Authors: Carrie Elks
Coming Down (30 page)
“
A hamster,” I correct her, my voice deadpan.
“
And we’re having fish and chips tonight and eating them on the sofa while we watch
Britain’s Got Talent
. Beth says we can split a portion between us and we still won’t manage it all.” She pulls back from him and frowns. “I suppose we’ll have to buy two now.”
“
It’s okay, I’ll buy them.” He sounds very serious, and I love that. “Shall I get cakes as well, or is that too much?”
She looks up again and I shrug.
Another thing the therapist said. Let her make some decisions. Give her a sense of security, make her feel she is in charge of her own life.
Within reason. Always within reason.
“Um, okay. I guess cakes will be nice.”
“
That’s grand. I’ll go out at six for cakes and chips all ready to get my ears blasted off.” He looks up and smiles at me. “Is that okay with you?”
“
It sounds perfect,” I reply.
“
Wait a minute,” Allegra says. “How did you know we were on the beach? How did you manage to find us?”
He reaches forward and gently pushes her hair away from her eyes. She doesn
’t flinch. In fact his touch makes her smile. “I’ll always find you, beautiful. If I have to knock on every single door in town I promise I’ll find you. For as long as you want to be found.”
His words are better than a thousand I-love-yous, as sweet as a hundred ki
sses. Allegra steals the words out of my mouth when she whispers her response.
“
I definitely want to be found.”
* * *
Allegra goes to bed after an evening of terrible singing and even worse impersonations, and I make sure she cleans her teeth well enough to make up for the sugared doughnuts we all devoured. She asks Niall to read her a story and I linger in the doorway, listening to his soft, lilting voice as he impersonates all the characters.
When he
’s finished she tells him about her dancing classes and asks him if he can come to her recital. He kisses the top of her head and promises he will.
I don
’t know if I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful than the two people I care about the most falling in love with each other. I’m so fiercely protective of Allegra, it’s taken a lot for me to let him break through, but I’m so glad I did. Because standing here, watching the two of them, I can’t think of anything I want more than for us to be a family.
Later, after we
’ve put the dishes away and Niall’s checked every lock he can find, we climb the narrow, steep stairs to my tiny bedroom, squeezing past the chest of drawers and the wardrobe to get to the bed. A sudden shyness overcomes me, as if the months he’s been away have made everything awkward and new. I sit down on the mattress, fingers clutching at the coverlet.
Ev
erything has been leading up to this point. I’ve been working so hard to settle Allegra down, and then there was my divorce and Niall’s show. We’ve never really talked about what happens next, where we go from here. Never had the luxury to think about “us”.
Right n
ow it’s all I
can
think about. As he stands at the window, staring out into the inky night, I find myself worrying whether he knows what he’s letting himself in for. If he realises how hard it can be, especially when something reminds Allegra of Daisy and she retreats into a stubborn, angry shell.
“
What can you see?” I ask him. The muscles beneath his t-shirt ripple as he twists to look at me.
“
The moon. It’s beautiful. Big and round like a dinner plate. All it needs is a cow jumping over it.” He holds his hand out. “Come and look.”
I walk to the window and he stands behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist, body pressed against my back. I feel warm and
safe. Cocooned. A tiny sigh escapes my lips as I stare out at the night.
He
’s right, it’s beautiful. The moon hangs low in the blue-black sky, a pale yellow disc surrounded by a peppering of stars. It’s so pretty it could almost be a painting. I crane my head to look at Niall, about to tell him how perfect it is, but then I see the expression on his face, intense and hot.
H
is lips meet mine, tongue slip-sliding inside. I curve my body into his, needing to get closer. Threading my fingers in his dark hair, I pull gently, making him gasp. He trails kisses along my jaw, down my neck, nipping at the skin softly as he moves. When I close my eyes, I can feel the need tugging at my stomach as his hand brushes against my breasts, my head falling back onto the cold windowpane. Placing his hands on my hips, he pulls me up until my legs are wrapped around his waist. I have to hold on to his hard biceps, steadying myself as he continues to scrape his teeth across my skin.
