Pleasures of Christmas Past (A Christmas Carol Book 1)

by Lexi Post

  He looked downstream at the boulders cutting into the rushing waters. The burn had never seen such water before.

  A long branch caught between two massive rocks was angled toward him. Duncan grabbed it, stopping his forward momentum. He inched his way closer to shore, his muscles barely moving over the branch as his whole body grew numb. He kept touching his child with his chin, to make sure he still had her.

  The coachmen called out as he ran down the slippery embankment.

  Just a little farther. He wanted to lift the baby up to the man, but he was afraid he’d lose his grip. “Take her.”

  The man bent over the raging water and pulled Duncan’s daughter from him. “Get out of there.”

  Get out of where? Aye, the water. Duncan tried to move his arms farther up the branch. He couldn’t be sure he was successful, but he felt his feet hit something. Ground? Hope kindled anew and he pushed his muscles to their utmost and pulled hard.

  The branch gave way.

  Duncan went under. He managed to get his head above water one more time before he sank again.

  Blackness crowded in. He’d never see her grow up, but she was safe.

  But she wasn’t safe. He struggled to push away the darkness. “I love you. Jessica, I love you.”

  “Duncan, come back to me, please.” Her voice was stronger. He refused to yield to oblivion. No’ this time. He wanted to be with the one he loved.

  “Duncan, please.” Her voice was scratchy with desperation. “I love you too. You have to stay with me.”

  Joy burst inside him at her words and the darkness disappeared completely. Her worried face was clear with every phased particle in place.

  “You love me?”

  “Oh my, you scared me. Yes, I love you with all my heart. I have for a long time, but I didn’t think you could.”

  He ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms before cupping her head and pressing a gentle kiss to show her just how precious she was to him. He lifted his lips away and let his gaze roam over every inch of her face. “I didn’t either, but Cameron helped me remember. I love you.”

  “Oh, Duncan.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss, but this one was not gentle.

  Understanding her need to be together, he opened his mouth and invited her in. Even as their tongues played, he swept them away through space and time to Rossan Castle.

  He grinned as he landed them in his tower room and she pulled away.

  “What are you smiling about now?”

  “You are back to being a Spirit Guide, lass.”

  She looked around the room. “I’m in your castle again?”

  He nodded.

  Her eyes watered and she solidified, her cranberry scent filling his nose with wanting. Her features stood out more when solid and he loved every detail. Quickly, he solidified as well.

  She wrapped him in a hug and spoke to his chest where she lay her head. “Thank you.”

  He held her tight, his eyes misting at how close he’d come to losing the one he loved once again. “Thank you.” Love welled inside his chest and a new concern rose. Would his strong emotion toward Jessica trigger the blackness?

  Chapter Eleven

  Duncan wanted Jessica in a whole new way. A need rose in him to show her exactly how much he loved her before he ceased to exist. If it was going to happen anyway, he had to risk the pain of disintegration to make love to her one last time.

  He tipped her head up to look at him. “Jess, I want to make love to ye right now.”

  She grinned. “That works for me.”

  He smiled. “I hope ye dinna think of it as work.”

  “Not at all. Hey, wait.” She pushed away from him.

  “What is it?”

  She looked around the room for the first time. “That bed.”

  “Aye. What of it?”

  She moved her finger to the bridge of her nose but there were no glasses to push up. “Where are my glasses?”

  He opened his hands to the sides. “You dinna need them to see. You’ve had perfect sight since you arrived in the afterlife. You just never realized it.”

  Her eyes widened. Then she squinted at him before her gaze roamed over his loose white shirt, purple- green-and-red kilt, and stocking feet. A smirk formed on her face. “Is it true what they say about what a man wears under his kilt?”

  “And what is it they say, lass?”

  She shook her head. “If you don’t know, I’m not telling. I’ll just have to find out for myself.”

  He winked. “I think that be a good idea.” He took a step toward her.

