ChapterTwenty-Four
Nate lived at the opposite end of town, where the buildings thinned into the national park. Bella had always known where his house was, but this was her first visit. She sat quietly beside him as he drove through the pitch-black night and parked in front of a neat stone house. A porch wrapped around most of the house and took advantage of the views. Not that she could see much in the dark.
From here, he must be able to look out on the park from three sides of the house.
“You okay?” With his hand on the door, he turned to her.
“Not really.” His face had settled into grim lines and she wanted to alleviate them. “But I will be.”
“We’ll get him, Bella.” Nate opened his car door on what sounded like a promise.
He was at her side before she could fully open her door. Taking her bag from her, he shouldered it and wrapped his larger hand around hers. Security lights blinked on as they got closer to the front door. Of course Nate locked his door, and he dropped her hand as he worked the key in the lock.
Inside, honey-colored wood floors gleamed under the overhead light. Town gossip had shared with her that he’d bought the house for a good deal a few years back and was busy renovating it. “Did you do the floors?”
“Yeah.” Nate dropped her bag beside the door. “Matt helped me with the supplies, but I’m doing the work myself.”
The hall opened onto a living room with large windows facing the park. The absence of any sort of ambient town light made the dark outside absolute.
Nate turned left past a staircase with a truly ugly yellow and orange floral runner. The top half of the glass banister had been replaced with wood and wrought iron. She sure hoped he got to that runner as well.
“I started in here,” Nate said and led her into the kitchen.
Cherry cabinets cast a warm amber glow. Granite countertops ran across all the surfaces. A central island with barstools held the stovetop.
Nate led her over to the stools and she perched on one.
Stainless-steel appliances shone like he might polish them every day. It was warm, welcoming, and if that range was anything to go by, a place in which someone actually knew how to cook.
“Are you hungry?” Nate opened the fridge.
“Not really.”
He glanced at her. “How about I make you something anyway?”
“Want me to cook?” The devil made her ask. That and some need to break the seriousness.
Nate stiffened. “No. I’ll cook.”
She smiled at him to let him off the hook. “I’m not really hungry.”
“Good thing.” His answering smile warmed her. “Because I don’t have any pink marshmallows.”
“Maybe I could just take a shower and go to bed.” She didn’t feel sleepy, but they both had to be up and at it in the morning.
Nate grinned. “I think I can do one better than that. Come.”
He led her up the stairs onto a wide landing. The carpet of yellow and orange flowers had been given free rein up here. Dear God.
“Yeah.” Nate grimaced. “I haven’t gotten around to doing these floors yet.”
A new-looking set of double doors opened onto the master suite. Here the floors had been changed to the same hardwood she’d seen downstairs. A huge bed dominated the room, flanked by a pair of mismatched side tables.
Nate walked through another door and into a bathroom. Bella stopped inside the door and stared. Cream and wood blended together in a haven that made her want to stay there all day.
Bent over a massive tub, which looked out onto the night, Nate opened the faucets. Oval and deep, it was the sort of tub a girl would want to lounge in for hours and soak her problems away.
“I don’t have any of that bubble stuff.” Nate shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“That’s okay.” Bella wanted to hug him. “I don’t really like bubbles.”
“You don’t?” He raised his brow.
He knew her too well. “Okay, I do, but the bath will be great.”
“I’ll get your bag.” He left the bathroom.
Bella ran her fingers over the cool marble counters. Wow; Nate had spared no expense in this bathroom, which seemed a bit weird. He wasn’t the type to luxuriate; she was pretty sure about that. Yet he’d made a place for someone who liked to spend time in the tub, or take her time on her makeup. He’d built a bathroom with a woman in mind.
Her chest throbbed. Not her, apparently. Or any woman she knew. Perhaps in some distant future, a Mrs. Nate would crawl out of the woodwork. Please God, Bella hoped to have moved on with her life by that time.
Nate’s footsteps rapped on the wood and then he was back again. Bag in one hand, a glass of wine in the other. “I can’t do bubbles, but wine I’ve got.”
Lucky, lucky Mrs. Future Nate. Beneath all the bristle and attitude lurked the soft heart of a man who lived to make his woman happy.
“Hey.” His expression gentled and he put the wineglass beside the tub. “You okay?”
“I’m okay.” Bella tried her best not to lean into his warmth, but his hands on her waist weakened her resolve and she went with it, burrowing deep into the smell of laundry detergent and Nate.
“It’s gonna be okay, babe.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m gonna make it that way.”
