Festive Fling with the Single Dad

by Annie Claydon

  ‘I’ll go. If you’d like to stay here, then I’ll make you some breakfast.’

  That would be nice, but even the time it took to make a couple of pieces of toast would be too long an absence. Flora let go of his hand and sat up. Even that was too much distance and she bent to kiss him again.

  ‘I’ll go. Are you hungry?’

  He shook his head. ‘Coffee or juice would be nice.’

  She could let Dougal out, give him some food and water, and make coffee in two minutes flat if she hurried. ‘Will you still be naked when I get back?’

  Aksel grinned. ‘You can count on it.’

  * * *

  She took the road into the estate as fast as the freezing morning would allow, and dropped Aksel off at the therapy centre at ten to nine, leaving him to take Dougal inside. If anyone noticed, then giving a next-door neighbour a lift into work couldn’t excite any comment. She made it up to her office at one minute to nine, tearing off her coat and sitting down at her desk. Her first session of the morning wasn’t until half past nine, and she could at least look as if she was at work, even though her mind was elsewhere.

  Her whole body felt different, as if it was still bathed in Aksel’s smile. Science told her that it was probably the effect of feel-good neuro-transmitters and hormones, but rational thought had its limitations. Aksel seemed to have no limitations at all.

  When she closed her eyes, she could still feel him. He’d brushed off her suggestion that surely there wasn’t anything more he might explore, and had taken her on a sensory journey that had proved her wrong. Aksel made foreplay into an exquisite art, and he obviously enjoyed it just as much as she did.

  ‘Flora, we’ve a new patient....’ Her eyes snapped open again to see Charles Ross-Wylde staring at her from the doorway. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Oh. Yes, I’m fine. Just concentrating.’ Flora wondered if it looked as if she’d just spent two hours having stupendous sex. In the three years she’d been here, she’d never seen Charles show any interest in anything other than work, and he might not understand.

  ‘Yes. Of course. As long as you’re not feeling unwell.’

  ‘No!’ She could have sounded a little less emphatic about that as Charles was beginning to look puzzled. Best get down to business. ‘You’ve a new patient for me to see...?’

  * * *

  The day wasn’t without its victories. Andy Wallace had mentioned that Aksel had popped in, bringing Mette with him, and that they’d talked about ice carving and the long road that led across the Andes. The friendship seemed to have given Andy the final push to take his first step unaided.

  Flora had tried to conceal her blushes when Andy had talked about Aksel, but he was in the habit of watching everyone closely. When they’d finished their session together, Andy had asked her to give Aksel his best when she saw him, smiling quietly when Flora had said she would.

  Dougal seemed a little calmer when she picked him up from the centre, and didn’t make his usual frenetic dash around the cottage. He lay down in front of the fire, growling quietly.

  ‘What’s the matter, Dougal?’ Flora bent down to stroke him, and he gave her his usual response, his tail thumping against the hearth. She walked into the kitchen, wondering if he’d follow, and he bounded past her, pawing at the cupboard where she kept his food. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to have affected his appetite.

  She knew that Aksel would come. He’d be late, staying at the clinic until Mette was ready to go to bed, but he’d come. She heard the sound of the battered SUV outside, and smiled. He usually walked back from the castle, but tonight he was in a hurry.

  The doorbell rang and she opened the door. Aksel was leaning against the opening of the porch, grinning.

  ‘Are you coming in?’

  ‘Are you going to ask me in?’ There didn’t seem to be any doubt in his mind that she would.

  ‘Since you’re holding a bottle of wine, then yes.’

  He stepped inside, and Flora took the bottle from his hand, putting it down on the hall table. Without giving him the chance to take off his coat, she kissed him.

  ‘I thought you wanted the wine,’ he teased her, kissing her again hungrily.

  ‘Isn’t that just an excuse? To call round?’

  ‘Yes, it’s an excuse. Although if you’d prefer to just sit around the fire and drink it...’ Aksel seemed determined to give her the choice, even though their kisses had already shown that neither of them wanted to spend the rest of evening anywhere else than in bed.

