Chapter 34 - "Are you sure about this?"

Being back in Rome was definitely something special. Even though I'd seen most of the places before, it felt like I was seeing them all for the first time again with Nathan. His knowledge was fascinating and he treated me to my own private tour of the Colosseum on Day Four of our trip, instead of having to pay for the guided one.

He acted out the part to humour me, speaking very formally with hand gestures, which sort of meant that I couldn't take him seriously, but it was entertaining all the same.

Afterwards, we strolled back through the city hand-in-hand, mainly using backstreets that Nathan was aware of for short-cuts.

The air-conditioned apartment was refreshing as we stepped inside it. I told Nathan I was going to freshen up and then made my way to my room. Once there, I collapsed on the bed. Walking around cities in hot sunshine was tiring; I now understood the concept of a siesta.

Just as I felt myself drifting off to sleep, my phone vibrated to signal a message and I jolted awake. Fumbling around, I picked up the phone and opened the message. It was from Matt. Surprisingly, my heart didn't do that silly little jumping thing, nor did my stomach do a somersault. I looked at the name, and it could have been anyone.

Opening the message, I rolled my eyes at its content.

- Is it true you're with Nathan Hunt in Italy?

I didn't bother replying. What was the point? Matt was no longer part of my life, and I liked it that way. Turning off my phone, I placed it on top of the bedside table before snuggling back down into the softness of the bed sheets.

A few minutes later, there was a light knock at the door and then Nathan stuck his head through the gap, peering inside. Upon seeing me lying on the bed, he laughed gently and then took a place next to me.

"Tiring day?"

"I think it's all catching up to me," I admitted.

With his arm draped around me, I snuggled closer and hooked one of my legs over his. He pressed his lips to my forehead, lingering there before sliding the tip of his nose across my cheekbone. Twisting in his hold, I leaned to kiss him with a soft pull on his bottom lip. His hand slid down to my lower back, fingertips biting into the base of my spine, and he slowly manoeuvred me on top of him.

I lost track of time as we kissed. This time it felt different. I felt different. Maybe it was the realisation that I was truly over Matt. Or maybe it was the fact that Nathan and I were on holiday together. Perhaps it was both. I deepened the kiss, my tongue sweeping into his mouth.

Nathan's knuckles skimmed along my sides, dragging my top upwards. As quickly as I could, I sat up and yanked it over my head before locking my lips back down onto his.

With my heart pattering to an uneven beat inside my chest, I pinched at the hem of his t-shirt and eased it upwards. Every inch of golden skin and smooth muscle it revealed sent an excited shudder down my spine. So much so, that even when he'd ducked out of the shirt and tossed it aside, I remained sat upright, straddling his hips as I raked my eyes over his torso.

It wasn't the first time I'd seen him topless, but the effect hadn't dimmed. When I lifted my gaze to his face, though, I found him watching me with such intensity that a flicker of nerves skidded through me.

"Say something." My words were hoarse, my throat dry.

The intensity in Nathan's expression softened, replaced by a more familiar glint.

"You're wearing more clothes than me. Doesn't seem fair."

My lips stretched into a smile as the teasing relaxed me. Not breaking eye contact, I reached behind and unhooked my bra clasp. A muscle in Nathan's jaw clenched, his throat bobbing with a thick swallow, yet his fingers traced soft patterns on my hip bones, as if his hands were suggesting control even if his face wasn't.

I slipped the bra off my shoulders, and Nathan's eyes dropped immediately to my chest. His fingers paused. A deep groan spilled from his parted lips.

"Better?" I asked, but my nerves had started to dissipate.

Seeing his reaction had reassured me. It didn't matter how many naked bodies he'd looked at before mine; he wasn't faking his reaction. If anything, he was trying to hide it. And that made it all the more real.

"Much." The corner of his mouth tugged up into a cheeky grin, like he knew I needed some light-heartedness among the intensity.

Then he lifted me up, flipped me onto my back, and rolled on top of me in one swift movement.

The smooth ease with which he'd changed positions drove home a not-unwelcome reality: he knew what he was doing. And now I wanted to find a balance: enjoying his skills while not fretting over my own level of experience.

Propping himself up on his elbows to bear the brunt of his weight above me, Nathan ghosted his lips along my jaw. A contented sigh spilled from my throat. While he pressed soft kisses against my neck, I traced my fingers across the broad expanse of his back and squeezed my thighs around his hips.

Gradually, his kisses began to move lower, covering my chest and then travelling down to my stomach. As he passed my belly button, I involuntarily tensed. Matt and I had never done that and I was suddenly hit with nerves.

Pausing, Nathan glanced up at me, his fingers poised at the button of my jeans.

"You okay?" he asked.

Did I want it? I bet it felt good. Amazing, even. He'd proved he knew what he was doing.

And yet...

"I've never..." I trailed away, hating how pathetic I probably sounded.

I could only imagine what he was thinking, not least because his face gave nothing away. His eyes were neutral, his body unmoving as he continued to stare at me.