Bella nodded and, after another squeeze, let him go and stepped back. “I’ll have my bath.”
“You do that.” He stood there, hands back in his pockets. “You need any help?”
The sort of help that involved Nate’s big, rough hands stripping off her clothes, running over her skin. Nate cupping her breasts, sliding his hand down her stomach and into her pajama pants. The sort of help that had her wet and aching. Her voice sounded a mite too bright and chipper. “No, thanks.”
Nate thought so too because he raised his brow. His lids drooped heavily over the heat of his eyes. “I’ll just . . .” His walk to the door seemed stiff, without the usual Nate grace.
The door closed behind him.
This getting-over-Nate wasn’t getting any easier.
He’d made a stupid mistake bringing her here, but damned if he knew what else to do. That primal hunk of Cro-Magnon left inside him wouldn’t have it any other way.
And here he was, sporting wood, as he tried not to think about Bella glistening naked and pink in his bathroom. What the hell was the matter with him? He wasn’t this guy. He had a horrible track record with women in so far as sticking around went. Sure, he never made promises, and if a woman wasn’t down with how he needed things to play out, he walked away, but women still got hurt, and nice girls like Bella always wanted what he couldn’t give them.
Where did that leave him? Sweaty and hard. He could kid himself and say all he wanted from her was sex, but he didn’t have enough bullshit inside for that. This need for Bella ran deeper, a need to mark her as his, to celebrate her escape from harm in the most elemental way. Nate adjusted himself and took up a position in front of his TV. There had to be something on here to get his mind off Bella.
A naked Bella sliding soapy hands all over those lush curves.
He flipped through the channels and found some hockey. Big guys pounding the shit out of each other would work as a distraction.
The thing with Bella was that he’d always known this on some gut-deep, self-preservation level. She spelled trouble for him, blinked out in Morse code from those big blue eyes that looked at him as if he embodied the love child of Santa Claus and Captain America.
Horrible thought.
On the TV, Barrie slammed Giroux into the boards, hard enough to have the Philly crowd braying for blood and pounding on the glass.
She was his Mary Jane Watson, the woman he wanted to be a better man for. For her, he wanted to strip away the mask and show her who he really was.
But beneath the badge he was what he’d always been—a POS punk with no sense of loyalty or integrity. A punk who had put his family through all kinds of hell and left a string of broken hearts behind him. Bella deserved better than that, better than him.
But Daniel Carver sure as hell wasn’t it. He didn’t care that Daniel seemed to have turned his life around. The man wasn’t good enough for Bella. Nobody was. He dug in his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper with Daniel’s phone number on it. With relish, he balled it into a wad and stuffed it down the couch cushions.
Okay, not his best move. Taking the scrap of paper in the first place crossed some sort of line. He really didn’t want to think about that or he might have to dig the paper out and return it to Bella. Screw it. He wasn’t perfect; never pretended to be either.
Bella’s soft footfalls padded across the wood. She appeared beside the couch and stood there looking uncertain. Long hair still wet and hanging in a thick braid down her back, her pretty face flushed and scrubbed. Her glance flickered to him and then the TV. “What are we watching?”
So goddamn sweet. Pure sugar all the way to the bone.
He moved the remote so she could sit beside him.
With her soft smile, she curled up beside him in a waft of honey and the soap he always used.
The siren blared as the Avalanche evened the score.
A man could see every thought she had in those huge eyes. Her lashes spiked dark and thick against her creamy skin. He’d always liked her nose. A little button turned up at the end that she wrinkled as she thought, making twin lines across the bridge. Her mouth was sin. In a full, pouty curve that almost seemed too big for her delicate face. Matt had nicknamed her Tinker Bell because she looked a lot like the Disney fairy. Peter Pan needed to have his head examined for turning her down.
A tentative smile quivering, Bella blinked at him.
“You like hockey?” He had to clear his throat.
Damn if she didn’t wrinkle her nose. “Maybe.” She laid her head against his shoulder, her damp hair cool on his cheek. “Thank you, Nate.”
The need to hold her freight-trained through him. He had to keep it cool, controllable. “It’s my job.”
She stiffened. Her breath caught. “Okay.”
He was such a dick. He slid his arm around her shoulders and tucked her closer to him. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
She resisted.
Nate increased the pressure until she gave and sank against his side. “You mean more than that, Bella. You have to know that.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, nudging his chin with the top of her head. “I just don’t know where that leaves me.”
Neither did he.
