It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Scandal: 3 Steamy Christmas Historical Romances

by Reid, Stacy

  Chapter 9

  The rain sleeted down and rattled the door and the small window of the cottage, but she felt frightfully warm. Held tenderly against the Viscount’s chest Callie felt as if she was caged within her own storm—one of brilliant fire and the hottest delight. Graham’s kiss was light, tender, sweet, and her heart tumbled over inside her chest.

  “What was that for?” she whispered against his mouth.

  “There are mistletoe sprigs all over this cabin,” he replied with gentle amusement. “Wasn’t this the idea when you had them placed?” He possessed such a confident presence that appealed to her beyond measure.

  Callie blushed but held his stare. “I meant them for your father, and my mother.”

  “Then let’s move away.”

  He twirled her off in another direction and then glanced up. “Alas, another one.”

  This time he pressed a kiss atop her nose, and she laughed lightly, dizzy with the heat pouring through her. The last two hours with him in the cabin had revealed a charming and good-natured gentleman that made her yearn for impossible dreams.

  He spun with her again, and when he paused, they both looked up.

  “Yet more mistletoe,” she said with a wide smile, but how her heart pounded.

  “Did you know it is widely believed that it was the Norsemen and women who first romanticized mistletoe?”

  “I did not know that,” she said with a small smile. “But I knew the Celtic druids used it for vitality and fertility.”

  “Hmm.” His fingers brushed against the fluttering pulse at her throat, lingering there too long to be an accident. “In Norse mythology, when Odin’s son Baldur was prophesied to die, his mother Frigg—the goddess of love—went to all the animals and plants of the earth to secure an oath that they would not harm her son. But Frigg neglected to consult with the unassuming mistletoe, so the scheming Loki made an arrow from the plant and saw that it was used to kill the otherwise invincible Baldur. The gods were able to resurrect Baldur from the dead to his mother’s delight. The goddess of love then declared mistletoe a symbol of love and vowed to plant a kiss on all those who passed beneath it. That folklore evolved where we fine gentlemen are encouraged to steal a kiss from any woman caught standing under the mistletoe and refusing is viewed as bad luck.”

  He touched her elbow, urging her to him, yet his clasp felt gentle and protective.

  The thrill he gave Callie amazed her. “I would hate to deny you and endure any misfortune,” she teased.

  His dark eyebrows arched, then he spoke in a velvet murmur, “How you delight my heart just now.”

  He lifted her chin with a finger. Whenever his blue gaze met hers, her heart turned over in response. Callie’s whole being seemed filled with waiting. His thumb swiped over her lips. The caress was a command. And she parted her lips.

  His head reached down, and Graham kissed her mouth more persuasive than she would have liked to admit. Wicked heat darted through her wanton heart, and she slipped her hands around his neck and held him to her. He tasted like a summer storm, he tasted like happiness…and ruin. They spoke of no sentiments, nor had he made any promises, yet Callie was helpless against the desires sweeping through her body.

  I am four and twenty…whenever am I going to burn with need like this in someone’s arms.

  He plundered to her mouth, stroking her tongue with his. Their kiss was fiery, wild, and wet. Oh, God. It was as if she was another person. Excitement hummed in her veins, and everything that had been wrong and uncertain, righted itself.

  How was this possible?

  He stole the rest of her thoughts with his drugging kisses, and she moaned as arousal stirred in her blood. His lips searched a path down her neck, her shoulders, and to the top of the lace that protected her breasts from his ravishment. Graham recaptured her lips, more demanding this time, and she responded with a flaming passion.

  She distantly became aware he removed her clothes, and they fell away from her body. Her dress, chemise, laces, and corset were removed with kisses in between. Then she was in his arms being carried over to the small bed flush against the corner wall opposite the fire. It was a little darker there, but she could see the possessive glint in his beautiful eyes, the raw hunger surrounding her like a caged storm waiting to be unleashed. And she was not afraid. She wanted this to fill all the places that had hungered for so many things but had remained unfulfilled. He bore her down on the bed, then moved away to remove the rest of his clothing and stockings. Then he stood in all his naked glory.

