Solving for Nic (Self Made Men...Southern Style Book 2)

by Lexxi Callahan

  His lips tasted and searched, teasing her until she was drowning in something sweet. He tilted his head, taking the kiss deeper, invading every part of her. Reaching out to stop from falling, her hands flattened against the soft shirt covering a granite hard chest. Long fingers, twined in her hair, pulling back to give him better access and he did things to her with his mouth she hadn’t thought possible. He broke the kiss and they both dragged in air.

  Then he kissed her again, like he was taking his last breath. Lizzie fell…no…jumped into the kiss. Base jumped. Without a parachute. The free fall was unbelievable as she opened up and let him take everything.

  Lizzie spent an eternity watching him start the car, reverse out of the parking spot and drive through the busy streets of New Orleans. She kept trying to think of something to say but all she could do was drink in his fierce expression as he drove. Silent too, he darted quick glances at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. Then a valet was opening her door under the bright lights of the entrance to The Maretti Riverwalk and Casino.

  Nic walked her through the lobby straight to an elevator. She leaned into him, refusing to think about what they were doing. When they walked into what had to be one of the largest suites she’d ever seen, she stopped short. The dining room table had been set for two, complete with white tablecloth, candles and delicate pink roses in a low vase.

  It was lovely and romantic and everything she would have wanted on a first date. She swallowed hard when she felt his hand touch her waist.

  “Breakfast?” His words brushed across the delicate skin of her ears, lifting all the tiny hairs on her body at once.

  She shook her head, turning to face him as she did. “I’m not hungry.”

  Wildfire blew up between them. “Good.” The word ground out of him and he was kissing her again. Backing her farther into the suite until she felt the edge of the bed behind her legs. Panic teased at her. This was very real. Not another dream at all.

  Shock tingled along her nerve endings when he dropped to his knees in front of her and started undoing the fine leather straps of her heels. He traced the indentations left by the straps.

  “Why do women insist on wearing such uncomfortable shoes?”

  “They make our legs look sexy?” All the air fled her lungs, along with the last of her survival instincts.

  “Your legs don’t need any help.”

  He took her foot in both hands and kneaded away a soreness she’d forgotten was there. His hands slid up her calves, then back down again, his thumbs pushing deep into the sole of her foot until she flinched at the sudden sharp pain, then groaned at the pleasure that followed it. By the time he moved to the other foot, Lizzie was pretty sure her spine had dissolved. She couldn’t sit still, and squirmed, trying to press her legs back together.

  One warm hand slid all the way up her leg, and pressed against the inside of her knee. Heat flooded through her. “Stay like this.” There was something low and warm in his voice that made her keep her legs still despite the overwhelming vulnerability consuming her.

  His fingers continued up her legs. “You’re so soft, Lizzie, but there’s muscle underneath.”

  “My spin instructor is a sadist.” She could die from this. The way his hands moved on her was electric. Darts of pain followed by pleasure sent pulses straight to her core.

  Nic straightened and pulled her to her feet. “Is all of you this soft?” He turned her away from him and pressed his mouth against the sensitive place where her neck curved into her shoulder.

  She felt the zipper ease down and she tried not to gasp too loudly when his fingers skimmed along her bare back. His hands moved up, curving around her rib cage. His breath caught when the edge of his fingers brushed the underside of her bare breasts. She couldn't wear a bra under the dress, not that she needed one. Now the backs of his fingers teased along the ultra-sensitive skin, causing her stomach to contract painfully. Heat flared deep inside her. His fingers continued to scorch along her skin until they reached her shoulders and tipped the straps off. The dress slithered down her body, pooling at her ankles in a soft rasp of sequins and chiffon.

  He caught her forearms before she could cover herself. “Keep them there.”