* * *
Bella closed her eyes and breathed in undiluted Nate. His warmth beneath her cheek, the solidity of him pressed against her side. She’d had what could only be called a really shitty couple of days. Right now, she clung to the life raft that was Nate.
Tension radiated from him and she should move away, give him space, but she couldn’t make herself do it.
“Bella.” He wove their fingers together. Hers looked tiny and slim between his, but their hands fit palm to palm, like they’d been designed that way. She couldn’t afford to think like that. Not when he didn’t share those feelings.
“It’s fine, Nate.” She squeezed his fingers. “It wasn’t a question. More like a statement.”
“Babe.” He pressed his cheek to her head. “You should get some sleep.”
Hell no! “I don’t want to be alone.”
“You’re safe here. With me.”
“I know.”
Questions hurtled around and around in her mind. What would have happened if Adam had gotten through that door? Would he keep going until he got to her?
Cold stroked down her spine and she shivered.
Nate rubbed her arm. “Are you freaking out on me?”
“A little.”
He shifted, lifting her onto his lap. Their eyes were on the same level. His glowed that weirdly beautiful gold-green. “It’s going to be okay, babe.”
“I know.” Because she did. Nate would fix this, make it right. She threaded her fingers through the silky hair at his nape, needing the connection.
His gaze flickered to her mouth. “Babe.”
Beneath her palm, his heartbeat kicked up, his skin warmed.
The two inches of air between their faces thickened until it dragged hot with promise into Bella’s lungs. “Kiss me.”
His lids hooded over the scorching heat in his eyes. “You know where that leads, Bella.”
“Yes, I do.” She spread her fingers wide over his chest and slid two of them between his buttons to find the skin beneath. “And I want that.”
“Fuck.” His breath hit her mouth. “You say that and I get hard, but you’re in shock.”
“Maybe.” She pressed their foreheads together. Their breath mingled. “But right now I need this. I need you.”
Gripping her hips, he groaned her name against her mouth, “Don’t let me be the asshole who takes advantage of you.”
“I’m the one taking advantage.” Bella straddled him. Against her, his erection pressed hard and ready, and Bella ground down.
Nate moved, jogging her. He stood with her in his arms. “If we’re going to do this, we do it right.”
Bella tightened her legs around his hips.
He moved them up the stairs, barely even breathing hard as they reached the top.
In his bedroom, he put her down gently on the bed, coming down between her thighs. His broad hands framed her face as he stared down at her. “You sure?”
Never more sure of anything in her life, Bella tugged his mouth to hers.
Nate slowed the kiss, exploring her mouth with deep, drugging thoroughness.
Bella writhed beneath him. She wanted to get lost in the heady rush of him.
Refusing to be hurried, Nate moved down to her neck. “So soft,” he murmured. “And so damn sweet.”
Bella tugged his shirt out of his pants and finally got her hands on his back. Muscle flexed beneath her palms. She dug her nails into it.
Nate hissed in a breath. He straightened his arms and loomed above her. “You got a little wild in you tonight, honey?”
“I want to forget,” Bella said. His lion eyes stripped her to the raw.
“Trust me.” He shifted his weight and slid his hand beneath her sweatshirt. “Let me take this slow and easy.”
“Maybe I don’t want that.”
His hand slid over her ribs to cup her breast. “Why don’t we give it a try?”
With her nipples being gently tugged, she would agree to just about anything. “Okay.”
Chuckling, he sat back and whipped her sweatshirt over her head.
Bella hadn’t put a bra on after her bath.
“I still see these when I think of you.” Almost reverently, he put his hands on her breasts, weighing them in his palms. “You’re such a tiny thing and yet you have such incredible curves.”
Enough with the chatting. Bella arched into his hands.
He lowered his head to her breast and sucked. Hard.
Heat shot through her and Bella pushed into the pressure of his mouth. She wanted his imprint on her skin, to have him sink soul deep into her and keep him there. Threading her fingers through his hair, she tugged his head closer.
Gently grasping her wrists, he pulled her hands down, pressing them into the mattress. “Bella, baby.” He kissed her. “You need to slow the hell down.”
“Why?” She whimpered.
“Because I want everything from you.” His lips skimmed her ribs, found her belly, and lingered in the hollow of her navel.
Okay, then. Bella sucked in her breath against the wet heat of his mouth. She shifted her thighs together, trying to alleviate the building pressure.
Releasing her wrists, he hooked his thumbs in her waistband and tugged her yoga pants down her legs. Her panties followed.
Nate stood and stared. “Look at you, baby.” He parted her knees and slid his palms up the inside of her legs.
