Tricks & Treats: A Romance Anthology

by Candace Osmond

  “Beautiful.”

  James’ voice startled her from her musings just as his fingers caressed the small of her back. A slight touch sending excited shivers all the way to her toes. She turned around to find April missing, and James standing before her. With her back to the moon, and it shining directly into his face, she could see heat blazing in his eyes.

  “I—didn’t see you there,” she said. “Where is April?”

  “Inside, and safe, I assure you.”

  “Safe? I don’t understand. Why would April be unsafe? What is going on?”

  James reached for her hand and caressed her palm with his thumb. “We needed to awaken you long before you were ready, but believe me it is necessary. It took us so long to find you and I assure you, I will keep you and April safe. She has served us well.”

  “Us?”

  “Did she not tell you who I was? Am?”

  “No. I admit, she has told me some fantastical things this evening, and I am trying very hard to determine what is sane and what are possibly the workings of an overactive imagination.”

  James chuckled; a deep rich timbre that made her want to shuffle closer to him. There was something about him that drew her in and her instincts told her she could trust him.

  He took her other hand and held tight to both. “I cannot tell you all the things you need to know, but I can help you remember them for yourself. Will you trust me?”

  Would she? Could she? Her logic seeped back into the situation before her. Perhaps she was letting herself be drawn into this fantasy merely because of her loneliness. Perhaps April and James had cooked up this scheme to draw her out of her shell. But if that were true, what about the gown? And what about how they had gotten there?

  “I don’t know what to think,” she said.

  He smiled, the dimples deepening in his face. She wanted to kiss him, more than she had ever wanted to kiss anyone and before she could form another thought, he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. A light touch at first, he then released her hand and reached around to the small of her back to press her closer to him.

  James’ tongue sought hers as his hard body urged hers to respond. Warring with herself, she held back a little and let him kiss her at first, then something welled within her, a burning need to know what would happen if she succumbed to his seduction.

  Julia met his tongue and shared in the dance. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. He lifted her a few steps until she was pressed up against the railing. Julia’s head swam with images of them in another time and another place.

  Across a desert to a stone palace where they sat together.

  In a thick wood with hundreds of pixie faeries surrounding them as they pledged themselves to one another for all eternity.

  Then came an image filling her heart with a sadness she could barely endure. Julia broke the kiss and pulled away from him. “I have died.”

  She looked up into his face and noted the despair there. “Yes, you died and I did not know if I would ever find you again.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “Kiss me again and see for yourself.”

  Julia had to know. She pulled him closer and sealed her lips over his. Her need for knowledge was only seconded by her need to touch him. Her body pulsed with desire and a longing she had never known in this lifetime.

  As they kissed, she saw one more image and it broke her heart in to a million pieces. Victor stood over her with a glimmering glass dagger, dripping her blood. The look of anguish on his face was nothing compared to the rage on James’ and the burning she felt now in her chest. It was too much; an image so powerful she pulled away to grasp her heart.

  “He said he would destroy us all to get to you. He nearly succeeded. In the end he said if he could not have you he vowed no one would.”

  “He is inside.”

  “He is and he will not hurt you again. Not while I draw breath. April and I have drawn a protection spell for you that is weaved into the fabric of your gown. He cannot harm you while you wear it.”

  “But I cannot wear this forever.”

  “No, but you can for as long as it takes for us to get you some place safe.”

  “So why now after all this time have you and April revealed this to me?”

  “Because tonight you were open to it and that’s because tonight is special. Only once in a hundred years can memories of a past life be revealed to a living soul. You have been reborn, but you still possess much of your former power. I knew that any kind of connection between us would bring enough of those memories back for you to believe me. Otherwise you would think we were both crazy and we would risk losing you forever.”

  It made sense so either it was the most amazing truth the world had ever known, or they were all crazy and she was even more so for considering the truth of it for even a second.

  “So what now?”

  “Now you can do whatever you want,” he said. “I would like you to come home with me where I can protect you.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “And what happens when I take off my gown?”

  He stepped closer. “Then I get to cherish and pleasure you in ways it would take ten lifetimes to forget.”

  Julia’s belly flip-flopped at the thought of his hard body covering hers and his thick cock thrusting into her until she begged for release. Was that a memory or wishful thinking?

  He took another step toward her and she placed her hand flat on his chest. “What about protection? I thought you said all the protection was in the gown.”

  He leaned in toward her ear and whispered, “You will be safe in my home, I promise.” He then nipped her ear with his teeth and her body arched toward his. A jolt of desire raced to her clit. Crazy or not, she had to have this man between her thighs.

  “Your mind is already made up, my precious Jewel. Let me take you home.”

  “Yes,” she said and before she could blink, her body was pushed through time and space again.

  His home was not what she expected. “Where are we?” She gazed about trying to take it all in at once. Stone walls were covered by beautiful tapestries depicting various battles including her most favourite, the Bayeux Tapestry.

