Her wet hair ticked the back of his arm and Nick wondered what it would feel like running down his chest, covering his thighs. He wanted to bury his face in that hair. Get lost in those curls. He frowned. Her mouth was moving. Forcing himself to focus, he opened his ears to hear the sound.
“You could throw your back out picking me up like this.”
He laughed at her. “You’ll have to do a lot more than what you’re doing to throw my back out, love.”
Focusing on his task, Nick took a few quick steps to her bedroom. She leaned down and opened the door as Nick carefully stepped over the threshold, pausing a moment before he stepped inside her private sanctuary for the first time.
He could easily make out the bed by the light of the moon; it was a sweet, but in a way sensual, old-fashioned thing. The brass frame was curved with tarnished spindles, and just holding her lush figure in his arms and looking at that bed got all sorts of erotic images flashing through his mind. He looked up, and the twinkling of the crystal chandelier above the bed seemed to tease him too.
Nick had to bite back a growl as the image of him lying on that bed and looking up at her—oh yes, her—gyrating above him, those beautiful curls flowing wildly around her shoulders, the chandelier creating a crystal halo around her head. Nick felt his cock jump. Shit. He hoped she didn’t feel it too. The last thing he needed now was to come off as the dude who got the hard-on while helping the limping girl to her bed. But he couldn’t help it; his mind was full of newly discovered fantasies about slipping silk ties around those pretty wrists and tying her to that sexy brass bed.
Nick audibly growled this time and hurriedly carried Gabby the rest of the way to the bed, dropping her in place.
“Got a little heavy for ya?”
He looked down at her with irritation. “What?”
“I heard you grunt. So I got I little heavy, huh?” She shrugged. “I told you I was no lightweight.”
He frowned, shaking his head. “And I told you. It would take a lot more than a few steps for you to be heavy to me.”
“All right then, He-Man. No need to get testy.”
Nick felt his jaw tighten. Why the hell did she have to always do that? It was bad enough that he felt an instant coldness, an irrational emptiness when her body disengaged from his. Why did she have to try to pick a fight with him on top of it? He turned away from her. “I’ll just go and get you a candle, or something, and some ice for your ankle.”
“You don’t have to do that; I’ve got it. Really, I think I’ll be fine with just some rest.”
But Nick was already gone, Gabby’s voice distant, as he was halfway down the hall and on his way to the kitchen, putting some much-needed distance between himself, temptation, and that bed.
Chapter 11
Gabby was dumbstruck.
Nick had picked her up and carried her, her, to her bed. No man had ever picked her up and just carried her as if she were some light as a feather little stick figure. And then to top it off, he was all flustered! As if she was the type to make one fluster. But there were no two ways around it: Nick Ross was flustered.
She crossed her arms over her chest, the towel shifting and giving her a reminder that she needed to do something about her current state of undress. But a smile quirked at the corners of her mouth as her brow rose with devilish intent.
Was it the towel that was the turn on for him? Maybe that was the thing that got him all hot and bothered. Hell, he hadn’t been that moved when he saw her completely nude, popping out of the bath. Did Nick have some damsel-in-distress fetish? That hard prick nudging her ass on the way down the hall told her that he did.
She had to find out for sure. After all these years of flapping over the unflappable Nick Ross, it was nice to see him a little off kilter. Not that she wanted to go poking the beast and all—although from the feel of things, poking at his beast could be all sorts of fun. Her grin went wider as she fanned herself. This was quickly turning into an opportunity that was just too sweet to pass up. It wasn’t every day that a girl like her got picked up and carried down the hall and to her bed. Gabby bit at her lip as an uneasiness threated to settle in her belly. She’d just told herself she wanted to try a new lane, but messing around and shifting too fast with a proven danger like Nick could end up with her crashing and burning.
Gabby jumped and straightened when she heard him coming back down the hall.
But Nick was looking more like his no-nonsense self. She was slightly put out to see that he’d changed and was back in his basketball shorts. He even had on his sneakers and a tee shirt, and seemed not flustered at all anymore. Damn. Maybe she was completely off with her theory. “Here’s a candle from the living room and baggie with some ice.”
