucked and licked her tender nipples as he pushed her dress further down her body.

  Juliet moaned her pleasure as his hand came to rest on her mound. She bucked, encouraging him to touch her where she most desired him.

  His lips burned a track ever lower until he paused to rub her slightly rounded belly. They were expecting their first babe in November, and her body was showing the evidence. She worried her lip for a moment, then asked, “Does it make me less attractive?”

  Giles lifted his head until his gaze locked on hers. “You are as stunning as ever. I want you as much, if not more, now than I ever have.” As if to prove it, he lowered himself, placing his head between her thighs. He captured the tiny pearl at the top of her sex between his lips and suckled the tender nub.

  White-hot lust took her in its grip, and her moment of doubt gave way to the passion that fully engulfed her. She threaded her fingers into his golden hair and held him in place as she writhed beneath him. Juliet moaned and sighed his name like a benediction as he worked his wicked tongue between her thighs.

  Giles licked and suckled until her passion reached a fevered pitch, then he eased one finger into her quim, nearly sending her over the edge.

  She tugged on his hair, urging him away from her sex. “Join with me. I want to come apart with you buried deep within me.”

  Giles moved away long enough to pull his shirt over his head and remove his trousers. Then he positioned himself between her legs, his hot, hard cock pressed to her quim. He took her mouth in a hungry kiss as he thrust into her.

  Driven by an unstoppable need, she bucked against him, her fingers digging into his back and legs wrapped tight around his hips. The urgency she felt pushed her closer and closer to the edge of desire as he thrust faster, deeper.

  As her orgasm claimed her, she arched her hips up, drawing him deeper and tossed her head back on a moan. Wave after wave of sheer delight swept through her as she clung to Giles, her heartbeat rapid and breaths shallow.

  He took his own pleasure, finding his release soon after, then gathered her close.

  Juliet closed her eyes and reveled in the afterglow of their lovemaking as the sun-kissed her most private of places. Bird-song filled the air and the wind gently blew over her heated skin. Best of all, Giles was beside her, his skin pressed to hers with no barrier between them.

  Heaven, she thought. Giles and the love they shared was her idea of heaven. And to think she had been afraid to love him. Thought him incapable of loving her.

  She had been wrong about him and about their future together. Juliet sighed as she wondered if anyone had ever been happier about being so wrong. She moved her head to rest against his chest, the key she wore around her neck tucked between her breasts as his heartbeat filled her ear.

  Juliet smiled, her heart full of joy. “Giles?”

  “Yes.”

  “I love you,” she said, her tone full of tenderness.

  He stroked his hand up and down the bare skin of her back. “I love you, too, darling.”

  And she knew it to be true.

  Against all the odds, Giles had turned out to be her perfect match. And soon, they would welcome their babe to the world. Juliet had never felt so complete. So utterly whole and loved.

  It seemed fate knew what she was doing, after all.

  A note from Amanda

  I have often heard it said that Christmas Trees were not in England during the Regency era. Leastwise, they were not a common occurrence. But that is poppycock!

  The Regency era started in February 1811 and lasted until January of 1820. The Christmas tree was introduced to England, as a matter of record, during the Christmas season of 1800.

  For the Christmas party, her majesty, Queen Charlotte hosted in 1800, she had a Yew tree potted and brought into Queen’s Lodge. The queen had decorated the tree with sweetmeats, almonds and raisons in paper, toys and fruit, along with small wax candles. It was to be a special surprise for the children of the principle families in Windsor. And by all accounts, they were delighted.

  As a result, Christmas trees became all the rage among upper class English families. A variety of trees were used for the purpose: box-trees, yews, pines, and furs among them, but one thing remained consistent: They were all lit with small candles and decorated with treats and other trinkets. It was also common to find a Regency Christmas tree with presents piled beneath its branches.

  There are accounts of lords, earls, and dukes having Christmas trees in their homes as early as 1802 when George, second lord Kenyon, bought ‘candles for his tree’ that he erected in his drawing room at 35 Lincoln’s Inn Field, London.

  And by the time of Queen Charlotte’s death in 1818, the tradition of having a Christmas tree was firmly rooted in English society.