  ‘No. I want you stone-cold sober. Upstairs.’

  Aksel chuckled. ‘I’ll have you stone-cold sober, too. And calling out my name, the way you did last night.’

  The thought was almost too much, but there was still something she had to do. Dougal was lying in front of the fire, still making those odd growling sounds.

  ‘Will you take a look at Dougal first?’

  ‘Of course. What’s the matter with him?’ Aksel walked into the sitting room, bending down to greet Dougal.

  ‘I’m not sure. He’s eating fine, and he doesn’t seem to be in any pain. But he’s making these odd noises.’

  Aksel nodded, trying to stop Dougal from licking him as he examined him. Then he nodded in satisfaction. ‘There’s absolutely nothing wrong with him. He’s trying to purr.’

  ‘What?’ That didn’t sound like much of a diagnosis. ‘Like a cat?’

  ‘Yes.’ Aksel tickled Dougal behind his ears and he rolled on his back, squirming in delight and growling. ‘When I arrived at work this morning, I went to the office to finish up my report for Esme on the dog visiting scheme. I took Dougal with me to keep him out of the way as everyone was busy.’

  ‘And you have a cat in the office at the canine therapy centre? Isn’t that a bit of an explosive mix?’

  Aksel shrugged, getting to his feet. ‘Cats and dogs aren’t necessarily natural enemies. A dog’s instinct is to chase smaller animals, and a cat’s instinct is to sense that as an attack, and flee. It’s all a big misunderstanding, really.’

  ‘Okay, so there was a cat at the centre...’

  ‘Yes, someone brought it in, thinking that they might take it. Esme wasn’t about to turn it away because... Esme doesn’t know how to turn an animal in need away. And Dougal’s natural instinct seems to be to make friends with everything that moves, and so by the end of the morning the two of them were curled up together. The cat was purring away and Dougal... I guess he was just trying to make friends.’

  ‘So now we’ve got a dog that thinks he’s a cat on our hands.’ Flora looked down at Dougal, and he trotted up to her, rubbing his head against her leg.

  ‘Maybe he’ll grow out of it.’

  Maybe. It made the little dog even more loveable, if that was at all possible. And talking of loveable...

  ‘So... Mette and Kari are at the castle, and they’re both fast asleep by now. Dougal’s okay, apart from a few minor identity issues.’ She approached Aksel, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. ‘That just leaves you and me.’

  ‘And more than twelve hours before it’s time to go back to work.’ Aksel grinned, and picked her up in his arms.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THEY LAY ON the bed together, naked. Aksel had made love to her, and each time he did, it was more mind-blowing than the last. Things were going to have to plateau at some point, or Flora’s nerve endings were going to fry.

  ‘You know, don’t you? When someone you’re with has an orgasm.’ Flora wondered whether the other guys she’d been with had known too. Maybe they had, and just hadn’t cared.

  ‘I do with you.’ He grinned lazily. ‘I suppose you want to know how.’

  Yes, she did. Very much, because it seemed to please him so much. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Your pupils dilate. You start to burn up, and you cry out for me. Then you
r muscles start to contract...’

  ‘You like that?’ Flora traced her fingertips across the ripple of muscles in his chest.

  ‘You know I do. And you can’t fake any of that.’

  ‘Strictly speaking... I think you could try.’

  ‘No, you wouldn’t fool me.’ Aksel curled his arm around her, pulling her a little closer. ‘What we have is honesty, and I’d know if that ever changed.’

  It was a good answer. They were honest with each other. It had been something that had just happened from day one. Perhaps it was that which had guided them past all the traps and obstacles, and led them here.

  ‘Well, honestly...’ Flora propped herself up on one arm so that she could look into his eyes ‘...you are the most perfect, beautiful man I’ve ever seen.’

  He didn’t believe that. Aksel thought that his body was a workhorse that got him from one place to another, along with anything he carried with him. Vanity didn’t occur to him.

