The Price of Scandal (10 page)

She kissed him boldly on the mouth and said, ‘You can lose it with me any time you like.’ Had last night been just talk or would she see him again?

Channelling bright and breezy, because she really wanted him to carry on believing that she was the sort of cool, sexually experienced woman who took a one-night stand in her stride, she grabbed the wrist he wore his watch on.

‘What was the time?’ It wasn’t as if she had time for a relationship—not until she’d fixed the one she didn’t have with her stepdaughter.

He turned his wrist so that she could read the dial.

‘I am also glad last night was not just a dream.’

She stilled, wondering if wishful thinking was making her hear something in his voice that wasn’t there. She turned her head.

Their glances connected.

It wasn’t wishful thinking!

‘I think reality is better than dreams.’

She nodded, thinking, This one is.

‘At least last night was,’ he continued, obviously choosing his words with care. ‘However, it still feels…like unfinished business? You agree with what we discussed—that it might be a good idea to continue, pick up where we left off…?’

‘A date, you mean…you want to go out with me?’

His grin flashed. ‘I was thinking more along the line of staying in with you, but, yes, a date. You need time to think about it.’

Neve laughed. She felt as though all her birthdays had come at once. ‘No. Not no, I don’t want to,’ she corrected hastily. ‘I mean no, I definitely don’t need any time to think about it.’ She rolled onto her side and slid on top of him, loving the feel of his lean, hard body underneath her and feeling a thrill of female power as his erection pressed into the softness of her belly. ‘I would really like to stay in with you. Does this mean you’re my boyfriend?’ Her eyes widened at the rather surreal idea.

With a growl Severo slid a hand around the back of her head and pulled her face down to his. ‘If you like.’ He slid his free hand over the curve of her bottom, spreading his fingers across the smooth flesh. They didn’t have long before it got light and he had no intention of wasting a moment of the precious minutes.

A shiver ran through her as their mouths connected; his kiss was deep and possessive. She returned the pressure, murmuring his name against his lips. The kisses rapidly escalated to wild and their hungry caresses became frantic.

At some point they slid off the sofa onto the floor.

The breath left Neve’s body in a soft sighing gasp.

‘Are you all right?’ Severo asked, levering himself slightly off her.

Neve grabbed him and pulled him back down. ‘Fine, don’t stop, please don’t stop!’

Severo, who doubted he could have stopped even if he’d wanted to, had no problem complying with her throaty plea.

‘
Dio mio
, I can’t get enough of you!’ he growled, flipping her over onto her back. ‘But I damned well intend to try,’ he panted, sliding a hand between her legs.

A low keening moan emerged from her throat as he ran a finger along her folds until he came to the sensitive nub. She arched under him, biting into his neck.

‘Please, Severo, now!’ she sobbed, desperate to feel him inside her.

‘Put your legs around me,
cara
.’

She looked up at him through a hot haze of passion and did so just as he surged thick and hard into her, driving deep and driving her out of her mind and into her body, aware of every cell and nerve ending as he stretched and filled her.

He carried on kissing her the entire time he moved, stroking into her hard and hot, moving deep, touching the place that ached to be touched by him. Everything was in sync: their bodies, their moans, their gasps and sighs and at the end, their releases.

Afterwards they lay there on the floor, bodies still locked together, panting as their sweat-slick skin cooled. Neve closed her eyes, loving the feel of him heavy on top of her, loving the heat of his breath on her neck, loving the musky smell of his salty skin.

Finally Severo rolled off her, not sure if he was insatiable or insane and not actually caring. ‘We will definitely do that again soon.’ He was breaking all his own rules and enjoying it.

Chapter Ten

N
EVE
cast one last wistful look at the grey stone walls. She had entered here one woman and was leaving another.

Severo had suggested that they stay put until the rescue services found them, and in truth she had been tempted, but the sun shone from a blue sky on the crisp white snow and she knew that there was no good reason, beyond a strong desire not to delay their return to the real world, not to venture out.

‘You left a note?’ she checked anxiously as he closed the door.

Severo gave her a look that was tinged with impatience. After the fourth time she had asked him the same question he had stopped counting. ‘Yes, I left a note and my phone number along with a promise to pay for any items we used or damage caused. I am the king of courtesy among housebreakers, so relax.’

It was, he knew, a pointless suggestion; he had felt the tension build in her all morning. She was worrying herself sick over her stepdaughter; it was hard not to compare her concern with the utter selfish style of stepmotherhood favoured by Livia.

The snow on the path crunched under her feet as Neve walked up the incline towards what was probably a driveway when it wasn’t covered in several feet of snow. Everything, she reflected, gazing around, looked so different in the daylight.

‘I’d hate to come home and find someone had been in my home.’

‘Careful,’ he cautioned sharply as she slipped. Considering the amount of sleep she had had last night she ought to be dead on her feet, but she had hit the floor running this morning and showed no sign of flagging yet.

