by Chloe Blake
Maya couldn’t help but wonder if this was what her life would have been like had she known her father—family gatherings on vineyards and piano recitals after dinner. It struck her then that it would be over soon. She was pulled from her thoughts when Nic played Elton John at Jillian’s request. He looked over and smiled, making her realize that soon their attraction, or whatever it was, would be over, too.
She was somber when they headed to bed, her hand on the doorknob when Nic swiftly turned and kissed her fully, thoroughly. “You were incredible tonight. Watching you... It’s exhilarating.”
She lowered her gaze, but he put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. “What’s wrong?”
“Reality is setting in. I have to go home soon.”
He looked at her, his mouth a flat line. He knew she was right, but slowly he began to shake his head. “I told you, we’re not finished.”
Chapter 13
Maya was in Nic’s arms and splayed on his bed in two heartbeats. Her lips were soft and supple. He opened her mouth with his, loving the way her tongue slid against his. They were both impatient, their foreplay in the bath having been prematurely interrupted by a long dinner, leaving their desire on simmer.
Until now.
Their kisses grew from sweet to carnal in a matter of seconds; their hands ripped at each other’s clothes, and their mouths quickly devoured every inch of skin as it was revealed. There was no teasing banter, no sexy laughter, now replaced by the urgent need to give themselves fully to the other.
His brain was on primal mode, registering nothing but her arms tightening around his neck, the small whimpers coming from her throat, her fingers in his hair and her sweet legs spread around his waist.
He drove deep in one swift motion, barely pulling back before surging forward again, rolling his hips against her heavenly body, stretching himself to nip at her breasts.
“God, Nic,” she groaned into his ear. She kissed him hard, pushing her pelvis against him, grinding and rolling. He gritted his teeth at the rough pleasure that was somewhat painful. Never leaving her mouth, he pumped harder, pressing her close, the heat of her driving him into a state of pure feeling.
“You’re so clever,” he whispered as he drove her harder. “So sexy. So damn beautiful.” Her fingers dug hard into his shoulders and met each driving thrust.
There was nothing but her, but this.
He felt the first contractions of her body tear through his own. His mind told him to slow down, but his body met hers kiss for kiss and thrust for thrust. Her breathing changed and her knees fell open, allowing him to push her further, drive in deeper, and once he realized that he’d lost all manner of self-control, her body seized and jerked around him, her long wail registering only briefly before his orgasm took over and he pumped uncontrollably inside of her, his mouth on her throat and his arms locked around her body.
Once his brain stirred and his surroundings came back to him, he found Maya with her eyes closed, breathing erratically. He shifted his weight off her but kept her close, pushing her hair from her face. She turned him into a raving sex maniac with just a look. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, not liking to be out of control.
“Mmm, you are so good to me,” she breathed. “I love the way we fit.”
He smiled. Maybe out of control wasn’t so bad.
They lay awake in Nic’s bed, tangled in each other’s arms with Nic telling her about his painful piano lessons his mother had made him take. And how when his mother left, he thought if he practiced more, she would come back.
Maya thought of the childhood pictures she’d found. “I wish I had at least known him for a bit before he left.”
Nic shifted onto his elbow, his gaze a caress. “I have something for you.”
He threw on his pants and padded barefoot from the room, returning in seconds with a book in his hand.
“Is that my father’s journal? I thought I gave that to Nathan.”
Nic looked at her under his lids. “I took it from him.”
“He’s a kid, Nic.”
He took her lips in a long kiss. “I know, but I’m jealous anyway. And I was curious, too.”
Maya settled into the crook of his shoulder. “What’s it say?”
“Most of it is daily musings and some business stuff, but I’d like to read you some important parts.”
Nic flipped through the pages he’d previously marked, his eyes sliding left and right over the page. He cleared his throat.
“‘The cancer Gabe kept secret had spread and become untreatable. Stubborn fool. He worried over the vineyard more than he worried over himself. His dying wish was to leave his son his share of the business and I promised to make it so even as I know Nic’s heart lies in real estate. Nic seems unable to deal with his feelings. It makes me long to hug my daughter. Who doesn’t know me, and yet I think about her every day.’”
They were both silent for a moment, her father’s sadness rocking them both to the core. Maya took a deep breath against the unfamiliar feelings ballooning in her chest. Her father thought about her. Yet he never wanted to know her? The heartbreak and confusion was a strange mix.
Nic turned another page, still reading.
“‘Maya has graduated summa cum laude from Stanford. Even as I stood in the back of the auditorium, a stranger in the shadows, I couldn’t have been more proud. Sandra looked well and although she was alone, I didn’t make my presence known. Donating to the university had allowed certain privileges, such as being able to provide money to my daughter through anonymous grants.’”
“Oh, my God,” Maya whispered. “They said those grants were because of my academic standing.”
“Albert and I had an argument once about the amount of money he was spending on charities. Now I know. Are you ready to hear a little more?” She nodded and felt his kiss on her head.
