Fighting Gravity

by Julie Adams

  “Sure, but breakfast will be had elsewhere after this little debacle.” I tease taking a seat at the table.

  “So American, not talking about sex at the table,” Beth chides sitting.

  “Honey, I think that applies everywhere, especially when one or more at the table is related.” Brent says in an exaggerated patient voice that’s both pointed and comical.

  She responds by giving him an adorable kissy face, that of course, he kisses.

  I roll my eyes even as I smile for them. They are complete couple goals even when they’re trying to so slyly distract me.

  Nathan’s hand finds my thigh under the table and he gives it a little squeeze, meeting my eyes, he winks.

  I try to stifle my smile, trying not to be as nauseatingly cute as the two across from us, but I fail. Even the anxiety I feel is replaced by a different feeling for a moment.

  I’ve packed my duffel with all the necessities: makeup, clothes, underwear, flatiron, laptop, cell phone charger, Kindle.

  I have this weird feeling I’m forgetting something but I think it’s just my own trepidation of spending an extended amount of time at Nathan’s. This is a huge step, one I’ve never taken before. I’m getting a taste of what it would be like to live with him. To share his life.

  I can’t believe he’s asked me to move in. I never thought of really staying in Paris. I knew I was going to be here for awhile, but change a of address permanently? I never thought of it.

  In the car with my overstuffed duffel between us, I look at Nathan. He’s so relaxed. It makes me nervous. Like he’s not really understanding what sharing a space means. “You know this is just a fraction of what I own, right?”

  “I know,” He replies with a sexy quirk of his brow.

  “I have stuff back in America, too. If I move in with you, I might want to send for it.”

  “Great,” He smiles. I shake my head, how is he so comfortable with me just coming in and rearranging his life. “Listen, my apartment is 2,000 square feet, I have the room. I’m not pressuring you, Lily. I would like you to stay with me, but if you would prefer to live separately I’m okay with that too. I’m just letting you know my intentions.”

  I take a breath. He wants to incorporate me so entirely in his life, no barriers, no secrets. And here I am, scared shitless.

  He’s perfect. And that’s what is making me so freaked out, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Happily ever after isn’t for real.

  He takes my hand. “It’s all on your terms, Lily. I can still get us a hotel for the week if it would make this more comfortable for you.”

  Maybe he really is simply amazing. Maybe I don’t have to be so damn scared all the time. Just close my eyes and jump.

  “No, here is fine. Just nervous, there’s a lot of stuff I do that you don’t see.”

  He laughs. “I’m aware of most of them I’m sure, I just might not have experienced them first hand.”

  I can only imagine what he’s talking about. All the things we politely don’t share in the beginning. “It’s going to be a whole new world for you. Living with a woman, I mean.”

  “I did live with my mother for a long time before I was old enough to move out, you know.”

  “Yes, but moms are different. They get a pass on all those things because they’re your mom.” I say thinking of all the things about my own mom that would probably drive me crazy in anyone else.

  “There’s a lot of things you might overlook in someone you love, too.” He says stroking the back of my hand with his thumb.

  I nod. He’s right.

  When we step inside his apartment Frankie comes waddling up to us quickly. I’m not sure the dog can actually run. Or would, I should say, he’s a pup of leisure.

  I scratch him behind the ears and he gives me that little snort that makes my heart melt.

  “You know where all the rooms are, make yourself at home, put your stuff wherever you’d like.”

  I raise a brow. “That may be playing with fire Mr. Erickson, what if I start getting my things all mixed up with yours?”

  He grins and shakes his head. “I don’t mind getting mixed up with you. If I have a problem with anything, I’ll let you know.”

  “Deal.” I say grinning.

  I haul my bag into the bedroom and make some things fit in my drawer. Then I put my toiletry bag and flatiron in an empty drawer in the bathroom. As much as I teased him, I plan on respecting his space. As much as he thinks he wants me all over this place, I think he needs to be eased into this.

  My kindle, and iPad go on the empty nightstand on the other side of the bed. I have to say, it feels good having some space to put my things where they actually belong. At Beth’s I try to be as unobtrusive as possible, cramming my closets and drawers full so I’m not invading the rest of the apartment.

  Nathan comes in and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me back to rest against his chest. “Your stuff looks good here.” He says quietly.

  I look at my things on the nightstand, my handbag and empty duffel on a chair in the corner. They do look good, but anything would look good with the view of the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop.

  “They do,” I say turning in his arms to face him. He only grins and nods before leaning down to kiss me.

  It’s innocent at first but quickly turns heated. Seamlessly he’s walking me backward into the bathroom. His fingers undoing the buttons on my blouse, his lips trailing from mine over my jaw and back.

  He yanks my blouse off my arms and tosses it to the marble floor. I laugh at his eagerness and feel him smile against my neck before giving it a lick. “What are you doing?” I ask curious as to what he has in mind for this Greek-like bathroom

  “Trying to seduce you.” He whispers tangling his fingers in my hair and giving it a firm tug. My head tilts back to meet his, and damn it, I see the same fire in his eyes that I feel in mine. “I Have to be at work in forty-five minutes, I need a shower and I want to fuck you.”

