Forgotten Love (Derrien Island Trilogy) Read online

  She braced herself to witness the conflicted look he always wore when she spoke about this but instead he looked back at her and laughed openly. It was not a laugh of ridicule but he was happy. Puzzled by this new reaction, she was unprepared for him suddenly threading his hand behind the nape of her neck and kissing her passionately. This experience was the complete opposite of what she felt when Lucas tried to do the same thing earlier. Immediately, she felt herself opening up responding instead of retreating and pushing him away. Moving closer to him she straddled his lap as the kiss deepened. It was as if they became lost in their own world, one of reconnection and re-discovery. Marcus ran his hands lovingly along Natasha’s spine and eventually reached up and freed her hair from the comb that held it in place. He had always loved the weight and silky texture of Natasha’s hair and how it felt in his hands.

  The feel of Nat’s curvy body pressed intimately against his after such a long time of just wanting her close made him feel like a man who was starving, who just could not get enough. His lips trailed kisses along her neck and he could taste a mixture of sand and salt but mainly the flavour that was uniquely her.

  Forcing himself to drag his mouth away and to regain some measure of common sense, Marcus fought the wild urge that was rising up in him to just throw caution to the wind and to make love to his wife right there on the beach.

  “Nat, if we don’t stop now, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to in a few minutes.”

  “I don’t want you to stop Marcus, we’ve been playing it safe for too long and look where it’s taken us. I’ve been hiding my feelings and now I just want us to be like we were, no restrictions, playful, hopelessly in love, she said punctuating each word by a feather soft kiss to his lips. I want to come out and play with you again Marcus,” said Natasha before kissing her husband’s lips again, this time boldly drawing his lower lip into her mouth and sucking on it lightly. Marcus groaned and tightened his grip around her waist.

  It was a secluded beach but he knew that Natasha was not just another local girl anymore and he wanted to protect her privacy from possible scandal and the lens of the unscrupulous paparazzi looking for a story. But if she kept doing what she was doing none of that would even matter. She said she wanted to try again and that was all that mattered. The contract obstacles, the issues about distance and living arrangements were secondary and minor in comparison to that.

  “Nat, I promise you that before this day is over I will redefine the word play in both of our vocabularies, I mean that! But not here, you are a rising star and you have to remember that you might be photographed. I don’t pictures of my wife spread all across the Enquirer,” explained Marcus groaning with each word.

  Natasha rested her forehead against his and relented, “You are perfectly right as usual. I need you, because you balance my wild, crazy side”, laughed Natasha. “I love you Marcus Nicholls!”

  “Those were the words I wanted to hear,” said Marcus. “I am madly, truly and deeply in love with you too. Are you really here with me in my arms like this?” asked Marcus looking at Natasha with wonder.

  “I am, and this is where I want to be forever,” replied Natasha.

  Chapter 18

  Natasha could not remember a day when she had so much fun with Marcus. Returning to the hotel had been a riot of laughter and fun as she teased him about having to drive without his shirt back to the hotel. He did tell her that she had enough clothes when she left the hotel earlier. He had explained that he did not want her to return to her room just in case she changed her mind about coming with him. Then he pretended to be a gallant knight with a medieval English accent trying to win her over with his charm. She could see why he was such a talented and imaginative writer.

  As they returned to the hotel they were so engrossed in each other that they did not notice Lucas sitting in the lobby area on one of the chairs.

  “Somehow I’m not surprised at all!” came a familiar voice which caused Natasha to whirl around and the laugh she was sharing with Marcus became frozen on her face as she took in his hurt expression.

  “Lucas, what are you doing here?” she asked with surprise.

  “I came to return your carry-on luggage before I made my way to the airport. I think you forgot that you left this bag with me yesterday!” he remarked flatly holding it out to her.

  “Yes, I meant to ask you about it this morning but I guess the conversation got a bit sidetracked. Thanks!” she replied taking it from him.

  “Natasha, can I speak with you privately?” he asked looking pointedly at Marcus.

  “Lucas, I warned you this morning,” replied Marcus.

  “Marcus it is okay! You go on up to the room, I’ll meet you shortly.”

  “But...,” protested Marcus.

  “It’s okay! I need to speak to Lucas privately as well,” said Natasha reassuringly.

  Nodding slowly, Marcus recognized that Natasha needed the space to do and say what she needed to ‘her friend’, but he was only giving her five minutes. Walking slowly backward, he and Lucas exchanged looks, neither was very friendly but this time Marcus could see that Lucas carried an air of resignation. Hoping that he had silently made his point clear once more he turned and walked slowly toward the bank of elevators.

  “I see that you two have reconciled,” said Lucas. “I suppose congratulations are in order!”

  “Yes, you could say that!”

  Are you happy?” asked Lucas.

  “I could not be happier right now. I never stopped loving my husband Lucas, I only made myself forget that I did,” replied Natasha.

  “He is a very lucky man, a lucky man indeed,” said Lucas enviously with a reluctant nod. “ My flight will be leaving in another hour and a half. I just wanted to say goodbye properly to you because when you get back to Georgia, I am going to need some time before I will be able to relate to you as I did before. You understand right?” said Lucas.