“‘I wonder if she remembers me in fragments of her young memories. Before Sandra remarried, I had agreed to stay out of Maya’s life, but only if Sandra brought her to France for a time. She was four or five, loud and precocious, throwing a tantrum one minute and laughing the next. She looked at me with such caution, not knowing I was her father. Sandra and I fought almost daily, the weight of our agreement too great on me. I had lost everything. When Sandra left, if felt like she was leaving me for the second time and taking my only joy with her.’”
She couldn’t move. What she had heard was a contradiction to everything her mother had told her. Everything.
Nic snapped the book shut. “Are you okay?” he whispered, curling his arm tighter around her.
Even as she nodded, she felt the tears form in her eyes. With a stricken look, he threw the book on the desk.
“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have read it.”
“No, don’t be sorry. I’m glad.” Her voice trembled and caught. She couldn’t finish her words. He pushed away their sheets and brought her into his body. She murmured an apology for getting tears on his chest.
“Nonsense,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes at the kisses on her hair and the rub of his hands over her back. He felt so good. So strong. Then she quickly pulled away and cupped his face. “What about you? There were things in there about your father.”
Nic nodded, moving his face to the side to kiss her palm. “There were some things I didn’t know, like how he had hidden the cancer. My mother made it no secret that she wouldn’t leave Spain, but I didn’t know that Albert had spoken to her many times on my behalf and had paid for her home using my father’s dividends. The business isn’t failing because Albert was a bad businessman. He was taking care of his family.”
“Those damn expenses,” Maya whispered. Nic chuckled. Maya got serious and looked into Nic’s eyes. “If I give you my shares, I don’t want you to sell. Nathan can run it. Or hire someone else. Don’t give it away. Pl
ease don’t give it away.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Nic kissed her protests away, rolling on top of her and sliding into her in one fluid motion. She closed her eyes and arched her back toward him, running her hands down his back, then rolling their bodies over so she straddled him. He pulled himself up to sit and nuzzled her breasts. Her rhythm was purposely slow, wanting to feel—really feel—every stroke, every caress, every inch of pleasure that Nic gave her.
She smiled into his eyes and buried her fingers in his hair, letting them drift down over his shoulders in a light caress. Their hands roamed and played, gently pushing and pulling, their lips never far from each other’s.
Maya didn’t know how long they held each other like that, Nic seated with Maya straddled on top, but their heartbeats seemed to beat together, and she was sure they were sharing breaths. She felt like she was floating in a state of continuous pleasure, until her fingers curled and his forearms tightened, her body shook and his trembled, their tongues reached for each other at the same time, and her nipples registered the wire of his chest hair.
Then they came together in wave after wave of colorful, mind-blowing, passionate gratification that seemed to jump from her to him and him to her in a continuous motion until they were sated and exhausted, sleeping peacefully in each other’s arms.
Chapter 14
“Merci for a lovely time.” Maya hugged Armand tightly, then put her arms around Jillian and gave the kids kisses on both of their chubby cheeks.
“Come back soon, my dear. You’re welcome anytime,” Armand said, stepping back from the car. “Nic, we loved to see you as always. Maybe now that we have some business together, you’ll visit more often?”
“Of course, Uncle.” Nic smiled. “Nathan and I will be in touch.”
The two finished their goodbyes and climbed into the car for their short drive back to the vineyard.
The doors closed and they buckled themselves in. He was watching her when she looked up, and her blood slowed. They’d made love well into the night, only falling asleep a few hours before dawn. She’d woken to his body folded around hers, his breathing slow and soft on her neck. Willing herself to keep still, she had committed everything to memory: his skin, his smell, his weight against her. He promised to keep what their fathers had built, and with that agreement, she felt that her purpose in Paris had been fulfilled. Which was good, because she only had three more days until her return flight to LA.
Their time together was ending.
Suddenly she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay and explore Paris—she hadn’t even gotten to shop. She wanted to go for walks through the vines in the morning. She wanted to eat those little croissants that Nathan made in the mornings. She wanted to wake up in Nic’s arms.
He glanced toward her. “Are you okay?”
His voice was husky with little sleep.
“Yeah, I’m just thinking about those breakfast bites that Nathan makes.” She stared straight ahead, pulling herself together. She’d come to France and taken a nice break from reality, but soon she’d have to go back to LA. Back to her life.
What life?
“I meant what I said last night,” he said quietly. “I’ve taken selling off the table.”
“I know.” She half smiled. “When we get back, I’ll call Jen and let her know we’re moving forward with the share transfer.”
She heard him sigh. “What’s that dramatic sigh for?”
His mouth turned down and he shrugged, staring over the steering wheel as if trying to find words. “Have you thought about staying?”
“What?”
“Would this life be so bad? If you stayed?”
She felt her heart speed up. What was he saying?
“Well...no...but giving everything up and staying here wasn’t exactly on my agenda.” And yet this morning it was all she could think about.
