Nick and Lilac (14 page)

His heart clenched at her words, knowing what she was offering even though he could see the fear that had darkened Lilac’s eyes at her own offer. “Sweetheart, if you want to do something for me then…” He struggled to keep his voice even as he told her his worst fears, the one that had him staring at her the whole time she was resting. “Don’t regret this, Lilac.”

His tone was almost violent. There was also an odd note to it, and Lilac instinctively knew what Nick wanted to say but couldn’t. Stupidly, it made her want to cry but she willed the tears away even before they could reach her eyes.

She laid her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating hard. It made her want to cry even more. Returning his words, she said softly, “I will…remember this
forever
.”

The Twelfth Encounter

The music was deafening, the lights overhead a neon galaxy of colors that hurt the eyes but made the club’s affluent guests sparkle the way they wanted to.  With Halloween just a few weeks away, sparkling
ala Cullen
had become in once more.

The dance floor below was more than crowded, with bodies grinding against each other. Velvet ropes held back unlisted guests from the VIP floor, secured by stoic-looking men in black.

“Oh my God, Charlene,” a girl in a glittery dress gushed to her friend. “Do you see him? It’s Nick Christakos!”

Her friend quickly followed her gaze. “Oh my God, it is him! And I just saw Christien di Luca a while ago---oh my God! I just remembered!” She shook her friend’s shoulders in excitement. “It’s Christien di Luca’s birthday today and I bet all the BBFs are having a party upstairs!”

“BBFs? Shouldn’t it be BFFs?”

“Oh, Rach, you’re so out of the loop! That’s what they call those beautiful boys now. BBF: Boys with Billion-dollar trust Funds.” She sighed. “Let’s hope Christien di Luca sends out an invitation. I hear he throws the wildest birthday parties. I’m going to give him the best blow job of his life…” She sighed again, and her friend sighed with her as Nick Christakos and his security detail went past them. Oh my, the man’s scent alone was amazing – manly and sexy, enough to make her come if she had more than a whiff of it.

At the sight of Nick, the men guarding the stairs leading to the VIP floor immediately parted to let him and his own security team pass. Nick nodded in response to their greetings.

“The playboy’s back in town,” a voice called out laughingly when he reached the top of the stairs.

Nick laughed. “That,” he told Derek Christopoulos, “is definitely a case of the pot calling the kettle black.” They clapped each other on the back. The others came to greet him, welcoming him back from his trip. Nick shook hands and exchanged brief hugs with Christien di Luca last, the host of the party.

“Will this birthday be a lot like last year’s?” he asked with a grin, knowing how “tastefully” riotous Christien’s parties could be.

“I’m afraid not,” his friend answered after a beat. “I may have a lady friend stopping by.”

Nick raised a brow as they took their seats on the L-shaped leather sofa. “A girlfriend?”

“Lady friend,” Christien repeated firmly.

After the first round of drinks had been served, Nick said dryly, “Don’t be fucking shy with me. I can see it all in your eyes, assholes.”

Derek said carefully, “We thought you’d be on the first flight to Beverly Hills after the…headlines.”

The expected pain that came with anything to do about Karla didn’t hurt as much, alleviated by the sweet hot memory of having Lilac in his arms this afternoon.

An unconscious smile touched Nick’s lips as he replied levelly, “I’m…busy.”

His words were greeted by shocked silence, one that gradually turned to relief. Reid Chalkias was the first to react, his green eyes gleaming with interest as he asked, “Busy, you say?” Although an heir to a ten-digit fortune as well, Reid was better recognized as their university’s star basketball player, his future in NBA a certainty. He was, without a doubt, the most debauched of them all as well – a reputation Reid embraced whole-heartedly as the university’s Prince of Darkness.

“I think I know what that means,” Reid murmured.

“It’s not like that.”

“How can it
not
be like that, Christakos? It’s a fact of life. Girls can only be forgotten with other girls,” Derek said matter-of-factly.

“Does that generalization include
your
Jaike?” Nick retorted, referring to the girl who famously captured his friend’s heart.

