The Truth of Never (The Never Trilogy Book 3)

by O. E. Boroni

  “Are you alright?”

  My automatic response was to say that I was, but at the last moment I changed my mind and shook my head. “I’m not.”

  “Do you want a kiss?” she asked, and it drew a smile out of me. My eyes went to her beautiful lips.

  “I do,” I said.

  I leaned towards her but at the last moment she said, “I haven’t brushed my teeth though.” And it made my grin even wider just before my lips touched hers, but that was just to prepare her.

  After that initial taste, I slipped my tongue into her mouth. I didn’t need a soft kiss, I needed something deep … something that would overwhelm my senses and make me briefly forget the grief that had overshadowed my heart. I could feel the surprise in her as she tried to match my ferocity and I tried to slow down, but each taste of her I got was a step closer towards losing myself in the one person that I was okay in doing that with. Eventually, I had to stop because I sensed that she needed to breathe.

  She was almost gasping for breath when I pulled away from her, her eyes glazed with passion. I was so aroused that all I could think about was taking her right then and there – that was the only thing that could shut my brain down. But this wasn’t a random girl, this was my girl. So… no. Not like this, not now. I’d waited too long so when it eventually happened, I wanted it to be perfect and not because I needed to forget that I was in pain.

  I rose to my feet and pulled her up with me. “Go change so we can go out,” I told her.

  She frowned at me just before she slanted her head and thrust her tongue into my mouth.

  Fuck!

  Just her kiss made me feel as much ecstasy as some of the random sex that I’d had in the past. It drove me crazy just to imagine what it’d feel like to be inside of her; her bare skin glued tightly to mine. My mind was blown. I tightened my arms around her and pressed her to me as hard as I could. I drank her in but I needed more. My mouth left hers and found its way to her neck. I tasted her skin, and wanted to go even further but my shirt on her restricted my access. I wanted to tear it off. I had self-control but this was Lenora. I couldn’t control myself when it came to her.

  Things began to get out of hand so I summoned the strength from nowhere and stepped away. “Let’s stop,” I said.

  “Are you kidding me? We’ve not even started. We need this.”

  “I know but not now. I need … I need it to be …”

  She grabbed the hem of her t-shirt and pulled it over her head. When it was off, she tossed it to the ground and stared at me.

  She had a lace bra on and it cupped her full breasts perfectly. I’d seen her naked before but I hadn’t allowed myself to think too deeply about it at the time. But I always had fantasies about her so the next time I did after the shower incident, I didn’t make up any details because none could be as perfect as the real thing. She had a lovely figure and the reminder made me want to tear my oversized jeans away from her waist.

  I stepped back and dropped down into the chair. I couldn’t stand anymore. I was so hard that the side of my head ached. Her hands went to the waistband of her jeans to undo it, and I watched, almost afraid to blink in case I missed anything as she pulled the belt away and then shimmied out of the jeans.

  Her panties were a dark sheer lace too, and there was very little that I wasn’t seeing. I thought back to the fifteen-year-old girl that had attacked me in the courtyard and a small laugh escaped my lips. Life was so ridiculous.

  “What are you laughing at?” she asked, and it made me realize that my amusement at this time would probably temper with her confidence. So I held her arm and drew her to me. “Nothing important.” I said and kissed her while she spread out her legs on either side of the chair, and sat down on my lap.

  “If we go any further, we’re not going to be done today.” I said between kisses, and she stopped briefly to respond, a little out of breath.

  “And?”

  “I don’t want our first time to be now. I’ll probably be completely focused on the escape it’ll give me instead of showing you just how much I’ve been looking forward to this. I even have a blueprint drawn out and everything.”

  At that, she smiled and held my face between her hands. “I understand.” She said and kissed me again before getting up to head towards the bathroom. “I’ll go and get ready.”

  “Okay,” I said and watched her leave. A few seconds after she’d shut the bathroom door, everything came rushing back. I went to the window and covered my eyes with my hand. I’d been in pain countless times over the past but this was just too much. There was a physical ache in my heart and it was weighing down my entire being. I wished I was back in New York so that I could at least start the process of healing; being here was making everything seem a thousand times worse.

  Lenora

  Nathan and I spent the rest of the day walking through town, and visiting little souvenir kiosks and fruit stalls along the streets. We had lunch at a beautiful traditional Portuguese restaurant, and by late afternoon we were both exhausted and ready to return to the hotel. Our plan had been to just pick up my things and return to the house, but we’d slid into bed and fallen asleep.

  *

  My ringing phone woke me up. At first I was ready to ignore it, but when I realized who it possibly was I shot up from the bed and picked it up. It was Elizabeth. I went into the bathroom to receive it. She sounded so depressed as she spoke that I truly felt sorry for her.

  “You said you’d call later today with a meeting time,” she said. “So I just called to remind you.”

  “No, its fine,” I replied. “And I can make it now. Where are you?”

  “I’m in a hotel- Colina Do Mar – it’s not too far from the house.”

  “I know. I’m in the same hotel.”

