The Champagne Lovers

Five

A/N - Happy New Year everyone, what a week its been already!  Sorry for the massive delay on updates, things have been pretty tough lately and I've been struggling a bit but i'm back into the rhythm of this story and going to work on protected too so will definitely be looking to update much more regularly again so please bear with me xx 

As always I love to know what you think of my chapters so please vote and comment

Thanks all.  L x

***

I couldn't help but stare at the soft petals of the dark peonies resting in the vase in front of me as the cool breeze gently floated across the balcony.  I hadn't even realised I had mentioned that I loved them let alone with enough significance that Niall would have remembered such a small but important detail.  

There was a definite chill in the Chicago air at this time of year but the dozens of candles that remained burning, deep into their melted caverns surrounded us, as well as the two bottles of wine, Niall's red and my white, we had just finished helped to raise the temperature around us just enough to be comfortable. 

My eyes dropped from the flowers to the white cotton on the table where Niall delicately held my hand in his, his thumb absentmindedly running over my knuckles, the movement making the muscles under the soft skin of his forearm flex, my eyes tracing the movement up to the edge of his rolled blue shirt, the fabric, a soft cotton, looked almost black in the dim light but made his skin glow with the constant kiss of sun he seemed to always carry. 

He was talking animatedly about some projects he wanted to work on and some of the smaller artists he'd been writing with and trying out some different styles of music hoping to experiment a little more with his third album.  Listening to him reminded me how much passion he really had for every aspect of music, they all had passion but when it came to Niall its like music made up the core of his soul and i'm just not sure who he would be without it.

My eyes continued to travel back to his skin, this time on his chest, just visible through the top of his shirt, he'd left just enough buttons open to allow me to catch a glimpse of his chest hair and the delicate gold chain that sat amongst it.  As my eyes reached his neck, the familiar feeling of butterflies rolled in my stomach remembering how my lips felt pressed to the soft skin just a short while ago.  

As promised, our meal had arrived at the room just 30 minutes after I had checked in, interrupting my lips trail across the sensitive area which I couldn't tear my eyes from now,  if dinner had been much longer i'm not sure either of us would have noticed the knock at the door nor cared much about it. 

I could feel my breathing shallow slightly as the butterflies continued to excite,  I lifted my eyes slightly before I got too carried away, glancing across his jaw, the slight hint of stubble that was visible, the dimple at his chin and over his soft pink lips as he spoke, until I met the beautiful glossy blue of his eyes, the dim light made his pupils completely engulf the flecks of yellow leaving the slightest hint of silver melting into the dark almost navy edges, his eyes sparkle with the smile in his voice as he speaks making me smile involuntarily back at him.  I watch him intently listening to the passion in his words concentrating on the feeling of his thumb on my knuckles, his silhouette framed by the view of the city from the balcony behind him

Suddenly the air around us fell silent aside from the soft, almost inaudible hum of music coming from inside the hotel room.  Niall had finished his story and was watching me intently, i'm sure if he tried he would be able to hear the beating of my heart as I couldn't draw my eyes from his

"Are you OK Angel? you've been very quiet which isn't like you"

Angel... I loved his secret little pet name for me.