Her arm was warm when I laid my palm on it, and she didn’t shy away like she had seconds earlier. As I dared to trace her shoulder and then her neck, Nikki relaxed under my touch. She allowed me to move the pillow, but beneath it, her face was hidden by a shroud of long, dark, wet hair. Every move I made, I calculated the risks. I worried anything too fast would send her running. As I removed the shield from her cheeks, she turned with it, not to continue hiding but to meet my stare.
“You okay?” I asked, but I didn’t stop touching her. It might be my overinflated ego, but my fingers calmed her.
She chewed her lip, and my balls tightened. I was convinced she had no idea what that did to men; otherwise, she’d quit. The tiny nod was almost imperceptible, but the sheen in her eyes was impossible to miss. Pools of unshed tears gleamed, ready to cascade over her lids and through her dark lashes.
The side of my face scrunched into a look of disbelief. “Yeah, I’m not buying it. What’s going on?”
I traced her jaw down to her chin, and with each second of silence, my finger kept going. Her delicate throat, the dip between her clavicles—every pore I touched erupted in a trail of gooseflesh. Instead of proceeding south, I chose the path to the west along her collarbone. The tank top she wore did nothing to cover her, and I outlined every exposed curve but stopped myself when I met the edges of the blanket.
Her eyes held mine, and the blue intensified with every pass of my hand. The navy morphed with indigo then cerulean and settled into brilliant cobalt. Like a magnifying glass, the tears amplified the color and exacerbated the size. “Storms scare me a bit.” She could have meant the metaphorical storm raging in her life, but I assumed she referred to the physical one outside my window.
I bobbed my head, uncertain of how to respond. I hadn’t met anyone scared of thunder since I was a kid. I found the race of the wind exhilarating, not debilitating. “You know you’re safe, right?”
Well, she was safe from the storm. I didn’t mention the other elephant that had lurked in the room since Friday night.
Her tongue left a sheen on her lips that the light from my phone hit just right. They sparkled like glitter when she spoke. “It’s irrational, I know. Goes back to my childhood.” She wasn’t old enough to have emotional scars that went back to childhood; she’d just crossed over the threshold into adulthood. “I got lost in a thunderstorm when I was little. At night, everything looks the same. I wasn’t gone all that long, but an hour to a four-year-old is an eternity.” Nikki blinked, and the tears finally fell, trickling down her porcelain cheeks.
Without thought, I wicked away the moisture with the pad of my thumb and then kissed her forehead. I didn’t have a clue what to say. I’d never been great with words, and comforting an emotional woman was so far beyond my comfort level it was in another time zone. But Nikki’s hurt ate at me. The pain in her features, the fear in her eyes—I couldn’t handle either. A simple kiss, one I shouldn’t have placed anywhere near her, left me even more bereft than her emotion. I swallowed past the lump in my throat my awkwardness had created and lay on my side next to her. My hair fell in front of my eyes when I dropped my head onto the pillow.
She stared at me, watching, waiting. The only thing I could think of to end the awkward situation I’d created was to slide my arm under her neck and pull her body close to mine. Nikki didn’t fight me or even resist. She came willingly and then let out a heavy shudder once I had her flush to my chest. One tremble was all it took to encase her in a fortress of my protection. If she didn’t want it, I’d let her go, but I hoped like hell she didn’t push back. I encouraged her to stay put by tracing circles along her spine with one hand and using the other to play with her hair.
I didn’t dare look down for fear she’d ask me to stop, or that I’d see something in her eyes indicating I’d crossed a line she’d drawn in the proverbial sand. The warmth of her body, the weight of her head on my arm…I didn’t want to lose that comfort for myself. She’d given me something I hadn’t thought I needed, but now, I hoped to bask in it, marinate, wallow. Everything good about her transferred into me when she was this close. It should have scared me or freaked me out. It didn’t.
I wanted more.
