Unlikely Love: A Romance Single (17 page)

She closed her mouth and rested back onto the chair, letting her head roll forwards. Saying it all out loud had drained her. She had nothing else to give.

“Is there anything I can do? Is there anything I can get you right now?” Marcus rubbed the back of her neck.

There was only one thing she wanted.

There was only one person she wanted.

“Get Nolan,” she mumbled, “I want to see Nolan.”

In between every stage of the rehearsal process, Delilah asked Marcus if he'd managed to get hold of Nolan, and every time he disappointed her. He'd tried ringing the hotel over and over, but nobody would answer, or his signal would drop out.

“Try again,” she spat at Marcus as one of the production team hooked the mic pack onto the back of her costume.

There had been some slight alterations to the costume since she'd last tried it on, mainly making it even smaller and more revealing. After she told her stylists she knew they could speak English, they couldn't hide their surprise and started to communicate with her. She insisted they give her some tape to tape the costume to her breasts so she didn't have an embarrassing reveal on live Spanish television.

He finished attaching the mic pack and handed her a pink glittery microphone. She rolled her eyes at the tackiness of it as the production members held out his hand, letting her know she had 5 minutes before she was due on stage.

“Well?” she called to Marcus.

He pulled the phone away from his ear and held his hands out, shrugging dramatically. She planted her hands on her hips as the makeup artists brushed her face with powders and rubbed glittery lotion onto her arms and torso. As they stood behind the stage, she was too busy thinking about Nolan to get nervous.

When she heard the presenter announce her name, she was suddenly dragged out of her daydream and thrown behind the opening stage door. Taking a deep breath, she had a couple of seconds to register her nerves before the music started and the doors slowly slid open.

Just as practiced, she walked down the stairs onto the stage, assisted by the male dancers, and when she hit her mark in the center of the stage, right in front of the judging panel of Spanish celebrities she didn't recognize, she opened her mouth and started to sing. When she hit the first big note of '
Fight 4 Love
', the crowd jumped up and went crazy, and the judges started to clap along and cheer. She tried to block it all out, but she wasn't in the zone like she usually was. Her vocals were flawless, and the backing track wasn't drowning her out after her outburst at the last rehearsal, but she was finding it hard to remember any of the dance steps. The dancers kept giving her side glances as she fumbled around on the stage.

Delilah was grateful that she had natural singing ability, because she wasn't showing Spain that she could dance. Half-way through the song, it came to the part where she had to grind and sexy dance with one of the male dancers, and her memory suddenly triggered and the moves came flooding back to her.

As the second verse kicked in, she started to hit every mark, every move and every note with perfection that many pop stars would be jealous of. The crowd went crazy, and by the end of the song, they were jumping and whooping. The judges all stood up and clapped enthusiastically for the pop star they didn't know, and the presenter reappeared, letting her know it was her time to hurry off the stage.

She hovered for a second, and soaked in the applause before bowing and sending kisses into the crowd. She ran after the dancers, and they all hugged each other, ignoring Delilah completely. Marcus pushed through the hordes of people and wrapped his arms around Delilah's neck and pulled her into a hug.

“That was amazing!” he gushed, “Oh my god De, I haven't seen you perform like that before?”

“Are you kidding? I was off the entire first half!”

“If you were, nobody noticed. They were too busy hearing your voice. I never knew you could sing like that. Seriously, wait until you watch it back. You'll die!”

When Delilah went on stage, she forgot everything else and performed. She might have been in a daze for half of the song, but she had enough professionalism to carry herself and hide her lapse in memory. Usually, she hated watching herself back, but she was curious to see how she had done on her Spanish debut. Her tantrum from earlier had almost left her mind. The spotlight had bitten her, and her veins were pumping.

“Did you get hold of him?” Delilah asked Marcus, suddenly remembering Nolan.

Before he could answer, the director appeared and grabbed Delilah's arm before dragging her backstage.

“Interview time, we're filming early,” he mumbled, “c'mon.”

She knew there would be an interview, but she was told that it would be filmed after the show and she'd have a translator with her. She let herself be dragged and assumed that the translator was on a tight schedule so they were filming ahead of time.

