Chapter 11 #2
"Careful," Ruth blurted out the warning before she could stop herself. "The holly in there can poke you."
One of the girls reached in to touch one of the points with her fingertip. "It's real?"
Then all of the girls touched it to test if it poked at their fingertips.
Nick leaned in and chuckled in her ear. "Did you have any idea that you'd end up giving them a whole sensory experience?"
She shook her head. "Not in my wildest dreams."
Katie looked up over the handle of the basket and grinned. "Dad, are you okay if I go with the other girls to party?"
Eun's mother waved at them. "I've got room for the girls at the house to sleep."
"If you can handle all of the energy. I'll pick up Katie in the morning and if others need a ride, I can help."
Eun's mom waved off his offer. "Eun's brothers can take the girls back. They're all home from college so they can help."
Nick placed a kiss on the top of Katie's head. "You have fun, Katydid."
Katie looked at her and Ruth felt her heart running over with love for Nick's daughter. "Enjoy your night, Katie. I'll see you all tomorrow for the Sugarplum Tea."
The girls cheered and Ruth felt Nick take her hand and lead her toward the parking lot.
The night air was cool, but she wasn't in any danger of catching a cold. It was just the right temperature for her.
She shivered a little when she caught Nick's distinctive scent in her nose.
"You cold, honey?"
Their steps slowed to a stop as they waited for a car to cross in front of them.
She looked up at Nick and the soft halo of the parking lot light behind him made him look like he was lit from behind by a pool of melted sugar. Yes, she loved sugar and all of the sweet melty goodness.
But she loved him more.
She shook her head. "I'm not cold at all."
The aisle in front of them emptied and Nick started across the lane toward his car.
"Then," he whispered to her as he held her door open, "let's get home so I can have some time alone with you."
NICK
He had a plan.
A plan that went flying out the window as soon as he stepped inside her house.
All it took was one look up at him, her eyes shining with some unspoken emotion.
He was left unable to resist saying what was in his heart.
He took her by the shoulders and walked her back until she was pressed between his body and the wall.
"Ruth," his voice was roughened and deeper than normal, "I love you."
RUTH
She felt like she was floating, which was an odd feeling for a woman with her share of curves.
Her instinct was to stay right there, but she was trying to reach out more.
Trying to reach out for what she wanted.
This was the perfect chance for her.
Lifting her arms, she wound them loosely around his neck at first, but when she felt his warmth against her, she threw caution and her clothes to the wind.
Or at least she tried.
Nick helped her off with her dress, he took great care with all of the skin that he bared to his gaze and his hands.
The way his fingertips traveled across her skin sent shivers through her body.
His mouth feasted on her neck, down along her collarbone.
She gasped in a breath and her hands reached around to his back.
"You're so... hot," she blushed at the way her words sounded, "a- all over. Your skin."
Nick didn't say a thing, but she wondered if he was smiling.
She certainly was.
His lips moved over the top of her breast and she closed her eyes, lost in the sensation.
And then she felt his lip against her nipple.
Ruth moaned, her legs moving restlessly against the sheets. "Nick..."
"Ruth."
When he spoke, she felt his breath against her sensitive skin, her nipples puckered, tightened.
"Look at me, honey. I want you to watch me put my lips all over you."
How could she resist?
Ruth opened her eyes and the look in his made her tremble with anticipation.
She might not be good with relationships since she'd barely had one, but she knew the look of hunger.
Usually that was just for the treats that she baked, but this?
What he hungered for... was her!
"There she is," Nick's voice was barely a whisper but it was also a caress against her skin, "that's the woman I love."
His words made her tremble, but they also made her eyes tear up.
"I still can't believe that you love me."
He smiled then. She felt the pull of his lips against her skin. "I love you, Ruth. Everything about you."
She opened her mouth to say... something, but as she drew in a breath, his tongue swept out between his lips and with the tip of it, he brushed against her nipple.
Ruth felt like she was going crazy.
Deliciously crazy.
Her nipples had always been sensitive, but with Nick touching her it was like every nerve ending was firing in cascades of sensation.
He shifted against her, over her, one leg pressed between hers.
"Nick?"
She had no idea what she meant, saying his name like that.
Did she have a question?
She couldn't remember.
All of her brain cells were on overload.
Or maybe they'd all stopped working the moment that his mouth closed over her breast.
His tongue.
His teeth.
Every moment was better than the one before.
She pressed her nails into his back as he dragged his tongue over her skin.
The rough texture of his tongue caught her breath in her lungs.
She moved one hand up, skimming over his back to grasp the back of his neck.
The close-cropped hair tickled her palm, and she lost herself in the sensations.
NICK
Ruth was under him, her lush body warm and welcoming.
Her hands on him felt like a dream, but this was reality.
One he wanted to keep forever.
He pulled on her breast with his mouth, and felt her hips rise up.
Her movement brushed her thigh against dick, and he wanted to slip inside her and feel the warm heat of her body surround his.
"Oh, Nick."
He practically purred at the way her voice sounded in his ears.
She was so sensitive that it put him on edge.
He smiled and the sensation must have done something to her because her hands lifted, moving between them until she could grab onto his shoulders.
One hand tugged and the other gripped.
He was pretty sure she didn't know exactly what she was doing at that moment and he loved it.
He wanted her to be a little out of control.
"Closer..."
He didn't know how much closer he could get.
They were already bare. Every inch of their bodies that was in contact with the other was a sweet slide of heated flesh.
He released her nipple with a soft pop and went to work on the other.
No, it wasn't work.
Hearing her moan because of his mouth on her body?
He could live off of that.
"Nick? Please..."
Nick reached his hand down and hooked it around the back of her thigh.
Lifting, he helped her wrap her leg around his, giving him more room so he could fit himself between her thighs.
"I need you, Nick. I need this with you."
How was he going to deny her that?
Especially when, "I need this with you, too."
She smiled, but when he sat back and wrapped his hand around the base of his dick, he heard her indrawn breath.
Ruth drew up her other leg, her gaze fixed on him.
"Nick... please."
He shook his head. "You don't have to be so polite, baby."
Her eyes widened for a moment and then she smiled.
It gave her the look of a seductive vixen.
"You're so beautiful... all over."
He leaned in, bracing one hand on the bed at her side.
Nick felt the slide of his skin against hers and then when he was close enough he felt her heat kiss the tip of his dick.
His eyes almost rolled back into his head.
Everything, every-damn-thing about this woman made him hunger.
"Are you ready for me?"
She reached out for him, and he smiled as he slid deep inside of her.
It was heaven, feeling her body stretch around him, welcoming him in.
When he was fully seated in her body, he had to take a moment and breathe.
His body wanted nothing more than to push her over the edge over and over again, but he also wanted to savor this time with her.
In a word, he wanted... everything.
Ruth lifted her hips, changing the angle of their bodies.
Nick wasn't sure how, but he ended up even deeper inside of her. Deeper than he thought possible.
"How should I love you, Ruth? What do you want from here?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
Her cinnamon scent and the soft, plush pillows of her lips played havoc with his control.
"What do I want?" Ruth murmured the words against his mouth. "I want you, Nick. I want you to hold me tight and show me just how much you want this, too. And then later..."
"Later?" There was more than a hint of humor and curiosity in his tone.
"Yes," she reached out with her words, trying to be brave. "Later I want you to make love to me, but now... I just want you to show me how much you want me."
"Hold on tight," he lifted his chin and gave her an approving nod, "it's about to get... rough."
"Good." Ruth laughed and enjoyed the freedom of the sound. "Show me."