Christmas under a Cranberry Sky

by Holly Martin

He pulled the silver domes off the plates and she laughed when she saw the pizza with ham and pineapple, her favourite topping when she was a teenager. And then it hit her. They’d had ham and pineapple pizza the night they had first made love and with the candles dancing in the darkness she realised he was trying to recreate the magic of that evening. That made her even more nervous. They were such different people now; could they really just pick up where they had left off and expect everything to be the same?

  Gabe sat down opposite her.

  ‘How are the lodges in the village looking?’ he asked, dishing up the pizza.

  ‘I decorated three today and I cleaned them too, so they are ready. I’ll do the other three tomorrow. From what I gather from Luke, the boys only have one house left to finish off and they’ll be finished tomorrow too.’

  ‘That’s great. The guests arrive the day after tomorrow, so I think everything will be ready for them.’

  Pip bit into her pizza. ‘Oh, this is delicious.’

  ‘Care of Uri, my chef. Sadly we don’t get Pizza Hut or Domino’s up here. If you want pizza, you have to make your own.’

  Pip took another bite. ‘Luke says you’re having staffing issues. Is there anything I can do to help?’

  Gabe smiled and took her hand. ‘I really appreciate you offering but no, we have it all in hand. I’ve made Iris the reservations manager; she knows our systems like the back of her hand. She’ll still do a few shifts on reception too. I’ve got my head receptionist from my hotel in London to come up here and cover until Chloe can come back to work at the end of January and one of the girls from the town is going to help out on reception with a few hours here and there too. I’ve also got Adam, one of the deputy managers from London, to come up and give Neve a hand for a few months. They were a great team when they worked in London. This is Neve’s first job as hotel manager, her and Adam were both deputy managers in London. I think she is finding it all a bit overwhelming, although she would never admit it. Plus this situation with Oakley isn’t helping. Between you and me, I’m hoping Adam will also provide the distraction that Neve needs.’

  She stared at him for a moment, in confusion.

  ‘You’re trying to distract your sister from a broken heart with sex? I think that’s the last thing she needs.’

  ‘I didn’t mean sex. I just meant someone she can have fun with. She gets on really well with Adam, they always had a laugh together.’

  ‘Oh. Sorry.’

  He smiled. ‘It’s OK. I don’t think being with another man will help her. She’s completely in love with Oakley. That kind of love never goes away.’

  ‘You don’t think they should have broken up?’

  ‘No, definitely not. It breaks my heart to see her so upset over it. I don’t know what I can do to help her. I wonder if I should contact Oakley and ask him to come here. I know I shouldn’t interfere, but I don’t want her to live the rest of her life wondering and regretting like I did.’

  It was like a punch to the gut and she could see that Gabe regretted saying it as soon as he’d said it.

  Gabe picked up a bottle of wine from the cooler and poured some into both glasses.

  ‘Luke told me about you going into hospital,’ Pip said, quietly.

  His face darkened. ‘He shouldn’t have done that.’

  ‘He cares about you. He thinks we’re making a mistake by getting back together.’

  ‘It’s none of his business,’ he sighed. ‘It was years ago. I was in hospital for three nights. It was hardly anything to worry about. I was run-down. It was probably some viral infection. The doctors thought at one stage it might even be an ear infection causing me to feel dizzy and not regulating my temperature properly. It wasn’t you. Please don’t think it was you. I know you feel terrible over what happened, but I don’t blame you at all. You were a kid and you went through the worst time in your life. If being together is wrong when we still have such strong feelings for each other then it’s our mistake to make. Can we just concentrate on us and not worry about what others think of it?’

  Pip nodded, though she still couldn’t help worrying. Gabe was right though; it was hard enough for them without factoring into the situation other people’s opinions of it. She picked up her wine glass and held it up to him. ‘So, let’s drink to us.’

  He smiled and picked up his glass too. ‘To us.’

  She took a sip of the wine and the bubbles danced on her tongue.

