Christmas with Nicholas: - an Untwisted seasonal story (Untwisted series) (2 page)

It was all rather exciting really. Being given a holiday for Christmas was amazing in the first place, not to mention hugely extravagant, but keeping me in suspense this long was certainly adding to my anticipation, just as Nicholas had suggested it would.

Turning to Nicholas I blushed when I found him already looking at me with an intense gaze and a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. As I often did, I wondered what was going on in that complex mind of his. We might have been together a while now, but the connection between us seemed to strengthen with every passing day, and although I never quite got to the bottom of how his mind worked, the chemistry between us still blew me away. I was more attracted to him than I’d ever believed possible. Thankfully he seemed to feel the same way.

The quirky, floaty voice of Feist singing ‘1,2,3,4’ about teenage love made me realise that all the music I’d listened to so far on Nicholas’ iPod had been really pleasant, completely what I would have picked myself, and definitely not what I would have expected him to have stored on his player. Pulling one headphone out to speak to him, the song faded off as the track ended, ‘Is this your music?’

Smiling indulgently at me Nicholas shook his head and then narrowed his eyes, ‘Why? Do you not like it?’

‘I
really
like it, they’re all songs I’d pick, but I just can’t imagine you listening to some of this stuff.’ Glancing down at the screen of the iPod it changed to one of my all-time favourite songs, Colbie Caillat’s ‘Bubbly’. I grinned, ‘I mean, ‘Bubbly’? I love it, but it’s a bit … girly for you isn’t it?’ I asked carefully, just in case I accidentally caused him offence.

Sharing my smile Nicholas shrugged and then nodded. ‘The iPod is part of your Christmas present; it’s new, I filled it with songs I thought you’d like.’ For a second I was speechless as his words sunk in. Nicholas Jackson, my ultra-cool, tough, and sometimes daunting boyfriend, had made me the modern-day version of a mix tape. I couldn’t believe it. In fact, I only knew that my mouth was hanging open when Nicholas chuckled and reached up to close it with his thumb. ‘Close your mouth, Rebecca. Or I’ll be tempted to put something in to occupy it,’ he murmured darkly as he ran his thumb across my lower lip. At the dirty implication of his words, my shock at his thoughtful gift made a swift swerve to arousal, and as his eyes heated and his smile became a full-on sexy smirk I had to shift in my seat as heat settled between my legs.

Glancing at his watch Nicholas let out a short sigh and dashed any vague ideas I might have been forming about joining the mile high club. ‘That naughty thought will have to wait for later. We’re nearly there,’ he promised in a lusty voice before leaning up to replace my earphone. Before he reached my ear I stopped him with my palm, ‘Thank you, Nicholas,’ I gushed in a whisper, ‘For all of this; the holiday, the iPod … it’s amazing.’

Leaning forwards, Nicholas must have stowed his deviant thoughts away for later, because in the blink of an eye he’d swapped to a sensitive cutie by placing a quick kiss on my lips and running his fingertips lightly across my cheek. ‘You are more than welcome, Becky,’ he murmured against my lips before popping my earphone back in and cocooning me off in my own little world again, with the particularly apt ‘On Top Of The World’ by Imagine Dragons now playing in my ears.

As the plane began its descent I turned the iPod off as Nicholas finally opened his window blind to let me see outside. It was night time, so I couldn’t really see a great deal at all, but there did seem to be an odd shimmering on the landscape so perhaps we were still over the sea. Or maybe it was just condensation on the glass? It was impossible to tell, really. A few minutes later I glanced across again and could see a small spattering of twinkling lights below us, indicating that we were now above a town or city, but the strange shimmer still seemed to be there. Frowning in confusion, I turned to find Nicholas grinning at me.

‘Well, I might as well tell you our destination now, because the captain will spoil my surprise by announcing when we land any way.’ Pulling my hand luggage from under his seat where he’d stowed it he quickly pulled something out and hid it by his side before putting the bag back. ‘Let’s just say you’re going to need this for the next week, Becky.’ Before I could ask what ‘this’ was, Nicholas reached up and pulled something over my head, encasing my ears and most of my eyes in furry darkness and forcing my long, blonde hair to flatten around my face. Stupidly, I let out a yelp and pulled the thing off my head to stare down at it with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. ‘A deer stalker?’ The hat in my hands was one of those ones with flaps that came down over your ears and tied underneath your chin to keep you extra snug. It was lined with soft, downy fur and the outer layer was a maroon wool.

