Say it with Diamonds...this Christmas: The Guardian's Forbidden Mistress / The Sicilian's Christmas Bride / Laying Down the Law

‘I hope you like seafood,’ Derek said, indicating the plateful he’d collected for her.

‘At this point in time, I like anything which is edible. And drinkable!’

Sarah could still hardly believe what had just happened. Her fantasy man had confessed that he fancied her. Had claimed he’d fancied her way back when she’d been fifteen!

She’d been within a hair’s breadth of having her most longed-for dream come true and what had he done? Rejected her, in favour of the brown-haired witch sitting two chairs down from her.

‘Sarah!’ the witch suddenly snapped. ‘Where on earth is Nick? I got his meal for him and now he’s not here to eat it.’

Sarah gained some pleasure from seeing that Chloe was not pleased with her lover’s absence. Not pleased at all!

‘I have absolutely no idea where he is,’ came her seemingly nonchalant reply, which was followed up by another large gulp of wine.

‘But weren’t you just talking to him?’

‘Yes,’ she replied airily.

The witch’s eyes narrowed. ‘So what were you two talking about? Or weren’t you talking at all?’

Sarah blinked, her wine glass stilling in mid-air. ‘What?’

‘You don’t fool me,’ Chloe spat. ‘I know what’s going on here with you and Nick. I knew it the moment I clapped eyes on you.’

‘Knew what, Chloe?’

Both Sarah and Chloe jumped at Nick’s reappearance, Sarah quite stunned by the ice in his voice. And his eyes.

Chloe’s own eyes stayed hard. ‘Don’t take me for a fool, Nick. I know jealousy when I see it. And I know you. No way could you have lived all these years with a girl of Sarah’s—shall we say?—attractions—without sampling them for yourself.’

Sarah’s mouth gaped open whilst Nick’s hands tightened over the back of his chair, his knuckles going white. ‘Are you accusing me of sleeping with my ward?’

‘For want of a better word—yes.’

Sarah suddenly became aware that a silence had fallen over the long, trestle-style table. In the distance she could hear the sound of a speedboat on the harbour. Up close, all she could hear was her own heart beating loudly in her chest.

‘If that’s what you think,’ Nick said, ‘then I suggest you leave.’

Chloe looked rattled for a moment, but only for a moment. Her face became a sour mask as she scraped her chair back and stood up. ‘I couldn’t agree more. I’m not a girl who tolerates being cheated on.’

‘I never cheated on you,’ Nick stated curtly.

‘If that’s so, then it’s only because Sarah decided she temporarily preferred Derek to you. I am well aware she hasn’t been home lately. But be warned, Derek,’ she flung in Derek’s direction, ‘she belonged to Nick first. Isn’t that right, Sarah?’

Sarah could have lied. But she wanted this creature gone from Nick’s life.

‘Yes, that’s right,’ she said, and there was a immediate buzz around the table. Chloe’s face showed a savage satisfaction, whilst Nick’s expression carried alarm.

‘But not the way you’re implying,’ Sarah went on, determined not to let this witch-woman ruin Nick’s reputation in the eyes of his business colleagues. ‘Nick has always had my love, and he always will. He has not, however, ever acted in any way with me but as my protector, and my friend. So yes, I agree with Nick. If you believe he’s behaved in such a dishonourable fashion, then you should leave. There is no place in my home for anyone who doesn’t hold Nick in the same high regard in which my father did, and in which I do. So please,’ she said, and stood up also, ‘let me show you to the door.’

‘No,’ Nick said, and pressed a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. ‘Let me.’

Sarah threw him a grateful glance before sinking back down into her chair, only then realising her knees were very wobbly indeed.

‘Good luck,’ Chloe grated out with one last vicious look at Sarah. ‘You’re going to need it.’

As Nick shepherded Chloe from the terrace, Derek began a slow clap, joined by several of the guests.

‘Very impressive, sweetie,’ Derek said softly. ‘But also rather telling.’

Sarah’s head jerked around towards him. ‘In what way?’

‘Blind Freddie can see you’re in love with the man.’

Sarah sighed. ‘Was I that obvious?’

‘Afraid so.’

‘Oh, dear.’

‘No matter. Now, tell me what happened a little while back that made you so mad. Was Nick as jealous as Chloe said he was?’

