Black Diamonds (20 page)

“Truffles.” Jackie repeated in bewilderment. Her lips found it hard to say the single word.

Didn’t he understand? Paradise Truffle Farm would never be paradise for her again, not without Xavier Antoine.

Early that morning, after she’d listened again to the message her father had left for her, she’d realised it would be cowardly not to admit how wrong she’d been. Her pa hadn’t raised her that way. Swallowing her pride couldn’t taste as bad as the bitter regret lingering on her tongue. She had to be brave, to take a chance. Then and there she’d decided to fly to France, return to the chateau in the Dordogne, and convince Xavier to listen to her. With the last of her savings she’d booked her flight, arranged for Mia and Dean to take care of the truffle farm, and re-packed her suitcase.
Where there’s a Riley will; there’s a way.

Now all Xavier could talk about was truffles.

Her stomach lurched as from the glove box of the Alfa Romeo he pulled out a small paper bag. Casually, as if he had all the time in the world, he got out of the car and sauntered over to stand beside her.

He pressed the bag into her hand. “I brought you these.”

Rudy’s crazed barking and the earthy, powerful scent confirmed it even before her fingers untwisted the brown paper.

Still bewildered, she checked again. “You’ve brought me some truffles.”

“
Mais oui
.
La truffe
.” He stared down at her, his expression inscrutable. “I selected these especially, from the ones that were dug up in the oak groves at the chateau on the day you left. You were there with Eve and the hunting party when they were found; she told me. I’ve flown from France to Australia almost non-stop to bring them to you. I only stopped to pick up my car.”

“That’s why you came here?” Jackie burst out. “I can’t believe you came all the way from France to bring me truffles.”

“I thought I might be able to persuade you to share them.” Idly Xavier glanced at the quilt in her basket that she’d dropped beside them on the dusty gravel. “You were under your hazel trees, in your favourite place, I think? That’s where I would have looked for you. Perhaps we could taste them there together,
al fresco
.”

Taste truffles with Xavier? She could barely make it through this excruciating conversation. She hadn’t known it was possible for her heart to actually ache at the sight of him. She’d begged him for forgiveness, eaten humble pie, told him she loved him, and all he could do was give her a bag of truffles.

Her nails tore at the edge of the paper bag as she crushed it closed. “Thank you for the invitation. But I’m afraid I can’t.”

“Ah. Such a polite refusal.” Disturbingly, he stepped even closer. “You know what I think you need when you’re being polite.”

Heat blazed through her body as she jumped back. His cure wasn’t something she was likely to forget.

“There are some important discussions I must have with you too,” he added.

He’d come for business, nothing else, a sick thud to Jackie’s stomach told her. Her apology, her admission of desire, meant nothing to him. The taste of swallowed pride on her tongue turned to embarrassment that wouldn’t go down. She wanted to run away and hide her head, like Rudy did when he was told off. “I’d prefer to deal with any outstanding business with Antoine Estate by email or letter, if possible.”

“Would you indeed?” His mouth curved into his unbearably sensuous smile. “Don’t you think it would be more neighbourly to eat together?”

She couldn’t bear their proximity a moment longer, not one more minute. She shook her head fiercely. “No.”

“Jacaranda.” He stretched out his hand and wrapped his long fingers around hers, lifting the paper bag to her eye level. “These are special. It would be a shame to waste them. Have another look.”

“I know what they are.” Did he think she couldn’t recognise a Perigord black from the Antoine Estate? Oh, she knew that unmistakable, evocative scent. “They’re truffles.”

“But such truffles—look again.”

Rudy barked.

“I can’t see why …”

“I asked you to trust me once before. Do you remember?”

“Yes,” she whispered. Would she ever forget?

“Trust me.” With Xavier’s fingers guiding her unwilling ones, Jackie tore open the bag and looked down, deep into it. There they were: black diamonds. There were three in the bag, dark and delicious, all a good size and colour, the one at the bottom the largest, about the size of a golf ball.

Perplexed, she narrowed her eyes, peering closer. The truffle at the bottom of the bag … she could see now that it was an unusual shape.

