Almost Mine (24 page)

‘Everything ok, love?’ he said unobtrusively without disturbing my meditative state.

‘Hmmm,’ I sighed.

All too soon the clouds stole my warmth and the much awaited wistful moment with my dad had past. I straightened myself.

‘How’ve you been?’ I asked him.

‘As good as gold, love,’ he said as if he wasn’t.

‘Do you mind if I make a cuppa?’

He nodded once.

‘Did you go out?’ I asked when I returned with my steaming cup of black tea.

‘No.’

‘Where’d all the food come from, then?’

He groaned and gestured with a nod of his heads toward the Mathieson’s.

‘How rude of them to help you,’ I laughed.

‘I can look after myself,’ he huffed.

‘Yes, well, we all fill in when you don’t.’

‘I’m an invalid now, am I?’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Oh, Dad.’

‘And they forgot a few things.’

‘Let me guess, beer?’

‘And cashews.’

‘I can pick up some cashews; that is, of course, if you’d not get all insulted if I do you a favour.’

‘Mind your manners, Catherine.’

‘Sorry, Dad.’

I finished my tea as Dad finished his beer. And we sat side by side in silence. I noted the darkening weather coming our way.

‘Well, I guess I should get going. The walk is not as short as I remember it being.’

‘Ok.’

‘I’ll bring some things for you in the morning.’

He glanced at me and I saw a vaguely grateful smile. ‘Thanks, love.’

I didn’t head home straight away. I knew Nick would be keeping an eye on the time and in no doubt send out a search party if I didn’t return soon. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and sent him a quick text.

Just clearing my head. Don’t worry. Not of you. Nothing to worry about.

Preparing for the night ahead. I love you handsome husband of mine.

I pressed send and almost immediately he had replied.

Take your time. I am also preparing for the night ahead. Be careful out there. I love you my beautiful, body like a goddess, angel of mine…I’ve changed my mind. I can’t wait for you. Hurry home now! Love, that cheesy handsome husband of yours.

‘What’s that delicious smell?’ I asked as I returned home and investigated through to the kitchen. I gasped and threw my hands to my mouth in shock at the exquisite sight before me.

The room was aglow like a stunning can’t-look-away-from Christmas tree in a Myers window display; light flickered from hundreds of tea light candles placed around the kitchen and dining room. I sucked in a breath and gazed around at the stunning sight. The warmth from his hand on the small of my back, and his unassuming expression telling me that he’d take anything that I had to give, induced my body to swell with something that I refused to hold at bay any longer. I wanted to let it in, to fully no-holds-barred accept that it was there and to relish in it, but had I learned how to do that yet? Had I learned that he would never desert me?

Nick pulled me into him and he cupped my face in his hands.

‘I love you,’ he murmured as he stroked the ridge of my nose with the tip of his. ‘I love you.’

Inhale slowly. Exhale slowly…
release
. Slowly, exquisitely, it rolled over me like a tsunami and I thought I might pass out from the sensation of weightlessness.

‘Are you ok?’ His voice seemed a world away.

I focussed on his dark blue eyes that I’d been looking into but somehow seeing past them in my daze. I’d never get used to the entire “falling in love” feeling. Was it supposed to happen every time I saw him, or was it supposed to happen once and then that was it; you loved them and that was that? I preferred it my way.

He kissed me. His tender movement, his gentle tongue, his groan that vibrated from his throat as the fire built in the pit of his stomach, the sensations all seemed heightened; I was feeling everything for what it was. Love. True, unequivocal, love.

‘I feel like I’ve melted to the floor.’

His arms slipped seamlessly from my face and around to my waist. ‘I’ve got you, angel.’

‘I’m such an idiot.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘You’re amazing.’

He shook his head. ‘I’m just helplessly in love with a woman who brightens all of my days.’

