Page 31 of The Gift of a Christmas Scandal

“Selina, you are the best Christmas gift imaginable. I am in awe of the fact that you had the courage to free us both through scandal. That you have given me the gift of love as well…”

“I could say the same to you, Alex. But this, what we have, is worth it, worth any price…”

“It is.”

He had now undone all of the buttons, and his deft fingers were untying the cords of her stays as the gown slipped off her shoulders. He bent to press kisses across the tops of her breasts, and she sighed, a little shiver running through her.

“Alex… I seem to remember you mentioning something while we danced… something about a promise of pleasure, beyond what you have shown me before?”

He laughed softly at the breathiness of her voice, and ran his tongue across the hard peak of her breast. She thrust her body against him, and he lifted her, carrying her to the bed.

“I do seem to remember saying something of the sort. As I’m a man of my word, it seems I have no choice but to fulfil that promise. Immediately.”

He eased the loosened gown from her body, then proceeded to remove her stays and chemise, until she lay naked before him. When he bent to kiss her, to explore her body with his tongue, she reached for him without hesitation, her fingers going to the buttons of his falls. Her breathy voice came again, as she arched her body up to him.

“If I am to be naked, it seems only fair that you be naked also…”

It was a matter of moments for him to cast off his clothes, and he stood before her, the hard evidence of his need for her jutting out. She reached out, and her fingers closed around it. He sank onto the bed at her side.

“Does my nakedness please you, my darling?”

A smile played about her lips.

“It does, my love. I find myself desperate to explore you, as you have explored me.”

“Then indulge your desires… but I will do my best to distract you – I have promised pleasure to deliver, after all.”

Selina said nothing more – simply pulled him down into a kiss.

It was near dawn before they fell into exhausted sleep – and just before they did, Selina whispered softly.

“That was delightful, my love, but… I am quite sure that I have not fully explored the possibilities. We will simply have to continue… soon.”

He kissed her, and his last thought before sleep took him was of how lucky he was to have found a scandalous woman.

The End