Kitabı oku: «The Sicilian's Surprise Love-Child / Claiming My Bride Of Convenience», sayfa 3

CHAPTER FOUR

Later on the night that neither can forget…

‘WE SHOULD HAVE got out.’

Aurora turned and looked at Antonietta as the three friends sat on the hillside, watching the ominous glow.

‘We’ll make it,’ Chi-Chi said. ‘There is soon to be a storm.’

‘And with storms come lightning,’ Antonietta pointed out. ‘I wish I had left. I wish I had taken off to…’ She thought for a moment. ‘Paris.’

‘But you don’t speak French,’ Aurora said.

‘I’m learning it.’ Antonietta shrugged, and then was silent for another moment before continuing. ‘Pa says we shall have a proper party after the fires. I’m getting engaged.’

Chi-Chi let out a squeal and jumped up in excitement.

‘To Sylvester,’ Antonietta added, and she looked to Aurora, who had to fight not to pull a face.

For Antonietta and Sylvester were second cousins, and Aurora was sure this was a match to keep money within the family rather than for love.

‘Are you happy?’ Aurora asked carefully.

Antonietta was silent for a very long time, and then she shrugged an odd response. ‘C’est la vie!’

Aurora didn’t really know what that meant, but she could hear the weary resignation in her friend’s voice and it troubled her.

‘I hear your Nico is back,’ Antonietta said.

‘He is not my Nico,’ Aurora said.

‘No,’ Chi-Chi agreed, and made a scoffing noise. ‘You should forget about him,’ she said. And then she nudged her as a fire truck turned into the hillside, bringing weary firefighters for a break, some food, and maybe a kiss…

But Antonietta caught Aurora’s arm. ‘If Nico is back, then what are you doing here?’

‘He doesn’t want me,’ Aurora said.

But Antonietta, though only newly twenty-one, had an old head on her young shoulders.

‘Go home,’ Antonietta said. ‘Fix what you can, while you still can. I heard my father speaking to his men about the direction of the fire…’

And hearing the solemn note in Antonietta’s voice, and watching the weary firefighters approach, Aurora no longer wanted to be out in the valley tonight.

This… Nico thought as he sat at the table with Aurora’s parents playing cards. This would have been my life.

Hard work out on the vines by day, and a tired body at night.

Except no amount of labour would be enough to tire his mind.

Yet, on the plus side, he would be sitting with Aurora in the now vacant house across the road, rather than looking at Bruno’s hairy arms as he shuffled the cards.

Just because Nico did not want to be married to Aurora, and just because Nico did not want to stay, it did not mean there was not desire. It did not mean he did not care.

And he loathed the thought of her out there tonight.

‘I’m going to check on my father,’ Nico said.

He found Geo deeply asleep, and as he came out Nico felt the hot winds lick his face. He looked at the glowing mountains, and the approaching fire spreading towards them, and in the distance he could see lightning strikes.

They were sitting ducks, Nico thought as he went back into the Messina house.

‘Bruno, can I borrow your car and go and get Aurora? The fire is moving fast…’

But Aurora’s work-shy brother had just taken it, Bruno said. ‘And anyway, Aurora will not thank you if you interfere with her plans for tonight. I’ve told you she is in the safest place. They’re not going to let the chief firefighter’s house burn.’

Dio! Nico wanted to shout. Do you really think the fire will give them a choice?

‘If it gets much closer,’ Bruno continued, ‘Aurora knows to come home and we will head to the beach.’

He wanted to shake Bruno and ask, Is it not better that we all die together? But then, he did not want to worry her mother.

‘Grab a cushion from Aurora’s room,’ Bruno said, ‘You know where it is.’

Oh, he knew.

The scent of Aurora lingered in the air. He looked down and saw her gold cross on the floorboards. He picked it up and held it in his palm for a moment.

He caught sight of the book on her chest of drawers and he was intrigued, because he knew that poetry was not her thing. Even before he opened it Nico almost knew what he would see.

The little packet of pills, half of them gone, had been left for him to see, Nico was sure.

He replaced the book in her top drawer.

Message received, Aurora. Loud and clear.

And tonight it was killing him.

The sofa was soft.

Nico was not.

