Still shaking from the force of his orgasm and with the last of his energy, Nick pulled her back up tight in to his embrace, then he collapsed backwards on to the bed, taking her with him as he went. She managed a small gasp of surprise, but that was all she could handle: she was as exhausted as he was and she fell on to his heaving chest, her face buried in the curve of his corded throat.
They both came down slowly, their pants turning to gasps then to breaths. Nick nuzzled her neck, inhaled the sweet scent of her hair that was spread all over him in a tangled, sexy mess. She smiled, turned her face to his. Met his lips in a sweet, sated kiss.
“You good?” he asked huskily.
“Mmmm-hmmm.” She sounded like she needed a sleep, and Nick grinned and mentally high-fived himself for a job well done. “You?”
“Oh, yeah.” He shifted his hips, by some insane miracle still semi-hard inside her. She moaned, shut her eyes again. “You ready for a rest?”
“Mmmm-hmmm,” she repeated.
He slid out of her, then gently rolled her over on the bed. She blinked at him like a sleepy kitten, and he knew that she was going to pass out any second. First, though, he had to take care of her all the way, so he covered her up, then swung his legs off the bed.
“Be right back,” he said, getting to his one foot. He hung on to the wall, using it for balance as he hopped to the bathroom for a cloth. He hopped back, saw Mia watching him, and he was astonished to find that he didn’t mind her seeing him like this, not at all.
This whole time, he’d thought that he’d die if Mia saw him hopping around…especially naked. When he’d played this exact scenario out in his head, something about it had felt unbelievably embarrassing and comedic – maybe even pathetic – but now that it was here and happening, it was actually – fine.
It was totally fine.
He sat down on the bed, gently opened her legs. He cleaned their mingled releases from her sensitive pussy lips and her delicate upper thighs, and she watched him with a small smile.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“No problem.” He stood up again. “Gimme two minutes.”
She nodded drowsily, and he knew she was seconds from letting go. Sure enough, by the time he’d rinsed the cloth and cleaned himself up and hopped back to the bedroom, Mia was out cold, all curled up in a sweet, small ball.
Nick climbed in to bed, moved to her. He spooned her, lowered his mouth to the back of her neck. He gave her a tiny kiss and Mia stirred, sighed in his arms. He tightened his grip around her, loving how she felt against him.
This was where she belonged. Where he belonged.
This was home.
I’m going to marry this woman.
He had a few more things to do first, though… and that meant calling in some reinforcements.
He knew just who to call, too.
Chapter Eleven
Three days later
Adam attached his laptop to the gym speaker system and found the file that Katie had saved for tonight. With a wince at what was coming, he clicked on the music file and the strains of some sappy song began to blast around the empty gym. Katie said that Mia loved this singer, so Adam shut his ears as best he could and soldiered on.
He walked out to the large, open area covered in mats. Usually, it was used for the more intensive martial arts classes where people were getting thrown to the floor over and over again. Tonight, though, it was going to serve a different purpose.
“OK,” Nick said to Keegan as Adam wandered over and stood next to the men. “Gimme some tips on doing this without falling flat on my ass.”
“Sure thing, man.” Keegan flashed Adam a cocky smile. “You ready?”
“Mmm-hmmm.” Adam reminded himself that he loved Nick like a brother, and that’s why he’d agreed to this. Having said that, he was glad to have closed The Rock three hours early, thereby ensuring that there’d be no witnesses. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Alright.” Keegan motioned to Nick. “Come on over here and get into position.”
Glaring at the double entendre, Adam walked over to Nick. Almost toe-to-toe they stood and stared at each other.
“Nick’s leadin’, so Adam, you put your hand on his shoulder,” Keegan said with barely-concealed glee. “Nick, hand on Adam’s waist.”
Grimly and with no eye contact whatsoever, the men did as Keegan instructed.
“OK, now,” Keegan continued. “Clasp your other hands together.”
Adam and Nick did, and Adam found himself wondering about a few things.
