Page 69 of Crazy in Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop
‘Hang on,’ she said because she was wearing a genuine nineteen-forties vintage dress which was hard to get into but even harder to get out of. This one had a hidden side zip and Nina sometimes wondered if they were called wiggle dresses because the only way in or out of them was with a lot of wiggling.
She was wiggling now as she eased the dress up over her hips, Noah’s eyes wide as a kid looking at all the presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Then she was pulling the dress over her head, carefully disentangling her arms from the tight sleeves and no matter how much she loved her curves, she felt a moment of sheer terror that Noah’s awestruck look would be replaced by one of disgust, but when she was finally free of all the black satin and could see again, Noah was staring at her like he hadn’t just had a three-course dinner but was starving. Ravenous.
‘Wow!’ he breathed. ‘Nina. Wow. I must have done something very good in a previous life to be here with you and you … looking like …that.’
Nina put her hands on her hips, all the better to display the black lace bra and panties and suspender belt and garters which held up her stockings, because if something was worth doing, it was worth doing properly. ‘Oh, these old things!’ she said mockingly.
‘I’m almost scared to touch you.’ Noah held up a hand hesitantly as if he couldn’t believe that soon they might be on Nina’s skin.
‘Well, we’re not going to get very far then.’ Nina was back to being nervous. Because it was one thing to pose prettily while Noah stared at her in awe but now she was waiting for the green light and he seemed to be stuck on red.
‘Almost, I said I wasalmostscared to touch you,’ Noah said with a wicked little smile and then he was moving quickly, reaching forward, to pull Nina up and onto the bed so she was in his arms again as he slammed the panel closed so the world outside ceased to exist and it was just the two of them.
It was dark inside their little cubbyhole so Nina couldn’t see Noah, but then his hands, his mouth, were on her and she didn’t need to see him, because she could feel him. On her. In her. All around her.
The first time was hot and hard and frantic, but oh so good.
Nina didn’t even care that afterwards she was a sweaty, clammy mess. They lay on their backs in the dark, little fingers entwined, breathing the same rhythm.
The second time was slow and sensual, as they took long moments to learn each other’s secrets, murmur promises against each other’s skin and finish the long climb together, and it was just as good, if not better.
There was a chill to the air when they slipped under the covers at last and normally Nina wasn’t a snuggler, snuggling was not cool, but it was lovely to have Noah’s arms around her, big spoon to her little spoon.
She thought he was asleep. His breathing was deep, even, but then he said quietly, ‘This isn’t just some fling is it, Nina? I don’t want just a fling.’
It was half question, half confession, as if he were worried that Nina had had her night of passion and was now going to bail. Which was ridiculous. She’d known Noah for just over a month but it wasn’t enough. She knew with a rare certainty that Noah was the kind of man that she could be with for a year, ten years, a lifetime and he’d still find new ways to surprise her, to make her laugh, to make her feel safe.
Suddenly Nina got it. What a fool she’d been! Passion was one thing, there had been plenty of passion tonight, but when it was accompanied by something softer, sweeter, deeper, then maybe passion could have real staying power.
A man who could make you come undone then hold you while you slept, might just be a keeper.
Or at least Nina hoped so.
‘I have not broken your heart – you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.’
When Nina woke up the next morning, she was groggy and disorientated. Couldn’t think where she was or why it was so dark and why she seemed to be snuggled up to a hot water bottle.
She lay there willing her brain to work until slowly the events of yesterday came back into focus. No wonder she was so achy and sore, slightly hungover too, and that was no hot water bottle; that was a hot naked Noah.
‘Nina? Are you awake?’ hot naked Noah whispered in her ear and she tried to say yes, but it came out as more of a grunt.
‘I think I am,’ she croaked out and it took all the effort in the world but she managed to find the energy to roll over so they were facing each other. ‘Hi!’
‘Hello. I missed you. Let’s never go to sleep again,’ Noah said and he kissed the tip of her nose and Nina had experienced enough awkward morning-afters to know that this wasn’t one of them. Noah wasn’t the type of man to get his goodies then exit stage left; he’d meant what he said last night about this not being a fling.
And Nina? Despite the aches and pains and the suspicion that some small woodland creature had crawled into her mouth during the night and died, she’d rarely felt more content. ‘Or we could have another sleep right now?’ she suggested, because she was still tired.
‘When you say sleep, do you mean sleep or do you mean something else?’ Noah asked, nudging Nina in a way that should have ignited all sorts of fires, but as it was all she could manage was a feeble smoulder and when he leaned in to kiss her, she had to shift her face away.
‘I did actually mean sleep,’ she said huskily. ‘You’ve worn me out and also, I have the worst morning mouth ever so stop trying to kiss me.’
‘Poor Nina.’ Noah didn’t seem to care that there was a small animal corpse in Nina’s mouth because he did steal one swift but tender kiss, then laughed and let her go. ‘Because you’re my current favourite person in the world, I’ll let you have a lie-in while I grab the first shower, but it’s gone nine already. I think we’ve probably missed breakfast.’
Usually Nina loved a hotel breakfast. No continental option for her, but full fry-up every time, but even the thought of bacon, eggs and a couple of rounds of toast couldn’t stir her from her recumbent position. She felt Noah shift off the bed and took the opportunity to burrow deeper under the covers. She could sleep for a week.
Her phone started ringing from across the room where it had been charging since before they went to dinner last night. ‘Shall I grab that for you?’ Noah asked.
‘No, leave it.’