‘Yes.’

‘I knew it! He fancies you, doesn’t he?’

Sarah shook her head. ‘I couldn’t believe it when he told me he did. And not just lately. Since I was sixteen.’

‘Wow. Did you tell him you fancied him right back?’

‘Yes.’

Derek looked confused. ‘Then I don’t get it. What’s the problem? Not me, I hope. You did tell him I wasn’t your real boyfriend, didn’t you?’

‘Oh, yes. I was totally honest with him. I even told him you were gay.’

‘And?’

‘He still rejected me. Said he was no good for me.’

‘What?’

‘He told me my father asked him to protect me from the scoundrels of this world, of which he rates himself the gold-medal winner.’

‘For crying out loud, can’t the man see that his not sleeping with you all these years makes him one of the good guys?’

‘Obviously not.’

‘This calls for even sneakier action. Now, tonight I suggest you—’

‘Stop, Derek,’ she broke in. ‘Just stop.’

‘You’re giving up,’ he said, disappointment in his voice.

‘No, I’m moving on. And so is Nick. He’s already told me he can’t wait to leave here.’

‘That’s because he can’t trust himself around you. You’ve got him on the ropes, sweetie, and he’s running for cover.’

‘Then let him run. It’s over, Derek.’

‘How can it be over when it hasn’t even begun?’

‘Could we just leave this conversation and eat?’

Derek shrugged, then fell to devouring some prawns.

Sarah was doing her best to force some food down her throat when Nick returned to the table. Her hand tightened around her fork whilst he removed Chloe’s chair, along with her plate, before pulling out his own chair and reseating himself.

‘Sorry about that, Sarah,’ he muttered as he shook out his serviette. ‘Thank you for standing up for me.’

‘That’s all right. Chloe shouldn’t have said what she did.’

‘No, she shouldn’t have. But I can understand why she did. Jealousy can make you do … stupid things.’

‘Yes, I know. I’m truly sorry for this whole charade today, Nick.’

‘I wasn’t talking about you, Sarah. I was talking about myself.’

Her head turned and their eyes connected.

‘You were jealous, weren’t you?’ she whispered.

‘We’re not going to go there again, Sarah,’ he warned her abruptly. ‘Do I make myself clear?’

If his harsh voice wasn’t sufficiently convincing, his cold eyes were.

‘Crystal clear,’ she said.

‘Good. Now let’s forget about everything that has happened today so far and enjoy our Christmas lunch.’

Sarah sat there in stunned silence when Nick tucked into his food with apparent relish. She was even more amazed when he started up a very lively conversation with the man on his immediate right.

Was he just pretending, or hadn’t he been genuinely upset by the events of the day? Chloe had been his girlfriend for the last six months and she’d just been dismissed in an instant.

Hadn’t he cared about her at all?

Obviously not.

Maybe Nick was right. Maybe he was a scoundrel.

Sarah slid her eyes to her right, where she surreptitiously watched him eat half a dozen oysters; watched him lift each oyster shell to his lips, tip his head back, then slide the tasty morsel down his throat, after which. he would lick his lips with relish.

Sarah finally found herself echoing this action with her own tongue, moving it over her suddenly parched lips, her heartbeat quickening when his head turned her way.

He stared at her wet lips for a long moment, before his mouth pulled back into a twisted smile. ‘You just can’t stop, can you?’

‘Stop what?’ she choked out.

‘The tempting. No, don’t bother to deny it. Or defend yourself. Everything you’ve done today has been leading to this moment. Very well. You’ve won. Though I doubt you’ll see it as a win by tomorrow morning.’

‘What do you mean?’

Again, that cold, cryptic smile. ‘I did warn you. If you insist on playing with the devil, then you have to be prepared to take the consequences.’

CHAPTER TEN

THE rest of the afternoon was endless, an eternity of wondering and worrying exactly what Nick meant by his provocative yet threatening words.

Several times Sarah tried to draw him into further clarification but he would have none of it, always turning the conversation away from the subject, or turning away from her altogether. After the lunch was over he deserted her to play the role of host, mingling with all his guests and making sure they had a good time. Coffee was served around the pool, with a few of the guests changing afterwards for a swim. Unfortunately Nick joined them, the sight of him in his brief black costume not doing Sarah’s agitated state of mind any good.