Marcus trailed behind, but the entourage of makeup and hair stylists suddenly appeared to touch up what the energetic performance had melted away. They reached the small setup where the interview was taking place, but when she turned around to find Marcus, he was gone.

“Where's my assistant?” Delilah demanded.

“Doesn't matter,” the director snapped, pushing her into a chair.

He yanked the earpiece from her ear and unplugged it from the mic pack attached to the back of her costume, replacing it with another one. She assumed it was so the translator could talk to her.

“Is there anything I need to know?” she asked.

“No,” the director snapped before disappearing.

Somebody yelled something in Spanish and the set suddenly cleared. A woman in a black dress and a card in her hand appeared and sat in the seat opposite Delilah. The studio lights suddenly turned on, almost blinding her, and a man behind the camera started to count down in Spanish. When he reached '
uno
' he suddenly went quiet and pointed to the woman. The sound of a theme tune played out in the distant, and the camera honed in on the female presenter. Another camera focused in on Delilah and a little red light switched on.

The woman started to speak directly into the camera in a happy voice, speaking fluent Spanish. In Delilah's earpiece, somebody else started speaking Spanish to her, making her press it harder into her ear.

The speaking in her ear stopped, but the woman turned to her, smiled and asked her a question. She wasn't speaking English. She waited for the translation. Nothing came. She pressed the earpiece tighter into her ear.

“Di algo!” an unknown voice shouted in her ear.

She stared at the woman and then glanced to the camera that was honed in on her. Squinting through the lights, she tried to see the director, but everything behind the cameramen was in complete darkness.

The presenter repeated the question and Delilah could hear the nerves in her voice.

It was then that it hit Delilah.

They were live.

She could feel sweat starting to run down her forehead from the lights and her hands started to furiously shake. Putting them into her lap, she clenched her fingers together, before leaning in slightly to the presenter to say, “I don't understand you.”

The woman said something else and turned to the camera before saying something with a giant smile on her face. She glanced to the director, who appeared to be waving his arms and pulling out chunks of his hair.

“I don't understand,” Delilah repeated, feeling her voice start to shake.

She could feel tears welling up behind her eyes. She wanted the seat she was in to swallow her up. The woman continued to stare at her, circling her hand behind her card, urging Delilah to say something. Just when she was about to stand up and rip the mic pack off, a familiar and deep voice suddenly filled her ear, instantly comforting her.

“It's me,” it said, “she asked you how you enjoyed your performance. Answer in English, they're going to sub you with Spanish subtitles.”

“It was great,” Delilah almost choked on her words as a huge smile spread across her face, “I had such a fun time. I love it here in Spain.”

The presenter started to breathe again and she returned the smile. The director stopped waving his arms and he wiped his forehead before the woman asked her something else.

“Do you have any plans to tour Spain?” the voice in her ear said calmly and quietly.

“Hopefully! My album is coming out here next month, so it would be awesome to tour here. My Spanish fans are amazing.”

They continued this back and forth for a couple of minutes before the woman turned to the camera, said something with a smile and nodded her head. The spotlights turned off and the studio lights turned back on, lighting everything up. Every pair of eyes was fixed on Delilah. She turned to the woman, but she mumbled something in Delilah's direction before ripping her mic pack off and throwing her card in the air. She gave Delilah one more death stare before storming off the set, pushing past the director.

Delilah stayed frozen in her seat as the people started to run around, setting up for their next task. Marcus appeared on the sideline, covering his mouth in dramatic fashion, but her eyes wandered straight past him, to the figure wearing a casual white shirt and a pair of denim shorts.

Instantly, she left her seat, pushed every person to the side that stood in her path and dived into Nolan's arms. He caught her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling her into a tight embrace. Resting her head on his shoulder, she felt the tears start to flow freely onto his white shirt. They were tears of frustration and tears of relief.

“You just saved my ass,” she pulled away from his shirt, sliding her legs down his body and onto the ground.

“It's all in a day's work,” he winked coolly, wiping her mascara tears away with his thumb.

Two black patches sat on his shoulder from where her eyes had been, but she didn't point it out. He pulled her into another embrace, and this time she nuzzled her head into his chest.

Her work in Spain was done and she had an entire week to give to Nolan.

“De,” Marcus tapped her on the shoulder, whispering quietly.

