The Twelve Nights of Christmas (13 page)

He cupped her face in his hands and stared down at her in exasperation. ‘You're plastered. It's time I took you home.'

‘I'm not plastered. And I don't want to go home. I'm having a really great time and I refuse to go home just so that you can weld yourself to your laptop again and ignore the fact it's Christmas. Kissing you, drinking champagne, dancing and singing—they're my favourite things. Honestly, Rio, you should sing too—it's fun—I'm feeling so
Christmassy
—' Her hips swayed and there was a huge smile on her face as she started to sing along again, joining in with the crowd, this time at double the volume—

When it came to
‘Five gold rings'
she sang even louder, struck a dramatic pose and flashed her diamond in the air, beaming at Rio.

Before he could stop her, she flung herself towards the two Russians, kissed each of them on the cheek and then sprang onto a chair and from there onto the table.

Rio closed his eyes, cursing himself for not monitoring her champagne intake more closely. He contemplated removing
her bodily but decided that she would probably make such a fuss that the best thing to do was to wait until the end of the song and hope she survived that long without falling off the table and doing herself serious injury.

Everyone was clapping and Evie was by now the centre of attention as she led the singing, her actions for
Seven swans a-swimming
causing such hilarity that Rio shook his head in disbelief.

‘She's certainly the life and soul of the party,' Vladimir was suddenly beside him, speaking in slow, broken English, and beaming up at Evie, who was still mimicking a swan. ‘That joint venture you wanted to explore in Moscow—we're willing to give it some consideration. Fly over in the New Year and meet with us. Evie can translate for you.'

Rio, who had given up on the usually taciturn Russians, was about to confirm the details when an overenthusiastic re-enactment of
‘Three French hens'
almost sent Evie spinning off the table.

‘
Scusi
—' Crossing to the table, he caught Evie as she lost her balance and she tumbled into his arms, the silver dress shimmering under the lights.

‘—
Two purple doves
,' she hollered,
‘and a partridge in a pear tree.'

Wild applause surrounded them and Rio winced. ‘That's your party piece?'

‘One of them. I also tell a great joke about a wide mouth toad which has brilliant actions.' She eyed the microphone on the stage. ‘I suppose I could—'

‘No,' Rio said hastily. ‘You most definitely could not.'

‘I love champagne,' she said happily, leaning her head against his shoulder. ‘It's the nicest, yummiest, fizziest, happiest drink I've ever tasted. Is there any more?'

‘It's run out. You drank it all. Thanks to you, the global champagne market is now in meltdown.'

‘Shame.' She buried her face in his neck and breathed
deeply. ‘You smell so good. Why do you smell so good? Will you kiss me again? And this time don't stop. The only thing I hate about kissing you is when you stop. I just want it to go on and on and on—could you do that, do you think? You did say you were good at multi-tasking.'

Rio tensed. ‘Evie—'

‘You're an incredibly sexy man. If I wasn't so afraid of being rejected again, I'd try and seduce you—' she was snuggling and kissing his neck at the same time ‘—but I've never seduced anyone before so it's probably a bit overambitious to start with you. Like climbing a mountain and deciding to start with Everest. I ought to practice on someone small, ugly and unsuccessful first and see how I get on.'

Rio felt his entire body tighten. ‘You won't be practising on anyone tonight. We're going home.'

‘Not without a present from the Christmas tree,' she coaxed, lifting her head and focusing with difficulty. ‘It's all in a good cause. You pay money and they give you a surprise present. The money goes to the kids. So it's sort of two presents in one. Three presents actually, because you get a warm fuzzy feeling from being generous.'

Deciding that it was going to be quicker to buy the present than argue, Rio strode towards the tree, Evie still in his arms. Around them, people were smiling indulgently.

His pulse rate doubled as he approached the tree. The smell of pine invaded his nostrils, awakening thoughts and memories long dormant.

‘Which present?' he growled, adjusting the angle of his body so that she could see the tree and he couldn't. ‘Tell me which one you want.' Quickly. So that he could make his escape. The past was rolling over him like a dark cloud, its creeping menace threatening to seep under the barriers of his self-control.

‘The pink one with the silver bow.' Her arms tightened
around his neck and Rio felt the moist flicker of her tongue against his throat.

‘That one—' His voice tight, he indicated with his head towards the pink box and one of the staff untied it from the tree and handed it to him while one of his own security team discreetly dealt with the financial aspect of the transaction.