“Fuck no.” Laughter ensued at Derek’s equally matter-of-fact response.

“Will your brother be able to make it?” Christien asked.

“No. I just received a call from Jason. He’s abroad and won’t be back till tomorrow.”

“We’re getting off topic,” Reid inserted. “Nick is definitely keeping a secret from us and I bet it’s the sexy and beautiful kind.”

“She’s not---”

Reid said with a grin, “So there
is
a she.”

Nick flushed, realizing he had given himself away and laughter filled the room once more. “She’s
not
that kind of girl. She’s a friend.” He looked at Christien pointedly. “Like
your
lady friend, I presume.”

“Perhaps,” Christien conceded. “But the difference is – I have always had lady friends, Nick. Not ones especially close but they are friends nevertheless. While you…”

“She’s a friend,” he said firmly. Pausing, Nick added reluctantly, “She’s a friend of Jilly…and she knows Karla in a way.”

“Ah.” Christien took a sip from his beer. He looked as if he was weighing his words carefully when he said, “I hope you’re not playing around with that girl just to hurt your former flame?”

Nick’s lips twisted at Christien’s old-fashioned words. This friend of his would probably get along quite well with Lilac, with Christien’s preference for formality. “I’m not playing around with her. She’s a…nice girl.”

Derek shook his head in amazement. “Am I really hearing this? You, the serial bed-hopper---”

“Pot, kettle,” Nick taunted.

As if not hearing Nick’s words, Derek continued, “Since when have you started being just friends with a girl?"

"Since this girl.”

"This I've got to see," Reid said.

"Hear, hear."Christien raised his beer for a toast.

The others followed but Nick shook his head. “No.” He clicked his can with the others.

Christien gave him a sly look. "Worried we're going to steal her away?"

“You sound like my brother. You think too much of your charms, my friend.”

“Yes,” Reid drawled. “I think he’s worried.”

Nick rolled his eyes. "No, I'm worried you guys are going to corrupt her."

Christien laughed. "That's rich, coming from you.”

It was Derek’s turn to taunt. “Pot, kettle.”

Nick flipped him the bird.

Derek just smiled. “Why don’t you want us to meet her, Nick?”

Nick said carefully, “She’s…different. I really don’t mind you meeting her but…fine.” He took out his phone.

Nick: How do you feel about going to a gamer’s paradise tomorrow after school? Beta testing what’s considered the best game for next year.

Lilac: What time do we leave?

Nick couldn’t help but grin at the reply, which had come faster than usual. Trust Lilac to be this eager to go out with him – and not for the same reasons most women wanted to be with him.

Nick: Fetch you at school 7PM.

Lilac: Got it.

This time he laughed outright. For once, Lilac hadn’t even argued with him about transportation. Most times, they wasted half an hour arguing Nick’s inflexible stance on not letting Lilac drive whenever they went out. 

Pocketing his phone, Nick looked up to find all his friends looking at him. “What?” Was it just him or did he sound a tad defensive there?

Everyone suddenly suddenly busy, Derek shrugging, Christien popping a new beer can open and Reid checking his own phone with a frown. But all of the fucking jerks had smirks on their faces.

Nick flipped them the bird. “Fuck you all.”

Everyone stopped pretending, doubling over with laughter instead.

“You should have seen your face while texting, man,” Reid said. “I think old-fashioned “smitten” is the word.”

“Again---” Nick gave Reid the finger.

Christien asked, “So we’re good tomorrow?”

Nick nodded. “I have a meeting with Jason for a possible investment in a gaming company. We’ll be testing products tomorrow tonight at our headquarters. I’ve invited her and you guys can come along if you want.”

“A business meeting about a gaming company?” Derek echoed incredulously.

“Have you lost your touch, old man?” Christien asked, grinning.

“What the fuck are you thinking, taking a chick to a place like that?” Reid’s tone was cynical. “She’ll be bored in a minute and then she’d be nagging you to death.”

Nick only smiled. “That’s what you think.”

“Your risk,” Derek answered with a shrug.

Nick’s tone was smug. “No. It’s my gain.”

