“Oh my God! Were you in an accident?” What the hell happened to him?
Nate laughs, and I’m completely confused.
“No, I used to fight.”
“Fight with whom?”
“With other guys who signed up for it.”
“I’m lost.” I’m frowning at him. What the hell is he talking about?
“I used to be a UFC fighter, Julianne.” He’s still smiling, delighted with himself.
“You do MMA?” I ask. I shouldn’t be surprised, that’s exactly the kind of body he has.
“You know Mixed Martial Arts?” He asks, his eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.
“Nate, I have four older brothers and a father. Not only did they all teach me how to protect myself, they made me sit and watch that crap or play it on the xBox all the damn time. It’s much to their dismay that I wear makeup and love pink.”
“So, you’re a badass, Miss Montgomery?”
“I am, Mr. McKenna.”
“Wanna prove it?” He’s smiling again, delighted with me, and I’m smiling back at him. Who knew sitting and talking with Nate could be so easy?
And who knew we’d have so much in common?
“Right now?”
“No, tomorrow. Come to the gym with me.”
“I don’t know,” I shake my head. “I might really hurt that pretty face of yours.”
“You think my face is pretty?” He kisses my knuckles, one by one, then leans over and kisses my cheek.
“You know your face is pretty.”
“I know your face is pretty.”
“It’s just a face,” I respond and shrug. I have always received a lot of attention because of my face, and my body. It’s just genetics.
Nate narrows his eyes at me, his mouth forming a hard line. “Julianne, your beautiful face is only out matched by what’s inside you.”
What the fuck? No one, no man anyway, has ever said anything about what’s inside me. Unless he was referring to his dick.
I gasp and feel my eyes go wide. This is why I’m drawn to him. He completely throws me off kilter.
“Well, aren’t you the charmer?” I ask, trying desperately to lighten the mood.
Nate smiles again. “So, are you coming with me or not?”
“If you think you can take me, sure, I’ll come with you.”
“Did you bring workout clothes?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“So…” I look around his beautiful apartment. “Did you decorate this yourself?”
Nate laughs and I feel the pull in my belly. I love his laugh. “No.”
“It suits you.”
“You think?” he raises an eyebrow and looks around at his beautiful home.
“Yeah, it’s masculine, but inviting, and comfortable. And the kitchen is sexy as hell.”
“Sexy, suits me, does it?” He asks and kisses my knuckles again, sending shivers down my back.
I shrug and raise an eyebrow. “You have your moments.”
“Well, speaking of my sexy kitchen,” Nate rises gracefully from the couch and pulls me with him. “How would you like some dessert?”
“Dessert?” I echo, lamely. Watching him walk is making me crazy. He’s so graceful; he clearly takes care of that body. I can’t wait to see what he can do at the gym tomorrow.
“I have chocolate cheesecake.” He smiles back at me and I gasp.
“That’s my favorite.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because at every business dinner you always order it for dessert.” He motions for me to sit on a stool at the breakfast bar and pulls the cheesecake out of the fridge.
He pays attention to what I order at dinner?
“So I was a bit of a foregone conclusion tonight then?” I cock my head to the side and smile sassily at him and can’t help but enjoy watching him squirm.
“No, nothing you do is expected, Julianne, but I was hopeful, and prepared, just in case.” He cuts the cake and pulls two white dessert plates out of a beautiful dark mahogany cabinet. He joins me and we dig in.
“Oh, Sweet Jesus, that’s good.” I lick my fork and close my eyes. Diving back in for a second bite, I notice that Nate isn’t moving. “What’s wrong?”
“You are so sexy.” His eyes are burning with lust, and my body starts to hum under his hot gaze.
“I love chocolate,” I murmur and take another bite. “It’s my vice. I don’t drink much, I’m not big on junk food, but chocolate is not safe from me. If you don’t hide that cake, I’ll have it polished off by morning.”
“I don’t mind as long as I get to watch you eat it.”