She squeezed Nolan one last time before pulling away. Marcus looked terrified of her, so she tried to put on her softest smile.

“Thank you Marcus,” she sighed, “I don't say that enough.”

He smiled, but he looked slightly confused.

“There's some bars around the corner if you fancy it?” he shrugged.

A drink was tempting, but as she slid her fingers into Nolan's, she knew she had other plans.

“Not tonight Marcus,” she smiled, “but I promise we'll go and paint the town red before we go home. Deal?”

“Sure,” he looked upset and he was terrible at hiding it.

“I'd be game for that,” Nolan chipped in.

“Really?” Delilah didn't have him down as the party type.

“I have shapes,” he winked, “I might teach you a thing or two.”

“Now this, I need to see,” Delilah rested her hand on Nolan's chest.

In the car back to the hotel, Marcus sat in the front seat ignoring Delilah and Nolan in the backseat. He had his arms wrapped around her the entire time. Just as they were about to pull up outside of
Paraíso
, he leaned in and whispered something deeply into her ear.

“I'm ready.”

Delilah didn't say anything, but she fixed her eyes on his. Just from the feeling in her stomach, she knew she was more than ready.

Marcus wandered off to the bar, leaving Delilah and Nolan to head upstairs. They chose to go into Nolan's room because they weren't likely to trip over a pair of sandals or a bra. When he unlocked the door and led her into the dark, she didn't know what to expect. She was wearing the clothes she went to the studio in, but her hair was still almost touching the ceiling and her thick smudged makeup was still very much on her face. She didn't dare look in the mirror.

“Wine?” Nolan smiled, already unscrewing the lid from a bottle of red.

She wasn't keen on red wine, but she'd take anything to settle the nerves in her stomach. Being a grown woman who had engaged in sex with many men before, she couldn't understand why she felt like a bumbling virgin.

“Go for it,” her voice was already shaking.

In fact, her entire body was shaking.

The room was boiling, but she could feel every inch of her skin tingling. As she watched Nolan pour them two glasses of wine, she perched on the edge of his neatly made bed. She didn't mean to, but she looked past Nolan and caught her reflection through the dim light. She looked a mess. Most of her heavy eye makeup was now on her cheeks, and her lips were smudged all over her chin. How could Nolan look at her and find her sexy looking like
The Joker
?

“This bottle was pretty pricey, so it should be good,” he handed her the glass, his hands visibly shaking, “not that the price matters. I got it for free actually, when I went to the vineyard. He told me it was expensive, but he could have been lying -”

Nolan laughed nervously and his voice trailed off. They were acting like teenagers who had no idea what to expect. He perched on the bed next to her and they sipped the wine. She looked in the mirror again, and so did Nolan. Their eyes lingered on each other's, before quickly looking away.

All of the times they'd almost had sex should have prepared them for the actual situation, but it was only making things weirder. Nolan had told her over and over he wanted it to be special and he wanted to wait for it, but Delilah couldn't have felt more nervous if she tried. She thought back to the wild passion at the beach. They may have been tipsy on the wine, but what wasn't special about that?

“You sang amazing tonight? Did I tell you that already?”

“No,” she smiled.

“I got a message from Julia that Marcus had been calling over and over, so I got there as quick as I could. I ran in just at the end of your performance.”

“I think I messed it up,” she looked down into the dark liquid, “I'll be lucky if I sell 10 copies of the single after that.”

“No!” Nolan protested, “You're amazing Delilah. People will see what I see.”

“I think they'll see this,” she circled her finger around her face and hair, “and did you see what I was wearing? You'll be lucky if they heard anything.”

“Sex sells,” he shrugged and sipped the wine.

Just hearing him say the word '
sex
' sent a shiver down her spine. She tried to imagine them having sex on his bed, and another shiver ran down her spine and it caused something to stir..

Their eyes caught again in the mirror, but this time, Nolan didn't look away. He set his wine on the dressing table next to his laptop and Delilah followed. She tried to stop her hand shaking as she did it, but there was no hiding it. Gently, he set his hand on her knee and rubbed his thumb against her exposed skin. As if reacting to his touch, her legs twitched, opening slightly. Daringly, she looked up into his dark eyes. As if he'd flicked a switch in his mind, they focused seductively on her and the nerves seemed to melt away. Carefully, he leaned in, tightening his grip on her knee.

