Santa's Secret (15 page)

She moistened her lips, not missing the way
his gaze dropped to them briefly. “Do you have any suggestions? Juggling maybe?
A crossword or two?”

He looked amused. “I was thinking more of
trying out the sauna.”

Her breath caught in her throat at the
thought of them sitting together in the tiny room, skin shiny and damp with
sweat. “Oh.”

He chuckled. “Your eyes look as if they are
going to pop out again.”

“Can you blame me? You are so wicked. Such
a tease.”

“Wicked?” He looked affronted. “Me?”

“Yes.” She was breathless now, fired up at
the thought of being alone with him. “Wicked. Devilish. Naughty.”

“It is your fault for being so beautiful.”

“I’m not beautiful. I’m ugly. I’m going to
turn all the lights out in the room so you can’t see me.”

“Never,” he murmured. “I want to be able to
watch you. I want to see myself sliding in and out of you; to watch your face
when you come.”

Her eyes widened. He would only have to
lean forwards a little and he’d be able to kiss her, but he didn’t; he just
studied her, his eyes blazing with sudden heat, setting light to the fuse at
the bottom of her spine that then fired all the way up her body to her brain.

“Okay,” she said, her voice sounding husky,
even to herself. “Time to go.”

Rudi chuckled to himself as Eva hurriedly
scooped up Oscar and pulled on his coat, then tugged on her own duffle coat and
headed for the door. Her enthusiasm amused and pleased him—not that he wasn’t
eager to get her alone himself. He’d dreamt all night about taking her in his
arms, about the feel of her soft body against his, about losing himself in her.
In his head she’d come to symbolise everything that was missing from his
life—fun, sex, beauty and companionship. He’d thought he was happy immersing
himself in work, that he didn’t need anyone in his life. But he’d been wrong.

But this was good, he thought as they
headed out into the wintry village. Eva had taught him that maybe it was time
for him to get back into the world, that he was ready to love again. Just like
maybe he had taught her it was okay to move on. They’d both served a
purpose—they were a convenience, a trigger to force each other onto a different
track.

And yet that sounded like such a meagre
description—as if he were trying to describe the beautiful scene before him by
saying, “It’s white.” That could never take in all the colours, the smells, the
expectation in the air.

“Thirty minutes until the Little Elves
opens,” Eva said, checking her watch. “Damn it.”

He laughed. “Come on. We can build a
snowman while we wait. But first, I have to pop back to the cabin for
something. You get started—I will only be a moment.”

Eva and the kids headed for the field
between the village and the forest and, still in the circle of the lanterns,
they started the snowman.

Rudi walked back quickly to his cabin, carried
out a few brief tasks, then returned to the field. He helped Oscar push the
ball around to pick up the snow, while Eva and Isabel looked for stones and
sticks for the final decoration. As he worked, he thought about what Eva had
said, that Isabel knew what was going on. She certainly hadn’t said anything to
him. Ultimately, he thought, it shouldn’t be any of his daughter’s business;
he’d been faithful to Vanessa all the time they were together, and although
he’d been divorced for over a year, there had been no line of girlfriends
paraded in front of Isabel. But still, he understood that daughters are loyal
to their mothers, and she might not understand why he desired companionship. He
would talk to her about it later, he thought, when she got back from the club.

They finished the snowman and decorated it,
and he had to admit it looked great when they finished, complete with stones
for buttons on his coat, stick arms and tiny pebbles to form eyes and a happy
smile.

And then it was time to take the kids to
the Little Elves, so they walked them there and handed them over, and he was
pleased to see Oscar run off even before they reached the door, clearly eager
to join in with the game they were playing that involved jumping around the
room in hoops pretending to be Santas dropping down chimneys, presumably with
the intention of wearing the kids out before they sat them down to do more
creative pursuits.

He and Eva left their names and numbers,
checked that the kids were happy, then wandered out into the snowy vista.

Rudi held her hand as they walked back to
their cabin. Everywhere he looked, families had smiling faces, and excitement
and anticipation hung in the air along with a dusting of snow, lending it a
subtle shimmer.

“Can you feel it?” Eva said, as if reading
his thoughts. “Everyone’s so excited. I love Christmas Eve. And it’s lovely to
be here and to be sharing the experience with everyone—kind of like spending it
with a large family. I thought I’d feel lonely here, on my own with Oscar, but
I don’t.”

