by Sierra Rose
Nick pushed slowly to his feet, climbing up off his knee, his lovely face flashing red and blue in the haze of the oncoming police cars. “Well, I’m glad it’s sinking in,” he laughed. “I wish we had champagne. Wait. Scratch that! You’re pregnant. No alcohol.”
“I just... I’m shocked, Nick. I don’t need any fancy wine or champagne or flowers. I just need you. I had no idea you could be so spontaneous, so...heartfelt. That means way more to me than going out to some fancy dinner to recite a rehearsed proposal.”
He peered into my eyes. “I want you to know this has nothing to do with the company or a flash drive or anything like that. There is nothing fake or pretend about this. I’m really asking—”
Before he could finish, within the next second, I was airborne, leaping full force into his arms. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I thought my face might split apart from the force of my smile. The entire world seemed to come together in a single crystalline moment as I stared down at him in the rain. Streams of water ran through his wavy hair, dripping from my lashes onto his.
“Being a good dad starts with being a good husband,” he said. “I’m going to be the best husband and the best dad. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for our family. We’re going to have a solid rock-hard marriage and a stable, loving home, I promise you that. I’ve put my old life behind me. My new life starts now...with the woman I’ll love for the rest of my life.”
The only natural thing to do at that point was to collide in a kiss. I loved kissing Nick, especially in the pouring rain, and that kiss was our most breathtaking yet. I ran my hands through his wet hair as his mouth consumed me. I couldn’t deny what I felt, what I was sure he felt for me; it was magic. It was as if my entire life had led up to that fairytale moment. My Prince Charming was there, in my arms, where he belonged. I loved the way he looked at me, touched me, and kissed me. Nick was the man I was going to share the rest of my life with, and I was ready to give him everything I had to offer.
We kissed with so much passion, intensity, and fire that even a hurricane couldn’t have put out the roaring fire brewing between us. I kissed him with everything I had, with the inferno of every heated emotion coursing through me. I loved that man, and I gladly would have soared up to the moon and back for him. In fact, he sent my heart soaring that high with every glance of his blue eyes.
It might have been freezing outside, but his mouth was warm. He forced mine open with a strength and passion that took my breath away as one hand came up to cup my face. My eyes snapped shut, and I ran my fingers through his hair, wrapping my legs tightly around his waist.
It wasn’t until I felt him flinch beneath me that I realized something was wrong.
“Oh gosh!” I exclaimed, untangling myself from his body and dropping down to the wet pavement. “Nick, I’m so sorry! Your chest! I didn’t even think—”
He only laughed, pulling me back toward him. “I just asked you to marry me, Abby Wilder. I just asked you to be my wife.” He ran the tips of his fingers down my sides. “You really think a couple bruised ribs are going to stop me?”
They wouldn’t, but in spite of what he said, I feared a couple police cars might.
No sooner had we come back together than we sprang apart again. We sprinted into the rain hand in hand as the bar behind us was stormed by what looked like half of New York’s finest. The sounds of the drunken disclaimers and denials were drowned out by our uncontrollable laughter as we tore down the street, seemingly without a care in the world.
There we were, running in the rain, with strobes of lightning punctuating every sloppy footfall. Every so often, Nick’s finger brushed across my ring, and every so often, mine did the same.
Maybe fairytales do come true after all, I thought with a smile as I ran with the man I loved, ran to a future I couldn’t wait to experience.
Chapter 23
By the time we got back to the penthouse, the sun was already beginning to lift into the sky. The walls were tinted pink with the coming dawn, the timer on the coffee maker sprang automatically to life, and the bubbling sounds of the hot tub echoed cheerfully in the air.
Louise had long since left. Nick admitted to me that he paid her to stay and watch me while I was out. I guess he was worried and wanted to make sure I had someone looking out for me while he was out. And she pretended like she was only staying for the free cable. I chuckled. I’d fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. Max, the bodyguard, was stationed safely downstairs. There were no stylists pounding down our door, no unexpected visitors or lingering guests. For the first time in what felt like a long time, the two of us were finally alone.
Nick laid me down gently on the bed. It was obvious all along that he was in a hurry to get me there, just so he could sweep me off my feet and preemptively carry me over the threshold, but now that we were there, his movements became tender and relaxed.
He unbuttoned his shirt with one hand and slipped the wet garment off his muscular shoulders. With his other hand, he tugged my soaked pajamas carefully over my head. His pants were soon to follow, then his shoes and mine. Before long, there wasn’t a stich of clothing in sight.
His eyes swept me over me before he lowered himself slowly to the bed. First, he greeted my shins with kisses, followed by my knees and the side of each thigh. He lingered for a while over my stomach, pressing his lips tenderly against the skin with a secret smile before he traveled upward once more, pleasuring my ribs, my breasts, and the hollow of my collarbone.
A trail of warmth followed his every touch, radiating out like some kind of supernova that was bringing me back to life. He didn’t neglect anything: not my jaw, my cheeks, my eyebrows, or even the tip of my nose. Then, finally, he reached my lips.