  “This is my home—our home.”

  “Yes but exactly where is here? I’ve never seen a castle in Newfoundland. And is that real?” she asked pointing to the tapestry. When he nodded, she said, “I thought the original hung in Normandy.”

  “That is a replica and this is the original. We are deep in the black forest of Germany,” he said. “As you must have gleaned by now, travelling great distances is not a barrier for us. Come, let me show you around.”

  For the next hour, he shared stories of things they had done together and places they had visited. That theirs had been a great love spanning centuries until Victor fell in love with her and changed all their fates. Julia was still struggling to take it all in when James opened a set of double doors.

  “This was our chamber.”

  Her jaw dropped when she stepped inside. Two walls were floor to ceiling book shelves including an upper level with various nooks and crannies with cushions so the reader could sit and read in different places. On the other side of the chamber floor to ceiling windows and the huge king sized four-post bed facing out toward a thick forest at the foothills of the castle. Julia could not imagine a more pleasant or perfect room.

  “I love everything about this place,” she said.

  James stepped up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back toward his body. “We have spent many days and nights here enjoying one another’s company and pleasuring each other. Let me love you like that again,” he whispered in her ear.

  Somehow when she turned in his arms, she knew this was exactly where she was supposed to be. She slipped her arms around his neck and drew him to her for a deep, soul-stirring kiss. James picked her up and brought her to the bed. He placed her on it and then stepped back. Julia’s
gaze followed his fingers as he slowly undid the buttons of his shirt until his sculpted chest urged her forward to touch him.

  She slid her hands up and down his chest and took one very taut nipped into her mouth. The air hissed through his teeth as she flicked it with her tongue. James pulled his shirt off the rest of the way and then reached for his pants, but Julia pushed his hands away. Kneeling before him she slid her gown off her shoulders and pushed it down to her waist, revealing her heavy breasts and needle-hard nipples.

  “I want you so bad,” James said in a hoarse voice. “I feel like I may to burst if I don’t get inside you soon.”

  Julia smiled and reached for his pants, unzipped him and pushed them down past his hips. Moisture pooled between her thighs when his cock sprang free. He grabbed the sides of her gown and slid it down her thighs. Her clit throbbed when he slid his hands up her hips again and brushed her inner thigh with his thumbs.

  Kicking the gown off completely, Julia knelt low before him and took his hard cock in her hand. She desperately needed to taste him and ensure he was as frantic for their joining as she was. Stroking up and down she gazed up at him and locked eyes as she took the tip of him in her mouth. She sucked hard and stroked at the same time, marvelling at the gasps and shudders coming from him.

  “Oh my sweet vixen, you’re bringing me to the edge too fast,” he said and pulled back. In a swift move he kicked his pants off the rest of the way and flipped her onto her back with her arms pinned above her.

  He spread her legs wide as he grazed the delicate skin of her neck with his teeth, making her writhe beneath him. He moved his head lower and sucked one hardened nipple. Julia’s body thrust forward and it was then her wet heat brushed the head of his cock. She could wait no longer and lifted her hips for more.

  With achingly slow strokes, James pushed just the tip inside holding himself there until Julia was sure she would orgasm just from that small movement alone. “James please,” she said. “I need to feel all of you inside me, now! I want you to take me hard!” Her voice didn’t even sound like her own to her ears. She sounded guttural. Wanton. Desperate.

  Releasing her hands, James then pulled her knees up so her legs would hook over his shoulders and then thrust hard inside her. Her breath caught in her throat at being filled so fully and completely. She knew one more hard thrust and she would climax. But James didn’t move. The first tingle of her climax was almost upon her and she needed him to fuck her hard.

  “Please, oh please, James.”

  “Open your eyes and keep them open,” he said.

  As soon as she did and gazed into his crystal blue depths, he grabbed her ass and thrust in an out in a pounding rhythm. Watching him above her was mesmerizing as his body claimed hers. Her first orgasm was intense and just as it passed another built and crested. Her body shuddered and shook as her brought her to orgasm after orgasm to the point she could scarce draw breath. Finally, he stiffened above her and thickened inside her driving her over the edge once more, this time so explosive she gripped him as tight as she could and could not help but close her eyes.

  Images of places and people flashed before her in an intense flood of memories filled with emotions and knowledge proving everything he had told her to be true. She opened her eyes again. “James I remember,” she whispered.

  His body was still hardened above her and within her. Enough of her old memory had seeped through for her to realize that this was just the tip of the iceberg so to speak for the evening of pleasure ahead of them. They had truly been insatiable in their past life together and somehow over the time separating them, none of their passion had been lost or quelled.

  “I had to watch your face to be sure you remembered,” he said with moist eyes.

  Their bodies still connected, Julia reached up to brush away a tear from the corner of his eye. “I remember that I love you more than my own life and never wish to be parted from you again,” she said.

