31. Nate
THIRTY-ONE
NATE
I’ve been craving her something fierce. Our daily messages are better than nothing, but they’re not enough.
But even a lifetime with her would still have me refusing to leave.
Me
Don’t be late. I’m counting down.
I’d timed the message to send when she’d be leaving work and would see it. Satisfaction rolls through me as I see a reply being typed.
MyGirl
You’re like a prickly hedgehog. But I miss you and can’t wait to see you too.
Prickly? What does she mean?
My message said I was counting down the minutes to see her.
Shoving the phone into my shorts pocket, I roll my shoulders, needing to focus back on my workout. Nothing usually distracts me from it this much; it’s usually the opposite. The gym helps me focus, to lose my thoughts.
But with Rosy, my focus is always her.
Her needs are mine now too.
Throwing myself into another set of deadlifts, I ignore the heat inside me burning in anticipation of seeing her. It works somewhat, and I make it through most of the exercises I’d planned.
My muscles protest as I hold the squat for longer than necessary. I feel it, the moment she steps into the room, and as I glance up, our eyes lock. Her head’s held up, not fixed to the floor like it usually is.
And there’s a big fucking smile spread across her face.
She’s happy to see me, and fuck if that doesn’t do something to me. She walks over, maintaining eye contact, even though I know she must feel uncomfortable doing so.
“Hi.” She grins, eyes sliding away and down my chest.
“Kiss me,” I demand, struggling to contain the fluttering in my gut at the sight of her.
Without hesitation, Rosy steps in between my spread thighs, hand landing on my sternum as she leans in to brush her mouth against mine.
Pulling back slightly, she looks down and frowns. “That looks like it should be painful. How are you holding it still?”
At her question, sensation races back in, the strain in my muscles making itself known. The squat itself wouldn’t be an issue, but with the weighted barbell held across my shoulders…fuck, I’m feeling it.
Straightening, I enjoy the view as I go from being almost eye level to towering over her. Her head cranes back as she follows my movement, her tongue slipping out to wet her lips.
I don’t hide the smirk as I step back and remove the barbell, placing it on the stand. My hand reaches for hers, and I bring her palm up to my mouth to place a kiss on it, licking at the slight salty taste before we walk over to the treadmills.
Once we’re done, we get back to her flat; reaching her front door, she turns, mouth opening to say something. But fuck, I’m not ready to let her go yet. I’ve wanted to get her alone since she walked into the gym.
We shared too many heated glances whilst we walked. And talked. About her day…my day. Well, she talked, and I answered her questions quickly, eager to just listen to her.
It’s finally just us, nothing to hold me back as I dart in and cover her mouth with mine, thrusting my tongue into her wet heat. Whatever words she wanted to say turn into a moan as I push into her body, clutching her tighter when she shudders.
We align fucking perfectly.
Her hands reach up, clinging to the fabric of my hoodie.
After taking the time to consume her mouth, I pull back, forcing myself to let her go so she can go inside.
She doesn’t reciprocate, and her hands fist tighter. “Please.” The words whisper across her lips in a needy whine.
It’s desperate, and fuck if it doesn’t do something to me. To hear her like that, to know she’s feeling the same.
“Invite me in, little tease,” I grunt, fighting the urge to take her mouth again.
I need her words.
I’m not taking something she doesn’t want to give. That shit is never for me, nor should it be for any-fucking-one. I might be demanding, but one word from her, and I’ll stop. Having her wanting me so badly, she’ll beg for me, is what has my dick hard and slick.
She spins, unlocking the door so fast it has me grasping air. Stepping in, she looks over her shoulder, teeth gnawing on her lip as she smiles for me.
Fuck, that smile does it for me too.
I’m painfully hard in my gym shorts; thank fuck for the compression shorts underneath.
“Coming in?” she asks, and as that smile widens and a flush brushes her cheeks, I know she knows what she’s implying.
My filthy girl.
Prowling through, I keep my gaze locked on her as I shove the door shut behind me.
“We alone?”
“Steph?” she calls out, keeping still as she waits a beat for a reply. “She’s not here.”
The muscles in my face tug and pull into a smug smirk. “Then get into your bedroom. I need to feel you come for me.”
Her breath hitches, and her pupils expand; the demand and promise turn her on. Talking when I’m with a woman has never been a thing for me before, but for Rosy, I’ll keep telling her all my filthiest thoughts until my voice goes fucking hoarse if that’s what she wants.
