Christmas under a Cranberry Sky

by Holly Martin

  He pushed open the door, pulled her inside and closed the door behind her, pinning her up against it with his weight as he kissed her hard.

  Without taking his lips from hers, his clever hands quickly removed her clothes as she helped him out of his jacket and shirt. Her nipples hardened against the feel of his smooth, velvety chest, the taste and smell of him invading all her senses.

  When she was naked, his fingers slid between her legs and she moaned against his mouth as he very quickly brought her to a climax.

  He pulled back slightly, staring at her as she came down from her high. He fumbled around with his trousers, releasing himself and dragging a condom out of his pocket.

  God, she needed him inside her but she wanted to do something for him, as he had done for her. He was already rock hard and impressively erect as he tore at the condom wrapper.

  She reached down and wrapped her hand around him. He froze, his breath catching in his throat. She had no idea what she was doing but she had watched films and read enough books to have some clue.

  She ran her hand down his length and he let out a strangled groan. Keeping her eyes on his face to judge his reaction, she ran her hand back up to the top. His eyes were dark and apart from his heavy breathing he still hadn’t moved.

  Suddenly his hand gripped hers, holding it tighter around him. He moved her hand up and down showing her how he liked to be touched and after a few seconds he released her, bringing his mouth down on hers hard while she continued to stroke him.

  But it wasn’t long before he stopped her again, dragging her hand away. She clearly still wasn’t doing it right even though his breathing was rapid.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Pip muttered.

  ‘Christ, don’t be sorry, Pip,’ Gabe said, quickly rolling the condom on. ‘If you touched me any longer like that, I would have lost any control I’m desperately trying to cling on to.’

  ‘Oh, I thought I was doing it wrong.’

  ‘Believe me, you were doing everything right. Now put your arms around my neck.’

  Pip quickly did as she was told and Gabe lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and a second later he was buried deep inside her. He groaned with relief, his fingers tight under her bum as he started to move fast and hard against her. He shifted her higher so he was deeper, the angle suddenly hitting all those sweet spots, and she clung tighter to him as she quickly felt the climax building and then ripping through her with such ferocity that a second later she felt Gabe find his own release.

  * * *

  Pip stared up at the man she loved as he lay on top of her. After they had made love against the door, Gabe had lit a fire and, under the glow of the flames and the twinkle of the fairy lights illuminating the otherwise dark room, he had started to slowly make love to her again. He was inside her now but seemed content to just lie there, happy to be connected to her in this way as he barely moved at all. Every time he moved against her, tiny ripples of pleasure moved through her body, which was wonderful and frustrating all at once.

  He stared down at her as if in awe of her and she reached up to stroke his face. Almost as if he had forgotten they were in the middle of making love, her touch seemed to awaken that realisation in him and he started to slowly move, but he was in no rush; it was languid and slow as he lavished her with kisses, caressing her skin.

  But as her orgasm had been bubbling beneath the surface for so long, it didn’t take him long to send her over the edge, despite his slow administrations. He quickly followed, pulled out and rolled on his side, gathering her to his chest.

  It was not possible to love this man more than she did. Everything felt more real, more powerful than it had twelve years before. She couldn’t imagine ever not loving him or ever wanting to leave. This was her home now, with this incredible man and his beautiful daughter. As soon as she had that thought she couldn’t help but smile. This was where she belonged, with this family, Winston and probably Blaze too. Excitement rushed through her like a great wave. This was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life. Although she would miss travelling around the world, there was nothing the world could offer her that could compete with the blissful happiness that she felt right now, lying in Gabe’s arms.

  It was too soon to tell him, though, she knew that. The next few days would be stressful for him and if he didn’t yet feel the same she didn’t want it to be awkward between them. She also had to figure out what she would do about her job. Travelling around the world was no longer an option, not unless Gabe and Wren came with her and she knew he wanted to make a home for Wren here. But she had to do something to contribute; she couldn’t expect Gabe to support her for the rest of her life, and with no other job experience than her being a mystery guest for the last ten years and with no qualifications or training she didn’t feel she had a lot to offer beyond her skill of helping to impregnate the reindeer.

  Gabe caught her hand and entwined his fingers with hers, bringing her hand to his mouth and pressing light kisses across her knuckles and over her palm.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ he asked.

  ‘About staying with you forever and what that would actually mean.’

  He grinned hugely. ‘It would mean you would make me the happiest man alive.’

  She smiled. ‘There are other things to consider though too.’

  ‘Not for me.’

  ‘What would I do here?’

  ‘You could be my sex slave.’

  Pip laughed.

  ‘Why are you worried? I would take care of you.’

  ‘I can’t live like that, though.’

  He frowned. ‘With me taking care of you? Being reliant on someone else? Why is that so wrong?’

  She stroked the tiny hairs at the back of his neck, soothingly. ‘It’s not that. I can’t just live in this gorgeous house, eat all the lovely food and not give something back.’

  ‘Why? Wren does. Mum and Dad do when they visit, you’re part of my family. I’d give you whatever you need.’