My head dipped as I blushed and noticed a trail of rose petals that led away and down the short hall. He nodded when I looked up at him and I held his hand as he followed a step behind me while I took the short, scented journey. It was in our private room that my breath stopped. The room was illuminated with more flickering candles and warmed by the fire that crackled in the hearth. On the coffee table Nick had set an intimate dinner for two and framed it with more rose petals and a centrepiece of chocolate-dipped strawberries. He wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me close as I took in the rest of the room. Ray LaMontagne played softly and I was swept away by Nick’s unlimited ability to amaze me. He’d set out large soft cushions as makeshift seats on the floor and had poured a small glass of wine for each of us.

‘When did you have time to do all of this?’ I asked, in awe of him.

‘I gave the blokes the afternoon off.’

He turned me into him and kissed me. ‘Why don’t you go and put something comfortable on.’

‘I’d better call the Duchess of Cambridge for a dress to wear,’ I half laughed. ‘I don’t think I have anything fancy enough to wear to such a lovely dinner.’

‘Wear a hessian bag for all I care.’ He kissed me again and then smacked my bottom. ‘Off you go, the lamb’s almost ready.’

This time I let my amusement open my whole face to a mischievous grin. ‘Oh your dreamy words,’ I swooned with sarcasm. ‘So, the romance ends with the dinner alone, does it? Or does your romantic repertoire extend to the bedroom, too?’

He gave me a you’ll-have-to-wait-and-see look, and my stomach flipped splendidly with anticipation of the night ahead. ‘I don’t want to aim overly high, do I? You might expect this all of the time.’

‘I love you,’ was all I could say before his mouth found mine and he kissed me as the music played and our dinner began to burn.

The bedroom was as I’d left it this morning: the covers on the bed pulled up neatly and everything in its place. I guessed we’d create our own beautiful romance later. I channelled the princess with whom I shared the same name, so I found it relatively easy to transform from my unremarkable self and into the goddess I wanted so desperately to emulate. Nick deserved all of my effort, no matter how foreign it was to me to wear such provocative attire. I wanted to look seductive, as an alternative to my usual modest self. Nick had never asked for anything more than I gave him; however, of late, I thought it necessary to strive for that extra mile. He deserved to have the best of me — I had the very best of him — and for the first time I was brave enough to give it without an agenda, without being preoccupied by temperatures and positions. And I was brave enough to give it because for the first time I wanted to do it for Nick alone, and not for a singular purpose. I wanted to give him all of me, exposed and vulnerable, just as he was.

In front of the floor length mirror I smoothed myself down. The black lace chemise cupped my heavy breasts perfectly, allowing the tops of them to spill slightly. I watched myself in the mirror as I gripped them, imagining Nick’s face sunken hungrily between them, licking, biting them as I waited in agony for him to make me come. I ran my hands down my stomach and between my thighs where I was slickened with the arousal that he brought to me even without his presence.

Out on the landing I drew in a deep breath, then descended the stairs as Nick called from the kitchen, asking that I wait in the lounge with my wine while he plated our delectable dinner of roast lamb and vegetables, that wasn’t as over-cooked as he thought. Ray crooned as I adjusted the cushions and created all of the comfort that I needed. Effortlessly, thanks to the fuss that my lovely husband made over me, I found myself slipping into a satiated state of utter relaxation.

He stopped dead in the doorway, balancing our dinner on his palms.

‘Wow,’ he gasped.

‘You like?’ I asked as I ran my finger slowly across my cleavage.

‘More than you could ever imagine.’

After a beat, and after he’d picked up his dropped jaw from the floor, Nick stepped into the room.

‘Sorry about upstairs,’ Nick said as he placed my plate in front of me.

‘What about upstairs?’

‘I didn’t have time to set it up. Besides,’ he handed me a napkin for my lap, ‘by the looks of you, we’ll be more than capable of creating our own burning heat.’

A naughty glint flickered in my eyes as I glanced up at him. ‘You are capable of that, are you?’

‘I have a box of tea light candles waiting, just in case,’ he smirked. He moved to sit on the opposite side of the low table, but I shook my head and patted the cushion beside me.

‘I can’t kiss you when you’re all the way over there,’ I said. Of course, he indulged me.

‘Should we have a toast?’ he asked. I twisted on my cushion and tucked my legs up so that I was closely turned into him. I lifted my glass and held it close to his. ‘To a lifetime of us.’