She closed her eyes and waited for their lips to touch. It seemed like an eternity to wait, but when they finally did, it awakened something inside of her.

A hunger.

A hunger that craved the man gently caressing her lips with his.

She rested her hand on his shoulder, arching her back as his hand traveled up her thigh to the edge of her ripped denim shorts. His fingers played with the frayed edge. She urged him with her kisses to send his fingers further, but his hand went over the fabric up to her hip. She kissed him even harder letting him know she wanted him, and he returned the kisses. The harder she kissed, the faster they kissed, and the faster they kissed, the more her nerves took over.

The craving for him was driving her, but her mind was overthinking every step. When she tried to turn to lie down on the bed, their noses bashed against one another, causing them both to pause and laugh.

“Sorry,” Delilah mumbled, eyes screwed up and closed as she lay back on her elbows, chest sticking out.

She heard Nolan stand up and his foot prints traveled across towards the door. Just as she opened her eyes, the low lights flicked off. He walked over to the foot of the bed and stared down at her. He had a hunger in his eyes that made Delilah gasp for breath. The bright moonlight shone through the balcony doors, casting shadows Nolan's face. Just when she couldn't take the intense eye contact anymore, his hands traveled slowly up to his shirt and he started to carefully and methodically undo each button.

As each button fell away, her eyes followed his hands down his body he revealed each chiseled part of his stomach. He ripped open the last button with urgency, and let the shirt hang, giving her a mouthwatering view of the dark trail that ran down his tanned stomach and below his belt.

One by one, he pulled his arms from the shirt, finally dropping it to the floor. Standing before her in the moonlight, her heart raced as her eyes danced across every part of his strong body.

He stood watching her, his chest rising and falling gently, not saying anything. She wondered what he was waiting for, but she tore her eyes away from his perfect body to notice that she was still fully clothed. Quickly she grabbed the bottom of her tight black vest, pulling it up over her stomach and over her red bra. She tried to be as graceful and sexy as she could, just like Nolan had been, but when she tried to get the fabric over her huge hair, she felt something catch at the back of her head.

With the vest over her face, she tugged it firmly but she let out a low squeal when she felt one of the tracks of her clip-in extensions wrapping around the label at the neck of the vest. Frantically, she tugged again, her vision obscured, but it only seemed to tangle up more, causing her more pain the harder she pulled.

Without saying anything to embarrass her further, Nolan quickly ran over to assist. When his hands started to fiddle with the clip, she dropped hers and let him free her of the mess she'd got herself into, similar to the time he helped her get the helmet off.

“There,” Nolan whispered firmly, pulling the shirt over her head and casting it onto the floor, "all better."

The back of her head still hurting, she fell back onto her elbows, panting. Her breasts rose and fell through her bra as she tried to regain her breath. Nolan walked back to the foot of the bed, smiling down at her amused. She felt embarrassed, but there was something soothing about Nolan's presence that made her not panic that he'd judge her. Still smiling, he freed the buckle from his belt, pulling it out with one fast action. He tossed it over the wicker chair in the corner before running his jeans down his slightly hairy and tanned legs. As he stood in front of her, in nothing more than a pair of tiny white
Calvin Klein
briefs, she didn't know where to look first. Her eyes danced from his muscular shoulders, down his toned chest and abs and they lingered on the impressive soft bulge behind his white underwear.

She was about to copy his action by wriggling out of her shorts, but Nolan mounted the bed with his knees, crawling over to her. Lying back on the bed, she felt Nolan kiss the inside of her thigh. He repeated the action on her other leg, sending hot pulses around her trembling body. He worked his way up her, kissing until he reached the top of her shorts. Expertly, he undid the button that Delilah always struggled with and he slid the denim shorts off, leaving her lying in her matching red and black lacy underwear. Nolan kissed the space between her bellybutton and underwear, making her inhale sharply. She arched her back gently as he kissed her again in the same spot. Her body was urging him to go lower, but his kisses started to travel in the opposite direction.

When his lips reached her bra he kissed the exposed flesh of her breasts in turn, massaging the other with his hand. His kisses turned from gentle and soft to sensual and passionate. When his tongue ran across her breasts and up to her collar bone, she closed her eyes and let out a soft moan.

