Fly You To The Moon (9 page)

Nicolas kissed it away
, cradling her in his arms. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk. I should have been honest with you, but I wasn’t sure what you were thinking.”

“You really thought I was just flirting with you for the thrill of it?” Ava asked.

He nodded, rolling off her body and lying next to her. “Well, at first – yes. I mean, it was pretty obvious I liked you too much, so I thought you were trying to provoke me. See how far you could take things between us.”

“When did you realize I was serious?”

“When you left for Luna Six after our kiss in the practice room.”

Ava bit her lip.
“Yeah. I was really hurt.”

“I know.” He turned a bit red with embarrassment. “I thought it would be best to just keep my distance after that, but I couldn’t.”

“I’m glad you got drunk last night,” she suddenly blurted out. “A good thing Jeremy showed up and drove you mad with jealousy.”

“Yeah.”
Nic smiled wistfully. “He sent me up here to talk to you, you know. Said he could see I loved you. He thought you deserved to know the truth.”

Ava closed her eyes, silently thanking Jeremy for being such a good friend to Nicolas.
“What will happen now?” she wanted to know.

“It depends.” He brushed the hair out of her face, quietly admiring her from up close. “Do you want to stay at Carter Manor?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you were thinking of getting a job in town just a few days ago.”

Ava swallowed. “I was trying to run away from you,” she admitted.

“So you don’t want to move out?”

“No. I like your place. I like the feeling of living with family, even though most of them are servants, of course.”

Nicolas nodded. “If you stay, we have to be really careful.”

“Why?” Ava asked in surprise, hurt creeping into her voice. “You want to keep it a secret?”

“We have to. If anybody finds out we’re lovers, they’ll take my guardianship away and you’ll have to live with the most immediate family member until you’re twenty-one.
Which would be my mother.”

Ava shivered. “Oh, shit.
Eight more months with the old Carters? No, you’re right – it’s better to sneak around.”

“The question is: can we pull that off while living in the same house?”

She bit her lip. “We have to lie to the Pipps family, too?”

“Yes. I’m not worried about Danny and Margaret, but I don’t know if the kids will be able to keep their mouth
s shut about us.”

They both fell silent for a long time. On one hand, the thought of moving downtown and leaving Nic behind was killing Ava. On the other hand, living in the same house and
constantly having to pretend they didn’t love each other wasn’t exactly appealing either. In fact, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to fool Margaret Pipps for one second.

“Let’s give it a try,” she suggested. “If it’s too
difficult, I can always find an apartment in Luna Six later on.”

Nicolas smiled, looking relieved. “Okay. We’ll be careful.”
He grimaced when his stomach rumbled loudly. “Oh, right. Breakfast. I think we may have missed that.”

“Fuck breakfast,” Ava declared with a wide grin. “Let’s just get out of here and get food at the spaceport.”

“Mind your words,” Nic teased her. “You’re an exemplary Elite lady now, with a proper Elite boyfriend.”

“Over my dead body,” she snorted. “There’s nothing proper about me. I’m an Earth rebel.”

“What will you do when they give you access to Colin’s inheritance?”

Ava
beamed at him. “I’ll buy your poor, outcast ass a cruiser ticket and fly you to Earth, so we can live together in Sutton and live off
my
money for a change.”

“Sounds good to me.”
Nicolas genuinely sounded like he was looking forward to a difficult life of struggle and financial hardship, and it touched Ava to the core. He was eager to have a life with
her
, no matter how complicated it would be.

“Now.”
She got up and extended her hand. “Let’s go see Uncle Gerald and practice our ‘we’re-just-uncle-and-niece’ act on the flight to Birmingham.”

14.

Now that the storm had blown over, the fields around Sutton looked peaceful again, although the bruised wheat stems
scattered all around her were still whispering with vicious stories.

