The Darkness Within Him: The Untwisted series (20 page)

Nicholas showed me in both his actions and words that he truly did love me as he rained kisses down upon me and made slow, delicious love to me that night. It was possibly the knowledge that he loved me, or perhaps just the three weeks apart, but he brought me to one of the most blissful orgasms of my life. I knew I had never felt happier as my body clenched around his and he found his release while buried deep inside me, calling out my name into the darkness.

Chapter Fifteen

The following morning, I woke feeling well rested for the first time since I’d walked out on Nicholas just over three weeks ago. The reason I’d slept so well was still wrapped around me like a blanket, his head resting on my chest with his right arm and leg thrown over me protectively, and I couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh. I’d slept through the entire night – well, what was left of it after Nicholas and I had finished reacquainting ourselves with each other’s body.

A childish grin spread over my face as I thought about last night’s naughtiness. Three weeks apart had done nothing to dull his insatiable sexual appetite; that was for sure.

I shook my head in disbelief at everything that had occurred yesterday and I shifted myself out from under him so I could lie there watching him relaxed in sleep. Despite all of Nicholas’ many, many,
many
, issues, I had no regrets about my decision to take him back. He’d opened up to me so much yesterday that I was sure we could work through any difficulties that arose between us.

With his head now turned on the pillow, his hair had fallen back from his face, revealing the strong cut of his features, and I actually found myself feeling breathless, although this was nothing new. Nicholas’ handsomeness had always affected my ability to breathe and after three weeks without the glorious sight of him, I took a moment to soak it up greedily once again.

As I gently trailed a finger down the soft stubble on his jaw, I nodded to myself. Yes, I was convinced I’d done the right thing, especially when I thought about that horrible night when I’d deserted Joanne. Not that that was why I was with him – this wasn’t a guilt thing – but my experience with Joanne had taught me that I was strong enough to support him in any remaining conflicts he had and to help him through them. And although it would kill me to do it, I knew I would be brave enough to walk away from him if he ever flipped out on me again.

Sliding away as gently as I could, I did my best not to disturb Nicholas’ sleeping form and reached for my phone to check the time. Managing to grab my mobile, I was amazed to see it was gone ten o’clock already. Mind you, after those delicious hours spent sweatily entwined with him last night it was no wonder I had been tired, I thought with another self-indulgent grin. Just as well it was Saturday and I didn’t need to be in work because Louise and Robin ran the show on a weekend.

I felt Nicholas stir beside me, obviously having sensed my movement. Before I knew it, he was deftly rolling me back over, straddling me, and leaning down to plant a soft, lingering kiss on my lips.

‘I hope you weren’t planning on getting up without waking me, Miss Langley,’ he murmured against my cheek, making me smile happily as I ran my free hand through his sleep-tousled hair. Mmm, he smelt so good: faintly of aftershave but more predominantly of warm skin, fresh sheets, and me. What a combination.

‘Morning, sleepyhead.’ I grinned. ‘You looked so peaceful I didn’t want to wake you,’ I murmured at exactly the same time as my phone began to ring in my hand, making me jump. Sliding it out from between our bodies, I glanced at the screen and saw my mother’s number flashing up.

‘It’s my mum, let me get up,’ I said, pushing at his chest above me and expecting him to move so I could take the call.

‘
You
giving
me
instructions, Rebecca?
Really
?’ he said with a saucy raise of his eyebrow. ‘Answer it,’ he instructed, with a sly smile breaking on his lips. Uh-oh, he had a devious twinkle in his eyes, and when Nicholas got that look, it always led to mischief of the sexual kind.

‘Nicholas, I’m not answering the phone to my mum with your gloriously naked body straddling me.’ I laughed, pushing uselessly against him again.

‘Glorious, eh? I like that,’ he said with a smirk. Then, to my complete surprise – and horror – he grabbed the phone from my hand, pressed the green speak button, and held it out to me, grinning. My eyes widened in shock and I barely had time to realise what he had done before I heard my mum’s voice echoing from the speaker, saying my name.

