Hot Holida Treats Read online

  Hot Holiday

  Treats

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  8 Sexy Holiday Stories

  Cozy up with eight complete novellas full of love, lust, and winter magic by award winners and the ladies of Silken Sheets & Seduction. From Cowboys to demons, we’ve got hot holiday treats to warm you up.

  A Cowboy’s Christmas Wish by Sorcha Mowbray

  When rancher Ford Grayson saunters out of Melissa Adams’ past and into her bar, she’s determined to take him for a ride and kick him to the curb. Payback’s a bitch.

  But, the cowboy is determined to make his very own Christmas wish come true.

  Just’s Desserts by Rachel Kenley

  Dessert as foreplay? Justine saves her passion for the desserts she creates. Adam pours his focus into work. Together, something is going to melt.

  A Demon’s Gift by Jocelyn Dex

  Cordelia, a demon hunter trainee who daydreams of Christmas, fights to resist Argoth, the sex demon, who inflames her desire and reveals a truth that turns her world upside down.

  Furry Christmas by Sotia Lazu

  Alice's lonely holidays take an interesting turn when a stray dog walks into her life. Little does she know he could be her Prince Charming, if only she believed in magic.

  Holiday Bliss by Leigh Ellwood

  Two years after Hurricane Sandy, panther shifter Sheila Houlihan has finally rebuilt her home in the shore town of Bliss, New Jersey. She looks forward to her first Christmas there, if only Jonah will finish with the interior painting. Jonah, however, is interested in being more than Sheila's handyman.

  To Capture a Yeti by Eva Lefoy

  An ambitious reporter is determined to prove to the world Yetis exist, even at the cost of her life. But when she’s confronted with the truth, will she choose fame and fortune or keep the secret and the man she desires all to herself?

  Longest Night Loving by Daisy Banks

  Cursed elf Miles has waited for centuries in the hope a woman will free him from the curse binding him to this house. Will his beautiful visitor pass the test and prove she is the one who he can love?

  Caging the Wolf by Sofia Grey

  Jessie has fallen in love with the perfect guy, Levi, but there’s one tiny problem. The blue-eyed hunk only exists in her dreams.

  ❄ Table of Contents ❄

  A Cowboy’s Christmas Wish - Sorcha Mowbray

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  Just’s Desserts - Rachel Kenley

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  A Demon’s Gift - Jocelyn Dex

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  Furry Christmas - Sotia Lazu

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  Holiday Bliss - Leigh Ellwood

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  To Capture A Yeti - Eva Lefoy

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  Longest Night Loving - Daisy Banks

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  Caging The Wolf - Sofia Grey

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  About Silken Sheets & Seduction

  A COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS WISH

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  Sorcha Mowbray

  Rancher Ford Grayson never forgot the girl he foolishly dumped in college. In fact, he usually spent every Christmas in the tropics trying to erase his regrets with lots of hot sex.

  When the boy who broke Melissa Adams’ heart saunters into her bar, she’s determined to take the man for a ride and kick him to the curb. After all, payback’s a bitch.

  But the dominant man is a far cry from the boy who walked away, and Melissa might have gotten more than she bargained for. Especially since the cowboy is determined to make his Christmas wish come true.

  Chapter One

  Ford closed the back door, muffling the racket created by three sugar jacked kids, two barking dogs, and the rest of the Grayson clan. He drew a breath of clean, crisp winter air and held it until he had to release. His grip tightened on his keys as he headed to his truck.

  The black paint gleamed in the moonlight, a welcoming sight. Why he’d agreed to spend the holidays with the entire Grayson family eluded him at the moment. Normally he spent the last two weeks of each year on a tropical island with at least one beautiful woman on his arm. Except that one year he’d found an accommodating set of friends. Whew, that had been a hell’ve a Christmas and New Year’s.

  He slid behind the wheel of his new F-150 Raptor—if his name hadn’t been a family heirloom passed down over a hundred and fifty years, he’d have changed it when he came of age. With the push of a button on his key fob, the engine roared to life. The rumble of the truck comforted him. His first Ford hadn’t purred like this one, but the hum of power was familiar.

  He backed out of the driveway and pulled down the street. With a simple command, the nav unit woke up and awaited his request. He asked for the closest bar, and a moment later the smooth voice suggested The Silo, off Interstate 35. He shrugged, asked for directions, and then requested the radio be turned on. As the music poured through his speakers he grabbed his favorite ball cap off the seat and planted it on his head. The tattered hat bore his high school logo and had been a favorite since the day Melissa settled it on his head for the first time. He’d just made varsity football, and her eyes had shone with pride and genuine excitement for him. Melissa Adams turned out to be the biggest mistake of his life—well, his idiotic decision to dump her his freshman year of college was. Full of youthful arrogance, horny, and the newest stud on the University of Texas campus, he lasted three months before he cut her loose. Her cold acceptance of his decision only confirmed for him that he’d made the right choice at the time.

