14. Nick
14
NICK
I kept my hands on the wheel after the confession. Scarlett had kept this from me for the past two weeks knowing my reaction would be harsh, but she had no idea the warning bells going off in my head. I was livid, and my mind was racing with questions and assumptions, but I took a deep breath. Today was Scarlett's birthday, and just because Marjorie Whitman was on the prowl again didn't mean I had to let her get under my skin.
"She what?" I asked again, blinking the red from my vision.
"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I knew you'd be upset about it. I know you've been through so much." Scarlett touched my arm and tried to comfort my heart, but knowing Whitman was nosing around Scarlett angered me. The fact that she hid it from me until the first week of March also annoyed me, but she thought she was doing the right thing.
"Well, don't worry about her at all. I'll make her go away. I already have a restraining order on her. I'll just see if we can extend that to you too." I pressed my lips into a line and focused on the road. We'd had a nice dinner, chatting about our future and where we saw ourselves. We'd officially been dating for two and a half months and I wanted this night to be special for her. Not every day could be as special as a birthday, and this was Scarlett's first birthday with me.
I had to push away the thought of packing up and moving. Marjorie's reappearance in my life had opened old wounds and made me want to move away. But I had more reasons to stay here now. Scarlett and Ethan were two bright, shining stars on my horizon, and I couldn't just give them up because I got nervous about what people would say about me.
"Let's just go to your place and I'll make you some coffee," she told me and I nodded.
I sensed that she was tense too, but I didn't ask why. It wasn't that I was too selfish or hung up in my own mind; it was that I didn't want to dwell on negative things. I'd spent too much of the past decade locked in a mental battle. I couldn't stay in my head in that dark place, and I didn't want to keep Scarlett locked there either. She deserved better.
We pulled up at my house and I parked on the drive. She followed me inside, but I was brooding and sulking. I went straight for the liquor cabinet after I hung up my coat, and Scarlett met me there, laying a hand on my wrist gently.
"Can we try something else to help you calm down?" she asked, and I stopped and set the bottle of whiskey down.
I met her gaze and sighed. "I just want a future with you, Scarlett, and I know how bad things get when that reporter gets involved."
"There's no scandal right now, Nick…" Her thumb brushed over the back of my hand.
"But if she stirs up trouble, you'll run. I can't lose you. We've gotten so close over the past few months. I'm falling for you so hard, and I don't want her to ruin that." Storm clouds gathered in her eyes, but she took my hand and placed it on her hip.
"And I'm telling you, Marjorie Whitman isn't going to be the one who breaks us up. If we fail, it will be because we aren't compatible…" The truth in her eyes said she was thinking something different, but she was trying so hard to help me. I couldn't just push that away.
"You never called me because of that scandal. What if something flares up again?" My chest felt tighter than a piano string, and Scarlett cupped my cheek.
"You're being a fool, Nicholas Edwards. Now, are you going to kiss me or not? It's my birthday." Her soft reminder made me feel like an idiot. I was letting my insecurity get in the way of this moment. Marjorie was having an effect on me already and I was pushing Scarlett away. I hated that.
I leaned down and brushed my lips over hers and she kissed me back with a surprising intensity. There was hunger in her response to me that I knew was emotionally driven. She was either teetering on the edge of some negative thinking herself, or she was really horny. Either way, when she poured herself into sex like this, I knew it was a deep emotional connection that she needed. We'd spent enough time together for me to learn to read her.
I gripped her hips, backing her slowly toward the hall. She wrapped her arms around my neck and sank her nails into my nape, pulling me down to her. We were a tangled mess of aching lips and soft moans as we stumbled towards my room. The door slammed shut behind us, leaving the gossip mongers to their own devices. I didn't care what they thought anymore. All I cared about was Scarlett, and how much I needed her. I'd made it through things once, and if she stuck by my side, we'd make it through again. I just hoped it didn't destroy her.
"Now, what sort of birthday gift should I give a woman who has captured my heart?" I asked between kisses and she was already peeling her shirt off over her head.
"I have a few ideas in mind," she purred, backing me onto the bed before straddling my hips. "And none of them involve clothes." She was greedy, pawing at my buttons, yanking my zipper. I kneaded her tits through the silky fabric of her bra, pearling her nipples and then tearing off the bra. Scarlett managed to get us both naked from the waist up before I rolled her over and pulled her slacks off, along with her panties.