He was in control and he was teasing her. He was making her want him, and it was working. With his hand still caressing her over her bra, his kisses worked her neck. Each time his tongue ran across her skin, it added to the burning desire. Nolan was working every inch of her body, and he was driving her wild. She was enjoying the kisses so much, she almost didn't notice the hardening member forcing itself against her underwear.

When he reached her face, he stopped kissing her and propped himself up with his hands to look deeply in her eyes. His dark hair flopped forwards, casting him into shadow. Even through the dark, his eyes glittered sexily. He bit his moist lip and flashed her a hint of his teeth as he smiled down at her.

“You're so beautiful,” he whispered deeply.

He didn't care about her makeup her hair and neither did she. Every subtle kiss and touch he gave her body made her feel beautiful.

Slowly closing his dark lashes, he carefully lowered himself back onto Delilah's body, making sure to press his solid shaft firmly onto her. His lips gently touched her waiting mouth and they kissed softly and slowly. He pressed himself harder against her and his kisses deepened and intensified. The faint stubble on his jawline brushed against her skin as he worked her mouth just like he had her entire body.

Running her hands across his muscled back, he started to curve and thrust his hips, massaging his member against her. With each kiss and thrust, it increased her longing and his spicy scent only added to it. As her hands stroked his back, she heard the distant sound of music floating through the balcony doors, but it didn't distract him.

“Nolan, I'm ready,” she moaned.

Her own words took her by surprise, but she couldn't wait any longer. His kisses stopped momentarily, forcing her to open her eyes to see him looking down at her. The fear had returned to his eyes. The fear she'd seen every time they'd been intimate before, and he'd stopped it from going any further.

It was then that she remembered what he'd said. He hadn't had sex for nearly two years. For Delilah, it had only been a couple of weeks, but with Nolan, it felt like she was about to do something completely new, so she could only imagine how Nolan felt. Perhaps his teasing and kissing was his way of slowing things down so he could get himself ready.

The problem was, Delilah couldn't wait anymore.

She gripped his shoulders and rolled him onto the bed next to her. As she straddled her hips across his, she felt his manhood twitching firmly against the inside of her thigh. After a deep breath and a reminder that it's what she wanted, she unclasped her bra and exposed her breasts. Nolan's eyes lit up as he stared up at her. He looked like he didn't know what had just happened, but he didn't look like he was about to stop anything happening.

Standing up on the bed, legs on either side of his body, she gently slid her hands down the front of her underwear and tugged them off, bringing one leg up and kicking them off with the other. As she hovered above Nolan completely naked, she'd never felt sexier. It wasn't because she had big and lush hair, it was because she truly and deeply wanted to be at one with the man lying beneath her, and it was the first time she'd felt such a need and a longing. Nolan's hands traveled down his body and he hooked his fingers down the waistband of his underwear, rounding his hips and tucking in his knees to get them off as quickly as possible.

Carefully she straddled across his hips again, feeling his significant member against her buttocks as she leaned in to kiss him. He was trembling and breathing quickly as her breasts pressed against his chest. Through their shaky kisses, she suddenly realized what they were about to do. Her stomach twisted and knotted, but she wasn't about to turn back. She locked onto his lips and arched her hips and using her hand to reach for him. It throbbed at her touch and Nolan let out a low moan through her kisses.

Guiding him slowly, she returned Nolan's low moan when she felt him start to become one with her. She rested the temptation to sit up, instead choosing to stay locked with his lips as she worked her hips, finding her rhythm.

The feeling of Nolan inside of her electrified every sense in her body. She moaned and panted and she sped up her kisses, bringing her hands up to Nolan's hair. When she gripped it in her fingers, Nolan's knees suddenly sprung up to support her back, and his hips found their way to hers. She gave up control.

Throughout the entire act, their lips didn't part. Their bodies stayed pressed firmly against each other in the most intense way. Sweat ran down her face and as the curve of Nolan's hips sped up, she felt herself reaching that euphoric place. With her kisses, she begged him not to stop, but to go faster, and he responded by gripping her hips tighter. Grunting through his nose, his tongue smacked messily against hers. His abs twisted and twitched under her body, causing her to tighten her grip on his hair.