Chapter 23
Theo
Ihave a seriously crap night’s sleep. When I turn in, Nora’s either asleep or pretending to be, plastered to the far side of the bed.
I note with amusement that she’s stuffed a pillow down the middle.
No problem—it’s a super king and there’s plenty of space—but it would be nice if she wasn’t so bloody desperate to stay away from me.
I know it’s not that she doesn’t want me.
She wants me too much, just like I want her, but she’s sticking to some ridiculous, totally made-up rule book that only makes sense in Nora-ville and shooting both of us in the foot in the process.
That kiss in the pool was everything I love in a kiss.
Charged. Effortless. Sensual. And Nora fucking knows it.
She knows that’s not normal.
I’m so busy trying to stay away from her that I sleep fitfully, and when I wake up to the first strains of dawn, I know I’m not getting any more shut-eye.
She’s still safely across the bed, but she’s lying on her side, facing me, her hair swept over one bare, golden shoulder and a look on her face that’s so open, so trusting, and so different from the armoured-up expression she usually wears that it tugs at my heartstrings.
I could roll over so easily. Pull her to me, and surprise her in that first flush of wakefulness, when her body tells her what it wants, but her brain isn’t alert enough to warn her off.
But that would be too fucked up even for me, given she’s explicitly told me no, so instead, I go for the only other viable option.
A run. To sweat out last night’s booze and run off my sexual frustration.
I creep into the bathroom and pull on running shorts, socks, and trainers.
It’ll be too warm for anything else. And as I pound the uneven paths that meander around the cape, the flush of sunrise easing over the sea and deepening the hues, I congratulate myself on having made the right call.
Just one more night to go. I can keep my dick in my pants for one more night, and then at least I’ll be able to close my bedroom door and shut out temptation.
The temptation of how easily her body slithered around mine in the pool.
How naturally we moved together. How effortlessly I got lost in the taste of her mouth, the suppleness of her lips.
I’m wrecked by the time I get back to the hotel.
It’s still silent: no surprise after how much booze everyone consumed last night.
My little brother will be feeling the effects this morning.
It’s like parenthood takes your alcohol tolerance right back to that of a teenager.
I look forward to ripping the piss out of him later.
That makes me chuckle, and I’m still sniggering to myself as I let myself quietly into our room in case Nora’s asleep.
But she’s not. The bed’s empty, and the bathroom door is shut.
I need a towel or a shower. I stink and I’m fucking drenched.
I grab a bottle of mineral water from the little fridge and crack it open, chugging it down. Bloody hell, that’s good.
I yell in the direction of the bathroom. ‘Belle? Bring me out a hand towel when you’re done, will you?’
I’m bent over against the chest of drawers, my hands gripping the lip as I stretch out my calves and hamstrings, when the bathroom door opens. Nora appears in a thin cotton robe, her hair damp and twisted over one shoulder, her face scrubbed clean. She has a towel in her hand.
She walks towards me slowly, and there’s something in her eyes I can’t quite grasp as she approaches. She’s staring at me, for some reason. She’s so beautiful my breath catches. I straighten up and hold out my hand for the towel as I appraise her.
She chucks the towel at me.
‘I give up.’ There’s utter capitulation in her voice.
I’m not following. ‘Huh?’ I towel down my face, and when I look up, she’s still coming at me. Closing the distance between us.
‘I said, I give up.’
Her palm goes to my shoulder and glides down my soaking bicep. She tilts her face up, and her eyes follow, her gaze lazy. Hungry.
‘I can’t, Theo. I mean, for God’s sake. Look at you. How the hell am I supposed to stay away from you? You’re just’—her other hand slides up over my pec—‘so gorgeous. You are pure sex. I look at you, and it’s all I think about. And I just can’t. I can’t say no to you anymore. To myself.’
I’m being slow on the uptake here, because Oh My God. I’ve tried to seduce her on sun loungers and dance floors and in swimming pools, and she’s held firm, and here I am, a sweaty bastard, and she’s telling me she wants me?
So I just stare at her, though my hands act on muscle memory and slide around her waist. And my dick—yep, that’s definitely acting on muscle memory too—because it gets hard the second I pull her to me.
‘Are you kidding me?’ I ask her.
‘No.’ She shakes her head, those huge Disney eyes reeling me in, and I’m a fucking goner. ‘But you don’t have to—I mean…’
Everything slides into place. I grip the waist of her robe. ‘You want to do this, sweetheart.’