It was around this time that Derek received a call on his cellphone from his mother, saying that his father had had a change of heart and wanted him to come home for Christmas after all. A delighted Derek called a taxi straight away and rushed off, leaving Sarah pleased for him, but even more lonely and agitated herself. In desperation, she left the party and escaped to the privacy of her bedroom.

But there was no peace for her there. She could still hear the gaiety downstairs through the French doors, the sounds tormenting her. What kind of man was Nick to say what he’d said to her and then ignore her? Finally, she could not bear her solitude any longer and made her way out onto the balcony, where she had a perfect view of the pool below … and Nick.

He saw her watching him, she knew. But he still ignored her, choosing instead to put his head down and swim, up and down, up and down. He must have swum for a good fifteen minutes straight before he stopped abruptly at one end and hauled himself out of the pool. Grabbing a towel, he draped it around his dripping shoulders before throwing her a savage glance, then striding up the terrace steps and disappearing under the roof created by the canvas blinds.

Every female nerve-ending in Sarah’s body went on high alert. He was coming upstairs. To change? Or for something else?

She gripped the wrought-iron railing of the balcony, hot blood rushing around her veins at the possibility that it was her he was coming for; that he was about to put his teasing words into action. It didn’t seem possible that he would do such a thing with the house still full of guests. But he’d said he was a scoundrel, hadn’t he?

Sarah did not hear him enter her bedroom. But she felt his presence in every pore of her body. She whirled to find him standing in the doorway that led out onto the balcony. The towel was no longer draped around his shoulders. His legs were set solidly apart, his hands balled into fists by his sides.

Sarah had seen him dressed in nothing but his swimming costume many times, but never in her bedroom, and never with that look on his face.

She shivered under the impact of the dark passion emanating from his coal-black eyes.

‘Come here,’ he commanded, his voice low and harsh.

Shock—and a sudden wave of fear—held her motionless.

He stunned her further by stripping down to total nudity, leaving her to confront the physical evidence of his desire.

Now, that she’d never seen before, and a dark excitement sent her head spinning and her pulse racing.

‘Come here,’ he repeated in gravelly tones.

She moved across the balcony like some robot, her mouth dry, her heart thudding loudly behind her ribs. When she was close enough he reached up to cup her heated face, his eyes holding hers captive whilst his mouth lowered to her still parched lips.

But he didn’t kiss her. He just slowly licked her lips with his tongue. She found it incredibly erotic, her eyes shutting as her lips fell further apart on a soft moan.

Another moan punched from Sarah’s throat when his tongue suddenly slid into her mouth. Surprise swiftly gave way to a wild craving to draw him in deeper and yet deeper. The need to pleasure him was great; the need to possess him even greater.

Her eyes flung wide when he wrenched his tongue away, her cry the cry of dismay. But then his hands fell to her shoulders and he was pushing her down onto her knees in front of him.

Any shock was momentary. If this was what he wanted, then she wanted it too.

He tasted clean and salty from the swimming pool. But it wasn’t the taste of him that mattered to Sarah. All the years of wanting him to want her made her both reckless and wild. Her secret passion was finally unleashed.

Afterwards, she had no detailed recollection of how long it was before he came. A minute perhaps. Maybe two.

All she could recall was her satisfaction in his release, thrilling to the raw groans that filled the room, exulting in his uncontrolled surrender.

She glanced up at him, still unbearably aroused by what she’d just done. Her body was on fire, her conscience in danger of being totally routed. She did not care if he was a scoundrel. Did not care if he was only using her. She’d never been so excited in all her life.

‘You do realise there’s no going back now,’ he grated out as he lifted her to her feet.

She just stared at him, unable to formulate any reply at that moment.

He stared back with hard, glittering eyes. ‘I should have known you’d do this to me today.’

‘Do what?’ she choked out.

‘Make me cross the line. You think you know what you’re doing but you don’t.’

‘I’m not a child, Nick.’

He laughed. ‘You are, compared to me. But that’s all right. That’s your attraction. I like it that you’re relatively innocent. It excites me. It’ll almost be worth it to open your eyes, to make you see what kind of men there are in this world. And how easily it is for them to seduce girls like you. Hopefully, by the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll have enough experience to protect yourself in future.’

