Christmas Nights

Again his mouth, the lower lip fuller than the other, twisted with irony. ‘Can’t they manage without you?’

Paris’s face hardened. ‘I want to make sure they don’t find out that they can,’ she said shortly, adding, in a voice as scathing as his had been, ‘You obviously don’t have to worry about your job—if you have one.’

He looked amused. ‘Oh, I have one. I’m a financial consultant, here in the City.’

Paris said moodily, ‘Right now I should be in Brussels, representing my company at a medical conference, trying to persuade television and telephone companies to use our networks. It was to be my first time alone. And instead I’m stuck with this case. It’s all so slow. And it could go on for weeks.’

‘It might at that,’ he agreed. ‘So we’ll just have to make the best of it, won’t we?’

There was something in his voice, a note that immediately made her realise he was aware of her as a woman. Glancing quickly up at him, Paris saw that he was looking her over, from her short red-gold hair, down her slim figure, to her legs beneath the fashionably short skirt. ‘Seen enough?’ she said with a tilt of her chin, but not at all displeased.

He grinned. ‘For now. My name’s Will, by the way. Will Brydon.’

She smiled and shook the hand he held out to her. ‘Mine’s Paris Reid.’

‘Yes, I know. An unusual name.’

‘My parents went to Paris for a holiday; I was the result.’ They began to stroll under the shade of the trees and she said, ‘Thanks for helping me back there. I suppose I would have got into terrible trouble if they’d found out I’d fallen asleep. It’s rather like being back at school with the teacher watching you all the time.’

They came to an ice-cream cart and Will bought her a cornet—one with a chocolate flake stuck into it. Paris ate it delicately, trailing her tongue along the chocolate, scooping a little of the ice cream and raising it to her mouth.

Will slowed as he openly watched her. ‘You know,’ he said with a sigh, ‘you have the sexiest way of eating an ice.’

She laughed, her face lighting up. Glancing at him, she liked what she saw. His eyes were grey, clear and intelligent, under dark brows, the left one of which had a slight quirk, as if he raised it more than the other. His bone structure was good, his cheekbones high above the clean jawline, and there was a humorous look to his mouth.

He was tall, too—a definite plus in Paris’s eyes because she was tall herself. Walking with him, she had to look up at him, which put him at about six feet two or three, she guessed. Perhaps it was his height that gave him such physical self-assurance, but there was an irresistible magnetism about him, as if he was full of energy that he could hardly contain.

‘Don’t you find having to do this jury service a bind?’ she asked him.

‘In some ways, of course, but I find the whole process of the law fascinating to watch; there’s so much history behind it all. It’s something that I’ll probably have to do only once in a lifetime so I want to do it to the best of my ability. And I suppose we should be grateful that we don’t live in a police state where there is no jury system.’

Paris wrinkled her nose at him. ‘That sounds terribly po-faced. Is that really what you think?’

Will laughed. ‘I think it’s a damn nuisance, but I may as well get it over and done with.’

‘That’s better. I’m not looking forward to having to reach a verdict, are you? Suppose we don’t all agree and have to stay in a hotel or something for days.’ She looked at him from under her lashes. ‘Your wife—or partnerwould probably hate that.’

Will’s lips curled in amusement. ‘Fortunately I have neither, so there’s no problem. But maybe you do?’

Paris shook her head. ‘No, I’m single and unattached.’ She added, ‘At the moment,’ to let him know that she wasn’t hard up for boyfriends.

‘Well, I’m glad that I’ve met you “at the moment”,’ Will remarked, and they both laughed. His eyes on her, he said, ‘Maybe you’d better sit next to me when we go back in the court-room. Just to make sure you don’t go to sleep again, of course.’

‘Of course,’ Paris agreed demurely. And as they walked back to the court they both knew that this could be the start of a very interesting friendship.

Emma came back from Brussels and told her off for trying to fit in her job with the trial. ‘You can’t possibly go on like this,’ she remonstrated. ‘Look, give me your customer list and I’ll look after them for you until you’re back at the office,’ she offered.

‘Oh, Emma, would you? It is rather getting me down,’ Paris said gratefully.