With a tug, his shirt came over his head and sailed across the room.
Never mind look at her. Look at him. Damn, he was beautifully put together. Muscle bunched across his shoulders and chest. His pecs stood proud over a hand-on-her-heart eight-pack he had going on. Bella’s mouth watered. She rolled toward him and crawled forward, desperate to get her mouth on that.
His skin tasted slightly salty on her tongue. She skimmed her teeth across his muscle.
Nate dropped his head back and groaned. Beneath her mouth, his abs contracted into a sharp ladder.
Bella grabbed his belt and unbuckled it. She tugged his pants open and slid her hands inside.
Yes, Nate was going commando again. She wrapped her hand around his cock. It jumped in her hand, silky smooth and hard and so hot it tingled against her palm.
Impatiently, she pushed his pants down.
“What are you doing, baby?”
She thought that was rather obvious. Bella took him in her mouth and sucked him deep.
Nate gripped her head, fingers pressing into her scalp.
She flattened her tongue along the underside of his cock and dragged it all the way to the tip.
His eyes bored into her, hot enough to incinerate.
He tasted salty on the top. Gripping the base of his shaft, she slid him back into her mouth. Dear God, she enjoyed doing this to him.
The inarticulate sounds coming from Nate encouraged her further. He wanted her to slow down, and she did. Working him in and out of her mouth, cupping his heavy balls, sucking him deep. She even added the slightest graze of her teeth.
Nate tugged her head back. “Enough.” He pushed her back. “My turn.”
His lips hit her core with no preliminaries, sending Bella arching off the bed. He ate her as if he couldn’t get enough of her. She was primed and ready to go. So horny already that she could barely stand it.
Nate worked his fingers inside her. His mouth found her clit and sucked.
Bella’s orgasm slammed into her. It seemed to go on and on.
He crawled up, laying heavy on her. “Do you even know what slow means?”
“Maybe.” Bella couldn’t help it; she felt so damn good that she laughed.
Nate kissed the corners of her smile. He nibbled her lips with his.
Against her thigh, his cock pressed hot and hard. It reminded her that they weren’t finished here. Nate had more to give her and she wanted to collect.
He slid his tongue into her mouth, sharing the taste of her.
Bella sank into the kiss, letting it take her with it on a lazy swirl of sensation that settled between her thighs. She reveled in the heat and strength of his body on hers. Opening her thighs, she let his slim hips slide between. She gripped his ass and pressed him against her.
Damn, he was so hard. It was a turn-on all by itself.
His chest rubbed her sensitive nipples. It felt even better when she undulated against him. Now she felt content to play. To relish in how good he felt on her, sink her teeth into the swell of his deltoid, dig her fingers into his ass.
Nate snatched a condom from the bedside table and separated from her to put it on.
Then he was at her entrance, pushing his cock’s blunt head into her, stretching her around him. He went slow, letting her feel every part of him until he was fully sheathed in her.
Bella wrapped her thighs around his hips. She wanted to pull him as close to her as she could get him.
He moved in slow, sure, deep thrusts that drove her into the bed. Rising up on his elbows, he watched her. Their eyes met and locked.
Bella held on to his forearms as he drove them forward.
The gentle slap of skin hitting skin filled the room. She felt him driving inside her. He held her with a loaded intensity in his gaze.
It was almost too much at once. All her senses latched on to him. Only him and her in the vortex they created together.
Their skin grew slick. Their breath came in short rasps, soft moans.
Nate’s orgasm built in the tightening of his jaw, the blaze of his eyes. For once his face was an open book, allowing her deep inside him, to that secret place she had sensed but never seen. His thrusts deepened, filling her completely.
Bella felt the finish begin in her core, spread hot through her belly in a slow, steady wave until she vibrated with it.
She watched Nate drop over the edge with her. Their eyes never lost their connection. In that moment she was his and he was hers.
Tears prickled beneath her lids and forced Bella to close her eyes. The intensity shook her. It was as if she had caught an agonizing glimpse of his soul.
He pressed his forehead to hers, giving her his full weight. Her name came out of him in a gentle sigh. “Bella.”
She wrapped her legs and arms around him and held on.
Cooling as fast as the sweat covering their bodies, already the moment was slipping away. Bella wanted it back, so desperately it left a gaping hole right in the middle of her.
She almost cried when he rolled to her side.
He kissed her forehead and tucked her head onto his shoulder.
Beneath her palm, his belly rose and fell as his breathing returned to normal.
He tightened his arms around her. “Bella.”