Page 82 of 2 Books in One Bundle

‘You’ll find a family of your own one day, Snow White,’ he said. ‘Of that I have no doubt. In the meantime, I don’t see whywecan’t have a proper Christmas.’

Emotions flickered in her blue gaze, so many and so fast he couldn’t untangle them all. But then the sharp glitter of pain faded and her mouth softened. ‘I’d like that. Did you ever have one? A proper Christmas, I mean?’

‘No. I grew up in the foster system, like you did, and the homes I was placed in never seemed to celebrate it.’

Interest lit her eyes. ‘Oh? What happened to your parents?’

There was no reason not to tell her. ‘I never knew them. They were itinerant workers, traveling around Europe, and I think I was born somewhere in the Mediterranean, though no one quite knows for certain since I never had a birth certificate. They came to the UK eventually—don’t ask me how—and were found one morning dead in a tent in a campsite. Overdose, I was told later. Anyway, someone heard me crying and so I was rescued and put into care.’

Her brow creased with sympathy. ‘I was the child of a single mum. She died when I was four and she had no family so I was put into care too.’ She stared at him as if he was the most interesting thing she’d ever seen in her life. ‘I had no idea you had the same experience.’

He liked the way she looked at him. It was addictive as hell. ‘My background isn’t a secret. There are numerous bios floating around on the internet. It wasn’t pleasant, but I got through it.’

‘I want to hear all about it.’ She pressed her mouth to his chest and gave him a kiss. ‘But first I want my present.’

He smiled. ‘Not only impatient but demanding too. Say please and I might tell you what it is.’

Excitement sparkled in her gaze. ‘Please tell me it’s the hot pool.’

‘I couldn’t possibly say.’

‘Orion.’ She shifted, sliding the rest of her body on top of his, pressing her delectable curves against him. ‘Tell me.’

He was getting hard again, hunger turning his blood hot. He ran a hand down her back and squeezed the soft flesh of her bottom, making her gasp. ‘Say please.’

‘Please,’ she murmured breathlessly. ‘Tell me about my present,please.’

He laughed and told her. ‘Yes, the hot pool. Tonight.’

CHAPTER NINE

THEHOTPOOLturned out to be in a small hidden gorge just behind the lodge. The water was a bright mineral blue and steam rose from it in clouds. A wooden path led to the pool from the lodge, which then gave on to a flat area flagged in stone with some stone steps that led down into the water. A small wooden changing cabin stood nearby, well equipped with thick, fluffy towels, though they didn’t need the cabin and Isla didn’t need her bikini either since they were swimming naked.

Orion was already in the water by the time Isla had finished stripping off, and he stood in the middle of the pool, by the stone steps, his hand outstretched to help her down. She was freezing, the stone beneath her bare feet icy, and as she took his hand and went quickly down into the hot water, she gasped a little at the shock of it. It felt so warm and silky sliding over her skin after the frigid air, making her shiver.

The pool was wonderfully deep and she followed Orion into the deeper water, getting her shoulders under and sighing in pleasure as the heat stole away the remaining cold.

There was something magical about being submerged in warm water while snow drifted in the air.

The gorge itself was lit with small lights powered by solar batteries, the illumination enough to see the path and the edge of the pool, but not enough to obscure the glittering black bowl of the night sky upturned above them.

Orion was behind her, his powerful arms circling her as she leaned back against him, looking up at the stars. He’d promised her the northern lights tonight and she was excited to see them. In fact, she’d been excited about everything the past couple of days and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that.

She hadn’t regretted her decision to sleep with him again, not for a single moment. And when he’d laid claim to her body that morning, she’d decided that well, he could have it. She hadn’t thought what would happen the next day when she’d given herself to him in the hallway the day before, and that he wanted to keep her in his bed for the whole of the next ten days was okay by her. More than okay.

She still felt bad that her gifts to him weren’t nearly as wonderful as his were. He’d said that he wanted to know more about her, but she was running out of interesting things to tell him. Were her favourite colour and food really all that interesting? He’d been amused by her Christmas confession, which had pleased her, and then he’d been so understanding when she’d told him why. And when he’d told her about his own childhood, and how similar it had been to hers, she’d felt...almost amazed. She’d met very few people who’d had similar experiences and to find that he’d been in the foster system too... Well, it had felt as if a bond had been created between them.

She felt vaguely ashamed of herself that she hadn’t known. Then again, she hadn’t liked him for a long time and had told herself she didn’t want to know anything about him. Perhaps if she’d known about his childhood, she might have felt differently.

Not that it mattered. She felt differently about him now. In fact, she thought she might like him now. She definitely liked the way he touched her, the bonfire they created between them when they were in bed together. And she liked how he listened to her, looking at her as if every word that came out of her mouth was of intense interest to him. She liked how he teased her and how there was affection and warmth in his cold, deep voice whenever he did so. And she liked how he responded when she teased him, the amber of his eyes glinting with a wickedness that only made her want to tease him even more.

In fact, the only shadow on the day had been that morning when they were in bed together and he’d said,‘You’ll find a family of your own one day, Snow White.’

She didn’t know why that made a kind of hollowness gather in her chest. Because shewouldfind a family of her own one day. A family that was hers, that she got to keep. Who wouldn’t send her away or be disappointed because she wasn’t what they wanted.

It wouldn’t be with Orion, naturally. It would be with someone who wanted the same things she did. Who would be good for the company, of course, and who would love to have children, because she wanted children.

She didn’t have to be in love with him. Love had been a scarce commodity in her own life—in fact, she didn’t know if anyone had ever loved her, apart from her mother—but she’d managed to survive without it so far. And if it took time for love to develop between her and her chosen partner, then she was fine to wait for it.

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