  “No wait.” She put her hand out.

  “What now?” His cock was already hardening, just thinking of being inside her.

  “That bed, is that the one, I mean have you, I guess, I don’t want to…”

  His heart shimmied as he realized her concern. “Nay, I’ve no’ taken another woman in that bed. I’ve never even had a woman in this room besides my mother. Only you.”

  Her relief was palpable.

  He didn’t need to tell her this wasn’t his bedroom. He’d brought too many women into his bedroom. Jessica was special, far beyond what she could understand right now.

  She wandered over to the large four-poster bed and touched the maroon and gold curtains tied back on one of the corners. Then she looked at the table next to the fireplace before returning her gaze to him. “This isn’t your bedroom. You may sleep here on occasion, but it’s not where you dress and go to sleep every night.”

  Blast, the woman was perceptive. “Nay, it isn’t. This is the room I used when I wanted to be alone.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him, a lovely sight to see without the glasses she usually wore.

  “You want to know why I wanted to be alone?”

  She nodded.

  “If I tell ye, will ye get undressed?”

  Jessica unbuttoned her top button and then the next one.

  His mouth went dry as he tried to remember what he’d promised her. Oh aye, why he used the room.

  Two more buttons were set free.

  His gazed riveted to the cleavage now tantalizing him. His cock hardened further.

  The last buttons were let loose and Jessica threw her blouse over the chair next to the table. “Duncan, you were saying?”

  “Aye, I came up here when I needed to get away from everyone.”

  Jessica pushed her skirt down and stepped out of it, then smirked. “That’s usually what alone means.”

  Duncan forced himself to look away from her tantalizing body. “I came up here when I wanted to think and no’ be happy all the time. I was a second son, which meant my older brother had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but I was free to enjoy life. That’s why it was so disappointing when…” He swallowed, saying the words aloud harder than he expected.

  Jessica’s arms came around him from behind as she pressed herself against his back. “When what?”

  He’d never admitted his thoughts to anyone before. “When I realized I would never find the right woman to share it with.” He grasped her hands at his waist and held them. “I didn’t know she hadn’t been born yet.”

  Jessica sighed. “I’m not sure which of us was worse, you for thinking you would never find love or me for deluding myself into believing I had found it.”

  He opened her hands and turned around. She was naked and he sucked in a breath as he embraced her, her tart scent filling him with warmth. “And have you found it, Jess? Are you sure?”

  She smiled up at him. “Yes, absolutely, positively, sure.”

  He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his. He’d meant it to be a gentle kiss, but as their tongues entwined, he lost himself in the heady feeling of the woman he loved.

  Just as his heart swelled, he felt her hands moving up his back beneath his shirt. The sensation of her soft fingers splayed across his skin made his heartbeat pick up speed. He broke their kiss and ran his hands over her back, finally cu
pping her rounded ass and pulling her tight against his kilt-covered cock.

  “Ouch.” She tried to pull away. “What is that?”

  He chuckled. He’d been so anxious to have her against him, he’d forgotten about his sporran. “Hold on, lass.” Quickly, he unhooked it and threw it on the table behind her. Before she could turn around and investigate his accessories further, he pulled her back into his arms.

  “Now what was I doing? Oh, aye.” He grasped her naked ass and pulled her hips into him, pressing his erection behind the wool of his kilt, against her skin. It was frustrating and tantalizing at the same time.

  “Oh, Duncan, you feel even harder when you’re solid.” Her hands came to his sides and she pulled at his shirt. “Please take this off. I want to feel you against me.”

  Within a second he had his shirt over his head and tossed onto the floor. “Is that better?”

  She ran her hands over his pectorals and as her fingers brushed across his nipples, he sucked in his breath. The need to be inside her had him clenching his hands. He wanted this to be perfect for her, for them.

  She licked at his stomach. “I think I need to taste every nook and cranny of these hard abs of yours.”

  “Abs?”