Ava was standing at the edge of the field near Georgie’s family’s farm. After their visit to Uncle Gerald – who had turned out to be very nice – Nicolas and she had decided to drop by her old town and meet some
of her friends. Nic had immediately taken to setting up financial aid for all the farmers who had suffered damage from the tornadoes, reminding her so much of her father’s concern for the welfare of the villagers that it had brought her to tears for a minute.

“Hey,” Nicolas said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
“Penny for your thoughts.”

Ava turned around in the circle of his arms. “I think you could be happy here,” she said earnestly. “This place suits you.”

“Who knows,” he mumbled in her hair. “If you show me everything, I might see the beauty of Earth through your eyes.”

She smiled, enjoying his embrace. They hadn’t touched in days – this was the first place
where they could be themselves since their arrival on the British Isles. Georgie was the only one who knew about them besides Alen, whom she’d sent a message straight after leaving Old Berlin. They were safe here.

“You don’t have to,” she said. “Not yet. First, you have to fly me back to the moon.”

Nic chuckled. “If we book a slow cruiser back to Luna, we might even do a little playing among the stars,” he mumbled suggestively. “You know – book adjacent rooms and be naughty during the trip home.”

“I like the sound of that.” Ava snaked her arms around his waist and
eagerly pulled him in for a kiss. Not being able to touch Nicolas while he was so close should have been familiar territory by now, but the past few days had been torture. Maybe it was because she knew he wanted her just as bad as she wanted him. “Actually, I want to be naughty right now.”

“Let’s go back to Georgie’s and consecrate the guest room,” Nic rumbled, his voice catching in his throat. “
It’s almost dark anyway. Time to go to bed.”

They walked back along the field hand in hand, sneaking in through the back door so they wouldn’t be
interrupted on their way to their room. Ava felt a bit guilty for avoiding Georgie and her parents, but not guilty enough to make Nicolas wait. She’d make her way to the kitchen for a late-night snack and a chat with their hosts later on.

“Come here,”
Nicolas told her as soon as the door was closed behind them. He backed her up against the wall, his hands slipping around her wrists as he held up her arms on either side of her face. “God, I want to
devour
you. I want you so bad.”

“
And you can have me,” Ava said, her lips inches away from his mouth. “Any way you want.”

“
Any
way I want?” Nic mumbled huskily. “You really
are
naughty, huh?”

Ava’s heart skipped a beat when his warm mouth claimed hers, his tongue exploring her lips before eagerly pushing forward and meeting her tongue for an erotic dance that made her head spin. Nic held both of her wrists so tightly it felt as if he was afraid she’d try to get away from him. She wasn’t going anywhere, though – she wanted this way too much.
As he rubbed his lower body against her abdomen, Ava softly moaned into his mouth. Nicolas bit her lower lip before pulling away from their kiss and staring into her eyes. One hand trailed down to her ass and he gently squeezed it before slipping his hand under her skirt to touch the sensitive skin of her butt. “Are you wearing any underwear?” he whispered.

Ava shot him a scandalized look. “Of course I am!” she
half-giggled. “We’ve been in Sutton all day.”

“Mind if I take it off now?” he continued. “That short skirt has been tempting me all day long, you know.”

“Yeah?” Ava asked breathlessly. “What did you want to do to me? Tell me.” She challenged him with her eyes.

Nicolas grinned wolfishly, his hand moving up to pull down her string in one swift movement.
“I thought about pulling you into that storage shed in the Prefect’s garden,” he murmured, tugging the underwear down to her knees so she could step out of it. “So I could wrap your legs around my hips and fuck you against the wall.”

Ava quivered with delight, her lips parting. “Oh – oh yeah?” she said
dumbly.

He leaned into her. “Would you have liked that?” he whispered darkly.

“Yes.” She licked her lips.

“Would you like me to do that to you now?” he continued, his breath brushing her mouth.

“Uh-huh.” Ava sighed helplessly as Nicolas kissed her, then unbuttoned his pants and pushed down the waistband of his boxer briefs to reveal the throbbing erection she was desperate to feel inside her. “Shouldn’t we…” She gestured vaguely at the bed.