Throwing a look of annoyance at him, I took the phone and tried to calm my heart rate, which was harder than it sounded given that I was pinned below a naked Nicholas whose morning excitement was becoming more evident against my stomach by the second. Goodness, he was keen, I thought with a blush as I glanced down
.

‘Hi, Mum!’ I exclaimed, probably in a slightly too enthusiastic tone due to my current state of panic. I raised my eyes from Nicholas’ groin. They locked with his gaze and I glared at him, but in return he merely grinned wickedly down at me and wiggled his eyebrows. My glare faded. He was hard to stay mad at when he looked so playful.

Trying to focus on Mum’s voice and not Nicholas’ nakedness, I listened to her for a moment before I slapped a hand to my forehead. ‘No, no, of course I haven’t forgotten, Mum.’ Which of course meant that I had.

Nicholas began to very slowly grind himself, and his almost fully developed erection, against my pelvis causing me to completely lose my train of thought once more. Gosh, that was so distracting … Who was I talking to again?

Desperately trying to focus on my phone call, I managed an answer to the question Mum had just asked. ‘Today, yep …’ I muttered breathlessly as I desperately fought against Nicholas’ hands as he tried to reach up and fondle my breasts. Of course it was a losing battle, because one of my hands was busy holding the phone and I couldn’t defend both my bare breasts against his fast-moving fingers. I struggled for several seconds, which only caused me to get more breathless, but in the end gave up and flopped back on the bed, giving him full access. He celebrated with a triumphant smile and a gentle tweak of a nipple.

‘
Ahh
 …’ I groaned as Nicholas ran his fingertips around both my hardened nipple tips. ‘Sorry, Mum, I was just, um,
stretching
,’ I lied with a grimace. ‘Yep, 12 o’clock at my flat.’

To my horror, Nicholas grinned at me and licked one of his fingers before his hand dipped lower – far lower – and within seconds, he’d slipped it straight inside me.
Holy shit!
Somehow, I managed to muffle the gasp that escaped me at his intrusion, but as he started to lazily slide it in and out of me, I was blushing bright red and squirming below his skilled touch in no time.

‘Looking forward to seeing you, Mum. I’ve gotta go. Bye!’ I ended the call as quickly as I could, then threw my phone onto the duvet and began to thrash at Nicholas’ chest with balled fists.

‘That was my mum, Nicholas!’ I screeched, trying to make him realise how inappropriate it was to insert a finger into someone while they were conversing with a parent. Unfortunately, with him grinning down at me like an excited puppy, my anger lasted all of about six seconds, before I greedily grabbed his biceps and pulled him down on top on me for a heated kiss.

Ten minutes later, feeling sated after a very speedy lovemaking session, I finally managed to disengage Nicholas from my limbs and sat up. ‘I’ve really got to go – I completely forgot that my mum’s coming down from Penrith to spend the weekend with me. She’s already on the train now. It’s her birthday tomorrow and we always have a girly weekend together to celebrate,’ I explained as I tried to detangle my leg from the sheets.

Clambering from the bed and reaching for my pants and jeans, I stopped, frozen to the spot, as a thought occurred to me. ‘Shit! I haven’t even got her a bloody present!’ I looked at Nicholas with horror spreading over my face. ‘I’ve been so preoccupied with what was going on between us that I completely forgot about it,’ I mumbled guiltily.

Preoccupied was an understatement – I’d been an absolute zombie these past few weeks.

I grabbed my phone to check the time again. My heart sank. It was nearly half past ten now. There was no way I could get back to my flat, tidy it up, make up the spare bedroom, and go out to buy a present before Mum’s train arrived.
Bugger
.

‘I haven’t got time now. I’ll have to see if I can nip out tonight once she’s gone to bed and get some flowers or something.’ Pulling on my bra and shirt in record time, I dashed around the bed to where Nicholas was lounging back in the pillows, watching my flustered state with apparent amusement.

