The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection. Kate HardyЧитать онлайн книгу.
colour schemes for the island villa and it was a much more welcoming house now that the bland beiges had been swept away and replaced with clear bright and subtle colours.
‘Bed?’ Pixie whispered to her husband because the arrival of guests, even if they were best friends, did put certain restrictions on what they could and couldn’t do.
‘You see, this is why I want to be married to you for ever and ever,’ Apollo declared as he swept her up into his arms. ‘You think like I do…’
Sometimes he was naïve, Pixie thought fondly. It wasn’t that she thought the same way as he did. It was more simply that she could never resist his sex appeal. He was dressed down for the day too in well-washed jeans and a sweater, but her amazing male still took her breath away with one wicked, wolfish smile. He just made her happy. In bed, out of bed, as a husband, as a father, he was all she had ever dreamt of and a couple of years of marriage had only increased his pulling power. His patient approach with Hector had taught her a lot about the man she had married. At heart he was kind and loving and good.
Hector and his little Greek shadow, another terrier called Sausage, followed them upstairs.
Apollo slid a diamond eternity ring onto Pixie’s already crowded finger. Her hands sparkled with a plethora of rings and she chose which ones to wear every morning. He liked to buy her stuff and she knew it was because she was rarely out of her husband’s thoughts when he was away from her. He kept his business trips brief and, if he could, took them all out on the yacht and did business on Circe where he could still have his family around him.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she told him gently, grey eyes silver bright with love and understanding because she had gradually come to see that having his own family meant everything to Apollo. He had longed to have a loving family when he was a child and had been sadly disillusioned by his father’s disastrous remarriages. Creating his own family as an adult had given him a kind of rebirth, allowing him to grow into the man he might have become had he had a less dysfunctional childhood.
‘No, you’re the jewel who outshines every setting,’ Apollo insisted, claiming her soft mouth in a hungry, demanding kiss that sent little shivers quivering through her. He pinned her to the bed, gazing down at her with unashamed satisfaction. ‘Do you think Vito and Holly are aiming for a football team in the kid department?’ he asked curiously.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised,’ she said with a grin. ‘But it’ll be a year or two before I want another one. Tobias and Sofia are exhausting.’
‘Almost as demanding as their mother,’ Apollo groaned, intercepting the fingers running along a lean, muscular thigh and carrying her tiny hand to a rather more responsive area. ‘But I love that about you.’
Pixie looked up into glittering green enticement fringed by black. ‘I love you, Apollo.’
‘Isn’t that fortunate? Because I’m keeping you for ever,’ he admitted thickly.
And later when their guests had arrived and every room seemed to be awash with overexcited exploring children and equally excited dogs, the adults settled down with drinks and snacks and Pixie curled comfortably up beneath Apollo’s protective arm and admired the sparkling lanterns glowing on the Christmas tree. It promised to be another wonderful Christmas and she was sincerely grateful for the happy ending she had found with the man she loved.
* * * * *
His Christmas Conquest
The Sheikh’s Christmas Conquest
Sharon Kendrick
A Christmas Vow of Seduction
Maisey Yates
Claiming His Christmas Consequence
Michelle Smart
The Sheikh’s Christmas Conquest
Sharon Kendrick
Summoned by the sheikh!
Sheikh Saladin Al Mektala isn’t used to being disobeyed. Incomprehensibly, the woman he summoned to help his favorite mare—the best horse “whisperer” in the world—turned his generous offer down! So he takes matters into his own hands.
The snow is falling, the fire is roaring and the mince pies are in the oven when innocent Olivia Miller finds a darkly handsome and physically compelling man on her doorstep… The sheikh she dared to refuse is here to whisk her off to his kingdom—and this time he won’t take no for an answer!
A passionate read for Christmas nights!
To the amazing Anni MacDonald-Hall – who
taught me SO MUCH about horses. Sheikh
Saladin Al Mektala is very grateful for her
expertise
LIVVY WAS HANGING mistletoe when the doorbell rang. Expensive, mocking mistletoe tied with ribbon the colour of blood. The sudden sound startled her because the heavy snow had made the world silent and she wasn’t expecting anyone until Christmas Eve.
Go away, whoever you are, she thought as several white berries bounced onto the floor like miniature ping-pong balls. But the doorbell rang again—for much longer this time—because whoever was outside had decided to jam their thumb against the buzzer.
Livvy wished the unwanted caller would vanish, because there was still so much to do before the guests arrived, and the snowfall meant that Stella, her part-time help, hadn’t turned up. But you couldn’t run a successful business and behave like a prima donna—even if it was only four days before Christmas and you didn’t have any room vacancies. She climbed down the ladder with a feeling of irritation that died the instant she opened the door.
She was unprepared for the man who stood on her doorstep. A stranger, yet not quite a stranger—although it took a moment for her to place him. He was famous in the horse-racing world she’d once inhabited. Some might say infamous. He was certainly unforgettable with eyes like gleaming jet and rich olive skin that showcased his hawklike features. His hard body spoke of exercise and discipline, and he was the kind of man who would make you take a second glance and then maybe a third.
But it wasn’t just his appearance or his undeniable charisma that made Livvy blink her eyes in disbelief—it was his lofty status. Because it wasn’t just any man who stood there surveying her so unsmilingly—it was Saladin Al Mektala, the king of Jazratan. A real-life desert sheikh standing on her doorstep.
She wondered if there was some sort of protocol for greeting one of the world’s wealthiest men, especially when they also happened to be royal. Once upon a time she might have been intimidated by his reputation and his presence—but not anymore. She’d had to do a lot of growing up these past few years and her experiences had made her strong. These days she lived an independent life she was proud of—even if currently it felt as if she was clinging on to that independence by her fingernails.
‘Didn’t anyone ever tell you,’ she said, tipping her head to one side, ‘that it’s polite to wait for someone to answer the first ring, rather than deafening them with a repeated summons?’
Saladin raised his eyebrows, unable to hide his surprise at her feisty response. It was an untraditional greeting to receive, even here in England where the demands