Nick and Lilac (29 page)

He had his fucking shot and he had blown it. Now, he had to do what was right, to say what he had come here to say and then let Lilac have her happily-ever-after with the better man.

“If I ever made you feel unworthy of being loved, I’m so fucking sorry. But you are – you deserve to be loved, to be cherished more than any girl on earth. I was…I am…” Nick’s breath hissed out. “I am the luckiest man on earth as well…because even for a short time, you
loved
me.”

Still, she did not speak, did not look at him, and with it the last remnant of hope in his heart died.

“I…love you, Lilac. I’ll love you…”

He suddenly laughed, and it made Lilac look at him. Her breath caught, the wry smile on his face doing what it was meant to do – breaking her heart all over again.

“I just remembered…your favorite song, the one you listen to over and over when you’re doing your stuff. And I fucking get it now, the lyrics…it’s how I fucking feel.
I’ll die every day…waiting for you…I’m going to love you…a thousand years.
”

His lips were bloodless with pain. “Fucking corny, right?”

Yet she still did not speak.

Ah, God, it hurt.

“If I could undo things,” Nick whispered. “I would. And then I’d love you the way you deserve to be loved. But I can’t. And now…all I can do is hope that you’re happy with Jason.” He touched her cheek – just one last touch to last him a thousand years of waiting and dying with every fucking day that passed without Lilac at his side.

“You deserve everything in this world.”

Lilac wrenched away with a cry, the walls around her heart crumbling. She heard Nick gasp, as if he was being stabbed, and she knew he thought she was rejecting him.

But still he spoke, the words raw. “Be happy, Lilac.”

She walked away without a word, and then she was running to Jason, sobbing in his arms. “Are you really going to let him go just like that, Lilac?”

“How can I…ever be sure…he really…loves me…this time?”

Jason said quietly, “You know the answer to that. Don’t be like how Nick first was. Too stubborn, too hurt, too blind---I never took you for a coward.”

“I’m…not---”

“You are if you’re not willing to give him a second chance.” Jason gently released her from his embrace, freeing Lilac even though he remained bound to her. “People make mistakes, Lilac. And Nick’s only human.”

Be happy, Lilac.

Oh…Nick.

What had she done?

With a sob, she whirled around, her blurry gaze frantically looking for Nick. But she couldn’t see him. She pushed past the crowd of onlookers, fear gripping her heart like a vise. She couldn’t be too late, he couldn’t be---

“Oh…Nick.”

Lilac was crying, running to Nick, who had sunk to his knees on the ground.

His head lifted, and his own hazy gaze mirrored every emotion in her own eyes.  He was aghast to see her stumbling, and he rushed towards her, catching her, saving her.

“Oh…Nick.”

His hands shook as he wiped the tears away from her exquisite face. “What is it, Lilac?”

“I. Love. You.” And because there were no more words she could say, Lilac pulled his head down to kiss him, claiming him before the world. Nick Christakos was hers. She wanted him to be hers. Because she loved him.

His arms went around her, a steely embrace that did not cage but protected, cherishing rather than suffocating. “I love you,” he said harshly before kissing her, claiming her, telling the whole world that she belonged to him, that he loved her.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

“I cannot believe…we’re in
Japan
!” Lilac squealed the last word out, making Nick laugh as they went past the last of the security checks. She paused, sniffing the air. Oh, dear. Even the smell, feel, sound, and sight of Narita Airport – it was all very…Japanese.

She looked up at him, doll eyes shining. “Thank you…for this.”

He sighed, a resigned look falling on his gorgeous face. He really was, she thought giddily, very, very beautiful. And still so perfectly put together, just like a hero straight from the pages of a romance novel. Black-yellow striped scarf, dark gray parka, and the sexiest pair of jeans she had ever seen. Or at least it looked like that for Lilac – everything Nick Christakos wore was sexy.

Unable to help it, she smiled up at Nick. “Best…Christmas…vacation
ever
!” Again, her doll eyes sparkled.

Nick sighed a second time.

She blinked. “W-why? What’s wrong?”

Nick stretched out one hand, palm up. A second later, a spare pair of Ray-Bans was handed to him, and a second later, it was perched on her nose.

“Nick!”

He kissed her. “This is Japan,
manari mou
. The men here are addicted to eyes exactly like yours,” he said grimly. “So if you ever fucking take those glasses off your face, then I will lock you in our room and you’ll never set foot in Tokyo again.” Curling an arm around her waist possessively, he said, “Now, where’s your sister?”

They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, Lilac mumbled, “I think…she’s late.”

He laughed at the shame-faced look on Lilac’s face. “Relax,
manari mou.
I’m sure she has a good reason.” Privately, he thought not. Even though he had only met Violet and her fiancé through FaceTime chats, he knew that Violet York was not a girl who needed a reason to be late.

“Let me…call her.”