  The navigation unit announced he’d arrived at his destination. He pulled in to the almost empty parking lot of a building with a grain silo sitting on top. The Silo was painted on the towering structure in bold black lettering. He shut off the truck and wandered inside. To his surprise, the interior had a modern feel with small accents here and there that spoke to farm life, an odd mix of rural and city. Over the speakers Luke Bryan sang about dropping everything for a girl.

  Ford snorted. If only I’d learned that lesson a little sooner.

  Over the din of the song and a smattering of murmured conversations, a female voice sliced through his musings. “Last call is in fifteen minutes.”

  The familiar voice caught his attention and drew his gaze to its source like a lode stone. Holy shit. What were the odds that the very object of his wistful musings would appear as though he’d conjured her from thin air, or maybe it was a Christmas miracle.

  He gathered his scattered thoughts together and ambled up to the bar. He took his time, drinking in the sight of the woman, there in the flesh. Her long brown hair had streaks of red in it, the natural kind that came from genetics and not hair dye. The black tank top she wore had The Silo splashed across it in white lettering, and hugged her ample curves. Without a glance in his direction she asked, “What’ll you have?”

  “Brewmeister.” Had his voice cracked? Maybe not, she never glanced up from washing the glasses in the sink.

  “Coming right up.” She turned around, slid open the top of the beer cooler, and bent over.

  Ford’s heart skipped a beat. Damn, she still had a great ass. Two soft, luscious globes made for a man’s hands. He licked his dry lips and studiously ignored the throb between his legs.

  She popped the top on the bottle and set it on the bar while she simultaneously tossed the cap into the garbage. “Two doll—” she stopped talking as their gazes collided.

  Shit, he’d forgotten how blue her eyes were. It felt like he might fall and drown in them. Blue like the Caribbean Sea, they ranged from deep turquoise to bright aqua.

  His pulse sped up, matching the pounding ache
that now resided in his balls. She was a little older, and in some ways more stunning, than she’d been in high school.

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  Melissa’s panties were damp. Had she peed herself or was that just a burst of lust bum-rushing her? Since incontinence wasn’t an issue it had to be lust, which would make sense with Ford Grayson standing in her bar. It had to be him, if not she had finally cracked and was now having full-fledged hallucinations.

  Please, God, let it be him. “Ford?” Had he heard her? She wasn’t sure she’d spoken loud enough to be heard over the music, but since air refused to enter her lungs talking had become difficult. Standing, too, for that matter.

  “Hi, Mel.” He gave her that trademark Ford grin.

  Without warning her body unseized and air rushed back in while spots danced before her eyes, obstructing her view. She found her voice again as she leaned on the bar for support. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  He flinched and then shrugged. “Having a beer.”

  Having a beer? Seriously? The one that got away. The one that dumped her and left her to rot in Small Town USA was standing in her bar three days before Christmas and just having a beer? No way. This was fate giving her a chance at retribution.

  “Well, two dollars.” She turned her back and drew a breath as she collected herself.

  “How’ve you been, Mel?”

  She turned back around. “Just great, Ford. Everything’s coming up roses.” She went back to washing glasses.

  The drunk at the end of the bar called out, “Hey honey, get me another cold one.”

  With a sigh Melissa looked at Cletus and knew he was done. But, she also knew he had nowhere to go and nothing to do tonight. She poured him a mug of coffee and walked down to where he sat.

  “Clete, have some coffee. It’s almost Christmas and I don’t wanna have to call Maisey to come and get you.”

  The grizzled old man nodded and took the mug from her.

  Satisfied he wouldn’t be beyond stumbling up the block to get home, she returned to the sink. Ford was still there, damn him.

  “So, you got out of Tuckerville.” He half smiled even as his gaze ate her up. Or was she just imagining that?

  “Not like I went far. Austin’s only an hour away and, well, I didn’t exactly make it big.” She spread her arms wide and indicated the bar around her. “But I survived.”

  “Yeah, I can see that.” He paused. “You look good.”

  “Thanks. You, too.” She played it casual when all she wanted to do was crawl across the bar and lick him from head to toe. Apparently her libido didn’t give two shits about revenge. How did he do this to her after all these years? After all the boyfriends and an ex-fiancé?

  She glanced at the clock and realized she was five minutes late for last call. “That’s it, folks. Last call.”

  Mel moved up and down the bar, filled last orders, closed tabs, and then shut down the register. By the time she looked up again, it was just after two in the morning, and everyone but Harold, one of her regulars, and Ford had gone. “Night, Harold. I’ll see you later.”

  “You all right, Mel?” He looked meaningfully at Ford, who remained at the bar with his beer bottle in his hand.

  “Yeah, I’m good. He’s an old friend.”

  “If you’re sure. Have a good one.” Harold winked and eased off the stool that retained an imprint of his ass.

  A minute later, it was just her and Ford left in the empty bar. The jukebox kicked on the next song and Janna Krammer’s “Why Ya’ Wanna” blasted over the speaker system. Mel’s cheeks heated up, but she turned around and worked on wiping down the back bar.

  “Mel.” Ford’s warm bass carried across the small space and caressed her skin.

  “What do you want, Ford?” She threw down her rag and braced her hands against the bar top. Need pulsed thickly through her veins and pooled between her thighs. “What do you want from me? Why are you here?”