Emma’s kindness made Paris once again think herself extremely lucky that the older woman had taken a liking to her and more or less taken her under her wing. Her own parents had split up many years ago and both had remarried, but Paris didn’t really feel at home with either of them, although they both always made her welcome and tried to include her in their new families.

When she’d first joined the company she’d lived in a bedsit quite nearby, but then Emma had become friendly with her and finally asked her if she’d like to share her flat. ‘It’s in the suburbs of London, mind,’ Emma warned her. ‘You’d have to drive into the office every day.’

But Paris hadn’t minded that at all; the company had given her a car and the thought of living in London excited her.

At first, because of the difference in their ages, she’d been surprised that Emma had been so friendly, but she’d also been flattered by it too. Emma had quite a senior position in the sales department; it was her job to oversee and train the new recruits and to stand in when an emergency occurred, as in the case of the Brussels conference.

Because she was mostly based at head office, Emma was no longer entitled to a company car, and it didn’t take Paris long to work out that one of the reasons why Emma had offered to let her share the flat was so that she could get a lift to and from work every day. But Paris was so grateful to her that she didn’t mind in the least. And she was grateful to her again, now, for taking on her workload, especially now that she’d met Will and realised how pleasantly her lunch-hours could be if spent in his company instead of on the phone.

The heatwave continued and she and Will got into the habit of taking their sandwiches out to the old churchyard, where they sat on the grass beneath the trees to eat and talk. They talked as strangers do, telling each other about themselves, their likes and dislikes, asking questions, getting to know one another, until they weren’t strangers any longer.

Instead of being reluctant to go to the court, Paris became eager to get there. She took care with her appearance and felt a thrill of pleasure when Will’s grey eyes went over her admiringly. And he was so good-looking himself that she enjoyed being seen with him, liked walking along with him beside her, so tall and broad that he made her feel delicately feminine in comparison. From having lunch together, it took very little time before Will asked her to stay behind in town one evening and have dinner with him.

They went to see a film first, and afterwards had dinner at Topo Gigio— ‘The best Italian restaurant in Soho,’ Will declared. He seemed very familiar with London—had lived there all his life, he told her, except for his years at university.

Paris envied him that; she had fallen in love with the city, with its pace and constant change, with its shops, cinemas and theatres. In London you got everything first—the new films and new fashions—and met people who were as ambitious as she was herself, and men who were eager to take out a pretty girl like Paris.

So there had been a lot of dates, but Will was the first man—the first real man, not someone of her own agethat Paris felt strongly attracted to.

After that first dinner date he insisted on taking her home in a cab, which must have cost the earth, and kept it waiting when he walked her to her door where he leant her against the wall, put his hands on her shoulders, and bent to kiss her. He merely touched her lips gently with his at first—small kisses that explored her mouth.

Paris, who wasn’t that experienced, had been brainwashed by a thousand films and books and some equally inexperienced boyfriends into thinking that passionate clinches and devouring kisses were the bee’s knees. But she found this light exploration, the soft, teasing kisses, both tantalising and sensuous. His breath was warm and she could smell the faint tang of aftershave that still clung to his skin.

It came to her that he was a very masculine kind of man, with a powerful aura of sensuality that excited her. He was the kind of man who knew what he wanted. And right now he wanted her.

Resting her hands against his chest, Paris closed her eyes. Opening her mouth, she felt him touch the tip of her tongue—a brief touch that she found incredibly erotic. She gave an involuntary sound of pleasure and Will’s hands tightened a little on her shoulders.

Raising her hand, she caressed the back of his neck, his hair silky under her fingers, and she felt him give a small sigh as his hand came down to her waist and drew her against him. His kiss deepened, taking all her mouth, but it was still gentle, and she responded willingly.

It was a while before Will straightened. Pushing back his thick dark hair, he looked down at her with the heaviness of desire in his eyes, but then he gave a crooked grin. ‘I think maybe I’d better go.’

‘Mmm. Your taxi is waiting.’

But he bent to kiss her again before he drew away for a second time and said, ‘See you in court.’

Then he waved and was gone, leaving Paris with an overwhelming feeling of physical excitement and a longing for him to kiss her again.

