Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
SOFIA
“Shit, Soph, that feels so—”
Nico grips the sheet, his forearms flexing with the effort of keeping his hands still. The tendons in his neck are tight. His features are both hard and soft—all strong lines and angles, but softened with affection.
As our eyes meet, his gaze burns into mine.
“It feels so what?” I ask as I stroke his velvety length, from base to tip and back again. He’s hot and slick in my hand, growing bigger by the second. His arousal throbs. Twitches. His hips jerk towards me.
His hand comes to my breast. Then he rolls my nipple between his fingers, setting off sparks of electricity that go straight to my core. My inner walls convulse around nothingness, reminding me of how desperately I want to feel Nico inside me.
“Incredible,” he replies. His voice dips. “Feeling you touch me, seeing you like this…”
As I stroke him again, he gives my nipple a little tweak. It’s the perfect amount of pain amid this storm of pleasure, and I thrust my breast into his hand instinctively.
“Ah.” A satisfied smirk quirks Nico’s lips. “Do you like that?”
Before I can answer, he reaches between my legs with his other hand and plunges one finger inside me. As he pumps his thick finger in and out, he lightly pinches my nipple again.
My stomach tightens. Need pulses through me.
“I think you do,” Nico adds. He sounds pleased with himself. “Am I right?”
“Yes,” I breathe. Then I stroke him again, adding more pressure this time. He thickens. More pre-cum leaks out. With the extra lubrication, I move my hand faster. Working him. Bringing him closer to the edge.
Nico gasps, and I add smugly, “I think you like this, too, don’t you?”
Rather than answering, he leans down to take my nipple into his mouth. First, he sucks hard. Then his teeth lightly graze my sensitive skin.
My breath catches.
Nico adds a second finger to the first, stretching me. As he moves in and out, faster and faster, he curls them inside me, hitting that little spot I’d nearly forgotten.
My belly quivers.
My skin feels like it’s on fire.
Desire builds; a fire kindling into an inferno.
Nico releases my nipple and leans back to look at me. “I do,” he agrees. “I love it when you touch me like this.” He palms my breast, plumping it in his big hand. “And I love touching you. Watching how you respond to me.”
With him above me, sitting back like he is, I have the perfect view of Nico’s broad chest and those gorgeous tattoos. I never considered myself a big fan of tattoos before, but on him? I can’t get enough.
I can’t explain it. There’s just something about watching the play of the intricately drawn lines as he moves. The movement of the feathers on his arm when he reaches for something. The flex of the fox’s head with every rise and fall of Nico’s chest. And those little initials just above his heart…
They make me sad, yes. Thinking of that boy who loved me so much he snuck off to get our initials inked on his body forever. Of how we were so sure we’d be together forever.
They remind me of what we lost.
But they also remind me of what we had together. How beautiful it was.
And they give me hope for the future.
When I first came here, I couldn’t have imagined it. Me and Nico, together again? After what he’d done? What his father had done?
But as much as Nico’s still the same in so many ways, he’s different, too.
He’s older, of course. More experienced. He’s not that boy who took his father’s word as truth. Nico makes his own decisions. He called out his father for the lies he told.
He risked his life for me.
But I don’t want to be with Nico out of gratitude or a wistful longing to revisit the past.
Being with Nico just feels right.
Being with him feels like coming home after being lost for a very long time.
So, yes. I can see a future for us. I want a future for us.
Nico leans forward to kiss me. “I would do anything for you. You know that, right?”
As I look into his eyes, I can see the truth of his words.
“I know.” I cup the back of his head, pulling him back in for another kiss. “And I would do anything for you, too.”
“Soph.” Emotion tightens his features. “You don’t have to. I just want to take care of you. Make you happy. Prove—”
“You do make me happy.” It’s another truth. Maybe not before, but he does now. And though my inner voice of logic might argue that I’m forgiving Nico too quickly, my heart doesn’t agree.
“I’ll do anything,” he replies. “As many cupcakes as you want. Puzzles. If you want an entire bakery, I’ll buy it. Or an island—”
“An island? Why would I want an island?”
Nico’s gaze slides to the side. “No reason.”
“I don’t need a bakery. Or an island.” Although, now that I’m thinking about it, a private island getaway doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Brushing a lock of hair back from his face, I add, “Do you know what would make me happy right now?”
“Tell me. I’ll get it right away.”
