Scandalous Sins: Unwrapping His Convenient Fiancée / The Sheikh's Pregnant Prisoner / Snowbound with His Innocent Temptation

‘Great news, man,’ Fraser said. ‘Couldn’t be more delighted. Zoe reckons this is going to be the best Christmas ever. Did you hear about Grandad? Talk about a turnaround. He’s so excited for your wedding.’

The wedding that wasn’t going to happen... Cam sidestepped the thought like someone avoiding a puddle. ‘Yeah, your mum told me. It’s great he’s feeling better.’

‘So when’s the big day? Am I going to be best man? No pressure or anything.’

Cam affected a light laugh. ‘I’ve got to get my father’s fifth wedding out of the way first. We’ll set a date after that.’

‘What’s your new stepmother like?’

‘Don’t ask.’

‘Like that, huh?’

‘Yep,’ Cam said. ‘Like that.’

* * *

Violet looked around Cam’s house while he was out. It was a stunningly beautiful home with gorgeous touches everywhere but on closer inspection it didn’t have a personal touch, nothing to hint at the private life of its only occupant. There were no family photos or childhood memorabilia. Unlike her family home in Scotland, where her mother had framed and documented and scrapbooked each of her children’s milestones, Cam’s house was bare of anything to do with his childhood. There were no photos of him with his parents. None of him as a child. It was as if he didn’t want to be reminded of that part of his life.

Violet turned from looking at one of the paintings on the wall in the study when Cam came in carrying shopping bags. ‘You’ve been ages,’ she said. ‘Was it frightfully busy? The shops can be a nightmare at this time of year. I shouldn’t have asked you. I’m sorry but I—’

‘It was fine.’ He handed her the bags. ‘You’d better check I’ve got the right size.’

Violet took the bags and set them on the cedar desk. She took out the tissue-wrapped sweater and held it against her body. It was the most gorgeous baby-blue cashmere and felt soft as a cloud. The other wrapped parcel was a pair of jeans. But there was another tiny parcel at the bottom of the second shopping bag. Her heart gave a stumble when she picked it up and saw the high-end jewellery store label on the ribbon that was tied in a neat bow on top. ‘What’s this?’

‘An engagement ring.’

Violet’s eyes rounded. Her heart pounded. Her hopes sounded. Did this mean...? Was he...? ‘You bought a ring? For me?’

His expression was as blank as his house was of his past. ‘It’s just for show. I figured everyone would be asking to see it at your office party tonight.’

Violet carefully unpeeled the ribbon, her heart feeling like a hummingbird was trapped in one of its chambers. She opened the velvet box to find a beautiful diamond in a classic setting in a white gold ring. It was more than beautiful—it was perfect. How had he known she wasn’t the big flashy diamond sort? She took it out of the box and pushed it onto her ring finger. It winked up at her as if in conspiracy. I might be just a prop but don’t I look fabulous on your hand? She looked up at Cam’s unreadable expression. ‘It’s gorgeous. But I’ll give it back after Christmas, okay?’

‘No.’ There was a note of implacability to his tone. ‘I want you to keep it. Think of it as a gift for your help with the Nicolaides contract.’

Violet held up her hand, looking at the light dancing off the diamond. She didn’t like to think it might be the only engagement ring she ever got. She lowered her hand and looked at him again. ‘It’s very generous of you, Cam. It’s beautiful. I couldn’t have chosen better myself. Thank you.’

‘No problem.’

Violet gathered up her new clothes and the packaging. ‘I’m going to get dressed and head out to replenish my wardrobe. What are your plans?’

‘Work.’

‘On the weekend?’

He gave her a that’s how it is look. ‘I’ll catch up with you later this evening. What time is your office party?’

‘Eight.’

‘I’ll be back in time to take you. Make yourself at home.’ He reached past her to open the drawer of the desk and took out a key on a security remote. He handed it to her. ‘Here’s the key to the house.’

Violet took the key and a rush of heat coursed from her fingers to her core when her hand came into contact with his. He must have felt it too for his gaze meshed with hers in a sizzling tether that made her wonder if he was only going to work to remove himself from the temptation of spending time with her. Doing...things. Wicked things. Things that made her blood heat and her stomach do cartwheels of excitement. ‘Cam?’ Her voice came out croaky and soft.

His eyes went to her mouth and she saw the way his throat moved up and down over a tight swallow. ‘Don’t make this any harder than it already is.’ His tone was two parts gravel, one part honey, and one part man on the edge of control.

With courage she had no idea she possessed, Violet moved closer, planting her hands on his chest, bringing her hips in contact with his. ‘Don’t I get to kiss you for buying me such a gorgeous ring?’

His eyes darkened until it was impossible to tell where his pupils began and ended. His body stirred against hers, the swell of his erection calling out to her. Desire burned through every lonely corridor of her body, every network of nerves, every circuit of her blood. She became aware of her breasts pushed up against the fabric of her bathrobe, the nipples already tight, her flesh aching for human touch—Cam’s touch. Her courage increased with every pound of his heart she could feel thundering under her palm.

His head came down at the same time she stepped up on tiptoe, their mouths meeting in the middle in an explosion of lust that sent a shockwave through Violet’s body. It sent it through Cam’s, too, for he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her hard against him, smothering a groan as his mouth plundered hers.

