BUTTERFLIES FLY AWAY (24 page)

Carrie drew a sharp breath at this unexpected verbal
assault.

“Mrs Devanti, how observant of you,” she
replied.  “But no my husband won’t be joining us.  I’m a widow you
see.  Now if you will excuse me, please enjoy the rest of your evening”

She walked away her head held high and did not look
back to see if Nico had followed her. Trying to blink away the tears that had
filled her eyes.  She would not breakdown in front of everyone. 

Nico soon caught up with her, grabbing her arm he
opened a door and pulled her into a family room.

“Let go of me,” she tried to pull away.

“I’m sorry Carrie, listen to me.”

“Why should I Nico?”

“Hear me out, please.”

They were in a large family room, lots of sofas an
enormous large screen TV dominated one of the walls.  Carrie perched on
the edge of the sofa, keeping her distance from him. 

“God .. I feel like today I have been full of
apologies, the gossip from this morning.  The mix up with the table plan
and now this!  My Mother’s acerbic tongue.  Putting it bluntly she
thought that you were a married woman with whom I was publicly flirting with.”

“Well isn’t that just great!  How wonderful to
have such a high opinion of someone you don’t even know”

“I have put her straight Carrie, and she has
apologised for any upset.”

“Okay, I just wasn’t prepared for it.  We were dancing
in front of hundreds of people for goodness sake.  Is that what everyone
thinks?”

He walked over towards her and tipped her chin back
looking her straight in the eyes which were bright with her unshed tears.

“Carrie, no that’s not what everyone thinks, my
Mother was just being petty to have a snipe at me that backfired.  I’m
sorry let’s go back and continue dancing; I want you back in my arms.  But
I do understand if you want to leave.”

She conceded.  “I understand Nico but I guess I
just got caught up in the magic for tonight.  I don’t need to be reminded
that I’m a widow.  Let’s go dance but no more apologising, please!  I
think there have been enough of those said tonight.”

The dress still looked as perfect as it did all
those hours ago but she smoothed it again trying to remove any imaginary
imperfections.  They walked back to the grand hall, Nico with a protective
arm linked through hers.  They made a striking couple and drew the gaze of
almost everyone in the room.  She didn’t recognise the song the band was
playing but within minutes she was back in the arms of Nico.  For now that
was all that really mattered.  She knew she was playing with fire. 
Soon she would return home and be far removed from this world.  It would
be a tale to tell of feeling like a glamorous princess for an evening and
dancing the night away.  It wasn’t quite midnight but she felt aware like
Cinderella the time would approach and she would return to her ‘rags’. 
Then normality for Carrie would encroach taking her away from this
fairy-tale. 

“I’m sorry
Carrie but I have to speak with a few people before the event finishes,” The
song was drawing to an end.  It appeared it was time for Cinderella to go
home too. 

"Thank
you for a lovely evening Nico, it’s been magical, my sister said I looked a
million dollars, you made me feel like it too, even though it had a few bumpy
moments today."

He brushed
a kiss against her temple.

"You
are welcome, it’s been memorable, tell your sister try 3/4 of a million that’s
a closer mark" his thumb brushed against the lobe of her ear where the
diamonds were glittering.

"What?
You are joking.  I feel like I should have an armed guard with me now
while I'm wearing them!"

"I
will protect you"

Carrie
looked into his eyes and something deep inside connected, bound her to him at
that moment.

Yes, she
knew he would protect her.

Across the
room Dorothea Devanti observed the dancing couple as she had done at a distance
for most of the evening.   Her son was behaving completely out of
character.  Her earlier comments about Carries marital status had not
earned her any favours with Nico.

"The
noise you hear Mama, is timber!  Your 1st born, Mama has fallen hard for
the mystery woman,"

"I
don’t believe it Paolo, only a few weeks ago we had dinner in New York with
Nico and Lea.  They seemed happy together.  I thought we were
planning a wedding the hints Lea was dropping about bridal gowns and a
destination wedding of all things."

