Chapter Seven #2
As her gaze meets mine, my mind returns to our first time, and how I’d been aware, even then, this thing between us was more . I brace my hands on either side of her head at the same time her fingers wrap around my cock. Her hand glides up and down my shaft, her grip tightening with each pass.
I groan and with one hand, slide my fingers through her sex, finding her wet and ready for me. I dip my head and kiss her lips, savoring her taste before I line myself up at her entrance and ease inside.
She’s tight, and I work my way in, pushing in and gliding out, going deeper with each forward jerk of my hips .
“You feel good,” she murmurs, bending her knees to take more of me.
“Fucking heaven,” I mutter as I fill her completely.
“I’m good, Nick. Move, or I’m going to lose my mind.”
“Thank fuck.” I raise my hips, slide out, and began to thrust into her, joining our bodies, beginning an intense rhythm that soon has her crying out.
“Nick, God, harder.”
I do as she asks, twisting my hips as I plunge into her.
“Nick!”
Hearing my name on her lips as our bodies connect does something to me. “Again. Say my name.” I slide a hand between us and rub her clit, my finger sliding through her wetness.
“Nick!”
I press harder, and she shatters, her inner walls fluttering around me, squeezing me in her heat. I grit my teeth and wait as she rides out her orgasm. When I sense her coming down, I let myself go, picking up the pace and force of my thrusts until I know I’m there.
“Come again,” I tell her.
“Can’t.”
I raise myself up and spear into her again, this time making sure to hit her at the spot I found earlier.
“Oh God! ”
“Yes, now come with me,” I say, and with a few more targeted thrusts, she screams my name, and I follow her over into utter bliss.
***
Aurora
I lay in Nick’s arms, surprised that I’ve given myself so completely. I deserve this one night, knowing it won’t be long before common sense comes roaring back. Right now, though, I am too sated to think clearly. I breathe in his masculine scent and let myself relax.
He runs his hand along my arm. “Do you remember when I got a phone call after Leah’s birthday party?”
“Yes.” I forgot about it, though, after we told Leah he was her father. Suddenly wary, I pull myself up to a sitting position, wishing we were beneath the covers so I could cover myself.
He sits up, easing his big body against the pillows. “I have to go back to California this week. The issues at the hotel aren’t sorting themselves out the way I’d hoped.”
“Work is work,” I say, hating the disappointment flooding through me. From a rational perspective, I understand. I just wish the abandoned child inside me could accept it as easily.
He reaches out and takes my hand. “You have to know that given a choice, I wouldn’t go. But I’ve been the one dealing with management in our hotels, and situations like the one we have there fall on my shoulders.”
I nod. “I get it. When are you leaving?”
“I’ll take the jet Tuesday morning. I would have gone today, but I wanted this night with you.”
I wanted it, too, but after such an intimate experience with Nick—maybe even because of it—I can’t resist the urge to build walls back up around myself. My fear of getting close to a man who pops in and out of my life—and my daughter’s life—is back with a vengeance.
I can’t sit here naked anymore and go to slide off the bed.
Nick releases my hand and I stand. “I just need to go into the bathroom. I’ll be right back.
” I take a few minutes to myself, splashing my face and washing up before returning to the bedroom.
Nick has pulled the covers down and climbed beneath.
I take in his broad chest and intense stare, and I can’t deny how much I still want him.
Whatever this is, I can’t take it too seriously.
But we are here, so I intend to enjoy it.
He pats the empty spot beside him. “Come back,” he says in a gruff voice.
I walk over and settle down beside him. He immediately reaches out and pulls me into his arms. Letting myself go, I tuck my chin into the crook between his face and neck and breathe him in. “You smell good,” I murmur.
Even his low chuckle is arousing. “You feel even better.”
I inhale his masculine scent, my body softens, and I sigh, then hook one leg over his thigh. My sex rubs against his hair-roughened skin, and I moan aloud, enjoying the friction and needing more.
“Isn’t this better than overthinking things?” he asks, his thick erection nudging at me.
“Much,” I admit.
He flips me onto my back and moves over me, snagging a packet from the nightstand.
He separates us long enough to rip the foil and roll the condom over his cock.
Without waiting, he edges into me. “I knew you’d be wet enough.
” He thrusts all the way in, filling me perfectly, as if he is made just for me.