  James moved within her again, much more slowly this time. He slipped his arms under her shoulders and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs as he kissed her softly. Before long, the heat built within her again. James pulled out and flipped her onto her stomach, lifting her hips just enough to bury himself inside her from behind. Julia loved the command he had over her body and in this position, he penetrated much deeper. Her body clenched around his cock as her climax peaked yet again. She gripped the pillow and pushed back as her body shuddered around his. Two, three more thrusts and he slammed into her body hard as he orgasmed with a growl. The sound stirred Julia to her very core.

  Hours later as they lay depleted in one another’s arms and the first grey streaked across the sky, Julia brushed away a tear of her own.

  “What do we do now?”

  “You mean about Victor?”

  “Yes. You said I am safe here right?”

  “You are safe in this chamber and in the gown, but that’s the limit of it.”

  “Who created the magic for the chamber?”

  “We did, on our first night here. We have had many enemies over the years, though none as dangerous as Victor.”

  “Can we not recreate it and expand it?”

  “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way,” he said and frowned. “The night we created the spell for this place was the same night we created life.”

  Julia sat up. “April!”

  “Yes, April is our daughter. It is a rare and glorious occurrence for us to conceive and we have only been able to do so once.”

  “I remember that night,” she said and snuggled closer to him. “We both knew special forces were at work. Do you really think we cannot recreate it again?”

  “I don’t know, my love. But I am willing to try anything to keep you safe and if that means we must live out eternity here, then so be it.”

  “I want to see April.”

  “You will. She will be here tomorrow.”

  “Do you think Victor will harm her in order to get to me?”

  “I think he is capable of anything and so April has been extra careful herself. She is also wearing something special for protection.”

  Julia was pleased to hear it. She had often wondered why she had been so drawn to April when for the most part she had been a bit of a loner. But her friendship with April had been different from the beginning and now she knew why.

  “James?”

  “Yes, my love?”

  “What do you do for food?” Julia was suddenly ravenous. Though they still had many hurdles to overcome, at least they had found one another again and that had to count for something. Surely the fates would not be so cruel as to separate them again.

  “We have a cook who will bring us whatever we want, whenever we want. Would you like breakfast?”

  “Yes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, and cheese, please.”

  James gave her a curious look and then smiled. “All protein?”

  “Yes I’m not usually that big on heavy food in the morning, but I feel like I could devour an entire pig this morning. Is that so bad?”

  “No, it’s not bad at all,” he said. “In all our years together you were only this hungry in the morning once before.”

  Julia thought hard to try to recall on which morning her referred and then it came to her. She sat up and turned toward him with wide eyes. “You don’t think?”

  He shook his head as a grin spread across his face. “I don’t know, but it is a little too much of a coincidence.”

  Julia touched her lower belly and rubbed back and forth. Could it be? Could she be blessed twice in an eternity?

  The End

  About the Author

  Bestselling author of the award-winning Highland Chiefs series, Kate Robbins writes historical romance out of pure escapism and a love for all things Scottish. She thoroughly enjoys the research process and delving into secondary sources in order to blend authentic historical fact into her stories. Ranging six hundred years, Kate’s novels are filled with passion, adventure, and political
intrigue.

  Kate is the pen name of Debbie Robbins who lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

  Dear Readers,

  Thank you to all the wonderful readers out there who give us authors a chance to tell our stories and appreciate us for how we tell them. Just as each reader has preferences for style and flow, authors do too. It’s wonderful that in this age, readers and authors can communicate easily with the use of social media. To all of you, who have read my work, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love hearing from you. Below is how you can get in contact with me if you ever have a comment or a question on any of my books. Cheers!

  http://katerobbinsauthor.com/

  Also by Kate Robbins

  Highland Chiefs Series Published by Tirgearr Publishing

  Bound to the Highlander (Book 1)

  Aileana Chattan suffers a devastating loss, then discovers she is to wed neighboring chief and baron, James MacIntosh -- a man she despises and whose loyalty deprived her of the father she loved. Despite him and his traitorous clan, Aileana will do her duty, but she doesn't have to like it or him. But when the MacIntosh awakens something inside her so absolute and consuming, she is forced to question everything.

  James MacIntosh is a nobleman torn between tradition and progress. He must make a sacrifice if he is to help Scotland move forward as a unified country. Forced to sign a marriage contract years earlier binding Lady Aileana to him, James must find a way to break it, or risk losing all -- including his heart.

  From the wild and rugged Highlands near Inverness to the dungeons of Edinburgh Castle, James and Aileana’s preconceptions of honor, duty and love are challenged at every adventurous turn.

  Promised to the Highlander (Book 2)

  Nessia Stephenson's world was safe until a threat from a neighbouring clan forces her to accept a betrothal to a man whose family can offer her the protection she needs. The real threat lies in her intense attraction to the man who arranged the match—the clan's chief and her intended’s brother, Fergus MacKay.