‘Yes,’ she whispers, and I swear to God, the way she says it goes straight to my cock.
My face splits into a grin. ‘You want me to fuck you.’
She turns her face away and rolls her eyes and presses her lips into a disapproving line before she loses her internal battle and looks back at me. ‘Yes.’
I stare at her, still grinning like a lunatic. ‘You little beauty. It’s about time. Let’s do this.’
She parts her lips, but instead of kissing her, I turn her around by her shoulders and push her forward. ‘Bathroom.’
She looks back at me. ‘What?’
‘Baby, I’m revolting. I fucking stink. I need a shower, and there’s no way I’m leaving you in case you get cold feet and run for the hills, so you’re getting in the shower with me.’
‘Ohmygod.’
I snigger as I frogmarch her into the bathroom and shut the door behind us.
There’s a massive two-person shower which will be perfect for my dishonourable intentions towards her, and it even has a bench.
Bonus. I crank up both shower heads and turn to face her.
This is happening. I’m going to fuck Nora, and I don’t know if I’m more worked up about how good it’ll be for me or how fucking awesome it’ll be to show her what her body can do. How much pleasure I can give her.
She’s standing there in her robe, arms crossed over her chest. There’s clear apprehension on that beautiful face, and it gives me a kick.
I love that this is a big deal for her. That she’s trusting me with this, or at the very least, that her need for me has kicked her distrust of me to the kerb.
I can’t wait to show her how right she was to say yes to being with me.
I cannot fucking wait.
We stand, facing each other. As her huge eyes brush over me, I stick my thumbs into the waistband of my shorts and ease them over my boner, letting them drop down my legs.
I kick them off without taking my gaze off her.
Her eyes travel down my body and stop at my cock.
They widen, and she says the thing that makes me even harder.
‘Fuck.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ I tell her.
She’s shaking her head. ‘I don’t know about that.’
‘I promise. I’m going to get you so wet. You have nothing to worry about.’
She drags her eyes back up to my face again and swallows. I nod at her robe.
‘Do you have anything on under that?’
‘No.’ Her hands go to the knotted tie.
I step forward. ‘May I?’
She hesitates. ‘This is a big deal for me. Just… being naked with you, in broad daylight, stone-cold sober. It’s scary, even though I want it so badly. You know that, correct?’
There’s so much vulnerability on her face, and in her voice, and in her very actions, that it gives me pause. Makes my throat tighten a little.
‘I know, gorgeous. For what it’s worth, I’m very, very happy you’re making this decision.’
‘Just go easy on me, okay?’
I brush her knuckles with my hand and choose my words. ‘I don’t think I need to go easy on you. And I don’t think you’ll want that when we get down to it. But with every single thing I do, I’ll be doing it for you. Right? And you can tell me to stop at any time. I mean it.’
Though I might die if she follows through on that offer.
‘All right.’ She drops her hands. ‘Go for it.’
I’m smiling even as I brush her hair back over her shoulder and undo the knot, because I know what’s in store. I know she’s going to be so fucking beautiful.
And holy shit, she really is.
Jesus Christ.
My Nora is a knockout. Just look at her.
I slide the robe off her shoulders and greedily take in what she’s offering up to me.
The high, perfect tits. Just the right handful.
Her pink nipples hardened into points so perfect, so suckable that my mouth fills with saliva and I can feel my cock begin to leak.
The neat brown landing strip that’s like a fucking beacon for where I want to go.
Her creamy, flawless skin. I’m a skin guy.
And Nora’s skin has hypnotised me since the first time I felt it.
I get all this.
I get to taste her and inhale her and lick her and fuck her and learn her.
And, as I told her last weekend on my terrace, I’m going to unwind her.
Make her go off like a fucking firework.
I cannot wait.
I lick my lips and take her hands, even though my fingers are itching to explore the rest of her body. ‘You are so beautiful,’ I tell her. ‘I fucking knew it. You’re better than any fantasy.’
She smiles at me like my compliment has given her a real kick.
But how can that be?
How can it be possible that she doesn’t know how gorgeous she is?
‘Seriously?’
‘Deadly seriously.’ I give her hand a tug and lead her towards the thundering streams of water. ‘Now get in the fucking shower before I die.’