‘I’m sorry to run off like this,’ I said, leaning down and cupping his chin. The night’s worth of stubble felt rough beneath my thumb and I briefly rubbed it in fascination. ‘Especially seeing as we just made up. But I really need to go and get my flat ready. Shall I come round Sunday night after Mum’s left?’ I asked hopefully, turning to find my handbag.

‘Sounds good. I’m assuming it’s a bit soon for me to meet your mother?’ he enquired lightly, completely confusing me. I stopped sorting through my bag to look at him. Did he want to meet my mum so early on in our relationship? It was a pretty big step, after all.

‘Umm, you can meet her if you like?’ I offered, unsure what response he was looking for. From my experience, which admittedly was limited, men didn’t usually want to meet parents until wedding bells were in the air. ‘But I should warn you it will mostly be us catching up and gossiping.’

Nicholas grinned then made a funny face where he wrinkled up his nose. ‘Sounds a bit girly for me; maybe next time,’ he said and I took this as his polite way of getting out of it. Fair enough.

He climbed from the bed in all his naked glory, totally distracting me from my packing, and I stood gaping at his masculine beauty as he walked toward me and enfolded me gently in his arms. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered next to my ear, dropping several light kisses on the corner of my jaw.

‘For what?’ I asked, trying not to get distracted by the warm nakedness of his body wrapped around me. He now smelled faintly of sleep but more obvious was the scent our recent sex that lingered on his skin and made me feel horny all over again. I buried my head in his chest and inhaled deeply, trying to commit the scent to memory.

‘For giving me a second chance. You won’t regret it, Rebecca,’ he assured me, his voice sincere as he leant back to look in my eyes. ‘I love you. I wish you didn’t have to go, but I understand.’ He sounded regretful as he pushed me in the direction of the door. ‘Mr Burrett will drive you.’ He turned for the bed, giving me a superb view of his equally superb behind. ‘Go now, before I drag you back to bed,’ he growled, and I left the room giggling like a teenager.

Chapter Sixteen

The spare bed was made, the flat was tidy, and I had showered and changed, just in time for Mum’s prompt arrival at midday. Luckily, the place had been almost immaculate anyway because I’d cleaned like an obsessive-compulsive loon over the last three weeks while trying to take my mind off of Nicholas.

The doorbell rang while Mum and I sat having coffee and planning what to do with our afternoon. I hadn’t let on that I had no present or plans for her birthday tomorrow. I was hoping I might be able to magic up something tonight when she had gone to bed, but to be honest I wasn’t expecting anything too amazing.

Late-night Tesco, here I come, I thought.

Wandering to the door, I pulled it open expecting a salesman of some kind, and was startled to find Nicholas leaning on the wall outside my flat. Crikey, he looked stunningly handsome. How was it possible to make dark navy jeans and a simple grey polo shirt look that good? By his feet was a large cardboard box but he stepped over it, entered my flat, and, after a brief glance in my mother’s direction, pulled me firmly against him and kissed me hard on the lips.

Wow, what an entrance! Part of me should have been mad that Nicholas was staking such an obvious claim to me in front of my mother, but deep down I couldn’t help but feel pleased he was this possessive.

I’ve never really been one for public displays of affection, but even though I was well aware that Mum sat on the sofa not ten feet away – with a full view of this passionate exchange, might I add – I couldn’t pull away. Didn’t want to. With the usual electricity pinging between us, I simply couldn’t do anything except place my hands on Nicholas’ shoulders, drag him closer, and return his heated kiss.

Leaning back slightly, Nicholas ended the kiss and smiled down at me, his eyes bright and burning with something so naughty that I couldn’t even consider it with my mum in such close proximity. ‘Hi,’ he murmured.

‘Hey,’ I replied shyly, still half wondering what he was doing here. Had he forgotten my mum’s visit, because I had been fairly sure from his reaction this morning that he hadn’t been hugely keen on meeting her just yet.

