Evelyn
“Stop,” I whispered, my eyes fluttering closed.
Nathan hummed against my neck, nipping at the skin. Somehow, some way, we’d managed to get comfortable on the small sofa, his hands exploring places in my body that had remained unexplored for over a year.
“Remember when I kissed you the first time?” he asked, his just-woken-up voice deep and rough, his hand traveling down my thigh and slowly raising the shirt I wore up until it rested over the curve of my ass. “You were dressed exactly like this, and all I could do was try not to take you in that basement.”
I tilted my head, giving him more access to my neck, which he took advantage of immediately, groaning when he heard the soft moan that left my lips. All the teasing touches, his lips on me, they were all adding up, the tension in my body increasing to levels I’d never experienced.
“Touch me,” I pleaded.
His eyes darkened with desire, but a smirk formed on his lips. “I thought we were taking things slow.”
Even as he spoke, though, his hand lowered further, just barely grazing the waistband of my boy shorts.
“We…are,” I gasped. “But please, Nate, I need you.”
His gaze went down to my parted lips, then back up to my eyes as his hand went between my legs. I whimpered, and his lips pulled up to a taunting grin. “I hardly think this is a way of taking it slow, Evelyn.”
Suddenly the look in his eyes changed, from lustful and dark, to longing—the type of longing someone has for their lover after time apart. The type of longing one can only have for the person they love.
“I’ve waited to have you with me for so long.” He brushed the hair away from my face. “You keep fighting us for no reason.” He spoke as his hand finally bypassed my underwear, and I moaned gratefully when he finally stroked me where I needed it the most.
Nathan cursed, lowering his forehead to mine. “You don’t understand how perfect we are together, Evie,” he said scornfully. “You don’t understand how many people wish to have what we share between us. Can you not feel it? As I touch you? As I kiss you?” He asked the questions as he lowered his lips to mine, giving me a punishing kiss that made me forget how to breathe.
He was making a statement, proving his point. There was no way I could deny it; I was his.
No matter how much I fought it, no matter how scared I was, I knew he wouldn’t betray me. He loved me too much to do so. And I loved him just as much.
I broke away from the kiss, squeezing my eyes shut and arching my back sharply when he let two fingers slide inside me with ease.
“Yes,” I hissed, gripping his forearm.
“Look at me,” he said, gripping my chin with another hand. I forced my eyes open as his fingers worked me, his expert hands knowing exactly what to do and how. “Do you not remember me making love to you? How fucking right it was, even with the circumstances? Stop fighting me, Evie. Stop fighting us,” he pleaded, his thumb pressing down on my swollen nub.
That’s all it took for me to come undone in his arms, and I cried out his name, letting go of all my worries and concerns.
He was right; there was no point in fighting it.
I’d lose against him anyway.
***
Nathan had to leave to his hotel to change, and of course, I ended up running late because an array of kisses had prolonged our goodbye. It seemed his plan had worked after all.
Now that he was here and we had talked about what kept me away from him, I couldn’t stop smiling. I’d spent a year trying to numb down my feelings, pretending to be something I wasn’t out of fear. Fear wasn’t something I would keep giving in to.
Having Nathan around and his bluntness made me realize there was nothing to fear. He was still with me, even after so long.
I finished smoothing down the white sweater dress I wore and let my curly hair down, which thankfully was cooperating. After putting on my boots, I took one last glance in the mirror, and once I was ready, I called a cab and headed out.
I was so nervous. It felt as if it was the first time I was meeting his parents.
“You should have told me Nathan was here,” I said to Carter as soon as I saw him downstairs.
“Would you have avoided the meeting?” Carter asked with a knowing smile. He squeezed my hand tenderly, pride shining through his eyes. “You look happy, Evelyn.”
I nodded, interlocking arms with him. “I feel happy, Carter. Thank you.”
The drive to Nathan’s parents’ house was a little over half an hour long.
Carter was excited to see the family he now considered his own. I on the other hand, feared they wouldn’t be too happy to see me after I left everything behind, including their son.
“Don’t worry,” Carter said, bringing me out of my thoughts. “You’ll be fine.”
“I think I messed up by not being with him for the past year.”