First, having other guys all up in his space was nothing new. He’d been a pro boxer, of course, and his official work uniform had been nothing more than a pair of shorts, shoes, and gloves. He’d been up-close and personal with hundreds of sweaty, grunting, half-naked men, so why being all pressed up on a fully-clothed one was doing his head in was a bit of a mystery.
Second, he and Nick had been sparring partners for years, so Adam had smashed the guy in the face and body without hesitation or compunction. Hell, Nick had returned the favor enthusiastically, by doing drop-kicks and spin-kicks and getting in a few punches himself. So Adam had no issues beating Nick, or being beaten by Nick, into submission.
So why was Adam being so weird about dancing with the guy?
Shaking his head at his own bizarre and complicated form of macho-ness, Adam rolled his massive shoulders. “You doing OK, Nick?”
“Yeah.” Nick gave him a tiny grin and Adam saw his friend’s own discomfort, though Adam suspected Nick was feeling vulnerable and worried about falling down, not holding Adam’s hand. His next words showed Adam just how right that suspicion was. “I want to apologize in advance if I fall over and land on top of you.”
“Shit, man. If you’re gonna do that, can you at least buy me dinner first?”
They exchanged real smiles now, then Nick turned his attention to Keegan.
“You feel balanced?” Keegan asked him. “You’re not leanin’ too heavy on Adam?”
Nick shifted his weight. “I think I am leaning too much.”
“Adam can take that,” Keegan said. “He’s taller than you and probably outweighs you by thirty pounds. But you lean too hard on your girl, she’s gonna go down, Nick. You need to hold on to Mia without usin’ her for balance. Hell, what you really want is for her to curl all up on you, to lean on in and use you as a rock.”
Nick nodded. Yeah, that was exactly what he wanted.
“So, you gotta be strong and stable. Someone she can depend on and just relax into.” Keegan came over now, stood right behind Nick. He studied his body, his back, his shoulders. “OK, try to dance a bit. Nothin’ too ambitious or athletic, not right off the bat. Just turn in a circle, feel your weight as you move from foot to foot. Feel how you lean on Adam, or push down on him. Remember that’s gonna be little Mia, and the last thing you wanna do is hurt her. Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Nick said. He glanced at Adam, saw the kindness in his friend’s eyes. “You ready?”
“Yep. Take me for a spin, Romeo.”
“Sure thing. Hang on.”
Nick carefully turned them in a circle, trying to remember eight things at once. God, he’d slow-danced with girls at school dances from about the age of twelve, so he knew that he’d had the mechanics down once upon a time. But they were all shot to hell now, and he found himself stumbling and bumbling like an idiot.
If he was leaning in too far, he had to straighten up. If he stood too straight, then Adam had to move closer to keep contact. If he lost focus, he caught his prosthetic on the floor as he turned. And if he thought about his feet and nothing else, then he stared at them and he knew that he should be looking up, not down.
Christ, dancing was way harder than it looked. How had he never noticed this before?
Keegan walked behind Nick as he turned, watching int
ently. Uh-huh, the guy was either bending like a reed in a strong wind, or he was standing like he had a poker up his ass. Neither was sexy and neither would impress his woman. And as a man without a woman of his own despite the fact that he really, really wanted one, Keegan was seriously invested in helping Nick hang on to Mia.
Yeah, he wasn’t going to lie. Keegan was a romantic under his gruff, hard-as-nails exterior, and that was why he was here at six o’clock on a Sunday, watching two hulking men dance together in a mixed martial arts gym.
“OK, hold up,” he ordered, and Adam and Nick stopped rotating.
They turned to look at him, Nick with a look of almost gut-wrenching expectation on his face. Good Christ, the man so wanted to do this right and Keegan was damned if he was going to fail Nick now.
“Not bad,” Keegan said. “But you can feel that you’re makin’ Adam take your weight, right?”
“Yeah.” Nick’s shoulders slumped. “Fuck. I’m going to crush Mia. Go toppling down on her.”