  Callie gasped, gripping the sheets beneath her and staring at him in wonder. His body was lean but corded with such beautiful muscles. That part of him that jutted proudly to her appeared flushed and thick. Yet instead of being afraid, her body jolted, and her legs fell apart with no urgings from him. He moved closer to the bed, staring down at her naked form. She blushed and fought the urge to drag the sheet over her.

  She very much liked the awe and need on his face.

  “You are beautifully made,” he said in a low, smooth voice.

  The bed dipped as he came over her. Her heart fluttered, and her body tensed and heated. As if with a mere touch, she would disintegrate. He kissed the tip of her nose, then her eyes, and finally her mouth with savage intensity for breath-taking moments.

  He released her mouth to press a kiss to her forehead. Her lips burned in the aftermath of his fiery possession. Her lover’s kisses lingered all over her blushing body. Her breasts surged at the intimacy of his caressing touch, and she moaned when his mouth closed over her nipple. It was as if lightning struck her low in her belly.

  The sensations were hot and overwhelming. His hand seared a path over her quivering stomach down to her thighs. Then he was there, right where she ached the most. He rubbed her, and she almost fainted. She gripped his shoulders, her nails pressing deep into the muscles there as she held on for dear life. His fingers began a lust-arousing exploration of her soft, wet flesh. Callie gasped, and she trembled at that diabolical caress.

  She had never imagined nothing this wonderful existed. A long finger slipped deep inside her feminine channel. A soft moan turned into a sob of raw need. It never occurred to restrain her responses or pretend demureness. Everything was too much for any form of modest indifference to his wicked lovemaking to rear its head.

  She lay panting, chest heaving, desperate to process all the pleasures wreaking havoc through her body. He shifted slightly, bracing himself on one elbow so he could look at where he buried his index in her sex. Then he slipped another finger into the tightness of her body.

  “Open for me, my sweet,” he murmured with a mellow baritone.

  She fisted the sheets and parted her legs more. His grunt of satisfaction said that was exactly what he needed. And somehow, his fingers burrowed even deeper, for she now felt a pinch of pain mingling with the awful pleasure.

  Oh! It felt so naughty that he watched as he worked his digits inside her sex, witnessed the shaking of her thighs, and those instinctive rises of her hips. Irresistibly her gaze fell below his bent head…watching too as his fingers thrust and withdrew, building a fever of need right where he touched.

  Another little sob came from her throat, and she gripped the sheets tighter.

  “Graham,” she gasped as his thumb glided over her nub of pleasure. The friction had her arching her hips more into his questing caress.

  “Ah…that is it,” he praised. “How wet you are getting for me, my Callisto.”

  She blushed at the sensual praise and the wanton way her legs had parted even wider.

  “I am about to do something…alarming,” he murmured, lifting his head to meet her stare. “I am not a small man, and I need to join with you here.”

  Apprehension reared its head as the memory of the thick stalk which had jutted from him. She wetted her lips. It had been far thicker than his fingers.

  “How alarming?” she husked.

  “I am going to kiss you…here,” he said, rubbin
g along her nubbin and folds. “You’ll get so wet for me, my sweet, so wet.” He closed his eyes on a harsh groan, and she surmised that her wetness was an agreeable thing.

  “Yes,” she cried, needing the pleasure he promised.

  He shifted lower and settled between her splayed thighs. The quick, heated lick across her folds ripped a wild cry from Callie as she processed the shock of terrible pleasure. He repeated his wicked, wicked caress. Her upper body came off the bed, only to have his hand flatten against her stomach, pressing her back as his lips covered her wet sex. He performed his devilish kiss several times until her body tensed, drawn tight as the pleasure built inside her until it broke, heat cascading through her.

