Page 18 of Will You Stay Another Day?
‘Em fell off a houseboat and drowned. Her funeral was exactly one year ago today,’ she mumbled. ‘Halloween appropriate – the scariest day of my life.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said.
‘Don’t be, Dylan. You’ve been disappointed tonight too. Come on, I need to hit a bigger sugar high – let’s open the gobstopper eyeballs.’
‘Would you rather I leave?’ he asked.
No. Her eyes scanned his body, the height, the breadth, the confident movements, and like had happened, now and then, this last year, the pull to lose herself with a man tugged at her heart, so that just for a moment she could pretend that Em wasn’t gone. Em had got the words “carpe diem” tattooed on the base of her spine. She used to say there was a lot of truth in clichés.
In any case there was something about Dylan; not just the angular features, the wavy midnight hair, the black pearl eyes and Atlas shoulders. Christ, those descriptions. Em would have laughed, but the physical attraction had set her body and mind on fire. She imagined him in a Roman gladiator’s gear, with a loincloth, sandals and helmet, holding his armour and speaking in Italian.
But the attraction was more than that, to do with an air about him completely opposite to that of an armed fighter – gentle, caring, interested.
Whatever. She’d never see him again but… but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make the most of an evening when they’d both been let down.
Lili moved forwards and slipped an arm around his waist. ‘No, don’t go. Please… stay.’
Dylan cleared his throat. ‘Right, you mean… That’s, um… You’re a great girl, Lili… but you’re upset, I wouldn’t want to…’
‘I’m a woman, Dylan, I know what I want. And right here, right now, that’s you – if you want that too,’ said Lili, feeling more brazen than she was used to. She stood on tiptoe and slipped her arms around his neck, pulling him down gently so that she could kiss him.
11
Dylan reached forwards and took the bobble out of Lili’s hair. Blonde locks fell around her face.
‘I’ve been wanting to do that since I first met you,’ he said.
Lili took his hand. ‘Come on, Mario,’ she whispered and led him back to the bed.
Dylan swept an arm under her legs. He easily carried her over and lay her on the mattress. He stood in front of her, holding her gaze, and undid his shirt buttons, slowly, methodically. Nice. Dylan took his top off and threw it on the floor. He moved nearer, his black shoulder-length hair falling forwards. Pulse racing, Lili made room for him on the bed. His hand went down to her jeans. He undid the button and pulled down the zip.
‘Okay?’ he asked, still looking right into her eyes.
Oh. Considerate. Lili nodded and pulled off her jumper. He’d tugged off her jeans and now the two of them were under the covers. Impatiently, she slipped out of her T-shirt and Dylan wriggled out of his trousers. Lying sideways, their lips met, heat building in between her legs. Oh God.
She’d never been kissed like this, with such a light touch, yet he couldn’t hide his eagerness as he explored her mouth. It unnerved her. Lili felt a… a lack of control.
This was new.
She kissed him back and her fingers slipped around the waist of his boxers. Taking the hint, he removed them. His index finger slipped down the top of her bikini briefs.
‘You sure about this, Lydia?’ he murmured, those eyes still piercing, yet touched with something else more compelling – concern; respect.
In response she removed her underwear, pushed herself up and straddled him. Lili took his hands, pinning Dylan down on the sheets, and when they got as close as they could, and an all-consuming urgency drove them both, a moan, small at first, built within her. Oh God. Oh God. Her head filled with a vortex of lights, of colours. An intense, addictive, dirtily euphoric sensation overran her emotions, followed by… oh… oh… a sense of relief that swept across her whole body, deeper and deeper until it was almost too much to bear.
Lili panted, hearing her heart beat. What had just happened?
When it was over, when he pulled her into his arms, when he kissed her head and told her she was so beautiful, before nodding off, Lili turned away and held a hand over her mouth, concerned she’d let out another a cry of ecstasy, unable to remember the last time she’d felt so very happy.
Baffled as she recalled the way he’d held her as she’d fallen asleep and how, during the night, she’d woken up to feel him covering her bare shoulders with the covers, Lili crept out of bed when dawn broke – baffled because she wished she could stay longer. What was that about? Last night her mind hadn’t wandered to an upcoming holiday or problem at work, as it had with other men she’d slept with over the years.
Her whole attention, in the moment, had been on Dylan.
She pulled on her clothes, apart from a sock that must have got lost in the sheets. Hair tousled on the pillow, Dylan slept soundly, arms reaching out to the side now as if looking for her. An urge almost drove her to lie down next to him again, and breathe in his sexy bergamot scent. She reached into her bag and pulled out a clean tissue and pen.
Lili would normally make it clear, in advance of first sleeping together with one of the men she’d dated in the past, that she wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. That saved any awkwardness or anyone getting hurt, and it made it easier to stop seeing someone after a few weeks, a few months at the most.
She should have done that last night but had got carried away, in the moment, after only a few hours with Dylan, what with Em not turning up. Lili had wanted an escape from reality and hadn’t been able to resist his laughing mouth, those serious eyes, and that gentle nature combined with a Roman gladiator vibe.