Jackie gasped. It wasn’t a truffle at all.

Truffled Camembert

Continental cheeses are perfect for a summer picnic and black truffle can be used to infuse the cheese with other delicate flavours. Camembert, for example, can be sliced into 2 or 3 layers and black truffle can be added between the layers. This should then be left for a few days before serving to allow the cheese to absorb the flavour of the truffle. This is ideal for picnics as it can be prepared in advance and gives a whole new dimension to cheese and crackers! Cheese can be served as a starter, as part of a main course or as a dessert so is one of the most versatile options for your picnic basket.

http://www.mistertruffle.com

“Open it,
cherie
.” Xavier had wanted to give Jacaranda the little black box ever since he’d collected it. No aeroplane flight had ever seemed so long.
Mon Dieu
, what this woman did to him. He hadn’t been able to resist teasing her with the bag of truffles, the scent of them all the while tantalising his taste buds. But truffles, his life’s passion, were nothing compared to the desire he felt for Jacaranda, standing in front of him. An even deeper hunger filled him. She looked so lovely, in her natural beauty, against the vivid landscape she loved so much.

With shaking fingers she pulled the box from where it nestled beneath the truffles. He slipped the bag out of her grasp and slid it into his trouser pocket.

Her hands were trembling too greatly to release the tiny gold clasp. “I can’t.”

Reaching out, he snapped open the lid.

Her gasp was all he needed to hear. The black diamond, huge and facet-cut, surrounded by smaller purple amethysts, dazzled them with its deep colours.

“Xavier … it’s beautiful.”

“
Bon
. I hoped that’s what you would say,” he said huskily, finding it hard to get out the words.

Easing the ring from its box, the oval shape turned to dark glitter as he held it up in the evening light. “I I knew you had to have a black diamond, as a reminder of what brought us together.”

“I’ve never seen a real black diamond before. Not the gemstone, I mean.”

“Natural ones are rare. I wanted a ring that’s as extraordinary as you are, as extraordinary as the place I found you.” He glanced around at the bush, the red earth, the dry trees, the place he’d once thought of as being as strange as another planet that now seemed so familiar to him. “It seems only right I should propose to you here, where we first met.”

“Do you mean you want to marry me?” She sounded so astounded he laughed aloud. Beside them Rudy barked.

“Is that so hard to believe? What do you think I was doing the morning of the truffle hunting party? Only something of vital importance would have kept me away. I moved heaven and earth to have this ring made for you.” A good black diamond wasn’t easy to find; no one knew that more than he did. There were only a few in the world of the size and quality he’d found for her. The amethysts were exceptional too.

“You were so mysterious.”

“I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.” His heart pounded as he stared into her eyes. “I love you, Jacaranda Riley. Will you be my wife?”

Tears glistened on her eyelashes as she nodded. “Yes, I will.”

Sliding the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand, his throat choked. The emotions of the past few days had almost undone him. His heart had seemed to rip out of him as he watched the limousine disappear, with her in it, down the long oak-lined drive of the chateau. “Now you will always have a black diamond, and you will also always wear purple.”

“I didn’t want to wear purple anymore, when I thought I wasn’t going to see you again,” she confessed.

“Ah.” He chuckled. It had been like a flag to him. “That’s when I suspected.”

“That’s when you suspected what?”

His laugh turned husky. “That you loved me. You wear your passion on your sleeve, I told you that. To find you here, not wearing purple—it was all I needed to know.”

She shuddered. “I couldn’t bear the colour without you.”

Leaning close to her, he let his lips almost touch hers, but not quite. “I have an ulterior motive in giving you this ring. Even if you wear nothing else, when you wear my ring, you’ll still be showing me your secret desire.”

She bit her lower lip in the way he couldn’t resist. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Reaching out he ran a finger around their soft pink wetness. “It was all I thought of as I came to find you. Now will you have some truffles?”

His desire hardened as she slipped her hands into his pockets, and found the paper bag with the black diamonds inside.

“Maybe later,” she whispered.