  It was while I was researching the history of Christmas trees in England that the idea of having Juliet surprise Giles with a bedecked tree came to me. Like Queen Charlotte, the fictional Juliet wanted to wow Giles and make their first Christmas together one to remember and cherish always.

  I hope that you have enjoyed Juliet and Giles’s love story. If you would like to spend more time in their world, book one in the Fated for a Rogue series is available now! Pick up your copy of A Wallflower’s Folly and read Olivia and the Duke of Thorne’s story today.

  About Amanda Mariel

  USA Today Bestselling, Amazon All-Star author Amanda Mariel dreams of days gone by when life moved at a slower pace. She enjoys taking pen to paper and exploring historical time periods through her imagination and the written word. When she is not writing she can be found reading, crocheting, traveling, practicing her photography skills, or spending time with her family.

  Visit Amanda’s website, www.amandamariel.com, to discover more, and to sign up for her newsletter (receive a free ebook!)

  Would you like to be notified of new releases and ebook sales? Sign up for SMS/text notifications from Amanda and be notified ONLY when there is a new release or sale. Text AmandaMariel to 38470 today!

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  The Courtship Caper

  by Beverley Oakley

  The Courtship Caper is part of Beverley Oakley’s Scandalous Miss Brightwells series about wicked and lively Fanny and Antoinette Brightwell who have made spectacular marriages—despite scandals and the treachery of a disappointed suitor determined to besmirch their reputations.

  Now, with the Christmas season upon them and a houseful of so-far dreary guests on the invitation list, the sisters engage in some creative matchmaking to unite two fiercely beating – mismatched – hearts.

  For their own entertainment, of course!

  Chapter 1

  Fanny bent over her needlework, pretending to concentrate, while out of the corner of her eye she watched her restless sister with foreboding.

  Antoinette was staring out of the window with the kind of look that past experience suggested would bring trouble. The ingenuous blue eyes and cherubic features framed by errant tendrils of golden hair, might have given the impression that her sister was the most innocent of creatures who lived to please.

  Nothing could be fa
rther from the truth.

  And right now, Antoinette was, herself, far from pleased.

  Fanny took a breath before trying for something lighthearted and bolstering that might defuse her sister’s mood. “If Lady Indigo is really as deadly dull as you say she is, she’ll be snoring into her soup, and you can flit away and do as you please before eight every evening. And, as she’ll be bringing along her companion, that drab little thing we met at Stockton, I’m sure you won’t be required to entertain Lady Indigo entirely.”

  Antoinette looked over her shoulder with a sigh. “But what if she wants to play cards? Quamby will encourage her; I know he will. He’s got no diversions at the moment, and he wants me to share in his boredom.”

  Fanny struggled to garner the required sympathy in response to her sister’s look of desperation. “Poor Antoinette, you’re at a loose end, aren’t you?” She had suspected for some time that her sister’s low spirits were due to the defection of her latest lover. The marriage of Antoinette and her husband, Lord Quamby, had been contracted to legitimize Antoinette’s child which would, conveniently, provide the earl with an heir.

  Though husband and wife were fond of one another, the aged earl was generally absent enjoying his peccadilloes, leaving Antoinette to find her pleasure where she chose.

  Antoinette sighed again. “And, if she’s not wanting to play cards, you know that Lady Indigo will want to talk of her nephew. She’ll expect me to sympathise over his death. I’ll have to bite my tongue so I don’t remind her it was his own stupid fault he died falling from Mrs Compton’s balcony after her husband caught them.” Antoinette made a noise of frustration. “And Fanny, you know that pretending sympathy is not one of my strong suits.”

  “Indeed, it is not. Nor do I think you will have to exercise it since I hardly think Lady Indigo will want reminding of her nephew’s death. Certainly, not the circumstances surrounding it. Oh! I know!” Clapping her hands, she said with sudden inspiration, “Talk of Mrs Compton has brought to mind that ill-used gentleman, Mr Sebastian Wells. Why not invite him here for a visit to coincide with Lady Indigo’s stay? He’s just come to the end of his mourning period and, as you know, he and Fenton share a godmother. You did think him very handsome, as you confided to me after the fireworks several summers ago, though he was married at the time, of course.”