Tess
THE LOBBY IS luxurious, the elevator equally so, with lots of stainless steel and dark wood, it catches your eye. The light inside the car is dim, and makes everything look softer than it really is. The door closes, and Nick backs me up against the mirrored wall. I can see myself in the ceiling and over his shoulder.
“Did you get my text?” he asks, looking down at me.
I shake my head. “I haven’t looked at my phone since I left my apartment to meet Fiona. What does it say?”
“Read it,” he says, and then drops his mouth to my neck.
I could argue and tell him it would be faster if just told me, but instead I play along and pull my phone from my tiny purse.
His hands are now roaming my body, never lingering in one spot for too long.
Glancing down, I open the text and read it aloud, “I have something for you.”
Nick grins against my skin and then stands straight where he proceeds to pull an envelope from his coat pocket.
“What is it?
“Open it and find out.”
I eye it suspiciously. Shake it. Turn it upside. “Can’t be another box of lubricant.”
Nick pinches my side. “Very funny.”
I giggle a little, and then run my fingers under the sealed flap. I peer inside to see folded sheets of paper. Just then the door opens to Nick’s place. I step out of the elevator at the same I pull the papers out.
There are two sheets, stapled. I move to the center of the foyer and stand beneath the crystal chandelier. I scan the first page. It is a bunch of numbers indicating his cholesterol level, weight, BMI, and blood type. These are test results from a physical.
Confused, I glance over to the edge of the stairs where Nick has already stepped down and turned toward me with his hands in his pockets. “You appear to be in very good health. Do you want me to be your baby momma or something?”
His eyes flip up. “You’re quite the comedian tonight. Try turning the page,” he directs me.
My eyes widen and a tiny gasp of surprise eeks out of me. “Oh,” I say as I read the labels beside the test results on this page. “Gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV. All negative.”
“I thought it would make you feel better.”
I reach back and take one shoe off. “About what?”
“Us.”
I take the other shoe off and set them both down. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
But I do.
For the second time tonight, I watch the arrogant, confident man, struggle to find the right words. This time though, it really is funny. “Tess, I never asked if you were on the pill or some method of birth control.”
I drop my jacket to the ground and slink toward him with the papers still in hand. “You want to stop using condoms.”
He shrugs. “Well . . . yeah.”
I stop at the edge of the step, but don’t step down, this way I can remain taller than him. “As a matter of fact,” I tell him, cocking my hip, “I’m on the pill.”
He grins. “Good.”
“Not good,” I say, holding up the papers. “These results need to be discussed.”
His smile fades.
“Look at your BMI, it’s much lower than mine, something needs to be done about that, and your cholesterol is way too low. Oh, and don’t even get me started on your weight—” I can’t go on, because I’m laughing so hard.
Nick grabs me and hauls me over his shoulder, lightly tapping my bottom as he strides across the living room. “You are seriously going to pay for that, woman.”
I wiggle and giggle all the way to the table just outside his bedroom, where he flops me down on top of it to empty his wallet and keys from his pocket.
While he does that, I set the papers down and strip my top off and then make a move for his belt.
His eyes flare with heat. “What are you doing?”
I push his jacket off. “That should be pretty obvious. Getting you naked.”
He shakes his head.
I furrow my brows. “No?”
“No.”
Unwilling to accept no for an answer, I pull him in-between my legs to get at his mouth, where I punctuate every kiss with my plea. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me . . .”
Nick breaks the kiss and steps back.
“What?” I tease. “You don’t want to fuck me right here?”
With one of those infuriating nods, he walks into the bedroom leaving me sitting on the table in my sexy new bra, all alone.
I hop down and race into his room about ready to let him have it, when I come to a screeching halt. The room is dimly lit, soft music is playing, and rose petals are strewn in a path from the door to the bed. Tears well in the corners of my eyes and I can’t stop them from falling. “This is beautiful. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before.”
“Good,” Nick says as he leans down, wiping my tears away. “What I want,” Nick says slowly, “is not to fuck you, but to make love to you. All night long.”
And if I thought just hours ago that I was falling in love with him, I now know for sure—I’ve already fallen. He is many things, but with me he is adorable and charming, and the breath leaves my lungs when I think about not being with him.
I nod. “I want that too.”
In a heartbeat, he fuses his hot mouth over mine. Our tongues meet and slide sensuously over one another. Rough then soft.
Hot.
Wet.
Electric.
I brace my palms on his shoulders and then slide them up to his neck. This way I’m able to pull him lower. To get in his mouth. To taste him.
Slowly, we strip each other naked, and then we fall to the bed in a tangle of arms of legs and mouths.
Nick kisses me. My mouth, chin, jaw, throat. He moves his mouth over my breasts, taking his time with each one. Moves down to my rib cage, over my belly, and then back to my mouth, where he pulls back. “Tess,” he whispers.
I look up at him. “Yes,” I say a little breathless.
“You’re doing something to me that scares the shit out of me. You’re making me feel things I never have, think things I never thought I would in a million years, and there are times I want to run as far away from you as I can, but then not having you with me scares me even more.”
It’s called love, I think to myself, but don’t say it out loud. Instead I palm his face and bring him closer to me. “I’m here, Nick. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll take things slow. Day by day. And see what happens,” I reassure him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The uncertainty in his eyes seems to clear, and he gives me a nod before he covers my body with his.
He shivers a little on his first thrust, and it both charms and thrills me at the same time.
We move like we are made for each other, taking the longest time we’ve taken to reach climax. When we are both there, I wrap my arms and legs around him and hold him tight.
I never want to let go.
Nick nuzzles his face against my neck and shudders against me. Falling beside me, Nick pulls me to him.
“Nick,” I murmur.
He makes a sleepy mumble. “Hmmm?”
“Do you think everything in life happens for a reason?”
He kisses the top of my head. “I think everything in life happens, and we deal or we don’t.”
“So, is that a yes or a no?”
“I guess if you want a definitive answer, I’d have to say yes.”
I close my eyes. “Good, because I think so too.”
Yes, everything happens for a reason.
Especially us.