‘I’m not that innocent,’ she threw back at him.

‘No? Why do you say that? Because you think you know how to go down on a man?’

Sarah’s face flamed.

‘I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy it,’ Nick went on, reaching out to stroke a perversely loving hand down her cheek. ‘But I’ll enjoy teaching you how to do it properly a lot more.’

His hand drifted across to her mouth, where he inserted a finger between her lips.

‘Most men prefer not to be gobbled up like fast food,’ he advised, sliding that knowing finger back and forth along the middle of her tongue. ‘Once you master the art, you can love a man more times than you would think possible. Have you ever been made love to all night long, Sarah?’

A shudder rippled down Sarah’s spine at the images he was evoking.

‘I think not,’ he purred, his dark gaze narrowing on her wide eyes.

His finger retreated, leaving her feeling weirdly bereft and empty.

‘But tonight you will, my love,’ he promised. ‘Tonight, I will take you to places you’ve never been before. If that’s what you want, of course. Do you want it, Sarah? This is your last chance to tell me to go to hell.’

She stared into his heavily lidded eyes, afraid now of the power he had over her.

But her fear was not as strong as her desire.

‘So be it,’ he snapped when she said nothing. ‘Just remember that you must live with the consequences of your decision.’

‘What consequences?’

‘That one day, I will have had my fill of you and you will go the way of all the others,’ he said so coldly it was scary.

‘Are you trying to frighten me off?’

His laugh was hard, and lacking in humour. ‘Good God, no. I want nothing more than to have that gorgeous body of yours at my daily disposal till at least the end of the summer holidays. But I have a policy of brutal honesty with all my girlfriends. Chloe knew the score. Now you do too.’

‘Can I tell Flora that I’m your new girlfriend?’

His face darkened at this suggestion. ‘Absolutely not!’

‘I thought that might be the case. You want to keep me your dirty little secret, don’t you?’

‘I do have my pride. Don’t you?’ he threw at her challengingly.

Her chin lifted. ‘Yes.’

‘Then it will be our dirty little secret. If you’re not happy with that, then we can still call it quits. Right now. After all, one swallow doesn’t make a summer.’

Sarah sucked in sharply at this most outrageous double entendre. ‘You really are a wicked devil, aren’t you?’

‘I did warn you about my character. So what’s your final decision? I can leave you and this house asap. Or …’ He walked over to the bed, where Derek’s present was lying spread out on the pink quilt. It was a black satin and lace teddy, which left little to the imagination, bought with the idea of making Nick jealous.

He picked it up, his eyebrows arching as he turned it this way and that. ‘Or you can agree to come to my bedroom tonight, wearing nothing but this and my diamond earrings.’

Sarah tried to feel disgusted with him, and herself. But it was no use. There was no room in her quivering body at that moment for anything but a wild rush of dizzying excitement. She could not wait to do what he asked, could not wait to present herself to him the way he asked.

What did that make her?

A masochist, or just a girl in love, a girl who’d lived for far too long with her romantic fantasies.

Yet he wasn’t offering her romance, just a few weeks of the kind of lovemaking she hadn’t experienced before. He was right about that. All her lovers so far had been youngish men of little savoir-faire.

But the way Nick was talking made her wonder if there were ways nice girls didn’t know about.

The thought only excited her further.

‘What time tonight?’ she asked, and looked him straight in the eye.

No way was she going to let him think he’d seduced her into this. She would come to him willingly, with courage, not fear.

His smile was wry. ‘I’ve always known you had spirit, Sarah. That’s another of your many attractions. Shall we say nine? Flora and Jim will have retired to their quarters by then.’

‘Nine,’ she repeated in pained tones. That was over four hours away!

‘Yes, I know. But it will be all the better for the waiting. Now I must go and dress,’ he said, bending to snatch up his swimming costume and towel from where they lay on the cream carpet. ‘Meanwhile I suggest you go downstairs. People might begin to wonder where we are, and jump to the conclusion that there’s some truth in Chloe’s accusations. Just don’t forget to replenish your lipstick before you go.’

Sarah stared after him as he left. Then she whirled and hurried into the bathroom.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

‘I KNEW Chloe had just about reached her use-by date,’ Flora remarked as she packed the dishwasher for the last time that evening. ‘But I still can’t believe Nick broke up with her on Christmas Day.’