  His palms skimmed up her rib cage again, before long fingers teased the soft swell of her breasts. A strangled breath escaped him as her whole body shuddered from the sparks shooting through her. His hands molded around the sensitive flesh, his thumbs flicking over her nipples, making them tighten and sting. Heat spiraled through her and her whole body jerked as she struggled to breathe when he rolled the hard tips between his fingers. Pain spiked sharp and sweet, shredding through her, and Lizzie shuddered, crying out before she could stop herself.

  He spun her around, pulling her hard against his chest. “You should be locked up,” he bit the words out before crushing her mouth. She kissed him back, running her fingers through his hair and leaning into him. He tasted too good. There was no way to get enough.

  He lifted her again. “Too fast?” he rasped against her mouth, but he wasn’t stopping.

  She bit his lower lip. “Not for me.”

  He tumbled her back onto a bed and came down over her, his knee between her legs. “Last chance to say no, beautiful.”

  “Okay.” She focused on undoing the buttons of his shirt. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on all the bronzed skin. Lizzie knew his father was from Italy, but Nic had grown up in Houston. He had the slightest Texas drawl that didn’t match his European style. “Do you make love in Italian?” She pushed his shirt off his shoulders, her fingers aching to rub all over the fine smattering of dark hairs covering his chest.

  He caught her hand and kissed her wrist. “Let’s find out.”

  The moment his mouth touched her, Nic knew he’d made a serious error in judgment. Not that he’d been thinking clearly all night. Lizzie had gone straight to his head, chasing away all rational thought and he’d been functioning on instinct since she’d walked away from him on the dance floor.

  Now he had her here, in his bed, and kissing her was about as close to perfect as he’d ever gotten. He groaned at the simple pleasure of having her fingers sinking into his hair. All that soft skin teasing against his chest was making him crazy. He had to touch her everywhere. His hands couldn’t get enough of the feel of her. He dragged away from her plush mouth, licking across the slight pout of her bottom lip, to trail kisses down her throat.

  She was soft and sweet and everything he’d never thought he wanted. The small cries and moans that escaped her as he tasted sensitive flesh and traced his tongue across the indentations on her midriff were driving him over the edge much faster than he wanted to go.

  He was buying her health club because her spin class instructor needed a raise.

  He moved back up, catching one small perfect bud in his mouth, trailing his tongue in a hot circle and tightening his hold on her as she bowed off the bed. One hand tightened on her rib cage to hold her still as his other moved to shape the small swell. Her hand tightened in his hair and she gasped as he sucked hard and deep. His name was a breathless plea on her lips. It scorched him beyond reason.

  He slid one hand down her body and between her legs. Her body arched up against his as he pushed into all the slick wet heat. He caught her surprised cry with another deep kiss while his whole body shook with some primitive pleasure he’d give some thought to in about fifty or sixty years when he refused to regret this night. She was tight, too tight, but the flames in his mind burned away a flicker of his seldom used conscience.

  He caressed and worked her responsive flesh. Her soft mews of pleasure and fleeting gasps weren't enough. He wanted more. He wanted all of her. He wanted her to scream his name. She whimpered when he pulled his hand back, her hips following him until he broke the connection.

  He caught her hand when she reached for him, and laced his fingers with hers with one hand while his other hand pushed her legs farther apart.

  He parted the si
lken flesh and kissed her. He could feel her body coiling tighter and tighter. As far gone as he was, he knew he’d never get enough of her but he didn't stop. When the storm was ready to break free, her hand gripped his until he almost couldn’t feel his fingers. She arched as he forced her higher. A cry flew out of her, sending heat rippling all through him.

  Nic was nowhere near done. He had to see how many different ways he could break her apart and put her back together. He found himself cataloging the details and trying to remember what flick of his tongue caused which reaction or where to apply more pressure. Her response captivated him. He forgot there was more to it than her cry of pleasure when she came apart for him again and again.

