Enlightened (Untwisted Series Book 4)

by Alice Raine

  With my eyes glued to his, Nathan stood and used a finger to loosen the navy silk tie around his neck, then popped open the top button of his shirt and began to walk towards me, his intent becoming clearer with every stalked step he took. Unfortunately my treacherous stomach had other ideas and let out a loud growl that caused Nathan to stop mid-step and shake his head as if trying to clear a fog from his brain.

  ‘Christ, what am I thinking?’ he muttered with a sardonic grin. ‘I was fully intent on ravishing you just minutes after you’ve woken up from a serious illness.’ Clicking his tongue he made the final two steps to me. ‘What you really need is food and a shower.’

  With no warning Nathan bent and scooped me up into his arms and then kicking the duvet aside he made his way towards the kitchen. I still felt a bit dodgy, but with him in close quarters like this I couldn’t help but push my luck. ‘And then ravishing?’ I asked hopefully, as I looped my arms around his neck and held on for the journey. There was no point telling him I was capable of walking, I’d long since learnt that when Nathan had set his mind to something nothing would sway him off course.

  Chuckling, Nathan grinned down at me. ‘We’ll see how you’re feeling, but yes, if you really are as well recovered as you look then there will definitely be some ravishing going on later. It’s been a while and I’m only human, after all.’ My eyebrows rose at his comment; he might only be human, but he had enough sex drive for five men.

  Pausing by the kitchen Nathan looked down at me thoughtfully. ‘Food first or shower?’ Eyeing the fruit bowl my stomach growled again and I grinned at him as one of my hands rubbed across the beautifully taut muscles of his chest.

  ‘Banana, shower, and then proper food,’ I said, removing my hand from his chest and holding it out in the direction of the three ripe bananas on the kitchen surface.

  ‘Deal,’ Nathan agreed, walking me closer so I could pluck one off. Carrying me to his master bathroom he gently placed me on the sink unit and whilst he set about turning on the shower and setting the temperature I promptly ate my fruit, glad to feel some nourishment hit my empty stomach.

  Turning to me and eyeing the empty banana skin in my hand Nathan raised a blond eyebrow. ‘That was quick, did you inhale it?’ he joked dryly. Grinning he walked to me and deposited the banana skin in the bin for me. ‘Do you want me to get you another?’

  Shaking my head I smiled, happy to be feeling so well again. ‘I’m fine, one was enough to hold my hunger at bay.’

  Any remnants of hunger I might have been feeling were well and truly forgotten as Nathan peeled off his shirt to reveal his beautifully toned chest and its sprinkling of blond hair. Sighing happily it soon became apparent that Nathan was intent on joining me in the shower as he also undid his belt and zip and let his trousers fall to his ankles. Crikey, now that was a sight for sore eyes. Not that I was complaining in the slightest. ‘I still feel pretty exhausted, but I have to say my memories are blurry. I remember bits and pieces, but nothing solid since we were out together in your company car. How long was I sick?’ I asked, curious as to how much of my life I’d lost to the shadowy mess in my brain.

  Jerking his chin Nathan indicated for me to raise my arms, which I did without question, allowing him to peel off my T-shirt and leave me sat there in just a pair of black cotton knickers. ‘Two days, but you’ll probably take a few more days to fully recover,’ he murmured, a frown creasing his brow as his eyes flicked to mine, full of concern. ‘You were in and out of sleep the whole time.’ Running a hand through his hair he let out a sharp breath, ‘Fuck. It was horrible, Stella, your fever was so high, I felt so fucking helpless.’ he whispered, his uncharacteristic anxiety obvious.

  ‘Hey, I’m OK now,’ I assured him, reaching out and touching Nathan’s shoulder to bring him back to the present. ‘Actually, considering you’ve just told me that I’ve been out of it for more than twenty-four hours I have to say I feel pretty great.’ OK so that was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, I was still achy and tired, but at least I was properly awake and thinking clearer. Reacting to my touch Nathan took my hand in his and kissed the knuckles one by one, making me grin like a lovesick teenager. ‘Thank you for looking after me,’ I told him.

