Chapter 12 Nico
NICO
Ican’t tell if I’m in heaven or hell right now.
She’s wearing a towel and nothing else, and she did nothing to stop it from parting when she lay down.
There’s a strip of her torso exposed, from between her breasts, down her stomach, her belly button.
I’m desperate to pounce on her, to run my tongue down it, tasting every inch of her.
This is exactly why I’ve been avoiding her since I got off the phone this morning.
I can’t look at her without wanting to touch her.
It’s not just in the sense that I spent the whole morning wanting to tear her clothes off.
I wanted her to snuggle into me while she drank her tea and picked at the toast I made her.
I wanted to walk up behind her when she was rinsing her cup and wrap my arms around her, holding her tight to my chest. I wanted to drop to my knees and tie her boot laces for her when she ran out to her car to get something she left in the trunk.
And yeah, I wanted to tear her clothes off.
She wore pants this morning, and I discovered that her bare legs were never the problem.
I am. Because I want her just as much when she’s wearing sweatpants as I do when she’s wearing tiny shorts with the express purpose of tempting me.
I’ve never felt like this about anyone. I’m completely out of my depth here.
Este is looking at me, and I realize I’ve missed something.
“Huh?”
She laughs softly. “I said: What are you reading?”
Shit. I considered telling her last night, before we drifted off, that I’d been reading some of the books I spotted on her Kindle. But we fell asleep, and I couldn’t exactly mention it while avoiding her this morning. “It’s a long story,” I say.
She shifts so one half of the towel completely falls away. Fuck. “We’re stuck here, Nico. We have nothing but time.”
I know she means we have nothing but time to talk, but her voice goes straight to my damn cock, and I know she sees how it twitches.
I should’ve covered up the second she spoke, but I was so stunned that it didn’t occur to me until she was lying so close, and, by that point, it would’ve been awkward.
“Do you remember the night you had the nightmare, and you slept on the couch?” I ask, and she nods. “I picked up your Kindle to put it on the table, and I was curious what you were reading.”
A rosy flush spreads over her cheeks and down her chest. “I don’t remember what I was reading that night.”
“His to Take,” I remind her, and her eyes widen.
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah.” I chuckle, rubbing my jaw. “I wasn’t expecting you to be reading that.
But I ended up at the beginning, and… Well, I wasn’t expecting to like it, either.
I read up to the part you were at, then downloaded the app on my iPad and finished it there.
I’ve been reading the rest of the series since. ”
Este opens and closes her mouth several times before speaking. “I knew my pages got messed up. Damn. Why didn’t you say something?”
“You have no idea how hard I’ve been trying not to cross the line,” I say, and she snorts. “But I guess we’re past that now.”
“Probably. So, you like them?” I nod, and she hums. “Which one are you reading now?”
I’m running through the series so quickly that I haven’t really been paying attention to the names.
I pick up her Kindle. “His to Own.” Though the characters, plots, and kinks differ, the series follows a pattern: some kind of forbidden relationship, with a headstrong woman who wants to be submissive in bed, and a dominant man who wants her but fights his feelings. The irony isn’t lost on me.
“That’s a good one.” I make a noncommittal sound because yeah, it is. Clearly, I was enjoying it, and she knows that. “What part are you at?”
I think she must be joking at first, but she looks dead serious. Jesus. Are we really going to talk about this? “They’re in the library.” I don’t mention what they’re doing in the library, but she knows. She’s read it.
Este runs her tongue over her lip, her eyes warm and sparkly. “I’m not sure I remember that part.”
She’s bullshitting me, I’m just not sure why. Maybe if there was a drop of blood left for my brain, I’d be able to figure it out.
“Just over halfway,” I tell her.
She narrows her eyes like she’s pretending to rack her brain. “Will you jog my memory?”
“Uh…”
“Read it to me.”
She has got to be kidding. There’s no way she thinks I would… “Absolutely not,” I say, but she pouts, and my resolve starts to slip.
“Please. It’s been ages since I read it.”
“Your Kindle says otherwise, angel. You read it like six books ago,” I point out, holding the device up.
“Exactly. Six whole books ago. And I love being read to. Pretty please.” She leans back just a touch, but it’s enough to make her towel slip more, leaving her completely uncovered from the waist up.
She’s playing me like a goddamn violin, plucking my strings one by one until I sing for her. Why the hell is that so hot?