"Ah
but was any of this wedding news said in front of Nico?”

“No I don’t
think so; we were chatting as we usually do.”

“There is
your answer then, a wedding was what she wanted not Nico.  Lea is
yesterday's news; they are no longer together,”

“Yes, your
father told me that earlier but why?  I don’t understand.  What
happened?  I thought they were happy together?”

“I don’t
know Mama, Nico doesn’t share that information with me but by the looks of it I
would say the lovely Carrie has something to do with it!  But ask Chiara
what’s going on.  She is tight with Lea and will know who or what caused
the breakup.”

"I
believe you; I know you would protect me.”  She wanted to stay dancing in
his arms but that wasn’t possible.  “I’d like to go home, well back to the
inn,"

"If
that's what you want, the night is still young,"

"It’s
time for me to go,"

"Damn
it.  I can’t take you, I have to circulate there are some guests I need to
speak with, but if that's what you want I can have Jay take you home?"

She nodded.

Acting on an
impulse that she knew that sensible Carrie would probably regret, but in a few
days she would be home and Nico would be charming someone else she
guessed.  Why did that thought pain her?

"Why
don’t you join me once this finishes?"

"Are
you sure?"

"Yes, after
all I don’t think the Inns insurance covers this jewellery!” she tried to make
light of her proposition.  “You could help me take it off, plus my dress
has lots of little hooks I won’t manage them on my own,"

He gulped,
“You want me to undress you?" letting out a slow breath.

“Yes I
do,"

He took her
hand and they walked back towards the main entrance.  Occasionally
stopping when someone wanted to speak with Nico.  She noted that he had
already discreetly signalled to Jay who was never far away.   Nico’s
parents were at the main entrance as hosts they were carrying out their duties
in thanking and saying goodbye to the guests.  Oh great just what she
needed an opportunity to exchange more pleasantries with Nico’s mother.

"Oh
Carrie are you leaving so soon?" Dorothea said, after the briefest of air
kiss to Carrie.

"Yes,
unfortunately I am but thank you for a lovely evening,"

Nicos
father kissed her cheek, "It was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we see
more of you before you leave the Cape"

Nico was
standing protectively next to her.  “I’m sure you will Dad, if I have any
say in it.”

"I
feel we have gotten off on the wrong foot, would you like to join us tomorrow
evening for dinner?," before she could reply Dorothea continued, 
"Nico will give you the details, "

She guessed
the Devanti’s were not used to being told no.

"I
will be with you no later than 2am, is that still okay?"

She knew
she could say no and he would accept her decision without any rebuff even
though she had initiated it. 

"Yes,
that’s okay,”

There was a
fire in his eyes full of promise for later at her resolve.

“Until
later”

He watched
her figure as Jay escorted her to the waiting car.  She didn’t turn
back.  Didn’t trust herself to.

Jay sensing
that she wasn’t for talking let the soft music of the background negate the
need to speak.  The car passing the twinkling lights that lined the trees
of the drive way.  Within minutes they were back at the Inn.

“Thank you
Jay,”

She picked
up her key from the desk and informed a surprised Charlie that Nico would be
returning.  Her trained eye noted the bombshell but his years of working
in the industry he hid it well.  She guessed he had been told or requested
worse things over the years.

“Can I have
a bucket of ice and two champagne glasses please?”

“Will have
that with you shortly,”

With a
smile she took the key and walked her slow steady steps back towards her room.

Oh what had
she done?  Had she gone mad?  Was the lack of intimate contact for
sixteen months finally getting to her?  All these questions and more raced
through her head.  A knock on the door and one of the night porters had
brought the ice bucket and glasses interrupted her train of thought.

“Thanks,”
and she tipped a few dollars.  Carrie was a tipper, working in hospitality
she had appreciated the extra boost that tips could make to your salary. 
The bottle of champagne she had bought in Glasgow airport she removed from its
gift box and wedged it into the ice to chill.  She didn’t have a watch on
but the alarm clock on the bedside illuminated it was a little after 1.00am.
Nico would be here soon enough. 