“Nah, man,” Keegan said gently. “It’s all in the hips.”
“The hips?” Adam echoed. “I’d have said the shoulders.”
“Nope. The hips.”
“OK.” Nick squared his frame again. “Tell me.”
“Well, I said it already,” Keegan said. “It’s about your hips. They need to stay straight on and strong, yeah? No twistin’ them, no lettin’ them relax. Hold them facin’ your partner, and they don’t move or turn when your feet do. OK?”
“Uh, OK,” Nick said, trying to get a sense of what the man meant. “I mean, OK, I guess.”
“Give it another go,” Keegan said. “I got nothin’ better to do tonight, man, and I got nowhere to go. We stay until you get it right.”
Encouraged, Nick held out his hand to Adam again, who submitted to being led with more ease this time. He’d picked up on his friend’s urgency – really, it was almost desperation – and he found himself wondering just why Nick was so determined to get this nailed down. Why did it matter that he was able to dance with Mia? Surely this was something that could wait a few months, at least.
Nick looked up, caught Adam’s eye, paused. They’d been friends for a long time, for over twelve years, and Adam had seen Nick through some serious shit. By now, they could read each other’s thoughts pretty easy, and the fact is that Adam was giving off a massively curious vibe.
The other fact was that Nick had held out on his best friend about the single biggest thing in his life, and that had been a huge mistake, almost as big as holding out on Mia. In retrospect and with the glorious benefit of hindsight, Nick saw that he should have leveled with Adam about what was happening with his leg. He should have told Adam what was going on, and he should have asked for his help and support.
If he’d done all of that, then Adam would have been there in a heartbeat. Christ, he’d have moved heaven and earth to be there for Nick, and he’d have been there for Mia, too. The fact was that Nick had denied his best friend and brother the chance to step up – and Nick resolved at this second to never, ever do that again. Not with anyone, and most especially not with Adam.
“You want to know why I’m so interested in doing this now, right?” Nick asked Adam. “Why there’s such a rush?”
Adam didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah.”
“Because,” Nick said quietly. “I want to ask Mia to marry me, but I won’t do that until I can stand straight and strong on my own two damn feet, and take her in my arms and dance with her on our wedding day.”
Stunned, Adam found himself gripping Nick’s hand harder. “Wedding day?”
“Yeah.”
The two men stared at each other, a thousand words passing between them in total silence.
From Adam’s side, he was reeling with the knowledge that Nick was actually there with Mia – at the damn church door, wearing a suit, with the full intention of putting a ring on the woman’s finger. He was absolutely delighted for his friend – delighted for Mia too, if truth be told – and he was scrambling to find the words. He wasn’t awesome with shit like this, and he was suddenly painfully aware of that.
“Holy crap, man,” Adam said softly. “For real? You and Mia?”
“Yeah. For real.”
“Well.” Adam’s face broke into a massive smile. “It’s about damn time.”
He pulled Nick close for a hug, just for a second, then he let him go. Nick grinned back, strangely embarrassed and touched at the same time. He was horrified to find that he was actually close to tears; thank God Keegan stepped in and saved the day.
“Alright you two,” Keegan growled, running a huge hand through his coal-black hair. “You gonna chat and hug like drunk chicks in the bar bathroom, or you gonna dance like men?”
They laughed, and the weird tension broke.
“We’re dancing,” Nick said.
“Damn right we are,” Adam said fervently. “I don’t care how long it takes for us to get this right… we’re dancing until the sunrise if that’s what it takes for you to do this, man. You’re asking Mia to marry you tomorrow, and that’s the end of the damn conversation.”
“OK, then.” Keegan ran his hands through his dark hair. “Again and again. Until we get this.”
And that’s what they did – over and over, until Nick was dancing strong and sure.
Until he was ready to dance on his wedding day.
Chapter Twelve
Six weeks later
Nick and Mia’s wedding fell on a glorious autumn afternoon at Open Skies Ranch: nothing but clear blue skies, and the surrounding mountains were a riot of red, gold, orange and yellow.