We were seemingly stuck in a little bubble of our own, but I suddenly caught a glimpse of my mum out of the corner of my eye; she was looking at us with obvious interest and a fairly healthy blush reddening her cheeks too. Oops, that was probably from witnessing our heated exchange of lips.

Slipping an arm around Nicholas’ waist, I turned toward her to make the introductions. ‘Mum, this is Nicholas …’ I glanced at him. ‘My boyfriend,’ I explained awkwardly, hoping he wouldn’t mind the title. ‘Nicholas, this is my mum, Leanne.’

As Mum began to stand, Nicholas leant down toward me. ‘Boyfriend?’ he asked in a peculiar tone that made my stomach clench with worry. Had I gone too far by assuming the title for him? But what else could I call him in front of my mother? My lover? Hardly. ‘
Boyfriend
 …’ he said again, pronouncing the word slowly as if processing it. ‘No one’s ever called me that before … I like it,’ he concluded with a grin.

Phew.

Mum barrelled across the room to be introduced properly and I watched in amusement as her jaw dropped slightly when she took in Nicholas in all his glory. Yep, he could probably stop traffic with his handsomeness, I thought proudly.

‘Mrs Langley, it’s a pleasure to meet you,’ he gushed in a honeyed tone, extending his hand to hers before bending to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. I smirked inwardly at his “Mr Smooth” impression – gone was Dominant Nicholas, here was Nicholas at his most charming, and I shook my head in wonder at his ever-changing personality.

Mum was clearly susceptible to his charms and I watched as she blushed furiously –that was obviously where I got that particular trait from – before briefly embracing Nicholas and standing back with a broad grin on her face.

‘Call me Leanne. It’s lovely to meet you, Nicholas. Rebecca was just telling me about you.’ She beamed.

Giving my hip a discreet squeeze, Nicholas smiled at Mum with a look of pride on his face before looking at me with a hint of a raised eyebrow, which I took to mean “I hope you haven’t told her everything about me”. I smiled up at him cheekily but no, there were certain areas of my life that I wouldn’t discuss even with Mum – Nicholas’ preference for a little light bondage being one of those things. I hadn’t told her about the recent split either, deciding there was no need to worry her now that things were back on track. Blushing, I looked back at my mum and saw her in her element. Clearly she was loving seeing me with a boyfriend for a change.

‘Anyway, Rebecca, I didn’t want to disturb your girly weekend together, but you left the box with your mum’s birthday stuff at my house,’ Nicholas said indicating the box outside my flat and flashing me the briefest of winks.

Box with my mum’s birthday stuff in it?
What
? I hadn’t got round to getting her anything yet. Had Nicholas been out and got a present for my mother? Blimey, that was thoughtful, not to mention totally unexpected.

‘I know your birthday is tomorrow, Leanne, but seeing as I won’t be here then would you like to open it now? I helped Rebecca pick it out, I’d love to see your reaction,’ Nicholas said.

My stomach dropped. I had absolutely no idea what was in the box. God, what if it was awful …? After all, men sometimes had very odd taste when it came to presents, didn’t they? What if he’d got her an ironing board cover or something equally hideous?

‘Ohh yes! I’d love to!’ Mum exclaimed, smiling broadly at Nicholas. He bent to retrieve the enormous box and, after kicking the door shut behind him, placed it on the dining table.

Either his possessive streak was running riot today or he simply couldn’t keep his hands off me, because once again he stepped to my side and draped an arm casually over my shoulders. I have to say, after the previous night’s reconciliation I didn’t mind in the slightest, and returned the action by slipping my hand around his waist, dipping it into the back pocket of his jeans, and giving his bum a quick squeeze.

The movement of my hand caused a faint rumble to escape from Nicholas’ throat, but luckily, it was hidden by the sounds of Mum pulling open the cardboard box. Tentatively, I looked inside. As she pulled out a huge bunch of flowers, I relaxed. Phew, they were beautiful; Nicholas had done well.