After
freshening in the bathroom she reapplied her lipstick, blotted it again then a
light spray of perfume.  The room was still as tidy from before.  But
the aroma of the large vase of white roses, gardenias and peonies from their
make shift salon filled the room.  Robin had added the candles too which
Carrie lit.  Her bag from earlier on the bed with her robe.  It seemed
like a life time ago now that she was preparing for the party.  She hadn’t
seen Monique before she left; too late to text she would contact her in the
morning.  Did she make up with Ted her high school sweetheart?

She fluffed
the pillows on the sofa, lit some more of the candles that the Inn provided and
picked up ‘Rob’.  It felt disloyal and heart breaking rolled all into one
but she knew she couldn’t leave him out in the room when Nico would
arrive.  She opened the wardrobe and placed him in there.  Out of
sight but not out of mind. 

“I’m sorry
Rob, forgive me”

She could
text her sister for re-assurance what she was doing was right but she knew she
had to do this alone.  She had to stop checking the time, it was only
1.30am.  Opening the balcony doors she stood out on the aptly widows walk
and stared at the twinkling stars.  She had no wrap to cover her bare
shoulders but she didn’t feel any cold.  There was a knock on the door.

Already?

Opening the
door Nico was standing in front of her.

“Hello you,”
he greeted her in their familiar way.

“Hello
you,” she returned, “You are early”

“I couldn’t
stay away”

“Come on
in, take a seat if you like” she gestured to the sofa.  All at once
nervous and jittery.  She wasn’t some virgin but any experience she had
was evaporating rapidly.

“I have
some champagne on ice; before you ask I bought in the airport it might not be
quite cold enough”

Nico opened
the bottle and poured the gold liquid into the tall stemmed flutes.

“What shall
we toast to Carrie?”

“I’m sure we
can think of something, what do you suggest?”

“I think we
should keep it simple and toast to us and new beginnings”

They
clinked glasses.

“To new
beginnings”

“You do
realise I’m in the lair of the competition here?”

“Ha, I
don’t think Terri’s beautiful Inn is on the same par as the Devanti Group”

“The room
suits you, dark, romantic, dramatic”

“Me? I
don’t know if I agree with your analogy.”

“I think
you are all that Carrie and more.”

“When I booked
the room, I thought the location was perfect but on arrival I soon gathered
that I had must have picked the most romantic room the Inn had” she joked.

“It’s very
nice and tastefully done,”

Carrie
babbled on, “I think the bath and shower easily could fit two people”

“Is that at
proposition Carrie”

“No err I
well,”

“I’m joking
with you,”

Their
glasses empty Nico topped them again and Carrie led him out to the widows walk
were the doors were still open.

“Come look
through the telescope at the night sky with me”

She placed
her glass on a side table and they stood on the little balcony and watched the
stars together.  Nico removed his jacket and placed it around her
shoulders.  She could smell his cologne again and her stomach
flipped.   He wrapped his arms around her small waist and they tried
to guess which star was what in the clear sky.

Carrie
turned round to speak but her words stopped in her head before she could utter
anything.

“Carrie I,”
then they kissed.  They had managed twenty minutes of conversation without
initiating any physical contact.  But it couldn’t be suppressed the
attraction they felt for each other.  Slowly, gently he kissed her lips,
cupping her face in his hands.  They walked back into the room and Carrie
closed the doors pulling shut the curtain.  She removed the jacket from
her shoulder and carefully folded it before laying it across the back of a
chair.  Buying a little time.

“Nico, I’m
a bit nervous,”

“Why
Carrie?  I’m not that scary”

 “I
uh, I told you I haven’t
been
with anyone since Rob died,”

“I will be
as slow or fast, hard or soft as you like” he said punctuating each word with a
kiss to her neck and shoulder.  She shivered at his touch.

