Chapter 40
The downstairs door shut right on schedule. He was back.
“I’m up here,” Felicity called from the bathroom.
“Follow-up with orthopedist must’ve gone well. You’re allowed to do stairs now?” Nic’s heavy footsteps came from the hall. “Where—”
“In here.”
Nic froze in the doorway. Completely dumbstruck. That look was worth every struggle to get the bottle of bubble bath liquid open.
Bubbles covered her breasts in the most strategic way possible.
She’d been soaking for a few minutes, so her freckled skin glistened.
Her hair was tamed into a bun on top of her head, and she’d managed to put on a little bit of makeup on.
She felt more like herself than she had in weeks.
She’d lit every candle she could find and put them around the surprisingly large bathroom.
“I asked the doctor all the important questions today.”
“What?” The word was half-speech, half–feral pant.
“The doctor.”
“What doctor?”
“My doctor.”
“Your doctor?”
“Yes, Nic.” Felicity smirked. “He said I could do stairs. He said I could take baths. And you know what else he said?”
Nic swallowed.
Felicity moved, lifting her chest an inch, letting the water drip over her nipples. She sucked on her finger and traced the lines of her tattoos, mapping the journey she hoped his mouth would make soon.
Nic’s eyes guttered. The light of the candles around her reflected in them like molten jade.
“It’s really hard for me to reach everywhere with my poor wrist.” She affected a pout. The line sounded so ridiculous that she worried he would laugh.
He didn’t.
“What did the doctor say, Felicity?”
“I was cleared for gentle orgasms.”
Nic cocked an eyebrow and stepped forward. “Gentle orgasms?”
“I think his exact words were nothing acrobatic.” She undid the top button of his jeans and pressed her hand against the bulge beneath it. “Think you could give me a hand in here, and then maybe I can give you a hand with that?”
Nic eased his jeans off. He pulled off his T-shirt. She crooked a finger at him. He came closer. “This okay?”
“Fuck yes.”
She pulled down his shorts, letting a cock that was just as beautiful as the rest of him come free.
She touched the bead of pre-cum at the tip and licked it.
She was glad they’d both gotten tested over the last few weeks.
Condoms were still a given, but she would allow herself more liberties than usual.
And Christ, all of him was a snack.
His chest rumbled.
She leaned up, and he settled himself behind her in the tub.
He traced her collarbones and shoulders.
He followed the lines of the tattoos down her arms. His arousal was impossible to ignore.
She had wanted to torture him a little, because waiting for this had been torture.
But now, with him patient but panting behind her, she was the one who was being tortured.
“Nic, I need your hands on my tits right the fuck now.”
She pushed back into him. His large hands cupped her breasts. Those calloused fingers pinched her nipples. His teeth sank into her neck, giving her that tiny sharpness.
God, she could come right now. And he hadn’t even put any part of him inside her yet. She was so hot.
Nic kept one hand on her tit and with the other he kneaded her ass. He gripped her thigh, pulling her closer. She ground against his cock. He hissed and took a deep breath. His hand was almost where she wanted it to be. She shifted herself forward.
He pinched her nipple again. She moaned and leaned her head back on his shoulder. He kissed her through a smug smile.
“Do you feel clean enough now?”
“Super-duper not at all clean. Still downright filthy, but”—Felicity’s voice was breathless—“I think a bed would be nice.”
She stood. Gently, he dried her off as Felicity kissed him. She didn’t care if she was wet. She pulled Nic into the bedroom, flinging water in the hallway. He eased her onto the bed.
He pulled her over him, keeping one hand on her chest, the other open on her pussy. He touched her with teasing circles.
Then one finger. Two fingers were inside her. She was already seeing stars. His thumb kept working her clit.
“Nic.”
His fingers slid along those smooth, slick places at her core. Her good hand twisted in his hair, her hips bucking into him.
His other hand reached out and touched her breasts like he couldn’t decide which parts of her he wanted the most.
All of it was too much and not enough. It was perfect, yet she craved more.
“Oh fuck.” She came so suddenly, she cried out. Her thighs latched around his arm, not wanting him to stop even though she’d already caught fire. “Please, Nic.” She slid off his chest. Her hand found his dripping cock and wrapped around it.
“Are you sure…”
“Have two wrists for a reason.”
