Spaces Between Notes Page 17

  She huffed and looked down. “Right. I’m probably overreacting anyway. Too serious.” She plastered on a smile she obviously wasn’t feeling and lifted the sandwich off her plate.

  “Thank you,” he signed, gesturing with the sandwich.

  She nodded. “It’s no problem.”

  They both took bites, and Niko got the impression she was just as hungry as he was right then, which was to say not at all.

  As far as breakup experiences, this one was taking the cake in many categories. Firstly, this marked the only time he’d been through the breakup before he had the benefit of being in a relationship. That one was a head-scratcher.

  Secondly, it was the first time a breakup hadn’t included some form of a fight. That was nice asNiko wasn’t a huge fan of drama, but it left them in the awkward situation of trying to be friends again.

  Carys declared it was too damn hot to work and talked him into another music lesson. On the one hand, Niko was excited. He’d been waiting for a chance to show her the song he’d been working on with his brother. He wouldn’t have minded another few days of practice, but he was ready enough, he thought.

  On the other hand, he found he was a little… miffed, maybe was the right word. He chafed, but he couldn’t figure out why. Was his pride really that wounded at the idea this woman didn’t want him?

  But she did want him. She’d said that. She’d seen him at his worst, so how could he blame her for not wanting to deal with that?

  Besides, he wanted to see her smile again—a genuine smile. She still deserved to be happy, and if he could bring her some small bit of happiness, he wanted to do it.

  They were going over new chords when he veered off, letting his fingers segue into the beginnings of his song.

  “That’s not… What are you doing?” she asked.

  Bent over the guitar, he chanced a quick glance up and caught the look of surprise on her face when she realized what he was playing.

  It was a metal ballad, which was interesting to hear on an acoustic guitar. It was a beautiful Metallica tune that just reminded him of her.

  She shifted closer to him on the couch, a tender sort of look coming over her face as she listened. The emotion that washed over him then was strange; it was more like an energy. He could feel her eyes on him, feel in the air how into the music she was. Her enjoyment made his fingers move smoother. The chords had never sounded so sweet.

  Toward the end, he looked up, confident enough in the movement of his fingers to take his eyes off the guitar. He looked at her and smiled. She was the picture of rapt attention and something else he couldn’t read. She was pleased, he could tell, and that was all that mattered.

  The last note hung in the air, poignant and pretty like her. The sound faded away, and for once, she didn’t speak. Her eyes were shining—not with tears but with something like realization.

  Before he could raise a hand and invite her verbal reaction, Carys moved. She stood and grabbed his guitar. Setting it to the side, she straddled him, taking his face between her hands and kissing him.

  Didn’t we just leave this party?

  She was ravenous for him. She kissed him so hard that he tilted his head back to accommodate her. Shocked, his hands waivered in the air a few moments before he let them come to rest on her back.

  This was no ordinary kiss. This was the beginning of something. That was what it felt like, anyway. It was a thought further supported when Carys began to move on him, over him. She thrust her hips up against his, and he groaned, putting his hands to her waist and stilling her movements.

  She pulled back to look at him. Her eyes were lust-blow, her lips shining with the evidence of his kiss. Her hair fell in her eyes as she searched him. “I want you,” she whispered.

  That was all Niko needed to hear. He tilted his head to catch her kiss again and let his hands fall to her ass. He cupped her, bringing her closer, and she returned his kiss as she began to move over him again.

  Niko let his hands move back up under her shirt. He unhooked her bra and moved his hands back down to her perfect ass.

  She broke the kiss, pulling back enough that she could pull her shirt and bra up and off, and Niko let his eyes fall to her breasts. They were round with enormous areolas, which drove him ten kinds of crazy for reasons he couldn’t figure out. He didn’t dwell. He ducked his head to take her pert, pretty nipple in his mouth. Better to taste the darkened skin. For research purposes, of course. He planned on licking her quite fucking thoroughly.

