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

‘What would you like for breakfast?’ he said, turning from the fridge. ‘I’m afraid I can’t match your mother’s famous breakfast spreads but I can do cereal, toast and fruit and yoghurt.’

‘Sounds lovely.’ Violet perched on the stool opposite him. ‘Can I ask a favour?’

His gaze met hers. ‘Look, we had this discussion last night and the answer is—’

‘It’s not about...that.’ Violet captured her lip between her teeth. Did he have to rub it in? So he didn’t want to sleep with her. Fine. She wasn’t going to drag him kicking and screaming to the nearest bedroom. ‘It’s about my clothes. I need to get new ones. I can’t bear wearing any of mine from the flat, not even the ones I brought with me, and I don’t want to wear my cocktail dress because I’ll look like I’ve been out all night.’

A frown pulled at his forehead. ‘You want me to go...shopping for you?’

Did he have to make it sound like she’d asked him to dance naked in Trafalgar Square? ‘I’ll give you my credit card. I just need some basics and then I can do the rest myself once you bring those couple of things back.’

He blew out a breath and reached for a pen and a slip of paper, pushing it across the bench. ‘Write me a list.’

* * *

Cam had never shopped for women’s clothing before. Who knew there was so much to choose from? But choosing a pair of jeans and a warm sweater wasn’t too much of a problem. The problem was he kept looking at the lingerie section and imagining Violet in the sexy little lacy numbers. He had to walk out before he was tempted to buy her the black lace teddy with the hot pink feathers. Or the red corset one with black silk lacing. Once he’d completed his mission, he was making his way back to his house when he walked past a jewellery store. He’d walked past that store hundreds, if not thousands, of times and never looked in the window, let alone gone in. But for some reason he found himself pushing the door open, going inside and standing next to the ring counter.

It’s just a prop.

Violet’s office party was tonight and what sort of cheap fiancé would he look if he hadn’t bought her a decent ring? No need to mortgage the house on a diamond but that one at the back there looked perfect for Violet’s hand. He didn’t have too much trouble guessing her ring size; he had thought of her hands—holding them, feeling them on his skin—enough times to know the exact dimensions. Actually, he knew pretty much the exact dimensions of her whole body. They were imprinted on his brain and kept him awake at night.

Cam paid for the ring, placed it in his pocket and walked out of the store. Just as he was about to turn the corner for home, he got a call from Fraser. He couldn’t avoid the conversation any longer, but something about lying to his best mate didn’t sit too comfortably. ‘Hey, sorry I haven’t returned your calls,’ he said. ‘Things have been happening so fast I—’

Fraser gave a light laugh. ‘You don’t have to apologise to me, buddy. I saw the way you were looking at Vivi at Easter. Is that why you skived off to Greece? So you wouldn’t be tempted to act on it?’

Maybe it had been, now that he thought about it. Cam often had to travel abroad at short notice in order to meet with a client, but the chance to go to Greece for a few months had been exactly the escape hatch he’d needed. He’d felt the need to clear his head, to get some perspective, to have a little talk to himself about stepping over boundaries that couldn’t be undone. But the whole time he’d been away, Violet had been on his mind. ‘Yeah, well, now that you mention it.’

‘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.

Cam brought his mouth back up over her stomach and ribcage, then her breasts, leaving a blistering trail of kisses on her tingling skin. He stood upright, drawing her closer, his mouth settling back on hers in a mind-altering kiss, the eroticism of it heightened by the fact she could taste her own essence on his lips and tongue.

Violet had thought herself too shy to draw his briefs from his body but somehow her hands reached for the elastic edge of the waistband and slid them away from his body. She took him into her hand—hot, hard, and quintessentially male. She stroked him with experimental caresses, her fingers drawing down from the base to the head and back again. It was so empowering to be an active part of a sexual encounter. The deep guttural noises he made added to her sense of agency. She was doing this to him. She was the one he wanted. She was the one exciting him, pushing him to the limit of control.

Cam gently moved her hand away and guided her to the mattress behind her, coming down over her in a tangle of limbs, balancing his weight on his arms so as not to crush her. ‘Comfortable?’

‘Yes.’ Violet was surprised she was capable of thought, let alone speech. The way he made her feel, so safe, so treasured, made the shame she had carried for so long slip further out of reach, like an old garment stuffed at the back of the wardrobe. It was still there but she could no longer see it.

Cam stroked her face with his fingertip, his eyes dark and lustrous. ‘We don’t have to go any further if you’re not ready.’

I’m ready! I’m ready! Violet touched the flat of her palm to his stubbly jaw, looking into his eyes without reserve. ‘I want you inside me.’

A flash of delight went through his gaze. ‘I won’t rush you and you can stop me at any point.’

He reached for a condom in the bedside drawer and deftly applied it before coming back to her. The choreography of their bodies aligning themselves for that ultimate physical connection was simple and yet complex. It was like learning the steps to a dance, one leg this way, the other that, her breasts pressing against the wall of his chest, her arms winding around his body to anchor herself. He gently probed her entrance, allowing her time to adjust to him just...being there. She felt the weight and heft of him waiting there but it wasn’t threatening in any way.

