by Wade, Maddie
“Love you to the sun, baby,” she replied softly and kissed his soft cheek. She stayed next to him, her hand on his as he slept. He was so precious to her and she prayed every day that the transplant would work. The last blood results had been promising, although, he would feel poorly with the chemo. She was anxious to get started so he could get on the road to recovery.
Deep in thought, she startled when the door opened. Lucy poked her head in and Skye could see Zin’s head and shoulders behind her.
“Hey,” said Lucy as she motioned Skye outside. She followed her back out into the corridor.
“Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this. Are you sure you don’t mind?” Lucy grabbed her arm and looped it through hers, “Of course not. This is an easy gig and I adore Noah, we all do.” Lucy looked back at Zin who was scanning the hallway, “Right, Zin?” He looked at Lucy and then Skye.
“This is an honour, Skye, that you trust us with his safety. We won’t let you down. You go with Nate and get some rest, we will call if he wakes or wants you.” That accent was seriously sexy, thought Skye. Although, not as sexy as Nate’s.
“See? We got this. I’ll be inside with Noah and Zin will be at the door. Go get some sleep, you look knackered.”
Skye laughed at Lucy’s blunt assessment of her appearance, “Gee. Thanks. Luce. Love you, too.”
“Hey, love you, woman, and with your stunning beauty. Tiredness just gives you that sleeping beauty fragility men go mad for.” Zin nodded behind Lucy, “Nate is a lucky man,” he said, making her blush
“Oh, look, here`s the man himself.” Skye looked down the hall and Nate was striding toward them. He looked so handsome in his jeans and Superdry jacket, his hair a sexy, windblown mess. He strode toward her with his loose-limbed walk, arms relaxed at his side. His dark, good looks–and the way filled out his clothes–made her mouth water.
Lucy leaned forward and whispered, “Skye, wipe your drool or pass me a cigarette.” Skye turned to her and gently shoved her with her elbow, “Behave yourself,” she giggled.
“Who, me? You’re the one panting like a bitch in heat.”
“Lucy, shut up,” she growled laughingly. Nate made it to them, then, and immediately hooked Skye around the waist and pulled her to him. His eyes only on her, not seeming to care that Lucy and Zin stood there, and he kissed her. It was hard and quick and packed a serious wallop.
“Hey, mi amor, missed you.”
“You only saw me a few hours ago,” she said softly, still recovering from the kiss.
“Exactly. Hours ago. I missed you.” Skye’s heart skipped a beat at his words.
“I missed you, too, baby,” she replied and rested her head against his chest.
Nate turned his attention to Lucy and Zin. Lucy was grinning like a loon and Zin looked, at first glance indifferent, but on closer inspection his lips where turned up slightly at the corners in a smirk.
“Do you want to go get your stuff and say goodnight to Noah?” Nate asked, tipping his head to Skye and letting her go. She pulled away and nodded, “Yes. I’ll go now.”
She slipped into the room to grab her bag and check if Noah was sleeping soundly. She watched his breathing,–it was deep and even. No signs of distress or bad dreams to plague him in rest. She tucked his covers up around his chin and tucked his bear in beside him. Dropping a kiss on his forehead and running her hand over his cheek, she whispered, “Night baby. Sweet dreams.”
Exiting the room, she found Zin standing sentry against the doorframe and Lucy waiting to go in to sit with Noah. She walked straight to Nate, slipping under his arm so she could wind her arms around his waist.
“I’ve briefed Luce and Zin and they know to call if anything happens, no matter how small.”
“Go, get some rest. Get some food and have some hot monkey sex.”
“Lucy!” three voices growled.
“What? You’re thinking it, I just said it.”
“Right, we’re out of here. Call if you need me,” Nate said and turned, pulling her towards the lift.
They drove to Nate’s flat, which was only a few minute away from the hospital, and they could walk it as quick with the traffic like it always was on that section of road. The old Victorian house on Aylestone Hill was huge. Nate explained that the property had been split into four flats when he’d bought it. He’d taken the top two floors as his own, and was slowly turning it back into the beautiful house it once was.
