Page 89 of One Last Thing
‘I think he’s in the kitchens, helping there. Do you want me to find him?’ she offers.
‘No! No, don’t worry. I’ll see him tomorrow.’
I say goodnight and head upstairs, fighting the feeling of disappointment by reliving those small but wonderful moments Nico and I had together tonight. In my room, I know I should start the process of getting ready for bed, but I don’t want to, not quite yet. I go out onto the balcony and I look out at the night sky, listening to the sounds of crockery clinking as it’s cleared, and chairs and tables being moved, and guests chatting and laughing outside while they smoke and make their way to their taxis.
After a while, there’s a knock on the door.
I spin round, inhaling sharply. I know who it is. IhopeI know who it is.
My heart leaping, I move over to the door and open it.
Nico is there, one arm leaning on the doorframe, the top buttons of his shirt open, his bow tie undone and hanging loosely around his collar.
‘I had to help clear up,’ he says, his dark eyes locked on mine.
I smile at him, flustered. ‘I know.’
He straightens, a muscle in his jaw twitching. My smile fades at the intensity and seriousness of his expression. My heart leaps with hope.
‘That night in the ballroom fifteen years ago, I told you that next time I would find the courage to kiss you sooner,’ he says.
‘I remember,’ I whisper, swallowing the lump in my throat.
‘Megan, I’ve found the courage,’ he says, his eyes blazing at me. ‘If you want me to.’
I raise my eyebrows, the magic of the evening combined with the wine sweeping aside any dignity or inhibitions that might stand in the way of finally getting what I want.
‘If Iwantyou to? Nico, I’m begging you to.’
For just a moment, the corners of his mouth twitch upwards and then he takes a step towards me, reaching for my waist and pulling me towards him as he dips his head to kiss me so urgently I stumble backwards a little, but his hands are there on my hips, ready to stop me from falling.
30
MEGAN
Regaining my balance, I throw my arms around Nico’s neck and arch my back into him as I kiss him, pressing my hips into his and eliciting a low growl from the back of his throat that sends my heart into a frenzy. Without breaking the kiss, he guides me backwards into the room so he can kick the door shut behind him, his strong hands roaming up the curve of my hips and waist, round to my back, holding me against him as the kiss grows deeper. I move my hands to the side of his head, my fingers raking through his hair as he parts my lips with his tongue, caressing it against mine, a feverish ache for him pumping through my veins and consuming me entirely, causing a moan to escape my lips before I can stop it.
The sound does something to him, the kiss becomes more urgent and as I break for air, my breathing shallow and unsteady, his lips skim along my jawline and down to my neck, a warm pulse building between my legs. I slide my hands down his broad shoulders and solid chest, my fingers fumbling at the buttons of his shirt as I undo them one by one, while he finds the zip of the dress and slides it all the way down. I pull back to step out of the dress and he finishes taking off his shirt, yanking it down his arms and dropping it on the floor, before his hands find me again, grasping at my bare waist and pulling me into him. As Icrush my mouth against his, desperate to taste him again, needing to be close, he lifts me up and my legs wrap around his waist as he moves us over to the bed, lying me back with ease before he lowers himself on top of me, leaning on one hand, the other sliding up the side of my thigh.
For the first time since he came to my room, we take a moment, looking at each other properly. Our breathing heavy and ragged, I can’t stop a smile, biting my lower lip as my hands freely move from the flexing muscles in his shoulders as he holds himself in place above me down across his sculpted chest. He smiles back as I shift beneath him, leaning lower on his elbow, his other hand coming to rest on my waist.
‘You are so beautiful,’ he says quietly.
‘So are you.’
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he checks, maybe misreading my pause as a hesitation.
‘Nico,’ I say with a light laugh of disbelief, ‘I’ve never been surer of anything.’
It’s a bit of an overkill statement encouraged by the events of the evening, but I think I also mean it. I’m beginning to realise that when I’m around Nico I feel like, after a very long time, I can finally breathe. Is that possible? That I’ve been holding my breath for fifteen years and suddenly I’m with the person who always had this unnerving ability to make me feel like I don’t need to do anything to impress him because I impress him anyway.
The smile he gives me when I say that sends my heart into multiple somersaults. He lowers his mouth to mine, kissing me slowly and deeply, a kiss so intense, shivers race down my spine. My hands find his belt and begin to undo it, and he responds by kissing down to the base of my throat and along my collarbone, my breath hitchingat the fluttering sensation caused by his full lips hungrily covering every inch of my skin. He draws back to undress fully, gazing at me as I lie in front of him and I feel a rush of exhilaration as I marvel at his toned arms and chiselled abs, before he returns to me, his fingers hooking at the sides of my thong and peeling it down over my legs, trailing light kisses along my thighs.
When he disappears to follow my instructions to the condoms that live in my washbag in the bathroom –a memento from my life with Dominic, if I’m honest, for whenever we went away for the weekend since I came off the pill last year – I stare up at the ceiling, trying not to think about the complications that tonight might bring. I desperately attempt to drown out the questions that float across my mind about how I’m going to feel when I have to get on a plane in a few days, whether I’ll be able to handle a fling, not with some random guy but with Nico, knowing that this is all this can be because he loves running this chateau here in France and I have a career and life back in England.
When he reappears, foil package in hand, I turn my head to look at him and none of those questions seem to matter. I’m desperate for him to come back to me, to feel the warm weight of his body pressed against mine, and when he leans over me again, I cup his jaw with my hands and lift my head to kiss him passionately, letting him know how much I want him, how much I need him, and feeling dizzy with happiness as my need is reciprocated. He doesn’t put the condom on right away, teasing me for as long as he chooses, leaving kisses down my breasts and stomach, his lips and tongue burning my skin as he explores the inside of my thighs until I gasp at the soft pressure of his mouthbetween my legs, my back arching at the pleasure unfurling through me.
He torments me until I beg to feel him inside, and when he finally puts on the condom and pushes into me, I moan in satisfaction against his full, soft lips, and low, guttural sounds emit from his throat as we move together. Heat pulses through every part of me as we find a rhythm, the fluttering ache building at the intensifying thrusts, spurred on by his hot, fast breathing in my ear and the way he curses when I nip at his lip, kissing me urgently in response. My legs begin to tremble, his fingers digging deeper into my skin as the torturous, thrilling pressure builds and we move closer to the edge, releasing together, his lips capturing the groan that comes from mine. And just like when he first kissed me all those years ago, I know nothing will ever come close to what it’s like being with Nico, how he feels, how he makes me feel. Digging my fingers into his shoulders as his lips brush against mine softly and slowly, a long, drawn-out kiss, I’m suddenly filled with a fear so strong I can’t let him go. I have no idea how I ever walked away from him and I have no idea how I’m going to have to do it once again.
