‘What?’
‘This is your chance to walk naked through the water like a nymph. You wouldn’t miss out on that, would you?’
‘The cold water,’ Carrie reminded him, staring at the tranquil surface of the lake. ‘After you…’ She should have known better. Nico didn’t hesitate. Stripped naked in seconds, he turned away from her and dived in.
‘Take your clothes off and join me,’ he challenged, treading water.
Carrie gazed around anxiously. She followed him tentatively, arms crossed against her body. As she had expected the water was freezing. It was all or nothing. Ducking her head beneath the surface, she rose up, spluttering and exclaiming with shock, before launching herself into a vigorous breaststroke.
Nico didn’t seem to notice how cold the water was as he sculled lazily by her side. His powerful arms sliced through the water with no effort at all and, when they reached the shallows, he reached out and pulled her to him. ‘That’s far enough,’ he said, putting his hands round her waist to hold her close to him.
Their lips were touching as he lifted her and her legs were weightless. Before she knew it they were wrapped around his waist.
The water was her pillow and as she leaned back she gasped as Nico sank deep inside her. Did sensation come any more extreme than this? The chill of the water surrounding her and the heat of Nico inside her….
The lake undulated around them as they began to move. It cooled them and supported them as they became lost in the grip of pleasure, wrapped in each other’s arms. And when she was exhausted Nico carried her back to shore. Laying her gently on the ground, he made this pledge against her lips: ‘Next time in bed, Carrie.’ And then he laughed softly as if that in itself would be an adventure.
‘Do you think?’ Carrie murmured sleepily. She had never felt so content, or so relaxed. And it was all because she felt secure and certain that Nico had changed. He had changed for all of them, but especially for his child.
They spent the whole night together. And in bed, as Nico pointed out to Carrie with amusement…
When she woke it was to find Nico with his face turned towards her on the pillows. Smiling drowsily, she sighed with contentment as he laced his fingers through her hair and allowed it to fall in a shimmering cascade around her shoulders.
‘I love you so much,’ she murmured, reaching for him. Linking her arms around his neck, she drew him close, but was disappointed to feel him already restless. ‘Can’t we spend the whole day in bed?’ she begged seductively.
‘Another time, bellissima…’
The way Nico spoke to her broke the mood in tiny pieces. In a rush all of Carrie’s insecurities returned. Nico didn’t love her. He loved his mouse, the cute little pet in his mind that was always there at his beck and call. To think anything else was crazy.
But even pride wasn’t enough to stop her asking him, ‘Can’t you stay a bit longer?’ She badly needed a cuddle, some reassurance…But then she remembered his brother, Max, and the concern that had brought Nico racing to his brother’s side. ‘I’m sorry, I had forgotten—’
‘Forgotten what?’ he said, leaning up on one elbow to stare down at her.
‘I’d forgotten your brother Max.’
‘Oh, yes,’ he said, relaxing down again. For barely a minute.
Carrie was sitting up in bed when Nico returned back from the shower. ‘I’ll see you later?’ She wanted an answer. The shadow that had been hovering over them the previous evening seemed to have settled on the room.
‘Of course you will,’ Nico said distractedly, easing riding breeches over his muscular thighs.
‘Are you going riding today?’ A silly question, but she hoped to prompt him into saying more.
Nico’s reply was a faint smile.
‘Stay safe.’
‘You know I will,’ he said with his usual confidence. And then he came to her side to say goodbye, but he only dropped a kiss on his fingers and placed them on her lips.
‘You’re not planning to take any risks, are you?’ She couldn’t stop herself and was already braced to receive his impatient stare.
‘No.’
What made him glance at her belly? He looked so tense she didn’t know if she could believe him. Reaching up, she stroked his face. The stubble was so rough and black even now when he’d just had a shave. It made him look dangerous and tough, and the knowledge that he liked to test himself made dread rise like bile in her throat. ‘Nico, what are you planning?’
‘Planning?’
He refused to answer that and took hold of her hand instead. Bringing it to his lips, he kissed her fingertips, but she could tell that he was distracted. In his mind he had already left her, Carrie realised.