  Apparently not comfortable with my praise Nathan merely shrugged, and grunting a reply he stepped out of his boxers to reveal his gloriously naked body in all its entirety. Swallowing hard and loud I felt my stomach tighten and my pulse accelerate as the final parts of him were revealed. I might have been struggling with a few side-effects of my illness, but the sight of Nathan’s naked body ignited something inside of me and I suddenly knew that this shower wouldn’t just involve a quick wash. ‘I could do with brushing my teeth,’ I mumbled, horrified by the thought of my stale ‘illness breath’. As if reading my mind Nathan loaded a toothbrush with paste and handed it to me with a faint nod of his head as a smile finally returned to his lips.

  As predicted the shower lasted longer than it should have done. Nathan insisted on pampering me completely, washing every inch of my body with care, cleaning under my fingernails, and gently shampooing my limp hair. Once I was clean his washing gradually turned into massaging, which then turned to a lazy lovemaking session. I was sleepy again and uncoordinated from my flu, but as usual Nathan was more than happy to take the lead and gently pushed me against the tiled wall of the cubicle, supporting my weight and gallantly exerting far more energy than me as he reacquainted our bodies.

  Once we were finally clean and dry I opened the wardrobe where I kept a few spare items of clothing, hoping to find a snuggly jumper that I could pull on to curl up on the sofa in, or something suitable of Nathan’s that I could borrow. Before I even got as far as looking for a jumper I came to a halt. Holding the handle to the cupboard I blinked several times and frowned. The cupboard was full, its rail literally crammed with hangers containing my clothes. There wasn’t a trace of Nathan’s stuff in here, it was all mine. Turning silently I found Nathan watching me cautiously, his jaw sawing back and forth as he frantically chewed on the inside of his lower lip. ‘You moved me in again?’ I asked, gob-smacked and unable to believe that Nathan had tried to do this two frigging times now.

  Finally giving his lip a rest Nathan shrugged guiltily, his expression remarkably similar to a disgruntled child. ‘You were sick and I needed to work so I brought you here. I didn’t know how long you’d be ill for so I packed up a few of your things.’

  My eyebrows shot up and I swung back to look at the rail. ‘A few of my things?’ I spun back to look at him. ‘Nathan, this is practically every item of clothing that I own!’

  Apparently tiring of my completely valid argument Nathan pulled on his T-shirt with a grunt and circled the bed so that he was stood just two feet away from me. From the look on Nathan’s face you would have thought it was me that had done something wrong, and I was once again reminded of just how domineering he could be.

  ‘Move in with me, Stella,’ he demanded suddenly, his tone low and gritty and causing me to swallow hard. Now it was my turn to bite my lip. Here we go again. I was way too tired and achy to be discussing this now. I’d already told him of my objections, what else could I say? I was starting to feel like a broken record and becoming more and more uncomfortable saying no all the time in case he took it as a rejection of him, and not his apartment.

  ‘You know how I feel about you, Nathan, but like I said the other day, I’m just not ready to live here,’ I said, my irrational hatred of the idea of living here in the apartment he had shared with his previous women pushing to the surface again and making my stomach twist. Ugh, every time I allowed myself to consider it I felt positively sick.

  ‘If we moved somewhere new would you move in then? Or just find another reason not to?’ he enquired sharply, not sounding like he believed me for a minute. Interesting, my ears had certainly perked up at that, it sounded like he was genuinely considering moving, which thrilled me no end, but seeing my shocked expression at his tone Nathan seemed t
o force his face to soften. ‘If it’s just the location bothering you then that’s fine …’ he paused, taking another cautious step closer, ‘… but when you were sick you said something about “other women”.’ His voice had lowered and he reached over to tip my chin upwards with his thumb so I was forced to meet his steely gaze.

  God, what else had I reeled off in my sleep? My childhood love of pickled onions? How much I loved his sexy, wide-legged stance perhaps? I hated that I sometimes spoke in my sleep. How embarrassing. Not noticing my awkwardness Nathan tilted his head and studied me intently. ‘You do know you’re the only one for me, Stella, don’t you?’ Perhaps sensing my ever growing reliance on him, or just needing the contact himself, Nathan closed the last space between us and enveloped me in his huge, strong arms. ‘There are no other women, not now, not ever again. Just you.’ His words were so lovely that I very nearly cried, especially seeing as they were coming from Nathan, Mr Non-Emotional himself. Instead of crying I somehow managed to swallow down my tears and lean up to place a kiss on his warm lips. ‘I love you,’ I murmured, hoping it would be enough for now.