‘Why would I need a hat like this is Greece?’ I blurted, without thinking.

‘Greece?’ Nicholas questioned, making me bite my lip as I realised my slip.

‘Yeah, when we checked our bags in I … I saw the luggage tags, they had KEF on them; that must be for Kefalonia right?’

Laughing a big deep rumble Nicholas shook his head. ‘No Becky, we’re not going to Kefalonia. KEF stands for Keflavík International Airport.’ Seeing my totally blank expression his grin broadened, ‘It’s also known as Reykjavík Airport. As in the capital city of Iceland.’ Iceland? We were in
Iceland
? Blinking rapidly I was trying to take in what he was telling me when I saw the smile drop from his face. ‘Christ, would you rather be in Greece?’

Iceland was like a fairy tale destination, one of those places that I’d always wanted to go to, but never thought in a million years that I’d ever actually get to visit. Keen to avoid ruining the start to our holiday I quickly grabbed his hand and reassured him, ‘No! No! This is
amazing,
Nicholas, I’ve always wanted to come to Iceland!’ Suddenly something occurred to me, ‘Oh my God, is that shimmer outside snow?’

Seeing my obvious excitement – I was literally bouncing in my seat – Nicholas relaxed and grinned as he glanced out the window. ‘Probably. It snows a lot here in December, that’s why I got you the hat,’ he said, pulling it onto my head again and tilting his head as he assessed me. ‘It looks very cute,’ he decided finally, before a distinctly naughty expression lit his face. ‘Actually, I’d rather like you to wear it for me tonight … with nothing else on.’ Gulping, I smiled at him shyly, once again floored by just how quickly he could change from normal Nicholas to naughty Nicholas, and then nodded. ‘I’m sure that can be arranged, Nicholas,’ I murmured with a blush. Much to my delight he pulled a matching scarf from the bag and wrapped it snugly around my neck before leaning back and giving me a heated, narrowed glance.

Apparently he was intent on getting me fully aroused and frustrated because Nicholas leaned in and added one final comment, ‘It’ll be so cold here Rebecca, just imagine how hard your nipples will be for me by the time we get to the hotel.’ Then, after dropping that bombshell, which had me feeling flustered, fidgety, and ridiculously turned on, he unclicked his seatbelt and stood up, looking completely unaffected as he prepared our things so we could leave the now stationary plane.

Even with snow falling our taxi only took about thirty-five minutes to reach the Borg Hotel in the centre of Reykjavík. It’s crazy, a few leaves fall on a train line in the UK and the whole route shuts down for hours, but here, thick snow lies all around us and life just continues as normal.

Our taxi dropped us right outside the entrance to a stunning white hotel and a bell boy quickly appeared from the brightly lit foyer to relieve us of our luggage. The hotel was beautiful; almost colonial in its feel, the décor somehow combining old-style arches and marble floors with the modern elegance of leather furnishings and luxurious fabrics everywhere I looked.

We took the lift to the top floor, Nicholas humming happily to himself and flashing me heated glances every few seconds, and me stunned into contented silence by the events of the last five hours. I was in Iceland, for goodness sakes – it was just so surreal!

Exiting the lift we located our room just down the sumptuously carpeted hallway. As we walked through the door to our gorgeous suite I stopped by the bed and marvelled at my surroundings. It was fabulous. My eyes blinked rapidly as I tried to take it all in; the décor was pale beige with some stunning floral feature wallpaper on the far wall, a huge bed covered in creamy brown silks and a mountain of cushions dominated the room, and a beautiful white leather settee  to my right faced towards enormous floor to ceiling windows. It was a shame it was night time, because I’m fairly sure that behind those huge, elegant curtains the view would be just as stunning as the room that I was stood in.

I turned in a daze towards the man I loved more than I’d ever thought possible, a man who was constantly surprising me with just how thoughtful he could be, and found him smiling his endearingly cute, shy smile. ‘This is so amazing, Nicholas, thank you.’ I gushed, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him all over his chin, cheeks, and lips as he laughed and squirmed against my sloppy onslaught.

Looking uncharacteristically bashful Nicholas pulled back, gave me one last lingering kiss, and instead of following up with some speedy sexing he ushered me into the en-suite to take a quick shower and freshen up from the journey. ‘And don’t worry about unpacking,’ he said, ‘we’re moving on again tomorrow.’