It was time
to let go of her fears.  The intimacy she had shared with Nico before at
Moniques and tonight had been frantic.  They had been consumed with need
and want and lust in their spontaneity.  This was different.  Nico
was sitting on the edge of the club chair and pulled her between his
legs.   She was face to face with him.

Slowly,
meticulously, his hands moved to release the hooks and fasteners of the
dress.  His eyes didn’t break contact with her.  It slid sensuously
down her body until it pooled at her feet.  Leaving her wearing only the
black panties and Jimmy Choo heels, her breasts bare from the cover of the
dress.

“Whoa,
Carrie you are so beautiful,”

At that
moment Carrie did feel beautiful and desired.  Feelings that she hadn’t
experienced in a long time.

She leaned
forward, initiating their kiss, taking control.  She stepped out of the
dress and led him over to the bed.  Yes, she was ready to share her body
with this man.  The bow tie was already loosened and she slowly unbuttoned
the white covered buttons of his shirt.  Pulling it free she exposed his
bare chest to her touch.  Leaning over it was her turn to trail soft
kisses along his collar bone and muscular chest.  His hands covered hers
as he unbuckled his belt, the zip slowly slid down over his
hardness.  

“Let me get
this or things will be over before we begin”

Carrie
laughed

“I’m glad
you find it funny” he growled and tumbled her onto her back.  She shrieked
with laughter.

“I’m very
sensitive,”

“That’s
good to know, thanks for the advance warning”

He removed
his trousers the shoes and socks quickly following until he stood just in his
black boxer shorts.  Her eyes swept at him from top to toe, unaware that
she had bit her bottom lip.  The Doris Day voice was back in her
mind.  “Oh My!”

What a
body.  His torso appeared muscular from working out, her eyes following a
sprinkle of chest hair down to his groin.  She gulped.

“Like what
you see?” He joked and walked over to the edge of the bed.

“Yes, I
do,”

He raised
her leg holding onto the spikey heel of the Jimmy Choos and loosened the strap removing
each sandal from her feet.  His hand smoothed along her ankle, his finger
briefly rubbing against the scar from her ankle surgery to thigh slowly setting
off goose bumps on her skin in anticipation.   The butterflies in her
stomach were going crazy.  All she wore now were the tiny black panties
and the diamonds.  From knee to thigh he scattered kisses until he reached
those panties.  A finger hooked under the miniscule lace and he pulled
them down.  Naked only the diamonds remained.  She forgot to breathe
and the air gushed out of her lungs.

“Is this
what you want Carrie?  I don’t want to rush you?”

Under his
heated gaze she felt desired and feminine all rolled into one.

“Yes, this
is what I want but I don’t have any protection? I’m not on the pill or
anything”

“I will
take care of that,” he opened his wallet and took out a condom placed it on the
bedside table.  He joined her on the bed and they began to kiss
again.  Their love making although not as frantic as their earlier kisses
it was still as intense.  A tangle of arms pulling at each other, her
hands in his hair as their kiss deepened. 

“Carrie you
are so beautiful”

There was
an excitement building within her and it was shocking how quick the momentum
grew.  As he lay on the bed next to her she hooked a leg around his hip,
pulling him closer.  Her foot rubbing against his calf.  She could
feel his hardness against her thigh.  Her hand moved down to rest on his
hip.  Their kisses were becoming wild with need.  His tongue plunging
into her mouth thoughts fleeting through her mind that if this was what a kiss
could do to her what would it be like to be physically joined to him?

His hands
were working their magic again and she knew that without even the most intimate
of touches that her body was about to go off the Richter scale.  His mouth
on her neck biting softly, promising more.  Who knew that the touch to her
neck could be so erogenous?  A sound escaped her, a soft almost mewing
noise as she trembled as his hand moved lower.  It skimmed the top of her
thigh, pulling her closer and the tip of his straining cock nudged against
her. 

“Oh Nico,”
was all she could manage, all words had ceased to leave her sensory overloaded
brain.  “Are you ready Carrie?”