Xavier threw the quilt down onto the ground beneath the hazel trees. Jackie’s legs trembled as he captured her in his arms. They’d banished Rudy to the cottage, and, twining her fingers in his, returned to the truffle grove, to the sounds of kookaburras and cicadas making their evening calls.

Shaking his head, Xavier’s hands glided down the sides of her body, over her t-shirt and shorts. “This is all wrong.”

Jackie’s stomach tautened inside. “It is?”

“
Oui
.”

In a single movement he lifted the white t-shirt over her head and tossed it aside before running a tantalising finger around the top of her khaki shorts. With a flick, he undid the button and zipper, and slid them off.

His survey of her in the dimming evening light in his appreciative French way told her how much he liked what he saw. She’d been so scared he’d never look at her that way again.

“That’s better.
Au naturelle
, in your natural environment, so to speak. But still—not quite right.” Jackie’s skin tingled as Xavier hooked a finger around the cup of her skin coloured bra, a finger straying inside to caress its sensitive point. “No purple lingerie?
Non
, this won’t do at all.”

Her mouth watered as he slid his hands around her back and unhooked her bra, tossing it down by her t-shirt. Lowering his lips to her breast, he teased until she thought she could take no more. Gliding his hands over her bare hips, he slid off her plain tan briefs and pressed her close against him.

The sensation of being safe in his arms returned. She’d known that feeling the first time he’d held her, when she’d sobbed in his arms, soaking his shirt.

Now, she stood naked against him. He slipped a hand between her thighs. A wicked smile lit his face as he noted a different kind of wetness.

His finger flickered. “You’ve missed me.”

She moaned as he found the most sensitive place. “Yes …”

His mouth below her ear, he fanned the pulse point on her neck that drove her wild. “Say it in French.”

“
Oui
…
oui
…”

“You can’t wait any longer.”

“No … I mean,
non
…”

She forgot she was naked in a truffle grove, forgot everything except Xavier’s hands. He wrenched her closer, delved deeper inside. His shirt front muffled her cry as her legs buckled beneath her. Before they gave way he backed her down onto the quilt, the cotton cool against her heated skin.

“Ah,
la violette
,” he murmured, standing back, running his finger over the tip of his tongue. “Let me look at you, wearing only your ring.”

There was no shyness left in her as his gaze raked her naked body, combing through her long hair, lingering on her breasts, coming to a halt where her left hand rested on the smoothness of her thigh.

The amethyst and diamond ring caught the evening light like rainbow fire as she reached for him. “Xavier.”

Sensing her urgency, he pulled off his shirt, stopping only to unbutton the top buttons before lifting it over his dark head, his muscles flexing. She swallowed hard, gnawing her lip as he unbuckled his belt and tossed his trousers onto the ground to reveal his dark fitted shorts and the straining shape beneath. Why was it that Xavier Antoine looked good anywhere—especially naked in a truffle grove?

He caught her glance as he dropped the paper bag onto the quilt. “You’re sure you don’t want
la truffe
?”

She shook her head. Instead, she knelt to release him, relishing the power of him in her hand. He’d tasted better than truffles, she remembered.

“Not yet …”

With a jagged groan he swooped down and slid her beneath him, covering her bare body with his own.

“
Jacaranda
…”

Xavier needed her now. Seeking permission, his eyes met hers. The dilation of her pupils answered him, along with something else in her expression, something more than passion that made his heart pound. No words were required as he sheathed himself with protection before, with perfect aim, he sheathed himself inside her.

Mon Dieu
… The words flashed into his brain as his shaft went deep. He’d known they’d fit together, known it the first time he’d met her, but not like this. He hadn’t dared to imagine she would become one with him, even with the barrier of protection between them, as he slid tighter, deeper into her.
He’d found her at last
, his mind whispered as yet another groan escaped him. He’d found her, as rare and precious as the darkest truffle, hidden underground.

Silencing the sound of his groan, she lifted her mouth to his, teasing his lips apart with her teeth. There were no thoughts left in his head then; they slipped away, leaving only the sensation of her sweetness melting into him, and the tight hold of her grip from below as their bodies moved together. His fingers pressed into the firmness of her skin as he wrenched her even closer with each rapid thrust.