  Yet he did not stop. Tremors of ecstasy coursed through her body, and she bit into her lip to stop the cries wanting to erupt from her. He licked her deep, and Callie cried out and gripped his hair with strength. Everything seemed as if it was spiraling out of control. His tongue flicked, and then his teeth scraped against her nub of pleasure. He rose above her, spreading her thighs in one powerful motion. A blunt but promising pressure notched at her slick entrance.

  “You’re so beautiful and responsive,” he murmured, his blue eyes glittering with emotions she could not decipher.

  “I can’t help it,” she whispered in a half groan, needing him to fill her.

  With a powerful surge, he entered her, and Callie cried out, gripping his shoulders. The pain was shocking, and she stiffened beneath him. A sob escaped her, and he pressed a soothing kiss atop her forehead.

  “It will soon pass,” he promised, pressing a quick heated kiss on her mouth, distracting her from the awful pressure which had invaded her channel. She wanted to get his promise to never move, but soon her frantic thoughts were buried under the delight of his kisses.

  Their mouths separated, and holding her gaze, her lover glided back and drove forward repeatedly, at times shallow, and then wonderfully hard and deep. Pleasure mingled with erotic pain, and she clasped his shoulders and hugged him to her as he did what he promised. He rode her, and it was such a wicked ride filling her with such wildness and bliss. Acting on the wanton urge beating in her blood, she wrapped her legs high around his hips. His groan of approval filled her with pleasure, and despite this shift pushing him even deeper inside her body and making the pressure in her sex more overwhelming, she climaxed with soul-searing intensity. He kissed her and seconds later, he hugged her into a tight embrace, and with a groan, found his own release.

  Chapter 10

  The sun was lowering by the time Callie and Graham left the cottage. It felt like they had been there for days but according to his pocket watch, they had been missing for four hours.

  Was that how long it took to fall hopelessly in love?

  She stared at his patrician profile as he rowed them with powerful arm movements toward the shore. After her ravishment, she had lain in his arms, stunned at the enormity of what they had done. She had never understood how anyone could be carried away by passion and lead themselves to ruin, and now she realized how silly she had been before in her judgment.

  From a kiss, he had consumed her, and she had willingly given him everything without reservation. Despite that, there was an anxious heaviness in her heart. He’d not said anything tender or anything that hinted he might want to court her. And it frightened her. Not because she had given him her virtue, but because he withdrew, and the possibility of happiness which she had seen as they laughed and talked over wine would vanish.

  As if he sensed her stare, his regard shifted from the sky to her.

  “The clouds are swollen,” he jested, “is your nose twitching by any chance.”

  “No,” she said softly.

  His mouth curved in a tender smile. “Ah, then there is the hope we might make it back before more rain comes.”

  She nodded. Something wild and irrepressible in her had almost wished the rain had continued falling, forcing them to spend the night and not just a few hours together. They had talked some more in each other’s arms and shared more kisses, which almost took a passionate turn. But when he had slipped a caressing finger between her legs, she had gasped and tightly closed them, shutting out his questing touch.

  Ah, you are sore.

  She still blushed to recall that statement, but he had been correct. He’d kissed her forehead and murmured an apology for being an insensitive lustful beast. She had snuggled into his arms as they had laughed and gossiped about the guests under his father’s roof. As soon as the rain had eased, he had urged them from the bed, assisted her in dressing, and they tidied the cottage as best as they could. Then they had struck out. She worried her bottom lip as the boat drew closer to the bank and the main house. Callie detected no one on the lawns.

  “Do you think our absence was noted?”

  “Perhaps not. Everyone would have to be together for it to be noticeable. Some guests would have been playing billiards or cards. Others would be in the drawing-room playing parlor games, some outside in the gazebo. Only at dinner when all the guests gather could anyone say decisively that we are missing. And we have another hour before the dinner gong. There will be enough time to make ourselves presentable and fashion credible excuses should anyone query.”

  “Do you…do you have trysts like these often?” a mortified flush ran along her entire body, but she would not take back her question.

