“Nate,” I say softly, and he knows something is different by the tone of my voice. I skim my fingers through his hair, bringing my hand to rest just above his ear. He looks at me, his hands still. “I want you. I want to be with you, can we just…”
“Yeah,” he replies, understanding. He moves so he’s kind of leaning over me, and he presses his lips against my shoulder. “Yeah.”
Afraid that I’ve taken us out of the moment, I wrap my arm around his neck and bring him down for a slow, tender kiss.
When we part, Nate sighs, breathing heavily. “Yeah, let’s definitely do more of that.” He picks me up and carries me up the steps, laving his tongue against every inch of skin he can reach. Once he lays me on his soft bed, he slides his shorts down his hips and I take a moment to appreciate him like this. Bare and vulnerable. Beautiful. Mine.
He kneels on the bed, lifting my legs until the bottoms of my feet come to rest against his chest. It reminds me a bit of the first night we were together, but everything is different now. Everything is better now, because this…this is the beginning of our lives together. His palms glide down my thighs, his fingertips are feather-light and ticklish; I can’t help but laugh.
“Do that again,” he says, smiling. It’s a dopey, love-struck kind of smile. I wish I could take a picture of it and put it in my wallet.
“What?”
“Laugh, it’s-”
“You want me to laugh?”
He looks bashful. “Yeah. It makes me…I don’t know, just do it again.”
I do laugh this time, and it’s a real one, mainly because I don’t know what he’s getting at.
He must sense my confusion, because he says, “I like your voice.” He shrugs, and it’s kind of sweet how innocent he looks, despite the fact that he’s stark naked.
“Nate,” I say, reaching out for him and tangling our fingers together. I pull him down, but he holds his weight above me. “I love you.” If he likes my voice, I can’t think of nicer, truer words for him to hear it say.
“I love you so much,” he replies, just breathing the words on my skin, like they’ll become a part of me that way.
I smile, cradling the back of his head, and he pushes into me slowly, just watching me for a few seconds like he always does. He begins to move when I buck my hips, and for a few seconds we just kind of drift away together. I’ve never felt anything like him before, and I don’t just mean this. I mean him. Everything about him. The weight of his gaze, the way his words sink right into my skin and take hold of my heart. Everything about him feels so perfect. So permanent.
I gently nudge Nate’s shoulder and he rolls onto his back. I swing my leg over until I’m straddling his hips, then I sink down onto him, grinding against him, watching the way his eyelids flutter shut and his breathing picks up because we feel so, so good together. Pure pleasure is building up inside of me, radiating from pretty much every part of my body, almost indistinguishable from the rush of love that I feel for this man. I’m just all blissed out, light and airy, all warmth and anticipation.
I clasp Nate’s hands in mine and lean forward, pressing my body against his.
“Hold onto me,” Nate says, his voice raspy as he sits up. He slides his hands down my back and along my thighs, positioning me so that I’m sitting on him, my legs wrapped around him, so tight. There’s not an inch of air between us, but he’s still too far away. I want to be close enough to be a part of him. I want my name to be written on every cell in his body. Our chests are pressed together and it almost hurts to breathe, but it’s still. Too. Far.
We rock against one another and Nate’s hands are splayed across my back, anchoring me to him. Tighter, I want to tell him. Hold me tighter. I want his fingertips branded into my skin. His cheek is pressed against mine and his stubble is rough, but I want more. More.
“I can’t get close enough,” he says, his voice muffled as he presses his mouth to my neck. “To you, I…”
“Shhh,” I whisper. “I’m here, I’m right here.” I kiss the salty sheen from his skin, holding on for dear life as everything inside of me coils up and springs open, over and over, leaving me boneless and breathless. Nate isn’t far behind me, letting out this strangled moan as his orgasm washes over him and my name falls from his lips. We hold each other as we come down, his hands tangled in my hair and mine drawing lazy patterns on his back. It’s nice just holding each other, just being.
Eventually we collapse on the bed, our arms wrapped around each other as we doze off, exhausted from pretty much everything that’s happened today.
I wake up in his arms a few hours later. It’s dark outside, but the bedside lamp is on, casting a dull light across the room. Nate must’ve turned that on at some point after I fell asleep. For the first time since I’ve been here, I get a good look at this room. It’s a lot like his room in Virginia; same colors, same earthiness. More photos of waterfalls and rivers, of mountains and ski slopes. Maybe it’s a reminder of home? I notice there’s a photo on the nightstand, on the far side of the bed. Careful not to wake him, I reach over and pick it up. As I snuggle up against his chest, I hold the picture above me because I just can’t take my eyes off of it.
It’s the photo of the two of us dancing at the wedding. The same one I couldn’t stop looking at on my laptop. There’s something sweet and comforting knowing that he liked it enough to get a print of it. That it meant enough to him to put it next to his bed.
“That one’s my favorite,” he says, sliding his fingertips across my upper arm.
I turn my head and look up at him, smiling. “Mine too.”
He reaches out and presses the edge between his index finger and thumb. “Maybe I should frame it and put it downstairs.”
“No,” I say thoughtfully, placing it back on the nightstand. “I think it belongs up here.”
He sighs. “Okay,” he replies, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “So, I’ve never had redecoration foreplay before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
I giggle as I brush my lips across the skin above his heart. “I think we’ll have a lot of firsts together. Foreplay aside, this place could use a feminine touch.” I gasp almost immediately, totally not meaning to imply the thing that I just implied. That I should be the feminine touch. “I didn’t mean-”
Nate presses his finger against my lips. “Don’t. I was kind of hoping you’d stay.”
“I brought a few weeks’ worth of clothes. At least I think I did, I was in kind of a hurry when I packed.”
“We can get you new clothes,” he says, twirling a strand of my hair around his fingers.
I prop myself up on my elbow so I can get a good look at Nate’s face. It’s gorgeous as always, and he’s smiling at me like I’m as bright as the sun. “How long did you want me to stay?”
“Forever,” he says, shrugging like it’s no big deal.
I smile.
Forever is such a beautiful word.
“I REALLY like these pants,” I say, tugging on the waistband. My finger brushes against the sewn-on logo that I designed; looking at it still gives me chills. “I think they could be a go for the women’s line.”
“I’ll tell the R and D guys,” Nate says as he sits down behind me, spreading his legs to make a spot for me.
“R and D guys,” I say, parroting him. “I still can’t believe this is happening. You, an entrepreneur.” I say the last word with a fake French flourish that makes Nate laugh.