I stroke him, tracing a vein down the length of his arousal. “I want you. Inside me. Now.”
“Oh.” A smile curves his lips. “Well. I think I could manage that.” Then he rolls me over onto my back and braces himself above me. “Less jostling your shoulder this way,” he explains. “And your head.”
“I’m fine—”
Nico silences me with a hard and fast kiss. “I’m not taking any chances, Soph. Later, once the doctor says you’re totally clear, we can do any position you want. But for now—”
“Like some of the poses in the Kama Sutra?”
He grabs a condom from the nightside table—no sprinting naked across the room this time, which is actually a little disappointing, since I got to see Nico’s bare ass in all its glory as he did it—and tears it open. “I might have to refresh my memory. But sure. Any pose you want.”
“Any pose?” Taking the condom from him, I roll it on. Then I spread my legs in an unspoken invitation.
Nico notches himself at my center. “If I recall, some of them looked pretty… acrobatic. So I might need to take some pilates or something.”
The idea of Nico taking pilates classes makes me laugh. A beat later, the mental image of Nico walking into a class full of women sends jealousy surging through me.
Not that I think he’d hit on any of them, but still.
“You don’t have to take pilates,” I tell him. “We’ll stick to the less acrobatic ones. And maybe we can focus on the ones where you have to hold me up with all your muscles.”
Nico holds my hips as he starts to sink into me. “All my muscles?”
“Yes.” I touch his arm. “All your muscles. They’re very sexy. And I think I’d very much like to be carried around by you.”
His gaze heats. “That, Soph, I can definitely do.”
And then he plunges deep, filling me completely.
My breath gusts out in a rush.
My inner muscles flutter around him.
His hand comes to my cheek, so strong, yet tender. “Soph.” His voice is thick. “Out of everything I’ve seen in the world, you’re the most beautiful.”
Then he moves.
All thoughts of acrobatics and pilates and the Kama Sutra disappear.
It’s just me and Nico. Joined for our second, second time.
And just like all the times before, it’s perfect.
I wonder how long it’ll be before Nico gets back.
A quick look at my phone tells me he’s been gone for almost two hours. Not a long time, in the scheme of things. But in these circumstances, it feels far too long.
How long does it take to get to Murray Hill from here? Geographically, it’s less than twenty miles. But with morning traffic in the city? It could take Nico over an hour just to get there.
And once he’s in Queens, who knows how long it’ll take to deal with the man he’s looking for—assuming the man is even home, which he might not be. At least an hour, maybe two…
Or maybe the man opens the door to Nico and Wraith and just starts shooting.
Maybe Nico won’t come home, like he promised.
Maybe Knight will get a call from the hospital, letting him know that Nico’s been hurt.
Maybe Wraith will call with the horrible news that Nico’s injuries are worse—
No. Frowning, I shake my head. Nico said he’d be fine. That what he was doing wouldn’t be dangerous at all.
“It won’t take long,” he said, “and there’s nothing to worry about. Wraith and I will find the guy, talk to him, and be back before you know it.”
I was still lying in bed, feeling deliciously sated from our very enjoyable second, second time, waiting for Nico to come back with the coffee he’d gone into the kitchen to make.
The plan was to have coffee in bed, then shower together—it’s better for the environment, after all—and then get back to looking through my cases.
But instead, Nico came back with only one cup of coffee and a grim expression. “The program got a hit,” he explained. “A guy named Jase Harrigan. He was in the building at the time of the shooting. And though he hasn’t been convicted, he’s been a person of interest in several murders.”
“I hate to leave,” Nico continued, “but I need to talk to this guy myself. Wraith’s coming with me, and I asked Jester and Knight to come here to stay with you.
The guy lives in Queens, so, hopefully, it won’t take too long.
And hopefully”—his jaw tightened and anger flared in his eyes—“he’ll give me the information I want. ”
Somehow, I don’t think talking is what he’s actually planning. But Nico didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.
Honestly, if I were about to face someone who took a shot at Nico, I’m not sure talking’s all I’d want to do, either.
“This is good news,” he told me as he perched at the edge of the bed and played with my hair. “If this is the guy, I can find out why he was there. If he acted alone or if someone sent him. And then…”
Then we could put an end to this whole messed up thing. I would be safe. I could go back to my normal life, my job—assuming my clients haven’t bailed on me by now—and see about a future with Nico outside of the walls of his condo.