  “Do you still think about me the way I think about you?” His gaze held a glimmer of vulnerability as he reached up and pulled the brim of his cap down low on his forehead.

  Janna sang the very words on Mel’s mind. Why’d she keep wanting him?

  The silence drew out as she stared hard at the oak bar top and tried to form a response that didn’t include either crawling across the bar and tackling him or slapping him so hard he landed on his well-formed ass. At the moment it was a toss-up which one she’d go with.

  “No.” Because there was no way he thought of her with the desire and need she still had for him. After almost ten years she must have faded into a sweet memory of his youth and not the lust fueled fantasy that haunted both dreams and fantasy. If she believed otherwise, she’d have no defense. No way to protect herself.

  “Really? Not even an occasional ‘what if’ thought? What if I hadn’t broken it off with you? What if I hadn’t gone away to college? Maybe, what if I had asked you to marry me?” His deep, warm voice tormented her with every scenario she’d concocted since he’d called and broken it off with her. Then her mom had died, and she had nothing left after she worried about the next day’s survival. With the memory of being deserted at the worst possible moment in her life, her anger resurged and dampened her desire.

  “Wow. You must think a lot of yourself to believe I’ve had time in the last ten years to moon over you.” She walked to the other end of the bar and started flipping off the lights that illuminated the bottles, the glassware, and even the coolers.

  “What if I told you I jerk off at least four nights a week to memories of you that I stored away from our time together?”

  “I’d say you need to get laid.” She slid out from behind the bar and swept the floor. Of all the places in Austin, Ford Grayson had to come walking into The Silo and sit down? Why couldn’t he go away? And damn it, why was this song still on?

  Chapter Two

  Ford crossed the distance between them, cock hard and balls aching. Nothing about Mel didn’t rock his world—even after ten years. Her body had softened and filled out in all the right places. Her eyes tracked his every move with a wary vulnerability that tore at his soul. “Even if you were right, and truth be told you probably are, nobody would do but you.”

  “Give over.” She pushed him away. “I’m not that same starry-eyed girl you dated back in high school. You wanna get laid? I might be willing to accommodate you. But, if I do it will be on my terms.” She folded her arms across her ample breasts and stared him in the eyes.

  His cock thickened and lengthened at the prospect she might strip off her tight tee-shirt and tiny little shorts for him. Suddenly, she was the answer to every Christmas wish he’d made for the last nine years. Every fantasy he’d tried to live out in the tropical heat this time of year.

  “Mel.” He managed to push her name over the sandpaper that lined his throat. Saliva wouldn’t answer his body’s demand, and breath barely squeezed past the constriction in his airway.

  She pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t. It’s the holidays, and the truth is I don’t want to face my lonely apartment. So, if you want me, I’m willing to oblige both our curiosities about what it was like and if it could possibly be everything we remember.”

  Relief sliced through his tension and let anticipation bubble to the surface. He slid his hands up over her shoulders and then her cheeks to cup her face as he possessed her mouth. The very same mouth that had led him to believe all was well with her. His tongue delved past her lips and teeth to explore her mouth in wild abandon.

  With a groan, she clutched at his waist and pressed her breasts against his chest. In that moment Ford knew no business deal, no cattle auction, no rodeo win could ever compare with the exhilaration he got from tasting Mel. She was addictive.

  He walked her backwards until they hit the pool table. In the space of a heartbeat, he shifted his hands from her face to her waist so he could lift her onto the sturdy surface. Her legs spread, welcomed him in as he pressed closer. He let
his fingers drift under the hem of her tank top to tease the silky skin shielded from his view.

  Their lips parted and he let the oxygen filter into his lungs to feed the hungry cells in his body with at least a small part of what they needed. A moment of clarity swept through his lust-fogged brain as he questioned how quickly they’d jumped from hello to let’s get naked.

  “You sure you want this? It’s been a long time. A lot of things left unsaid, and a few that maybe should’ve stayed that way.” He worked hard to not sink his fingers into the softness of her hips as he waited for her to answer.

  “Cowboy, you always did talk too much.” She reached up, pulled him down, and devoured him again. Her lips melded with his, tongues twined, and breath mingled.

  The ability to think about anything but the taste of the woman in his arms escaped him as his world narrowed down to the fiery female who threatened to incinerate him with desire.

  ❄ ❄ ❄

  Mel whimpered as he shook off whatever gentlemanly notions had surged to the fore and he returned her kiss with a fervor that matched her own. Yeah, she wanted him, wanted this. She also had every intention of kicking him out the moment they were done and dismissing him with the callous disregard he had once shown her.

  For now, she meant to enjoy his touch. Soak up the pleasure, the likes of which she had not experienced since the last time she was in his arms. Even as inexperienced kids, the sex had been special. Different. She just hadn’t known that until the first time she slept with a man other than Ford. The whole experience had been like dropping into an ice bath after being in a sauna.

  Sure, she’d had better lovers since that first clumsy post-Ford attempt, but even the good lovers hadn’t compared. Now she needed to know if her memory was real or just the idealization of what she’d never have again.

  So far, she’d been spot on.