It
’s so overwhelming, this need to be with him, to have this connection. He carries me to the bed—no more than a couple of steps—placing me gently down before climbing on top of me. That’s when desperation takes over, urgent fingers fumbling with buttons, awkward hands yanking at shirts.
We
’re skin on skin, my breasts pressed to his chest, and I take a moment to marvel at how wonderful it feels. It’s a sensation I want to keep forever, like a wrinkled and folded snapshot I can carry around in my wallet. When his mouth dips down, capturing a nipple between his soft lips, desire obliterates everything else.
Niall
pushes inside me, kissing me soundly to swallow my cries. We take it slowly, hands exploring, lips moving together like we can’t bear to be apart. I squeeze my eyes shut as pleasure radiates from me, my body tightening around him like I can’t bear to let him go. Then I hear his breath catch in his throat. He freezes above me, and I open my lids to see his own eyes squeezed tightly shut as he tries not to cry out.
It
’s a moment filled with tiny perfections. The angle of his lip, the bulge of his arm muscles as he tries not to crush me, the ripples in his back as I cling onto him, and the soft curve of his bottom as I slide my hands down.
He drops his face to mine and I feel his breath, warm and fast
on my cheek. I turn and we are kissing again, slower this time. The tenderness in his touch squeezes at my heart. As he rolls to his side, pulling me against him, his hand cradles my head to the hard planes of his chest. And I know for sure I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
It isn
’t perfect. We aren’t angels. But the three of us have something I’ve been searching for all of my life.
We
’re a family. And nothing will tear us apart.
COMING SOON
Breaking Through (Alex and Lara’s Story)
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ALSO BY CARRIE ELKS
Fix You
Sempre
Foi Voce (Brazilian Edition)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carrie Elks lives near London, England and writes contemporary romance with a dash of intrigue. At the age of twenty-one she left college with a political degree, a healthy overdraft and a soon-to-be husband. She loves to travel and meet new people, and had lived in the USA and Switzerland as well as the UK.
When she isn't reading or writing, she can usually be found baking, drinking wine or working out how to combine the two.
www.facebook.com/CarrieElksAuthor
Acknowledgements
They say writing can be a lonely experience, but I’m so lucky to be surrounded by lovely and talented friends, whose constant feedback and support have been invaluable. I couldn’t do this without them.
Firstly, all my love and thanks go to Lucia Valcikova, Mary Whitney and Claire Robinson. You ladies never fail to make me smile, even with gentle criticism. Thank you for reading the book and sending me your comments. They were invaluable.
To Meire Dias and Flavia Viotti Siquera, your unstinting support is amazing. I’m counting down the days until we can share another bottle of wine. Rio next?
Deb, your kindness in pointing out mistakes is so appreciated. You make my writing so much better.
Melanie, my friend, y
our support is amazing. Thank you for being there.
Caroline, thank you for telling me the difference between Guards and Garda. Not to mention the Christian Brothers!
Not to mention hooking me up with tickets to see our favourite actors. We need to do it again soon.
To Kate, who is always there for the first
lines. Thank you. You’re my muse, my friend, my everything.
Gemma, I love reading your messages every morning. I’m so glad we’re exploring this new world together.
To all the girls in
Carrie Elks’ Corner
, thank you for your lovely posts, for sharing the word and reading ARCs of the book. I love our little space.
To Emily Nemchick, who edited and proofed the book, thank you for your kind words and careful reading.
To all my writer, reader and blogger friends, who put a smile on my face every day. Thank you for being there and for making this fun. That damn World Wide Web may be a time-eater, but it’s also a life saver, because it allowed me to meet you. I wish I could mention everybody by name.
Last, but not least, thank you t
o my family. The ones who put up with me while I’m squirreling away. You wait patiently for answers that never come, put up with an ever growing pile of dirty laundry, and still manage to be my biggest supporters. I love so much. Mum’s back in action for a while. Get your requests in while you can!