  ‘I’d urge you to make an appointment with your optician if you think I’m perfect.’

  ‘You have a great body. Very nice arms.’

  ‘Uneven toes...’ He wiggled the toes on his left foot, two of which had been amputated above the distal phalangeal joint.

  ‘Not very uneven. You only lost the tips of your toes, and they tell a story.’

  ‘One that I won’t forget in a hurry. Frostbite’s painful.’

  ‘And the mark on your arm?’

  ‘That’s where I was bitten by a snake. In South America.’

  ‘And this one?’ Flora ran her finger across a scar on his side.

  ‘I was in a truck that tipped over while fording a river. The current turned out to be a bit stronger than we anticipated.’

  ‘And you have a couple of small lumps along your clavicle where you broke it. The muscles in your shoulders are a little tight because you worry. A little tension in your back because Mette loves it when you carry her on your shoulders. Most people’s bodies reflect who they are, and how they’ve lived, and yours is perfect.’

  ‘And you... You really are perfect, Flora. You’re made of warmth and love, and that makes you flawlessly beautiful.’ He chuckled. ‘Apart from that little scar on your knee.’

  ‘It’s not as good a story as yours are. I fell off my bike when I was a kid.’

  Aksel reached up, pulling her down for a kiss. ‘It’s a great story. The scar’s charming, along with the rest of you.’

  Flora ran her fingers through his hair. Thick and blond, most women would kill for hair like that.

  ‘Okay...so what’s with the hair, then?’ He knew that she liked it spread over his shoulders, instead of tied back, especially when they made love.

  ‘It makes you look free, like a wild creature. Is that why you grew it so long?’

  He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe I just never got around to cutting it. I like the sound of that, though.’

  She kissed him again. ‘Don’t get around to cutting it, Aksel. That’s perfect too.’

  * * *

  Aksel was happy. He felt free when he made love to Flora. And even when they weren’t making love, the contentment that he felt whenever he was in her company was making him feel that maybe there was a little life left in his battered, careworn heart.

  Tonight he’d be sleeping apart from Flora, though. He’d arranged to bring Mette home for the afternoon, and she’d stay the night with him at the cottage, before returning to the clinic the next morning. It had gone without saying that this was something that he needed to do alone.

  He’d decided on some games, and had bought all of Mette’s favourite foods. When he arrived home with her, he spread the colourful quilt on her bed, walking her around the cottage to remind her of the layout.

  Everything just clicked into place, as if he’d been there all of Mette’s life. She enjoyed her afternoon, and dozed in his arms as he told her the story about how crocodiles and penguins had helped him to reach the top of a high mountain in safety.

  ‘I want to say goodnight to Mama.’

  Aksel realised suddenly that in his determination to get everything right, he’d forgotten all about Mette’s electric candle and had left it by her bed at the clinic. But it was important that his daughter felt she could speak to her mother whenever she wanted to. He reached for one of the Christmas candles that Flora had arranged on his mantelpiece, putting it into the grate.

  ‘We’ll use Tante Flora’s candle, shall we? Just for tonight.’

  Mette nodded, and Aksel fetched matches from the kitchen and lit the candle. They sat together on the hearthrug, saying their goodnights, and Mette leaned forward and blew out the candle. Aksel carried her upstairs, settled her into her bed and kissed her goodnight.

  At a loose end now, and not wanting to go downstairs just yet in case Mette stirred, he went to his own bedroom and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. This was the first night that he’d been completely alone with her, and it was a responsibility that brought both happiness and a measure of terror.

  Aksel woke up to the feeling of something tugging at his arm. Opening his eyes, he realised that Kari had hold of his sweater in her jaws and was pulling as hard as she could to make him wake up and get off the bed. A moment later the smoke alarm started to screech a warning that made his blood run cold.