That kiss marked a new awareness of each other and was the start of an inevitable closeness between them. But just as Will had been in no hurry with that first kiss so they were in no hurry to become even closer, both of them recognising that this was something special and wanting to anticipate each phase of their relationship. Maybe Paris would have been more eager, but it was Will who set the pace, he who had the dominant role.

They didn’t go out every night; Will worked out at a gym two nights a week and also spent time in his own office, but they were together with increasing frequency.

The trial lasted over a month and was drawing to its close. Although they talked a lot to each other, they seldom discussed the trial. It was bad enough having to listen to all the terrible details during the day without thinking about it during their time alone together. They wanted to put it out of their minds, to escape from it. But at last, on a Thursday, it came to the judge’s summing-up, which lasted nearly a whole day. The judge was eminently fair, pointing out facts that they should remember, think about, but emphasising that they had heard everything and it was up to them to make up their minds now.

Leaving the court and going into the jury-room felt strange. They had used the room so many times before, but now they had come to make the decision, to give their verdict, to condemn a man to prison or to set him free. All twelve of them, without exception, felt the burden heavy on their shoulders.

They didn’t all agree on all the counts the first time, which meant that they all had to spend the night in a hotel, closed off from their homes and families—twelve special people with an enormous responsibility.

A table had been set aside for them in the hotel restaurant and they ate together, but afterwards they were free, within limits, to do as they liked. Four of them began to play cards, others went to their rooms, and some to the bar. Paris and Will were among the latter, but they sat in a corner, apart from the others, who gave them indulgent looks.

The kisses they had exchanged had got hotter over the past weeks, and both of them were experiencing deep frustration, which was heightened by sitting next to each other every day in court and having to pretend that there was nothing between them. Their hands, hidden by the bench in front of them, had often touched, their knees brushed and not always by accident, but they hadn’t dared to look directly at one another in case they gave themselves away to the beady-eyed judge. This secretiveness had added spice to their romance, but now it was coming to an end.

Nothing had been said, but both of them were awaiting the end of the court case with eager, excited anticipation. It was as if they had tacitly agreed that a man’s trial was an entirely wrong background against which to form a relationship, and that they couldn’t take their affair further until it was over, until they were free of it. And now that time was almost here.

‘Hopefully we’ll reach a verdict tomorrow and we won’t have to stay here over the weekend,’ Will remarked. His eyes, darkening a little, rested on her face. ‘So, if we’re free, will you come away with me for the weekend?’

‘Away?’ Paris felt her colour heighten. ‘Where—where to?’

Will gave a sudden, almost rueful grin. ‘I haven’t really thought that far. All I can think of is being with you,’ he admitted. ‘Where would you like to go?’

Her blush deepened at his admission, but Paris said, ‘I don’t know. In the country somewhere, I suppose. You said you could ride a horse; how about teaching me?’

‘Definitely not,’ Will said positively.

‘Why not?’

‘You might get bruised and stiff. I think we should do something very, very gentle—during the day.’ His eyes met hers, smiling and suggestive, promising so much.

Her voice strangely husky, and somehow knowing that he would make a good lover, Paris said, ‘So what do you recommend?’

‘Painting, archery. Or why don’t we just play it by ear?’

‘All right.’ Her voice shook a little. ‘We’ll do that, then.’

Reaching out, Will took her hand and raised it to his lips. ‘Thank you, my darling.’

It was quite late on Friday afternoon before the jury finally reached a verdict. Paris gave an inner sigh of relief when it was decided at last. All day she had been on tenterhooks in case they lost their weekend together. Will, she knew, had felt the same. Their eyes had often met in exasperation and impatience; to them the verdict was cut and dried and it had been frustrating, to say the least, waiting for everyone else to agree.

They filed back into court, the judge came in and they were asked if they had reached a verdict. The foreman replied that they had and the prisoner stood up. He was a little pale, Paris saw, but there was still a jauntiness in his shoulders, the charming smile clung to his lips, and it came to her that he had the inescapable belief that they would acquit him.

When the verdicts were read out Ramsay changed completely. For a few moments he just stared as if he couldn’t believe his ears. Then he shouted, ‘No!’ and grasped the front of the box.

