Catamītus Amatorius: The Spirit of Christmas Past

By Sherry Stone

A survivor of the COVID-19 Pandemic, a middle-aged woman spent most of the year 2020 mourning the loss of her husband who succumbed to the virus earlier in the year. When the holiday season approached the woman realized she would be spending her first Christmas without her husband of many years. She knew she wanted something that would take her mind off of her loss and reserved a stay at a renovated royal estate.

 

The stay at the venue exceeded every one of her expectations as she availed herself of all the amenities the grand place had to offer. Her very sensuous experience at the day spa, left her vibrating afterward.  The chance to flirt with the patrons in the full-service bar and the exhilaration of the long walks around the estate she took every afternoon. The time went by so quickly and before she knew it she was celebrating her last night at the luxurious establishment. It was with a deep sadness she finished her last drink and headed to her suite for the last time.

 

Returning to her room, she ready herself for bed. She heard a strange noise in the room and when she looked around she spied a young girl of about eighteen shivering in the corner of the room. The woman was certain the girl had been outside in the cold and needed her help to ward off hypothermia. The first thing she thought of was to let her get in her bed and try to warm her up. Eventually, she decided to use her bodily warmth to revive the girl from the bone-chilling cold that afflicted her. Little did she know in so doing, the mysterious girl was about to take her on the adventure of her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tenth Muse
• Release date: Jul 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224893997

Sherry Stone

Sherry Stone is the pen name of a thirty-seven-year-old single mother of two teenaged boys. A former college instructor and medical consultant. She has now begun to devote her time to writing. Science fiction and Romance are her passions, and she loves to spice her stories with some steamy erotica, just to give her work a punch other writers lack. Born in Birmingham AL she is an avid Crimson Tide Football fan. She currently lives just outside Cincinnati, OH

Book preview

Acknowledgment

Riley Blue

Chapter One

Iarrived late in the afternoon on Friday the 23rd of December,  and got my first view of the building. The original Tudor hall had been destroyed during the Civil War, the Paynes had been firm Royalists, and Cromwell's victorious Roundheads had extracted their usual brutal revenge for that error of judgment. Following the restoration of Charles II the family's fortunes revived, Baron Payne was rewarded for her loyalty by being elevated to an Earldom and the re-building of the hall commenced. This second house lasted another century before the 5th Earl and Countess became extremely wealthy through the American slave trade and replaced it with the current Georgian building. As usual with an old country house, it claimed to be haunted but, as a person of science, I have always treated such supernatural nonsense with disdain.

I pulled up in front of the hotel and was pleased to find that the service lived up to its five-star rating and price. One doorman opened the car door and escorted me to reception while a second brought my luggage. Once I was safely inside the first man took my car keys and went to park the vehicle. The desk was to the left as I entered and the reception area was dominated by a large painting opposite which appeared to be a copy of Gainsborough's Ann Ford, although the subject had blond rather than dark hair. Checking-in was completed quickly and efficiently and I was shown to my room where I unpacked before heading to the bar for a pre-dinner drink.

Over my vodka soda, I thought about what had brought about my coming to this lavish vacation spot in the Scottish Highlands. Believe me, it wasn’t without a lot of hand-wringing and floor-pacing before I decided to come to this delightful place.

Like most people, I was glad to see the end of the year 2020 but I have a particular reason for feeling that way, as my husband of 24 years passed away that February from COVID-19. It was therefore a year of unhappy firsts, none more so than my first Holiday Season without him. I pondered extensively how best to spend the once joyous time; we were childless and sitting alone in a large house held no appeal.

I contemplated, at first,  relocating to rooms at the college where I'm a professor of mathematics but that didn't seem to be very much of an improvement. My younger sister suggested that I could visit her but I knew that she was planning to travel to her daughter's home in Australia to see her grandson for the first time and I had no wish to deprive her of that pleasure. My niece, my only other close relative, was going to her father's for the holidays and there was no way that my ex-brother-in-law and