“I am glad,” he said, meaning it. Like Eva,
he’d thought anyone who wasn’t part of a standard two-point-four family would
feel out place at Santa’s Secret Village, and hadn’t considered it could be
more than a twee representation of the perfect Christmas, that it could be a
haven for those who were lonely at that time of year. Although she’d had some
criticisms, Eva had been full of praise for the site, and that had given him
food for thought. He was going to have to think very carefully about his
decision to sell.

But there would be plenty of time for that
later. For now, he had other things on his mind.

They walked up the path to the cabins, and
Eva followed him to his front door. He unlocked it and let her precede him,
then followed her into the cabin.

“Ooh, it’s nice and warm in here,” she
said, taking off her gloves and unbuttoning her coat. She wore a scarlet
roll-neck sweater that offset her dark hair beautifully and made her look
exotic, as well as Christmassy. “Is this why you came back—to get the place
ready?” Her eyes twinkled; she was teasing him.

“Absolutely,” he said. “We cannot have you
being cold.” He gestured at the sauna. “Another ten minutes, I think, and it
will be ready.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh. You weren’t joking?”

“Of course not.” He slipped off his own
coat and walked up to her, and slid his arms around her waist. “I cannot wait
to get you naked and shiny. If…you still wish to.”

He could see the rapid pulse in her neck,
the way her pupils dilated. “Yes,” she whispered.

He stepped a little closer. She smelled of
a deep, heady perfume that seemed to wind around his senses, ensnaring him, pulling
him in. He dipped his head and brushed his lips against her neck and up to her
ear, inhaling as he did so, enjoying her answering quiver. “You smell divine.”

She turned her head and brought her lips to
his, and they kissed, slow and lingering. He put his arms around her, feeling a
flood of contentment and pleasure at the embrace, at the anticipation of
undressing her and making love to her, at the feel of her in his arms.

When he finally lifted his head, her eyes
had taken on a glazed look, and her lips were swollen and bare. “Don’t stop,”
she murmured.

He chuckled and released her. “First things
first. I shall get us a drink—not alcohol, mind, we have to be careful to keep
hydrated in the sauna.” He poured them both a tall glass of lemonade and added
ice cubes and a slice of lime. “Drink up,” he said, leading her over to the
sofa.

Eva sipped her drink and sat, and when he
placed an arm around her shoulder, she curled up next to him. They looked out
at the darkened field, watching the snow whirl briefly in a light breeze, and
he thought he hadn’t been so contented, so happy, for years. He wanted her, he
wanted to kiss her and touch her and slide inside her, and his heart pounded
with his impatience to start the process, but equally he could have sat there
all day, just enjoying her presence, just being with her.

He blinked.
Just being with her.

“What?” she said, looking up at him.

He said nothing, his heart pounding in his
ears. Her face, turned up to his, was pale with two spots of pink on her
cheekbones. Her dark lashes framed her large brown eyes that looked up at him
with affection, with trust. Her lips had parted slightly, and they looked soft,
inviting.

He was being foolish, caught up in the
excitement of Christmas and the atmosphere of the place, because he’d only just
met her, and he couldn’t possibly be feeling what he thought he was feeling. It
was lust, that’s all; he’d been without sex for so long that his body heated up
at the first sight of her, and his brain was interpreting that as something
more.

Although he’d bought Vanessa flowers and
jewellery when they were younger and had tried to arrange the odd trip away,
theirs had never been a romantic relationship in spite of his early attempts to
make it so. In a way, he’d thought himself beyond that now. He’d assumed
falling in love was a notion that one grew out of, like believing in Santa or
the tooth fairy; that the romance portrayed in movies and novels was as
make-believe as any other form of magic.

But if so, why did his heart race every
time he looked at Eva and imagined her in his arms? He wanted to kiss her. To
make love to her. To spend days, weeks in bed exploring her, finding out what
she liked, how she responded to his touch. To make her laugh, to see her eyes
light up, to watch them close in the heat of passion. To just get to know her.

He wanted her forever.

But all he had was here and now. And his
heart ached.