The policemen on either side of him quietened him as the judge gave sentence. ‘You are an evil and sadistic man, entirely unable to control your emotions, and your vindictiveness finally led to murder. I sentence you to life imprisonment.’

‘No!’ the prisoner shouted again. His face convulsed with fury. The boyish charm disappeared and his inherent cruelty was plain to see as he shouted, ‘I’ll get you for this. All of you!’ His frenzied eyes swept round the court. ‘Every last one of you.’ His finger stabbed out like a stiletto blade at the judge, the officials and then the jury. ‘Curse you, you filthy swine. I’ll make you pay. I’ll cut your throats. I’ll make you beg to die.’

He went on swearing and screaming insults as the guards tried to overpower him and eventually managed to drag him out of the dock and down out of the court. When they’d gone and the door had banged after him, there was a terrible silence, everyone too shocked by Ramsay’s hatred and venom to move or speak. It was the judge who broke it.

Wryly, speaking from long experience, he said, ‘You must take no notice of his threats. You have done your duty and I will make it my concern to see that you are all exempted from further jury service for the next ten years. Thank you for your services. You may now leave the court.’

They did so numbly, as did everyone else: the judge, the barristers and clerks, the public up in the gallery, their ears still ringing with the curses that had been hurled at them.

Will collected his car from a nearby car park and drove Paris to her flat where she packed some clothes for the weekend, then to his place where he threw some things into a bag. Within an hour they were on the road and heading out of London, away from the court and the evils they’d had to listen to for the past month or so, away from the threats and curses that had shattered their peace.

It was quite late before they reached the country hotel where Will had booked a room for the weekend. There was no time even to look around; they were shown to their room and Paris took the bathroom first, showering and changing quickly. Then it was Will’s turn, and immediately he was ready they went down to the dining-room for dinner.

Here, at last, they were able to relax, to enjoy a meal after having had little to eat all day, to drink a bottle of wine which helped to dispel the slight embarrassment that had been forced on them when they’d had to rush to change in each other’s presence but when they weren’t intimate enough for that yet. The meal also helped to ease the tension that Noel Ramsay’s outburst had caused. As Will said, they had more pleasant things to think about.

Looking into his eyes, so warm and expressive, Paris felt her heart miss a beat then fill with the excitement of anticipation, an emotion mirrored in his gaze. ‘What things?’ she asked, being deliberately provocative.

He gave a slow smile. ‘Do you really want me to tell you here and now?’

Again her heart leaped. ‘Yes,’ she said on an unsteady note.

‘All right.’ Taking her hand, he lifted it to his lips and kissed her fingers one by one. ‘We could think of how I’m going to very slowly take off all your clothes and look at you and then tell you how beautiful you are. And about the way I’m going to carry on kissing you like this until there won’t be a part of your body that I haven’t touched and loved. And of how—’

Paris hastily reached out and put her fingers against his lips, silencing him. ‘Don’t,’ she breathed, her eyes wide with awareness, her cheeks flushed. ‘You mustn’t.’

‘Oh, but I must tell you how lovely you are, my darling.’

‘No, I meant…’

‘What? What did you mean?’

Her colour deepened and she looked suddenly shy. ‘I meant that you mustn’t make me feel this way—not here, in public.’

His grip on her hand tightened a little. ‘Tell me how I make you feel.’

She hesitated, then said, ‘So—wanton.’

Will smiled, the pleasure at her answer deep in his eyes. But he said warmly, ‘And wanted too, my lovely one. You know that.’

‘Yes.’ Not trying to hide the desire she felt, she said, ‘I feel that way too.’ And, lowering her free hand below the table, she placed it on his thigh.

He gave a small gasp, her gesture completely unexpected, but then he laughed softly. ‘Now who’s turning who on?’ Putting his hand over hers, he pressed it against himself, then said on a note of strong urgency, ‘Let’s go to bed.’

Paris gave him a demure look. ‘You haven’t finished your coffee.’

‘To hell with the coffee,’ he said emphatically.