I lightly clinked my glass against his and softly kissed his mouth. ‘Why have you stopped breathing?’

He eyed me with an expression of carnal wanting. ‘Because,’ he groaned as he immersed his head into my skin where my shoulder met my neck, his arm reaching around me as he gripped my bottom that was barely covered in fabric, ‘you and that slip of silk have sucked the air out of the room.’

‘Oh god, you’ll be forever cheesy won’t you?’

‘Hey, I call it endearing.’

‘I call it a turn-on.’

‘I call
you
a turn on. I can hardly put a thought together with you dressed that way.’

I dipped my head and felt my face turning pink because I knew that he’d just discovered my secret, though he said nothing to confirm it. ‘Should I change? I’d hate for you to be distracted.’

‘Why is that?’ he asked, lifting his head revealing the hint of a devilish grin.

‘The food,’ I managed a plausible yet far-fetched argument, ‘it’d go cold.’

We played and talked and ate and shared our food; I gladly handed over my cauliflower in cheese sauce while Nick allowed me to indulge in his sweet corn on a cob — though it was his favourite thing on the plate.

‘That was delicious, Nick. Thank you,’ I said as I nibbled his neck after he’d cleared our plates and re-joined me on the cushioned floor. He stretched out beside me and rested his hands behind his head.

‘My pleasure, angel.’

As he lay like a smorgasbord of tight muscles and smooth skin wrapped in light cotton in front of me, my fingers, as if on their own accord, sneaked slowly up his stomach and to his chest where they unfastened the first few buttons of his shirt. A low peaceable breath showed his satiated state. I unfastened the rest of his buttons and opened his shirt so that his body was bare and then I laid my head on his warm skin because it practically begged me to.

Ray faded out and Duffy took his place and effortlessly maintained the sensual mood. The tempo did change , though, as Duffy begged for mercy — as did I when Nick explored my secret — and was obviously speaking for us two lovers who occupied our own private alcove in the world.

‘I want to you to take this slip of silk off me now,’ I whispered sexily.

‘Do you want me to?’ he laughed out loud. ‘What a demure, sweet-talking wife I have.’

I straddled him. ‘I know that you know that if I snap this little clip…’

‘I am in no way oblivious to your scandalous ways, wench.’ He squeezed my bottom and pulled me closer onto his lap. My long hair fell softly onto his face and he held it back with the tips of his fingers as he kissed me. ‘I’d give you the moon and all that surrounds it,’ he murmured.

‘That’s not what I’m asking for.’

‘What do you want from me?’

I pulled back slightly so as to see into his half-closed dark blue eyes. I held my palm up to where his heart beat in his chest. ‘This; only this. I want you to love me forever.’

‘I can do that easily.’

‘Good,’ I said and then kissed him. ‘And maybe this.’ I gently sucked on his bottom lip. Then, I moved his arms around my body so that I was completely enveloped in him. ‘And these, I want these forever, too.’

Nick smiled lazily in his peaceful state. ‘Give me a challenge.’

The song changed and now “Syrup and Honey” played and I thought of something that we hadn’t done in a while.

‘Dance with me,’ I dared him. ‘Like on our wedding day.’

‘I can do better than that.’

Nick picked me up effortlessly and my body slid slowly down his until my toes barely touched the floor. The music played, as did Nick, as he held me hard against him pressing his hips against mine. My arms relaxed around his neck as he swayed me, his fingers roaming my body as if he’d never explored such a utopia of heavenly curves under a sheath of silk. My hands moved around his shoulders, releasing them of his shirt, and with a sound that made the apex of my thighs dampen, it fell to the floor. My body instinctively predicted what it meant for him to be naked. My body knew what was coming… This was different to our wedding dance; there was definite expectation in his hips, in his finger tips and in his ravenous mouth. I couldn’t remember his chest vibrating heavily with sexual wanting back then, either. Today, it felt like there was an earthquake rumbling under his rib cage — and it stirred my body in places too. It felt unbelievably freeing to finally allow myself to feel it.