thirty-seven
T he next day, Maddy wondered if this was the day she finally expired from overthinking.
She’d woken up with the jittery feeling she used to get on Christmas mornings. Except now the reason was completely different.
However, she’d given herself a stern talking-to.
She was being ridiculous.
So what if she wanted to scream her excitement into her pillow.
She wouldn’t. Because she was a mature, level-headed woman.
Yeah, the stern talking-to hadn’t worked one bit.
Though, she had redirected her nervous energy into finding a nice movie for the evening.
And tracking down some fantastic tiramisu, which was the closest pastry she could think of that was remotely coffee-flavored.
It would be nothing like nonna’s espresso-filled chocolate, but it would do. Plus, it was Italian.
She balanced the bag holding the tiramisu and her own purse in one hand while she used the other to ring on Nate’s doorbell a few hours later.
She scanned her outfit quickly as she waited for him to answer the door. She was quite pleased with the casual dress she’d picked out for tonight.
The beginning of spring had graced them with a few unusually balmy days, warm enough to chance wearing her favorite floral dress—mocha brown with small, soft pink blooms everywhere—along with her leather jacket and mid-ankle boots of the same shade.
She’d also opted to leave her hair down, loose in soft waves around her face.
She’d kept her glasses though and had donned on her preferred light make-up that never failed to make her feel pretty but also like herself.
The door swung open ripping her out of her thoughts, and at the sight of Nate, Maddy’s breath caught in her throat. In all honesty, she couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been momentarily stunned at the sight of this man.
He was in jeans and a gray T-shirt, both items doing a great job at showcasing how good he looked. Thank God, he hadn’t put on any gray sweatpants or she might have collapsed right there on his welcoming mat.
The real showstopper though was Nate’s expression, the way he always seemed to look at her with an intensity that held both tenderness, and hints of barely leashed control.
It made her feel alive.
“Hi,” she said, remembering they were both just standing there in the doorway. Though Nate seemed to have no problem with that as he slowly drank in her appearance, his gaze catching on the hem of her dress, on the tips of her hair brushing against her collarbone, and finally settling on her eyes.
“Hi, Mads,” he said in a low, almost intimate voice that felt like a caress. “Come in.”
She did, stepping so close to him as she walked in that the warmth he emanated was impossible not to notice.
Nate frowned at the bag she was holding. “What did you bring?”
“Well, I wasn’t very well going to come empty-handed when you said you’d be the one to cook. So, you cook and I bring the dessert.”
His sweet smile was all she saw before he gently took the bag from her, as well as her jacket and purse, and leaned in to place a feather-light kiss on her cheekbone. Which, of course, made her blush.
How on Earth was this still making her blush when they’d clearly advanced from kisses on the cheek?
And yet, it still made her bleeding heart melt.
“You didn’t have to but that was very thoughtful, so thank you.”
“No problem. Put it in the fridge or we’ll have to eat it through a straw.”
His chuckle trailed after him as he headed to the kitchen. She followed a few seconds later, not wanting to stand there awkwardly.
Nate’s flat was an open-plan space, the living room, kitchen and small, office corner all combined into one.
There were soft lights illuminating the place in a non-aggressive way, making it even more inviting.
Everything looked organized to perfection, the colors on the walls and furniture complementing each other very well, giving off the impression of a cool, calm environment.
Maddy thought it suited Nate perfectly.
“I would give you a grand tour, but this is pretty much it, excluding the bedroom and bathroom.”
“Meh, who needs a grand tour? What would you need all that space for anyway? Just more rooms to clean and tidy,” she said, turning to look at him. “This looks great, Nate.”
“Thank you,” Nate answered, smiling down at her.
“So,” Maddy said, smiling impishly and walking backwards until she bumped against the narrow kitchen island that doubled as a counter, “what are we eating?”
Nate hadn’t moved from his spot, watching her distractedly.
“Eating?”
She grinned. “Yes, eating. You know, that thing where we put food in our mouths?”
“Ha ha, you are so funny, Mads.”
