Three months.

Nick had to be insane, showing up on her doorstep after three months of silence. But Lexi had haunted him, and he couldn’t get rid of her. Seeing her face everywhere, as the newest author of Simonson Publishing, had made that nearly impossible.

He was hoping that saying goodbye, in person, would give him the closure he needed to move on.

With a deep breath, he raised his hand and knocked on her front door.

“One minute!” Her voice filtered through the open window next to the door. “I need to finish this paragraph.”

He smiled as he heard the fast tap of fingers on a keyboard, and his smile widened when she cursed. Just hearing her voice again lifted the weight that had been pressing on his heart. And he understood that he hadn’t come here to say goodbye.

After a few more taps, he heard her pad toward the door, and braced himself for his first look.

Lexi stared at him, her blue eyes wide. Then she let out another curse and started to close the door.

Nick caught the edge. “Lexi—”

“Not a word, for three months, and you expect me to be happy to see you?” She backed away from him when he stepped over the threshold. “Get out, Standish. I can’t go through getting over you—” She cut herself off and stomped across what he saw was a pretty living room.

“Please, Lexi. Give me a chance to explain. If you want me to leave after I’ve had my say, I’ll go. No argument.”

When she turned around, her arms were crossed, displaying her perfect breasts. She wore a simple, button down white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. He never thought a white shirt could be so incredibly sexy, until now.

“Talk,” she said. “I have work to do.”

Nick sensed that she wanted to keep distance between them. He closed the door, and moved to the end of the long, blue sofa that stood between them.

“You risked your life for me, Lexi. I never got the chance to thank you for that, so, thank you.” He ran one hand through his hair, unnerved by her silence. Lexi Granger did not do silence. “Meeting you turned my world sideways. I don’t trust easily, but I trusted you. And I don’t seduce women I’ve known less than two days, no matter what Cooper might have told you.”

“He didn’t—” She cut herself off, and shook her head. “Keep going.”

Her almost-response encouraged him.

“I wasn’t ready for you, Lexi. I have the feeling you could say the same about me. We don’t always choose when and who we fall in love with, but there it is.” He moved to her, slowly, giving her every chance to escape. She stared at him, lowering her arms, her mouth open. “I’m saying I love you, Lexi Granger. I’m saying it out loud, and I’m not taking it back.”

God help him, he didn’t plan to tell her. But his heart overrode his mind, and blurted it out before he could stop himself.

“I hate you, Nick Standish.” She stalked over to him, and smacked his chest with her fist. “I hate you for making me care about you, for not being able to get over you no matter how I tried.” She hit him again. “I especially hate you for stealing my heart.”

“Lex—”

“Shut up.” She twisted her hand into the front of his shirt. “I’m not done.”

He bit back a smile. “Okay.”

“How’s your side?”

“Good. It was a through and through, so there wasn’t much—”

Her fist slammed into his gut, knocking the breath out of him. He would have been impressed, if he hadn’t been busy trying to stay upright. And breathe.

“Now, we’re even.” She stood back, and waited for him to recover. When he took in his first real breath, she twisted her hands together. “Why did it take you so long, Nick?”

“The way I feel about you terrifies me, Lexi.”

“We could have been terrified together.” She stepped closer, almost in touching distance. “But you didn’t believe in me enough.”

“No.” He gave in and touched her, closing his hand over hers. “I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t deserve you when we met, Lex, and I don’t deserve you now. But I’d like to find out if you can take me as I am.”

“I’m not going back to New York.”

He smiled. “I don’t live there anymore.” He pulled her in, waiting for her to jerk free. She didn’t, so he brushed hair off her cheek. She’d let it grow out, and the longer length waved around her face. “I found an incredibly mundane position with the local police department. I may die from the boredom of writing out parking tickets, but it beats getting shot at.”

“You live—here.”

“Yeah.” He tilted her chin up, and leaned in until only an inch separated his lips from hers. “Fresh start.”

“Liar.” A smile tugged at her lips. “You’re stalking me.”

“Maybe.” He let go of her hand and slipped his arm around her waist. “Maybe I just like the ocean.”

She snorted, and he let out a laugh, right before he kissed her.

Lexi nearly wrapped herself around him, opening her mouth under his. Nick hauled her up, keeping one eye open as he headed for the sofa. When he sat, she straddled him, rocking into his hard, throbbing cock.