Smelling like the beautiful jasmine body wash the hotel had provided, I wrapped myself in just the luxurious silk robe from the bathroom and re-entered the bedroom after my shower. I gasped in surprise when I saw the surfaces lit with several tea lights and Nicholas perched on the end of the bed with a bottle of champagne in his hand and a bowl of chocolate-covered strawberries on a tray next to him. ‘I ordered us a little snack to have before bed.’

Grinning like a lunatic I practically skipped across the room as Nicholas stood, popped the cork off with a grin matching my own, poured two glasses, and then handed one to me. ‘Happy Christmas, Becky,’ he murmured, his head slightly dipped and his eyes twinkling as they ran across the thin silk of my robe. I chinked my glass against his, but his voice was so low and seductive that I found my fingers trembling from a rush of arousal as I took my first sip of the cool, crisp liquid.

Placing both our glasses on the sideboard Nicholas took my hand and led me towards the curtains that he’d opened to reveal large double doors and a balcony. ‘Come and look at the view.’ Following him without question I paused to put on the slippers he offered me and then stepped out into the cold, clear Icelandic night with him. Immediately I shivered as the icy breeze caught in my robe, but Nicholas stepped close behind me and with a chuckle, pulled my new hat onto my head before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me firmly back against his chest. ‘I believe I said I wanted you in the hat and nothing else, but seeing as it’s chilly out here I’ll let the robe stay. For now.’ His final two words were murmured in a dark seductive tone against the hollow of my collar bone, and as his hot breath fanned across my skin I found myself squirming in his strong arms as desire curled and flamed in my belly.

Linking his fingers across my stomach he trailed his lips from my shoulder up my neck until he was leaning in close to my ear – well, as close as the furry flaps of my cosy hat would allow. ‘We won’t stay out for long, but I wanted you to see the stars, Becky. Look how bright they are here.’

Soft waves of snowflakes were drifting down through the air around us and as I tilted my head up to look at the stars I poked out my tongue and caught one with a carefree giggle. Nicholas was right, the stars were absolutely stunning, sprinkling the inky black sky like diamonds. Lowering my head I watched as a group of people below made their way through the snow, the ground of the square before us already blanketed in a thick, sparkling layer.

‘That’s the parliament building over there,’ Nicholas murmured, indicating a building on the other side of the square that I could just about see illuminated by the moonlight reflecting off the snow. Using my distraction as an opportunity for access, Nicholas’ hands shifted to the sash at my waist. Thinking he was going to tighten it to keep me warm I lifted my arms but then let out a panicked gasp when he began to undo it and part the gown at the front. Clawing at the material I pushed back against him, but to no avail – he was too strong to be shifted by my slighter body weight, and besides, when he was on a sexing mission of some kind there wasn’t much I could do that would deter him. ‘Nicholas! What are you doing?’ I hissed, ‘Someone might see! Not to mention the fact that it’s bloody freezing out here and I’m naked below this!’

‘Hmmm … I was hoping you might be …’ I felt him chuckle darkly against my back as his hands slid to loop around my wrists and move my protesting arms back to my sides. ‘It’s dark and we’re on the fifth floor, Rebecca, no-one is looking up here.’ Leaning in he placed a gentle open mouthed kiss on the sensitive skin below my ear that had me shivering again, but this time the cause was my fluttering arousal, not the cold.  ‘Now, are you going to be good and let me do this my way, or do I have to use this sash to tie your wrists?’ he murmured as he continued to kiss and nip at my neck.

My breathing quickened with excitement at his mention of restraint. Even though we’d been together a while now we still had an active sex life,
very
active, it had been decidedly kinky at the start too, but since we’d settled into our relationship Nicholas had reduced the kink factor a fair bit, instead just happy to sex me like crazy several times a week.

Perhaps it was the fresh Icelandic air, the delight of being on holiday with Nicholas for the first time or maybe just the excitement of Christmas being around the corner, but I was feeling exuberant and adventurous, so I lay my head back on Nicholas’ shoulder and met his eyes, then with a cheeky smile deliberately wriggled my wrists in his grip. My attempt at ‘escape’ was pretty feeble, but the flash of challenge and excitement in Nicholas’ eyes was immediate as he grinned and leant around me to drop a swift kiss on my lips.