  His arms slowed, and the boat bobbed atop the waters of the lake. “We did not have a tryst,” he replied slowly, his gaze scanning every nuance of her face.

  “Then what did we have?” she asked her voice a broken whisper, gripping her fingers together. Callie couldn’t understand what it was she needed from him, but her stomach knotted with dread. Everything inside of her ached.

  “I do not know, but I have never had a lover where my entire body and heart was attuned to her,” he husked. “I fear it might ruin me for all others.”

  “I shall celebrate it,” she replied, meeting his intense regard.

  Their stares held as he reached the dock, and in silence, he angled the craft in before hopping out to anchor it with the rope. Then he held his hand out. Callie grasped his arm and allowed him to assist her from the boat.

  They had agreed earlier to enter through the kitchens and make use of the servants’ stairwell. Callie entered first, and was clucked over by the cook, but made her way to her room encountering none of the houseguests, a thing she was most profoundly thankful for. Letty was sitting by the dressing table, the maid assigned to them styling her hair. Her sister’s gaze searched her face, and whatever she saw prompted her to dismiss the maid.

  “You were gone with the viscount for hours!”

  “Oh, Letty! The rain kept us—”

  “I gathered what we wanted happening to Mama occurred with you. Was he furious?”

  “No,” she said, her throat going tight. Callie normally shared everything with her sister, but this was too raw and private.

  Letty stared at her. “I lied to Mama when she questioned your whereabouts about an hour ago. I told her I saw you in the private parlor reading. She seemed satisfied with that.”

  “Thank you, I daresay she would not care for us being forced to take shelter together.”

  “Are you well, Callie? You seem out of sorts,” said Letty, with a quizzical look at her sister.

  “Yes, most certainly!” She hurried over to the screen and started to remove her clothing.

  Letty came over and took Callie’s hands between hers. “Your lips are swollen, and I can tell they have been kissed thoroughly.”

  Heat flushed Callie’s neck and face. “Oh!”

  Her sister grinned. “Is he an excellent kisser?”

  “The most wonderful, oh Letty, everything was so divine!” Then she shocked herself by sobbing. “My blasted nerves are overset when they should not be!”

  “You do not have to tell me now,” Letty said with a warm smile, “because dinner will be announced soon. I’ll ring for a bath
and select a dress for you!”

  Grateful to her sister, she nodded, and proceeded to undress, not understanding the bewildering mix of hope and anxiety in her heart.

  Dinner had been a sumptuous feast of roasted duck with cranberry sauce, standing ribs of beef with Yorkshire pudding, golden stuffed turkey, lamb served with an onion sauce. She had tried her best not to stare at Graham throughout the meal, and the few times she had done so had been to find the man staring at her. He had mastered himself and behaved gentlemanly for the rest of the evening, only engaging her in polite dinner conversation. But he had given other ladies equal attention.

  Almost three hours later, the earl had gathered his guests in the drawing-room. An enormous spruce tree had been cut and placed in the corner near the windows overlooking the lawns. They had decorated the tree with enormous bows of bright scarlet ribbon, precious glass baubles, and silver candle holders with white candles.

  The earl cleared his throat, and the young lady who had been playing a lively piece on the pianoforte stopped. The drawing-room door opened, and she glanced over her shoulder to see that Graham had entered drinking a glass of amber liquid. She stared at him for longer than what was polite, and when he noted her regard, he winked. Swallowing her gasp of pleasure, she turned back to the earl who seemed as if he was fit to burst at the seams.

  Callie’s heart jolted when he held out his hand, and her mother walked forward with a bright, gleeful smile on her face to place her hand within his. Letty sent her a side-eye glance.

  “It is with pleasure I announce to you all that Lady Danby has consented to be my wife, and we are to wed tomorrow in the chapel.”

  There was a stunned silence before everyone burst into applause. Congratulations went around, and the earl shepherded Callie, Letty, Graham, and his daughter to the smaller private parlor. As they entered, Callie spun to face them. “The wedding is tomorrow?”