Again he
rubbed against her, the length of his hardness impossible to ignore. 
“Yes” she shivered in anticipation.  “I want you inside me”

He flipped
her onto her back and drove into her in one move.  No hesitation, no
turning back for either of them.  She gasped as his thickness filled
her.  The momentary pain fleeting as this intimacy had been absent for so
long for her.

“I’m okay,”
she said as he stopped moving.  But still he stopped. 

“What’s
wrong?”  She asked.  Was it that long that she had forgotten how to
be intimate with a man?

“No I just
want to look at you as you come, I wanted to do this all night, every time you
brushed against me as we danced this was all I could think about.  When I
knew earlier all you were wearing under that dress were those tiny panties, how
you tormented me thinking about you naked.”

Again and
again he thrust into her.  The motion gaining as they frantically tumbled
and twisted on the bed.  How it happened she didn’t know but Nico was on
his back and she was on top.  “That’s right, ride me baby,” His fingers
digging into her hips as he controlled the thrusts, pulling at her ass. 
His hands reached out to her to pull her head forward into a deep kiss. 
The electricity was building within her and she was so close.  So close to
oblivion.  She broke the kiss and cried out.  Nico trailed kisses
between her breasts, his mouth biting the soft skin.  His hand between her
thighs as he found were she ached for his touch.   It was happening,
building inside her as his fingers rubbed and pulled then she tipped over swept
away.  Wildly he pulled her against him once, twice, she lost count before
he too cried out.  His shout filling the air.  Her exhausted body
slid down and she lay on his chest.  His arms held her tight against him
as their laboured breathing began to slow.  

“Oh my god,
we didn’t use protection!” she exclaimed.  “We did Carrie,” he slowly
moved her off his body and she could see the evidence.

“But
when?  I don’t remember”

“I will
take that as a compliment,” he softly laughed.  They shared a tender kiss
before he retreated to the bathroom.  She watched his retreating butt,
tanned and firm.  Oh My!  When he left the room she shot off the bed
and quickly slipped under the sheet.  For some reason after their passion
she was feeling extremely embarrassed.  She pulled the sheet over her
head.  Oh what had she just done?

“Hey
Carrie, you okay?” oops she hadn’t heard him return.  Cringe.

“Yeah,” she
sat up on the bed the sheet almost tucked under her chin.  In her head a
million questions raced through but she didn’t voice any of them.

To her
surprise he lay back on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. 

“Come here
you,”

Her head
lay on his chest.  “I’ve never seen you this quiet.”

“I can be
quiet,”

“Mm it’s
not like you, but let’s get a little sleep for now,” 

Still lying
across his chest, she thought sleep would elude her but within minutes she was
proved wrong.

She awoke a
while later, their bodies spooning together, her butt rubbing against his
hardness.  Oh boy!  His hand resting on her breast his fingers
needing.  She gasped as he pulled gently on her nipple.  Inside she
felt a flutter begin again, a welcome sensation. 

“So you are
finally awake, good because you’ve been shaking your ass against me for the
last half hour”

“Oh sorry about
that!” she said laughing.  “I think we can remedy that for you!”

The sun was
up a few hours later when Nico was preparing to leave.  The rooms were all
equipped with coffee makers and Carrie was familiar with the machine having used
it many times during her stay.  She had made Nico a coffee whilst he
dressed.  She wore the fluffy towelling robe, sipped her own coffee and
sat on the sofa.  Trying to show outwardly that she was sophisticated
enough to have a few hours of passion and then say goodbye.  Inside she
was torn between asking him to stay and pushing him out the door.  Carrie
had removed the beautiful jewellery and returned it to Nico disbelief that she
had worn it the whole evening even throughout their lovemaking.   

He slipped
the jewellery into his pocked.  “I guess you won’t be going for a walk
this morning,” He had picked up his watch and was fastening it back on his
wrist.  A distinctive Patek Philippe watch with its black strap and
platinum face which no doubt cost thousands of dollars.