  “I do and I’m...” said Natasha starting to apologize.

  “No don’t apologize to me,” he interjected quickly with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I knew the risks and I ignored them. I still don’t think he deserves you, but I am terribly biased on that point. I know when to accept defeat.”

  “Can we ever be friends again?” asked Natasha.

  “Right now, I can’t think about that and besides you won’t need me anymore. You have him now. I also think Marcus would have serious objections to us even continuing this association. Don’t you? I know I would if I was lucky enough to be in his shoes. Look I have to go! Running into you will be pretty unavoidable considering the industry we work in. I am sure you will get your contract settled somehow. At some cocktail party or awards ceremony in the future I’m sure I will see you across the room and I might even come over and say hello. I just need some time now,” said Lucas finally.

  Giving her a brief and final embrace Lucas walked out of the Derrien Hilton never once looking back.

  As Natasha watched him leave she felt the conviction of a strong lesson in her heart. As she thought back to many of their conversations she realized that she did not want to seem ungrateful for his help so she let them get closer while procrastinating about dealing with how she really felt about Marcus. She was honest with him but it still wasn’t fair and that realization hurt. But it couldn’t be worse than the pain and disappointment Lucas was facing himself.

  A pair of strong arms encircled her waist from behind as she felt Marcus nuzzle her neck softly as a reminder that he was waiting for her. So he didn’t leave, she thought with a knowing smile. Now that he had her in his life again he was not prepared to share her with anyone and that feeling was priceless to her.

  “You do know there was no way I was leaving you down here alone right?” he whispered in her ear.

  “I’m beginning to see that!” she confessed.

  “Well, unless you want to make a scene down here in the lobby, I have an urgent need to get you upstairs to your room,” he said pulling h
er back against him so she could feel the evidence of his undeniable arousal.

  Heat was emanating from him in waves and a pool of warm desire was spreading in her lower abdomen just in response to the promise in his voice.

  Threading her fingers through his, she turned and allowed him to lead her to the elevators and then to her room. As soon as they were inside and the door closed all the passion they restrained on the beach came pouring out.

  “Natasha, I want you right now!” groaned Marcus as he pressed her against the wall near the door and gazed into the mirrored need in her eyes.

  Without moving his gaze from hers he lowered his mouth to hers and she tiptoed to close the distance between them. As their lips merged with bittersweet intensity they both allowed everything that was now behind them to fall away. Sliding his tongue past her parted and welcoming lips the kiss deepened as they tasted, sought, tangled and mated with each other again in an intoxicating dance. This was what heaven must be like thought Natasha as spirals of warm current exploded from every part of her body, especially her core. She couldn’t get enough! Her reasons for starving herself all this time seemed to be so ridiculous and petty. Being with Marcus was even better than her supposed dream career. It was why she hadn’t let him go and was on the verge of losing her contract and somehow she didn’t care. This connection was what she needed and if she had it anything else would be possible. Public success and private loneliness and turmoil just weren’t worth it.

  Marcus hands slipped down and around her hips and he pulled her in toward him and ground against her as what sounded like a low growl rumbled in his chest. She was his and that would never change again. Not as long as he drew breath in his body!

  “If we don’t get out of these clothes I’m going to go crazy, whispered Natasha trying to catch her breath while pushing the straps of her bathing suit of her shoulders exposing the round fullness of her breasts to his hungry gaze.

  This wasn’t the time to take things slow, Marcus agreed. That could come much later. The consuming desire to be one with his wife again coloured everything around them in a cloudy haze.

  Marcus trailed his lips and tongue along her neck and shoulders tasting the residual saltiness of the sea against the smoothness of her skin. He wanted to remember every single millimetre of her body in this way as he made his way to the already hardened dusky peaks that called to him. Lifting her against the wall he braced her body with his arm around her waist and his thigh before clamping his mouth over her causing her to push against his straining arousal intimately as the sensations he was evoking swept through her body like a flood.

  Oh she missed Marcus’ touch so much. She wanted no one else and nothing else in this moment than to be with him again. She was being devoured so thoroughly and so completely as Marcus teased and nipped at her swollen buds. He released her allowing her body to slide along his as he reclaimed her lips, tasting the recesses of her mouth as she matched his desire equally.

  They quickly removed each other’s clothes stumbling over to the bed and toppling over onto each other, laughing at their clumsiness.

  “We seem to be out of practice with this,” whispered Natasha against the planes of his shoulders as he propped himself on his elbows above her.

  “Not for long,” Marcus replied pulling himself into a kneeling position and pulling her up into a sitting position beneath him. She ran her hands lovingly over his chest and shoulders before running them up and along his neck and the back of his head and pulled him toward her, kissing his lower lip and sucking on it deeply until he groaned with need.

  “Tell me this is what you really want Nat, to be here with me, to have me inside you again!” asked Marcus as he cupped and massaged her breasts in his hands and ran his thumbs over their tips making her cry out in ecstasy.

