Three Wishes(28)

She slammed against the wall of his body.

Then his mouth came down on hers.

Hard.

At this, she made a little surprised sound which came from the back of her throat.

As she felt his body heat seep through the leather, her br**sts crushed pleasantly against his hard chest, she relaxed into him. Her lips relaxed, her hands lifted to rest on his shoulders and she pressed herself against him as her belly did somersault after somersault after…

His head came up just as abruptly as it went down.

It was the first time she’d ever been kissed and she couldn’t breathe.

“After dinner, we’re going back to my flat,” Nate stated in a voice that caused shivers to go down her spine and all along her skin.

She didn’t even think to refuse him, she simply nodded mutely.

He tugged the helmet out of her hand and, both helmets in one of his, her hand held firmly in his other, he guided her to the restaurant.

And finally, on a great whoosh, she let out her breath.

* * * * *

“Let’s walk.”

Lily was standing out on the sidewalk gazing up at Nate.

The sun was still lighting the sky and even after all her years there, she couldn’t get used to the long summer days in England.

They’d had a lovely, delicious dinner with her doing most of the talking. Nate didn’t say much and anyway, she was nervous, very nervous mainly because of the idea of going back to his flat after dinner but also because of the way he kept looking at her.

“To the flat?” Nate asked, looking down at her, his handsome face relaxed, a smile playing about his lips.

“No, just a walk. I feel the need to stretch my legs.” She used the words Sarah often said after a meal and she tugged at his hand, a strong, long-fingered hand that was holding hers. She’d already noticed his hands, powerfully veined and well-formed with tapered fingers. Lily rather liked his hands but then again, Lily rather liked everything about him. “Come on,” she urged.

She started walking, felt resistance on her arm when he didn’t and looked back. She gave a little, inviting jerk of her head and an encouraging smile.

Nate relented and started moving forward.

The smile she directed at him deepened.

He immediately stopped, tugged on her arm and she stumbled backwards, whirled and fell into him.

His arm closed around her and he bent his head and brushed her lips with his.

Even though it was feather-light, she stared up at him dazed and, she noticed vaguely, her knees were going weak.

He seemed satisfied by something then said, “Now we can walk.”

She shook herself out of her daze and fell into step beside him.

“I’ll hold one of the helmets,” Lily offered.

“I’ve got it,” Nate returned.

“No, really –”

“Lily, I’ve got it.” His voice sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

“Okay,” she gave in, somewhat disgruntled that he found her funny when she wasn’t trying to be.

They walked hand-in-hand down the sidewalk until suddenly they reached Hyde Park.

Lily knew London well, had been there many times but Hyde Park (which she loved), regardless of its enormity, always seemed to creep up and surprise her.

“Let’s walk in the park.” She changed direction not waiting for him to answer or refuse her and entered the park. To her astonishment, he followed without argument.

They walked more and she realised that she had never been so content, so happy, in her entire life.

And she’d had led a contented (mostly), happy (mostly) life.

She sighed with pleasure.

After awhile she felt conversation was in order. Not because she was uncomfortable but because she was curious.

“Are Laura and Victor your parents?” She was timid at asking him questions. She’d tried a couple at dinner and he hadn’t been very forthcoming with answers. He’d answered, of course, but he went into no detail and seemed to prefer, vastly, getting her to talk about herself.

Nate answered, “In a way.”

She looked at him out of the sides of her eyes.

“How can they be your parents in a way?”

She thought he wouldn’t answer her but he did. “They adopted me when I was twelve.”

Reflexively, her hand tightened in his with this knowledge.

All sorts of thoughts raced through her head as to why he was available at the age of twelve to be adopted none of them near as bad, although her heart broke at them, as what had actually happened.

“Are they family?” she asked quietly.

“How do you mean?” She could tell by his tone that he was distracted and was thinking of something else and if she knew what he was thinking, she might have run screaming from the park or possibly thrown herself at him.

She walked, and always had done, watching the ground. He walked, she noted with another sidelong glance, facing straight ahead, confident and self-assured.

She found this rather affecting.

“Laura and Victor. Is one of them family? An aunt, an uncle?” she explained, thinking of his parents and how they so obviously loved him and were equally obviously proud of him, yet he didn’t call them “Mum” or “Dad”.

“No relation.” His answer was short and didn’t invite further questions.