The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
by Willa Edwards
Some people don’t like Christmas. The commercialism, the greed, the busy roads and stores, even the time with prying family members. And while I might agree with some of those complaints some of the time, I’ve always loved Christmastime. It’s a magical time of year. Not just because it’s the time of year when reindeer can fly or one man can deliver presents to every child on the planet. But because this time of year changes people. While it can bring out some horrible traits in people, it can also bring out the best in people. People become more caring, more charitable, more interested in their fellow man around this time of year.
And that’s why I’ve written several stories taking place over Christmas. Because when people are more loving, more charitable and more open to others, is also (in my opinion) the perfect time for love. And that is what inspired me to write my newest release, Owned for Christmas. This story includes a little of the good and bad of the season. Some noisy family members, some tree trimming, a little bit of brotherly strife, and three open hearts looking for connection. With some rope and a few whips thrown in just for fun.
I hope you have a happy and safe season, and experience all the good of this holiday season. And if you get a chance, I’d love for you to check out Owned for Christmas, a fun little story about one woman caught between two brothers, and all the sexy situations she gets into trying to bring them together. Available now with Totally Bound Publishing.
Christmas with her boyfriend’s family seems like a lovely idea—until she finds her previous Dom staying for the holidays too.
Kate Baker is nervous about meeting her boyfriend Daniel’s family.
When she walks into the family home to find Grant, her former Dom, spending the holidays with them too, her world turns upside down. How can she spend Christmas with the man who shattered her heart and broke her trust in the whole BDSM scene?
Although she had no idea Grant and Daniel were brothers, Grant revives all those needs that Daniel can’t fulfil. But she won’t give up the man who helped mend her broken heart after Grant shattered it—even if she has to bury the submissive part of herself to do it.
A year ago, Grant Farrell left the woman he loved—and the best sub he’s ever controlled—to tend the family ranch after his father’s death. It almost tore his heart out to leave Kate but he had no other choice. He didn’t realise how much it had hurt them both until she shows up at his family’s home on his brother’s arm.
Now more than ever he’s determined to keep her in his life, even if he has to share her to do it. But half measures won’t be enough anymore. He needs either to own her completely, or give her up to Daniel for good.
Can he convince Kate to forgive him for the pain he caused her and the secrets he kept? Or will he lose her to his brother for his past mistakes?
Excerpt:
“Are you sure your mom will like me?” Kate threaded and unthreaded her fingers together. The snow-covered Rocky Mountains filled her passenger side window. The ground crunched under their tires, illustrating that they weren’t in Texas anymore—that and the sub-zero temperature.
When her boyfriend had asked her to spend Christmas with his family in Colorado, she’d been ecstatic. Now she was rethinking her decision.
She stared out of the window, focusing on breathing deeply. The last thing she wanted was to have a panic attack the second she walked into her boyfriend’s childhood home. What a great first impression that would leave. For years to come, she’d be known as the crazy girl he brought home that one Christmas who stopped breathing right inside the front door.
Daniel pulled his hand from the steering wheel and reached across the car for hers. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “I’m sure she’ll love you.”
She nodded and tried to believe him. It had been a long time since she’d met anyone’s mother. She’d stopped being the type of girl a man would take home to his family a while ago. She had never thought she’d be back in this position again.
That was until Daniel had appeared in her life. She looked over at the man sitting beside her. He’d glance at her with his warm, honey-brown eyes every once in a while. He’d combed his sandy hair back neatly. He was her savior. He’d found her, picked her up and helped her to glue her heart back together when she’d given up any hope that it was possible. The least she could do for him was meet his mother.
“What is there about you that’s not to love?” He smiled over at her.
There was a lot not to love. There certainly had been before. Enough to force someone to leave her. Or at least one very notable person. The one who had broken her heart and left her behind to pick up the pieces.
But that was all before Daniel. She tried to smile back.
They took a left turn, pulling off the highway onto a winding dirt road. Snow, a few inches deep, was piled up on either side of the road. White blanketed the trees and rocks. The car shook and dipped down the bumpy road. She braced herself against the car seat. This was a long way from her normal commute to school each morning. She’d never complain about Dallas traffic again. At least it didn’t have potholes the size of cannonballs, or ice.
“Trust me. It will be great. We got through the plane ride, didn’t we?”
Kate nodded. She had survived the plane ride. Thanks in part to Daniel and two mini bottles of vodka. But somehow, she’d lived through the flight. Her hands had even stopped shaking. “Of course I trust you.”
Daniel turned another corner, shifting onto an unpaved drive. It was hard not to notice the house so covered in twinkle lights it could almost be seen from space. It was beautiful. The quaint, tiny farmhouse sat nestled back into a hill. With the snow covering its roof and the lights decorating the porch, it almost looked like the front of a Christmas card. The kind she would have found and looked at longingly as a child from her Dallas bedroom.
If only she could stop her stomach from churning, she might be able to enjoy the sight.
Daniel slowed the vehicle before parking the rental car to the left of the small house.
“We’re home.” He grinned over at her.
Kate took a deep breath. He looked so happy, so excited. Her stomach churned more violently. She wished she felt the same as he did.
He scrambled out of the car toward the back to get their bags. Kate opened the door, stepping out into the cool air. Her boots squished in the snow. Good thing she’d gone for the heavy winter coat. She’d never seen so much snow in her life, besides on television. The bitter wind brushed her face and her nose burned slightly. But the snowfall was pretty, decorating everything in white and ice.
Daniel slammed the trunk before coming to meet her beside the car, a bag cradled under each arm.
Always the gentleman. Just another reason she loved him so much.
“Don’t tell me it looks that bad,” he joked, a wide smirk on his face.
Kate tightened her coat around her chest, schooling her features into a more excited expression. She’d hate for his mother to see the dumbfounded look she must have been sporting. She didn’t want to give his mom the impression she was judging them, or that she was disappointed in what she found—she certainly wasn’t.
She didn’t think his childhood home looked bad at all. In fact, the little house in the snow was very pretty and picturesque. So different from her parents’ house, so different from the Christmases she’d always known.
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