  “Marcus yes, I want you so much! There is nothing else I want more right now!” she cried unable to stop the uncontrollable trembling of her body. “No more waiting Marcus!” she demanded breathlessly.

  Moving his leg from where it imprisoned her, he held her waist and flipped her over onto her stomach and trailed his tongue along her spine all the way to her neck and earlobes.

  “Maybe I should make you wait just a little for how you made me wait for you!” he growled in a low voice and his warm breath tickled her cheeks. The sensation of his hot, hair roughened maleness was intimately pressed against her lower cheeks and she could feel that every delicious inch of him was already hard with readiness to possess her. Natasha felt herself moisten again in anticipation for him.

  “Marcus don’t make me wait this time, I promise that all the other times you can make me beg, plead, if you want to but not now. I’ve been dreaming of this for months,” she admitted.

  Marcus could scarcely contain the joy that was now rising through every cell of his body hearing her admit that she was just as miserable without him these past months. He could no longer fight the urge to be inside her any longer and he pulled her up against him and entered her from behind.

  Feeling him fill her and stretch her, Natasha gasped at the hot invasion of her body and she pressed back against her husband to feel more of him and to take him deeper inside.

  Marcus thrust against her wildly and their united cries of pleasure filled the room. She was so hot and ready for him and with every thrust she squeezed him inside. He was going to lose his mind for sure today. Pulling out of her suddenly he flipped her on to her back and resheathed himself within her with one slow deep thrust until he filled her to the hilt. As she wrapped her legs around his waist he leaned down and kissed her, their tongues twirling, twisting and thrusting matching the frenzied undulations of their bodies together.

  “Come with me, Nat,” groaned Marcus sensing that her release was close as she began to tremble and cry out beneath him.

  She ground her pelvis against him and dug her fingertips into the muscles of his back as the first waves of orgasmic tremors shook her body triggering his own release as he filled her core with his warmth.

  “I’m really going to miss it here when I leave this evening!” said Natasha. The team at Pacific Sun are going crazy with the concert preparations happening in two days and my not being there. I think my manager must have left thirty irate messages on my phone by now,” remarked Natasha while standing on her balcony and admiring the scenery below. “I wish I could take a piece of this island back to the US with me.”

  She and Marcus had just spent the two most exhilarating days of her life reconnecting with each other. When they weren’t making love or trekking around the island, he took her to visit her father who was now recuperating steadily. In fact the doctors were stunned at how rapidly he was progressing. During one of their talks her father said he suspected that the change in his condition had a lot to do with just coming to a place of forgiveness and acceptance in his life of many things he had spent years resisting. He just needed to stop fighting against the things he could not change. Both Natasha and Marcus had to agree because now that they too had both let go and forgiven each other for the past, the bond that existed between them had grown stronger than it had ever been before.

  She felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and her hair drawn aside before a warm kiss was imprinted on the back of her neck, followed by a mischievous nip.

  “I know what you mean and you can,” replied Marcus enjoying her heady fragrance. He and Natasha had just spent two insatiable days getting reacquainted and he still could not get enough of her. It was as though they were both trying to make up for all of the time they had lost while they were still apart.

  “Aren’t you tired yet Mr. Nicholls?” asked Natasha turning around to face him so that their mouths were mere centimetres away from each other.

  “No, I could never get tired of you, love!” he replied following his words by tasting his wife’s lips slowly, and deliberately. “You are much too delicious for that to ever happen!”

  After making love the first afternoon at the hotel Marcus had ask
ed Natasha to come back with him to their home at Azure Lodge where they could really have the privacy they needed. He wasn’t sure if she would agree at first but she readily said yes and he helped her to check out that same afternoon.

  “Marcus I lied when I told you that I did not love this house. I think it’s spectacular. I really can’t blame you for wanting to stay here before. You worked hard and you deserved this. I was wrong to make you feel otherwise.”

  “Nat, right now none of those misunderstandings are important. There is nothing I want more in my life than to be with you. We can have a dozen more Azure Lodges, if it means that I could spend my life where you are. Don’t you see that I would sell this place tomorrow if it meant I could prove that to you?”

  “No Marcus, I don’t want you to sell it, this is your parent’s legacy!”

  “Yes, but I mean to create my own legacy with you. Look, you aren’t making me do anything that I have not thought through deeply already,” Marcus replied. “As a writer my work is very flexible! I just need a quiet space for creativity to flow and I am fine. I can work anywhere on this planet. All I want is to be with you and for you to be happy being with me.”

  Marcus had told her last night for parts of the year he intended to live with her wherever she wanted to in the world and wherever her career took her. He would keep his restaurants and also Natasha’s Place and Art Gallery. He’d proposed the idea to her again of having her art displayed at the restaurant and she finally agreed. They had dinner there last night and Lucinda was so happy to see them together again. He would spend a few months here making sure that it was set up well with the right staff and management. Both were thinking that Ashley would be perfect to take up managing it as she was someone they both knew and trusted and she also had a background in management.