‘Me neither… I went down to make some coffee and saw your wrap on the chair by the door. I figured you’d taken a walk and well, the only walk that’s near enough is down to the beach.’
‘So, you found me.’
‘Uh huh.’ The vibration in his voice rippled through me.
‘Thank you for bringing me here, Nico. I’ve only been here a few hours, but I feel at home and at peace already.’
‘Thank you for agreeing to share this with me, I’m happy you’re here and so is my grandmother. I could see by the look on her face last night that you surprised her in every sense of the word.’
‘I did?’
‘Yes… and in a good way. I think, like Trip, she expected me to marry some Botox-filled, silicon-breasted celebrity wannabe.’ He laughed at his own words and his laughter helped to warm me.
The inclination to turn around in his arms as his hands continued to gently rub my skin was growing ever stronger. So, for once, I let my instinct control me. I released the camera from my hands and let it fall gently until its weight was on the strap around my neck and turned around in his hold.
I allowed my eyes to run over him. The man holding on to me seemed different to any other version I’d seen of him before. He was casually dressed, and after forgoing what I guessed was probably his morning ritual of a shave, he was sporting a thick growth of stubble. His hair wasn’t being held perfectly and he was wearing a short-sleeved linen shirt which was completely unbuttoned, over the top of some smart looking Chino shorts.
‘You look different somehow?’
‘I am.’
I smiled up at him, knowing my face was presenting a puzzled expression.
‘Why?’
‘I took in everything you said yesterday and as I’m getting married tomorrow, I thought a more relaxed looking husband-to-be would be more convincing to the natives.’
‘You’re talking about Nonna?’
‘Yes, I am… but I’m also talking about Pearl and to be honest, Bee, I thought that this version of me might be easier for you to live with.’ I’d heard every word he said, but the one I was hung up on the most was the fact that for the first time he’d called me by my nickname.
‘You called me Bee.’
‘I did, is that okay? I want us to be friends.’
‘It’s fine by me… I’d like to be your friend too, Nico.’
And so very much more. I closed my eyes to erase the thought in my head.
The man that was stood on the beach with me in the glow of sunrise was like every woman’s wet dream. The more time I spent with him, the more convoluted he was becoming in my eyes. Nico was so multi-faceted that I was left reeling as once again his persona changed. This, I was convinced, was the version I liked best at the moment. Sure, the suited, brash, arrogant asshole had his time and place, and he was so very easy on the eyes. But this version, the one he’d been showing me since the second he had taken my hand in the plane yesterday, was so far unsurpassed in my eyes. Right now, he was attentive, romantic and gentle and I wanted the absolute entirety of the man.
His eyes refocussed on my face and his hands stopped their gentle massage on the tops of my arms as his gaze moved down to my lips. The palpable tension that had been slowly building between us since the moment he’d said good morning ramped up ever quicker. My tongue flicked out swiftly over my suddenly very dry lips and the involuntary action from me had him releasing a groan. I watched, unable to tear my eyes away from him, as he fought within himself and his long eyelashes flicked as he slow blinked trying to clear me from his view.
‘You know the longer we stand here, the more I want to kiss you?’ His voice sounded the deepest I’d ever heard it.
His left arm lifted away from my arm and his thumb brushed gently over my lips as if he needed to feel them before he tasted them.
‘Then…’
‘Shhhh…’ One of his fingers came down gently over the top of my lips. ‘But how would you like me to kiss you, Bee?... Soft and gentle like our meeting here on the beach at sunrise dictates?’
He stopped speaking and I watched as in slow motion his head dipped down towards mine. I watched until the very last minute, when my eyelids closed heavily like I was drugged and the whole of my body prepared itself to receive his kiss. It was as if my body was systematically closing down all of my other senses as it prepared itself to focus on the feeling of the touch of his flesh on mine. I could feel his breath, his fresh smelling cologne as it entered my nostrils, and my feet began to feel unsteady beneath me. As if he could sense all of this, his hold on my one arm increased.
But no matter how on edge my body was, no matter how geared up I was to receive the touch of his flesh on mine, it never came.
Slowly, my body awoke from the trance he had momentarily subdued me into, and my heavy eyes burst open.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Research,’ he answered as his left eye narrowed on me and I felt every syllable leave his mouth as it caressed the sensitive skin of my lips. ‘I think, Bee, that you would prefer that I kissed you another way.’
Nico’s left hand moved quickly. He placed it behind me and after putting it around my waist he pulled me quickly into him, making my feet rise up until my only connection with the sand was my toes. As our bodies collided all of the air in my lungs expelled in shock. My eyes found his and I saw a new sort of want captured behind his dark eyes. The camera was the only thing that separated us, trapped between our two bodies. His erection pushing into my stomach caught my attention first and then the movement of his right hand as he slowly and sensually brushed it down the length of my neck.
‘You really are a beautiful woman.’ His words set off a riot of fireflies in my stomach.
My neck reacted to his touch, wherever his fingers touched me a trail of goose bumps were left behind in their wake. When his large hand spread over the front of my throat and the whole of his grip tightened as his hand held me in place, I initially felt panic rising up inside of me. But when I looked into his eyes, I saw nothing in them to make me afraid; all that shone back was reverence.
‘I can see that you’d prefer me to kiss you like this. I already know you well enough, Bee, to know that although you think you prefer the gentle side of me, this is the one that excites you more.’
‘I…’ I was about to protest what he’d just said, but it was too late.
With his arm behind my waist and his hand holding my bare neck as he pushed my head backwards slightly, Nico’s mouth crashed down onto mine. As our mouths connected, my first instinct was to gasp. The moment my lips parted; Nico’s tongue swept in. It teased and caressed every single part of me as we began our dance. I surprised myself as my need for the man took over and I met him back with equal passion. Our teeth clashed together with the sudden and urgent need that took over us both and my hands that had been hanging limp by my sides lifted to hold the sides of his head. I placed one hand either side of his face and hung on for dear life as he kissed me to just within the edge of all reason and all coherent thoughts left my head. His tongue swept over every single nerve ending that had seemingly collected together inside the small space and he teased them over and over again.
‘Nico…’ The sound of Nico’s grandmother’s shout drifting out on the breeze broke through the early morning. Having spotted us down on the beach her tone changed. ‘Nico, Barbara… Breakfast is on the table.’