“Oh, sorry. I’ve got a candle right here,” she said, nodding toward the lavender-scented candle by her bed. In her brain scatter she had forgotten about it. For a moment Nick’s eyes went from the candle by her bed back to the lit one he was holding in his hand. Then his eyes raked over her body leaving behind the physical sensation of touch. She clutched at her towel and looked up at him. “Why are you dressed?” Damn, was that her voice all squeaky and weak like that? She coughed. “I mean, it looks like you’re going out.”
He took two long strides, coming closer, leaned over her, and lit the candle. His face glowed mahogany in the flickering light. Those eyes swept over her again. “We’re low on ice. I just checked my iPad and it looks like most of Manhattan’s without power. I’m going to run out for a minute before things get too crazy. You just put your foot up. I’ll be right back.”
He quickly grabbed the pillow by her side and brought it to the foot of the bed. Gently, he went to lift her foot, and Gabby grabbed at the towel to cover her lower region.
“Don’t worry, I’m just going for your foot.”
“I know,” she answered, hoping her voice wasn’t too husky with need.
His lips curled in a half smile, half smirk that was so unreadable it poked at her nerves. “I’m sure you do.” Then his fingers caressed smoothly around her ankle, and he lifted and twisted it a bit. “You okay? Any pain?”
It was tender, but she was fine. It didn’t hurt all that much. “It’s not so bad. I think it’s just bruised. It doesn’t seem to be swelling.”
He poked around and touched at one spot, and she winced. “Hmm, we’ll see.” Nick placed the ice gently around her foot. “You stay put. I’ll be right back. You want me to pick up anything else? Something to eat?”
She was still a little hungry, but now she was too tired to eat. It seemed her appetite had gone the same way of his amorous mood. Maybe she’d imagined the whole thing. Gabby shook her head.
“Okay. Don’t get up,” he said, as if she’d go traipsing around in the dark with nothing but a glimmer of firelight to lead her way. She just nodded and, with that, he was gone.
• • •
Gabby didn’t know she had dozed off until she felt Nick again at her feet. She jumped, pulling her foot back and letting out a small “Ouch.”
“Shh, it’s okay, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He rubbed at her foot for a long moment, pinning her with his dark eyes. For a moment she wondered if she was dreaming. She looked to her right and saw the candle flickering low, then back at herself barely covered in that towel, then back at him on the edge of the bed staring at her, gently rubbing her hurt foot. She suddenly found it hard to breathe.
“How long have you been sitting there?” The words came out much lower than she intended. She swallowed and coughed, feeling the need to clear her throat.
“Not too long…but long enough,” he replied, his eyes not wavering. His hand was still on her bare foot. His voice was deep and husky and full of something she’d never heard before. Gabby’s hands instinctively clutched the towel closer to her breasts. Slowly she began to pull her foot away from his hand, but then his gaze left hers and Nick leaned down, kissing the spot that had given Gabby pain. The intimate shock of it sent a thrill
right to her most sensitive erogenous zone.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Kissing the hurt,” he said, meeting her eyes.
The candle had burned low and the darkness surrounded them but still she saw him. She saw his eyes and saw the boy she knew in the dark all those years ago.
All at once her body raged war with her mind. She wanted him even more now, if it was possible, than she’d wanted him back then. It was those eyes. They were deep, dark, and deadly serious.
“What are you really doing, Nick?” Gabby fought for control, to keep her true feelings and emotion from her voice. She had to show him she wasn’t the same person she was back then.
He pulled back, sitting up straight and moving the now melted ice bag away and placing it on the floor. He held up another, going to place it on her ankle. “I don’t know, Gabby. I hardly ever know what I’m doing. All I know is seeing you here, now, I know this is what I want.”
Once again, Gabby was stunned. Why was he telling her this? Why now? She sat up a little straighter in the bed, pulling the magic towel with her.
“Are you all right? Is this about Claire?”
