By Friday morning, I was still walking a little on the funny side, my muscles recuperating. With a coffee cup in hand, I headed to the break room, only to find Caroline filling up her own.“So, how’s it going today?” she asked, pouring the creamer into her cup and stirring.I rinsed my own cup out in the sink, then poured myself some. “He’s such a pain in my ass!” I tried to keep my lips from quirking up into a smile and present a pissed off demeanor. Inside I was laughing, knowing that one day he’d make it true in a literal sense.I couldn’t tell Caroline about that though. Not yet. I still didn’t know what we were anyway. She laughed before going over the evening plans. I was supposed to be out of the building by five to eat dinner before meeting her and some of our coworkers at eight.I headed home at the promised time and ate while I scoured my closet for something to wear. It’d been so long since I’d gone out for “fun” that it took me some time to dig out any going-out
We pulled up to our building, and I stumbled out of the car. My body lit up at his closeness, then I felt his hands on me, hoisting me up in the air and over his shoulder.“Nathan, put me down, damn it. I can walk,” I whined as he moved us into the building.I pounded on his back with my fists as he greeted the night guard, but my attention was diverted by the fine ass in front of me. I could not—and did not—want to contain the urge to grab it, so I did. He yelped in surprise as he stepped onto the elevator. I smacked it, and his grip on me tightened.I could feel the growl in his chest, there was no doubt about it. Wetness began to pool from the sound and the anticipation of what he might do to me this time.We arrived at the fourteenth floor, and he stepped out, walking a few steps—the keys rattled as he unlocked the door. As soon as we entered his condo, Nathan dropped me down onto my feet and had me pinned against the wall with his body, his lips hard on mine. It was a
It’d been a week since I admitted to myself I was altered. That Nathan had altered me. The growing feelings for him I’d kept hidden were out. The night after we left the club made me face that fact. How I thought and felt about him changed. He wasn’t the asshole I thought he was when I first met him. He was a broken man, and it made me wonder—can two broken souls make one whole person?He intrigued me, it wasn’t only sex anymore. Every time his guard dropped around me, I saw the real Nathan, and I liked him. I wanted him. Every day I needed him more. Any thought of leaving him and returning to the way we were was painful.One week had passed since he conceded to letting himself have something with me. It was undefined and not spoken about out loud, little different than it was in the beginning. The exception was that every night he was either in my bed, or I was in his. It started on Saturday night when he showed up at my door just before midnight and took me against the wall
It was almost eight when we rolled into the parking lot of our building. We walked up and greeted the night guard, then stepped onto an awaiting elevator. As we entered, Nathan pressed the buttons for our respective floors, indicating tonight would be the same as the previous nights. Denial would overpower our want until one of us broke sometime during the night.I should have grabbed him the second the doors closed, but I lacked the courage. Odd how his emotions ebbed and flowed like the tide, constantly changing the dynamics of whatever it was we were to each other. His moods always set our tone. At that moment he was rebelling against us, trying to ignore the pull we both felt. Did he feel guilty for giving in at the office?The air around us changed the second his stomach let it be known it wanted food, the grumble echoing around the elevator.A giggle escaped before I turned to grin at him. “Hungry, are we?”He visibly relaxed, a sheepish grin forming. It was new, and
Nathan never brought up my declaration in the following weeks. At least not in words. Sometimes I caught his expression flicker, like he was thinking about what I told him—about being his. It faded as soon as it showed up, and I figured that the thought of it made him edgy.Every day, his agitation grew. It was subtle, hiding in his perfected act, so most people didn’t notice, but I knew him better than they did. His fingers combed and tugged at his hair and neck more often, his leg bounced in an increasing tempo, and his fuse became shorter.All in all, he was a ticking time bomb.His nightmares shook the bed almost every night. His grip was bone crushing as he clung to me, trying to keep it all in. I soothed him as best I could, but I knew it would take more than me to fix him. He needed to let it all out, not keep it in. Purge himself of the emotions he kept tightly locked away. Pot calling the kettle, coming from me, but his pain was earth shattering compared to my own.
“What’s this?” Nathan asked as I handed him the jagged piece of metal.“It’s a key to my condo.”“I don’t want it.” He thrust his hand back toward me.“Take the damn key,” I said. We stood at a standstill, neither backing down. “Look, my neighbor is getting annoyed at the late-night knocking, and we haven’t spent a night apart in three weeks.”He contemplated my words for a moment, the warring indecision etched onto his features before he conceded. “Fine.” Pulling his keys from his pocket, he twisted the metal piece on to the key ring.He held his hand out to me. “Here.”“What?” I asked, confused.“If I can molest you at all hours of the night at my will, you should be able to return the favor.” He smirked as he placed his key in my open palm.The next day, I yawned and rotated my shoulders, attempting to relieve some of the ache. I should have known not to tease Nathan. He made sure to prolong his own release to torment me.The day was over, and as soon as I entered m
My fists clenched in the fabric of his shirt, my gaze glaring. I couldn’t believe all that had happened in the last hour. It was unbelievable what he had done and that Andrew could smell it on me. I was so embarrassed and pissed…and still turned on. I had to be a sick pervert.“What the fuck was that all about?”He smirked in that damned way he always did.“He noticed.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Good.”His hands moved to grab my ass, pulling me against his body.My hand smacked against his chest. “I can’t fucking believe you.”“You’re the one who said you were mine,” he said, throwing my words back at me. “I was just making it known.”I pushed out of his arms and stepped back, regarding him warily. His arms crossed in front of his chest, closing himself off. “You’re always trying to push me away, but I want you to think about it. I mean really think about me no longer being around…or better yet, me with another man, s
He leaned over me, pressing me into the wall. Our lips, teeth, and tongues met in a frenzy I had never experienced. I pushed back into him, and my fingers reached into his silky locks and pulled hard, tipping his head back. He groaned as our lips broke apart, his hips rocking against mine. He was ready, very ready.My teeth nipped at his jaw, working down to his neck. I found a nice spot right below his ear, and bit down, sucking, marking him.“Fuck.” His hands moved down to my hips, his fingers digging in to the flesh beneath.I growled at him like a possessed demon. “Jesus… I can’t take it! You’re mine. You’re not going anywhere. Mine!”“Why do I matter? What difference, if any, do I make?” His words spurred me on, gasoline on my raging fire.I’d show him and then some. I’d tell him why we needed each other, but without words.I pulled his hair in my fist, smashed his lips to mine one more time and shoved him toward the bedroom.“Lie down,” I ordered.I had no idea wh