Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
NICO
As we head toward my suite of rooms, I curse my heritage.
All around me are decadence, fine living and rage.
I have never felt comfortable here. It’s not a family home, merely a statement and a reminder of everything that’s wrong about our lives.
I prefer my apartment, probably because my family isn’t there, and I wonder if that will ever change.
“Your, um, family is nice.”
Regina is scurrying to keep up with me, and I huff, “If you say so.”
“Well, I love your mom.”
I shake my head, wondering if Regina is slightly mad.
“I mean, she is so warm and welcoming, and I can’t wait for her to show me her tapestries.”
I stop and face her with surprise. “She told you about her tapestries.”
“Yes, and she asked me to call her Sophia and told me she was glad you had found me. You know, she’s way nicer than my mother, to be honest.”
I am stunned. Mom barely speaks, let alone offers any personal insight into her hobbies.
I must be missing something because cozy chats over coffee in the kitchen are definitely not my mother’s style.
I say nothing and head up the staircase, Regina attempting to keep up with me, and as we head toward my suite of rooms, she says breathlessly, “I love your home, but I’ll need a guidebook.
Seriously, Nico, I am bound to get lost in here. ”
“Go nowhere without me by your side.”
“That’s a little controlling of you if you don’t mind my saying so.”
“Controlling?” I stop once again and stare at her in surprise.
“Yes, as I told your mom, I don’t like to be controlled. After all, I’m a businesswoman, Nico, and I make my own choices in life.”
“You told my mother that?”
“Yes. She asked me if it would be a problem, and of course I said yes.”
My mind is racing because what else did my mother ask her?
We carry on and soon reach the sanctuary of my personal space away from my family, and as I head inside, Regina gasps, “What is this?”
“My suite.”
I shrug out of my jacket and drop it onto the dark gray, low-slung couch, draped with brown fur throws and heaped full of matching cushions.
“Does your family have shares in chandeliers?”
Regina points to the one dominating the ceiling, and I chuckle softly. “They should; Mom adores them, and you will find them in every room.”
She shakes her head as she stares at a bedroom that I have disregarded as normal over the years, but seeing it through her eyes and picturing her condo, I experience a moment’s discomfort.
I am dragging Regina into a world she doesn’t understand.
A place not many get to see, and it must be a lot to deal with.
Picturing Desiree in her place reminds me she would take this as her right. Demanding the best and unappreciative of it, disregarding the finer side of living while she plots how to control it.
“I’m not gonna lie, Nico, I could live in this room. I mean, who has a real fire burning in the grate of an oversized marble fireplace? Then there’s your bed. I could lose myself in that and not surface for a week. I could vacation in that bed alone.”
She stands as if frozen and gazes around her in awe.
“Look at the size of that television on the wall above the fireplace. Doesn’t the fire melt the wires or something? I mean, impressive but surely impractical.”
She’s babbling now, and I detect the nerves in her vocal cords.
Regina is well out of her comfort zone, and that is not good.
She must fit in here as if she has every right, and so I take her hand and lead her to the bed, sitting down with her beside me and say softly, “This is no different to your world only bigger with shinier things. It’s all made up of personal choices based on how much money you have.
Your home is impressive because it reflects your choices.
If anything, it’s better than this one because you selected every piece of it. ”
I wave my hand at the luxury surrounding us.
“All of this was chosen by a designer. My mother briefed her team on what she hoped to achieve, and they made the dream a reality. Everything in here is impersonal. There are no photographs, no treasures bought from travelling or trophies earned from childhood. It may as well be a hotel room for all the personality it has, and yet your condo is straining under memories, loving choices and thought.”
I tilt her face to mine and stare into her eyes, whispering, “Do not envy this lifestyle, Regina. Appreciate it for sure, but never believe you don’t deserve to be here. You are the life in this place, and the person who makes it a home, and never forget that.”
“Nico.” Her eyes mist, and the sparkle in them takes my breath away.
Regina really is a beautiful soul, and she is right about one thing, she doesn’t belong in our world.
We will corrupt her in seconds, and the thought of that sparkle diminishing over time makes me feel like the biggest bastard alive.
I caress her soft skin and experience an overwhelming urge to be closer to her, to drag that light spirit into my dark world, to lighten it from within.
She is like a breath of life-saving oxygen in a toxic environment and is the most precious thing in this entire place—she is humanity.
I claim her lips as if they are my last breath, and what a breath it will be. My kiss is hungry, desperate even, and for the first time I want a woman for who she is, rather than what she is.
Regina kisses me back with passion, reassuring me that she wants this as much as I do.
Her fingers tangle in my hair and pull me closer, her tongue clashing with mine as the kiss deepens and control is not a factor anymore.
I push her back onto the bed, and my hand slides under her skirt, much the same as in the car, and I inch my fingers under her panties, around to her ass, pulling her closer, desperate for more.
“Tell me to stop and I will.” I growl into her mouth, and her eyes burn brightly as she whispers, “Don’t stop, Nico.”
It’s as if a green light flicks over red, and there is no stopping me now. Her clothes become a thing of the past as they join mine in a heap on the floor.
I revert to the caveman of my ancestors and feast on her skin, kissing, biting and trailing over every inch, savoring the taste of her, loving the sensation of her touch.
Regina returns the favor, and her nails rake against my chest, and as she kisses my neck, her tits press against my chest, her breath is erratic.
My tongue trails a path down her body until I reach the center that promises so much, and as I swipe my tongue against her clit, she groans, “Nico, that is so…”
She doesn’t finish as I plunge two fingers deep inside her wet heat, and she grasps the cover, groaning with desire.
My cock throbs with an urgency to bury inside her, and as I kiss a trail up her body, I whisper, “Tell me to stop, baby girl.”
“Don’t stop.”
Her tone is fierce as I nip at her neck, my teeth puckering the soft skin as I suck the blood from under it. I want to mark her, to demonstrate to my entire family that I own her now—the mark of a man on his woman, a huge fuck you to them all.
My hand rummages in my bedside drawer as my mouth feeds off her sweet lips, then, locating a condom, I roll it expertly over my throbbing cock.
There is no time for foreplay, not extended at least, that will happen later when we have more time but the most important thing right now is to replace her anxiety with my cock because I have never wanted to be inside any woman as much as this one.
“One last chance to back out.”
I swear I hate the sound of my own voice right now, and she drags her nails over my back and says almost fiercely, “Do it.”
Her legs part, and as I position between them, the light in her eyes distracts me momentarily.
It’s as if I’m about to fuck an angel, and I stare in wonder at the beauty beneath me.
I have never experienced anything like this, and I’m guessing it’s her sweetness that is driving this feral need inside me.
I slow things down because I want to savor every single minute of this. The moment I enter paradise and as I hover at its entrance, she smiles, her eyes sparkling as she proves we are on the same page.
I move slowly, almost with hesitation, as I push inside, slowly at first, loving the sensation of entering her inch by inch. She doesn’t break eye contact and tugs on her bottom lip with her teeth, shifting to accommodate my length, the flush of her beauty reassuring me she is everything I want.
I cup her face with one hand as I move inside her.
We are connected in every way, and that surprises me.
This isn’t fucking, or sealing a deal that will save my future.
This is a desire to connect with another person on a deeper level.
To make it good, to drive away any barriers or doubt.
To claim my woman for all eternity, because right now that’s what this is.
I am taking my shot—literally and in the heat of the moment as I am buried deep inside her, it feels like I’m home for the first time in my life.