‘Thank you.' Her voice was husky, her mouth tantalizingly close to his and Rio tried to ignore the perfume that wafted from her skin.

‘We're going home.'

‘So that we can experiment with fur against naked flesh?'

Jaw clenched tight, he reminded himself that she dreamed of happy endings.

If there was one thing designed to kill his libido, it was a woman who dreamed of happy endings.

‘So that you can sleep off the champagne.'

‘Wait—' Slightly breathless, she pressed her lips against his throat. ‘I want the tree. Will you buy me the tree?'

Rio stilled. ‘You want me to buy every present on the tree?'

‘No, I want you to buy me the
tree
. I don't think I can stand the thought of Christmas without a tree. It's like having chocolate cake with no chocolate.' Still clutching the pink box, she snuggled against him, her voice coaxing. ‘That tree would look fantastic in the Penthouse. It's even bigger than the one I decorated.'

The one he'd had removed.

‘I don't want a tree.'

‘Why not? I know you prefer to work over Christmas, but it isn't going to stop you working just because there's a tree in the room. It cheers everything up.'

‘It doesn't cheer me up.'

She frowned. ‘So it wasn't my decorations in particular that you didn't like. It's Christmas trees in general. Why?
You're never too old to enjoy Christmas. Having a tree will give you happy memories.'

Rio put her down so suddenly she staggered. ‘I don't have any happy memories of Christmas.'

It was the stricken look in her eyes that made him realise just how harshly he'd spoken. ‘I…I'm sorry,' she stammered. ‘I didn't mean—'

‘Forget it. Let's get out of here.'

I don't have any happy memories of Christmas.

Evie sat in the middle of the enormous bed, those words reverberating around her head. She'd put her foot in it, but knowing that didn't stop her wondering and asking herself endless questions.

Why
didn't he have happy memories of Christmas?

She turned her head and looked towards the double doors that lay between her and the sitting room. They remained firmly closed.

What was he doing? Had he gone to sleep in the second bedroom?

They'd driven home without speaking, Evie silenced by that one revealing phrase and Rio communicating nothing. For once, his BlackBerry was silent and he'd simply stared out of the window at the snowy streets, his handsome face an expressionless mask.

But he
was
feeling, she knew that.

Not just feeling—
hurting
.

Knowing that she was risking another rejection, Evie slid off the bed and opened the doors quietly, afraid to disturb him if he was sleeping.

The huge living room was in darkness. The flames of the fire had almost flickered to nothing and all the lights had been extinguished.

He wasn't there.

She was overreacting. He'd obviously chosen to sleep in the second bedroom.

Evie was about to turn and go back to bed when she noticed a ghostly green glow in the corner of the room and realised that it was the laptop screen.

As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, she saw that Rio was seated at the table.

‘It's four in the morning,' she murmured. ‘You should get some sleep.'

‘I'm not tired.' His voice was barely audible. ‘Go back to bed, Evie. Sleep it off.'

Knowing that she was unwelcome, she was about to do just that but her feet froze to the spot as her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she managed to make out his profile. He looked like a man on the edge. A man struggling to contain an emotion bigger than him.

He was still looking at the screen, but somehow she knew that this time he wasn't reading the numbers. His eyes were bleak and empty and she knew instantly that this was about Christmas.

I don't have any happy memories of Christmas.

What sort of childhood had he had, that he hadn't retained a single happy memory of Christmas?

The sudden stillness of the room seemed loud in her ears.

Evie stood still, knowing that she was intruding on a private moment. She knew she ought to back away and return to the neutral sanctuary of the bedroom. She ought to close those big doors and leave him to his dark thoughts. She was never going to see him again once this charade was over. Why did it even matter that he wanted to shut himself away and pretend Christmas wasn't happening?

But there was something about the bleak set of his features that made it impossible for her to walk away. She never would
have been able to walk away and leave another human being in so much pain, and she had no doubt that he was in pain.

She'd become intimately acquainted with the signs after her grandmother had died. Night after night, she'd seen the same look on her grandfather's face as he'd sat in her grandmother's favourite rocking chair, just staring at her photograph. She'd kept him company in the darkness, afraid to leave him alone with his grief.

What had Rio Zaccarelli lost?

What was he thinking about, as he stared sightlessly at that screen?

Evie walked across to him, knowing that she was taking a risk. She was approaching when she should have run away.

Rio lifted his head and inhaled deeply. ‘I said, go back to bed.'

‘My head spins when I lie down.'

‘You drank too much champagne. That feeling will pass. Drink lots of water.'