He glanced at her, and she saw genuine concern before he shifted his gaze back to the road. “Besides, I think we’ve established that I know nothing of this business. I can’t even speak French. My palate is weak—”
“Your palate isn’t weak.”
“Well, it’s not like yours.”
“We can remedy that. You’ll just have to drink more wine.”
“Sounds grueling,” she teased. Between her wine bath, the few glasses she had at dinner and the bottle they shared the night before, she wasn’t sure she could ever look at another bottle of wine without thinking about him. By the way he was biting his lip, she wondered if he was thinking the same.
They glanced at each other and tried to chuckle away the electricity that seemed to be jumping between them. Leave me alone, she said to her raging hormones. She was going to give this man up in a few days, and she’d never be able to do it when she felt like this...like her whole world came down to just being next to him.
Like she loved him.
Don’t love him. Don’t!
Nic reached into the compartment between their seats and clutched his phone. After a few seconds it glowed and began buzzing nonstop, making Maya glance at it. She almost laughed at the dance it was doing, until she saw a string of missed calls from Daphne. She hadn’t realized that his phone had been off most of the weekend. Just seeing her name was a gross reminder of what she had just vowed. Do not fall in love with him!
Nic took his phone and made a call through the dashboard. “Nathan! Guess who got my uncle to give us his overproduction?”
“Thank God. I’ve been calling you all morning.”
“Apologies. But we have good news. Uncle caved.”
“He was no match for Maya?”
“He didn’t stand a chance,” Nic said proudly, his hand clasping Maya’s and bringing it to his lips. Her heart filled when he kept her hand in his and rested both in his lap. “I saw that you called. We’ll be back in half an hour or so.”
“Oh. I thought maybe you were going straight to the hotel. Joc called to say your casino tables have been delivered but no one knows where they go.”
Nic’s mouth dropped open. “Oh no. Nathan, I completely forgot. I’ll, um...” Nic glanced at Maya. “I’ll call Joc.”
He thanked Nate and hung up, then he pulled off the road halfway into a field and yanked on the brake.
“What are you doing?” Maya asked. In answer, he put both palms on either side of her face and pulled her mouth to his. Instantly, she was lost, opening her mouth to his onslaught of lips and tongue. The electricity she had felt earlier bubbled over into a rush of sensations that left her mindless. His hands were everywhere and she reciprocated, running her palms over his biceps and down his torso. The kiss ended in a slow, leisurely release of lips, their breaths mingling as they tried to find air.
“What was that for?” Maya asked softly.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all morning,” he whispered. “And now I have work to do in the city. Hotel work, but I don’t want to take you back to the vineyard. Come to the event tonight?”
“Is it formal? I only have cocktail dresses at the hotel.”
He shook his head, then smiled as he punched the Karma forward. “Looks like we’re going shopping.”
They arrived in Paris by midmorning and stopped for lunch at a cozy corner bistro, where Nic made a few business calls while Maya sipped her café au lait and people-watched out of the window. It gave her a chance to see him in his element, which she found strangely relaxing. He spoke French, so she could only guess whom he was speaking with, but she smiled when he interrupted himself and apologized for being so rude. She didn’t think he was being rude; she was finding it very sexy. Like crawl-under-the-table-and-unzip-his-pants sexy.
She rolled her eyes at herself. This was what happened when you finally had incredible sex, then realized you would never have it again. That last part had her reaching for her coffee, spilling it, then running to t
he bathroom. She dabbed at her stained blouse, which did no good, then caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her lip quivered, then she hung her head and let a few tears fall into the sink. She was leaving in two days, going back to, well, nothing, but the reasons for her trip had been fulfilled. She’d found her father in the rows of vines and the pages of his journal. He had loved her; that was why he left her the business.
There were still questions, of course, which her mother needed to answer, but overall she was ready to move forward with what she’d come there to do. And now that Nic saw viability in the brokerage again, she felt comfortable signing over the shares to him. He deserved them, she told herself. More than she did...right? She had planned to sign his share transfer papers that afternoon, but now it would have to wait until tomorrow. Which felt better.
Nic was off the phone when she came back to the table. He took her hand across the table. “What if I told you we may have met before?”
“You mean in our dreams?” she teased.
“I was thinking of when we were a bit younger.” His voice became careful. “I think your mother brought you here once when you were a child. There’s reference to it in the journal.”
She contemplated what to say. “There’s a picture in his armoire of me as a toddler. So I think you’re right.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“About us meeting? I don’t remember it.”
“Maybe our souls met that day,” he said.
“You are very romantic today.”
“I’m romantic every day when I’m around you. It’s strange.”
“Strange good?”
“Yes. But I meant how do you feel about your mother—”
“Lying to me,” she finished.
His face scrunched. “I was going to say about her trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from my father? Yeah, he seemed real dangerous. Trust me, she was lying to protect herself.” Maya swallowed her anger. She didn’t want to feel it, not then.
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”