I laugh at him as I take another bite and he digs into his own piece. He nods appreciatively and licks his lips.
Oh my, those lips. He’s so good with those lips.
“Am I seriously sitting in your kitchen eating chocolate cheesecake?” I ask. I can’t believe I’m here. “If someone had told me this morning that this is where I’d be tonight, I’d have told them to seek medical attention.”
“Is it that much of a hardship?” he asks, and I can hear the hurt in his voice.
Oh no! I don’t want to hurt his feelings!
“Not at all, just a surprise. This is just the last thing I expected.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” he murmurs, looking down at his plate, then he turns that hot gray gaze back to mine.
“Me too,” I reply and take the last bite of cake. “Feed me cheesecake like this, and I’ll never leave.” I laugh and gather my empty plate and take it to the sink, rinse it and place it in the dishwasher. Nate joins me, taking care of his dishes, and then leans back against the counter, watching me.
“My fridge will now forever be full of chocolate cheesecake.” He smiles warmly and heat slowly spreads through me at his flirty statement.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I quip and hop up to his on his counter, dangling my feet and watching him. God, he’s a sight to behold. I love seeing his hair hanging loose, and I definitely want to see more of that tattoo.
I wonder if he has more of them?
I lick my lips at the thought of exploring that hot body in the light. Yes, I know exactly where I’ll be sleeping tonight, and it’s not in the spare bedroom.
“That’s a promise I can keep, honey. I didn’t want you to leave last time.” He frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. “Speaking of, why did you?”
Oh. We’re going to have this conversation now.
“I couldn’t deal with the morning after regrets.”
“What morning after regrets?”
“You said you wanted to talk in the morning, and I naturally assumed that meant we’d have the ‘this was a one-time deal’ talk, and to be honest, I was saving us both from that uncomfortable conversation.” I bite my lip and close my eyes, feeling the humiliation all over again.
“That’s not what I was going to talk with you about, Julianne.”
My eyes find his and I grip the edge of the smooth countertop. “It’s not?”
“No.” He shakes his head and closes his eyes and swears under his breath. “When I woke up and you were gone it pissed me off. Then you wouldn’t speak to me for days. You finally asked me to go out with you and your friends, and I thought we had a good time, but then you went back to being professional and cool again. I know you’re giving me all the signs that you’re not interested, but I can’t seem to stay away from you.”
“I like my job, Nate. I worked hard to get it. And I enjoy working for you. You’re so good at what you do, and I’m learning from you. I can’t jeopardize my career because my boss is hot and I’m attracted to him.”
Nate smirks and then runs his hands through his hair in frustration. “It’s none of anyone’s business if we see each other outside of the office.”
“But someone will find out, and then it could be over for both of us.”
“I have very good law
yers, Jules.” Jules? He just called me Jules!!
I shake my head and look down at my swinging feet. I want him, and by some miracle he wants me too. Can we pursue this, whatever it is, and keep it away from work?
“Hey,” he murmurs, and pushes away from the counter to stand between my thighs. He wraps his arms around my behind and hugs me to his chest. He’s so tall, I’m only a few inches taller than him sitting up here. “Don’t worry so much about this, honey. It’ll work out.”
I gaze into his earnest eyes, my blue to his gray, and run my fingers through his soft, long black hair. For the first time in eight months my world feels right. I want to see where this goes.
I want him.
I lean down and brush my lips across his gently and nibble the corner of his mouth. I lean farther and bury my nose in his neck and inhale the musky, clean scent of him, and against my better career-woman judgment, I cave.
“I’m sleeping with you tonight,” I whisper.
“Thank Christ,” he whispers back.
Chapter Four
Nate pulls me against him, cups my ass in his hands and lifts me in his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck and hold on tight.
“I want you. Now.” It’s not a request. His lips are on mine, searching, hot, and I weave my fingers in that glorious hair as he carries me through his apartment and to his bedroom.