As Mia stood in the staff quarters, fussing with her hair and wondering if her mocha lipliner was too much, she was still amazed that Nick had managed to get this place for the wedding and reception. She knew that Open Skies was a hugely popular place for weddings, and it was pretty well booked up a year in advance. Then again, Nick had gone to school with Jake Weston, the owner’s husband, and he’d pulled some strings. Also, Nick and Mia were getting married late on a Wednesday afternoon, not over a weekend, so that was a concession that she’d been more than happy to make.
Frankly, she’d have agreed to anything to make this day happen faster. Mia would have foregone a beautiful white dress, she’d have given up on a reception, she’d have gotten married at City Hall and invited people to McDonald’s after. Anything, anything to speed up the process of becoming Nick’s wife. Of him becoming her husband.
But here she was. In a white dress – one bought in a shopping mall, admittedly, but it was long and graceful – and with a full reception after the wedding ceremony. The one thing that she was missing was her parents, and her heart ached for a few seconds at the memory of them. They’d been killed in a car accident years before and she missed them all the time… and she especially missed them at big moments like this.
There was a knock at the door now, and she turned.
“Come in,” she called.
The door opened and in walked Katie. Mia’s eyes ran over her maid-of-honor’s slim frame in the burnt-orange dress, admiring the way that it clung to her streamlined curves and long legs. Katie’s dark hair was loose and tumbled in waves around her shoulders and down her back. She looked breathtaking and Mia grinned at her.
“Wow,” Mia said. “You look amazing.”
“Me?” Katie shook her head, mesmerized by Mia in a relaxed white dress and high heels. Her hair was piled up on her head with a few tendrils falling loose, and her golden eyes were sparkling with joy and excitement. Her face was flushed and rosy, her full lips were practically begging to say “I do”. The woman was so, so ready to be Nick’s, and Katie was overwhelmed by a wave of happiness. “No way, Mia. You are officially the babe of the day. Trust me.”
Mia threw her head back and laughed. That was when Reena and Maggie appeared behind Kat
ie, also in burnt-orange dresses but in totally different styles. Mia had given her bridesmaids the color to work with and told them to buy whatever they liked in it, and within whatever budget they had.
The result was stunning: the color worked on all three of her friends, and Mia was glad that she’d chosen it. It was autumnal, it was flattering – and the dresses weren’t just going to hang in their closets for all eternity. They were totally wearable again, and Mia was thrilled. She hated wasting money and despised asking other to, as well.
“Oh, Mia,” Maggie breathed. “You look beautiful.”
Reena nodded enthusiastically.
“We all look great,” Katie declared. “Our men will have no idea what the hell hit them.”
“But have you seen them?” Reena asked.
“No,” Katie said. “They lookin’ good?
“Oh, man,” Reena said. “You know what’s hotter than Nick, Adam, Mitch and Joe in jeans and t-shirts?”
“Nick, Adam, Mitch and Joe in suits?” Maggie said hopefully.
“Damn right.” Reena shook her blonde head. “Brace yourselves, ladies. They look like they just stepped off the cover of GQ, I swear.”
“Ooooooh,” Mia said, eager and impatient to see her future husband all decked out. “How much longer ’til I go out there?”
“Four minutes,” said a woman’s voice from the door, and they all turned to look at Julie Weston, the owner of Open Skies. Her mint-green eyes took in the other women and she smiled radiantly. “Want me to take a picture of you guys all dolled up?”
“Yes, please,” Mia said. “And take lots of them. We need to kill that never-ending four minutes somehow.”
**
Nick stood under the marquée, almost breathless with anticipation. He still couldn’t quite believe that Julie and Jake and their staff had pulled this whole wedding together in less than two months – but they had. Right down to the rose-covered arched trellis that now surrounded Nick with lush beauty and an airy fragrance.
Fighting Back (Fighting For Love Book 5) Page 13