  “Oh, you are?”

  “Yeah, should we meet down at the bar?”

  “That’s fine. Is ten minutes okay?”

  “It is.”

  “Alright.” she said.

  I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to ignore her because no matter how I felt, I had no right to pass any sort of judgment over her, and she was Nathan’s mother. I left the bathroom and got ready as quietly as I could.

  Nathan woke up just as I was about to leave. “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “I, uh, I just want to get a drink from the bar downstairs.”

  “Oh, okay. Are you alright?”

  “I am,” I responded, and left the room. I was far from happy that I was aware of who his mother was, but at the same time I wanted to be the one to control the situation so that he would at least receive the news in the least painful way possible.

  Elizabeth was seated with a few other patrons by the bar, and at first I didn’t recognize her. Her hair was down, which was really different from the pinned up look she always wore, and she was in jeans. I took a seat and tried to suppress my awe at the fact that I was sitting with Nathan’s mother.

  “Do you want something to drink?” she asked.

  I nodded, and ordered a Margarita.

  “Small world, huh?” she said bitterly before taking a sip from her glass of wine.

  “How is Alex?” she asked. “When did you last speak to him?”

  “He’s alright,” I replied, ignoring her last question.

  “And the family? Did you meet them?”

  “I have. Everyone seems to be doing okay.”

  She picked her glass up again. “Of course, what was I thinking?”

  “Are you going to attend the funeral?”

  “I don’t even know when it is.”

  “Neither do I. It hasn’t been agreed on I don’t think.”

  She sighed heavily and continued to stare at her glass.

  Eventually she raised her head to mine. “How exactly do you know my family?” she asked.

  “Nathan and I went to boarding school together.”

  “And Nicholau? What did he say when I left the hospital?”

  “Nothing mu
ch.”

  Her lips began to quiver and tears filled her eyes, but she tried, and failed woefully to control her emotions. “He didn’t say anything? At all? Doesn’t he hate me?”

  I reminded myself to tread carefully as I spoke. “I can’t answer that, but from the way he spoke, he doesn’t.”

  She swiped at the tears on her face, and then picked up the glass again. I really didn’t know what to do or what she wanted me to do. But in spite of our differences, I could see that she was in tremendous pain and just being here to watch it was disheartening.

  “I’m not sure why I asked to see you,” she said, “but I suspect it’s because I want to be close to them … somehow. But I don’t deserve that, do I?” She got up from the stool. “Can I ask for a favor? When they’ve set a date for the funeral, please tell me. I want to say goodbye to him.”

  “Okay, I will,” I told her, and watched as she turned around and walked away. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask her but I was still too much of an outsider in their family. I needed to let them handle things in their own way. I wasn’t sure if telling her about the funeral later on would be the right thing to do, since her presence there would no doubt elicit some amount of anger, but I didn’t want to make the decision for them or her. She would have still found out somehow anyway, and no matter what had gone on between her and Nicholau, she deserved to say goodbye. I finished my drink and got up to head back up to Nathan.

  « CHAPTER 6 »

  Damian

  I was sitting in Elizabeth’s garden and staring into thin air, when I finally received the call that I had been waiting for. When I picked up my phone to see that it was a foreign number, I immediately swung my legs off the bench and sat up.

  “Hello? Elizabeth?”

  “Damian?” She sighed deeply. “How are you?”

  “Mom, are you kidding me? Where did you go?”

  “Please don’t yell,” she said in a small voice, and it forced me to take a deep breath and calm myself.

  “What is this? You just up and leave the country without telling anyone where you’re going?”

  “I wasn’t sure I was going to leave until I got to the airport.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? Where are you?”

  “I’m in Portugal.”

  “Why are you in Portugal?” I asked, and then it occurred to me. “Oh, is everything alright? Did something happen?”

  “Not really,” she said.

  “Mom, what’s going on?” I asked softly, and although she was silent for a long time she eventually responded.

  “My ex-husband died.”

  I didn’t know what to say so I just remained silent for a few seconds. “I’m so sorry,” I eventually said. She’d never spoken about him before but I knew that she always had her past family in mind. I didn’t know much about why she’d left and honestly, I couldn’t understand why she had, but I’d never asked. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

  “Have you met the family? Are you okay?”

  She gave a bitter laugh. “Meet the family,” she repeated. “Am I even allowed to be in the same town with them?”

  “Mom, you should have told me so that we could prepare and go together. And please don’t torture yourself, it’s not going to solve anything.”

  I heard a small choking sound and I knew that she was about to cry. “Damian, I need to go,” she said and she hung up before I could say anything more.

  I was frustrated when I was left with a disconnected line, especially since I wasn’t even sure how I was going to reach her again. The number she’d used to call wasn’t her personal number so no doubt she was calling from a hotel. She probably hadn’t even thought of setting up her phone since she’d arrived there.

  For more than two days now I’d been worried sick when her driver told me that he’d dropped her at the airport, distraught, and that he had no idea of where she was headed to. By then, Lenora’s own disappearance had already clouded my mind. I hadn’t been able to reach her for a few days either, but I’d refused to call her friends to ask because I’d assumed that she was just ignoring me.