“Shit—Lexi—”

“Shut up and kiss me, Standish.” She smiled, moving against him in a slow, arousing rhythm that had him fighting to think straight. “You have a lot of time to make up.”

He dove in, both hands cupping her fine ass. She gasped, and deepened the kiss. Even between two pairs of jeans, he could feel her, feel the need to bury himself inside her.

“Lex—” He met her eyes. “I want to make love to you.”

“Yes, Nick.” Desire flushed her skin. “God, yes.”

He picked her up and carried her to the door, locking it before he pinned her to the wall, kissing his way up her throat. Lexi wrapped her legs around him, her head back, giving his better access to her throat. When he reached down to unzip his jeans, he stopped as realization slammed into him.

“I don’t have a condom, sweetheart.”

“I’m on the pill, Nick.” She met his eyes. “You’re the first man in almost a year. I can have my doctor email my latest checkup—what?”

He shook his head, smiling at her. “I trust you, Lex. But I need to be sure, because I’m almost to the no stopping now point.”

“Good.” To his shock, she slid her hand over his throbbing length. “I want to feel you inside me, Nick. Skin on skin.”

He groaned, and captured her lips in a hot, fast kiss. With his left hand, he unzipped his jeans, and freed his cock. She braced her hands on his shoulders as he eased back, her grey sweats already pulled down. The fact that she didn’t have underwear on left him throbbing.

“Lex—”

“Love me, Nick.”

He swallowed, and pressed himself inside her.

It had been years since he’d loved a woman like this, without a barrier between them. When Lexi arched up, Nick braced his free hand on the wall and drove into her.

He smothered her cry with his lips, his tongue sliding over hers as he stroked her, hard, fast. She met every thrust, her body tightening around him, driving him closer to the edge. There wasn’t time for seducing, or touching—all his focus was on how she felt, hot and slick, her kiss as desperate.

With a low groan, he dug his fingers into her shapely ass and loved her.

 

***

 

Lexi fought to breathe as Nick made love to her.

It wasn’t sex. He may have her pinned to the wall, both of them still dressed, but he loved her like they were on silk sheets, surrounded by candles.

No man had ever slipped inside her like this, without a condom, so open and trusting. Nick was the last man she expected to say yes to her. Now, his tongue warred with hers, his hard, thick cock so hot and smooth as he thrust into her. She wanted this to last, wanted to feel him inside her like this for hours.

He freed her lips, his breathing as ragged as hers.

“Perfect,” he muttered. “God, you are perfect.”

He kissed his way up her throat, capturing her lips again, just before he slowed the pace. She moaned, needing to move faster, harder. Instead, he pulled out of her. She let out a muffled protest—and her gasp cut her off when he slipped back in, stopping halfway.

He braced one hand on the wall, and eased back, meeting her eyes.

“I need you to be sure, sweetheart. I won’t be able to pull out.”

She answered him by arching her hips up and taking him in deeper.

He groaned, spread one hand across her back, and drove himself into her.

She held on, reveling at the feel of him inside her.

He kept up the slow, agonizing tempo—too slow for her liking. She dug her hand into his hip and pushed off the wall, trying to speed him up.

“No need—to rush.” He sucked in his breath when she swiveled her hips. “Good God, Lexi.”

“Nick—” She tilted her hips, wanting to feel more of him.

“So beautiful,” he murmured, slowly driving her to the edge with his lips, his tongue, his hard length. “God, Lex—”

She could feel herself rushing toward climax, helpless to slow it down. When Nick pulled her in, he changed the angle of entry, rubbing against her clit with every thrust. She jerked against him, gasping as he moved faster, so hard now she knew he was close.

She wanted to hold on, to climax with him, but he slipped his hand down and found her clit. Her body arched up, and she lost control.

He thrust faster, and let out a low growl right before he climaxed.

They rode it out together, Lexi rocking against his hand. She gasped when he slipped one finger inside her, triggering another orgasm. He captured her lips, his thrusts matching the rhythm of his tongue, his finger, and she held on, every inch shuddering at the assault.

Finally, she relaxed, and lowered her head to Nick’s shoulder. He kissed the top of her head before he gently pulled out of her, and carried her to the sofa. She was grateful, because she was pretty sure she couldn’t walk right now.

After he set her down, he turned around, and she heard his jeans zip. She took the time to pull up her sweats, not surprised to find her shirt unbuttoned to the waist. When he faced her again, he looked less tense, a little flushed, and more than a little sweaty.