  “Oh, hell, Nik.” She arched backward, her fingers tangled in his hair.

  She was so wonderfully responsive. He bit with the slightest pressure, and she bucked on top of him. He soothed her with his tongue, and she sighed, melting against him.

  “Bedroom,” she said, the word high-pitched and breathy. “Condoms.”

  Niko got his arms around her and stood. She wrapped her legs around his waist, attacking his neck with kisses as he headed for the stairs.

  She was in the room that had once been the twins’ nursery. That was weird, but Niko was too distracted to really think about it. He laid Carys in the middle of her bed and knelt at the foot of it, watching as she stretched to rummage in her nightstand. She produced a pack of condoms and held them up triumphantly.

  He climbed over her, holding himself aloft on his arms as he ducked down to kiss her. He took the condoms from her hands and kissed a wet trail from her neck down the center of her body, swirling his tongue once around her belly button.

  “Christ.” Her stomach contracted, and she giggled. “You give me butterflies.”

  Niko straightened up again, his hand resting at the crotch of her jeans. He looked over her, his eyes lingering on the hard nubs of her nipples, and rubbed the heel of his palm over her center almost absently.

  She groaned and swiped at him, which was one of the more hilarious things he’d ever seen. Her arms were too short, and he was just out of reach. Her eyes narrowed when she saw his smirk. “Think this is funny, huh?”

  He flailed his hands around in teasing imitation of her. He wanted to tell her he enjoyed the bounce of her breasts when she did it.

  She scooted toward him so he was in arm’s reach and smacked him about his stomach. He grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head, pinning her beneath his body as he did so. They were nose to nose for a heartbeat before he kissed her, rocking his hips against her, thrusting.

  “Ungh,” she groaned. “You know,” she said between kisses, “I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve done this, but there’s supposed to be a lack of— Ahhh… A lack of pants.” But even as she said it, she’d locked her legs around him, meeting his thrust as she lifted her hips up off the bed.

  Quickly, he was through teasing her, through playing. He’d wanted this woman since he’d laid eyes on her, since before he thought it was possible to have her. He was hard and ready, and he could feel the heat of her even through their clothes.

  Again, he straightened up, this time standing. He kept her legs wrapped around him, using her grip to drag her with him toward the edge of the bed, and she yelped in surprise at the sudden movement but groaned as she looked up at him.

  Niko cupped her between her legs, rubbing with one hand while he traced the shape of her breast with another. She whimpered, and her arms fell back above her head, leaving her body free for him to look and touch. He wanted so much to tell her how gorgeous she was, how he loved the lines of her—her collarbone, her breasts, her perfect, pert nipples. He loved the flush of her cheeks and the way her hair was wild over the pillows. She was biting her lip, eyes lit with eagerness and something inexplicably tender.

  He unbuttoned her jeans and unlocked her legs from around him. She lifted up off the bed, letting him pull her jeans and panties off. It only took a moment of internal debate before he guided one of her legs up to his shoulder.

  “Niko,” she breathed, watching him stroke the condom onto his cock. He knelt on the bed, using his knee to sprea
d her legs wide. She raised one and wrapped it around his thigh.

  He closed his eyes, and his breath stuttered when he entered her with his fingers. Christ, she was slick and hot and ready for him. He pressed against her clit with his thumb, drawing out a noise that was part gasp and part moan, and she writhed beneath his hand.

  “Niko, please. Now.”

  Demanding woman. But he was ready, aching to be inside her. He lined up his cock with her entrance and pushed.

  Jesus, the sweet way she opened for him… He could feel the stretch of her around him as he disappeared into her slick heat. The position—one leg up on his shoulder, the other spread wide—let him slide into her deep, burying himself to the hilt. She threw her head back, crying out when he was fully sheathed inside her.

  She was surprisingly quiet as he moved in her, though not silent. No, the noises she made were the best—filthy and wanton and the sweetest things he’d ever heard. Each whine drove him wild, and each moan made his cock coil only tighter. His hands roamed over her—over her bouncing breasts, feeling the flex of her stomach as she raised her hips to meet his thrust.