****

“You are…kidding me.” Lilac flopped on her seat beside Nick in the car, her pale violet eyes going doll-like in wonder at Nick’s announcement.

He grinned, loving how Lilac was looking at him now. It was, he mused, as if he had just become a god in her eyes. It was a fucking turn-on, and he did his best to control his erection. He didn’t want to muddy the waters between them even more than he already had last night.

Nick took out his phone and tossed it to Lilac, who caught it handily. “Check out my reading app. You’ll see the contract there.” He waited patiently, and after a few moments was rewarded by Lilac’s gasp.

“No…way,” she exclaimed.

Lilac’s words got out another grin from him. Only Lilac could make such simple words sound so…delicate, with the care she exercised every time she spoke.

“Oh my God,” she whispered next, her eyes still glued to the screen. “The company you just bought…owns...the rights to…
Ronin
?” When she turned to him for confirmation, Lilac was starry-eyed.

It was…too much.

For tonight, Nick had dressed to impress, with the insane urge to drive Lilac crazy with desire. And though he had seen the way Lilac swallow nervously at the sight of him in another custom-designed three-piece suit, she had only nodded and said, “Hello.” Lilac’s sexy cool attitude, knowing it wasn’t fake, made last night seem like it had only been one hell of a wet dream.

Nick’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. A wet dream, he thought, he wanted to goddamn experience again.

For tonight, Nick had gotten his most expensive sports car out, a red top-down coupe that had never failed to make the women he dated in the past melt like honey in his arms. But Lilac had only blinked. “New…toy?” She had sounded so blank Nick almost believed she really was talking about something he had bought from a toy shop. Worse, the way she said ‘toy’ was enough to have his lust reaching new heights, making Nick fantasize about having Lilac as his very willing toy.

But then this.

When Nick wasn’t trying at all, only wanting to share his news because he knew Lilac would appreciate it --- Lilac was suddenly looking at him like he was a fucking knight in shining armor.

It was too much, too hot, and it caught him off guard. With just one blink of those eyes, made sexier by the oh-so-impressed stars in them, and Nick’s lust knew no bounds. 

Lilac let out a little shriek when Nick stepped on the gas just as they reached the basement parking entrance of a magnificent skyscraper, its entire structure made of ice-blue-tinted glass. She let out another shriek, holding on to the dashboard even though she was strapped in her seat, her eyes widening at the way Nick was suddenly driving like a maniac.

“Nick?” Her voice came out high-pitched as Nick continued to drive like a madman, the twists and turns making her feel light-headed.

She let out her third shriek when he made one particularly hard turn, causing Lilac to tumble against him. She twisted her head to glare at him upon hearing Nick chuckle. “Not funny,” she hissed, albeit breathlessly.

Nick’s tires screeched as he drove his car smoothly into the parking slot allotted for him and Jason. Locking gazes with Lilac, he silently demanded her to just look at him, just think of him even as he called the head of his security on his mobile.

“I don’t want to be disturbed.”

Lilac stiffened at the now-familiar words.

Uh…oh…

It was the only thing she managed to think of before Nick tossed his phone away and bent over to unlock Lilac’s seatbelt. Beautifully warm lips met with hers even as Lilac dimly felt Nick lifting her bodily from her seat and depositing her on his lap, her legs straddling his hips.

When Nick let her up for air, Lilac tried to speak but her voice failed at the feel of something exquisitely hard poking between her legs. She gazed at Nick, and her mouth completely dried at the desire burning in his brilliantly blue gaze.

Oh. My. God.

“Nick.” This time, her voice was throaty with the same kind of need.

“You make me want you so fucking easily.” His fingers curled into her hair, fisting it, and then using it to pull her down so he could take her lips once more. She moaned as their lips met, and then her lips were parting open and his tongue slid inside as if it had once again found its home.

“
Nick
.” This was wrong. This was dangerous. This was not supposed to happen between friends. She knew all those were true, but she couldn’t help losing herself in the dark pleasure of Nick’s kiss, the expert movement of his lips, the heat of his tongue, all of it more than enough to have her head spin.