When she pulled back a fraction, I sighed, sad to let her go. But she didn’t pull free. No, in fact, all she did was create enough room to explore my chest and shoulders with her fingers. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to absorb her touch, and I basked in the swell of my heart. Every stroke of her nails was like a shot of scotch that warmed its way down my throat and then coated my stomach in relaxed bliss. With each caress, Nikki became more brazen. Her hand dipped a bit lower on my abdomen or inched a tad higher on my jaw.
I itched to have her, to take her and claim her. I didn’t know a damn thing about the girl, but she’d eaten a hole into my heart and then waltzed right into it and set up shop, made it her home. That shit was dangerous, but I’d be damned if I didn’t want it all the same. I stilled to keep her from meeting my growing erection, but if she kept up this pattern of delicious torture, there would be nothing I could do to spare her the introduction. Basketball shorts did nothing to mask a hard-on, especially worn commando.
When her foot slid between mine and shifted my legs to make room for her thigh, I had to risk meeting her gaze. I needed to know what was on her mind; not that I’d ask, but I hoped her expression gave her away. I peered down my nose; shifting my head caused her to glance up. The hunger I had hoped to see burned a fire in her eyes. As much as I wanted to take the lead, to show her I wanted everything she did, I had to let her do this. I wouldn’t stop her once she’d initiated it, and if she asked, I’d jump in, but it had to be her calling the shots. While I couldn’t identify what the fuck was going on inside my head, my heart, or my cock, one thing was certain—I’d never forgive myself if Nikki believed I had taken advantage of her. That sure as hell wasn’t what this was.
Her hands explored, getting more brazen with each passing minute, but her eyes, they stayed trained on mine. She made sure to hold my stare, to look deep inside me and allow me to see inside her. Nikki communicated more with a glance than she did with words, and it was a language our hearts seemed to understand, even if my mind couldn’t comprehend it.
She leaned in, her lids drooping slightly, and then hesitated for a split second. I lost sight of her irises but was rewarded with the soft touch of her full lips. Lips I’d dreamed of having wrapped around my cock now peppered kisses up and down my neck in an agonizingly slow pace. I let her go and just experienced what she offered. Her knee continued to split my thighs until her leg settled between mine. The swell of her breasts pressed against my pecs, and I was on the verge of losing control.
I hadn’t been prepared for her to roll her hips against me, searching for pressure that would relieve some of the ache that had to be growing between her legs. The moment she did it, she shifted my body, and my dick was there to provide the friction she craved. It wasn’t intentional, just divine intervention. The mewl that passed her lips when her head tilted back brought my fist to her hair and my hand to her ass. Jesus, she was every bit of perfection. With a little encouragement from me, she undulated her pelvis again and rode my cock through her shorts and mine.
Nikki might have been the instigator in this, but she clearly didn’t have the experience the girls I normally hooked up with had. The second a tramp encountered a viable erection, she’d sit up and remove her clothes in an erotic dance she’d practice a hundred times before she’d met me. Nikki buried her face in my neck as if ashamed of the pleasure she’d stolen and continued to take. The muffled purrs gave away her enjoyment, and her timid disposition only spurred me on.
I gently tugged on the fistful of hair tangled between my fingers, just enough to bring her out of hiding. But she shook her head and didn’t budge, nor did she cease grinding on my cock.
“I’m embarrassed,” she muttered into my chest.
I didn’t try to stop the chuckle that rumble
d through me. “Of what?” My voice had grown husky with the adrenaline and lust coursing through my veins.
“You must think I’m a slut.” Her tone was playful, but she didn’t mask her shame.
I ran my fingers through her hair, unsure of how to proceed. I’d never brought a girl home to my bed, much less one who wasn’t sure what she wanted to do once she’d gotten there. If a female had made it to first base with me, she had decided she wanted a home run. I was always the one to put on the brakes—clingers weren’t something I needed in my daily life. They took too much time and energy, and anyone who lived around here had to constantly be looked out for because they became prey hunted by U21. No, thank you.
With my arms wrapped around her petite frame, I rolled onto my back and tugged her onto my stomach, forcing her to support herself in some fashion and, therefore, make eye contact. I wasn’t prepared for the innocence staring back at me. “Babe, if you were a slut, you would have tried to get with me Friday…or Saturday. You haven’t so much as even hinted at anything sexual.”