  He made a contented humming noise in the back of his throat as he returned my chaste kiss, but his lips soon parted and he briefly deepened our kiss, running his tongue along my lower lip and darting it in to flick across my eager tongue. ‘But you still won’t move in with me here, will you?’ he said, apparently intent on trying his luck one last time.

  Nathan may have made it out as a joke, but I knew him well enough now to catch the note of hurt that seeped into his tone, presumably from the idea of leaving his beloved apartment, and I frowned, hating the fact that it was me causing him hurt. Perhaps if we did a bit of redecorating and made it “our” apartment as opposed to just “his”, then I’d get used to the space? It was probably worth a try. I wanted to reassure him, especially as he’d just been so open and honest with me, so I didn’t give Nathan my stock answer of ‘no’, instead I kissed him again and then leant in close to his ear. ‘Let’s see how we go in the next few weeks, OK? Maybe I could try …’

  If I’d ever had any doubts about Nathan’s feelings towards me they would have been cleared up that very second, because upon hearing my words he leant back and gazed down at me with a huge grin on his lips. Wow, that smile was incredible, and the happiness in Nathan’s eyes was un-mistakable, he was clearly overjoyed. Well, that settled it then, I either needed to get over my jealousy and move in here, or somehow have to break the news that I still wanted him to move out of his beloved apartment.

  Seven – Rebecca

  Tiptoeing along the corridor towards the kitchen I fiddled with my hair nervously as my mind ticked over my options. I needed to approach this subject with the upmost care and delicacy. It wasn’t one of those things I could carelessly toss out into the air, otherwise Nicholas would freak out and lock himself in his piano room for the remainder of the day – or perhaps even the entire weekend if I was unlucky.

  The wedding flowers. This was one of my allocated tasks for the wedding, and today was my first appointment with some florists to see bouquet samples and possible table arrangements. The quotes I’d had were astronomical, and even though Nicholas and I weren’t hard up for cash this was one of those times that I wished I was creative so I could do my own displays and save us some money – perhaps add it to the charity donation we were making as part of the wedding – but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, I was terrible at anything artsy. I’d hoped that Stella and her spectacular flair for interior design might have been able to create some fantastic floral work, but regardless of her recent illness, apparently her style skills didn’t quite transfer into the actual making of things, so it looked like I’d be calling in a pro.

  Now we’d picked the venue for the wedding I knew I either needed a florist in the Lake District, or one who was willing make the trip north. The three florists I’d arranged to see were from various parts of the country, but willing to travel within the UK for an additional fee if I liked their selections. Today’s outing had all been arranged weeks ago – Stella was supposed to be accompanying me and we were going to make it into a lovely girly day out, but after her flu last week she was still really run down and had called and cancelled, apologising profusely, and saying that she simply didn’t have enough energy for a shopping spree. Louise, my second bridesmaid, was working in the bookshop today so I was officially partnerless. I didn’t fancy making decisions like this on my own, so that left only one option: Nicholas.

  I was sure I could persuade Nicholas to come and look at a couple of bouquets if I engaged my best coercive skills, but unfortunately today’s meetings wouldn’t just be a quick trip to a florist – no, my appointments were in Earls Court.

  Or more specifically, the National Wedding Show at Earls Court Exhibition Centre.

  Pausing on the threshold to the kitchen I closed my eyes and grimaced. With over three hundred stalls ranging from florists and bridal boutiques to photographers and cake makers it was going to be stuffed full of cooing brides, over excited mother-in-laws, and soppy romantic music. Basically, it was Nicholas’ worst nightmare come true. My poor, emotionally deprived man would hate it, I just knew it. If I’d felt comfortable making the decision on my own I wouldn’t even bother to ask him, but this was a big deal and I wanted – needed – a second opinion.