A soft moan escaped me as his hands wrapped around my lower back, his thumbs rubbing little circles into my hip bones. He was hard, hard and ready, yet he carefully took his time, savoring every moment and drinking in every detail, just like I was.
“You know,” he whispered in my ear as his legs eased mine gently apart, “I’ve never done this before.”
The mood was temporarily shattered as I let out a bark of laughter. When his twinkling eyes met mine, I shook my head with a grin. “I’m sorry, but even if I’d never picked up a magazine or a newspaper or—I don’t know—walked outside, I still happen to have personal knowledge to refute that. Talk about Mythbusters!”
He laughed quietly, trailing a leisurely finger up between my legs. “I don’t mean sex. Of course I’ve done that.” One finger was joined by another, then another, but when I arched my back, he pressed me down. “I mean that I’ve never had sex with my actual fiancée, the woman I intend to make love to for the rest of my life.”
All our momentum momentarily stilled as he stared deep into my eyes.
“I love you, Abby. I’ll never stop loving you.” He planted a soft kiss against the back of my hand. “Not for a single second.”
It was as much a promise as it was a caress. I stared up in a trance, temporarily dazzled by the Manhattan prince I’d come to call my own, but then his lips twitched up into a mischievous grin.
“And now, wife-to-be, I’d like to fuck you.”
I laughed again as he yanked my knees apart and pushed himself inside me. “Make love!” I insisted, giggling all the while. “You’d like to make love to me!”
“Call it what you will,” he panted. His golden-brown hair fell into his face as he bowed his head to mine, thrusting powerfully all the while. “I like to call it fucking.”
I stretched up on my elbows, biting playfully at his lips. “For a verb that strong, buddy, you’d better make it memorable.”
Just like that, his mischievous twinkle turned into a devilish grin. “I promise you’ll never forget this,” he said, eager to accept the challenge.
And in the end, he was certainly right about that.
* * *
Hours later, we were lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, with a tangle of damp sheets wra
pped around our waists and ankles.
Nick tapped an absentminded rhythm on my wrist. “Do you think I should tell my dad?” he asked suddenly.
“About us?” I asked, confused. “About this?” I said, wiggling my ring finger around.
“No. About Claudia?”
I glanced over, then leaned back with a little frown. “I’m sure he already knows how devious she is. The man’s not stupid, Nick, and from what you tell me, he’s no stranger to women like her. I’m not sure about the flash drive...”
He propped himself up on an elbow, twisting onto his side to face me. “I thought you said you broke it, smashed it at the hospital.”
“I did, but who’s to say that was the only copy? Those things are a dime a dozen at OfficeMax, right?” My lips pressed together as I considered the conundrum from every angle. “A woman like Claudia is sure to have another copy, a backup. In that regard, nothing’s really changed.”
We fell silent for a while, each of us lost in thought.
The city awakened slowly around us, its familiar sounds drifting in through the high window. The hotdog vendors were setting up their stands, and the first angry honks from cabs echoed all about. The flutter and squawks of an army of pigeons descending upon Central Park was yet another wakeup call.
Nick grabbed his phone and suddenly called Claudia.
“Nick! Stop!” I yelled.
He flat out asked her if she had any copies. And I could hear her reply.
“Yes, darling Nick,” she said. “Right before your dad took the flash drive to the hospital, I made a copy. I was wondering when I should tell you.”
“Why?” Nick shouted as his face reddened. “Why the hell would you do that?”
“For leverage, dear boy. To keep you in line. Don’t worry though. I feel as though my revenge has been obtained and I feel vindicated. When your dad hatched up that marriage plot, I couldn’t stop laughing. I loved seeing you squirm. It was the perfect revenge.”
“How wonderful.”
“I really got you back good, didn’t I?”
“Yes you did. So if you got me back so good, then why make another copy?”
“The flash drive is insurance that you’ll stay on my side during this marriage. And that you won’t say anything bad about me, and that you’ll support me loyally.”
“It just never ends.”
“No, son, it doesn’t.”
“I’m not your son.”
“Okay, then. Stepson. And feel free to call me, Mom. Now I need to know. Are you on my team?”
“Fine. You win. You have my undying support and loyalty, Mother.”
“Good. The next time you see your father, tell him how much you approve of this marriage.”
“Done.”
“Good.”
Nick hung up and I touched his shoulder.
“She’s a nut job!” he said.
“It’s okay,” I said softly. “We’ll figure out a way around this.”
We started to talk about strategies and stuff we could do to get the flash drive back from out of her clutches.
I’d just about given up on finding a solution when Nick sat up suddenly, his eyes locked upon the far wall. My heart quickened just at the sight of it. I knew that look, because I’d seen it many times before. It was a look that meant one thing: trouble.
“What?” I was almost afraid to ask. “What are you thinking?”
“I have a plan so that I’ll never have to call her mother again. I’ll just call her evil stepmother.” The corners of his mouth curved up in a slow smile as his plan began to take shape. “When you think about it,” he began, “that flash drive is nothing more than leverage, a tangible bargaining chip she gets to hold over our heads, to pull out whenever she wants.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, so?”
“So... What if we have our own leverage?”