Sarah glanced up from where she was sitting, having a cup of coffee. The clock on the wall showed twenty-two minutes past eight.

‘He’s a right devil with women,’ Flora rattled on, ‘but I’ve never thought of him as cruel.’

Strangely enough, Sarah agreed with Flora.

‘He really had no option after Chloe accused him of carrying on with me in front of everyone,’ she defended.

Flora pulled a face. ‘I suppose not. I just wish I’d been there. Trust something exciting to happen the first year Jim and I decide to eat Christmas dinner back in our rooms. So tell me, what led up to it?’

Sarah shrugged. ‘I have no idea. One minute everything seemed fine, the next she just came out with it. We were both shocked, I can tell you.’

‘I’ll bet it was because of the way you look today. She was probably blind with jealousy.’

‘That’s what Nick said.’

‘He’d have been furious with her for saying something like that in front of his work colleagues. But I heard you set her to rights.’

‘Really? Who told you that?’ She’d done her best not to provide Flora with too many details, in case she slipped up with her story.

‘One of the waiters. He said it was the most interesting Christmas lunch they’d ever catered for.’

‘It was darned embarrassing. I’m glad it’s over. Next year, things are going to be very different.’

Sarah wished she hadn’t said that. Because she didn’t want to think about next year. She didn’t want to think about anything but tonight.

But once the thought was put in her head, it was impossible to banish it. If Nick had been telling the truth earlier, then by next Christmas she would be long gone from his life, and from his bed.

‘You won’t change your mind?’ Flora asked.

‘About what?’

‘About letting me cook a hot meal next year. Call me old-fashioned, but Christmas just doesn’t feel like Christmas without a turkey and a plum pudding. I know Nick won’t mind. He really likes turkey.’

‘Nick probably won’t be here,’ Sarah said a bit stiffly.

‘What? Why not?’

‘He’s moving out in February.’

‘So what? You’ll invite him here for Christmas, surely. You and he are like family.’

‘He might not want to come.’

‘Rubbish! He loves having Christmas here. Even when he was building that resort on Happy Island, he always came back for Christmas. And it’s not as though he’ll go off and get married and make a home of his own.’

‘True,’ Sarah agreed ruefully, her eyes dropping to her coffee. ‘That’s never going to happen.’

So don’t start secretly hoping that it will. He’s not going to fall in love with you, no matter how much you love him. You’re just another sexual partner, a temporary object of desire, a source of physical pleasure.

And when that pleasure begins to wane, when boredom sets in, you’ll be replaced. That’s the way it’s always been with Nick and that’s the way it will continue.

It might have been a seriously depressing train of thought if she’d been in a sensible, looking-after-her-future-happiness mood. But Sarah was anything but sensible at that moment. Excitement was fizzing through her veins, her insides wound so tight she was having trouble swallowing her coffee. How she managed to appear so composed in front of Flora, she had no idea. Obviously, she had the makings of an Oscar-winning actress!

‘Where is Nick, by the way?’ Flora asked.

‘He went upstairs a little while ago,’ Sarah replied as cool as you please. ‘He said he was tired.’

‘You finished with that?’ Flora reached out for her coffee-mug.

Sarah handed it to her. ‘I think I’ll go up to bed, too,’ she said, this time with a slight catch in her voice. ‘It’s been a long day.’

‘There’s a good movie on at eight-thirty,’ Flora said. ‘Got that film-star fellow in it that I like. Sexy devil. Now, he can put his slippers under my bed any time he likes.’

‘Mmm,’ Sarah murmured as she slid from the stool. Not as sexy as the devil she was about to spend the night with. ‘Goodnight, Flora. Don’t worry about breakfast. I’m going to sleep in. You should too. You look tired.’

‘I am a bit. What about Nick?’

‘I’ll tell him to get himself something in the morning. I doubt he’s asleep yet.’

‘Before you go, Sarah, I just want to say how lovely you looked today. I wouldn’t mind betting that by next Christmas you’ll have a real boyfriend sitting at the Christmas table. Or even a fiancé. Which reminds me, did anything further develop with Derek today?’

‘Er—no. He’s not interested in me in that way.’

‘What a pity. Still, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. Off you go, then.’