He rocks his hips, his eyes locked on mine, and it doesn’t take long before my climax slams into me, and I come with a long, moan. He thrusts harder and deeper, his orgasm triggering another mini one of my own.
Later that night, after we talk about our daughter, I fall asleep in his arms.
The next morning, after Facetiming with Leah before school, I fall back to sleep, something I never do.
Everything about this morning is different from my usual routine.
Normally, I wake up to my alarm, have a cup of coffee, put on exercise clothes, and go on the treadmill before taking a quick shower, and waking Leah.
Then, I have breakfast with my chatty child, followed by a rush to the car with me running down a list of things I don’t want to forget.
Part of me is teaching Leah to think ahead, but a greater part of me just wants to make sure we don’t have to take a ride back to kindergarten because we forgot to pack Leah’s lunch.
Sleeping in is a luxury, but when I wake up alone in the hotel room at eleven a.m., I am in shock.
I wash up and brush my teeth, then find Nick in the outer room, hunched over a laptop, and drinking coffee. He obviously showered and dressed, looking sexy as ever in a pair of dark jeans and a buttoned-down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up.
“Morning,” I say.
“Good morning.” He looks me over, his gaze scanning my bare legs beneath the long shirt I put on—his shirt.
“I can’t believe you let me sleep in. ”
His lips lift in a sexy smirk. “You were snoring. I figured you needed it.”
I walk over and nudge his shoulder. “I don’t snore.” A flush of heated embarrassment rises to my cheeks.
“It was adorable,” he says, chuckling. “Sit and eat. I ordered muffins so nothing would get cold.”
I lower myself into the chair next to him, and since my stomach is rumbling, I choose a large blueberry muffin, pour my coffee and dig in. After I shower and pack up my things, Nick calls for his car, and he drives us back to my house in Old Westbury.
He steps out, comes around and opens my door.
I prep myself to say goodbye. “Well, thank you for an incredible night.”
He braces a hand on the top of the window. “That sounds like goodbye.”
I raise my eyebrows. “It’s not?”
“What do you have planned for the rest of the day?” he asks.
“I have to pick Leah up from school.” I’ll bring my daughter home, give her a snack, and let her spill all the details about her day while I prep dinner. Then it will be bath time, story time, and bed. But he doesn’t need to hear my whole routine.
“Perfect. I was hoping to see Leah. How about we surprise her by picking her up together? ”
His eyes light up at the possibility, and I can’t mistake the hope in his tone. No way can I deny him the chance to do something so normal for his daughter.
“Sounds like a plan. Come inside. I need to do a few things before it’s time to leave.”
He accompanies me inside and waits in the family room while I return some work calls that are on my voicemail.
I schedule a meeting with Sasha and Cassidy to discuss Billie’s idea for FFT, and one with Linc to see what buildings might come up for sale for my housing component.
He left a message that he has some leads.
Nick apparently has the same idea because he’s on the phone in the family room with what sounds like a business call when I walk in.
He holds up one finger. “Yes. Of course. We’ll discuss it all when I get there.” He finishes up and disconnects his call. “Ready?” he asks.
I nod. Although his car sits outside, it’s a two-seater Porsche.
“I have Leah’s car seat in the back of my SUV. Come on,” I say. I start for the garage entrance and realize Nick isn’t behind me. I walk back to the family room where he stands in what appears to be shock. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t know a five-year-old needed a car seat.”
In an effort not to laugh because he seems so horrified, I bite down on the inside of my cheek. “Actually, it’s a booster seat, but yeah. She needs one, and she can’t ride in a two-seater.”
He blows out a breath and shakes his head. “I have a lot to learn and buy,” he mutters, gesturing for me to go to the garage.
I laugh and walk out. He’ll get it eventually. If Nick Dare is anything, it is determined.
We pick up Leah from school. She’s delighted to see Nick and all but ignores me as she dives into his arms and lets him pick her up and carry her to the car. He lifts her up high so she can chatter in his ear as we walk.
No sooner are we all settled in the car than Nick asks, “Who wants ice cream?”
Ice cream. Talk about screwing with our ‘let’s go home, be calm, have a snack, and wind down’ routine. Once Leah screams yes, I can’t say anything—not yet. I have no intention of being the bad guy. But Nick and I will talk later.
After ice cream, we go to a playground at a nearby park. Nick pushes Leah on a swing, sending her so high I nearly throw up my ice cream.