  ‘Mette...’ He catapulted himself off the bed and into her room. The bedclothes were drawn to one side and Mette was nowhere to be seen. Remembering that children had a habit of hiding when they sensed danger, he wrenched open the wardrobe doors, but she wasn’t there either.

  As he ran downstairs, he could smell smoke, but he couldn’t see where it was coming from. Mette was curled up at the bottom of the stairs, crying, and he picked her up, quickly wrapped her in his coat, then opened the front door and ran with her to the end of the path.

  ‘Papa. Kari made me go away from the fire.’

  Cold remorse froze his heart suddenly. He could see a flicker of flame through the sitting-room window. Kari must have herded Mette out of danger, shutting the door behind them as she’d been taught. He held his daughter close, feeling tears run down his face.

  ‘It’s all right, Mette. Everything’s all right. You’re safe...’

  * * *

  The sound of an alarm beeping somewhere woke Flora up. It wasn’t coming from inside the cottage, and she rolled drowsily out of bed, sliding her feet into her slippers and peering out of the window. She saw Aksel outside with Mette in his arms, Kari sitting obediently at his feet.

  Running downstairs, she grabbed her coat, not stopping to put it on. As soon as she was outside, the faint smell of smoke hit her and she hurried over to Aksel.

  ‘Are you both all right?’

  He raised his face towards her, and Flora saw tears. Mette realised that she was there, although she must be practically blind in the darkness, and reached out from the warm cradle of his arms.

  ‘Papa says we’re safe.’ Aksel seemed too overwhelmed to speak, and Mette volunteered the information.

  ‘That’s right. You’re safe now.’

  She looked up at Aksel questioningly, and he brushed his hand across his face. ‘There’s a fire, I think it’s pretty much contained to the sitting room. Will you take Mette while I go and have a look.’

  ‘No, Aksel. Wait for the fire brigade. Have you called them?’

  ‘My phone’s inside. Please, take her.’

  It seemed that Aksel was more comfortable with dealing with the situation than he was with taking care of his daughter right now. Flora wondered how the fire had started. She took Mette, holding the little girl tight in her arms.

  ‘Papa’s just looking to see how big the fire is.’ As Aksel walked back up the path, peering through the front windows, Mette craned round to keep him in view.

  ‘It’s all right, he’s qu
ite safe. He isn’t getting too close, so the fire won’t burn him.’

  Mette seemed more confident of that than Flora felt. ‘My papa fights crocodiles.’

  ‘There you are, then. If he can fight crocodiles then a little fire will be easy...’

  She watched, holding her breath as Aksel walked back towards them, his face set in a look of grim determination.

  ‘It’s just the hearth rug at the moment. Will you look after Mette while I go and put it out?’

  ‘You should leave it, until the fire brigade gets here. We’ll go inside and call them now...’

  ‘I can put it out, there’s a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. And if we leave it, then it may spread to the chimney. I don’t know how long it’s been since it’s been swept, and I want to avoid that.’

  A chimney fire could easily spread to her cottage. Flora dismissed the thought. What mattered was that they were all safe. ‘No, Aksel...’

  He was going anyway. She may as well accept it, and work with what was inevitable. Flora transferred Mette into his arms for a moment while she wriggled out of her own coat, wrapping it around the little girl so that his was no longer needed.

  ‘If you must go, put your coat on, it’ll protect your arms. And put a pair of boots on as well.’

  He looked down at his feet, seeming to realise for the first time that he was only wearing a pair of socks. ‘Okay. You’re right. You’ll take Mette inside?’

  She was shivering, her pyjamas giving no protection against the wind. But she wasn’t moving until she saw that Aksel was safe. ‘If you must go, go now. Before the fire gets any worse. And no heroics, Aksel. Back off if it looks to be getting worse.’

  He nodded. Giving Kari a curt command, he strode back up the path, opening the door to his cottage.

  Kari was on the alert now, sniffing the air and looking around. Aksel had clearly ordered the dog to protect them, and she was taking her task seriously. Flora hugged Mette close, pulling her coat down around the child’s feet.