"Want to stop—?"

"No!" I breathed out the word far too fast. Too much in the other direction.

A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. "Okay. How about you call the shots for a bit?"

He crawled back up the mattress, and one look at that delicious chest had my confidence returning. As soon as he was lying beside me, I reached for his belt, slowly threading the leather strap out through the metal buckle, glancing up at him periodically to enjoy the tension in his jaw and the clench of his fists. With the belt loosened and his buttons unfastened, he helped me drag the jeans down his thighs, along his calves and over his ankles.

When I hooked my finger in the waistband of his boxers, he caught my wrist with a wicked smile.

"You know I'm all about equality." He tipped his chin towards my lower half.

Grinning, I yanked off my jeans with far less finesse than I'd removed his, yet he watched me with affection blooming in his eyes. With a hand cupping the back of my neck, he drew my mouth towards his again. Each kiss seemed to simultaneously reset yet reignite me. I settled back into it, breaths mixing, lips pulling, tongues brushing.

"Do you have a condom?" I pressed the question into his sharp jawline, momentarily getting side-tracked as I breathed in his cologne and planted soft kisses to the stubble-lined skin.

"Wait here."

As if I'd have gone anywhere.

He scooped up his jeans from the floor, reached inside them for his wallet and then plucked out a foil packet. His fingers trembled as he tore it open, and my confidence only mounted.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, settling beside me on the mattress again.

"Yeah. I'm sure. Are you?"

He nodded. "I just don't want to disappoint you."

There it was again. The vulnerability. This was on my terms, at my speed, and against my experience. He wasn't used to that. It was just as new for him as it was for me. And that made everything feel so much more equal.

"Not possible." I smiled before leaning up to kiss him again.

There was no rush. We did everything slowly, as if we wanted to savour our first time together. It wasn't hot and passionate. It was tender and caring. Nathan was attentive, certainly making it more about me than him. I didn't know whether he was holding back in order to make this special, or if he actually wanted it this way.

Afterwards, we didn't talk. It wasn't an awkward silence - it was just that words weren't needed. We lay together in pure serenity and, in that moment, I'd never felt closer to another person in my life. In the space of an hour, I'd felt physically and emotionally closer to Nathan than I ever had. I didn't want to let go of that feeling, ever.

-

"Is Rome dangerous at night?" I asked Nathan as we made our way back to the Colosseum.

"Not especially, but you just have to be sensible, like in all big cities."

There was no awkwardness after our afternoon in bed together. Everything was like normal. I kept replaying the memory, though, remembering how it had felt to have Nathan inside me, remembering how he'd kissed me and where he'd touched me...

The Colosseum sprung into sight. It truly was beautiful. The lights lit it up, also illuminating the surrounding area where people were sitting around to soak up the view of it. I sighed to myself. Returning to England was going to be so dull after living around this kind of thing for a week.

"Special, huh?" Nathan asked, noticing my expression.

I leant my head against his shoulder. "Yeah. Very. It's been a special day in general."

He snorted. "Corny."

I elbowed him in the ribs and he laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me tightly against his body.

"I love you," he whispered. "Now stop thinking about how good I am in bed, and concentrate on how beautiful this two-thousand-year-old amphitheatre is."

I smiled to myself and hooked my arm around his waist, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I don't want to go back to England. Can't we just stay here forever?"

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "You'd get bored."

"I can't ever imagine getting bored of this."

"Take my word for it, and Rome isn't a city that deserves to lose its novelty."

Nathan and I stayed by the Colosseum for a couple of hours. I don't know how we managed to spend so long there—most of the time we didn't even talk—but sometimes words weren't necessary between us. We simply enjoyed each other's company.

"Tomorrow night we're going out for dinner," Nathan said as we strolled back to the apartment. It was pretty late—getting on towards eleven o'clock—and the temperature had considerably dropped. Nathan had given me his jacket to keep me warm, a gesture which was touching and filled me with a different kind of warmth.

"Sounds nice. Where to?"

"A local pizzeria."

"Is this another of those places that the general public aren't aware of?" I asked with a smile.

"You could say that. Or you could say that the general public would be aware of it if they bothered to look for it."

Surprisingly, Georgia was still awake when we got to the apartment. She'd been leaving the kitchen, drying her hands on a tea towel, and smiled at us when we entered.

"Hey. Have you two had a nice day?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's been great." I smiled, squeezing Nathan's hand.

And it had. It had been pretty damn perfect.

--

Thank you for reading :)xx

A/n Aug'24 - If you want to read the extended version of this chapter, it's now available as a bonus chapter through my Beach Holiday tier on Ream! For 10+ years I've kept this chapter 'clean', in line with the rest of the book which doesn't contain explicit content. After so many requests for the detailed sex scene though, I have released it separately. My Beach Holiday tier on Ream also gives you access to Office Affairs and Behind Office Doors, my steamy office romance series which used to be in Paid. I'll drop the link in the comments!