God, she loved him.

“Sit down, Nick.”

He sank down next to her and kissed her cheek.

“Always surprising, Lexi Granger.” He smiled when she looked at him, frowning. “With your descriptions of Lance, I figured that you were—ˮ

“Boring? Plain Jane?”

“Will you punch me again if I say yes?”

She laughed, shaking her head. “You’re right about Lance. The missionary position was the only one that existed, as far as he was concerned. I have been with other men, some quite adventurous.”

“Good.” He cupped her chin, and kissed her until she couldn’t see straight. “I love adventure.”

Lexi felt the embarrassing flush heat her face, and tried to distract him. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” He let go of her. “Do you have a stash drawer?”

She burst out laughing. “I do.”

He pulled her up, and let her lead the way to her office. It faced the ocean, and because she sat on a rise, over the houses in front of her, she had a perfect view of the coast. Every night, she watched the sun set, each one glorious, each one different.

Her desk had been a flea market find—huge, with a wide keyboard tray and deep drawers. She let Nick find the stash, watching the smile spread across his face as he rummaged through it.

“Peanut butter crackers?” He held up a package.

“Yes, thank you.”

She caught the crackers when he tossed them, and grabbed two bottles of water out of the mini fridge she’d had installed. After handing one to him, she sat in her comfy recliner and dug in. Loving him had worked up an appetite.

He drank half the bottle in one go, then unwrapped a super-size chocolate bar, humming as he ate it.

They replenished their strength, and Lexi enjoyed the silence, like she had at camp. So much in her life had changed, but Nick was familiar, and she had missed him, with an ache that would never quite go away.

Not that she would ever tell him that. Well, maybe someday.

Once she was full of peanut butter crackers and mini pretzels, she stood.

“Did you want to go sit out in the living room?”

“I’d rather lie down, in bed.” He held out his hand. “With you.”

Her heart pounded as she took his hand and let him pull her out of the office. No man had been inside her bedroom, not in this house. She had bought it days after signing her contract with Simonson, using some of the generous advance as a down payment.

Nick found his way to the master bedroom, and let go of her hand to pull down the blue patchwork comforter, then the crisp white sheets. She swallowed when he turned around, nervous. They were about to make love in a bed, like a legitimate couple, with all their clothes off.

She needed a shower first. A shower, with him.

“Nick.”

“Hmm?” All his focus was on her shirt as he slowly finished unbuttoning it. “Holy shit,” he whispered.

She had been in comfort mode when he showed up—no bra, loose sweats, no thong or clingy underwear to adjust when she was in the middle of an intense scene.

He slid the shirt off her shoulders, down her arms, leaving her bare. For the first time, he saw her, naked.

“God, Lex.” He slid his hands up, agonizingly slow, before he finally closed them over her breasts. “You are so beautiful.”

She grabbed his shirt, her knees threatening to buckle as he teased her nipples.

“Nick—oh, God—”

His lips cut her off.

She moaned when his hands started moving again, gripping the waistband of her sweats and sliding them down over her hips. He caught her around the waist and lifted her, and she felt her sweats fall, leaving her completely naked.

After he set her back on the floor, her hands found his waistband. She unbuttoned his jeans, and slid the zipper down, her knuckles brushing his hard length. He gasped, and freed her lips.

“Let me do that,” he whispered.

“I want to take a shower, Nick.”

He looked disappointed. “Okay. I can—”

“With you.”

She let out a shriek when he picked her up and practically ran to the bathroom. “Put me down,” she said. “The shower is fidgety, and I don’t want to wait while you try to figure it out.”

He stepped aside with a flourish. “Ma’am.”

Lexi smiled at him, and leaned into the shower, reaching in to twist the handle. Her smile widened when she heard Nick growl behind her. His fingers brushed her bare ass, and she shivered.

Once the water was flowing, and heating up, she turned around, her own body heating up. He had stripped down and stood in the middle of her bathroom, gloriously naked. Before she started drooling, Lexi stepped under the spray, not surprised when he joined her a second later.

His hands slid down her waist, curving around her hips. She felt his already hard cock poking her, and she knew they wouldn’t make it to the bed.

“Sit with me, sweetheart.” He adjusted the showerhead, aiming it at the deep bench that ran along the back of the shower.

That had been one of the selling points of the house, along with the beautiful pine floors, and the huge kitchen…

Her thought faded when he lifted her, until she knelt on the bench, straddling his legs, her back to him. She had never—she didn’t think she could—

“Nick—I’ve never—ˮ

“Take it slow, and let me guide you down.”

