12. Nate
Chapter 12
Dex gasps for breath, yanking on the restraints securing her to the bedframe—a suggestion I made, and one she eagerly agreed to. I pluck another piece of ice from a glass on the nightstand and stick it between my teeth. Bending my head, I roll it over her nipple.
“Oh, God,” she cries, her back arching off the bed when the cold hits her sensitive flesh.
I switch to her other nipple, then drop the ice cube in her navel. “He won’t help you.”
Sucking the cold nub into my mouth, I soothe it with my tongue. Her legs writhe, and she tries to get some friction against my thigh, which I deny her.
“Ready to tell me yet?” I murmur, my mouth on her skin, my eyes fixed on hers.
She shakes her head, and I grin.
Her stubborn determination not to share what drives her to work two jobs pushes her damn high in my estimation. She could have come right out and asked me for money—it wouldn’t be the first time a bedmate has asked for a handout—but instead, she refused to tell me a damn thing. It won’t do her any good. She might not spill tonight, but she will eventually.
“Then, it’s only fair to warn you that I can keep going all night. And the next night. And the one after that. Your choice, Titch.”
She groans and bucks off the bed. The ice cube slithers down her body, leaving a trail of wetness behind before it falls onto the sheets. I pick it up and circle it around her nipple once more.
She hisses. “Why do you care, anyway?”
I twist my lips to the side. “That’s a good question—one I don’t know the answer to. But as soon as I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know.”
I force her legs apart and trail the ice along her inner thigh. She shivers, goosebumps breaking out all over her smooth golden skin. Her little snatches of breath captivate me. I slip my tongue between her folds and bury it inside her heat.
She gives another long, drawn-out groan, squirming beneath me, pushing her eager pussy into my face. “You’re killing me.”
I smile against her soft flesh. From scared little girl to sex kitten in twenty-four hours. She’s more than I could have hoped for. Less, far less, than I need. She’s been a great student, but she has more to give, and I’m going to take it.
She comes quickly, which, considering she’s several orgasms into our marathon session, impresses me. With her body still jerking and trembling from her latest climax, I straddle her waist and grab another piece of ice. I trail it across her stomach, on the underside of her breasts, down her neck, with rivers of water running over her sweat-dampened skin.
“Hmm, well, if you won’t make this easy, I think it’s time we changed things up. I’m going for a record of orgasms with you, little Dex.”
Her eyes widen. “I can’t.”
My grin is purposely wicked. “Oh, you can. Want me to show you?”
I clamp my teeth around the ice cube and inch down her body to push her thighs as wide as they’ll go. I circle her clit with the ice, then with my tongue, before pushing the half-melted cube inside her. She cries out both in agony and ecstasy, her head rocking from side to side, her thighs straining against my palms. I plunge my tongue inside her over and over, taking absolutely no mercy. She’ll tell me in the end, if only to halt the death by orgasm I’m subjecting her to.
“Nate, it’s too much. It hurts. I can’t. I just can’t. Oh, fuuuuck.”
She comes again, her wrung-out body pulsing and throbbing on my tongue. Her clit must be so sensitive by now, which is why I pinch it, hard.
She hisses. “You’re a bastard.”
I straddle her thighs, palming my erection with slow, regular strokes. “Ready for the next round?”
Shaking her head violently, she yanks on her restraints again. “Okay! Okay, I’ll tell you.”
I sit up with a triumphant grin that has Dex rolling her half-hooded eyes. I untie her and rub her wrists, even though I hadn’t bound her too tightly.
She sits up, too, pulling the comforter up to her neck, and I chuckle under my breath. I prefer her naked, but if hiding her body makes her feel at ease and gives her the confidence to tell me what the hell is going on, I’ll let it slide. Her earlier question of why I care is an intriguing one, and I’d been honest when I said I didn’t know. Chivalry isn’t my style, but something about this little pocket rocket has me absolutely fascinated. I’m not nearly ready to let her go yet.
“Can I have a drink?”
I graze my knuckles down the side of her cheek. Her red locks are an unholy mess of knots, her face flushed, her eyes heavy with sated desire. She’s never looked more beautiful. I’d noticed her from afar, but not like this. Never like this. She’s the perfect siren, the perfect partner. I must have had blinders on not to see what was right in front of me.
“You can have anything you want,” I say gently.
“A glass of water would be good.”