  Now I wasn’t so sure, but I still didn’t want to call her friends. Then it occurred to me that her secretary would probably be of great help. so I called her. She seemed very surprised to hear from me since I’d never spoken to her over the phone before, so the pleasantries were short.

  “I haven’t heard from your boss in a few days, is she alright?”

  “She is,” she replied, “but she had to quickly hop on a flight. I thought she’d have told you.”

  “Maybe she was in a hurry,” I said to save face, since it would seem weird that I didn’t know my fiancée’s whereabouts. Based on her reaction it was apparent that she wasn’t aware that we had some troubles either.

  “She was,” she eagerly supplied.

  “Where was the flight to?”

  “Portugal,” she replied.

  “What? She’s not in the country?”

  “No, she left about two days ago.”

  What was going on? Why was everyone running to Portugal? First my mom and now her.

  “What’s going on in Portugal?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” she said, and then I noticed that she was starting to sound reluctant to speak to me since it was obvious that I knew little about her boss’s whereabouts.

  “Dorothy, talk to me. I’m worried about her, and I can’t reach her.”

  “I understand, but that’s really all I know.”

  “Has she been in contact with you? Do you know the number she’s using?”

  “Well, she said she wouldn’t bother with getting a number since she might not be staying long, but I could give you the number she called me with. She told me I could reach her through it.”

  “That would be great.”

  “Um, okay, but I’m not sure about handing it out.”

  “Dorothy, I’m her fiancé.”

  I heard her sigh. “Okay,” she said and gave the number to me. I thanked her and hung up.

  I didn’t even feel a little bit of remorse at the white lie. Lenora might have ended things, but I didn’t think it was really over. I wasn’t just going to up and leave and throw away a relationship that I’d been invested in. I wanted to show her that I cared more than she thought I did.

  I dialed the number and waited as it began ringing.

  Nathan

  I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard my phone ringing, so I quickly wrapped a towel around my waist and was about to step out of the bathroom when the door clicked open, and Nora walked in. The moment she took in my half naked frame, she automatically turned back around but stopped when she met the closed door in front of her face. I leaned weakly against the frame of the bathroom and just shook my head.

  She turned around, avoiding my eyes and was about to walk past me when I shot out my arm and stopped her. I wanted to tease her even more so I caught both of her arms to ensure that she was facing me, and made sure her eyes were fixed on mine.

  “What do you want?” she asked shyly. When I just stared at her, she shrugged out of my hold like a little girl. “Your phone is ringing,” she said and hurried away.

  “Please answer and take a message for me, I’m not done,” I said, and went back into the bathroom.

  Lenora

  With my eyelids clenched shut, I gave my forehead three painful smacks, embarrassed at how childish I was acting. “It’s just his torso,” I muttered. “You’ve seen it a million times before.” But my mind reminded me that it wasn’t just that. For some reason my eyes had moved down and realized that he was only loosely holding his towel together and they rode dangerously low on his hips. Yup, I had seen a bit more than I was supposed to.

  I forced myself to take a deep calming breath and remembered that I was supposed to answer his phone. It started ringing again so I picked it up, but then propriety stopped me. Was it appropriate? I turned towards the bathroom intending to
ask him if it was okay, just in case I had misheard his request to take a message for him.

  “Nate, are you sure I should take a message?”

  He poked his head out of the door a few seconds later, a toothbrush in his mouth and briefly took it out to reply me.

  “What do you mean? I just said you could.”

  “It might be inappropriate.”

  He just stared at me and then smiled in amusement. “What does the caller ID say?”

  I glanced at it. “You don’t have the contact saved,” I said but then something hit me. I glanced back at the number, my eyes widening as soon as I recognized it.

  “It’s mine,” I said, and returned my gaze to him to make sure that he wasn’t coming any closer. “It’s mine,” I repeated and moved away towards the windows.

  He gave me a peculiar look, wondering what was going on before returning to the bathroom. I, on the other hand, looked down at the screen again, with a hand against my chest to calm my racing heart, then I answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “Lenora, its Damian.”

  “I know, um … uh, w-why are you calling?”

  He was silent for a few seconds and then I realized how rude I sounded. “I mean, hi. I’m just surprised to hear from you. How did you get this number?”

  “Dorothy gave it to me. I told her that I needed to reach you.”

  “Oh, okay. How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine. I needed to find out how you’re doing.”

  “Oh, okay. Thank you. I’m doing well.”

  “I miss you.”

  I cringed, and then gave a small laugh to reduce the sting of the fact that I wasn’t going to encourage him by saying it back. “Yeah,” I said, and clenched my eyelids shut.

  “What are you doing in Portugal? Did something happen?”

  “Not really. I just came over for a quick visit to our stores here.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know you had branches there.”

  “We do, two in Lisbon. They were opened about two years ago.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that,” he said, and I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes. Of course he didn’t. I needed this call to end.