“Lights on,” I murmur against his mouth and he grins.
“Fuck, yes.” He flips a switch on the wall as we pass through the doorway and both the lamps on his end tables come to life. I can see his room now, in the light, and it’s simply amazing. Grey walls, white linens, large white furniture. It’s masculine and clean and classy.
It’s so Nate.
He crawls onto the bed with me still in his arms. I love how strong he is. I rest my hands on his arms, reveling at how the muscles move and flex as he lays me on the cool linens. He’s braced above me, his hands planted on either side of my shoulders, his hips cradled in mine, and he leans down and moves that amazingly talented mouth over my lips.
Fuck he can kiss!
I run my hands down his back and pull his t-shirt up to his chest. I want him naked.
Now.
He sits back on his heels and pulls the shirt over his head and I gasp as I sit up, bracing myself on my elbows. The sleeve tattoo on his right arm not only goes up to his shoulder, but over across his right chest-area too. With trembling fingers I trace the swirly tribal design, over his chest, around his nipple, and up over the top of his shoulder down his arm.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmur and look up into molten gray eyes. His gaze is searching mine, a slight smile on his lips, patiently letting me explore with my fingers.
I’ll explore it with my mouth before the night is over.
I glace down to his left side and I abandon his right side and trace another tribal design that curls down his rib cage, disappearing into his pants.
“Take your pants off,” I murmur and look back up into his eyes.
“I’d rather get you naked, baby,” He tucks my hair behind my ear.
“Oh trust me, you will, but right now I’m on a treasure hunt. This is much more fun with the lights on.” I continue to follow the beautiful design with my fingertip. He kisses me quickly, chastely, then stands and shucks out of his pants and boxer-briefs, and there is the finest specimen of man I’ve ever seen standing before me.
I feel my jaw drop as I skim my eyes up and down his perfect body. Holy Hell. He’s all tanned skin and toned muscle and he’s breathing rapidly. That tattoo on his left side falls down over his hip and onto his upper thigh. It’s sexy as I don’t know what and I am itching to get my fingers on it.
And then my eyes zero in on his impressive erection – holy Moses, what that thing does to me – and I gasp at the silver metal in the tip. It feels bigger than it is, and I don’t even want to think about the process it took to get it there.
Suddenly feeling over dressed, I sit up and pull my shirt over my head, throwing it on the floor. Nate just stands there, at the edge of the bed, his hot gaze locked on mine, and I lay back and shimmy out of my jeans and kick them on the floor with the rest of our clothes. I’m lying on the bed in just my pink bra and matching panties and I smile up at Nate and do the “come here” motion with my index finger.
“Jesus, Julianne, you are so beautiful.” His voice is rough with emotion. I’ve heard those words hundreds of times, from other men, photographers, my friends, but they’ve never meant what they do to me right now. With this man.
“So are you. Are you going to join me, or what?”
“You’re quite demanding, aren’t you? I’ll have to do something about that.” He smiles mischievously and crawls onto the bed, climbing on his hands and knees until he’s hovering over me the way he was before and starts kissing me in the slowest, most tender way. He’s not just kissing me, he’s making love to me with his mouth. And, oh my God, it’s sending electricity through me.
I hitch my left leg up around his hip and he grabs my ass and grinds his cock against my panty-covered center, sending sparks all the way up my spine.
“Oh, God, Nate,” I whisper, running my fingernails down his back. My hips are moving in a delicious rhythm against him, our breathing is loud and ragged.
“Baby, I can feel how wet you are through your panties.” He’s kissing my jaw now, over to my neck and sucks gently on my earlobe.
“I want you.” I murmur.
“God, I want you too.” He pulls my bra straps down and pushes the material down my torso, unleashing my breasts. His delicious mouth closes over one, gently suckling, and his fingers gently pull the other, and with his cock rubbing back and forth over my clit through my panties, I’m about to come undone.