“You got it.”
I slip off the bed and pad into the kitchen, naked. After grabbing a bottle of cold water from the fridge, I snag a glass off the drain board.
By the time I return to the bedroom, she’s smoothed her fiery auburn hair into some semblance of order, and her knees are tucked into her chest with her arms hugging them. Damn, she’s so young, so innocent, and I’ve corrupted her.
I plan to corrupt her some more, too.
Her teeth graze her bottom lip over and over, her anxiety obvious. Maybe I am a bastard for pushing her. After all, the money thing could be something and nothing. For all I know, she could have run up a bill on Rodeo Drive on clothes and jewelry she can’t afford, and now the bank is pressing her for the money. But something in her eyes tells me it isn’t anything like that. She isn’t like that.
Keeping secrets has shredded me. I don’t want the same for her.
“Here you go, Titch.” I pour half the water into the glass for her, then swig straight from the bottle myself before I set the remains on the nightstand. I sit right in front of her, cross-legged, my forearms resting over my knees.
She eyes me over the rim of the glass as she greedily drinks the entire contents, then wipes the corners of her mouth with her thumb and forefinger as she sets the glass on the nightstand.
“My mom is sick.” As she says the words, her eyes cut away from mine, and her chin drops to her chest.
“How sick?” I coax.
She blinks slowly, then lifts her head, her eyes luminous and so very scared. “She’ll die long before her time.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Alzheimer’s.”
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Dex is only twenty-two, so even if her mom had her later in life, that would only put her in her early to mid-sixties, surely? Incredibly young for such a disease.
As if guessing my thoughts, she adds, “She’s only forty-seven.”
Tears well up, but Dex being the stubborn, tough little fireball she is refuses to let a single one fall.
“And the money thing. It’s for her care?”
She nods, her chin trembling as she stares over my shoulder. “I’m behind on the payments. With the pay rise you got me, I could have just about managed, but they’re raising the fees.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “I can’t afford that, so I’m going to have to try and get a job back home in Wisconsin and move her. I won’t get paid as much there, but I’ve found a home that’s much cheaper. It’s not as good. Still…” A shrug. “It’ll devastate my sister. I don’t know how I’m going to tell her.”
“Can’t she help?”
Dex shakes her head. “She helps as much as she can, but she’s got two kids. She can’t work because the childcare is too expensive, so they’ve only got her husband’s income to rely on.”
For the first time, she releases the death grip on her knees as her hands come to her face. She rubs hard, then offers me a wry grin. “So, now you know why I was so mad outside that club…and why the price of a bottle of wine at that restaurant offended me.”
I tuck a stray curl behind her ear, an idea slowly forming in my mind. A way for me to get what I need and help her out without it looking like I’m giving her charity. Dex is a proud girl: determined, hardworking, tenacious, independent. Yep, extremely independent. If I don’t handle this the right way, the mouthful she gave me at the club will pale into insignificance to the tongue lashing she’ll unleash on me now.
“I have a proposition for you.”
She leans forward, her eyebrows scooting up her forehead. “Oh, yeah?”
“Don’t look so worried, Titch. It’s a quid pro quo kind of arrangement. I have a problem you can help me with, and in return, I might be able to help you.”
She narrows her gaze. “What kind of a problem?”
“Suspicious little thing, aren’t you?” I clear my throat, buying time while I think of the best way to phrase it. “My brother is getting married. Three weeks on Saturday, in New York. I want you to come with me.”
Her eyes spring wide open. “Me? Come to your brother’s wedding? With you?”
I grin. “Thanks for the recap, Titch.”
“But… but why? Why me? We’re practically strangers. Weddings are for friends and family.”
Irritation creeps over my skin that she’s cast aside this weekend as though it’s nothing. Odd really because her comment is accurate. We are strangers. A week ago, I barely noticed she existed, but a week is a long time in showbiz. During that time, I’ve grown to care about her. It occurs to me how well she’ll get on with my family—how easily she’ll fit in. It’s important to remember, though, that she’ll only see a mirage of my true self.
Keeping my inner thoughts to myself, I break out a crooked smile and share a hint of the truth.
“Let’s just say we’ll be strangers together. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but we’re no longer close. I find going back to New York… difficult. Having you there to distract me”—I give her a dark look that sparks a flash of desire in her eyes—“would make my visit back home more palatable. Believe me, I’m getting the better end of the deal here.”