“I know I am. So, what did you have in mind?”
Nate moved towards her, sidestepping the island and reaching up, to open a few cupboards. “I thought I could make us some pasta.”
Maddy felt a strange pinch in her chest. She found herself rounding the counter as well.
“Pasta?”
There must have been something in the way she said it because it gave Nate pause.
“Yeah. I thought I’d make that recipe with the cherry tomatoes your grandma gave me.” He grinned briefly, probably remembering that day. “Funny how that should have happened 20 years ago and it actually feels like yesterday,” he finished, shaking his head.
Now, Maddy knew this was the point where she was supposed to laugh alongside him, because it was funny, considering their circumstances.
But that small pinch she’d felt earlier had become a throb that was speeding up her heartbeat and robbing her of breath. She just couldn’t stop marveling at this man.
Nate, noticing she hadn’t joined in, left everything on the kitchen table and moved closer to her, his brows pinching in a tiny frown.
“You did this for me?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Nate’s expression changed into something that radiated both tenderness and fierceness.
“Everything I do is for you, Maddy,” he said steadily, and calmly. As if it was something obvious. Mere common sense.
She was moving before she’d even realized what she was doing.
All she knew was that the distance between their bodies was unacceptable.
She was now so close to him she could see how his breath was turning shallower and shallower. How his heart jumped where her hands were clasping the front of his shirt tightly. How the chocolate brown of his eyes had completely eclipsed, swallowed by his dilated pupils.
She tugged him towards her as she rose on the tips of her toes, and spoke her next words on his lips.
“Fuck me, Nate.”
The groan that vibrated his entire body was the only warning she got before his hands were on her, tangling into her hair and fisting the strands.
There was only a moment then, of him staring into her with such agony, before his lips were claiming hers, prying them open, and pouring into her all his unleashed desperation.
He licked into her mouth with a want so fierce it threatened to set her on fire.
She didn’t know where to touch him. It was like being granted the keys to a kingdom, but being struck by its beauty not knowing how to proceed.
There was one thing she knew though.
She needed more of him.
Her hands ran up his chest, crawling over his body to reach his hair, to twist, and tug, while her mouth took over, tugging and sucking on his lip.
Nate went feral.
His hands abandoned her hair and mapped the sides of her body in possessive touches that only further fanned the flame inside her. She was burning, burning, burning.
Nate broke their kiss for a few endless seconds, and watched her as his hands delved under the hem of her dress and clasped her thighs tightly, before lifting her up, her legs wrapping around his torso.
He never stopped watching her as he placed her on the counter, using one of his hands to keep her as close to him as possible, and the other to snake around her nape and apply some delicious pressure there in a move that made her go limp.
His lips then descended on her exposed neck, trailing kisses that were both soft and greedy, small brands on her skin.
The hand spanning her thigh was leaving feather-light touches, brushing against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.
When his mouth reached a hidden, tender spot behind her ear, there was no stopping the soft moan that left her lips.
“ Fuck , Maddy. That sound. Give me that sound again.” He sounded as wrecked as she felt.
As his mouth searched again for hers, Maddy let her hands roam over his shoulders and down his strong back, the muscles there straining with tension.
His body was pressing into hers and her own responded in earnest, chasing the frantic rhythm they’d created, moving against each other, trying to get closer in a futile attempt.
“More, Nate. Please, more,” she breathed against his lips.
He growled then, the sound a low timbre that reverberated against her body.
In a swift and steady move, he picked her up, her legs wrapping around him, and started walking, his mouth never letting up on his exploration of her neck.
Maddy knew he should have let Nate take them wherever he intended, but it was as if her body had a mind of its own.
It was too late, one of her hands had already left his back and was trailing down his front, not pausing until she reached the front of his jeans and the cock that was straining behind the zipper.
She couldn’t stop herself from palming the length, giving it a small squeeze, something that made Nate choke on his breath and stumble towards the nearest wall.
Maddy could feel the grin of satisfaction that spread on her lips as Nate pinned them to the wall of the narrow corridor, nailing her body to the hard surface.