“Fuck, Nate, you’ll make me come.”
“That’s the point. Come for me, beautiful.” He rocks those hips again, and his lips close over my other nipple, and I just fall apart beneath him, crying out as my body shudders.
As my breathing calms, and I’m able to open my eyes again, I see Nate braced above me, his elbows on the bed beside my head. He’s brushing my hair back off my face, and his eyes are warm and happy.
“Are you on birth control?” he asks.
This could be a mood killer.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“I don’t want to use condoms with you, baby. I know it sounds irresponsible, but I promise you, there hasn’t been anyone for me since before you and I were together the last time.”
I shake my head. I want to feel him. Just him. And I trust him completely, which is so new, but we’ve known each other for a long time, and I respect him. “Me neither.”
“Really?” his eyes widen in surprise.
“No, no one. Did you think there was?”
“I just assumed… you’re so amazing… Thank God.”
I push him onto his back and straddle him. He reaches down and rips – literally rips – my panties in two and throws them on the floor.
“Didn’t like those?” I ask with a smile.
“They were in my way,” he responds and grins.
I raise my hips and, holding him in my hand, slowly guide him inside me.
Oh. My. God.
I need to kiss whomever invented the apadravya. A lot. It feels incredible, having those two small balls massage the wall of my vagina.
“Fuck, you’re so tight.” Nate’s jaw is clenched, his hands cupping my ass, and I lean down and gently kiss him and rest my forehead on his, bracing myself on his shoulders.
I slowly start to move, up and down and the sensation is just… so good.
“Oh, Nate,” I whisper against his mouth.
“Yes, baby,” he whispers back, and I sit up, and start to really ride him, hard. He raises his hips in a counter-rhythm, bucking me up and down, and I’m lost in him. I throw my head back and revel in the bliss of Nate being inside me, and I start to feel my body tense, my legs start to shake, and Nat
e suddenly sits up and wraps his arms around my waist and his mouth around my nipple, and I come undone, shattering around him.
He grips my hips tightly and pulls me against him, hard, and cries out my name as he empties himself into me.
Our breathing is ragged as I rest on his lap, he’s still inside me, and I push my fingers through his soft hair. I lay my forehead against his and smile.
“Well, that was… wow.”
He chuckles and runs a hand down my back, from the nape of my neck to my ass. “That was definitely wow. Are you okay?”
“Hmmm.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Hmmm.”
He laughs and lifts me off of him and sets me down on the bed. He switches off one of the lights, turns down the covers and tucks us both in, pulling me against him. I lay with my head on his chest and use my finger to trace the outline of his tattoo.
“You don’t have any tattoos,” he murmurs.
“No, I’m allergic to needles.”
“Huh?” He pulls back so he can see my face and I grin.
“I’m scared shitless of needles. Natalie had to get me stinking drunk in college just to get my ears pierced. So if you prefer girls with body art, I’m not your girl.”
He chuckles and kisses my forehead. “You’re my kind of girl, with or without body art.”
“Yours are beautiful.” I murmur.
“Thank you. Do you want me to turn the light out so you can sleep?”
“I like having the lights on so I can look at you,” I whisper shyly.
“Go to sleep, honey.” He hugs me close and I close my eyes and drift.
***
I can’t sleep. It’s two a.m. and I’m wide awake. Nate is sleeping peacefully on his side, facing me. The sidelight is still on, and I can’t help but stare at him. His face is relaxed, his dark eyelashes laying against his cheeks. He’s just so handsome.
And I’m restless.
I slip from the bed, out of the room and down to the spare bedroom where my suitcase and purse still are. I pull on some pajamas, grab my iPad and iPhone out of my purse and go into the kitchen.
Chocolate.
I help myself to a slice of the decadent chocolate cheesecake and check my iPhone. No messages. Good. I fire up the iPad and perch on a stool, nibbling on the second most delicious thing in the world, ranking just below the very sexy Nate.