She grazes her bottom lip with her teeth and nods sagely, considering my request. “So, how can you help me?”
“I’ll clear your debts?—”
“No. I can’t?—”
“Wait.” I raise my hand in the air to stop her interrupting, as I knew she would. “I’ll clear your debts with the nursing home and cover the percentage increase in fees, as well as whatever that crappy grocery store pays you. It’s the other half of the deal, and you’re taking it.”
To me, it’s small change, but to her, it means everything.
She shakes her head. “I can’t let you do that, Nate. I won’t let you. It’s too much and?—”
I place a finger over her lips. “You know, I’m envious. I can see how much you love your mom…how close you are. I was only twelve when I lost mine. I’ve never gotten over it. That bond between a mother and their child… it’s so special. Let me help, so you get to have that with your mom for as long as possible without worrying about how to pay for it all.”
To stop her responding, I kiss her. I won’t take no for an answer, and by getting her aroused, she’ll be pliable and more likely to listen. The more I think about having her by my side in New York, the greater the idea appeals to me. Sneaking off into quiet corners to steal kisses or, where privacy allows, easing her to her knees so she can suck me off and release the tension that will ride me hard for the entire weekend. If only she knew just how much I’m the winner in this deal.
I press her into the mattress, my hands already searching, seeking, and my mouth feverishly taking what I need from her—to forget—because since I first put my hands on her, the constant voices in my head have quietened. A soft, appreciative noise rises at the back of her throat, drawing a growl of acknowledgement from me.
My dick throbs from the number of times we’ve fucked over the weekend, but as blood rushes to my groin, once again, it now throbs for a different reason. God, I want inside her. Like a fucking drug, she’s gotten me hooked with a few delicious samples.
I roll on a condom. “You’re coming to New York,” I demand. “And you’re coming all over my cock. You don’t have a choice, Titch. With either one. You’re taking this deal, no argument.”
With one sharp thrust, I bottom out, silencing any further rebuttals.
She cries out, probably because her pussy is as sore as my dick, but as I move, her nails rake down my back, and her eyes take on that wild ‘you can do anything to me just don’t stop’ look. The one that has me squeezing my eyes closed so I don’t come within ten seconds like a horny teenager unable to control his urges.
The lack of visuals don’t make a difference. I climax, my head pressing into the pillow, with my lips against her damp neck as pleasure rushes through me. Her walls clamp my length, drawing out my own gratification.
“Nate.” She speaks on an exhale, her drowsy voice the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. It isn’t a question, just a statement of appreciation, and one I feel more deeply than I imagined possible, given that I’m such a shallow bastard.
I peck her lips, then roll to the side. Clasping my hand around hers, I squeeze her fingers and stare at the ceiling.
“Say yes, Titch. To New York. To the money. To all of it. Just fucking say yes. I need you. More than you know.”
I hold my breath. If she refuses again, I don’t know what my next move will be. I’ve used every tool I have. The power is hers now.
She takes a breath, and I close my eyes in silent prayer.
“Yes… on one condition.”
I twist my head to find Dex lying on her side, her hand propping up her head. She blinks, her jaw set in a determined fashion.
“Hit me with it.”
“The money, it’s a loan. However long it takes, I’ll pay you back. That’s my condition, and it’s non-negotiable. If you don’t agree, the deal’s off. So, what do you say?”
My lips twitch. Christ, she’s unique—someone to cling on to with everything I have.
I hold out my hand. “I believe we have a deal, Titch.”
She lets out a sigh of relief and shakes my hand. “Good, because I’m too tired to go another round, either verbally or physically.” She casts aside the covers and swings her legs over the edge of the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She glances over her shoulder. “Tomorrow’s Monday. I have work.”
“So do I. What’s your point?”
“I need to get home. All my things are there.”
“Then, I’ll drive you tomorrow before work.”
“I have to be in by eight.” She checks the time and groans. “Fuck, it’s two in the morning.”
I offer her a slow grin and a wink. “No point going home now, then, is there?” I hold out my arms. “I don’t want you to go. Stay, please. I’ll make sure you get to work on time. Promise.”
After a pause, she gets back into bed and snuggles up to me. “What’s going on here, Nate?”
I kiss her temple. “I don’t know, Titch.”
And I’m shit scared to look too closely.