One Scandalous Christmas Eve

by Susan Stephens

  Why had they both held back?

  It wasn’t as if Dante had plied her with words of love and reassurance, any more than Jess had unleashed her true feelings for him.

  Straightening up, she eased her aching back. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t talked, but neither of them was comfortable talking about feelings. They’d both built grief-driven barricades. Was that what those they’d lost would want for them?

  Please, please, please! Don’t let it end like this, she begged the fates and anyone else who was listening. Please let me have one last chance to tell Dante how I feel. I promise I won’t shy away from it.

  There was no way of predicting, of course, how Dante might respond to that, but as he was hardly likely to be the driver of the vehicle that hardly mattered.

  But there was no one in the SUV, and fresh snow had covered any footprints around it. Planting her shovel, Jess flopped down in the snow. Exhausted and dispirited she might be, but she couldn’t spare the time to catch her breath. Getting up again, she resolved to solve the mystery of the abandoned SUV because whoever had been driving was still in danger.

  She’d search the whole damn moor if she had to, Jess determined as she stumbled on. Thank goodness she knew the terrain.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘JESS?’

  ‘Dante!’

  Out of the blizzard came a shape: a man—the only man—a powerful, healthy, vigorous life force in a world grown so bleak and frightening even Jess had begun to doubt that it would ever be summer again.

  She went rigid at first and then started laughing and crying at the same time, before launching herself at Dante. ‘I can’t believe you’re here! I’m so glad you’re safe!’ Pulling back, she searched his eyes with relief.

  ‘Believe,’ he said dryly, gently disentangling himself.

  ‘Were you in the SUV?’ she demanded, swinging around to look over her shoulder.

  ‘I had that pleasure.’

  ‘Of landing in a ditch?’ she suggested, laughing with happiness now.

  ‘That was somewhat unexpected,’ he conceded.

  ‘So why are you here?’ She was breathless with excitement.

  ‘I keep asking myself that same question.’

  Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. ‘No one arrives on top of the Yorkshire moors in a blizzard without a very good reason. And it’s Christmas Eve,’ she pointed out, ‘so it must have been something big to bring you here.’

  Something small, he thought, measuring her fragility against the frozen landscape, but if you added spirit into the mix Jess was a match for any and all conditions.

  ‘Are you saying I’ve got no excuse to be here?’

  ‘Not unless you’re hiding the reindeer.’

  His lips tugged with the urge to laugh. Suddenly the trip was more than worthwhile. But there was something he had to know. ‘Good surprise, or bad?’

  ‘Lucky for you that you’re in time to eat with us,’ Jess exclaimed happily without attempting to answer his question.

  ‘I wouldn’t dream of putting you to that trouble.’

  ‘No trouble,’ she said, cocking her head to one side to bait him with a grin. ‘We’ve got enough food for an army, so I could do with another mouth.’

  ‘Dios, no!’ he murmured dryly. ‘I can’t imagine you with another mouth. One is enough to contend with.’

  She smiled and relaxed at this. ‘But you will come and join us?’ she pressed.

  ‘I’d be delighted to join you. Solely in the interest of helping you out on the food front, of course.’

  ‘Of course,’ she teased back. ‘Great!’ Biting down on her bottom lip, Jess shook her head as she smiled up at him, as if she couldn’t believe the evidence of her own eyes.

  The force of Dante’s personality alone was like a blaze of fire in a frozen monochrome landscape. Jess’s feelings were in danger of overflowing. It was as if her world had exploded into a blizzard of happiness. Beyond relieved to have solved the mystery of the missing driver in the stranded SUV, she knew now that nothing could be better than discovering the driver was Dante.

  ‘You’re safe,’ she marvelled as they walked along.

  ‘That I am,’ Dante confirmed while she imprinted every rugged detail of his face on her mind.

  Of course he was safe. Dante Acosta would never set out on a mission without proper planning first. Hence the backpack and the storm-proof clothing and the tough workmanlike boots. The question was: what was his mission this time? Jess wondered.

