Chapter 24 #2
‘Delaney, there’s so much I want to say to you – so much to explain – but right now, I really want to kiss y—’
I don’t let him finish, launching myself at him.
He catches me in an embrace, lifting me off the ground as I fling my arms around his neck.
Our mouths collide, so hungry for each other – tongues tangling, our breaths mingling.
His lips are insistent, possessive, almost animalistic – and I am here for it.
I want him.
He sits me on the kitchen counter, his hands moving down to cup my ass as I wrap my legs around his waist, locking my ankles behind his back.
The kiss deepens. And it’s even more intense than our moonlit kiss on Capri was – it’s unrestrained, making it sexy AF.
His lips break free from the kiss and I moan at the injustice, until he dips his head and presses his mouth to my neck, over and over, sucking gently, licking.
My moan becomes something guttural, a talisman of unfettered desire, as his lips ignite my skin, the heat spreading down my neck, along my spine, and pooling between my thighs.
I tighten my grip on him with my legs and he grinds into me.
‘Nick – bedroom,’ I murmur.
He looks up, his eyes boring into mine, and slowly shakes his head. ‘Not yet.’
Never has being told no been so hot.
He grabs the hem of my T-shirt and whips it over my head – a slick move that leaves my hair mussed and my boobs exposed.
His eyes rove my chest, then he meets my eye, his eyebrows lifting in surprise and his mouth stretching into a sly smile.
‘I couldn’t find my bra this morning,’ I quip. ‘Lost track of which plant I hung it on.’
‘I would have assumed you’d have more than one,’ he says, cupping my boobs and thumbing my nipples in tight circles.
They harden under his touch and I gasp, my eyes closing involuntarily.
‘But I’m glad that’s not the case,’ he adds.
He takes one of my nipples into his mouth, his tongue taking over from his thumb, and a long, low groan escapes my lips.
Right now, I will literally do anything he tells me to.
He takes his time, releasing the nipple with a smack. He drops a soft kiss onto it, his lips pillowy soft, then moves to the other one.
‘Oh my god.’ I lean back, my palms flat on the counter behind me. His hands hook under my waistband at the back, his fingertips grazing the top of my underwear.
What underwear am I wearing? I think with a jolt.
Nick misinterprets the jolt, yanking me closer and sucking harder on my nipple. My mind splits into two states at once – ecstasy and horror – ecstasy for obvious reasons and horror because I’m wearing ratty, period-stained underwear with broken elastic.
If this is going where it had better be going, I need to excuse myself before Nick sees them and gets turned off sex for life.
‘Um, Nick,’ I say, easing away from him.
‘Mmm?’ He stops sucking on my boob and looks up with that sly smile.
‘Do you mind if we stop for a sec?’
‘Oh, uh – course.’
He straightens, towering over me, and he’s so handsome and so here. He’s also suddenly shy – maybe because I stopped us in the middle of foreplay.
‘I do want to, I promise,’ I assure him, and his uncertainty falls away. ‘But I need to excuse myself – only for a sec.’
Now I’m self-conscious, sitting on my countertop, boobs out, amongst the wreck and ruin of my slobby apartment. I shimmy closer to the edge of the counter and jump down.
‘Make yourself at home,’ I call out over my shoulder as I head into the bedroom. ‘There’s beer in the fridge.’
I switch on the light and close the door behind me.
It’s not as bad as the living room but I scurry around, grabbing random pieces of clothing and shoving them into the closet.
I fling the comforter over the bed, lining it up with the edges of the mattress, and put the pillows in their place.
I do a quick scan, and it looks like a nice, normal, inviting bedroom.
‘Two secs!’ I yell through the door.
‘Okay,’ he yells back.
God knows what he’s doing out there. With any luck, he’s not too disgusted – nothing like flying across the Atlantic and North America in a grand romantic gesture – at least, I hope that’s what this is – to find the woman you’ve come to see looking like she belongs on Hoarders.
I go into the bathroom to assess the rest of the damage – i.e. me. My reflection is nowhere near as bad as I thought, but there’s definitely room for improvement.
Okay, a sixty-second turnaround that would make a Formula 1 pit crew jealous and…
go! Run my toothbrush around my mouth, vigorously scrubbing my tongue, then rinse and spit.
Pump moisturiser onto my fingertips, slather it over my face, tidy my brows, and pinch my cheeks – if it was good enough for women in Regency times, it’s good enough for a modern woman in a time crunch.
Take off my jeans and underwear, toss them into the hamper, and wet a washcloth to give my ‘pits and bits’ (as Mama likes to say) a once-over.
Hmm – my hair’s a mess, but maybe I should lean into that.
I throw my head upside-down and shake, then flip my head back.
Other than giving myself mild whiplash, it’s a good result – very sex kitten-y.
‘Delaney Cole, sex kitten, at your service. Prrr.’
Okay, who am I right now?
I give myself a hard stare. You are a woman who is in love with that man out there and he came all this way to be with you.
A crease forms between my eyebrows.
But what if he’s only here for sex?
Are you fucking insane? No man flies across the world for a booty call. Just get out there, woman.
Damn! My angel is a sassy little thing when she gets going.
I go to the bedroom door, then remember one last thing.
I dash to my nightstand table and yank open the drawer.
At the back is an unopened packet of condoms I bought in case Nicholas ever came to visit me – hah!
I check the date, and all good, so I tear open the box and unfurl an entire frigging strip. A gal can dream, right?
I go to the door, switch off the light, and open the door.
‘Nick.’