Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 227: Surprise at the beach

Chapter 227: Surprise at the beach

Neil and Mia followed the back entrance of the hotel to go to the beach. As they walked outside, hand in hand, with the slightly chilly night wind blowing back their hair and clothes, Mia felt a bit more relaxed but not completely at peace with herself after her encounter with Owen. However, she tried her best to focus on their night stroll rather than dwell on things that were completely out of her control.

The beach was dark at first as they approached it, but the moment they stepped onto the sand, Mia got the shock of her life. The grounds suddenly brightened up, and she let out a small cry of surprise. She stopped walking, watching in astonishment as hundreds of lamps set in a straight line on the ground lit up their path. The middle of the lamp path was covered with rose petals, their scent swirling in the wind.

Mia looked ahead at the lamp path, but because of how many lamps there were, she couldn’t see the end of it. Before she could say anything to the man beside her, the lights of a yacht on the sea, which she hadn’t even noticed was there a moment ago, turned on, catching her attention.

Before she could speak, Neil held out his arm to her and said, "Shall we?"

Mia couldn’t find her voice; she hadn’t expected anything like this on the beach. She smiled through tears of joy and nodded her head, hooking her arm around his as he began to lead her toward the brightly lit yacht where soft romantic music was playing inside.

They walked on the path of rose petals, and because Mia wanted to feel the roses under her feet, she took off her shoes and placed her bare legs on the path. "They’re so soft," she commented, her voice filled with wonder.

Neil chuckled. "I knew you’d like them."

The golden light of the lamps illuminated them and their path, casting a warm glow around them. Mia couldn’t help but wonder how much money he had spent to get the beach to themselves and buy all the lamps. As they approached the yacht, Neil bent down and carried her up the steps, placing her gently down once they were inside.

He walked her to the open deck, and Mia was surprised to find another romantic setting there. A bouquet of flowers sat on a table beside a spread of French delicacies, including escargot, foie gras, and a selection of non-alcoholic wines in elegant glasses.

She looked at Neil, her eyes wide with amazement and gratitude. "Neil, this is... incredible." Though she’d always wanted to experience things like this, she’d not expected it tonight.

Neil smiled, his eyes softening as he looked at her. "I wanted tonight to be special for you, for us." He said as he approached her and pressed a light kiss on her forehead. After Rayne had told him what Mia wanted, he’d been working on it to make every moment special for her until the day he’d propose to her, just like she’d always wanted.

Tears welled up in Mia’s eyes as she looked around. "You went through so much trouble... Thank you, Neil." She whispered softly, wishing she hadn’t gone to that lady’s room earlier and gotten her thoughts and emotions messed up. She wanted to enjoy this moment with a clear conscience and mind, without having to feel guilty for enjoying something that wasn’t supposed to be hers.

She didn’t know how Owen had found out about all that, but she knew he’d told her because he knew she was the kind to never take what wasn’t hers and because he wanted to plant a seed of guilt and doubt in her heart. She hated that he was succeeding in doing that. Mia turned to look at the hotel as the yacht began to sail away from the beach. She shivered slightly at the cold wind of the sea as she watched the shaft of moonlight streaming across the water.

Something warm suddenly draped over her shoulders. She looked down and saw it was Neil’s jacket. He came around her, helped put her arms into the sleeves, and pulled it at the front to make sure she was shielded from the cold wind. Mia felt her heart swell with warmth as he pulled out her hair and adjusted the jacket for her.

"This will keep you warm for the night," he whispered. Then he took her hand. "Dance with me, mi amor."

Mia walked obediently into his arms, loving the feel of them sliding around her. Laying her cheek against the smooth fabric of his white button up shirt, she moved with him in time to the orchestra’s love song, vibrantly aware of his legs shifting intimately between hers.

This morning, she’d woken up feeling the worst pain of her life where she’d been rushed to the hospital, then she’d dreaded coming to this banquet even though she could have stayed at home like Neil had suggested, then she’d been excited to stand beside Neil to make sure no other woman would cross her man in her presence, then she’d gone through such emotional rollercoaster in the lady’s room.

In one day she’d experienced tension, excitement, pain and passion, and now she was dancing with the man of her dreams. The emotional merry-go-round she’d been on had taken its full toll; she felt terribly exhausted and more than a little giddy, thus, she rested her weight on Neil as they moved along with the music.

Her thoughts floated back to the question she’d asked Neil in the hotel hallway about his childhood sweetheart, and she felt that she’d never be at peace until she’d gotten some kind of reassurance from him to clear her mind of it completely. Closing her eyes and slipping her arms around his waist, she called, "Neil..."