His vehemence increased Paris’s excitement; for someone who had been content to take things slowly up to now, he was showing a gratifying eagerness. Slipping her hand from under his, she picked up her own coffeecup. ‘Really? I’m quite thirsty,’ she said teasingly. And she took a deliberately casual drink.

An answering gleam came into Will’s eyes and he looked around as if searching for a waiter. ‘You’ll probably want another cup, then. And perhaps a liqueur. And then we might as well have—’

He broke off as Paris put her hand on his arm. She looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. ‘No,’ she said softly but with firmness. ‘I want you to take me to bed.’

Will’s grey eyes filled with warmth and desire. He didn’t ask if she was sure, didn’t fuss; he merely stood up and drew her to her feet with him. They said goodnight to the waiter and he tucked her arm in his, keeping hold of her hand as they walked across to the stairs and up to their room.

He had said what he wanted to do, what he intended to do, and he did start by undressing her slowly, murmuring words of pleasure at her beauty, his lips caressing her skin as he did so. But Paris was shaking with awareness, her breath coming in unsteady gasps that caught in her throat, her hands gripping his shoulders as he bent before her to take off her stockings.

Her pleasure and anticipation were an aphrodisiac too powerful for him to resist; Will’s own breathing quickened and he stood to kiss her fiercely, saying her name over and over against her lips. ‘Paris. Oh, Paris. I want you! Oh, God, I want you.’

The rest of her clothes came off fast, Will’s soon joining the scattered heap on the floor. And then she was lying in the bed and there was no time to look, no time for endearments. She was reaching out to him, her body opening for him eagerly.

The next moment he was over her, taking her with overwhelming passion, lifting her towards the thrust of his body, and groaning out his climactic pleasure. He carried her with him, lifting her to spiralling excitement, to gasping, crying physical fulfilment, and then into the long aftermath of exhausted peace.

Earlier Will had ordered a bottle of champagne to be sent up to the room. It stood resplendent in its ice-bucket, but they hadn’t even noticed it. When they’d recovered a little, when Will had kissed her lingeringly and told her how wonderful she was, he noticed the wine and laughed ruefully. ‘The champagne was supposed to come before, not after.’

‘Were you going to seduce me with it?’ Paris asked, kissing his shoulder.

‘It was in case we needed it,’ he admitted.

‘Idiot.’ She licked his tiny nipple and was amazed to see it harden.

‘Hey,’ he said, bending to kiss her eyes. ‘Have mercy.’

She laughed and reached up to caress his cheek with the back of her fingers. ‘I’m glad we didn’t have a big seduction scene. It was so good as it was.’

‘And will be again, I hope.’

‘Oh, I know it will,’ she said, so emphatically that Will laughed.

‘You’re an amazing girl, you know that?’

‘Why, thank you, kind sir.’ She sat up and pulled the sheet up over her breasts. ‘Why don’t you open the champagne now?’

‘Not if you’re going to cover yourself like that,’ Will said positively. Reaching over, he jerked the sheet from her hold and pulled it down again. ‘This, my darling, is no time for prudery. And besides,’ he added, his voice thickening, ‘you’re much too gorgeous to hide yourself away.’

Kneeling up, he cupped her breasts in his hands, his mouth slowly parting with concentration and growing concupiscence as he watched the rose hue of the areolae darken and the nipples thrust against his exploring fingers. ‘Look how beautiful you are,’ he murmured thickly, his eyes wide with reawakened desire. ‘Can you wonder that I can’t resist you? Look. Look for yourself.’

Slowly, with almost reluctant shyness, Paris lowered her eyes to look at her breasts. His hands, his skin dark against the whiteness of hers, held her tenderly. Her breasts had the firm elasticity of youth, were still small and perfect, and yet they seemed to fill his hands, to fit them perfectly.

As she watched, fascinated now, he moved his thumbs to circle gently the tender area around her nipples, touching nerve-ends, sending fires of frustration deep into her body. She had heard of eroticism, knew that these were among the most sensitive parts of her womanhood, but she had never known such sensual delight as she felt now.

To watch him toying with her, to feel the growing need inside her, to let her panting breath become a long groan of frustration, and to know from the tension in his hands and the sweat on his skin that Will felt the same way was the most exquisitely sexy moment she had ever known.