  As he built the next orgasm in her, he knew he was stoking a dangerous fire. This one would be spectacular and he wanted to see her face. Catch her cry with his mouth. He needed to see her eyes. He replaced his mouth with his hand, his fingers sinking deep inside her. She trembled as she moaned. He kissed his way up her body, pausing to tease tight nipples as his thumb pushed her closer to the brink.

  All the oxygen fled Nic's system. Her face was damp, wrecked with tears and too many emotions to count. He kissed her again, wondering if he’d ever get enough of the taste of her. “Hold on, beautiful.”

  She nodded and almost smiled but took a deep breath instead. He rolled on the condom with unusually shaky hands, then moved over her. He kissed her again, fighting to hold back when every one of his instincts screamed to go deep.

  He paused when he felt her stiffen at his first nudge against her. He slid his fingers in again, teasing at her clit until she was gasping and tilting her hips up for him. When his name escaped on her next breath, Nic eased inside. “You’re so tight,” he whispered against her ear. “Relax, Lizzie.”

  “Please don’t stop.” The soft words broke something deep inside him. She rocked against him and Nic hissed as her body pulled him in. Air stalled in his throat and he drowned in the beautiful perfection of her flesh making way for his. He had to pause for a moment, and not to give her time to adjust to him. No, Nic paused because he never wanted to forget what it felt like being inside Lizzie for the first time. Her sweetness washed over him, stripping away years of jaded disbelief.

  As it consumed him, he knew he didn't deserve this. She deserved better. Because he was taking every bit of her. He couldn't help himself. He was like an opium addict in a field of poppies. He could appreciate their beauty but he would destroy them all to feel like this.

  Her arms tightened around him and he dropped his mouth to hers. “You feel like heaven.”

  Lizzie wasn't sure how she'd gone from the most intense orgasm of her life to having Nic so deep inside her that her body vibrated with his pulse. Relieved it hadn’t hurt and he hadn’t seemed to notice, she tightened her arms around his neck. She didn’t want to ever let him go. “We're really going to do this?” she whispered.

  He braced himself on his forearms, teasing her mouth with his. “We're already doing this.”

  She dragged in another ragged breath, sighing as his mouth slid across her jaw. “Good.”

  She tried not to tense up, expecting it to hurt or burn or worse when he pulled back. Her heart stopped when he sank back into her. Relief had her tearing up because it didn’t hurt. The last thing she’d wanted him to know was that it was her first time.

  He moved again and another moan escaped her. It definitely didn’t hurt.

  “Lizzie.”

  Hearing her name dragged her back into real time. She relaxed into it, opening up for him and he slid deeper. The intensity caught her off guard. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. All she could do was feel him. He was inside her, a part of her and he was perfect.

  “Beautiful.” The gentle word started everything inside her spinning. The muscles in his back flexed under her fingers. He was strong but the long, powerful strokes were controlled. She wasn’t sure she’d survive if he let loose. All she could do was hold on as he drove harder and deeper and changed everything she’d imagined about being with him.

  Then he was reaching down between them teasing her back to the edge, whispering things that made her burn hotter. He slid his hands beneath her, lifting her up, changing the angle and Lizzie lost the battle with the emotions building in her chest. Tears choked her as she came apart. She almost missed that he was falling apart with her.

  She couldn’t stop shaking as he rolled them to their sides. She hoped he hadn’t been disappointed or noticed she hadn’t been sure what to do. She smiled when she felt his mouth press against her neck as he whispered her name again. His chest heaved and his hands didn’t feel quite steady.

  Not disappointed. She decided. Relief warmed through her, then he eased away from her, his body sliding free of hers and she tried not to yelp at the sharp feeling of loss and unexpected burn of raw, over sensitized flesh. He swung off the bed. She curled onto her side and watched him disappear into the bathroom. A light switched on and she blinked back the intrusion of reality.

  Her body was still vibrating from his touch when she sat up, pulling the sheet with her. She drew her knees to her chin and refused to regret this. The emotions churning inside her were hard to ignore. She hadn’t expected her first time to be a religious experience, but she hadn’t expected it to be so intense.