‘I'm not drunk.'

The barest flicker of a smile touched his mouth. ‘You were dancing on the table.'

‘That wasn't because I was drunk. It was because I'd lost some of my inhibitions. If I had the confidence, I would have done the same thing sober. The drink just made me less anxious.'

‘In that case, remind me never to escort you when you're drunk.'

‘Tell me why you hate Christmas.'

Anger flickered across his face and his swift glance was loaded with warning. ‘I think you should go to bed.'

‘Only if you come too.' She had no idea what had driven her to say those words. Immediately, she wanted to drag them back.
What if he said yes?
She'd never had a one-night stand in her life. Compared with his experience and sophistication, she was a complete novice.

For a moment he simply watched her, his eyes glittering in the darkness. She had the feeling that he was fighting some brutal internal battle.

‘Leave,' he said thickly. ‘Right now.'

‘I'm not drunk.'

‘That isn't why I want you to leave.'

‘Then—'

‘I'm fresh out of happy endings, Evie. You won't find one within a thousand kilometres of me.'

Her mouth dried and her heart was pounding in her chest. ‘I know that. You could never be my happy ending. But that doesn't mean…I want to know…'

His eyes were hard and unsympathetic. He gave her no help at all. ‘What do you want to know, Evie?'

She licked dry lips. ‘I want to know what it would be like,' she whispered. ‘If the rest of it would feel as good as the kissing part.'

‘You want to know how it would feel?' He rose to his feet so suddenly that she actually took an involuntary step backwards and he registered her retreat with a sardonic smile. ‘I'll tell you how it would feel, Evie. It would feel good. We've both felt the chemistry. It would be incredible. Hot and crazy. For a short time.' His voice was thickened by emotion. ‘And then I'd break your heart. Like that—' He snapped his fingers in a cruel, casual gesture that made her flinch. ‘Easy.'

The blood was pulsing in her ears and it was difficult to breathe. ‘That's fine.'

His gaze mocked. ‘You're saying it's fine for me to break your heart?'

‘No. I'm saying you won't break it. To break it, I'd have to be in love with you and I'm not in love with you. I wouldn't be that stupid.'

His lids lowered, half concealing black eyes that glittered dark and dangerous. ‘Perhaps I'm not in the mood for a gentle seduction.'

Evie felt a spasm of fear, intermingled with the most fierce excitement she'd ever experienced. It was like a drug, urging her on to be more and more daring. ‘If you're trying to scare me, you're not succeeding.'

‘Maybe you should be scared, Evie.' His voice was lethally soft and cold as the ice that had formed on the windows. ‘I'm not the right man for you.'

‘I know that.' They were alone in the room and yet she was whispering. ‘That isn't what this is about.'

‘So what is it about? What are you trying to prove to yourself? Or is this good girl seduces bad boy, just to see how it feels?'

‘No! I—' Evie broke off, struggling to breathe. ‘I don't know what this is. All I know is…I thought you wanted…earlier you said…'

‘I know what I said. I know what I wanted.'

‘So—'

‘Earlier, I didn't know what I was dealing with.'

Evie flushed. ‘Because I love Christmas and believe in happy endings? I said I didn't believe in happy endings with you.'

His eyes held hers. ‘If you play with fire, you'll get burnt.'

‘Will you tell me why you hate Christmas?'

‘No. And you're making this personal. A basic female mistake.'

‘All right. Nothing personal. No questions.' Part of her was shocked at herself. What was she doing?

‘You think you can go to bed with a man and not make it personal?' There was a layer of humour in his voice. ‘You think you can do that?'

‘Yes.'
No.
She had no idea.

Rio stared at her for a long moment and then lifted his hand and took a strand of her hair in his fingers. ‘You should be more careful with yourself, Evie Anderson. You could get
seriously hurt.' The backs of his fingers brushed her cheek and Evie shivered, dazed by the spark of electricity that shot through her body.

Her heart pounding, she turned her head and ran her tongue along his fingers.

His response was instantaneous. With a growl, he cupped her face in his hands and brought his mouth down on hers in a punishing, possessive kiss. He'd kissed her before, but this kiss was different. This kiss demanded everything and Evie felt all her senses ignite with explosive force. Within an instant she was light-headed, her limbs weak and wobbly.