  ‘Would you like some dessert?’ Gabe asked. ‘I have coconut ice cream.’

  Pip smiled. ‘I love coconut ice cream.’

  ‘I remembered that you did. I hoped you hadn’t gone off it in the last twelve years.’

  Gabe dug a tub of coconut ice cream out of the cooler and dished it up into two bowls.

  ‘Wait a minute, are you telling me you have shop-bought stuff for our special date tonight? I would expect Uri to make it fresh for us.’

  Gabe laughed. ‘He does make his own ice cream, but it takes a little longer than a few hours for him to pull that together. Besides, I don’t think even Uri could make coconut ice cream this good. And if you tell him that I’ll have to kill you.’

  ‘My lips are sealed.’

  She scooped up a large spoonful and popped it in her mouth. It tasted divine. As she glanced over the table at Gabe she realised he was watching her.

  ‘Thank you for tonight, this is all so wonderful.’

  ‘It’s my pleasure.’

  She ate a few more spoonfuls and Gabe tucked into his own. ‘So your parents are coming tomorrow. Are you looking forward to seeing them?’

  ‘Very much so, it’s been over two months since I last saw them. Wren absolutely adores them and the feeling is very mutual. I know they’ll be delighted to see you again.’

  Pip focused her attention on her ice cream for a moment. ‘So much of my feelings after the accident, regarding you and your parents, revolved around what my dad had told me just before he crashed the car. I was heartbroken to hear that your mum and dad didn’t want me. Although my dad had been verbally abusive to me for over ten years, and in hindsight I shouldn’t have listened to him, he was so vehement about them turning down the five thousand pounds to take me in that I couldn’t help but believe that it was true.’

  ‘I can’t believe that for a second. But they’ll be here tomorrow and you can ask them about it.’

  Pip nodded. ‘I will. I need to know. Where are they staying?’

  ‘I’m not sure. They were supposed to sleep in your room, but I think I may move them to your lodge.’

  ‘But if I’m in your room every night, they could have my room.’

  Gabe pulled a face. ‘As much as I’m looking forward to seeing them and spending time with them again, once all the guests arrive I’m going to be very busy. Call me selfish, but I’d like the few spare hours a day I’ll have to myself to spend with you without them being there too. I have enough interference from Neve and Luke without them sticking their oar in as well.’

  ‘Do you think they will be against us being together too?’

  ‘Knowing my mum, as soon as she finds out that we’re together again she’ll be helping you to pick out a wedding dress and buying a great big hat.’

  Pip laughed. ‘OK, them staying in my lodge does sound like a better idea.’

  They finished off the ice cream and Gabe stood up and offered his hand. ‘Would you like to dance?’

  Pip took his hand. ‘I’d love to.’

  He pulled her to her feet and then moved to the stereo to select a track.

  As Ed Sheeran’s ‘Photograph’ drifted out through the speakers, he moved back to her and took her in his arms. As Ed started singing, Gabe joined in too, staring at her as he slowly moved around the room with her wrapped tightly in his arms. The lyrics of the song were telling their story, about their past and how hard it was to love sometimes but you do it anyway because you have no choice. It was a beautiful song and Gabe couldn’t have picked anything more ap
propriate. As the words came to an end, Gabe stopped moving as he looked down at her.

  She reached up and kissed him and he ran his hands round her back as he kissed her, sweetly. God, she could spend the whole night kissing this man and never ever grow tired of it. Although as his hands moved to the zip at the top of her dress and started to slide it down, she knew he had other ideas.

  Chapter 17

  In a movement that was swift and confident, Gabe slid the dress off her shoulders so it pooled on the floor, leaving her only in her lacy briefs.

  He stepped back a bit to admire her for a moment before he was kissing her again, his hands caressing all over her body as if he wanted to stroke her everywhere at once.

  She reached up to slide his jacket off his shoulders and then started trying to undo the buttons on his shirt, but she was shaking so much that her fingers refused to do the job required of them.

  Gabe realised this too. ‘You’re shaking.’