  “We could do it later, you know?” I’m teasing, if he stopped now I might spontaneously combust.

  He pulls back and shakes his head. “Last night, we had to be quick and silent. I thought for sure your brother was going to come in and kick my ass. But now that we’re here alone, in our apartment, I want to make you scream.” My eyes widen and if I wasn’t ready to go before I am now. He kisses me again. His tongue slides into my mouth teasing and massaging mine.

  Now it’s me tearing at his clothes. Undoing his belt and the fly of his pants. He’s working on the buttons of his shirt as I work on his pants.

  Then my hands are against his flesh. I wrap my palm around his length, he’s already hard and jutting into my thigh. I admire the way my thumb barely touches my fingers when they’re wrapped around him. I stroke down to his pelvis, then glide back up to the glistening head. He groans and arches into me.

  “Shower. Now.” He orders pulling away from me and turning on the dual shower head. One above cascades like rain, while the handheld wand beats a relaxing stream against your back.

  He steps into the glass enclosure and pulls me in with him. There’s plenty of room, the stall is nearly the size of my room.

  Quickly, he soaps up and rinses off. Taking all of twenty seconds. I just admire him. His hands gliding over his body, people would pay good money to watch this show.

  “We have to be quick. But I want you to be loud, can you do that?” He asks taking the wand from the wall and waving the spray up and down my spine, over each hip and thigh, my body relaxing into the hot water.

  I glance over my shoulder at him. “Make me,”

  He chuckles, bringing the wand around to my breasts. God, it feels heavenly. My nipples pebble. The stream goes across my stomach and he holds it just perfectly at the top of my pelvis. The water running down between my thighs, making me wet in a completely different way. It’s just enough to tease but not enough pressure to get me across the finish line.
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  I bite my lip refusing to make a peep. His hands splay across my stomach snaking up to cup my breast. He kneads the sensitive flesh, pinching my nipple.

  His mouth warm on my neck as he kisses me. His teeth nip my throat and I moan. I can feel his smile against the column of my neck. I lean into him, my ass cheeks cradling his hard bare cock.

  “Moan for me again, Lily.” I bite my lip. The spray of the shower hits me square on my tight clit and my knees give. A breath escaping between my teeth. With flicks of his wrist he makes the water dance on and off my sensitive bud. “I can tease you all morning… Or I can make you come.”

  I turn in his arms and grab his face, the stubble of his beard rasping against my palms. I claim his mouth, wrapping a leg around his waist, I grind against his length. Fuck he's so hard, the ridge hitting just the right spot when I slide back and forth. His eyes are full of lust as he looks at me. His hands grip my hips and he forces me back and forth harder and faster than I had been. My clit sliding over that delicious bump over and over again.

  My stomach tightens and I cling to his muscular shoulders. “Yes!” I moan throwing my head back. A hand glides over my ass squeezing a handful before parting them and he dips a finger into me. When he glides the tip over my g-spot it’s all I need to go over the edge.

  He holds me up as my orgasm rocks through me.

  I’ve barely come down before he’s bending me over, planting my hands on the shower glass. “I need you. I want to bury myself inside you.”

  I know what he’s saying, we need a condom. “We can do it without, if you want. We’ve had this talk, we’re both clean. I’m on birth control.”

  “Are you sure?” He asks excitement flaring in his eyes.

  “Fuck me now, please.” I say placing my hands back on the glass and arching my back so my ass is offered up to him.

  The surprise on his face is something I wish I could photograph. He quickly recovers gripping my hips with one hand. He slides the head of his dick over my lips, tapping my clit. Then he’s teasing at my opening the head barely pushing inside. I groan, both in pleasure and need.

  “Say it again, tell me what you want me to do to this perfect pussy,” his hands glide up my spine to grip my shoulder. He’s looking at where our bodies are nearly joined, watching himself slip in and out.

  “Fuck me, I need to feel you inside me and I want it hard and fast just like before.”

  “Hold on, mon chéri, I’m going to fuck you until you see stars.” And in one hard stroke, he’s buried inside me to the hilt. His balls smacking against my clit. He pauses for a moment letting me adjust around him. Then he slides out just as slow letting me feel every inch.

  My body easing around him. He slams back inside me and just as quickly pulls out. He’s pistoning inside me, the sound of our bodies meeting drowning out the noise of the shower. My breasts are jiggling and I can feel my ass is too, adding to the sensation of him inside me.

  I’m moaning and groaning louder than I ever have and it’s goading him on. Both his hands are holding onto my hips, the roughness feels amazing. He’s thrusting his hips into me as he brings my ass back to meet him.

  He swivels his hips up and down and I spasm around him, my legs going limp. My orgasm coming fast. He’s holding onto me, still sliding in and out of me. It sends me into another orgasm.