  * * *

  Meeting up with her father and his friends a little way closer to the farm was such a happy reunion. ‘So you found her!’ Jess’s father enthused, slapping Dante on the back as if he’d known him all his life.

  ‘Have you two met already today?’ Jess asked, cocking her head to one side to study both men.

  ‘We met in the field where your father was rescuing sheep,’ Dante revealed.

  ‘And you joined in,’ Jess guessed. Her father confirmed this with his customary grunt that reminded her so much of Dante.

  Dipping his head, Dante whispered in her ear, ‘We have to stop meeting like this.’

  You have to stop sending shivers spinning down my spine when my father is watching, Jess thought. ‘Suits me,’ she said coolly.

  Meaningful glances exchanged between Dante and her father made Jess instantly suspicious. ‘What’s going on?’ she prompted. ‘What aren’t you telling me?’

  ‘This is no place to linger for a chat,’ her father scolded gruffly.

  There was nothing underhand about Jess’s father. If he knew something he spat it out. This behaviour wasn’t like him. She frowned. Her father wasn’t frowning. A smile had spread across his face as he walked along with Dante. It was almost as if he had expected their visitor—if not today, then at some point soon. What weren’t they sharing? Why had Dante come to Yorkshire?

  ‘We’ll take these sheep back to the barn,’ her father was telling Dante. ‘And then I hope you’ll join us for our first Christmas feast.’

  ‘I’d love to,’ Dante confirmed.

  ‘Excellent,’ her father exclaimed, slapping his hands together to keep them warm. ‘With Jess’s cooking I can confidently guarantee you a very happy Christmas!’

  ‘Happy Christmas to you too,’ Dante echoed with an unreadable glance at Jess. ‘And the best of everything in the New Year.’

  ‘The New Year’s going to be so much better for us,’ her father enthused. ‘You made sure of it,’ he told Dante.

  How had Dante made sure of it? The sale of the ponies would only take them so far. Jess didn’t have chance to think it over as the group of men with her father chorused in a shout, ‘Happy Christmas!’

  * * *

  Having seen the sheep safely gathered in, they ended up at the packed pub where, as Jess might have expected, her father invited everyone back to the farm. Steam rose from their clothes as the roaring log fire did its work. While the general air of celebration and good-humoured complaints about the weather rang out around her, Jess’s focus was all on Dante. He bought a round of drinks for everyone and was soon swapping stories with the best. Not once did he let on that his life was extraordinary, and though the locals might have known he was a polo-playing billionaire, as far as they were concerned he’d helped them save the sheep, and that made him one of them.

  It was wonderful to have Dante here in the place she loved best. And at Christmas, Jess’s favourite time of year. Most important of all, he was safe. Why he’d come to the village didn’t matter. All she cared about was that they were together. Dante was the best Christmas gift of all.

  * * *

  The farmhouse kitchen was almost as crowded as the pub and definitely as noisy, and in all the right ways. He was instantly struck by the warm and homely atmosphere Jess had created. She was special. This was special. With
enough delicious food to feed an army and an assortment of chairs and stools gathered from who knew where, she soon had her visitors munching happily.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said as she squeezed past with yet another oven dish brimming with crunchy golden roast potatoes. ‘This can’t be what you’re used to.’

  She was gone before he had chance to tell her that this was so much better than anything he had, and that he envied everything about it. No Michelin starred restaurant could better the happy family atmosphere Jess had created here.

  He’d never eaten food like it, and he prided himself on his chefs. If the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach Jess had the route map down. They didn’t have chance to speak as Jess was so busy, but he pounced on the cue when a rather attractive widow from a neighbouring farm invited her father over. ‘I’ve got a room at the pub,’ he told Jess, ‘if you’d care to join me for a nightcap?’

  ‘Why, Señor Acosta,’ Jess challenged with a smile, turning her bright eyes up to his, ‘are you propositioning me?’