  ‘I’d need money, though.’

  ‘What would you need money for?’

  ‘Clothes, Christmas presents, birthday presents.’

  ‘I’d give you money.’

  ‘I don’t want your money, that’s the last thing I want. I’m not with you for that.’

  ‘I know you’re not, but I want to take care of you.’ He smiled, sympathetically. ‘You’ve always looked after yourself, I get that. And I know it will take a lot for you to understand that someone wants to take care of you, when you’ve never had that before, but let me be that person. I promise, I will never let you down.’

  Pip frowned. It was going to take a lot of getting used to. ‘I’ll try.’

  ‘And if you still need your own money, think about selling your photos to other hotels, or just sell them online. There’d be a real market for them. And I promise that’s not just me being nice. I’ll help you set up an online shop and just see how much you sell, I bet it’ll be a lot.’

  Pip nodded. ‘OK, we’ll give it a go.’

  It seemed a push to think she could make real money from selling her photos, but she was willing to try anything if it meant she could stay here with Gabe for the rest of her life.

  * * *

  Pip woke in the early hours of the morning, with the faint pink glow of the winter sunrise just touching the sky and a fully formed idea in her head. She was lying on Gabe’s chest, with his arms tight around her. They had managed to move to his bed during the night, which she was glad for. The room was chilly but they were cosy wrapped up in each other’s arms under the duvet.

  She kissed his chest, wanting to share her idea with him but not wanting to wake him at the same time. He shifted beneath her, sensing she was awake.

  He smiled when he saw her staring at him. ‘Morning beautiful.’

  ‘Hey, I have an idea.’

  She saw the dark look of desire flicker in his eyes and she knew what kind of idea he was hoping for. She shifted to sit up ou
t of his reach, straddling his hips. Although that did nothing to quell the arousal she could feel beneath her. He moved his hands to her hips, running his thumbs over her skin.

  ‘Not that kind of idea.’

  He laughed. ‘Tell me your idea, let’s see if it’s better than mine.’

  ‘I know how I can contribute to Stardust Lake Hotel. I can be your official photographer.’

  He narrowed his eyes as he thought. ‘In what sense? Taking those posed photos in front of the hotel name when the guests arrive?’

  ‘No, absolutely not that. Natural photos. I would follow all our guests around the island as they go to the village, meet the reindeer, ride on the snowmobiles, go to the ice palace. It would be completely unobtrusive and not posed. I would just capture their enjoyment as they discover the delights of Juniper Island. At the end of their trip they could view all their photos and buy the ones they like. We could do some kind of deal – buy four get the fifth free or a CD with all their photos on for a set price. We can work out all the details later. But the guests could hire me too if they wanted to capture a particular moment or day, and there would be a set price for that too. The hotel would get fifty percent of any money that comes in and I’d get the other half, so I’d get a wage and have my own money and—’

  ‘Hang on, it all sounded good until the percentage split. Fifty percent to the hotel? Do you have any business experience at all?’

  She had thought that was a fair percentage, though she had just plucked the figure out of the air.

  ‘We’d take five percent,’ Gabe said in a manner that said there was to be no negotiation on that.

  ‘Gabe, I might not know anything about business but I do know that five percent is ridiculously small. You would be providing me with customers and a place to sell my photos.’

  ‘And you are doing all the hard work, providing the quality service and product. If you were to sell your photos on Etsy they would only charge three and half percent commission plus three percent transaction fee. As there would be printing costs for the photos and the cost of the CD if customers bought that, five percent is more than enough.’

  ‘I want to pay more than that. I want to contribute towards my food and expenses.’

  ‘I’m not taking your money off you, Pip. You will work hard to take those photos and if the customers like them enough to go and buy them then you should be the one that benefits from the money. Five percent. I’m not taking more than that.’

  Pip opened her mouth to argue but Gabe sat up so they were nose to nose. ‘I think it’s a brilliant idea and it’s something the hotel is just not offering, so that will be a huge help for us. I think the guests will love it too. I don’t know how much business you will get, but if it proves successful we can look at the percentage split again in a year’s time and re-evaluate if need be. That’s if you’re still here.’

  ‘I think I want to stay.’

  ‘You do? What about your amazing job travelling the world?’

  ‘Turns out it’s not that amazing when you haven’t got anyone to share it with. This feels right with you. This feels more right than anything before in my life. I’m ready to stop running now.’

  He smiled against her lips as he kissed her.

  ‘I know Juniper Island hasn’t got the skyscrapers and amazing restaurants of the big cities or the beaches and rainforests of other places around the world, but the food is pretty good and the views I think are…’ Gabe trailed off as she put her fingers against his lips.

  She traced her fingers down his neck and placed them over his heart. She looked back up into his eyes. ‘Juniper Island has you and that’s exactly where I want to be.’

  He smiled.

  ‘Now seeing as I have something very hard pressed into my bum, do you want to show me what your idea was? Let’s see if I like it.’