Suddenly, the publicist in me sprang to life, side by side with the girl who had grown up watching too many crime television shows. “Right! We could catch her in a compromising position and get some photos of our own, something she wouldn’t want Mitchell to see.”
Nick nodded in agreement, finishing my every thought. “He’ll call off the wedding, leave her.”
My face danced with excitement for only a second before the plan died in my eyes. “But how?” I shook my head, already defeated. “How in the world can we go about doing something like that? Maybe she won’t even cheat.”
Nick merely pulled out his phone and pressed a speed-dial number, wearing a little smirk. “Just leave that part to me, babe. I got this.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
“Oh, you will. I promise you will!”
* * *
Just two hours later, we were standing on the curb, watching the New York City traffic and wearing conspiratorial smiles, even though mine masked my overwhelming anxiety.
“Are you sure this is okay?” I asked for the millionth time. “I mean, we’re getting dangerously close to prostitution here.”
Nick squeezed my hand and offered a confident smile. “It’s totally fine. We’ve asked each other to do way worse things than this.”
There was a beat of silence before I looked up at him again. “Worse than prostitution?”
“Best not to dwell on semantics,” he advised, pointing into the sea of cars.
As if on cue, a black limousine separated from the rest of the pack and pulled up against the curb.
“Semantics will get you in trouble every time.”
The two of us watched as the door opened and James leapt onto the sidewalk, glancing up at the skyscrapers as he took a deep breath of the New York City air. He looked as out of place as a swimsuit model in the arctic. People stopped to stare as if one of the billboards had suddenly come to life, and their mouths dropped shamelessly open, but the captivating Englishman had time for none of them. The second he spotted Nick and me through the crowd, he made his way over, with that typical beaming smile on his face. “This is such a great idea!” he called as soon as we were within earshot. “I’ve always wanted to freefall from the Chrysler. I can’t believe you got a permit!”
The smile froze on my face as I hissed at Nick through my teeth. “You didn’t tell him?”
Nick kept a smile fixed on his face as well, beckoning his friend closer. “I may have lured him here under false pretenses.”
False pretenses or not, James was exactly the man for the job. I shook my head as he came closer, looking him up and down with a scarcely contained smile. The initial James dazzlement hadn’t gone away since that time I saw him walk out of the lake, dripping wet and glistening in the sun. The man was sex incarnate, and no one could deny that, not even me. “He’s perfect,” I whispered to Nick as his gorgeous friend stopped in front of us.
Nick was far less dazzled but far more appraising. “Well, you look...okay,” he assessed. Then, without any explanation, he pulled open the top two buttons of his buddy’s shirt. As James glanced down in confusion, Nick stepped back wearing a frown. “It’s just too...formal somehow.”
James glanced between us, looking a little lost. “Uh...too formal for freefalling? I figured they’d give us specific clothes—”
Without another word, the two of us yanked him forward and got to work.
I stretched up on my toes to ruffle his dark hair into those irresistible, sex-tousled waves, while Nick untucked his shirt and started rolling up his sleeves. His collar was loosened and his belt removed. By the time we finished, even his watch was gone, for good measure; we didn’t want it snagging any of Claudia’s designer wear.
Throughout the process, James’s initial confusion turned into surprise. He knew something was coming, but he certainly didn’t know what it was. Little did he realize that it was going to be far more dangerous than freefalling. When we finally took a step back, he stared at each of us in turn and asked flatly, “Is this a threesome? Is that what this is? I mean, I’m okay with it if you two are,
but I didn’t really expect—”
“What!?” I gasped, unable to believe my ears.
“Cause, I mean, I get it.” He shook his head with a little sigh. “You guys want to branch out, but you’re a couple now, so you want to do it with someone safe, right?”
Nick’s eyes snapped shut, and he actually made a gagging noise. “James, stop.”
James raked his hand distractedly back through his hair, looking amenable but highly inconvenienced by the whole thing. “I just wish you’d given me some notice,” he muttered, almost to himself. “I don’t have any of my tools—”
I cocked my head to the side, curious in spite of myself. “Um...tools?”
He sighed again, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Look, I mean, if you guys really want to do this, I guess I can get things started with Abby. Nick, maybe you can just watch, or—”
“Enough!” Nick shook his head, unable to listen a second longer. “I didn’t invite you to fuck my fiancée. In fact, consider her off limits for the rest of your natural-born, horny life. You got that?”
James’s face lightened considerably, with something that looked like a mixture of disappointment and relief. “Oh. In that case—”
“I want you to fuck my dad’s fiancée.”
The two of us nodded impressively as James shrank a step back.
“Um, thanks, but no thanks. I think I’d rather just go back to the car. Fucking Claudia equals Chlamydia.”
As he started to leave, I pulled him toward me. “Not so fast, mister.”
Chapter 24
“Tell me again why I’m doing this,” James demanded, fidgeting uncomfortably as I squeezed bits of product into his hair, “other than to buy my therapist a new summer home.”
I bit back a burst of laughter as Nick stepped in front of him, placing his hands on James’s shoulders and staring entreatingly into his eyes. “It’ll be your wedding present, for your best friend. It’s your duty as my best man.”