With a moan, she slid her hands up his chest, over his shoulders, feeling the firm swell of muscle beneath her hands. He'd discarded his bow tie and undone the first few buttons of his shirt and her fingers slid inside, seeking, touching, exploring. She felt the pulsing heat of his body beneath her fingertips and made a small, desperate sound deep in her throat and then he was kissing her again and his tongue was hot against hers, his relentless seduction so much more practised than her own desperate offering.

The kiss seemed to last for ever and she felt her entire body stir, as if it had been waiting for this exact moment to come alive. And the feelings were so intense that it was impossible to stay silent.

When he pressed his mouth to the hollow of her throat she moaned, and when he dragged his mouth lower and toyed with the straining peak of her breast she arched her back and gasped his name. She wanted more, much more, and when he closed his hand over the hem of her nightdress she didn't stop him. There was a tearing sound as he ripped it from neck to hem and then she was naked, her body visible in the warm glow of the firelight.

If she'd thought that the semi darkness might give her some protection, she was wrong. Rio drew away from her, his breathing audible as he scanned her body, his gaze
lingering on the fiery red curls that nestled at the juncture of her thighs.

‘You can still change your mind.'

‘No.' Emotion clogged her throat and the only thing in her head was a desperate need for this man. ‘I don't want to change my mind.'

His fingers speared her hair and tightened, drawing her head back. His eyes were fierce, black and focused—focused on her.

For a few suspended seconds she didn't breathe and then he seemed to make a decision. Without speaking, he clamped his hand behind her head and claimed her mouth with ravenous hunger. It was a full on assault, his tongue in her mouth, his kiss blatantly sexual and brutally erotic and Evie went from freezing to boiling in a microsecond, her body burning up under the heat of his. She ripped at his shirt, clawing, tearing in a desperate attempt to get to the sleek male flesh beneath. Finally his shirt dangled open at the front and her hands slid inside and up to his shoulders. His body was a work of art, his muscles pumped up and hard, the dark shading on his chest accentuating strength and masculinity. Desperate to taste, Evie pushed at his chest and they rolled. Now he was the one on his back, his eyes glittering dark in the firelight as he watched her. Then his hand moved behind her head and he brought her mouth down to his, kissing her hungrily as her hair tumbled between them. Evie kissed him back, matching his hunger with her own, her hands sliding over his body as she straddled him. For a moment she paused, her hair tumbling around them, her senses reaching overload. His eyes were dark, so dark, and she felt an overwhelming thrill of excitement as she felt him, hard and ready beneath her. In that single moment, her breath caught. It was like reaching the top of a roller coaster and realising that there was no turning back.

‘You're shaking—' His voice was raw and thickened
with the same passion she was feeling. ‘Do you want me to stop?'

‘No,' she whispered. She leaned forward so that her mouth brushed his. ‘I can't stop. I want this more than anything. I want
you
.'

‘Why?'

She sensed his struggle to hold back. It was visible in his eyes and in the tension of his sleek, pumped muscles.

‘Does it matter?' Her mouth was against his. ‘It feels right. Can't that be enough?'

He didn't answer her question. Instead, he closed his hands over her hips and lifted her, flipping her gently onto her back, once more the aggressor as he came over her. The outside world melted away. Details blurred. Dimly, Evie registered that he was now naked and that brief glimpse was enough to send nerves licking along the edges of her excitement.

He devoured her mouth and she kissed him back, every bit as hungry for him as he very clearly was for her.

The heat was shocking, an inferno of dangerous desire and carnal craving and, when he dragged his mouth from her lips to her neck, Evie sucked in air and tried to focus. But there was nothing to hold on to except him. Her whole world was tumbling around her and he was the only solid thing remaining. When his hand slid between her thighs she moaned against his mouth and he murmured something in Italian, his clever fingers sliding skilfully against delicate flesh. He knew exactly where to touch her,
how to touch her,
and Evie felt the ache in her body intensify until it was almost agonizing. She shifted her hips on the rug, whimpered his name, but Rio simply watched her, his mouth only a breath away from hers as he tormented her with merciless skill.

‘Please,' Evie begged, arching towards him, ‘Please, Rio—'

As if something snapped inside him, he shifted onto her.
He stroked her hair away from her face and scanned her features with eyes that were dark with secrets.

She felt the hardness of him brush against her and tensed. ‘Please—' In desperation, she ran her hands down his body and her heart gave a little lurch as she touched the power of him.

He leaned his forehead against hers, holding her gaze. ‘I don't want to hurt you—'

‘You won't.'

There was a brief pause while he protected her and then he was inside her, hard and hot. The size of him shocked her and Evie forced herself to relax as she learned to accommodate him.