“Use my phone,” he immediately offered. “I have their numbers stored in there.”

Lilac took his phone, scrolled down to find Violet’s name, and switched to loudspeaker when the call pushed through.

You have reached Violet York’s voice mail. I am currently having earth-shattering sex----

Lilac’s eyes went wide behind Nick’s sunglasses while Nick choked on his laughter as someone cursed in Korean in the background.

Mom, Dad, if this is you – it was a joke. Lilac, if it’s you – it’s not. I’m sorry, I’m going to be late but I’m sure Nick has Plan B ready. As for the other guys who are calling to get to know me---

A Korean-European-accented voice, hard and inflexible, cut Violet off.

I’m fucking her.

The line went dead.

“Well,” Nick said after a beat. “She was right.”

Lilac did not know if she wanted to laugh or cringe. How could Violet---

She sighed. Well, that was Violet.

And then she was being dragged.

“N-Nick?”

“I’m hard as a rock now, so don’t make it harder for me to walk.”

“W-what---”

He stopped dead in his tracks, and she bumped into him. He groaned, tipped her chin up, and took her lipsina rough kiss. After, he said tersely, “Now, don’t talk. Just one word and I swear I’ll be fucking you in the nearest restroom.”

Lilac was still wondering if she dared risk being fucked in the nearest restroom by the time they boarded a bullet train bound for Kyoto. She barely caught a glimpse of the extremely interesting interior of the train before Nick had pushed her inside a private cabin.

Baxter quickly pulled the door shut.

“Whaaat---”

Nick whipped the sunglasses off her face. “Now,” he purred, “you can blink those eyes at me.”

And she didn’t mean to, but she did blink because she totally had no idea what was happening.

Nick groaned. “You really did fucking blink.”

In a second, he had her flat against the waist-high windows, breasts pressed flat against the glass as he pulled up the skirt of Lilac’s dress from behind. She gasped as he ripped her panties off. “This,” he told her thickly, “is why I asked you to wear a fucking skirt.”

She was wet already, and the sound of Nick unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants just made Lilac wetter.

Lilac moaned out loud when she felt the head of his cock against the moist entry of her pussy. “Nick.” She moaned his name, desire making her voice throaty.

“Getting fucked on a train.” His whisper next to her ear made Lilac’s entire body shudder. “Add this to your erotica.”

“Nick!” She wailed it out of embarrassment, but then his cock slid in and he started thrusting hard, one hand going under her blouse to cup her breast while another played with her clit. When she moaned his name again, it was for another reason entirely.

With one twist, he had his scarf unwound from his neck and he thrust it at Lilac. “Bite it, sweetheart---” Nick flipped her over to face him and then he deposited her on the cushion, bringing her legs up. He let his hands drift all over her legs, savoring its silky smoothness and then he caught sight of her stiletto-heeled boots – something he had begged her to wear just for today.

Nick swore. “Bite it now,” he told her harshly.

“I d-don’t need---”

He gripped her ankles, pushed her legs wide open and started fucking her. Hard.

Lilac hastily bit into his scarf and
screamed.

****

Violet reluctantly rose from Park’s arms, reaching for her phone, which she had left right next to their
futon.
“I’m just worried,” she confessed. “Lilac is
never
late.”

“It’s a good thing she is,” he grunted to her. “Or she and Christakos would have caught you taking advantage of me in the fucking living room---”

Violet giggled. “I can’t help it. I just saw you in a
yukata,
and well---” Her eyes danced mischievously. “You know what that does to me.”

He snatched her back into his arms, depositing her on his lap. He dealt with her kimono quickly, caressing Violet’s beautiful bottom. “You can call her from here,” he told her huskily.

She pressed the speakerphone on when she heard the clicking sound that meant her call went through.

Voice mail message updated two hours ago.

This is Nick Christakos. You have reached my fiancée’s voice mail. If you are not Violet or her fiancé and you’re a man, then GET THE FUCK OFF THE PHONE BECAUSE THIS IS MY GIRL.

A struggle in the background, scraping sounds that indicated a tug-of-war between two persons over the phone.

And then---

A heartfelt moan.

End of message.

****

My Dear Nikolai,

In case you have forgotten me – and I know it is quite possible, you being the handsome, wealthy, eligible catch of the Ton---

Unbidden, the duke smiled, knowing that even though this was supposed to be a letter of apology, the cheeky little brat had not been able to hold her sharp tongue and keep her sarcasm to herself.

---my name is Lilia, an impoverished daughter of an earl.

I am told by a certain duke that I am stubborn and immature, and though it galls me to admit it – perhaps that man is right.

Now, that man thinks he knows everything there is to know in the world, and I tell you – that kind of attitude is Insufferable! It irks me so, when he thinks his age makes him right in every way about everything.

But –

I am in love with that man.

And I am wondering---

May I have another chance to make him fall in love with me?###