Love Beyond Words (City Lights, #1)(95)
She turned to Julian and he was there, his mouth on hers, his body pressed against her, wet and warm. Yes, she thought. Yes to all of it, to life, to the good and the ugly, the pain and the love. But especially yes to him, to this moment that almost never happened.
The kiss was hard and deep under the water that fell like warm rain. Natalie’s eyes fluttered open once, and she saw the white of the bandages on his temple. “Your stitches can’t get wet,” she breathed.
“I don’t care.”
“I do.” She reached behind her to shut off the water. “Take me to bed.”
He carried her to the bed and they were joined effortlessly, one movement of many that fused them completely. He lay over her and the water streamed out of the dark curls of his hair, down his cheeks, like tears. She broke their kiss to look at him, to take him in. His eyes captured her in prisms of blue and her breath caught, unable to look away. Let me stay here forever…
He nodded, as if he could hear her thoughts. “I’ll never let you go.”
She gave herself up to him, sharing her vitality with him and taking his into her until she felt saturated with love and the sheer joy of being alive. The pleasure built and then peaked for them at the same time, an affirmation, a reward. A laugh burst from her and her heart soared to see his brilliant smile, for she knew then that everything was going to be okay.
When the searing pleasure subsided into a warm glow, they remained as they were, unmoving but for their mouths that whispered and smiled and kissed until the need awoke again. They celebrated a second time then slept dreamlessly, haunted by nothing.
Epilogue
“I’m free.” Eduardo stared across the wide vistas outside the city walls. “You’ll come with me?”
“I’ve never been past the gate,” Sara said. “I’m afraid.”
“So am I.” He took her hand. “But now I feel invincible.”
“Me too.” She laughed. “How can we feel both at the same time?”
Eduardo smiled. “That’s love.”
--The Origin of Silence, Rafael Melendez Mendón
Natalie sat at the pool’s edge, on the rooftop terrace of the Gritti Palace, and trailed her fingers in the water and basking in the glorious Italian sun.
Her cell phone buzzed and she smiled to see Liberty’s number.
“It’s got to be six a.m. in California!”
“Actually, it’s five a.m.,” Liberty said with a yawn, “but waking up at ass o’clock is just one of the many sacrifices I make for my friends.”
“Such a martyr. Saint! I meant to say saint.”
Liberty snorted. “So how’s tricks? Let me guess: you’ve spent most of your tour of Europe with your nose in that new book of his, right? Be honest. You’ve read it ten times by now, right?
Natalie smiled to herself. “Nope. Only once.” She’d only needed to read it once, and felt as if she could have recited it word for word. It’s our story.
“I just might believe you,” Liberty said, laughing. “How was Croatia? Where did you go again? Reykjavik?”
“That’s Iceland. We went to Rijeka for about eight days.”
“You say potato…How was it?”
“It was absolutely stunning. Just beautiful, and Julian was so happy to be there.”
Happy wasn’t the right word. Julian had found it challenging and painful at first, then ultimately exhilarating to be there, to learn that his father had been more than the inconstant ghost who’d haunted him for so long. But she didn’t tell Liberty that.
“He reconnected with family he never knew he had. Filled in a lot of blanks. It was amazing.”
“Happy to hear it,” Liberty said. “And then you’re in Italy for what…a few more days? Then Paris?” She heaved a sigh. “Such is life for the nouveau riche.”
“We’ll be back in San Francisco at the end of the month. Hopefully the house will be done by then.”
“That Victorian mega mansion? Don’t hold your breath.”
“It’s not that huge.”
“It has to be,” Liberty said, “to hold all your books. I swear, between you and Julian, don’t be surprised if the city library comes knocking to borrow a few.”
Natalie laughed. “It won’t be all books. It’s old and beautiful and perfect. You’ll see.” She smiled to herself. “Anyway, how is Marshall?”
“Aggravating, as usual. He’s all hot and heavy with Carter. In love with Carter, he says. Carter. They both have last names for first names. It’s so cute I could barf.”
“I’m so happy for him.” Natalie’s smile slipped. “But how is he? I feel like I can’t go too long without seeing him. I start to get nervous…”
“He’s fine, honey,” Liberty said. “Really.”
“Okay. And what about you? How are things with Angelo?”
Liberty sighed. “Slow. Things are so uncharacteristically non—dysfunctional for a change, I’m petrified I’ll screw it up. Plus, my agent would kill me if I lost focus. See how I worked that into the conversation? My agent. I’m still quite stunned over that development.”