  ‘I’m offering to buy you a drink to thank you for the meal. Then I’ll walk you home.’

  And I’m supposed to believe it’s as simple as that, her narrowed eyes clearly told him. Who could blame her when testosterone was firing off him in spears of hot light?

  ‘Do you have people to look after the animals?’ he asked.

  ‘We drafted in some extra help over Christmas. They’ll take it in turns to keep a watch through the night.’

  ‘Then you have no excuse.’ His lips pressed down as he shrugged.

  ‘Apart from natural caution, do you mean?’

  ‘What would Skylar say?’ he challenged.

  She laughed. ‘I’m not sure I want to know.’

  ‘You need a break so you can enjoy Christmas too,’ he pointed out.

  ‘You think?’ Jess laughed as she wiped a forearm across her glowing face.

  ‘I know it,’ he stated firmly.

  Her cheeks pinked up even more but she was in no hurry to give him her answer. Brava, Jess. This woman was exactly the challenge he wanted.

  * * *

  Should she go with Dante? Life was complicated, and he had made it even more so because she wanted to go with him, more than she’d ever wanted anything before.

  There were so many reasons not to go. The kitchen was a mess—inevitable after a successful party—and she would have liked to stay and clear up.

  ‘You go,’ her father’s friend Ella told her, having intuited Jess’s dilemma. ‘I’ll handle this first thing tomorrow morning—and I’ll handle your dad too.’

  Jess could believe it as she exchanged a smile with the older woman. Ella coped with a farm on her own so there was no reason why she couldn’t take on Jess’s dad. ‘If you’re sure?’

  ‘I’m positive. You’ve more than put the effort in to making today a great success, and if you can’t go and have a quiet drink down the local pub I don’t know what’s wrong with the world.’

  But would it be a quiet drink down the local pub? ‘Thank you. You’re very kind—’

  Before Jess had chance to continue, her father interrupted with the surprising news that she shouldn’t wait up for him.

  ‘I don’t know what time I’ll be back,’ he explained.

  ‘Oh.’ Jess’s jaw must have dropped. She quickly pinned on a smile. Yes, she was surprised. Things seemed to be moving quickly between her father and Ella, though she’d been away in Spain and, with work and the animals, maybe it was Jess who was guilty for being out of the loop. She had never asked the relevant questions. Her father had been lost and lonely without her mother; why shouldn’t he be happy now?

  ‘See you, Dad,’ she called out as he left with Ella. With all her heart, she wished them well, and her father a much better future.

  They’d all come a long way, Jess reflected as the rest of their guests left for home. Dante was waiting by the door with her coat. So what was she going to do? Turn him down? She could stay here and nothing would change. He’d probably be gone by the morning. And what would she have missed?

  That remained to be seen, she concluded, firming her jaw.

  Glancing around the familiar kitchen, she couldn’t help feeling that, whatever happened next, her life would never be the same again.

  * * *

  When he planned something, he planned down to the last detail. He’d taken the top floor of the pub in advance and had Christmas gifts for Jess and her father in his emergency backpack. He would arrange the recovery of the SUV as and when; meanwhile, champagne was on ice and, as he’d also requested, tasty snacks were in the icebox he’d had installed in one of the rooms. This wouldn’t be his only visit to the village, so home comforts were essential. As for him and Jess? It was crucial they had a chance to talk in private.

  Inviting her into the cosy sitting room, where the landlord had the good sense to light the log fire, he took her coat and then they stared at each other in silence.

  Jess made the first move. Moving closer, she stood on tiptoe to brush her lips against his. ‘That wasn’t a mistake,’ she informed him. With a shrug she added, ‘Maybe it was as reckless as when I was seventeen, but I think I’m old enough to handle the consequences now.’

  ‘You expect consequences?’ He smiled and shook his head.

  ‘You’d better not disappoint,’ she warned cheekily.

  ‘What’s been holding you back?’

  Jess’s mouth twisted as she turned serious to think about this. ‘Duty—like you? Career—like you?’