He heard the taxi drop some people off in the street, followed by some chatter—but not Aurora’s throaty voice.

The taxi service stopped at midnight.

It was ten past midnight now.

He thumped the cushion and put it over his head to block out the sound of Bruno’s snores.

Signora Messina must have had enough, because she shouted for her husband to be quiet and for a short while silence reigned. Except for the drone of the firebombers, filling up in the ocean and then heading back to the hills.

Then, deep in the night, he heard the baker’s truck rattle past and stop. He knew that truck was the last chance to get home, for he had taken it many times—except in his case Nico would often leave Silibri in it, heading to the next village.

Anything to get away.

He ached from his calves to his groin to hear Aurora’s footsteps. From the small of his back to his chest, need gripped him tightly and fear for her choked him.

And then the door opened quietly, and Nico breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the pad of bare feet and guessed that she was carrying her shoes.

Aurora tiptoed past him.

She couldn’t really see him on the sofa—it was more she could feel that he was there.

She was so sick of Nico and his effect on her that it was all she could do not to spit in his direction.

Instead, she crept into the bathroom and stared at her streaked mascara and wild hair for a moment before she brushed her teeth.

She couldn’t even kiss anyone else.

The fireman was quite attractive.

Big and bearded, he was the type of man who would get on with her father. He lived in the next village and had said he was more than happy to come and meet her family, if that was what it took to get to know Aurora some more.

He was perfectly nice—but he was not Nico.

In every dream, in every thought, it was Nico she kissed, Nico who was her first, and she did not know how to change the grooves in which her mind was stuck.

Nico’s hands on her body.

Nico’s mouth on hers.

She washed her face, stripped off her clothes and pulled on a baggy old T-shirt that had seen better days.

But instead of heading to her bedroom it was the kitchen to which she headed, her choice fully made.

Nico would be her first.

He heard the fridge door open and water being poured, but feigned sleep as she stood over him.

‘I know you’re awake,’ Aurora said.

‘How come you’re back?’

She didn’t answer.

‘What have you been doing?’

‘I don’t answer to you,’ Aurora said, and then shrugged. ‘I was just sitting on the hillside, talking…’

‘With?’

‘You forfeited any right to ask, Nico.’

‘With?’ he asked again.

‘Chi-Chi and Antonietta.’

‘And your firefighter?’

‘He wants me. You don’t.’

‘So why are you here?’

‘I don’t want him. I want you.’

Nico could hear her despair and he took her hand, pulled her a little towards him, indicating for her to sit down.

‘Aurora,’ he said. ‘Me not wanting to marry has nothing to do with you.’

‘I would say it has everything to do with me, given our fathers agreed—’

‘Since when did I ever do as my father wished?’ Nico interrupted.

‘You rejected me.’

‘You were sixteen—and if you want to take offence that I was not attracted to some teenager who I looked at as a sister, then that is your choice.’

Aurora swallowed. She had never thought of it like that.

‘You think of me as a sister?’

‘I did.’

And now he did not.

‘Do you think of me the same way now? Or as a friend?’ she asked.

‘We can never be friends Aurora.’

Some might take that as an insult, Aurora thought, but it was true. She did not want to do the things she wanted to do to Nico with her friends.

‘What have you been doing?’ he asked again.

‘Trying to fit in—but as always I didn’t.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Chi-Chi is desperate to marry and Antonietta…’ She hesitated, and then told Nico what he might not know, as it was very recent news. ‘She is soon to be engaged to Sylvester.’

‘But isn’t he her cousin?’

‘Second cousin, I think,’ Aurora said, and watched as Nico pulled a slight face. ‘I don’t think she’s happy about it.’

‘I can’t say I blame her.’

Nico sighed. If Aurora was fire, then Antonietta was ice, and did not show her feelings. If Aurora thought Antonietta unhappy, then she was.

‘So,’ Aurora continued. ‘There is Chi-Chi wanting a husband, Antonietta not wanting one, and as for me…’ She took a breath and told him, ‘I am twenty and only last week had my first kiss.’

‘Just a kiss?’ Nico asked, and she nodded.

‘I hated it,’ she admitted.

Nico wasn’t sure he believed her. ‘You need to hide your Pill better, Aurora.’

‘You were snooping?’