Because he didn’t know what to say, he took
her drink and placed it on the table with his own. Pulled her up and onto his
lap so she sat astride him. She gave a breathless laugh and settled herself,
their bodies just brushing, and her dark hair fell forward like a sleek curtain
to hide them from the outside world. It brushed his cheek, soft and silky,
enveloping him in the heady scent again. He didn’t usually like strong perfume,
thought it masked the natural scent of a woman, but even though her perfume was
musky and exotic, it was subtle enough to wind around him gently, and once
again his heart began to race.

He slipped a hand behind her head and
brought her lips to his. They were so soft, and her tongue as she brushed it
into his mouth was warm. He slid his hands up her thighs, up her ribcage and
around her back, pulling her close to him, wanting to feel her body next to
his, and she tightened her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, giving a
little murmur of delight that thrilled him.

Behind them, the gas fire danced merrily, filling
the room with warmth, and Eva leaned back, took the bottom of her sweater in
both hands and drew it over her head, dropping it to the floor behind her. She
wore a T-shirt underneath, and that quickly joined the sweater, leaving her
sitting there in a beautiful red lacy bra that framed her even-more-beautiful
breasts perfectly.

She tugged his sweater impatiently, and he
leaned forward a little to let her pull it over his head. She then unbuttoned
his shirt, her fingers sliding behind the material to caress his skin, and she
pushed the shirt off his shoulders and discarded that too.

Now they were skin-on-skin, and he skimmed
his hands around her waist, up her ribs and then let his fingers trail over the
swell of her breasts. Her skin seemed to absorb the fire and glowed ivory
rather than white, exotic again, as if she were a sub-tropical flower, blossoming
and opening up to his touch. He brushed his thumbs over the lace covering her
nipples, and she sighed and leaned forwards to kiss him again, her mouth hot
and demanding.

And suddenly he could wait no longer—he
wanted her naked in his arms, with no barriers between them. He moved to the
edge of the sofa and stood, lifting her with him. She squealed and wrapped her
legs around his waist, and then laughed and kissed him again as he walked
carefully across the room to the bathroom.

He let her slide down him until her feet
touched the floor, and they both undid their jeans and slid them off, along
with their underwear, until they were standing naked. She’d taken a clip out of
her pocket and now twisted up her hair, although long tendrils trailed down to
curl around her neck, like dark shadows against white snow. Rudi pushed open
the door to the sauna, causing steam to waft over them, thick and aromatic. Eva
preceded him into the room, and he closed the door behind them.

The sauna was small, the benches made of
cedar wood, and he’d spread out a couple of linen towels across them to make
sure they didn’t slip.

“Your first time?” he guessed as she moved
around the room, inspecting the small stove and the bucket with a ladle that
sat beside it.

“Yes. I’ve never quite understood the
fascination with the things.”

“It is said that Neolithic people began the
tradition by bathing in geothermic hot springs,” he said. “It is a very Finnish
tradition—even Finnish prisons offer sauna privileges to inmates.” He pointed
to the stove. “We call this a
kiuas
. It heats up peridotite—it is a kind
of unweathered, quarried rock that holds the heat.”

“It’s very warm.” She had already started
to perspire, her creamy skin glistening.

“Oh, I think we should make it even
warmer,” he teased. He picked up the ladle, dipped it into the bucket and
poured the water across the rocks. It bubbled and turned immediately to steam,
filling the room with white clouds. He did that a few times, feeling the sweat
break out on his forehead, and looked down to see his torso glistening.

Eva blew out a breath and sat on one of the
benches, and Rudi sat opposite her. He used saunas frequently at the gym or in
hotels as he travelled around the country on business, so the concept of being
naked with others was nothing new to him, but the experience was entirely
different with Eva. He’d learned from using saunas as a teenager to treat them
as a non-sexual experience, keeping his eyes averted from the opposite sex and
concentrating on the heat and the steam.

But he couldn’t tear his gaze away from
Eva. She with her eyes closed, her head tipped back, exposing the smooth,
creamy skin of her neck in a pose that reminded him of an animal rolling over
and showing its stomach, submissive and trusting. Her whole body shone in the
dull light. She inhaled slowly, obviously enjoying the humid, scented air, and
he watched her breasts rise and fall with each breath, the dusky pink nipples
relaxed, begging to be teased to tight peaks. His gaze dropped to her slender
legs, travelled up her pale thighs to the dark triangle of hair at the top. Her
knees had opened a little, and moisture glimmered between her legs.