Carter snorted, actually snorted at me. I knew what was coming. “Hate to say it, darling, but I told you so. We had this exact conversation the very day we left Pennsylvania, didn’t we?”
Like a scolded child, I nodded. He was right.
Leaving Pennsylvania hadn’t been a mistake. My mistake had been leaving the man I loved and who loved me back behind.
I had wasted time without Nathan when I could have been happy already. Hell, we could have been living together, even have a home of our own.
“It’s okay.” Carter smiled. “You did what you thought was best for you. Now that you know it wasn’t, you shouldn’t let your fears stand in the way anymore. Don’t let fear dictate your future, Evelyn. You’re young. You have a whole future ahead of you.”
When we arrived at the Maxwell household, both Carter and I were surprised. It wasn’t a huge house, but it was much, much more elegant than described. Elegant, yet homey. Everything Hannah’s house hadn’t been.
I knocked on the door timidly, and it flew open, as if they had been standing just behind it. Deborah met us with a beautiful and sincere smile. Her arms wrapped around me almost immediately, and she squeezed me tight. Laughing, I hugged her back, leaning my cheek on the woman’s shoulder.
“Well, you’ve been in New York for over a year and haven’t visited once. Don’t mind this very, very long hug.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, embracing the woman who had been there when my family hadn’t.
“Nonsense. You’re just going to have to eat everything I serve you. Maybe spend the night? I need another woman here if I’m going to be surrounded by Nathan and his dad.” She scrunched up her nose as her husband walked up behind her.
Frank grinned at Carter, shaking his hand before pulling him into a hug.
The house was incredibly cozy, the type of house in which you have family reunions that you never want to leave.
“You have a lovely home,” I said to Frank. He squeezed my shoulder, chuckling.
“I’d like to take credit for the decor and all that nonsense, but who am I kidding? My wife did it all.”
“Men have no sense of style,” Deborah said, rolling her eyes.
I heard footsteps approaching and tensed, knowing exactly who it was.
“Look who’s early.” Nathan grinned, rolling back his sleeves.
God, how I love when he does that.
He cupped my face in his hands, catching me off guard and pressing his lips to mine. The kiss was brief but full of promise.
His mom grinned.
His dad raised his eyebrows.
Carter stared.
And I didn’t know what the hell to do.
We made small talk, like a family who was making up for lost time. All the while, Nathan held my hand in his, squeezing it and every now and then pressing a kiss to the back of it. I should have been used to this type of affection from him; he never hid what he felt.
We ate breakfast together, the most enjoyable meal I’d had in a long time. It was the first meal in a while that Carter and I had eaten in the company of family. Deborah and Frank made us feel at home; it was everything I’d ever dreamed of.
***
“What are you doing back here?”
I walked around in the wooded backyard, distracted by the beautiful sounds of birds chirping. It was only a bit past noon, and it wasn’t the best idea since I had no clue how to get back, but I was so entranced by the beauty of it I didn’t care.
I turned my face, only to see Nathan with a backpack and a bottle of wine.
He wrapped an arm around me, and I leaned my head back on his shoulder.
“I’m thinking,” I whispered, closing my eyes.
“What about?”
“You waited for me even without knowing whether I would want a relationship. Why?”
“Why wouldn’t I wait?” he countered.
“You could have been with someone else, Nate, someone ready for a relationship. And instead you waited for me without any guarantee.”
“I didn’t need a guarantee,” he said. I tilted my head back, opening my eyes to see him.
“I didn’t ever say that I would be ready for a relationship again,” I stated.
“You didn’t need to, Evie.” Nathan smiled, turning me around in his arms and placing his hands on my waist. “When you know, you know. With you, I always knew.”
I looked at him in wonder. How the hell had I gotten so lucky to have a man like him with me? My hands rested on his chest, over the steady beating of his heart, memorizing the feel of it under my hand, and I knew what I had to say.
“I love you, Nathan.”
He smiled, cupping my face in his hands as he ran his fingers over my cheeks tenderly. “I love you too, Evie.”
Nathan kissed me, parting my lips with his tongue gently. There was no hurry in the kiss, only love in every caress of our hands and mouths. It wasn’t until we both needed air to breathe that we broke away the kiss.
“Come on. I have something to show you.”