‘Oh, these are just lovely. Thank you both!’ Mum exclaimed, sniffing the colourful bouquet with a grin and then gently placing the flowers on the table.

Nicholas reached into the box and pulled out a card and smaller, gift-wrapped box. Handing me the card, he gave the box to my mum. ‘Maybe you should give your mum the card tomorrow morning so she has something to open,’ he suggested, and after a quick glance, I realised the card was blank and ready for me to write in. Gosh, he’d thought of everything.

Meanwhile, Mum was busy unwrapping the small box. I couldn’t see what it contained but Nicholas gave my waist a squeeze as she let out a small sob of pleasure. ‘Oh! Darling, it’s beautiful!’ she cried, clearly overjoyed with her present, before she welled up with tears on the spot.

Craning my head, I saw a stunning silver bracelet with tiny blue jewels in it that looked suspiciously like sapphires. Blimey, it was gorgeous, and looked very expensive. No wonder Mum was crying.

Glancing up at Nicholas wide-eyed, I found his gaze firmly on mine. I mouthed the words “thank you”, and he smiled at me shyly. Wow, shyness; that was a side of him I hadn’t really seen before.

‘Oh, don’t forget this,’ Nicholas added, reaching into the seemingly empty box and removing one last envelope. ‘Actually, this one is a surprise for Becky too, my treat.’

Mum opened the envelope. I saw her eyes boggle before she looked up at Nicholas with stunned shock on her face. She silently passed the card to me. It was a luxury spa day for three at one of London’s top hotels and it was booked for tomorrow.

Holy cow, this lot must have cost him an absolute fortune.

‘I thought maybe you could take Joanne too?’ Nicholas said, sounding uncertain. ‘They have private spa rooms so it would just be the three of you, no strangers around.’ Could this man –
my man 
– get any better? How incredibly thoughtful; Joanne would love to spend the day with mum and me.

Oof.
Mum was suddenly embracing me so hard she knocked the wind out of my lungs. ‘Oh Becky, this is the best birthday ever, and to see you so happy …’ I hugged her back before she hugged Nicholas and then excused herself to the toilet. Probably to allow herself a private little cry and to fix her make-up.

‘Nicholas, this is –’ words failed me and I shook my head ‘– so thoughtful, thank you. I’ll pay you back,’ I added, wondering how many books I’d have to sell to afford the price of the bracelet alone.

‘No need, Becky, I wanted to do it,’ he reassured me, pulling me into his arms so I rested on his chest, probably one of my favourite places to be. Perhaps this generosity was just another of his ways to make things up with me. ‘You liked the bracelet?’ he asked uncertainly, stroking a hand over my hair.

‘Absolutely. It will suit Mum perfectly; we both prefer silver over gold so it was a great choice,’ I murmured as I buried my head in his shirt and inhaled his glorious scent. He’d showered so, disappointingly, the smell of this morning’s bedroom activity had gone, but it had been replaced by the lovely, piny, fresh fragrance that I loved so much.

‘That’s good to hear because I got you something too,’ he whispered, producing another box from his trouser pocket and holding it out to me.

Clicking open the square velvet box, I found a solid silver bangle glinting up at me. It had a line of gems running through the silver which looked rather like diamonds and was exactly the type of thing I would have bought myself if money were no object. Gasping, I looked up at him. ‘Nicholas, it’s beautiful,’ I whispered, ‘but this is all too much … This lot must have cost you a fortune,’ I babbled in my surprise.

‘You forget that because of your review I’m now a rather famous and well-paid pianist. I can afford it – and believe me, Rebecca, you are worth it.’ Bending his head, Nicholas proceeded to kiss me deeply and thoroughly until we heard the bathroom door open and had to break apart quickly, both of us panting and flushed and thoroughly aroused. As much as I loved my mum, right now I’d have killed for ten minutes alone with my amazing boyfriend, but as it was, he stayed for a coffee with us and then departed to leave us to our girly weekend.