His tongue didn’t ask for entry but demanded it, tangling with hers in a sexy combat that mimicked the intimacy both of them craved. This wasn’t a chaste kiss between old friends. This was a kiss of urgency, of frustration, of long-built-up needs that could wait no longer for satiation.

Cam’s mouth continued its thrilling exploration of hers while his hands slipped beneath the opening of her bathrobe, exposing her breasts. Violet shivered as the feel of his hand shaping her, cupping her, caressing her threatened to heat her blood to boiling. She’d had no idea her breasts were that sensitive. No idea how wonderful it felt to have a man’s hand cradle her shape while his thumb moved back and forth across her nipple.

But it wasn’t enough. Her body wanted more. More contact, more friction, more of the sensual heat his body promised. She pushed her lower body against his, relishing the delicious thrill it gave her to feel the potency of his arousal. She had done that to him. Her body stirred his as his stirred hers. It was a combustible energy neither of them could deny nor ignore any longer.

‘This is madness,’ Cam said just above her mouth.

Violet didn’t give him a chance to pull away any further. She pressed closer, stroking her tongue over his lips, the top one and then the lower one, a shiver coursing through her when he gave another rough groan and covered her mouth in a fiery kiss. His hands gripped her by the hips, holding her to his rigid heat, the contact making Violet’s inner core tingle and tighten with anticipation. How had she survived so long without this magical energy rushing through her body? Cam’s touch made every nerve in her body cry out for more.

He pulled his mouth away, his breathing a little unsteady. ‘Not here, not like this.’

Violet kept her arms around his waist, reluctant to give him the opportunity to break the intimate contact. ‘Don’t say you don’t want me because I know you do.’

He gave her a rueful look. ‘Not much chance of hiding it, is there? But I want you to be comfortable and making love on a desk or the floor is not my idea of comfortable.’

Before Violet could say anything, he scooped her up in his arms. She gave a startled gasp and held on, secretly delighted he was taking charge like a romantic hero out of an old black and white movie.

They came to his bedroom door and he shouldered it open and carried her to the end of the bed, lowering her to the floor, but not before trailing her body down the length of his, leaving her in no doubt of his erotic intentions. He pressed another lingering kiss to her lips, exploring the depths of her mouth with a beguiling mix of gentleness and urgency. Sensations rippled through her body in tiny waves, making her skin sensitive to his touch like he had cast a sensual spell on her. But then he had. From the moment he had walked into that café, she had been under the heady spell of sexual attraction.

Violet pulled up his sweater and T-shirt so she could glide her hands over his naked skin. Warm, hard male flesh met the skin of her palms; a light smattering of masculine hair grazed her fingertips, the scent of his cologne teased her nostrils. She explored the tiny pebbles of his nipples, and then the flat plane of his stomach with its washboard ridges that marked him as man who enjoyed hard physical exercise.

Cam untied the waist strap of her bathrobe and sent his hands on their own sensual journey. Violet shuddered when his hands glided around her ribcage, not quite touching her breasts but close enough for her to feel she would die if he didn’t. He brought his mouth to the upper curve of her right breast. He didn’t seem in a hurry, but maybe he was giving her time to get used to this level of intimacy. He brushed his thumb over her nipple, a back and forth movement that made her body contract with want.

Rather than undress her any further, he set to work on his own clothes, taking each item off while his gaze was trained on hers.

Finally, he was in nothing but black underpants, and then and only then did he remove her bathrobe. Violet’s belly did a somersault an Olympic gymnast would have been proud of when she saw the way his eyes feasted on her breasts. He cupped them in his hands with exquisite care, rolling his thumb over each nipple before lowering his mouth to subject her to an intimate torture that made her senses spin in dizzying delight.

He lifted his mouth off her breast and, kneeling in front of her, continued to kiss his way from her sternum to her belly button. Violet sucked in a breath, her hands on his shoulders, not sure she could handle what he was planning.

‘Relax, sweetheart.’

Easy for you to say. Violet held her breath while he peeled away her knickers. The warmth of his breath on her intimate flesh made her spine weaken as if someone had unbolted her vertebrae. His mouth came to her softly, a light as air touch that made her knees tremble. He gently parted her, stroking her with his tongue, the sensation so powerful she pulled away. ‘I—I can’t...’

His hands were gentle but firm on her hips. ‘Yes, you can. Don’t be frightened of it. Trust me.’

Violet glanced down at him worshipping her body, his touch so tender, so respectful it made her see her body differently, not as something to be ashamed of and hidden away, but as something that was not only beautiful and capable of receiving pleasure, but also of giving it too. The rhythmic strokes of his tongue sent a torrent of tingles through her body, concentrating on that one point—the heart of her femininity. The tension grew to a crescendo until she was finally catapulted into a vortex that scattered her thoughts until all she could do was feel. Feel the power of an orgasm that swept through her like a hot wave, rolling through every inch of her flesh, trickling over every nerve ending, sending showers of goose bumps over her body, leaving no part of her immune. She was limbless, dazed, out of her mind as the aftershocks pulsed through her.