‘And you think your parents don’t?’ said Nico.

‘Usually I’m more careful. I was in a rush tonight.’

‘So, if you have just had your first kiss, and hated it, why are you on the Pill?’

‘If you build it they will come,’ Aurora said. ‘Or hopefully I will.’

He laughed.

So did she.

Oh, they laughed—and it was such a moment, such a shared flash of bliss, to see cold, immutable Nico lie there and laugh, that she did what she knew she should not and moved her hand to his cheek.

His hand went to remove it, but instead it held hers there.

‘It’s me who doesn’t fit in, Aurora. I don’t want relationships. I don’t want responsibilities.’

‘And you probably don’t want someone who can’t kiss.’

‘Aurora, trust me—you can kiss.’

‘Can I try it on you?’

‘No.’

‘I repulse you so much?’

‘You know you don’t.’

‘Then why not let me kiss you?’

‘I’m not your practice board.’

‘So I go back to my firefighter…’ Aurora said, and felt his hands grip her fingers tighter.

‘One kiss.’

He said it with authority, but the undercurrent suggested they both hoped he was lying.

How to kiss him? Aurora pondered. How best to claim her one kiss?

‘What are you doing?’ Nico asked.

‘I want to see you,’ Aurora said, and she climbed up so she sat on his stomach, and it made her insides melt that he helped her and that he smiled.

She had not looked at her firefighter. In fact she had closed her eyes—though not in bliss.

Now she looked.

His face was still beautiful in the dark: the shadows in the hollows of his cheeks, the dent in his strong jaw, and those delectable lips, and those black eyes watching her.

‘You know how to kiss, Aurora,’ he told her, and she lowered her head to his.

She felt the softness of his mouth, and his pleasurably rough jaw, and she lingered there for a moment, lightly kissing his full lips.

He had such a nice mouth.

She gave that nice mouth playful kisses that teased, that were almost friendly—but not chaste. It was like a little warm-up…like poking a big, sleeping bear.

She could feel his naked torso between her legs and the warmth of his belly on her sex as she practised her kiss on him.

‘Taste me with your tongue,’ he told her, and she saw that Nico’s eyes were now closed.

‘I’m too shy.’

That elicited another laugh from them both. It was nice to laugh as their mouths mingled, to share in each other’s breath—and then his hand came behind her head and Aurora received her first proper kiss, for with one sweep of his tongue he discounted all the others.

Finally, she closed her eyes.

Then, as he sucked her tongue and pressed her head into his, she knew she was right to be there, for her body was on fire for him.

He tasted of limoncello and water and skill. He gave her a taste of the passion beneath that aloof exterior and he made her crave him.

She rose on her haunches and his other hand came to her waist as he kissed her more deeply, tangling with her in indecent ways. His hand slipped down to her buttocks—and he pulled his head away.

‘Dio, Aurora, where are your knickers?’

‘I don’t wear them to bed.’ She smiled. ‘It’s too hot.’

His hands were on her ripe flesh and she could feel his fingers digging hard into her. And then she recognised the reluctance in him and felt regret as he removed them.

‘Do you wear your underwear to bed?’ she asked.

She slid back and sat on his thighs. It was a very provocative move, for in doing so she slid her naked sex over the hardest part of him. She pulled back the cotton blanket and saw beneath his black silk boxers and the clear evidence of his desire for her.

‘Oh, Nico…’

She touched him without fear or hesitation, freeing him from the restraint that had kept their actions decent. She explored him with her eyes and her hands and knew she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

‘Aurora…’ he warned, and removed her hand, or soon he wouldn’t be able to control himself any more.

But she did not stop, and when her hand returned he did not halt it.

‘Make it stop, Nico,’ she begged.

‘Make what stop?’

‘This fire.’

‘Go to bed,’ he told her, pushing at her hips and attempting to lift her from his thighs.

But she dug in. ‘No.’

‘Okay,’ he compromised. ‘I’ll make you come, and then you are to go to bed.’

His arrogant tone only turned her on even more, and she relished the opportunity to discover what he could make her body feel.