The two flats on the ground floor would be next, but one was still occupied. Nate was putting that off, though. He didn’t have the heart to evict Mrs Beatty. She was eighty-eight years old and not a well lady. He’d told her that she could stay as long as she wanted. Unfortunately, he didn’t think that would be long.
Walking up the front steps, Skye was not surprised to see state of the art security on the door. The front of the house had two massive bay windows and the large, black front door had a big, brass knocker and letterbox.
Entering the hallway, she looked around. The floor was solid oak parquet flooring, the walls a clean white. She marvelled at the detail on the cornice and mouldings. This was beautiful. She couldn’t stop her eyes scanning every inch, trying to take in the detail.
To the left was a sturdy, red with flat A next to it. The handle shone and the paintwork was clean and new looking.
To the front of her was an impressive stair case with wrought iron spindles and a curved oak balustrade. The stairs, themselves, were polished oak wood. On the right was another door with flat B on the front. This door was blue and looked slightly worse for wear. The paint was peeling and the door handle looked dull and unloved.
Skye followed Nate up the stairs, running her hand over the smooth wood as she went. As they reached another security door, she watched him use his thumb to open the door lock and thought it was a great idea–she was always forgetting her keys. Maybe she would ask him about fitting her place with one.
She didn’t know what to expect from his space but she was pleasantly surprised. The door led through to a large open hallway. The floor was, again, oak. The walls were a soft dove grey, a large gilt mirror with the Prince of Wales feathers on the frame, hung on the hall wall between two doors.
On the right were two more doors, leading to what looked like an office and small bathroom. She allowed Nate to take her coat and he hung it in a cupboard on the left, which was under a second set of stairs going up to a third floor.
Nate took her hand and she went to him willingly. Putting her arms around his warm, hot body, she rested her head against him. He held her tight and wrapped his hand around her hair, tipping her head back with a gentle tug.
“You okay, mi cielo?” he asked, scanning her face.
“Yes, I’m surprisingly fine. I love your house. It’s absolutely beautiful.”
“Do you want the tour or food first?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck. She she was hungry, but she wanted a tour.
“How about we order food and then you give me the tour while we wait?”
“Good plan. Let’s go find the menus.” He dragged her by the hand into the kitchen of her dreams.
“Oh my god. This kitchen is divine. Is that a Kitchenaid mixer?”
Nate shrugged, “Not sure, my mum and sister kitted out the kitchen. I just footed the bill and chose the cabinets.”
Skye took a closer look, “Nate, how can you have Kitchenaid appliances and not know that they are the caviar of kitchen appliances?” He barked out a deep laugh as he went through what was obviously a junk draw filled with menus.
“Caviar. So I take it you approve?”
“Approve? This is the kitchen of my dreams.” Nate abandoned his hunt and came to her. The look in his eyes made her stomach flip and her body go soft. He kept coming until he backed her up against the counter. His hands came up and cupped her face.
“Kitchen of your dreams for the woman of mine.”
“Nate…”
“I mean it, Skye. You don’t know how much it means to me
that you like what I’m doing here. I want you to like this. I hope, one day in the future, you and I will make this our home–and if not here, then somewhere else. I want to see Noah’s toys and game console in my living room, and your cake paraphernalia in the kitchen. I want this for us.”
“I want that, too,” she said quietly, “But until Noah is over the worst, we need to give him stability, not rush into a move.”
“I know that,” he said as he rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks, “I’m talking down the line. I want a future for us. This is it for me, you are it for me.”
“You are it for me, Nate, and I want it, too. So much.” His head lowered and he kissed her gently, his lips teasing hers until they opened for him. She felt herself relax into his hard body and her arms went around his shoulders, hands in his soft, thick hair.
He gripped her head, his other hand went down as he palmed her ass through her jeans, causing a flood of heat to her girlie parts. They kissed like that for a few minutes until her stomach rumbled and he pulled away laughing.