  ‘I’m just a bit chilly.’ It wasn’t a total lie. The room wasn’t cold but it was far from warm and toasty either. Her nipples had already hardened and it was only partly out of arousal.

  ‘Well we can’t have that.’

  He scooped her up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down, covering her with the fur blanket, then he quickly divested himself of all his clothes apart from his tight black boxer shorts. Pip’s eyes fell on the tattoo again and a stab of guilt punched her in the stomach, and lay there among all the nerves she had over that evening. He climbed under the covers with her, taking her in his arms.

  ‘Body heat is the best way to keep warm,’ he said, and she giggled against his lips, trying not to let any thought other than being with him invade her brain.

  But although they were warm and cosy under the covers, the shaking hadn’t stopped, in fact it had probably got worse.

  As Gabe ran his hands down her body, he stopped and pulled his mouth from hers. ‘Pip, you’re trembling like a leaf, what’s wrong?’

  ‘Nothing, just a bit nervous… And excited and scared all at once.’

  He pulled back completely, his face clouding with concern. ‘What are you scared of?’

  ‘It’s OK. I’m just being silly. Don’t stop.’

  ‘It’s not silly, what are you scared of?’

  ‘Oh god, everything. That I won’t be good enough for you, you’ve been with all these women and I’ve had sex once, twelve years ago, and I probably wasn’t that good then. I’m scared you’ll sleep with me and there’ll be no spark at all for you and then you’ll decide that you don’t want to pursue this after all. I’m scared that making love to you will make me fall in love with you again and I’m worried that you won’t feel the same. And I’m scared of hurting you, of you falling in love with me and me being incapable of loving you back. I’m scared that I’m too messed up to ever have a proper relationship and that somehow I’ll find some way to cock this up and hurt you all over again.’

  He smiled as he ran his hand down her side. ‘I’m scared about all those things too. Except about there being no spark. I’m not worried about that at all. We have that, we’ve both felt it when we’ve kissed.’

  He hooked his finger in the waistband of her knickers and slid them slowly down her legs. His hand travelled back up the inside of her thigh and when he reached the top, she knew he could feel how much she wanted him. His eyes darkened as he stroked over her most sensitive part and her breath caught, but then he slid his hand away, back down her leg, reaching the back of her knee and hooking it over his hip as he lay on his side. Immediately, she could feel how ready he was for this too.

  ‘We have spark, Pip, that’s very clear, and yes it might be lust and passion and need and not love yet, but there’s no way sex can be rubbish when we feel like this for each other. And as for the rest, this is a second chance for us; let’s not spoil it with recriminations and regrets and thoughts of what we should have done or what could have been. If this doesn’t work out between us it’ll be because we’re two different people now, and probably shows that we wouldn’t have lasted anyway. But it won’t be because we didn’t give it our all or because we were too hung up on the past to enjoy what we have now. If you walk away from this or it ends for whatever reason, it won’t break me. I’m a grown man and I’m big enough and ugly enough to look after myself.’

  She smiled.

  ‘And I don’t think you’re messed up at all. You had a rough childhood and you weren’t loved as much as you should have been. It doesn’t mean that you’re incapable of love now. In fact, I would assume the opposite. You know what it’s like to be in a non-loving relationship, you know what was missing and I imagine, subconsciously maybe, you will strive to fill those holes.’

  He ran a gentle finger down her cheek.

  ‘I want you to trust me and feel safe. I don’t want to push you into doing something you’re not comfortable doing. We can just spend the night together tonight and we can kiss and cuddle just like we did last night, and when you’re ready in a few weeks or a few months from now, we can make love then. I don’t want to rush this and risk scaring you away.’

  Pip was just about to argue. There was no way she was not going to make love to him tonight, not after looking forward to it so much. But she was interrupted as the room was suddenly bathed in a bright cranberry glow.

  She looked up at the sky through the glass roof and gasped as the pinky red lights danced and flickered across the sky.