  He cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb over her lips, and she opened her mouth, her little pink tongue licking his tip. He thrust particularly hard, and she screamed, a short and primitive sound. Her whole body arched up, her hips meeting his. She stretched her arms above her, reaching out, her fingers pressing against the headboard. “Nik. Niko. Holy mother of madness.”

  He had to smile. She’d found her words again, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he’d found that magic spot inside her. He twisted his hips and thrust hard again. Sure enough, her body jolted. Her skin glistened now with a sheen of sweat. “Oh, oh, oh.”

  One of her hands came down hard so it slapped against her belly. She scrambled, making the universal sign for “give me your hand.” Niko complied, taking her hand in his, and he moved it to where they were joined so she could feel him pumping into her.

  Feel that, baby? Feel how good we are?

  She moaned, deep and guttural, as though she’d heard him. He grunted, not a noise but a motion deep in his chest. He wanted so much for his moans to mingle with hers, to join together like their bodies.

  Carys flipped her hand, twining their fingers together, joining them in one more small way. Niko pressed forward and thrust harder. With his free hand, he rubbed her clit, urging her forward.

  Her orgasm was a glorious thing to witness. She screamed, the sound erotic and beautiful all at once, and her body lifted up off the bed. The walls of her pussy squeezed around him, and the pressure of it was too much. He followed her over the edge, the smallest of screams squeaking out, scratching his throat.

  Feeling kind of wobbly, he pulled out of her and carefully put her leg down before he collapsed beside her. He buried his head in her pillow, trying to catch his breath around the inevitable coughing fit that accompanied the tiny bit of noise he was capable of making, but he couldn’t find it in him to be frustrated about that. He’d probably be pissed later, but right then, he was riding the post-orgasm high.

  It had been so long, and it was with her.

  He felt the bed shift and then her hand on his back. She curled up against him, stroking his skin gently.

  After an age, the tickle in his throat subsided. He turned his head, needing to see her, and found her smiling at him. She looked like a well-pleased woman.

  “Well, aren’t you the cat who caught the canary?” she said, scratching her fingers through his hair with affection.

  He rolled onto his side and kissed her—a firm kiss, one of a man who knew damn well what he was doing in the bedroom. Whatever else he couldn’t do, he could still make a woman scream. That it was this woman just made him, if anything, smugger.

  “Mmm,” she moaned into his mouth. Her fingers scratched along the short hairs at the back of his neck. “So good, baby.”

  His thoughts exactly. They were electric together, and his mind was already spinning with the things he wanted to do to her, with her.

  Carys sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, something had changed. He blinked, disconcerted, but… A second ago, she’d been blissed out. Now, she was distressed.

  “I… I don’t know if I should’ve done that,” she said.

  He grimaced and started to scoot away.

  “No.” She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, clinging to him. “Look, I have something I should’ve told you before.”

  She dropped her gaze to his chest, her fingers tapping the skin over his heart. Confused though he was, he didn’t like to see her so conflicted. He put his hand over hers against his skin.

  Carys sighed. She took a deep breath and finally looked up at him. “I’ve been offered a job in France, and I want to take it.”

  It took five full seconds for her words to sink in. When they did, he wanted to laugh them off. She was joking, right?

  But the sad look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. She was serious.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  They were both dressed again, which Niko was glad of. It felt like the kind of conversation he should be wearing pants for. He sat on the edge of her bed while she paced in front of him.

  After a minute, he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled her to sit on the bed beside him. Throwing caution to the wind, he pressed a hand to the small of her back.

  Carys let out a slow breath and rested her head against his shoulder. She took his free hand and began playing with his fingers. “Talk about your mixed signals, right?” she said, trying for lightness but not quite getting there. “I tell you we’re not a good idea and then I jump your bones.”

  He snorted, and when she glanced at him, he flashed her a grin. It wasn’t like he was going to regret that any time soon.