“I think we need to order food and then I’ll give you the tour.”
Skye blushed, “Yeah, good idea.”
They settled on Thai and Nate phoned in the order. They had thirty minutes to kill, so Nate showed her the rest of the flat.
The living room was a definite man den. There was a fifty-two-inch, 3D television on the wall with a massive sound bar underneath. All the walls where painted in a very pale lavender colour with accents of grey and black.
The oak flooring was covered by two, thick plush rugs in mauve and grey with swirl patterns on them. The beautiful bay window had wooden blinds and thick charcoal grey curtains, which were drawn back with wrought iron tiebacks.
A seat, which was ideal for reading, had been built into the windowsill, with soft, padded cushions in dove grey. She could imagine herself reading there or just people watching.
Above the open fireplace was a large oak mirror–the fireplace, itself, was original by the looks of it. The mantle–carved with intricate patterns of scrolls, with long curving lines, were a white colour and, somehow, worked against the dark oak of the floor.
She was delighted to see how many of the original features Nate managed to restore. Skye followed him out of the living room, which was the first door as you came up the stairs, into the small office next door. This was definitely functional rather than decorative.
The Victorian writing desk faced the sash window to the back of the house. A computer sat on the desk, a printer off to the side on a shelf set into an alcove. A modern computer chair looked completely out of place against the antique furniture. This room had cream carpet instead of wooden flooring. It worked, though, especially against the cream walls, which someone had covered in family pictures.
She stopped to study them. There were pictures of Nate as kid, Nate and his parents, Nate in a morning suit at his sister’s wedding, looking dashing. Nate in his Parachute regiment dress uniform and maroon beret at his passing out parade, looking sexy as fuck and so proud. It was the picture of Nate with his teammates from the para’s that really caught her attention.
They were all grinning at the camera, arms slung over each other, dressed in fatigues. It was obviously taken somewhere in the Middle East if the surroundings were anything to go by.
“Who are these guys?” Skye asked. He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her chest, tugging her back to him and resting his chin on her shoulder.
“That’s Jake, Dai, and Reece,” he said of the men to his left in the picture, “and that’s Simon, Stoner, and Ice,” he said of the other three.
“Who’s that?” she asked, pointing at a handsome man who was sprawled at their feet. He was lying on his side, a big cocky grin on his face. She felt Nate tense.
“That’s Tiny,” he stopped and she wondered if he was going to continue. “He died a few years back. We went through basic training together; he was one of my best friends.” He sounded so sad, it broke Skye’s heart.
“What happened?” she asked quietly.
“He had a brain tumour.” Skye had not expected that answer. Somehow, she had assumed it had happened on a mission. Nate carried on and she remained silent. “He’d just gotten engaged when he found out. They have a little boy, Ben, who was only two when he died. I try to go and see them when I can. They live in Bristol so it’s not as often as I’d like. She has a new guy now. He’s nice–a computer programmer. It still hurts seeing him where Tiny should be, though.”
She turned in his arms and hugged him tight, listening to his steady heartbeat against her ear. “Thanks for telling me.”
“It’s not a secret, I just don’t talk about him much. None of the guys knew him, so it never comes up.”
“What about the others?”
“Jake, Dai, and Reece are still serving. Those guys are fucking nuts, but in the best way. I still see them from time-to-time. Simon went into the SAS and serves with Smithy. Stoner and Ice have their own corporate team building company up north. They are both Manchester boys, so when they left, they decided to use the skills they had to make some money. They do a lot of work with T.V companies.”
“You didn’t fancy it.”
“God, no. I love working with Zack and the team. I’ve helped out a couple of times with team building gigs, but I’d rather my work actually mean something.”
“Come on, let’s finish the tour before the food arrives.”
Nate was obviously finished sharing, and that was fine. She’d learned more about the intrinsic depths of him in the last few days than she had the last few months.