He looked like he wanted to reply, but her hand slid. His eyes rolled back. He kept one hand on her breast and the other on her ass while he fucked her hand. She leaned over and kissed his chest, sucking on his skin, not caring if she left a mark
He groaned her name, coming with a jolting surge down his body. His head dropped back like he was utterly spent.
They lay in silence for a long while. She knew he needed to get back to the restaurant for the dinner rush, but she also couldn’t imagine moving from this spot.
As if he could read her mind, he moved off her. She grabbed on to his shoulder.
“Can you stay a little bit longer?”
“You’re shivering.”
“I don’t care.”
“I decided a while ago I’d never let you shiver.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.” He kissed her. He grabbed a duvet and threw it over them both. “Sleep up here tonight.”
She nodded.
Felicity was so comfortable; she didn’t know if she could get up if she tried. Every part of her felt loose and satiated. She barely remembered when he left to prepare for the dinner rush.
When she woke up, it was pitch-dark. She was still alone.
She grabbed her phone, which of course Nic had plugged in beside her. There was a text from her mother that she saw first.
Mom: Do you know why the restaurant closed early?
Felicity sat up.
Mom: Nevermind. Everything’s fine.
Felicity’s dad had flown in a few days ago.
Her mom and dad were staying in the apartment above the plant shop and treating it like a second honeymoon.
Nic had been bringing loads of Felicity’s stuff over, to the point that Felicity was no longer quite sure where she technically lived.
Nic had been spending most nights in that ground-floor bedroom with her, but it looked like he’d put her stuff up here as well. She swiped to his name.
Felicity: Where the fuck are you? Are you okay? Why’d you close down early?
Nic: I had to run back to Texas. I left you a note.
Felicity groped at the nightstand and found a piece of legal paper.
Had to run back to Texas. Be back in the morning. Everything’s fine.
Felicity: Where are you now?
Nic: Truck stop.
Felicity: I would have gone with you if you’d woken me up.
Nic: I’ll be back in the morning. I got a little nap. I’ll be fine;)
Felicity: What was so important you drove to Texas in the middle of the night on a Tuesday? Your house there okay?
Nic: Everything’s fine. Go back to sleep. Be back tomorrow.
Felicity: Are we going to discuss tomorrow how you moved me into your house without telling me?
Nic: You TOLD me to bring your stuff over.
Felicity: Well, I was going through my kitchen boxes after my doctor’s appointment and there were some very important things missing.
Nic: I draw the line at teflon.
Felicity: Be safe, okay? Sleep there. Don’t rush back.
Nic: I’ll be fine.
Felicity flopped back down on the bed.
She was sore, but not the kind of sore she’d been used to over the past few weeks. The kind of sore that felt delicious.
Nic: FWIW I did grab the most important things. I put them in my bedroom because I figured you wouldn’t want anyone else looking inside that *particular* box.
Felicity: But I’m guessing you went through it extensively?
Nic: I was making sure there was nothing else with a nonstick coating.
Felicity: Silicone, glass, and rubber are acceptable?
Nic: Yes. The leather and the stainless steel all passed the vibe check.
Felicity: If you were here, we could have tried a few out. Pity … guess I’ll have to play alone.
Nic: You are going to make the next leg of this trip very uncomfortable.
Felicity: I’ll only stop with the sexy texting if you swear you won’t leave without waking me up again
Nic: Again?
Felicity scrunched up her face in confusion.
Felicity: Uh. Again like you did tonight?????????
Nic: Oh. Right. I swear.
Felicity: Good so no more sexy texting
Felicity: ever.
Nic: Wait a minute. Think we got our signals crossed there.
Felicity: We can discuss it more when you get back from your mysterious, middle-of-the-night jaunt to Texas. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon after you get a reasonable amount of sleep.
Nic typed and then stopped typing and then started again.
Nic: I’ll be back in the morning.
Felicity gnawed on her lip. She’d never told a man she loved him before.
She’d only been close once, when she was practically a baby and was more swept away by the moment than anything.
Maybe it was the whole recently almost dying twice thing …
three times if you counted that almost-fall off the balcony the day she met Nic …
but that made her feel oddly fatalistic. Still. A text message. No. Blech.
She grabbed the notepaper and scribbled something on the back.