Nick laughed; the sound was raw, and she felt it down in her belly. She watched him study the floor a moment. “No, Claire is the furthest thing on my mind right now.”
It was Gabby’s turn to laugh and Nick looked up at her sharply. “Come on, you have to admit, even for you that’s funny. Right now? So given our history, can I assume you’ll be thinking about Claire or whomever as soon as the sun rises?”
His eyes shot up to meet her own. “You know that’s not fair.”
“Fine,” She shot back. “But then what is happening here? Please don’t tell me it’s about me and some long-simmering feelings, because you know I’m not buying it. Remember we have history.”
His breathing was slow and deep as his words came out. “And what if I did? Why is that so hard for you to believe?”
Gabby pulled her feet back, away from where they were resting so close to his lap. She moved to get up. “I think I’m going to have to put some clothes on for this. Obviously you’re one of those guys who gets loopy when he’s gone a while without sex, and all your good reasoning ability has left your head and gone to your dick.”
She stood up, wincing only slightly when her bad foot hit the floor, and he grabbed her around her waist from where he was sitting, pulling her toward him burying his head into her stomach. “Shit, Gabby, you know that’s not true. You know what I’m feeling is real, and you know I’m fighting it just as much as you are.”
Gabby stilled, and mentally dared the tears to fall. How could she get wrapped up in him even for a moment? She pushed at Nick’s chest, surprising him and sending him reeling back on the bed as she clutched at her towel.
“You know what? I’m done. You win. I’m done fighting with you, Nick. You’ve got me here once again in the dark so why can’t you just call it what it is? A hormonal thing. A way for both of us to get what we need and move on. Beyond that, you’re not what I need, and I’m definitely not what you want.”
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand, stopping him.
“I’m not one of your perfect little chicks that you can parade around to add to the Nick Ross image and I never will be. I’m also not the girl who needs you to pay her a bit of attention to make her feel better, so you can keep your in-the-dark-pity-fuck ideas to yourself.” Gabby swallowed hard, taking down the tears, the hurt, the pain.
Nick looked up at her, his eyes once again unreadable. Good, maybe she’d finally done it. Finally gone and exercised the demon once and for all. Then he blinked and she could clearly see them glistening, round and large and shiny, even in the nebulous darkness of the blackout. He licked his full lips and his voice came out in a croak. “Did you ever stop to think it’s me that needs you? I’m not pitying you at all, Gabby; it’s you that should pity me.”
She closed her eyes against the emotions that slammed at her chest. Her fingers ached to reach forward and caress him, but her own better judgment stopped her. She tried to step back, fighting against the wetness that pooled between her thighs. “You need to stay here. Get back in bed,” he said low.
“No, I really need to go.”
“You, me. One of us always needs to go,” he said dryly. “So why are we both still here?”
She felt it all at once. Everything inside her went soft. “Mistakes will be made.”
He looked up at her, dark eyes meeting and holding hers. “The mistake was made long ago. You ever going to let me make it right?” His lips quirked up at one corner in a half smile half grimace as his eyes trailed down her body. “Besides the only mistake right now is you standing on that foot. Here, I brought you twenty-dollar ice. Can’t that at least get me something in return?”
She stepped forward and smacked lightly at his head. “Really, Nick, you think I’m going to put out for twenty-dollar ice?”
Nick looked thoughtful for a moment then laughed up at her, his eyes going way too serious for her comfort. “No, but I hope you’ll sit down and at least consider forgiving me for twenty-dollar ice.”
Gabby stared at him, her chest seizing up, her mind going all tilt-a-whirl, her legs going soft.
Forgiveness was something she’d never quite understood or wrapped her head around. She didn’t get the concept. Sure, she got the theory, but the practice was another thing entirely. Her heart was something she couldn’t quite control, so the act of forgiveness to her was just that, an act. In her heart of hearts, she’d love to forgive Nick for that night in the closet and those moments after when he’d dismissed her and their time together as nothing more than another notch in his belt. A mistake made, to be moved past. But it was something she’d never forget, and so she just didn’t know how to forgive.