The upstairs was equally beautiful as the rest. The floors were all oak, the walls in differing shades of cream or dove grey. There were three bedrooms on this floor, all double bedrooms and two with en-suites. Two faced the front and one the garden at the back. All had double beds and were fully furnished with wardrobes and chests of drawers.
A large family bathroom also faced the back garden. The claw foot tub was beautiful. The black and white diamond style tiles on the floor gave the room a clean sharp look.
It was the master suite, which was on the fourth floor, which blew her away. This was obviously Nate’s room. A large Velux window was in the middle of the set of windows. Fitted wardrobes were along one whole side in a pale cream. The king sized bed faced the window and had cream bedside cabinets on either side. The walls were a peacock blue and the quilt cover was turquoise and gold. It gave the room a masculine, but luxurious, feel. Two doors on the far side of the room were shut.
“What are those?” she asked, pointing at the doors.
Nate walked to one and pulled it open, “That is the bathroom.” The bath was a gorgeous corner bath with Jacuzzi jets. Beige and cream Italian tiles on the walls and floor and beautiful marble his and hers sinks with waterfall taps. The double shower in the opposite corner to the bath had opaque glass sliding doors and a heated towel rail next to it.
“Oh my god, that bath is amazing,” she declared, losing his hand going straight to the bath.
“We can try it later if you’d like,” he said with a deliciously devilish grin.” Skye smiled and blushed slightly at the thought of the things they could get up to in that bath. Nate grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bathroom.
“Come on, before I forget about food and go straight to dessert.” He leaned down and kissed her neck where her shoulder met her collarbone, causing her to shiver.
“Okay,” she said, secretly wondering if she needed food.
“So, what about that door?” she noticed it was locked with a keypad?
“That’s my weapons room.”
“Weapons room,” she repeated as if he’d said that was the room he kept virgin brides in.
“Yeah. Sniper rifles, handguns, knives, and other stuff. It’s kind of a work thing.”
“Okay, then,” she said, because, really, what was there to say to that? “Your house is truly amazing, Nate. What will you do when
you get the bottom floor back?”
“I will restore it back to a fully functioning family home. The bottom floor will probably be a games room, utility room, den, and maybe a small bedroom annexe for guests.”
“Wow. This must have cost a fortune,” she regretted it the minute she said it. It was so crass to talk about money, but as a single mum, she was always watching the pennies. But she knew from how she was brought up, how much this would have cost. She recognised luxury and quality when she saw it, and this was top-notch workmanship. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Nate laughed aloud and she bristled.
“Hey don’t laugh,” she punched his arm to make her point, but he just picked her up and chucked her onto the bed. What the hell? Before she had chance to say anything, he came down on top of her, pinning her to the bed.
“Nate,” she breathed as she felt his weight and heat cover her body. Nate took her hands and interlaced their fingers. He pushed them above her head, causing her breasts to push against his chest. She felt her nipples tighten her breath coming quicker.
“Skye, nothing you ask me is off limits. Yes, it cost a lot. Luckily, I had some in the bank. You don’t spend a lot of money when you’re on deployment and Zack pays really well. I also had a decent inheritance from my grandfather when he died six years ago. So it didn’t actually cut into my wages from Fortis. Anyway, it’s an investment in my future, and I wanted the best.”
“It’s the most beautiful home I’ve ever been in,” Skye said sincerely. He seemed pleased with that and showed her by kissing her senseless. He pulled back and released her hands, moving to stand, he held out his hand and pulled her up.
“Time for food,” he said, but the promise of what would come after hung in the air between them, causing a delicious anticipation to stir her blood.
Nate encouraged her to call Lucy while he dished up the food that arrived just as they came downstairs. She grabbed her handbag and went to sit at the kitchen table that was set at the far end of the kitchen, forming an open dining space.
She, again, admired the kitchen. She always wanted a kitchen with a centre island, and this one was large and spacey. She fell into a little daydream while she dug around her bag for her phone. Finding it, she quickly called Lucy.