  This was what she had wanted. Why in the hell was she on the verge of tears?

  When he slid back into bed a few minutes later and pulled her tight into the warmth of his body, Lizzie felt cold. She forced her breathing to calm. She couldn’t face him yet. She was afraid he’d see the shock crawling through her like acid.

  She’d wanted Nic to be her first. It had been impossible to be with anyone else because she had only wanted Nic.

  Careful what you wish for?

  She swallowed hard on a hysterical laugh. It had all been too much. She’d miscalculated in a big way. She’d wanted him out of her system and all she’d done was make things worse.

  He rolled her to her back then, his gaze skimming over her in the low light. She forced a smile. Then the Rolling Stones started singing “Angie.”

  Nic groaned. “She wouldn’t be calling this late if it wasn’t important. I’ll be right back.”

  He slid out of bed and a few minutes later she could hear him speaking in low tones to his sister. He was speaking in Italian, which Lizzie found oddly endearing. When he ended the call, he didn’t come straight back to bed. She listened to him pour himself a drink in the quiet suite.

  She feigned sleep when he returned and slid back into bed. She tried to stay relaxed as he pulled her into him. The warmth from his body and the strange safety she felt with him curved around her lulled her into a strange place between dreaming and consciousness.

  Later, when she was sure he was asleep, she eased away from him, flinching as the slightest sound echoed through the quiet room.

  Reality hit her as soon as her feet touched the floor. She’d had sex with Nic Maretti. In real life. Not a dream.

  She’d expected to be elated, but she wasn’t sure how she felt.

  Now what?

  Panic?

  He was asleep now, but what about when he woke? What would she say? She didn’t know how to handle the morning-after part.

  Panic was the correct answer and it clawed deep when it hit.

  What if it hadn’t been great for him? She couldn’t face finding out something so important to her was an ordinary hook up for him. She couldn’t stay. She needed to be anywhere else in the world. Her heart and her pride wouldn’t survive an awkward scene.

  She eased out of bed and into her clothes. She could leave a note, but she had no idea what to say. She’d text him later, tell him what a great time she’d had. She fastened the straps on her heels in the elevator on the way down. It wasn’t morning yet. Maybe her bridesmaid dress wouldn’t be too out of place when she walked through the lobby.

  He’d be relieved, she assured herself when a valet put her in a taxi. She was sa
ving him the awkward morning-after scene where they pretended it meant more than it did. He’d want to see her again and she’d say absolutely. Then he wouldn’t call and she would pretend it wasn’t eating her alive. No, she couldn’t. She had school to think about. She had her life all planned. Nic didn’t fit anywhere in her plans. Not that he would want to. She wasn’t his type.

  No. She refused to be sorry about any of this. Now if she could stop crying, things would be perfect.

  Dawn crept through the windows of the hotel suite and his cell phone was buzzing somewhere in the room. Nic didn’t move. He’d been awake for a while, lying in bed with his eyes closed. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the empty pillow next to him. The idea made his stomach clench and all of him ache.

  He wasn’t sure when she’d left. He remembered pulling her tight into his body as she’d gone to sleep safely wrapped in his arms, her even breathing lulling him into an uncharacteristically deep sleep.

  The anger and emptiness churning in his stomach was real. He didn’t like the unfamiliar hollowness slowly expanding in his chest.

  He straightened, swinging his legs around until his feet touched the floor. This was why he had rules. He did not spend the night with his lovers. It gave them the wrong idea.

  But he hadn’t wanted to let Lizzie go. The sex had been amazing. Her lack of experience had been refreshing. He’d wanted to hold her and feel her heart beat while she slept.

  The irony was not lost on him. The girl who made him forget all his rules had walked out on him. It made him feel…foolish and that other thing he refused to deal with. Abandoned.

  No. He pushed out of bed and headed for the shower, anger churning away the other feelings he’d spent his whole life avoiding.