Chapter 18
Rory
Nate lowers his head, and his lips meet mine. My stomach flips at the contact. Last night was just a taste, a pale shadow in comparison to now, as he overwhelms my senses.
These aren’t the same lips I kissed in high school. They’re similar, but instead of being tentative, they’re confident, firm with experience as he teases my lips and presses my lips open with his to slide his tongue into my mouth.
He kisses me for what feels like an eternity, long and languid, teasing and tasting me.
When he pulls back, I gasp for breath. “Nate?”
“Fuck, Rory. You’re the one I’ve always wanted.
” He brushes his thumb along my jawline, and goose bumps rise in its wake.
Despite the confidence in his kiss, vulnerability is written across his face as he pulls me closer.
“I don’t want to talk about your parents or the past or anything else. I just want you.”
He’s all I want, too.
All I can do is nod as he takes my hand and leads me through the kitchen and to the stairs. He puts Spam in Ollie’s crate as we pass through the living room, leaving no doubt as to his intentions.
He’s planning to take his time.
My heart thuds in my chest as he tugs me gently toward the stairs.
Nate was the first man I was ever with. I’ve slept with other men since him, though, so it doesn’t make sense, these nerves that swirl in my stomach, the nerves that cause my heart to race like I’m a virgin again.
Nate pauses as we reach the top of the stairs and looks back at me, his eyes searching my face.
“Rory,” he says, cupping my cheeks between his hands. “Is this what you want?”
This shouldn’t be a big deal. It isn’t a big deal. We’ve had sex before, more than once. Nate was my first, and I always thought that was the time that would stick with me. But today seems…different somehow. Maybe even more important than that first time.
Because while losing our virginity to one another was a landmark, this could change everything between us.
“Yes,” I say, barely getting the words out before his lips capture mine again, plundering deep.
If it weren’t for Nate holding me up, I’d fall down the stairs when he pulls back. That’s how weak my knees are.
“Come on,” he says softly, leading me toward his bedroom.
I raise my eyebrows. In the haze of my emotions, there’s something in the back of my mind that reminds me that this was his parents’ bedroom years ago. It’s like we’re sneaking around after school.
Kind of like we did in my parents’ house back then.
The parallel deepens the significance of this, but instead of having second thoughts, I’m more certain than ever.
He pushes the door open, and I step in ahead of him.
The last time I was in here, I was focused on getting Spam off the bed, but now I take it all in.
The room suits him, shades of black and gray and off-white with some accents of mustard yellow here and there.
It’s so well put together that I wonder for a moment if he hired a designer.
A small flame of jealousy flares inside me at the idea that another woman has been in here.
Nate pulls me into him again. “You’re what I’ve needed all these years, Rory,” he says, and I wonder if it’s the same for me.
Is he why I’ve never found anyone who makes me feel the same things at my core?
My center tingles as his hands come to the hem of my shirt. He draws it up and over my head agonizingly slowly, an inch at a time, until I’m standing in front of him in my bra.
He runs his thumbs over the swell of my breasts that peek above my bra. His touch is electric, making me suck in a breath.
“Nate. Please.” I don’t know what I’m asking him. To stop? To keep going? To bury himself in me and never let me go?
The backs of my knees hit the bed. I stare up at him, searching his face.
“You’re what I need,” he says again.
He strips off his shirt, and holy mother freaking hotness. The last time I saw Nate shirtless was when we were having fumbling teenage sex one of those times in my childhood bedroom, and he didn’t look like…this.
I follow the path between his hard pecs down to his abs, which are defined in a way I’ve only seen in magazines, all firm muscles and solid lines. A sprinkle of hair dusts his chest, and below his navel, a trail of dark hair pulls my gaze down to his—
“Like what you see?” Nate says, laughter in his voice.
Yes. Oh, fuck, yes. Who would have thought that Nate Patterson would grow up into a Greek god?
“I, uh…” is all I can manage.