Actually he felt pretty energised considering the energy he had expended between the sheets—not that there had been sheets, but who needed sheets when he had a soft, warm woman to hold onto and sink into?

He walked behind her watching the gentle swing of her hips while his body sent him a pretty strong message that he still wanted her, though in the cold light of day he was struggling to see her fitting into his life.

He was struggling even more to see her in the role of mistress.

‘Accidenti!’

His hand shot out, his fingertips brushing her own as Neve recovered her balance. She flashed him a smile of gratitude for the steadying hand and wondered if the casual contact had sent an electric surge charging along his nerve endings too.

‘I’m sure you wouldn’t want a stranger to freeze to death on your doorstep.’

‘No,’ she conceded, thinking, You were a stranger this time yesterday. And now they were lovers…She smiled to herself, liking the sound, but her smile was tinged with caution.

Last night she had allowed herself to be carried along by his determination, flattered and wanting to believe they had some sort of future, but she had never been convinced that the fragile thing that had blossomed in the hothouse atmosphere last night would survive in the real world.

Maybe things were already changing? Last night he had begun to open up to her, but this morning she sensed that he was regretting some of the things he had said.

She paused to fan her warm face and heard Severo say, ‘Exactly. Besides, I’m sure the owners will have more important things to think about when they come home. Slow down,’ he added, shadowing her steps, staying close enough to be there to catch her if she slipped.

‘What sort of important things?’

Severo was happy to share his theory—at least it took her mind off the missing teenager whom Severo would quite happily have throttled for putting Neve through this sort of hell.

‘Did you see those open garage doors?’

Neve nodded. Last night they had approached from the opposite direction and not even known the detached garage block was there.

‘And upstairs the nursery full of brand-new stuff.’

‘I didn’t see that,’ she said, wondering where he was going with this.

‘It still smelt of wet paint, then there were dates on the calendar in the kitchen pencilled in with antenatal clinic.’

Neve stopped at the top of the incline and turned to face him. ‘You think the woman who lives there is pregnant?’

‘I think the woman that lives there went into labour during the blizzard. It would explain why they left without turning off lights or locking up. It explains the entire
Marie Celeste
scenario.’

Neve was impressed. ‘You got all that from the smell of fresh paint.’ A leap but it did fit. ‘I hope they reached the hospital,’ she said with a worried little frown as she imagined the nightmare journey the couple must have had.

Off the narrow path now, Severo was able to walk beside her as they set off in the direction he was pretty sure the road lay.

‘What a thing to happen. Can you imagine how scared you’d be giving birth out in the middle of nowhere?’

‘I would be very scared giving birth.’ But even more scared to see the woman he loved going through the pain and potential danger of childbirth.

Neve did not respond to the quip. She was thinking about babies; she wanted them one day when she met the right man. ‘So would I.’

He gave a disapproving frown and contended, ‘You are too young to be thinking of babies.’

His habit of issuing autocratic pronouncements was irritating and had the effect of making her want to say the opposite. ‘That’s an opinion, but not necessarily mine.’

‘I suppose all women are genetically programmed to procreate.’

Neve, who could think of several friends childless from choice who would disagree with that, didn’t dispute the claim. ‘But not all men?’ she asked, flashing a curious look at his patrician profile and wondering if he was actually speaking of himself.

If he was it was a waste because any baby who inherited his genes would be beautiful. She smiled to herself as an image of a dark-haired baby materialised in her head.

‘It is different for men. We are designed to impregnate, not nurture.’

He had been anxious to do neither, a fact she was grateful for because, to her shame, it was not something that had crossed her mind, but Severo had been scrupulous about protecting her. Even last night when things had got really wild, then this morning he had…they had fallen…Neve huffed a shocked gasp as the memories of their early morning love-making came back.

A look of shock etched on her face, she gulped and walked on.

It seemed that he had not been so scrupulous after all! Not that she was blaming him—the responsibility had been equally her own, and if one slip had any consequences it would be a cruel twist of fate.

‘Are you all right?’

Neve turned her head and found Severo studying her face. Her eyes fell from his guiltily.

‘Fine.’

He angled a sardonic brow.

‘It’s nothing,’ she said, hoping that time would not make a liar of her.

He continued to look unconvinced.

‘I was just wondering…hoping that they were safe, the mother and the baby…’ It was only half a lie; she hadn’t been thinking about the family, but she was now.

Severo regarded her incredulously. ‘It was just an educated guess. There might not even be a family. For all I know they just forgot to switch off the lights when they went to do the supermarket shopping.’

Neve, still frowning, shook her head. ‘No, I think you’re right.’ She brightened as an idea occurred to her. ‘We could ring around the hospitals when we get back.’

Severo stared; she was serious! It had obviously not been a good idea to share his theory with her. ‘There was dog food in the cupboard—why don’t we ring around the animal shelters too?’ He made a sound of disbelief in his throat and shook his head. ‘Doesn’t it get exhausting feeling responsible for everyone, Neve?’

‘I’m not some sort of bleeding heart!’ she protested indignantly.