  ‘Disappointments in the past?’

  ‘If you think you can do better...’

  She was only half joking, he suspected. ‘Try me and find out.’

  ‘I intend to.’

  ‘Do you think you should take your boots off first?’

  ‘My boots?’ she echoed with surprise, glancing down.

  ‘Your feet must be frozen.’

  She stared at him and laughed. They both laughed, and were still laughing when he brought Jess into his arms to kiss her—gently at first, and then as if he would never let her go. Whatever doubts had been in Jess’s mind, it soon became clear she’d given them the night off. Having left her boots by the door, she informed him, ‘My heart is set on undressing you.’

  He held his arms out. ‘Be my guest.’

  She did this slowly and deliberately, as if every button took her closer to a personal goal that had less to do with sex and more to do with establishing trust between them. His urges were far less worthy. He wanted to strip her naked, throw her on the bed and make love to Jess until she was too tired to move, but this was such a pivotal moment for both of them he decided to run with Jess’s approach. Until she sank to her knees in front of him.

  ‘Did I do something wrong?’ she asked, wounded eyes fixed on his as he brought her to her feet.

  ‘You’ve done nothing wrong,’ he said gently. Now he understood why Jess’s sex life had been so disappointing. If she’d had to do all the work, what pleasure was there in that for Jess? Sex should be a shared experience with mutual pleasure.

  Swinging her into his arms, he carried her into the bedroom. ‘Now it’s my turn,’ he warned as he peeled off the heavy socks she was wearing beneath her boots. ‘These are disgusting.’ He tossed them aside as she laughed, and then she took turns smiling and groaning with pleasure as he warmed her feet in his hands.

  ‘You know all the best routes to a girl’s heart.’

  ‘Dealing with frozen feet is my speciality,’ he conceded as he bathed her tiny feet in kisses and hot breath.

  ‘How many hearts have you broken with that technique?’

  ‘I’ve never been much interested in finding my way to anyone’s heart,’ he admitted.

  She seemed surprised so he asked, ‘Why do you find that so hard to believe?’
<
br />   ‘Your reputation precedes you?’ she suggested.

  ‘Do you believe everything you read?’ When she shrugged, he explained, ‘I love my brothers and my sister, Sofia. And, before you ask—no, I have never put their feet near my mouth.’

  Everything changed in that moment. Jess’s smile broadened until it lit up her face, and he knew that the biggest hurdle had been crossed. Before sex came trust, and he had won Jess’s trust.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  DANTE UNDRESSED HER with as much care as he might have shown a skittish pony—if that pony had been wearing ten layers of Arctic gear. And with each item of clothing he removed, he kissed her. When she was naked the room seemed to grow very still. The only sound was their breathing—Dante’s steady and Jess’s interrupted by short gasps of pleasure when Dante found some new place to kiss.

  It was possible to soothe and arouse at the same time, she was fast discovering, and Dante was a master of the art. Long, soothing strokes down her back quietened her, but made her want so much more. He gave her chance to feel her body waking to his touch, but his restraint was a torment. The urge to take the lead began to overwhelm her, but each time she tried to make a move Dante dissuaded her with kisses, telling her to concentrate on sensation and nothing else.

  She hadn’t just stepped over that line; she’d leapt over it, Jess concluded as a soft moan of pleasure escaped her throat. They could never be close enough and when Dante’s hand found her she cried out loud with excitement. He’d made her wait so long she was right on the edge. ‘Please don’t stop,’ she begged when he moved his hand. His answer was to kiss her neck, her lips, her cheeks and her eyes, while she trembled with anticipation beneath him like a greyhound in the traps. Then he turned her and, holding her hands in one giant fist above her head, he made control impossible. As she bucked uncontrollably beneath him Dante released her pinned hands and captured her thrusting buttocks in one hand while he helped her to extract every last pulse of pleasure with his other hand. Having found her slick warmth, he made her take the short journey again, until she found herself right on the edge.