The From Paris With Love And Regency Season Of Secrets Ultimate Collection. Кэрол Мортимер

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ unsettled. Not only was Nico here but he’d taken off his dinner jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. His bow-tie was undone as well, hanging down beside the undone top buttons of his shirt. His hair was rumpled, as if he’d thrust his fingers through it more than once, and it was long enough since he’d shaved to give his jaw a dark shadow. He looked ever so slightly disreputable lounging on the padded upholstery of the seat.

      And ultimately desirable.

      Maybe that was why Charlotte’s words came out more sharply than she’d intended. ‘I thought you were going to the bar.’

      Nico raised an eyebrow. ‘It occurred to me it might be a good idea to wait until Jendi was asleep. What if she wanted to go to the bathroom and saw me abandoning my beautiful fiancée?’

      Oh, God…this was getting way beyond a joke. Charlotte had had enough.

      ‘It’s not funny, Nico.’

      ‘No…it’s not.’ Nico got to his feet. ‘Shall I tell you the real reason I haven’t gone to the bar?’

      He took a step closer and Charlotte was pinned by the heat in his gaze. She still had a hand on the door to help her keep her balance as the train rocked, and Nico was swaying on his feet but his gaze didn’t waver in the slightest.

      She couldn’t respond to the question but it didn’t seem to matter. Nico was going to tell her anyway.

      ‘I didn’t want to,’ he growled.

      Charlotte didn’t have to ask why not. She could see the see the answer in his face. Could feel the flicker of heat spiral deep in her belly. The words forced themselves out anyway, though, as she tried to buy enough time to process what was happening. ‘W-why not?’

      ‘Because I wanted this instead.’ Nico closed the gap between them. He steadied himself with one hand over Charlotte’s against the door but he slid the fingers of his other hand behind her neck and then up into her hair as he cradled her head and dipped his own so that their lips could touch.

      His mouth felt familiar now. Safe. Charlotte knew that the touch of his tongue against hers would provide a pleasure so intense it was almost pain but her lips parted eagerly and her tongue met his halfway to begin the dance. And this time the give and take of the kiss changed into more than an exploration and taste of pleasure. This time it had an urgency that demanded more.

      And that was enough to make Charlotte pull away. To snatch a gasp of breath and then shake her head.

      ‘I…I don’t understand…’

      ‘Yes, you do, cara,’ Nico said very softly. ‘I want you.’

      She shook her head again, more insistently. ‘But…why?’

      Nico leaned against the door. He still had a hand cradling her head and she felt his fingers move in a caress. ‘Why wouldn’t I?’

      ‘Because I’m…not your type. You said so.’

      Nico smiled that smile. The slow, lazy one. Except that this time it seemed to be gentle. Reassuring? ‘I say stupid things sometimes.’

      Charlotte had to drop her gaze. Dammit. The train seemed to have picked up speed and the way it was rocking made her more acutely aware of the proximity of Nico’s body. Of how it would take nothing for her to fall just a little closer and mould her own body against his.

      ‘This can’t go any further,’ she said.

      ‘Why not?’ The words were a whisper. A question, not an accusation. If she said the word Nico would stop but he genuinely didn’t understand, and why would he? He must have seen her own desire for him. He had to be well used to reading those kinds of signals from women.

      ‘Because…’ Charlotte couldn’t look up. She couldn’t stop herself continuing either. Good grief…far from giving her the stamina to maintain control in a difficult situation, the amount of champagne she’d knocked back this evening was having the opposite effect. Her control had slipped so far she’d lost the handle for the door behind which she kept her secret so well shut away. She hadn’t been completely honest with Nico earlier, had she? He had been with her. Guilt bubbled up inside her and something snapped.

      ‘I can’t do it,’ she whispered. ‘I…can’t have sex. I’m…’ No. There was no way she could utter that horrible word. A shudder went right through her entire body.

      Nico’s hand slipped out from her hair and he let go of the door. This was it. He was going to excuse himself and go to the bar for a stiff drink, and who could blame him?

      But, instead, he gathered Charlotte into his arms and held her close to him. His mouth was close to her ear and he spoke softly.

      ‘You’ve been hurt, cara,’ he said. ‘I know that. You’ve been raped, haven’t you?’

      Charlotte’s gasp was shocked. ‘No…it…wasn’t rape. How could it have been? He was my…my boyfriend. I had chosen to be with him. I’d chosen to go to his apartment. It might have been my first time but I knew what was going to happen.’

      For a long moment Nico simply held her in silence. Then he spoke gently. ‘But it didn’t happen the way you wanted it to, did it?’

      ‘N-no.’ Unbelievably, the tears were gathering again. After not having cried for so many years, she was certainly making up for it now.

      ‘And when you wanted him to stop, he wouldn’t, would he?’

      ‘H-he said it wasn’t his fault if I was frigid. He wasn’t going to have his evening ruined by a—a tease.’ There. The word had come out all by itself. ‘And—and he was right. I hated it and…and when I tried again, more than a year later, with someone else…I couldn’t do it…so he—’

      ‘Was a stupid, arrogant bastard,’ Nico whispered vehemently. ‘Who had no idea what he was talking about and didn’t deserve to be in the company of any woman, let alone someone like you.’

      Charlotte felt his lips press against the top of her head. And then she felt Nico’s hand under her chin and a pressure that made her raise her face to meet his gaze.

      ‘It’s not true,’ he told her. ‘You are a beautiful, passionate woman and all you need to do is believe that.’

      Maybe there’d always been a glimmer of hope deep inside that that was true. Maybe when she’d tried again, it had been too soon. Or with the wrong person. Charlotte had always thought that she might have conquered her demons if she could have talked to someone professional about it but the shame of anyone knowing had always stopped her.

      And now Nico knew. And he was still here.

      And he was gorgeous and kind and he’d said that he wanted her.

      They wouldn’t be seeing each other again after tomorrow so would it really matter if it didn’t work. She might never have an opportunity like this again. To find out…

      Charlotte licked suddenly dry lips. ‘Did you really mean it?’ The words were incredibly hard to utter.

      ‘That I want you?’ Nico’s eyes СКАЧАТЬ