Este knows what she wants—me, in some strange, twisted turn of events—and even though I’ve been an asshole all morning, she isn’t shying away from taking it. I can’t give her what she wants. I shouldn’t give her what she wants. But I could read to her. Just read, nothing more.
I turn the Kindle on, swipe back to the start of the chapter, and clear my throat.
“I lean against the bookshelf, my back pressing into the spines, and watch as she approaches. Her cheeks are flushed from our kiss, her hair tangled, and I want to wrap it around my fist and…” I suck in a breath.
It’s so easy to imagine Este, instead of the woman in the book. “And push her down to her knees.
She stops in front of me, and I reach for her, cupping her chin.
‘Do you like pissing me off, Red?’
‘It’s not my fault everything pisses you off.’
She draws her finger up my chest, and I grab her hand, tugging her in close. ‘Careful.’
‘Or what?’ She smirks, her eyes glimmering in the library’s low lights. ‘What are you going to do about it?’
She’s goading me, but I’m powerless to do anything but give in. ‘Get on your knees.’
I could laugh that this is what finally gets her to do as she’s told. She drops to her knees and eagerly tugs my zipper and my pants down. I close my eyes as she closes her lips around—Fuck.”
I almost drop the Kindle on Este’s head when she circles the head of my cock with her tongue. I stare down at her, open-mouthed, and she looks up, batting her eyelashes.
“What?”
“What are you doing?”
“I interrupted you earlier. It feels only fair that I make up for that.”
Jesus Christ. Where the hell did this woman come from?
“Do you want me to stop?” she asks, and I find myself shaking my head without thinking. “Then keep reading.”
This is a terrible idea. I know that. But it doesn’t stop me from picking her Kindle up and clearing my throat.
“I close my eyes as she closes her lips around my cock.”
The words blur on the screen as Este does just that, humming happily as she takes me in her mouth.
Concentrating feels impossible, but any time I slow down or skip over the words, she stops.
I read at a snail’s pace, struggling over every sentence as Este takes me deeper, deeper…
I moan, dropping the Kindle on my chest. As expected, she stops.
Looking down, I meet her raised eyebrow and swallow. “I want to watch. Please.”
I’m not sure I’ve ever sounded so fucking desperate.
Este’s pupils flare, and she reaches for my hand.
At first, I think she’s just trying to hold it, but she sets it on the back of her head.
I’m not sure whether it’s permission to take the reins or a request to.
But when I tighten my fingers around her hair, she groans.
She likes this; I’m slowly putting together the pieces of what drives her as wild as she’s driving me. It’s not enough—I want to know everything—but I’m learning.
I’m gentle, at first, but she urges me on, taking me deeper than I thought possible.
I don’t dream much these days, not happy ones like this, anyway, but that’s what she feels like.
She moans when I nudge the back of her throat, almost melting into me.
It’s like she’s giving herself over fully to me, switching off a little.
I noticed it last night, too, but it’s hard to focus on it when she feels so damn good.
It’s becoming harder and harder to control myself, harder not to tighten my grip and fuck her mouth harder. My whole body is shaking, trembling, blazing hot.
Este looks up at me from between my thighs, her eyes meeting mine, and I lose it.
“Fu-Fuck. Angel, I’m going to—” I manage to finish speaking before I spill between her lips, but Este moans again, swallowing around me.
It feels like she’s pulled me completely outside of my body.
She sits back on her knees, licking her lips, and I should be exhausted, but all I can think about is getting my hands on her.
“Head on the pillow,” I practically growl, watching Este’s breath hitch.
She discards her towel entirely before crawling up the bed, her gaze never straying from mine. I can’t believe I ever thought once would be enough.
But twice has to be, so I’m going to enjoy every second of this.
I settle between her thighs, lifting her legs onto my shoulders, running my nose along her calf. She smells fucking divine, like eucalyptus and lavender, and knowing she was in my bathtub, using my products, goes straight to my head.
Her body is flushed, radiating heat. I want to taste every single one of her freckles, but I’m impatient, and I want to taste her pussy more.
Este’s back bows off the bed when I finally get my mouth on her. Fuck. She tastes unreal. I could spend the rest of my life doing just this and be perfectly content, drawing the prettiest little sounds from her lips, lost in the taste of her.