Nate’s deep chuckle goes straight to my core.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you.” His arms circle around me and lower me to the bed.
I don’t even have time to feel self-conscious as he peels my pants off, leaving me in just my bra and panties.
He pauses and looks down, his gaze raking over me as he rubs a hand over his jaw. “Jesus, Rory. You’re fucking gorgeous.”
“Like what you see?” I ask, trying for a teasing tone as I echo his words, but it comes out as a harsh whisper, the vulnerability barely below the surface.
Because I want him to like what he sees. To want me.
“I fucking love it,” he says, shedding his own pants and standing before me in boxer briefs, a bulge clearly visible between his legs.
Nate climbs onto the bed and kneels above me as he kisses my shoulder then my collarbone. I tilt my head to the side to give him access to my neck, but he moves down my chest, pressing his lips to my skin as he traces a path between my breasts.
His fingers slip the straps down from my shoulders, and he reaches around me and unclasps my bra with one hand, a skill he definitely didn’t have ten years ago.
I swallow hard as he pulls a nipple into his mouth, licking and sucking and biting gently while he rolls the other between his fingers. Electricity jolts from my nipples straight to the apex of my thighs.
He didn’t know how to do this when we were in high school, either, and suddenly I’m wondering what else he’s learned since then.
Nate shaves his face every morning, or at least he has since I’ve been here. By the evenings, he has a five-o’clock shadow. I’ve secretly admired it since I first got here and marveled at the scrape of his whiskers against my face as we kissed.
But the sensation when they rub against the sensitive skin of my breasts is an entirely different thing, one that has me gasping and wondering what it’ll feel like between my legs.
I don’t have to wait long to find out.
Nate hooks his fingers in the elastic of my underwear and drags them over my hips.
His gaze fixes on the apex of my thighs. “You’re so goddamn beautiful.”
My cheeks heat as he stares at me. I don’t do a lot of, shall we say, landscaping down there, and at least one prior boyfriend commented on it. I wondered for a while if that was why he broke up with me.
But Nate is looking at me like I’m a rare work of art that he needs to study to take in my full beauty.
He runs his hands down my sides, pausing at my thighs. His thumbs stroke the spot where my legs meet my hips, and fuck, has this spot always been so sensitive? Or is my body made to respond to his?
I let my head fall back against the pillow as a small moan escapes my lips.
Then he says my name, and I open my eyes.
He runs a hand over his jaw, meeting my gaze. “I’ve wanted this for so long. Wanted you. I want to take this slow and make it good for you, but…fuck. It’s going to be hard to slow down.”
I shake my head, needing to feel him between my legs. Needing him to touch me, to take me. “Don’t go slow. It’s… I need you, too.”
Nate picks up my legs, lifting behind my knees, and hooks my legs over his shoulders. I’m so open, so exposed, but all I can do is drop my head to the bed as my eyes roll back in my head.
His whiskers scrape along my inner thighs as he trails kisses up one side, then the other. I moan as it sends a wave of heat straight to my core, even though he hasn’t even touched me there yet.
When he brings his face to my center and runs his tongue in one long swipe, from my entrance to my clit, I practically come right then and there, and I’m so far gone when it comes to this man.
He does it again and again, sucking my clit into his mouth and gently biting down and then alternating that with long, slow strokes of his tongue. It’s all I can do to keep from clamping my legs around his neck like a vise to hold him there as waves of pleasure start to take over.
“Oh, God. Nate. Oh…” I pant, not even sure if my words are intelligible.
He pulls his head back. I let out a whine, needing more, but he’s already shedding his boxer shorts, lowering my legs gently down.
“Scoot back,” he says, gesturing with his head. “All the way back to the headboard.”
I obey, unable to tear my gaze away from his body.
I know this man, or at least I thought I did.
I’ve seen all of him. But he didn’t look like this back then.
