It made no sense that he could know her so well so quickly, but he did.
Nick clutched his head, her fingers tight in his hair. She clenched her jaw, but couldn‟t stay silent. “Christ,” she panted, arching off the cushions. “Jesus Christ.”
“Come on, baby,” he whispered, stroking his fingers deeper. “Come for me.”
Come. Yes, another gift she could give him—the gift of her pleasure. Her trust. She sucked in a ragged breath as the tense wave crested and crashed through her, but all that escaped her lips was a whisper. His name, as much of a prayer as a plea.
His touch vanished as she drifted down, and she heard the sound of frantic rustling. He had to be looking for the box of condoms he‟d stashed under the couch, and Nick groaned. “I tossed it. We used them all.”
“Already?” The word came out as a snarl. A second later, she was over his shoulder, and they were already halfway to the bedroom. “We need to buy them by the pallet.”
She swallowed a giggle. “That delivery might be hard to explain.”
Derek spilled her onto the bed and swatted at her hip. “So have pity on me.
Find a damn condom while I get my pants undone.”
It took her only moments to dig through the nightstand drawer. Nick dropped the foil packet on the bed and reached for him, nipping at the flat expanse of his stomach as he opened his pants. They both pushed at his underwear, and she laid her hand over his, curling his fingers around his cock as she looked up at him. “I want you in my mouth.”
He panted heavily, his eyes glazed, fingers shaking. “Honey, that‟ll pretty much render the condom unnecessary. Self-control‟s not running high right now.”
He was beautiful like this, as snared by need as she. Nick dropped her hands to the bed. “I‟ll give you whatever you want, Derek, all you have to do is say the word.”
For a moment, he stayed frozen. Then he collapsed on the bed with a groan.
“Have your way with me.”
Whatever she wanted, his gift to her. “You sure?” She pulled at his boots and jeans, leaving him naked on the bed. “My way‟s terribly dirty.”
“At this point, that‟s about as newsworthy as electricity.”
“Smartass.” She knelt over him, letting her hair brush his skin. “I love watching you like this.”
He reached down, wrapped those strands of hair around his fingers and tugged. “Funny, I like the view, too.”
She moved slowly, closing her hand around his shaft with a light touch meant to tease.
“Nicole.” His grip tightened. “Please.”
“Yes.” One more quick tease with her tongue, and she licked her lips and slid them down around the head of his cock. It was his turn to beg, and he did, without hesitation. The words slurred as they stumbled free, all variations of encouragement mixed with pleas, and the occasional promise to do anything she wanted if she‟d take him deeper, or harder, or faster.
She did all three, trembling when he pulled her hair so hard it hurt. It was something he only did when his orgasm was imminent, when release loomed so close and sure that he forgot to be gentle or careful.
She loved it.
When he came, it was with a sound that started as her name and ended with a growl of helpless pleasure that left her shivering. Nick stroked him, every inch of her body alive with satisfaction and the knowledge that he belonged to her.
“You‟re mine,” she murmured as she crawled up his body. “Mine, baby.”
“Forever,” he agreed in a raspy whisper. “You and me.”
They had to pull back the covers, and they couldn‟t leave the Christmas lights on all night. For now, though, she wasn‟t about to move from the cradle of his arm. “Derek?”
“Yeah, honey?”
“If you needed for us to spend more time in New Orleans, you‟d tell me, right?”
He sighed softly and shifted her until she was nestled against his side.
“Michelle needs you. Right now, I think Kat needs me to let her breathe. And I‟m trying. But if that changes, I‟ll tell you.”
She exhaled a shaky sigh of relief. “You‟ve given up so much to be here. I worry that it‟s too much.”
“Things don‟t matter. Places don‟t matter.” A finger under her chin tilted her head back. “You brought Kat here, and you gave me a kick to go see Andrew. They‟re the ones who matter. And since I haven‟t given them up, I haven‟t lost a damn thing.”
“I‟m glad.” Someday, Michelle wouldn‟t need her to be on hand so much, and they could find their own space for good, whether it meant staying in the house Derek would build, moving back to New Orleans, or even another place entirely.
A little bit of wrangling got the blankets out from under them. Derek smoothed the covers down and curled around her. “Your sister is one of ours.
So is Kat. We‟ll take care of them together.”
She smiled and tucked her face against his shoulder. “Did Mahalia give you a stern lecture about how long we avoided each other?”
“Nope. I distracted her before she really got going. That‟s the secret to avoiding her stern lectures, you know.”
“Damn, I should have figured that out.”
“I‟m tricky,” he murmured around a yawn. “Damn. I think I‟m getting old.”
“No, you‟re just—” The clock in the front room began to chime the hour, a long, slow succession of twelve deep rings. “Merry Christmas, darling.”
He pulled her closer. “Merry Christmas, Nicky.”
She craned her neck to look out the window and smiled when she caught sight of the white flakes drifting against the glass. “It‟s snowing again.”
“It‟s always snow—” Derek sat up so abruptly he nearly spilled her off the bed. “Damn it, I almost forgot your present.”
Nick rolled upright, laughing. “No, you didn‟t.”
“The most important one, then.” Instead of leaving the bed, he leaned over and jerked open the bedside table. After a few moments of digging, he surfaced with a simple white envelope, which he handed to her in silence.
Inside was a folder containing pages featuring a travel agent‟s logo—and itinerary information. “We‟re going to Barbados?”
“Over Kat‟s spring break,” he confirmed, sounding the tiniest bit nervous.
“Your father‟s already made arrangements for Michelle and Luciano to come, too. Just family. And a beach.”
A word on the reservations confirmation caught her eye, and she sucked in a breath as she realized what he was saying. “Our wedding?”
“If you want something else, somewhere else, we can change it. Any of it. I just thought—why wait?”
Why wait? He‟d planned the entire thing to be precisely what she‟d talked about, the perfect way to confirm what they‟d already begun—a life together—
but his nervousness was unmistakable. “It‟s just right,” she hurriedly reassured him. “Exactly what I wanted.”
“Thank God.” Derek flopped back against the bed, heaving a sigh. “I told Kat, and she asked me if I was an idiot. So I got worried.”
Nick shook her head and laid the open folder on his stomach so she could examine the tickets and brochures. “If you‟d planned some sort of stuffy formal affair, I might be asking you the same thing. But this... This is awesome.”
“Not going to kill me for making arrangements for our wedding, then?”
“What? No.” She leaned over and kissed him. “I gave you house plans, baby. This is arguably less presumptuous.”