He held her waist with one hand, and eased her back. She gasped when he pressed into her, at an angle she’d never felt before, and she opened herself, let him slowly fill her, until she sat in his lap.

Nick kissed her throat, his deep voice raw. “Okay, Lex?”

“Perfect,” she whispered.

He found her clit with one hand, and she jerked when he started stroking her. The shower spray teased her nipples, and all the different sensations bombarded her. Then Nick wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed his lips against her ear.

“Move for me, sweetheart.”

She did, sliding up his hard length, then back down. The thrill of being in control was heady, and she set the pace, letting her head fall back as she sank down on him.

His hands replaced the shower spray on her breasts. She arched into his touch, matching the speed of his thumbs brushing over her nipples.

“Shit—Lex—I need to touch you. All of you.”

“Bed?”

He kissed her throat. “Bed.”

She eased off him, both of them moaning, and he helped her stand. He paused long enough to turn off the shower, taking the towel she handed him. She had never dried off so fast.

Nick traced one hand down her still damp back, and she gasped, turning to face him. The sight of him shot heat through her.

He had been scarred by life, by the profession he had chosen. The new scar on his left side reminded her that she had almost lost him.

“Nick.”

He followed her gaze down to his left side. “I’m fine, Lex. As long as I don’t try fighting super villains, I’ll be good.”

“Hilarious.” She relaxed as they fell into their banter. She had almost forgotten how much she enjoyed sparring with him.

He turned away from her and laid their towels on the chair, giving her an excellent view of his truly fine ass. God, she wanted him—in her bed, in her life. She wanted him for good.

Nick slid under the covers and stretched out on his right side. Lexi joined him, and he smiled, not touching her. She desperately wanted him to touch her.

Instead of waiting for him, she reached out, trailing her fingers down his muscled chest, stopping long enough to brush her thumb over his nipple. He jerked, but he didn’t move, just let her touch him.

She explored what she had only skimmed before, leaning in to kiss every bullet scar on his shoulder, his throat. When she kissed her way down to his left side, he finally stopped her.

“Lex. Shit—I can’t wait any longer.”

“I’ve been waiting for you, Standish.”

With the growl she loved, he pushed her to her back and straddled her, his cock sliding between her legs. She arched up, reaching for him, wanting him inside her again. He guided her hand to him, and she closed her fingers around his hot, thick length.

“Lex—” He lowered his head, watched her as she stroked him. Then he eased inside her, letting out a ragged breath. “You feel so good.”

She opened herself to him, tilting her hips to take him in deeper. By the time he finally filled her, both of them were gasping.

“Nick—I need to move.”

“I won’t stop you.”

Lexi grabbed his arm and rolled until they both lay on their sides. She wanted some of the control she had in the shower. Now, she could move, set the pace, and she did, riding him slowly, her leg hooked over his left hip. By the third stroke, he had his hands on her, driving himself in deep.

Her head fell back as he loved her. She let out a raw gasp when he changed the angle, his cock rubbing against her clit every time he entered her. His mouth found her breast, his tongue and teeth scraping over her nipple, driving her higher.

The feel of him, so hot, so slick, had her arching against him, needing to move faster. He rolled her on her back, and she let out a cry as his weight drove him deeper.

“Lex,” he whispered, kissing his way up to her lips. “I love you, Lexi Granger.”

“I love you back, Nick Standish.”

A smile curved those beautiful lips, and he leaned down. “Hold on to something, sweetheart.”

She reached back and grabbed the wrought iron headboard, glad that it was solid. Nick barely gave her time to close her fingers over the posts before he thrust into her.

He set an excruciatingly slow pace, driving her to the edge before he backed off, only to do it again. When she finally lost control, Nick went with her.

They held on to each other, fighting for breath. Lexi was sweaty, exhausted, and felt like she had been thoroughly loved.

Nick kissed her temple. “Penny for your thoughts, mystery writer.”

She smiled. “I’ve never felt so relaxed.”

His chuckle rumbled through her. “Glad I could be of assistance, ma’am.”

She reached up and cradled his cheek. Like the heroine in her book, she was about to get her own happy ending.

She couldn’t imagine living out that ending with anyone else.

 

~ * ~

 

Thank you for sharing Lexi and Nick’s camp adventure!

 

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