The rueful look he sent her was tinged with tenderness that he channelled into irritation; tenderness was a challenging concept for him.

‘No, you’re a soft heart.’ And a soft touch, the sort of person that got taken advantage of, he thought grimly.

Neve, who had been staring fixedly across the snow-covered field ahead, missed the comment. Without warning she began to jump excitedly up and down.

‘It’s the road! I see the road!’ Caution replacing the previous enthusiasm, she turned to Severo and asked anxiously, ‘
Is
that the road?’

Following the direction of her waving arm, Severo nodded. ‘Looks like it,’ he confirmed, estimating the distance. ‘We should be able to make it in thirty minutes or so.’

They actually made it in twenty because Neve ignored his advice on both pacing herself and caution. She was clearly spent by the time they reached the road, but because she looked so anxious he resisted the temptation to say I told you so.

‘So what now?’ Neve asked, looking up and down the road that had clearly not received the services of a snowplough.

Reaching the road had been her focus; now she had achieved this objective she didn’t feel any closer to finding Hannah.

‘We follow it. The only question is north or south.’

‘South,’ Neve said, pointing to her right.

‘That’s north.’

She flashed him a look, a reluctant smile curving her mouth upwards as she said, ‘I knew that.’

Severo shook his head slowly from side to side. ‘You can’t admit when you’re wrong, can you?’

He managed to keep the distracting banter going for another twenty minutes before Neve’s responses grew monosyllabic. He had been conscious that any early success would be heavily reliant on luck from the outset; now it seemed it was dawning on Neve also.

As they progressed and there was still no sign of Hannah, or indeed anyone, he felt her mood shift.

‘This is hopeless, isn’t it? We’re lost. You were right—we should have just waited.’

Seeing her look so despondent broke his heart, but, while he was unwilling to break it any further by agreeing with her analysis of the situation, he was also reluctant to offer her false hope.

‘You’re tired.’

Neve bowed her head and buried her face in her hands. ‘This is all my fault. What if they didn’t find her? What if…? This is my fault.’

‘I begin to wonder what is not your fault,
cara
.’

‘She ran away from me.’

He watched the solitary tear rolling down her cheek and reconsidered his view on false hope; maybe false hope was better than nothing. Maybe not, but the fact was he couldn’t bear to see her suffer.

Neve felt his hand on her neck, felt the roughness of the calluses on his palm against her skin as his fingers moved upwards, sliding into her hair and drawing her face into his chest.

It was a moment of sweet calm in the emotional storm, a breathing space. She leaned into him, her arms sliding around his waist as she sighed and turned her face into the hard solidity of his chest, taking comfort from his strength.

‘Why assume the worst? Things always look black when you’re tired.’ Hooking a finger under her chin, he tilted her face up to his. ‘And you’re exhausted,’ he pronounced, swinging her up into his arms and striding out along what was a road when it wasn’t covered in several feet of snow.

‘You can’t carry me,’ she protested.

He ignored her and as they continued he was relieved to see her revive like a parched flower given water, and gradually Neve’s spirits seemed to lift.

But only temporarily.

Then minutes later her mood went into a downward spiral at the discovery of her car.

‘There is no point jumping to conclusions,’ he counselled.

Neve swung around on him, her eyes flashing fire in a paper-white face. ‘There’s no jumping involved. Look at it!’ Unable to look at the crushed metal, she gave a shudder. ‘It’s totally mangled. Are you saying,’ she choked, ‘that she walked away from that uninjured?’ She shook her head in a negative motion, sending the Titian curls bouncing across her shoulders. ‘I don’t think so!’ she whispered, closing her eyes.

She sniffed and dragged a hand across her damp face.

‘I’m saying,
cara,
that we cannot jump to conclusions.’

Even ones which, in his opinion, were probably correct. It seemed likely from the extent of the damage that the car had rolled at least twice before it landed in a snowdrift, where it now lay almost totally buried. If it hadn’t been for the bumper that he had almost tripped over they might have missed it entirely.

Neve turned, planting her hands on her hips as she lifted her face to his. ‘So do you think she walked away from the crash with everything intact and fully functioning?’

Put on the spot this way, what was he meant to say?

‘It is possible.’

‘I didn’t ask you what was possible,’ she retorted, her voice rising as she got angrier. ‘I asked you what you thought. You’re not generally afraid to share your opinion. In fact, on the evidence so far it’s hard to stop you! Say something, damn it,’ she gritted, blinking away the tears that started in her eyes. ‘Say something!’

‘I think the cavalry are here.’

It was not what Neve had been expecting to hear.

‘What?’

He pointed and Neve, following the direction of his gesture, saw a small convoy of vehicles moving slowly towards them. A snowplough took the lead, behind it was a police Land Rover and, bringing up the rear, an ambulance.

‘Are those police cars?’

Severo nodded.

‘Do you think they might know something about Hannah?’

Severo, who thought it was very possible, said, ‘We’ll soon know.’ Very soon the convoy had stopped and the doors were opening.