She didn’t skip a beat, wrapping her arms around my neck to keep me close. I cheered inside and pressed my forehead to hers, moving my hand lower to cup her breast. I thrusted deeper, enjoying the way she spasmed every time I hit the right spot.
Twenty minutes later, she climaxed again, in sync with me.
“Mind. Blown. Away,” she breathed, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, her legs still around me and shaking.
I pecked her nose. “Thomas Calix at your service.”
She chuckled, letting me get up when I tapped her bum. I locked myself in the en-suite for a moment to clean up and tame the mess that was now my hair.
“Don’t get mad,” she said when I returned, pleased to see that she was still too weak to throw the t-shirt on. “I keep getting side-tracked, and I’ve been trying to tell you something for two days now.”
“You think it’s wise to start a sentence withdon’t get madthree minutes after we had sex?”
She giggled, smacking me with a pillow. “I’m getting my very first art exhibition. Turns out Chase knows an owner of a small gallery in the city centre. They want to put my art up for four days starting on Wednesday, January the third.”
“That’s great,” I kissed her forehead. “You deserve it. You’re extremely talented. Why haven’t you said anything sooner?”
“I wanted to tell you straight away, but you asked me to move in with you, and it slipped my mind. Chase was only checking if I’d like to do it at first, but I sent him pictures of my paintings to forward to the art gallery owner. We didn’t expect an answer until after Christmas. I guess they really liked my work, because Chase called this morning to say the exhibition is booked.”
I drew her closer and closed her mouth with a kiss, teasing her bottom lip with my tongue, ready to take her again.
“I’m flying out to Madrid the day before, but I’ll be back on Wednesday afternoon in time for the vernissage.”
Nadia smiled and leaned over the bed to put the t-shirt back on. She left the panties on the floor and cuddled into my side, ready for bed.
We had a busy day ahead of us with shopping and moving Nadia’s stuff to my house…ourhouse. I covered her with the duvet and kissed her forehead, watching as she fell asleep.
CHAPTER 24
NADIA
Happy place
“What do you think about this one?” I asked Thomas, sitting cross-legged on the floor in my apartment on New Year’s Eve.
We spent the last week packing my stuff and moving them over to Thomas’s house. All that was left in the apartment were my paintings and most of the bulky furniture. It made sense to leave it there, and we would rent the place as furnished. Thomas already found some new tenants, too. A young couple was due to move in the second week of January.
For now, though, we used the apartment to sort through my art in the evenings. Thomas opened a bottle of wine, glancing at the nth painting. He tried not to let it show, but I could tell that the glimpses of my past were hard on him. During the past three days, he saw a total of one hundred and sixty-two sketches and paintings, all of which were moments of my relationship with Adrian. They were the worst moments.
“No,” he said. “There’s one similar already on theExhibitionpile.”
I sighed. “How many more do I need to pick?”
“About twenty, I’d say.”
I got up from the floor, readjusting my blouse. “It’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I’ve had enough of this.” I rested my fists on the couch, leaning over to Thomas. “How about I show you something that might make you feel a bit better?”
“You’ll get naked?”
“Maybe later,” I smiled. “Do you remember the sketchpad you asked to see the morning after you and Nick found out I was back?”
He nodded, watching as I rummaged through my bag to pull out the A4 sketchpad. I sat down, taking a glass of wine with me.
“Those are my happy memories. They got me through the four months in New York, and they still help me whenever I struggle.”
I gave him the sketchpad, tucking my feet under my bum. Thomas flicked open the cover, his face unreadable while he stared at the sketch of his face: hair combed back, smirk on his lips, chiselled jawline.
He turned the page over to a drawing of us at the back of the cab, kissing for the first time. All pages were filled with similar images.