  She licked again and he gritted his teeth to keep from picking her up and throwing her on the bed so he could take her.

  “Abdominals. Those are what we call these muscles here.” She licked again.

  “Jess, if ye dinna stop, I’ll have to enter ye right here on the table.”

  She stilled. Then the little minx looked behind her as if considering his idea.

  He growled and threw her over his shoulder. “That’s it. I canna wait another minute more.”

  She laughed as he tossed her on the soft quilt.

  His heart leapt at the sound of her joy. He wanted to hear that laughter forever…or as long as he had. Sobering, he knelt on the bed.

  She sat up and faced him, a devilish gleam in her eye. “So let’s see exactly what a true Scotsman wears under his kilt.

  Before he grasped her intent, her hand slipped beneath his tartan and took hold of his hard cock. His balls tightened at the feel of her warm hand clamping around him.

  “Ah, so it is true. You wear nothing beneath. I’m so glad.” Even as her hand held him, she leaned forward and licked his right nipple. Blast, his body couldn’t grow any tighter.

  “Jess, ye be playin’ with fire.”

  She let go of him and pushed him to lie back. He acquiesced, more than a little curious as to what she was about.

  “Ach, lass, so ye want to ride me do ye?”

  Jessica shook her head. “I want to pleasure you.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Do ye, now?”

  She grinned as she scooted down the bed to kneel at his feet. Her naked body—a vision to behold—kept him enthralled. Her firm breasts had light-colored areolas that boasted large nipples, which were hard, proving she was anxious to have him inside her. Past her belly was the tiny tuft of blonde hair he remembered from Loudon Hill, but she was solid now and that much more enticing.

  “Now, I want you to just lie there while I have my way with you.”

  Her smirk was too tantalizing to his heart. “So ye want me to lie here and simply accept the pleasures of Christmas Past?”

  She laughed again. “That’s right. I’m the Spirit of Christmas Past and I plan to provide you with so much pleasure, you won’t be able to hold back.”

  His cock jumped beneath his kilt even as his body prepared for her challenge. “I have complete control over my desire, lass.”

  She licked her lips. “We’ll see.”

  Duncan’s gut tightened at her words. Blast. His cock was already painfully hard for her. Exactly how experienced was she?

  Jessica still couldn’t believe Mr. Distraction who’d become Mr. Obsession was now Mr. Soulmate. She was positive her existence couldn’t get any better.

  The man lying before her, bare chested in a kilt and socks, was her daydream. That he loved her, filled her with awe. She wanted to show him exactly how much she loved him. He spent his life bringing pleasure to people, and way too many women in particular. It was time he was on the receiving end.

  She put her hands on his knees and grinned as his legs tensed beneath her palms. Oh, she’d make the man lose control sooner than he thought. She moved her fingers down to his socks and her right hand encountered something hard. Confused, she leaned forward and pulled out a short knife. “What is this for?”

  Duncan grinned as he held out his hand. “For whatever I need it for. To defend myself, to eat with if I’m outside, or to cut ropes that I might tie your hands with when I have my way with ye.”

  Jessica’s breath caught as her pussy swelled. She’d never done anything like that before and was more than a bit shocked her body reacted like it did. She placed the blade in his hand. “I certainly don’t need it.” She smiled slyly. “You won’t keep me from doing whatever I want, right?”

  Duncan’s grin faltered.

  She congratulated herself on putting him in an interesting position.

  Instead of answering her, he shrugged. But that was enough for her to know her time in control was of limited duration. She better get started.

  She tried to pull the sock down over Duncan’s rock-hard calf, but it wouldn’t budge. His chuckle had her glancing up at him. “Now what? Why can’t I pull these down?”

  “Have ye never undressed a Scotsman before?”

  She gave him a look that made it clear his question was beyond ridiculous.

  He stopped laughing at her and smiled, the love in his eyes turning her body to springtime slush.