But she was tired. Tired of the depravation and the unexplored feelings she still had for him. Tired of hating and punishing herself for having those feelings. She didn’t know how to tell her heart to stop feeling that hate, but she also didn’t know how to stop it from feeling the love she still had for him.
Gabby smiled down at Nick. Then, taking a deep breath, she summoned that girl that ran from that closet in all that pain and whispered silently in her ear to trust her, that it would all be all right, that she would take care of her. Then she gave her lips a lick and grinned at Nick. “Kiss my foot one more time then ask me that question again.” When he gave her a questioning gaze, Gabby dropped the towel and watched Nick suck in a breath. “You want me to bring the towel back? You seem to like it,” she purred.
He gave her a swat on her behind, causing her to jump. “You do talk a lot, don’t you?”
“Is that a problem?”
He looked up into her face, his eyes twinkling by candlelight from between her breasts. “You just keep talking then. It won’t bother me a bit. I’ll be fine right here.”
Nick then proceeded to take one of her nipples into his mouth, bringing his large hand up to caress the other. Gabby uttered an unbidden gasp as his tongue took her in fully and he sucked strongly. He pulled away and looked back up at her with a quizzical expression. “Um, why so quiet?”
She felt flush, her tongue thick and heavy so she could barely make out her words. “Oh, shut up you, and just keep going.”
Nick grinned at that and ran his tongue in between her breasts, sending a shiver throughout her body. “Come,” he said, taking hold of her behind and pulling her forward toward his lap.
“Not yet,” she replied in a haze.
He laughed. “Baby, I’m good but I’m not that good. You’ve gotta give me a minute. No, I mean, come here.”
Pulling her forward he led her to straddle his lap. The silky feel of his shorts was soft and slippery against her thighs. Nick leaned back, pausing to look at her again. Gabby fought not to move, suddenly feeling open and exposed. She was grateful for the blackout and the low light of the candle. But then Nick’s voice cam
e out, low and soft, a sweet whisper drifting to her ear: “Damn, woman you are so beautiful.”
She felt her face go hot and tears threaten at the rims of her eyes. Her chest felt tight as she blinked and tugged at the hem of Nick’s tee. “And you are way too dressed. I’m feeling like this is out of balance.”
Nick leaned back, pulled off his tee, and dropped it to the floor. He pinned her with his eyes, suddenly still and all seriousness. “Are you sure?” he asked.
No, her mind told her. A trillion times no. But her heart and her hormones drowned it out. She looked into Nick’s eyes, down at his wide expanse of chest, back up to his lips, and leaned in. She got close and pulled back, hovering over him a brief moment, all seriousness, just as he was. It was as if the girl from the closet was just jumping up and demanding to be heard. “It’s a blackout. Let’s consider this a special occasion.”
She saw a slight frown sweep across his brow, but then it was gone, and he came forward. Nick’s lips were soft and warm as his arms encircled her body, hard and strong. She leaned into him and felt him grow harder then he already was underneath her spread center, and in that one blissful moment when her tongue, breath, heart, and memory mingled with him she felt powerful. For the first time, she felt strong too. Strong enough to take him on.
Gabby wrapped her arms around Nick and sunk into him, tasting his sweetness, feeling his heat, gaining even more power. It was as if she were building from his strength. Breathing hard, they came apart and looked at each other. He seemed wild, or maybe it was her. She didn’t know. Suddenly Nick lifted her and threw her down on the bed.
“Don’t move.”
She smiled. “You say that a lot.”
“You’re talking again?”
She quirked a brow. “I hope not for long.”
“Me too.” Then Nick was gone, but just as quickly he was back with a handful of condoms. She could have said something about having her own in her bedside drawer, but she was enjoying watching him take charge way too much. Besides, the way she was feeling, she was ready to jump out of her skin—and jump she almost did when he dropped his shorts and underwear, revealing his massive and obvious desire to her. Her mouth dropped open and her head fell back, her curls hitting her pillow, a long sigh escaping her lips.
Threads Of Desire (Creative Hearts Book 3) Page 11