  Taking a deep breath for courage I entered the kitchen and immediately forgot my worry as I felt my lips tug into a smile at the sight before me. Nicholas, my usually immaculate and well-presented gentleman, was stood at the kitchen counter in a pair of loose pyjama bottoms and a crumpled, dark grey T-shirt with stylistic piano keys printed across the shoulders. I loved this particular T-shirt on him. It was tight across his muscles in all the right places, and from memory, had the same colourful logo across the chest too. The most incongruous things though, were his unshaven stubbly jaw and his dark hair, which was in absolute disarray on his head flopping all over the place and looking so unbelievably sexy that I found myself biting down on my lower lip and squeezing my thighs together. Blimey. Nicholas looking rough and ready, what a sight to start the day.

  His legs were spread, his broad shoulders slightly dipped as he studied a newspaper on the counter intently, and I was suddenly filled with the overwhelming temptation to forget the stupid flowers and drag him onto to the kitchen floor to have my wicked way with his delicious body. Heaving out a breath I forced the lust to the back of my mind and instead approached behind him and slid my arms around his waist so they were linked on his flat belly. Pushing onto my tip toes I rested my chin on his shoulder and placed a kiss on his neck. Hmmm, he smelled just as good as he looked; warm and sleepy with a hint of his aftershave still remaining from the night before.

  ‘Morning, sweetheart,’ he murmured. ‘You slept in.’ Swivelling in my arms Nicholas turned so I was met with a close up of his tousled gorgeousness and a contented sigh slipped from my lips. Lifting his arms he rested one lightly on my shoulder and used the other to grip my bum and pull me firmly against him so our hips were melded together and our faces just inches apart before dropping a soft, lovely kiss on my lips.

  ‘Hi,’ I replied, my eyebrows raising as I felt the stirrings of his groin hardening against my tummy. He was always so horny in the mornings, but at that thought I had to grin because actually given half a chance Nicholas could get horny pretty much any time of the day. Shifting slightly so I could glance down between us I blushed as I saw a glimpse of hard, pink skin poking from the slit in his pyjamas. He clearly wasn’t wearing any boxers, a fact which suddenly made me feel shy – a ridiculous reaction given how long we’d been together. Shy, but also quite lusty. Perhaps my kitchen floor sex plan would become a reality after all.

  ‘I was thinking we could have a lazy day in bed today. I could do with a break after all the concerts and wedding plans recently and I’ve got nothing in my diary at all. What about you?’ Bugger. Talk about ruining my horniness. It was like he’d thrown a bucket
of ice water over me. Well, it was now or never, I might as well just get it out there I suppose.

  ‘Um … I do have some things I need to do today.’ Looking up at him hopefully I found myself twiddling with my hair – my little tell, as he called it – and I just knew that he’d be internally trying to work out why I was anxious. ‘Actually, I was hoping you might help me out.’

  Both of his hands now rested on my waist, gently massaging me as he slowly circled his hips to rub his erection against me, all the while giving me a considering look. Talk about distracting. ‘Of course … what do you need my help with?’ Nicholas has often said I was transparent to him, and I was almost certain from his slightly narrowed eyes and marginal tension in his shoulders that he knew he wasn’t going to like my answer.

  As his arousal became harder against me I genuinely struggled to remember what the heck I needed his help with, and had to forcibly focus my mind. Wedding. Flowers. Not sex. ‘Stella was supposed to be helping me pick out a wedding bouquet today, but she’s still not on top form after her flu. I don’t want to do it on my own, so I was hoping you might help me?’

  Beneath my hands I felt his muscles relax, ‘Is that all? Of course I’ll come with you.’

  That was the easy part out of the way – now to drop the real bombshell. ‘Great! Thank you, Nicholas,’ I gushed, before biting my lower lip and taking a deep breath, ‘The thing is, it’s not just a florist shop we need to go to … I arranged to meet with several florists today because there’s an event they will all be at together.’ The tension in his muscles returned, this time accompanied with a much deeper eyebrow lowering. The only good thing was that he stayed quiet so I could get it all out in one go. ‘It’s at Earls Court Exhibition Centre.’ Clearing my throat I chucked the last nugget of information at him. ‘This weekend is the National Wedding Show … that’s where my appointments are.’