"Hmm?" He hummed softly, looking down at her with eyes filled with so much love. "What’s wrong? Are you exhausted?" He asked worriedly upon noticing how she was resting on him completely. The last thing he wanted was to tire her out. He stroked her hair as she shook her head, "No."

"Do you want us to stop dancing?"

"No..." she said, "I just want to ask you something else again."

"What’s that?"

"If you hadn’t known me in your childhood, would you have still loved me in your adulthood?" she asked, holding her breath and hoping she’d get the answer she so much wanted to hear.

"No," he said, shattering every little piece of hope in Mia’s heart that she was the one he loved and not the Mimi he thought she was. Unable to control her emotions, she stopped dancing and buried her head in his chest, allowing her tears to fall.

"I see..." she murmured brokenly as she tried to move away from his embrace, but then he held her back, crushing her to his firm chest.

"You didn’t see anything, querida," he whispered into her hair, trying to suppress his smile. "If you’d asked me that question before I was sent to prison, my answer would have been no, Mia. But after my experience in prison and then your arrival into my life in the mountains, I realized that even if you hadn’t been my childhood little friend, I’d still want you in my life. Heavens forgive me, I’d bring hell to earth to still make you mine. Our childhood has nothing to do with my affections for you now. And recently, I figured it’s time to let that part of our life go, a part that has been filled with terrible memories..."

Mia bit back a teary smile at his words, afraid to believe him, afraid to trust in his words, and unable to stop herself because she loved him.

"Look at me," Neil said, tipping her chin up, and this time her glorious eyes looked into his. "I don’t know why you’re asking me all these questions today, but I have several reasons for asking you to walk with me tonight. I also have several things to ask of you."

"What sort of things?"

"I would like you to give me daughters with your hair and your spirit," he said, beginning to enumerate his reasons and requests. "I would like my sons to have your eyes and your courage. Now, if that’s not what you want, then give me any combination you like, and I will humbly thank you for giving me any child we make." He pressed his palm against her baby bump as he spoke and happiness began to spread through Mia until it was so intense she ached from it.

"I want to change your name," he said with a tender smile, "so there’s no doubt who you are ever again, or who you belong to." He slid his hands up and down her arms, looking directly into her eyes. "I want the right to share your bed every night from this day onward. I want to make you moan in my arms again, and I want to wake up wrapped in yours." He shifted his hands and cradled her cheeks, his thumbs brushing away two tears at the edges of her shimmering eyes.

"Last of all, I want to hear you say ’I love you’ every day of my life. If you aren’t ready to agree to that last request right now, I would be willing to wait until the day I finally made you mine on our wedding altar, when I believe you will. In return for all those concessions, I will grant you every wish that is within my power to grant you.

"As to what happened in our past when we were little, I want it dropped out of the topic of our love now. Let the past be buried away with the beautiful memories of our present and future." He whispered, bringing her close to him, "Do you have anything else to say, because I’m going to kiss you now."

"About our past," she said softly, "I think there are a lot of things missing from my memories, I want to remember them. Can you help me dig into_"

"Don’t," he commanded.

Although quietly spoken, it was an order, and he meant it to be obeyed. Intending to protest his authoritative attitude, Mia snapped her head up, but her lips instantly captured his attention. "Don’t even consider it," he muttered harshly. "Your past is not worth remembering."

Then his mouth opened over hers in a shattering kiss that sent her spiraling off into darkness where nothing existed except the sensual male lips locked fiercely, demandingly, to hers. His hand sank into the thick mass of hair at her nape, and his tongue plunged into her mouth, stroking and caressing hers, retreating to plunge again, until Mia instinctively gave him what he wanted.

Her lips softened and began to move with his, stimulating the desire already flaming between them. Against her, Mia felt the bold evidence of his rising passion, and shudders of pleasure raced through her. Her body joined forces with his, demolishing her control. Mindlessly she arched herself upward in a fevered need to please him more, and his arm tightened across her hips, pulling her even closer to his rigid thighs.

He dragged his mouth roughly across her cheek, and even his whisper was hoarse with desire. "Sweetheart, if you continue to do that, we might end up being naked in bed," he said, and pressed his lips to hers again.

Slowly the pressure of his mouth gentled and then was gone. Shivering with excitement and exhaustion, Mia weakly leaned her forehead against his chest. Trying to catch her breath, smiling from ear to ear because she knew now nothing in this world would make her doubt Neil’s love for her again, not even this Mimi or Owen.