She dropped her forehead to my chest. “Yet, here I am rubbing myself all over you like a damn cat in heat. God, I’m such a loser.” When Nikki shook her head, I sat us both up.
Her thighs fell to the sides of mine, forcing her to straddle my lap. Instinctively, my palms clutched her ass cheeks to balance myself. The additional closeness didn’t hurt my feelings, nor did it curb my desire. Feeling her breath on my skin only drove me further into a frenzied need. There was no possibility she didn’t feel my shaft between her lips when I could feel the wetness of her shorts through mine. It wasn’t like I wasn’t turned on.
“Babe…”
Her eyes shot up and met mine. Either she’d been stunned into silence or hadn’t recognized the term of endearment. I couldn’t be sure of which, but the surprise in her widened eyes was adorably fuckable.
“Maybe you missed the baseball bat wedged between your legs, but I think it’s safe to say, I’m incredibly turned on. And if I weren’t interested, there’d be a limp noodle, not a sledgehammer…if you get my drift.”
Nikki sucked her lips between her teeth and nodded. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply, and her tight nipples peaked through her tank top to tickle my chest. Fuck she was sexy, and she still had on all her clothes.
“I’m not going to rush you or even push you on this, but if you need a little encouragement, I’m fully supportive of anything you might like to do to use my body…you know, for your own gratification.” I winked, and she turned a fiery shade of crimson.
The color seeped from her cheeks down her elongated neck and fanned out onto her chest under her shirt. I could only imagine how rosy her breasts had just become, and pink was fast approaching my favorite color in the rainbow.
As quickly as her embarrassment marked her skin, her eyes went from that Nikki-grey to Diamond-blue, but instead of a curtain dropping and shielding her vulnerability, a window opened to release her soul. She pursed her lips just slightly, steeling her resolve, and then reached between us, crossing her arms to grab the hem of her shirt. I leaned back without letting go of her ass to give her space to move. I’d never seen anything so seductive in all my life. Nikki didn’t just remove her clothing; she seduced me with a dance that had no music or choreography. Every push, every pull, each muscle that flexed as she brought the fabric over her head was as beautiful as the way her eyes glittered under the spotlight.
Nikki held the shirt at the end of her outstretched arm, and without taking her eyes off mine, she dropped it to the floor. Her tits created a gap between our stomachs, one I wanted to be filled. With the flick of my wrists, she tilted her hips and eliminated the void, decimated the space, and totally turned my word upside-fucking-down. Flesh to flesh was no longer enough; my patience waned, and I needed her—to feel her, taste her, please her.
She didn’t shy away when she saw the hunger written on my face; instead, she toyed with me and began to give me the lap dance of the century. I couldn’t stave off my desire. The way she ground into my crotch kept her rooted where she was, and I seized the opportunity to take her mouth—to show her with a kiss just what I had planned for the rest of her body.
Our lips met in a lackadaisical embrace that was anything but. Slow could be boring, or it could be passionate, and the moment my tongue delved into her mouth, she moaned in pleasure. Nails bit into the skin on my back, and her hips churned, but my pace never increased. I made love to her mouth the way I wanted to ravage her body, slowly and sensually. Kissing Nikki went beyond an exchange of pleasure, it nourished my soul and connected our spirits. There was no doubt, with one kiss, this girl had fucking ruined me.
And when she pulled away to climb off my lap, I thought I’d lose my mind. Nikki shimmied off the bed, her tits highlighted by the glow of my phone that I’d never turned off. Her shape was a perfect silhouette shadowed onto the wall. I was desperate for her, to feel her, to be inside her, but if she didn’t want it, I wouldn’t push. No matter how much I craved it. Yet, she reached my feet, and a devious smirk rose on her swollen lips.
Nikki dipped her fingers into the waist of her barely there shorts, rocked her hips from side to side, twice, and then let them fall to the floor, where she stepped out of them. But she didn’t stop. Bending at the waist, she planted her hands on the mattress between my legs, walked herself up a couple of steps, and then took the edge of my shorts and pulled them to my ankles. I wouldn’t make her beg or, hell, even ask. I kicked the damn things off somewhere into the darkness, and she dropped her head back in laughter.