Nic cocked an eyebrow. “What part of ‘fucking you against the wall’ didn’t you get?” he
said, a half-smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. His hands slipped under her ass and he lifted her up, pinning her to the wall with his hips and spreading her legs. “You know, I think you’re ready,” he commented when his cock rubbed hotly against her moist cleft.

“Are you really gonna -” Ava gulped, choking on the next word when Nicolas drove into her with such eagerness that she muffled a cry against his shoulder. He was even harder than the first time he’d taken her – all his pent-up desire of the past few days was delving deep into her, stretching her pussy
wide until he was all the way in.

“Yes, I’m really gonna,” he replied gruffly
, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

“I wanted you to do this to me too,” Ava
said softly. “That evening, after our swordfight…”

“In the practice room,” he finished for her. “Jesus, you were so hot for me
, Ava.” He started to move, slowly and provocatively. “I touched myself that night thinking of you, you know.”

“You did?” Ava moaned as Nicolas surged upward, thrusting into her again and again. “Thinking what?”

“Thinking how wet and tight you would have been for me,” he whispered in her ear. “Just like you are now.”

Ava whimpered as he increased the pace, feeling vulnerable and powerful at once with his cock pushing inside her.
Her back hurt from the rough wood of the wall she was backed up against, but she didn’t care – all she cared about was following Nic’s rhythm, meeting each of his thrusts with her hips, squirming to get even closer. “I’m close,” she panted. “Slow down.”

Nicolas shook his head with a grin.
“No, darling. This should be a quickie. I don’t want you to get splinters in your back, you know.” He lifted one of her legs higher and fucked her so deep that Ava couldn’t hold back anymore. She threw her head back and cried out as she seemingly exploded into a thousand pieces, her body shuddering uncontrollably.

Nic stopped moving and held her in his arms, looking at her so tenderly that she couldn’t help but kiss him.
Her heart almost burst with lust and happiness. This was real – Nicolas wanted her and he wouldn’t let her go. He wouldn’t have to watch her getting involved with another man. She wouldn’t have to compete with stuck-up Elite women anymore.

“Come,” he whispered at that moment, lifting her up and carrying her to the bed. “Let’s lie down.”

Ava closed her eyes and stroked Nic’s back as he rapidly pounded himself to an orgasm that left him panting, hanging limply in her arms. “Sorry I was in such a rush,” he apologized when he rolled off her. “It’s
very
hard to be around you and not be allowed to touch or kiss you.”

“How hard exactly?” She winked at him.

“Hard as steel,” he replied coyly.

Ava let out a satisfied sigh as she sat up and stroked Nic’s toned stomach. “Take a shower with me?” she smiled.

“Sounds like heaven,” he replied, smiling up at her.

It was only when Ava walked over to the bathroom to turn on the shower that she remembered Clea asking Nic the same question, that evening whe
n she was hiding in the closet, spying on them. She smiled victoriously.

She
’d won him, and it was even better than in her dreams.

That evening, they stood in the yard with Georgie, looking up at the twinkling stars in the night sky. The moon was full, pale and mysterious.

“See what I mean?” Ava whispered, looking at Earth’s satellite in awe. “It’s like a fairytale. Nothing I’ve seen up there compares to the beauty of Luna as seen from Earth.
”

Nicolas rubbed her shoulders. “True. Still, I think Luna got a whole lot more beautiful the minute you moved to Carter Manor,” he said smoothly.

Georgie snickered. “You guys are so cheesy-romantic that Sinatra should have written a song about
you
,” she commented. “A shame we can’t travel back in time to inspire him.”

Ava smiled. “We don’t need to,” she said. “We adopted
Fly Me To The Moon
as our song. I really don’t think any song can beat that.”

Nicolas slipped his hand into hers. “And nothing can beat us,” he added softly, kissing the top of her head.

Together, they gazed at the stars until the cold wind drove them inside and the night wrapped itself around the quiet town of Sutton.