"I love when you're so feisty," I growled, plunging two fingers inside her drenched core. She was hot and wet, juices coating my fingers as I teased her clit. While I fingered her, I worked my pants off and let them fall to the ground. My boxers were next, though I had to back away and use both hands to remove them. My mouth claimed what my fingers had started, and she mewled in enjoyment as I lapped at her throbbing core.
"God, Nick," she moaned, arching her back as I teased her. "I've been waiting all day for this."
"Really?" I purred against her hot skin, diving two fingers into her depths again. "Well, I've had something else in mind all day too." I added a third finger, pumping them inside her as she gasped.
"What's that?" she panted.
I looked up at her, my hand still buried inside her, and grinned wolfishly. "A birthday spanking of course." Without asking, I gripped her hips and rolled her over, then hoisted her up to her knees. Her face remained pressed against the comforter, but with her hips in the air she was on full display. I brought my hand down playfully on her butt cheek to the delight of my ears. The smacking sound made my cock twitch, and it made her moan.
"You want me from behind?" she purred, and she reached back and spread herself wide. I couldn't help but drop to my knees and lick her from hole to hole. Her juices were thick and sticky, coating my face, and teasing me. My dick pulsed with desire.
"I want you every which way I can, Scarlett," I growled, standing again and guiding myself inside her. "But this will do for now." I thrust into her, no preamble, no slow rocking, just a hard pounding that had moans ripping from both of us. Her nails dug into the comforter as she arched her back, taking all I could give her.
"Oh…yes…" Her pleasure moans were pushing my buttons and I closed my eyes to enjoy it. Over the past few months I'd built up some stamina again, and tonight she would experience everything I had to offer.
"Touch yourself," I growled, and she whimpered but obeyed.
"Oh, Nick," she moaned, and that was all the encouragement I needed. I grabbed her hips and pounded her harder, needing to feel her come apart around me. She was so wet, so hot, and I was an animal unleashing all my stress in ways that drove her wild.
"Nick!" she screamed, stiffening beneath me as her inner muscles contracted around my cock. It was almost too good. I almost went right there, but I slowed my thrusts and controlled myself as she spasmed and convulsed. When she calmed, I was able to go longer.
"Mmm, that was amazing," she said, and I felt her fingertips brush my balls. She was still rubbing her clit.
"Want to feel more amazing?" I asked her, eyeing her other hole.
"God yes," she mewled, but she wasn't quite ready for the shock of what I did next. I sucked two of my fingers, moistening them, and touched the tight hot hole I stared at. "Oh God…yeah?" she panted, and I didn't even answer. I pushed both fingers in as I started thrusting faster again.
Scarlett grunted and whined, and my cock jumped. It was feeling as good for her as it was for me, and while I knew I could last a bit longer, this added bit of fun was pushing me to my limit. I started thrusting my fingers in the opposite rhythm to my dick, and I had her whimpering and pleading to come again.
I thrust inside her as far as I could reach, pulled back and did it again, and again, until I couldn't hold out any longer. My orgasm was a long time coming, but when it did, it blinded me. Spurts of cum coated Scarlett's insides as her name left my lips on a groan. Her pussy milked me as a second orgasm struck her, and when we were finished, we collapsed into a mess of limbs and sweat and kisses.
I held her as she caught her breath, and all I could think about was life with her. I wanted more of this. More love than I'd ever had, more peace in a relationship…more children. I wanted everything with Scarlett, and I felt like that was where this was going. We had only dated for ten weeks or so, but I was a decisive man. And at my age, I couldn't just sit around waiting for life to happen to me. I had to take the bull by the horns and take action.
"You are incredible," I told her, and she smiled softly. Her early dark emotions and apprehension were gone now, soothed away by the kiss of intimacy.
"Happy Birthday to me!" she mewled and I chuckled.
"I'm so ready to have a life with you, Scarlett…Have you ever thought about having more children? Because I want to have a huge family." I was smiling, but the wash of dread or fear, or maybe anger, coated her irises, pulling her away from me again.
"I, uh…" She sat up and cleared her throat. "I'm not feeling very well," she blurted out and before I could protest, she was off the bed headed toward my bathroom.
I sat up and looked down at the puddle on the bed from our sex, then up at the closed bathroom door where she had just vanished. My heart sank at her response. I knew we'd had a bit of a dicey conversation at the end of dinner all the way until we got here, but before that we'd been connecting. I thought we were on the same page, but maybe I was moving too fast. Whatever it was, Scarlett either didn't want to have more children, or she was having second thoughts about dating me at all.
Now I feared I had pushed her over the edge entirely. Why did I have to open my dumb mouth?