  ‘Oh my god, is that really the Northern Lights, or is it just a trick of some LED lights in the glass roof?’

  Gabe smiled. ‘It’s the real thing. I was wondering if this would happen tonight, long-range forecasts predicted that it would, but you can never tell what the weather is going to do.’

  Pip rolled onto her back to watch it properly and as she marvelled at the shimmering lights as they slowly rolled across the sky, turning through shades of green, turquoise and even with hints of purples and blues, Gabe held her hand.

  ‘I’ve never seen anything like it, I’ve seen photos and videos but this is just…magnificent,’ Pip whispered. ‘I’m so glad I got to share it with you.’

  Gabe squeezed her hand. ‘I’m glad too.’

  After watching it for the longest time and with no sign of it stopping, Pip rolled back onto her side to look at Gabe and he rolled onto his side too, entwining his fingers with hers.

  ‘Remember what you said about some people believing that the Northern Lights are spirits in the sky, guiding the lost travellers home?’

  Gabe nodded.

  ‘You are my home Gabe, I firmly believe I was supposed to come back to you, it just took a lot longer than we would have liked. I want to be with you tonight, I want to make love to you: there is nothing I want more right now. Yes I’m nervous, but those nerves would be the same if I waited six months to make love to you. I just want it to be perfect, but I’m with you, so it can’t get any more perfect.’

  He swallowed and shifted closer, his hand on her hip bringing her closer to him.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ She smiled as she glanced up at the Northern Lights again, briefly, as they danced and swirled in the darkness. ‘Do you know that the Chinese believe that couples who make love under the Northern Lights will be lucky in love, that they’ll stay together forever?’

  He grinned. ‘I’ve not heard that one before. But if it’s true, it seems a shame to waste this opportunity. Who knows when the Northern Lights will appear again?’

  With his hand round the back of her neck, he kissed her, half rolling on top of her as his other hand slid between her legs. She moaned against his lips as soon as he touched her, the nerves and fear suddenly vanishing. It felt so right being with him, like somehow his lips and his body were made for hers. She wrapped her arms around him, needing to feel his body pressing into hers. He was so familiar in so many ways; though his body was broader, and stronger, it was still the Gabe she knew and loved. She knew his kiss,
the way he smelled, it was exactly like coming home. His hands were more skilled now, he knew exactly where to touch her and how to elicit a reaction from her and she loved the confidence he had with her body, and in no time at all she was tumbling over the edge, panting and moaning unapologetically.

  He pulled back slightly to look at her, his face filled with adoration as he simply stared at her as though he was studying her, taking her all in.

  He leaned over to the drawers and grabbed a condom. ‘I came prepared.’

  She laughed. ‘I’m so glad.’

  Gabe knelt up between her legs and she watched as he rolled the condom on. Amazingly, he seemed bigger there too.

  He leaned over her, bracing himself on his forearms, and she wrapped her legs around him as he slid slowly inside her. He felt indescribably good. She reached up to stroke his face, feeling the stubble under her fingers. He slowly lowered himself on her and she knew there was no greater feeling in the world than being pinned to the bed by his weight. He kissed her softly, barely moving at all, and she guessed he was waiting to give her body a chance to accept him, which it did very quickly, her whole body melting into his.

  He started to move, slow, careful, reverential strokes as if he was afraid she might break. He didn’t take his eyes off her for one second. He was being so careful and she loved him for that. She was falling for this man and judging by the way he was looking at her, he was falling for her too.

  Gabe captured her hands in one of his and stretched them out above her head, causing her to arch against him, which made him go deeper inside and cause him to press against the most sensitive part of her.

  ‘Gabe,’ Pip whispered, feeling need building in her again, which surprised her when it hadn’t been that long since the first time he had made her come. She pulled him in tighter with her legs and he smirked as he started moving harder and faster against her. She glanced above his head at the red shimmering lights that lit up the room, hopefully somehow blessing them with all the luck in the world. Seconds later her orgasm ripped through her with such ferocity that she shouted out his name as she trembled against him.