  She smiled back, this one more genuine than the last. “It wasn’t untrue, you know, what I said about us probably not working out.” She shrugged, pulling her hands away from his. “Not that it was what you wanted, anyway.”

  Niko caught her hand with one of his and squeezed. He tilted his head, holding her eyes. He knew the difference between just sex and the possibility of something more. He wasn’t opposed to just sex with Carys, if that was what she wanted, but hell. If she’d been willing to figure out how they worked together, he’d have been along for that ride.

  “You’re not making this easy for me.” She pressed her palm to the side of his face and rubbed her thumb over his cheek. “There are so many reasons I shouldn’t go.”

  There were too many important conversations happening at once. That was what was wrong with this scenario. He waved a hand. “Where?” he signed. “Why?”

  “Oh.” She got up and went to her dresser, returning with a thick envelope. “It’s an offer. Six months in France restoring instruments in this castle from the 1300s.” Her eyes lit up as she spoke. “A lot of them are so fragile. To be able to work with something like that… I mean, these are instruments that may have been played for kings and queens. Can you imagine?”

  He didn’t want her to leave. The first thing he thought when she said she was going away was a loud and angry “no,” but that was ridiculous. She was so excited that her eyes were dancing. He tapped the paperwork so she looked up at him. “Good,” he signed. “P-r-o-u-d. Go.”

  She eyed him, a tentative smile creeping up her face. “You really think it’s good?”

  He nodded emphatically. He wasn’t so far removed from his old life that he didn’t remember what it was like to have career goals. He’d never seen her working on instruments as the kind of job where anyone could grow, but for her sake, he was happy to be proved wrong.

  “Six months in France. That’s intense. I don’t even speak French.”

  “You l-e-a-r-n.”

  She held out her right hand, palm up, and then made a motion with her left hand as if scooping something up from one hand and placing it against her forehead. “Learn,” she said. “Like you’re tak
ing knowledge from a book and putting it in your head.”

  Niko’s lip twitched. She just never gave up. He leaned in and tilted his head to catch her mouth with his.

  “Benny’s going to go ballistic,” she murmured, resting her head against his.

  Niko had to struggle not to roll his eyes. He settled for making a whoopdeedoo motion, circling one finger in the air.

  She snorted and rested her head on his shoulder again. “It’s just that I’ve only been away from him that one time.”

  The one time that didn’t go well. Niko kissed the side of her hair and hoped she would remember this was her life, that she wasn’t supposed to live it for anyone else.

  Carys planned on telling everyone about her plans that evening. She’d just started to make dinner for five when Niko got a text from Jamie.

  Jamie: SOS. Del’s on the warpath. She figured out you have Micah, and she’s waiting for you at home.

  Niko: You have Micah. He’s been staying with you.

  Jamie: Like I was going to tell her that. I’m dragging the kid home. You be there for moral support.

  He showed Carys the phone. She seemed highly amused. “Uh-oh. Someone’s in trouble with big sister.” She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Can I meet her?”

  He furrowed his eyebrows at her. “Why?”

  “Because you’re scared of her, and that intrigues me.”

  He balked and shook his head, glaring at her in mild indignation. He wasn’t scared.

  “What else do you call it? You and Micah are grown ass men, and you’ve been lying to your sister for weeks now about where he is.” She wagged a finger in his face. “Which I’ve said before is complete bullshit. She’s worried about her little brother.”

  Niko grimaced. He’d told Del that Micah was okay. Why the hell did she need to know the kid’s exact location?

  Carys crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. “So… Can I come?”

  “This isn’t about Micah having a life of his own, Nikolai. It’s his damn life to screw up as he pleases. What this is about, between you and me, is respect. You were there when I wiped that kid’s ass. You were there when it was me taking care of the twins, cooking dinner for all of you fools and putting them to bed. You were there. So why you can’t have the damn decency to tell me where the hell he is, I have no idea.”