His arms are corded with muscle, his chest broad with a sprinkle of dark hair.
His hips form a V that has my gaze following it down, and when I do, I gulp.
Is it my imagination, or is his cock bigger?
I suck in a breath. Nate winks at me, bends down, and comes up with a foil packet that he must have stored in his pants pocket. My body starts to tremble as he rips the packet open and sheaths himself, smooth and practiced, so unlike the fumbling I remember from so long again.
Nate climbs onto the bed and settles himself above me, parting my legs with his knees. He positions himself at my entrance, and I wasn’t imagining that he’s bigger than he was the last time we were together. His girth stretches me, even as he’s barely pressing in.
“You’re so goddamn perfect, babe,” he says, his voice a harsh whisper. “I’ve waited so fucking long for this. For you.”
I open my mouth to respond, but all that comes out is a gasp as he thrusts into me slowly, an inch at a time, slow and steady.
“You’re so tight,” he says. His voice is strained. “God, you feel amazing.”
I tilt my hips to take him deeper. Inch by slow inch, he fills me, finally bottoming out when I feel so full that he must be filling my entire body.
“Nate,” I groan, barely able to form a word. “You feel…”
He starts to move, pulling back and thrusting all the way in, and the words fly out of my head.
All that exists is this sensation while he pistons his hips, his pace controlled—slow at first, then faster.
A coiling starts in my center, growing tighter as his thrusts increase in speed and force. His hips plow into mine. I’ve never had sex like this—so all-consuming, where my entire body is taken over.
“So good, Rory,” he grunts, slamming into me again, alternating his faster strokes with slower ones. “So. Fucking. Good.”
I’m right on the edge, about to tumble over. “I’m going to come,” I pant out. “I’m—”
I cut myself off with a whine as he pulls out completely, leaving me clenching around nothing.
I force my eyes open.
Nate’s fingers wrap around his length while he looks down at me with a teasing grin. “You need this?”
I give him a pleading look, and he presses into me an inch. I lift my hips, needing more.
“Like this?” he asks, still teasing as he fucks me with his tip, not giving me more than two inches at a time. “Or like”—he drives himself home—“this?”
“Oh, fuck,” I manage, as he bottoms out, his groin pressed up against mine. “Nate.”
His thrusts slow and become hard, almost punishing. This time, when my core tightens, he grips my hips, pulling me into him. “Come for me, Rory.”
He swells inside me and lets out a groan as I shatter around him, both of us coming together while stars dance in my vision.
Nate lowers his forehead to mine. His breath is ragged, and as I pull in a breath, I realize mine is, too.
“Sorry, babe,” he says. “I wanted to last a lot longer than that. It’s just been so long.”
He lifts his head to press a kiss to my forehead, then he pulls out slowly. He disappears into the bathroom to take care of the condom.
When he returns, he climbs into bed next to me and holds out his arm.
“That was perfect,” I whisper, curling into him.
And so is this, I realize. My head fits perfectly against his shoulder like this spot was made for me. As his chin settles on the top of my head, I wonder if maybe it was. If we were made for one another.
“Give me a minute.” He shifts next to me and pulls me closer with one arm, yawning. “I’ll be ready to go again.”
I nod, closing my eyes to rest for a minute as I press my thighs together, loving the delicious soreness that’s already noticeable. Another round will make me feel this tomorrow, but somehow, I’m ready for more even now.
I blink my eyes against the bright sun that’s streaming through the window, confused for a minute until I realize where I am.
Nate’s arm is still wrapped around me, holding me tight, his breath tickling the top of my head as he snores softly. I replay the evening in my mind.
Taking the dogs to the field.
Telling him the reason I broke it off back then.
Kissing.
Having mind-blowing sex, then falling asleep together.
I bite my bottom lip. Last night changed everything. Didn’t it?
My stomach twists with nerves as I look over at Nate’s sleeping form.
Did it change everything for him, too? And what does it mean for us now?