He slowly entered her, waiting for her to relax before going any further. Violet welcomed him inside her body with soft little gasps as the sensation of him stretching her, filling her, tantalising her gained momentum. He began a slow rhythm that sent shivers of delight through her body, the friction of male against female making her aware of her body in a way she had never been before. Nerves she hadn’t known existed were firing up. Muscles that had been inactive for most of her life were now being activated in a deeply pleasurable workout that had one sure goal. She could feel that goal dangling just out of reach, the thrill of her flesh building and building but unable to go any further. It was a frustrating ache, a restless urging for more. But, as if Cam could read her silent pleas for release, he brought his hand down between their bodies and sought the heart of her arousal. The stroking of his fingers against her tipped her into a free fall of spinning, whirling, dizzying sensations. They ricocheted through her in giant shudders, making her lose her grasp on conscious thought. She was in the middle of a vortex, vivid colours bursting like thousands of tiny fireworks behind her squeezed-shut eyelids.

Then the slow wash of a wave of lassitude... She was drifting, drifting, drifting...

But then she became aware of the increasing pace of Cam’s thrusts as his own release powered down on him. She experienced every second of it through the sensitised walls of her body, his tension building to a final crucial point before he pitched forwards against her, his deep primal cry making something in her belly shiver like a light wind whispering over the surface of a lake.

Violet lay in his embrace, her fingertips moving up and down his spine while his breathing gradually slowed. She couldn’t find the words to express what her body had just experienced. She felt reborn. As if the old her had been sloughed away like a tired skin. Her new skin felt alive, energised, and sensitive to every movement of Cam’s breathing as his chest rose and fell against hers.

Should she say something? What? How was it for you? That seemed a little trite and clichéd somehow. How many times had he lain here like this with other women? How many other women? He might not be the fastest living playboy on the planet but he wasn’t without a sex life. He just kept it a little more private than other men in his position. How many women had lain here in his arms and felt the same as her? Was what she had experienced with him run-of-the-mill sex? Or was it different? More special? More intense?

Violet knew she was being a fool for allowing her feelings to get involved. But this was Cam. Not just some hot guy she happened to fancy. Cam was a friend. Someone she had known for years and years and always admired.

They had stepped into new territory and it felt...weird, but not horribly weird. Nicely weird. Excitingly weird. Would he make love to her again? How soon? Would he get so hooked on having sex with her he would extend their ‘engagement’? What if he fell in love with her? What if he decided marriage and kids wasn’t such a bad idea? What if—?

Cam dealt with disposing of the condom and then looked down at her with a soft smile that made his eyes seem even darker. ‘Hey.’

Violet hoped he wasn’t as good at reading her mind as he was at reading her body. Her thoughts were running like ticker tape in her head. Please fall in love with me. Please.

‘Hey...’

He brushed some stray strands of hair back from her face, his smile fading as a frowning concern took up residence instead. ‘Did I hurt you?’

Violet had trouble speaking for the sudden lump in her throat. ‘N-not at all.’

He picked up another strand of hair and gently anchored it behind her ear, holding her gaze with his. ‘Sure?’

How was she supposed to keep her feelings out of this when he looked at her like that? When his hands touched her as if she were something so eminently precious to him he would rather die than hurt her? ‘I’m sure.’

He leaned down to press a soft kiss to her mouth. ‘You were wonderful.’

Violet traced the line of his mouth with her fingertip. ‘This won’t...change things between us, will it? I mean, no matter what happens, we’ll always be friends, won’t we?’

A flicker of something moved through his gaze like a passing thought leaving a shadow in its wake. ‘Of course we will.’ He took her hand and quickly kissed the ends of her fingertips before releasing it. ‘Nothing will ever change that.’

Violet wasn’t so sure. What if she couldn’t cope with going back to normal? He might be able to go back to relating to her as he had always done, but she wasn’t confident she would be able to do the same to him. How could she look at him and not think of how his mouth felt against her own? How could she not think of how his hands had stroked her most intimate flesh? How could she not think of how his body had awakened hers and made her feel things she hadn’t thought were possible to feel?

Not just physical things, but emotional things.

Things that might not be so easily set aside once their fling was over.

CHAPTER SIX

CAM WAITED WHILE Violet had a shower and got changed. He would have joined her but he was conscious of allowing her time to recover. God, he needed time to recover. So much for keeping his distance. So much for his self-control. Where had that gone? He hadn’t been able to resist the temptation of making love to her. So apparently they were having a fling. It didn’t feel like any fling he’d ever had before. He had never known a partner the way he knew Violet. Her trust in him had heightened the experience. Every touch, every kiss, every stroke, every whimper or gasp of hers had made his pleasure intensify. It was like having sex for the first time but not in a clumsy, awkward way, but in a magical, mutually satisfying way that left his body humming like a plucked string.

Somehow the thought of spending the afternoon working didn’t hold its usual appeal. Even a yuletide cynic like him had to agree there was no greater place to be before Christmas than in London. He wasn’t much of a shopper but Violet needed a new wardrobe and he would rather spend the time with her than chained to his desk.

Violet came down the stairs wearing the jeans and baby-blue sweater he’d bought her. Cam had trouble keeping his hands to himself. He ached to slide his hands under the sweater and cradle the perfection of her breasts. To feel those pink nipples embed themselves into his palm. To feel her body quake with pleasure when he touched her.