  He grinned and reached back to grab a condom. He lifted her and a few frustrating seconds later he was buried deep inside her.

  He groaned, pressing his lips to her throat. As he moved against her, he leaned back and he stared into her eyes. For a brief moment, she could see real fear in his eyes, which made her feel slightly better about the fear she was feeling too. But it made her worried as well. What could she do to prove to him she was here for the long haul? Would he ever trust her enough to let her into his heart and let himself fall in love with her?

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. ‘We belong together,’ she whispered against his lips.

  His hands tightened around her hips as he thrust into her harder and deeper. ‘Christ Pip, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you go.’

  She smiled. ‘I don’t want you to.’

  * * *

  Pip sat on the sofa with her laptop on her lap. Gabe was in the shower and she had just finished the review for Stardust Lake Hotel. She read over it and smiled. It was the best review she had ever written – her affection for the island, the hotel and the tiny town shone from her words. Gabe would be delighted with this review when he saw it, even if he didn’t know that it came from her. Anyone reading this would be booking their next holiday at Stardust Lake Hotel, keen to experience the beauty of the island themselves.

  She scanned over it, tweaking a few words here and there, wanting to make sure it was perfect. Even though she knew that it was, she was struggling with actually sending it in. She bit her lip. Would this really be her last review? This had been her life for ten years, could she really walk away from it? She had made the resort on Juniper Island sound like paradise, a little haven in the snow, and she knew that for her it was. She had been moving on all her life because she had no home, but this was home for her now and she knew it always would be.

  Pip opened up an email and attached the review. Upstairs, she heard Gabe get out of the shower and walk to the bedroom. She started writing an email to Wendy. It started in the usual way:

  Please find attached my review for Stardust Lake Hotel and some photos you may wish to use…

  Pip stared at the words and then a smile grew on her face as she continued to write.

  It is with great regret that this will be my last review for The Tree of Life magazine and I am hereby giving formal notice of termination of my employment with immediate effect.

  I’d like to thank you for the wonderful opportunities you have given me over the years. I have enjoyed my time with your magazine immensely, but due to personal reasons I will no longer be able to continue my employment.

  * * *

  Kind regards

  * * *

  Piper Chesterfield

  Pip read it through and laughed. She suddenly felt free and liberated. She knew, unequivocally, that she was doing the right thing and telling Gabe that she was handing in her notice would be a sure sign that she wasn’t going to run away again.

  Her fingers hovered over the send button, but she knew that she owed Wendy more than a formal email.

  She grabbed her phone and dialled her number.

  ‘Tree of Life, Wendy Nagle speaking.’

  ‘Hi Wendy, it’s Pip, um, Piper.’

  ‘Hey honey, how’s it all going?’

  Just then Gabe came running down the stairs. ‘You ready to go over for breakfast… Oh sorry, I didn’t realise you were on the phone.’

  Pip covered the phone. ‘I’ll meet you over there, I won’t be long.’

  Gabe nodded and with a slight frown of confusion he left her alone.

  ‘Hey, you still there?’ Wendy said.

  ‘Yes, I’m here, sorry. I’ve written the review.’

  Wendy laughed. ‘And?’ Clearly she wanted more information than that.

  ‘And… I’m going to stay here.’

  ‘That’s good, spend your sabbatical getting lots of hot sex from your lovely man. Can’t think of a better way to spend your sabbatical than that.’

  ‘I’m staying here for good, Wendy. I’ve just written out my notice. I’m sending it over with the review.’

&
nbsp; There was silence from the other end of the phone and when Wendy spoke, the jovial, playful tone had gone.

  ‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing? This is happening so fast.’

  ‘I love him. I think I always have. You have no idea how happy I feel right now. I know I’m doing the right thing.’

  There was another long pause from Wendy. ‘You know, I got engaged to Jamie a week after we first met. We married four weeks later. Everyone said that it would never last, that we were crazy. Next month we celebrate our fortieth anniversary. When you know, you just know. I can tell by your voice, how happy you are. Hold onto that happiness and never let it go.’

  Pip smiled. ‘Thank you. I’m sorry to let you down.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that. Arsehole Marcus won’t be happy, but then he isn’t happy about most things. I will miss our chats, though.’

  ‘Well, they don’t have to stop. I’m sorry I never took the time to get to know you properly before. If you fancied celebrating your anniversary at Stardust Lake Hotel next month, I bet I could get you a discount.’

  ‘I’d love that. It would be great to finally meet you in person. Let me speak to my husband and I’ll let you know. Piper, I’m really happy for you.’

  ‘Thank you and I look forward to meeting you too.’

  She ended the call, addressed the email to Wendy and Marcus and pressed send before she could change her mind. She waited for the fear and doubt to hit her, but it didn’t. It was the best decision she had ever made.

  * * *

  Gabe watched Pip playing with Wren as he finished off breakfast with his parents. It looked like it was some kind of Frozen-related game and he smiled as Pip seemed perfectly accepting of this new role in her life.