  “And glad I am that ye dinna have more experience.” He lifted his arms and settled his hands beneath his head as if he wouldn’t do a thing to help. “The socks are held up by garters underneath the fold where the purple flash is.”

  She had noticed the little strip of purple, but had thought it sewn to the sock. Lifting up the top of the folded sock, she found the garter and untied it. The flash came off with it, and she was able to easily pull down the sock. She took it off Duncan’s foot and threw it to the side of the giant bed. Then she did the same with the other. When she finished, she looked at him, triumphant.

  Duncan gazed at her like he was a starved bear and she a fresh salmon. She took a deep breath and licked her suddenly dry lips.

  A low rumble came from Duncan’s chest, but he didn’t actually voice any thoughts. Her whole body tingled at the warning. He would only be patient for so long. She rethought her plan to undress him and instead moved her hands up his legs and under his kilt.

  Purposefully, she bunched the material at his waist, his strong pine scent distracting her a moment before her gaze feasted on his cock and balls now in full view. Then she lowered her head and blew.

  His cock jumped toward her. She didn’t dare grin or look at Duncan for fear he’d stop her playtime. Instead, she lowered her lips to the head of his erection and kissed the top.

  Duncan’s thighs distracted her for a moment. They tensed, showing muscle definition like she’d only seen in pictures of bodybuilders. Shit, the man was honed. Having that strength at her command was a heady feeling, even if it was for only a few minutes.

  She flicked her tongue out and encircled the entire ridge at his tip before encapsulating the head in her mouth. His cock was harder than stone, and she couldn’t resist licking up the underside, tracing the veins that pulsed there.

  Her pussy wept at the knowledge she would soon have this beautiful specimen deep inside her and moisture seeped beyond her folds.

  Daring a glance at him, she found his stare intense as he watched her mouth suck at only the top of his ready cock. She slowly let it glide into her mouth, watching as his abdominals turned to cliff ledges. Unable to resist, she raised her head and let the tip pop out of her mouth then leaned forward, brushing her nipple against his wet cock.

  Duncan’s hands swooped down fr
om beneath his head, but stopped just shy of touching her.

  Since he didn’t grab her, she sucked on his tip again and then stroked it across her other breast, turning herself on far more than she’d planned. From the corner of her eye, she caught his hands making fists against the quilt.

  All that strength, restrained, told her she did indeed play with fire, but in this case she couldn’t wait to get burned. Leaving his cock, she licked her way up the center crease of his stomach, letting her body slide against him, the soft wool of his kilt stimulating her skin.

  She flicked one of his nipples with her tongue before she pulled it between her teeth and rolled it.

  His chest rose as he took a deep breath.

  Taking that as a sign he liked it, she moved to his other nipple and flicked and rolled that one too. Then she slid her body upward until her moist folds glided along Duncan’s erection and her nipples brushed across his chest before she kissed him.

  Duncan’s tongue thrust into her mouth the second her lips touched his and her heart soared. Reflexively, she pushed her pelvis against his cock, loving the feel of her labia spreading as she rocked against him.

  He pushed his hips up, hitting her clit with his erection, and she moaned.

  Duncan’s hands wrapped around her as his growl filled her mouth and he spun her over onto her back.

  She grasped the back of his head as he continued to plunder her mouth with his tongue and slid his cock against her clit.

  When he pulled his lips away, she opened her eyes to look at him, not sure when she’d closed them. “That didn’t take long.” She couldn’t help the smirk that formed on her lips or the intake of breath at his hot gaze.

  He quirked a brow. “I dinna want to disappoint ye.” He pushed his pelvis against hers. “Ye seemed so ready, I dinna want to make ye wait.”

  She lost her smile. “Please, Duncan, don’t make me wait.”

  His nostrils flared as his blue eyes darkened to cobalt. “Nay, Jess. I won’t.” His hips lifted and the head of his cock slid down from her clit to her opening. Without hesitation, he pushed into her.