I’d tried my damnedest not to ogle her at Swank, forbidding myself from dropping my line of sight below her collarbones. But there were mirrors everywhere, and I had seen her even when I tried not to. Yet somehow, the club hadn’t done her justice. Where she had appeared hard at Swank was now the subtlest of softness. Her hips could define the word hourglass, and her tits were divine, worthy of religious notation. She’d squared her shoulders, straightened her spine, and bent a knee in the most coquettish of poses to allow me to memorize her body, and it was flawless. If I believed in love at first sight, I would have just fallen for the goddess before me.
But Nikki didn’t give me long to ponder that thought or get lost in the sin of her skin. Again, she crawled up my body, but this time, she didn’t stop at my knees. She kept coming on all fours, holding my stare in a wicked game of seduction. Fuck, she had me tied in knots, and I’d barely touched her. By the time she’d made her way back to my lap and spread her sweet thighs to take a seat, the scent of her arousal wafted up my nostrils. And I had to restrain the feral beast inside me that begged to consume her.
I panted, waiting for her to give me the green light or to start moving. Nikki drew out the anticipation, rubbing my length between her bare, wet lips, and teasing me with her nipples, never dropping my gaze. Every move she used to hold a man’s attention on stage was front and center in my bedroom.
The thought fled my mind when she lifted up, and instead of teasing me again, she dropped down to the hilt on my cock. Nikki took every inch like a fucking champ and stilled at the base. Her chest expanded and contracted with several deep breaths. I imagined she needed a minute to adjust based on how tight her pussy was. If there’d been a barrier I’d broken through, I would be convinced she was a virgin. But nothing stopped her from going full bore—she was just that fucking tight. The notion crept into my head that there was the possibility there just hadn’t been anyone in a while, and it made me want to pound my fists on my chest and shout from the highest mountain.
And then she moved.
Rolled.
Peaked.
Plunged.
Took me to the brink and pulled me back.
With her hands laced behind my neck, she leaned away, dropped her head between her shoulder blades to expose her delicate neck, and moaned my name as she fell into ecstasy. I followed close behind her, pumping my hips until I had nothing left to give. Nikki leaned forw
ard and collapsed in my arms against my chest.
She didn’t make to move, and I had no desire to let her go. I slipped out when I laid back and rolled us both to our sides. The little grunt of disappointment from Nikki left me with a broad smile. I had no idea why she wanted me, nor where any of that had come from, but fuck if I didn’t want to give it all to her daily.
“That was amazing,” she cooed without opening her eyes.
I reached over to turn off the flashlight on my phone, and when I rolled back, she curled into me. I could have stared at her for ages, but both of us needed sleep. I had to work in the morning, and I still wasn’t sure what to do about Nikki while I was gone. If getting her to go to my parents’ house had been a struggle, forcing her to tag along with me at work would erupt a war.
She tilted her chin up and peered at me through thin slits. “Thank you for today. I loved your parents.” Nikki paused, but her mouth stayed slightly parted, indicating she wasn’t done. “And seeing a domestic side of you was…endearing.” Still, she hadn’t finished. “But that”—she waved her hand lazily up and down the length of our bodies—“was fucking incredible.” With a peck on my jaw, she settled back down into the nook she’d buried herself in.
I kissed her forehead and pulled her close. Within minutes, her breathing evened out, and she was asleep.
Just as I was about to drift off myself, my phone vibrated on the nightstand next to me. There were only two people who would text me this late at night—Chase and Jesse. There was relief mixed with dread as I picked up my cell.
Jesse: Tomorrow night at the Warehouse. 10pm.
Me: See you then.
It was short and to the point, but that was how Jesse worked. He’d drawn things out, made me sweat, and now he issued an order. I would follow, not because I was one of them, but because I wasn’t.
12
Nikki
I gasped, sitting straight up in bed.
Dear Diamond Page 13