“Now, Rosy,” I prompt, when she still doesn’t move.
She hurries quickly out of the hallway, and I follow as we go through the open-plan kitchen and living space, stopping outside the last door on the right. She hovers, hand gripped around the handle.
I want to crowd her with my body, to coax her nerves into settling. But I don’t want to influence her into something she might regret later.
So I don’t push.
I wait.
Patiently.
I’m bullshitting.
I’m impatient as fuck. But I do it, for her.
“It’s been…a while. I’m nervous,” she confesses quietly, her cheeks no longer flushed pink from arousal but from embarrassment.
“If it’s because you don’t want to go further right now, then you tell me. There’s no need to rush. I’m in this for the long haul. But if it’s because you’re worried about either of us enjoying things or me seeing what’s under those clothes, wipe that idea from your mind.”
Removing the space between us, I place my palm against her chest, feeling it rise as she sucks in a breath.
“It’s this that has me obsessing over you…
what’s in here is what I crave.” My finger taps against her skin as I continue, “Whatever packaging it’s wrapped up in is perfect, because it has to match what’s inside. ”
She swallows, the movement drawing my attention to the pale skin of her throat. Fuck. I want to lick it. To wrap my palm around it and feel her pulse.
“You’re better with words than you make out to be,” she breathes softly, but she’s incorrect. I’m just good at them for her. I don’t have to think or second-guess what to say, because I’ve been moulded to be the man she needs me to be. Anything else she needs, I can learn for her.
“But I’m starting to feel the same for you too,” she admits, placing her hand on my chest, mirroring mine against hers.
Hearing her confession has liquid fucking fire racing through my veins. She’s mine, and she knows it. Not only that, she fucking wants me too.
My mouth captures hers. It’s desperate in the way I need her.
She pushes against my chest, and my brows knot in confusion as she separates us.
“I need to get the door open,” she says, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her mouth wet from our kiss.
Once we’re in the room, I barely take the time to glance around the space, only noting where her bed is.
Instead of getting on, she drops to her knees in front of it.
Shuffling underneath, she pulls out a box and rustles inside.
Movement to the side tugs my attention away from staring at her on her hands and knees—it’s honestly a fucking vision.
A grey-and-black striped kitten edges warily closer, eyes flicking from me to Rosy.
“Cat tax. You have to pay it,” she announces, tugging on my wrist.
Following her command, I drop to my knees beside her, completely fucking bewildered. She places a stick of something in my hand and points at the kitten.
“It’s for Moshi. He needs to know you’re a safe person. To do that, you offer him a treat as part of the cat tax,” she continues, her gaze fixed on Moshi, so she doesn’t see that mine is locked on her.
She called me safe. I’m her safe person.
This fucking woman floors me. One minute she’s confessing her feelings, my mouth sealed to hers as she pants for me, then the next she has me on my knees feeding snacks to her cat.
It might feel like being on a roller-coaster ride blindfolded, not knowing what twists or turns are coming up next, but fuck I never want to get off it. So I do as she asks, hand outstretched with the meat, and wait for this cat to take it from me.
And the little shit makes me wait.
Obviously doesn’t know what’s at stake.
A furry paw takes a step forward, and Rosy’s intake of breath has me catching mine. Her small, hot hand lands on my thigh.
It feels like she planted it right on my dick, and it stands to attention beneath my shorts. The feel of her sears through the fabric; so close but so fucking far from where I need it.
Come on, take the shitting treat, so I can grab my girl and bury my face between those soft thighs.
Understanding my desperation, he finally edges closer, and her hand grasps me tighter as we watch him tug the treat from my fingers, gnawing on it greedily.
“Okay, keep your hand there. Don’t move it,” she whispers, and it tickles across my neck.
We watch together as he creeps slightly, sniffing at my calloused fingers, wet nose nudging at me.
“Oh, he’s being so brave,” she exclaims, her excitement evident even if it’s still a teasing whisper down my neck. “So now we acknowledge the positive progress with another treat. Here, give him this slowly with the other hand.”
After he takes it from my hand, he turns and strolls back to a cat bed in the corner of the room and curls up.
Before I can ask what any of this shit means, she grabs my face and kisses the fucking life out of me.
So filthy talk, making sure she’s fed, and feeding snacks to her cat are the way to her heart.
Noted. I’ve got this shit down.
Wrapping my arms around her back, I pull her into me, and she straddles my lap without either of us coming up for air. Fuck, I don’t need oxygen when I have her.