Oh, he brought bliss with his fingers. He was not gentle, and she stifled a cry as he slipped his fingers inside her. She moved with his hand for a moment, but then sobbed in frustration. ‘It’s not your hand I want…’

‘Let go,’ he told her as he stroked her more insistently, increasing the speed and pressure of his fingers according to the responses of her body.

When she climaxed, Nico decided, he would allow himself to join her, and then they could both get some sleep.

‘We might be going to die tonight, Nico,’ she told him. ‘Don’t let me die a virgin.’

She looked down at him and felt a shiver rippling inside her as he almost smiled.

But was it a smile?

Aurora did not know, for it was a look she had never before seen. It was a kind of grim smile that made her stomach flip, and his voice, when it came, was deeper than thunder, with a low warning edge.

‘Get on the floor,’ he told her.

‘No,’ she said. For that would mean separating their bodies and she did not want to give him even a second to change his mind.

That grim smile remained as his hand left her sex and moved to his own. ‘Take off your top,’ he told her. ‘I want to know every inch of you.’

With anticipation bubbling inside her, and delight that she was finally getting her way, she pulled her T-shirt over her head.

Aurora put her hands on his chest and lifted herself a little. She looked down as he held himself in one hand and ran the glistening tip against her most sensitive flesh.

‘Don’t make a noise,’ he warned as he nudged against her, except she was too tight for his thick length.

He could feel her thighs shaking as she knelt up. ‘Get on the floor,’ he said again, for he could better control things there.

‘Please, Nico, now!’

He was just a little way inside her, and he took her hips in his large palms. He’d meant to do it more gently, but she was damp with perspiration, and so was he, and as he pushed her down their bodies slid together and he pulled her down harder than he’d intended and seared into her virgin flesh.

It was the most painful, exquisite, blissful moment of her life and she did not make a sound. It was Nico who let out a breathless cry as he took her virginity.

‘Shh…’ Aurora said, though the sound stroked through her as they locked together. She stayed still, so still, because it was agony, but it was delicious too, and she felt his hands very gently on her hips, steadying her.

‘Come here,’ he told her, but did not move an inch. ‘Let me kiss you.’

Now he made her moan, for his kiss was her first taste of the true Nico—utterly tender and all man. His kiss and his tongue took all the hurt away as his hands stroked her hips—not to move her, just to feel her—and he made her whimper. And as the hurt receded desire took its place and she started to move according to the demands of her own body.

She wanted to linger on his lips, to savour this side of Nico, but her body wouldn’t allow it, for she could not kiss him softly and move as she wished to at the same time.

Nico took over, holding her hips and bringing her in line with his building rhythm, lifting his hips to thrust into her.

‘Nico…’ she said, in a voice that was fighting not to scream. ‘Nico…’

He wasn’t putting out the fire in her—it was spreading and consuming her, and she did not recognise the approaching bliss, but sought it all the same.

And then he let out that breathless shout again and lifted himself.

Feeling Nico swell and then the rush of his relief fill her, caused Aurora to shatter into a thousand tiny pieces. And Nico, her Nico, pressed his hand over her mouth as her world went black and her orgasm coursed through her.

It was the most intense moment she had ever known and he guided her through it.

Aurora started kissing his palm. Kissing and tasting his salty skin. His hand slid behind her head and he pulled her back to his kiss.

They came down from their high together and slowly. Back to the world they had left for a while. Back to the sound of the choppers and her father’s snores.

He held her for a while, but he was concerned about the pace and direction of the fire, and soon he went to the window and checked the solid red glow on the hillside.

And then he looked back to the sofa, where Aurora lay…

Aurora knew she must return to her bed.

‘Come on,’ Nico said, and took her hand.

He helped her up, and as Aurora stood on shaky legs she fought the sting of tears. How could he be so close one moment and then pack her off to bed like a child the next?

He picked up her T-shirt and led her through to the small kitchen. He turned on the light and she looked down and saw blood, and the evidence of their coupling.

‘I can’t have a shower—they’ll hear the pipes.’

‘I know,’ Nico said.

Instead he turned on the water at the sink and began to wash her, slowly and carefully.

Tenderly.

It was the second best moment of her life.

Then he put the T-shirt over her head. She did not get another kiss, but he held her for a moment and then released her.

Aurora returned to her pink bedroom and lay in a bed in which she no longer felt she belonged.