‘
You could have
anybody . . .’
she said, gesturing despairingly
at the door. This was ludicrous; here they were in the bathroom
of all
unromantic places, discussing marriage.
‘
That is the most
pathetic excuse I’ve ever heard,’ he declared,
‘and certainly the last.
Camilla, if you don’t start agreeing with
me
this minute I’m walking out of here. You’ll never see me
again. Is that
what you’d prefer?’
In silence she crossed the bathroom,
closing and calmly
locking the door.
In silence
she turned back to face him.
In silence she undid the buttons of his white shirt,
sliding it away from his tanned body and dropping it to the floor behind him.
‘
You aren’t seducing me
again, are you?’ he said, as she
started
to undo his trousers. ‘Because I don’t want you to think
I’m just an
easy lay.’
‘
Stop complaining,’ said Camilla evenly, her
mouth only inches from his. With tantalizing slowness she brushed her lips
against his jaw . . . his cheek . . . the very corner of his perfect mouth. Her
hand, sliding inside his unbuttoned trousers, found him thrillingly ready for
her. Nico was breathing deeply now, trying to force himself not to join in with
the seduction.
‘
Promise me you’ll still respect me in the morning,’ he
murmured,
unable to prevent himself reaching out and touching her honey-blond hair.
Moments later the combs holding it up joined his shirt on the carpet beside
them.
‘
How amazing,’ remarked
Nico as her hair brushed against
his bare chest, enervating a million
nerve endings. ‘Here we are sharing an intimate moment together and for once
you have all your clothes on.’
Smiling, Camilla unzipped her dress and allowed it to
slither
to the floor in a glistening heap.
Wearing only silk underwear,
and sheer dark stockings, she looked so
feminine, and so utterly desirable that Nico could barely control himself.
‘
Well, almost, anyway,’ he said huskily, in an
effort to divert his mind.
Except that any diversion now was
impossible. Neither of
them took any notice at all of the timid knocking at the bathroom
door.
‘I think you’re only interested in my body,’ said Nico,
kicking off his shoes as the footsteps outside receded, and waiting for Camilla
to approach him once more. He exhaled slowly as she
came towards him and placed her hands upon his hips. Their
bodies
were so nearly touching now . . . they had both waited so long for this .. .
‘
I’m extremely
interested in your body,’ Camilla promised
him, trailing her fingers lightly down his thighs. ‘You did want
me
to be honest with you,’ she added, as Nico opened his mouth
to protest. ‘And now I’m going to be. I do want to
marry you,
more than anything else in the world. I love you. I can’t
believe you’ll ever understand how much I love you. And now I want to make love
to you. Do you think you’d mind awfully if I did?’
‘Honesty is the best policy,’ said Nico, reaching for her
and
smiling with sheer, delirious relief. ‘I
think I can cope with
that, and if it
gets too terrible to bear I suppose I could always
just lie back and
think of Italy . .