  I'm so sensitive. Shuddering around his cock so hard I’m afraid I might hurt him. He groans behind me, burying his face into the valley between my shoulders. “I’m going to come,” He warns.

  “Don’t stop, come inside me,” I say and it surprises me. I’ve always used condoms before as backup, I would never have dreamed I’d be saying those words while going bare.

  He falters in his pace only a second before he relaxes and lets go. And the sensation is incredible. Feeling him pulse inside me as I pulse around him makes me want to go at it all over again.

  He’s breathing heavy. His chest rising and falling against me. “Incredible.” His hands are now caressing my ass. “Would you be opposed to never wearing condoms again?” He asks sliding out of me.

  I turn into shower spray and begin lathering up with the soap. I think about it for a few seconds. “No. I don’t mind, as long as we stay monogamous.”

  “Not a problem. I’m under your spell.” He says kissing me softly before stepping out and drying off.

  “There’s a small chance I could still get pregnant while taking birth control, though, you know that don’t you?” I have to ask.

  I don’t want to worry about what would happen if I ended up pregnant. And he should know all the risks. Men are so oblivious when it comes to birth control.

  He pauses for a moment looking at himself in the mirror, then meeting my gaze through it. “I’m aware,” He says moving on to combing his hair. “I’ll accept anything that might happen with you Lily. As long as we’re in it together.”

  I feel tears prickle my eyes and turn my face up towards the water. It’s stupid to be emotional over this. But he really is in this with me, come what may.

  “Okay.” Is all I can say, all I trust myself to say without him hearing my emotion.

  “I know what you’re thinking. But when you know you know.” He says hanging up his towel and padding into the bedroom.

  I think back to what Beth said when I asked her if all this was going too fast, maybe she’s right. Maybe this is all for real.

  It's such a polar opposite compared to my last relationship, where he was always keeping me at arm’s length and I never even realized it.

  Twenty Four

  Nathan

  I skip getting a car to work. I need to exercise and get my thoughts together. I walk briskly to my office. The conversation we had in the bathroom replaying in my mind.

  I know what the chances of getting pregnant are, it's one of the many reasons I always use protection. But with Lily, it felt natural when she'd offered me to just go for it. And when she told me about the possibility of pregnancy afterward it caught me by surprise that she'd thought of the risk and I hadn't.

  When I met her gaze in the mirror I saw all the questions and fears swimming inside her eyes, the anxiety barely detectable in her voice. And I knew at that moment, having a family with her would be far from the worst thing to happen to me.

  It could be the best thing.

  I had barely thought of myself as a boyfriend before, and all it took was the right woman to make me think I might want to be a father someday. I always thought I didn't want kids, the responsibility, the change of lifestyle, but here I am awed and overwhelmed by the thought.

  I need a shot of something stronger than espresso in my coffee this morning.

  I walk into my office and feel that sense of pride that strikes me sometimes when I arrive.

  When I inherited the company from my stepfather it was functional and alright enough aesthetically. The sound booths the same that had been installed in the early 90’s, only the equipment stayed up to date indefinitely. Everything else was dated and you could see it in the morale of our staff, feel it in the judgement when artists came in.

  Once I came in working as second to him I slowly incorporated updates, sound booths that were sleek and comfortable, new lobby furniture and front desk.

  Then when I took over as CEO I started on the office space, streamlining the sleek, masculine feel. Then I hired new producers to work alongside the veterans bringing new perspectives and sounds from their different backgrounds. New talent scouts to bring fresh eyes to the people who built the label.

  The label was now a blend of my stepfather and me. Old school cool and sleek modern. And someday, maybe my kid would be mixing it up and making it their own.

  Yes, I like the sound of that. A little legacy of my own. I smile at the prospect.

  The office floor is buzzing, chatter, phones ringing, keys typing, people sitting with headphones on listening to finished cuts and demos. This atmosphere makes me excited
to dive into work every day.

  Caroline's behind her desk. A coffee cup placed on the far side of her desk for me like it always is. I grab it and thank her. She looks up from her computer eyes wide, I've knocked her out of her daze.

  “Good morning, Boss. I put your messages and agenda on your desk. I suggest you look at your messages first thing, you got a call from an inspector.”

  My brow furrows. “Thank you.” I turn and go into my office. Dread filling me.

  I look at the notes on my desk hoping for more information, but there isn't any. Just the inspector's name and number. It's Bisset, the inspector Brent was speaking with.

  Let's get this over with and I can get on with the rest of my schedule. I dial the number and wait, somewhat anxiously, for him to answer.

  Finally. “Bisset,” the deep voice answers.

  “This is Nathan Erickson, returning your call,” I say in French, how easily I've been going between it and English now that I spend so much time with Lily.

  “Yes. Thank you. We have a few questions we'd like to ask you and I think it would be better to do it in person. The sooner the better, Mr. Erickson.” He says it politely but there's no mistaking that this is to be dealt with now, on his time and not my own.

  I don't like it, but have no choice. How seldom I have that problem.

  “I have lunch around noon, will that work for you?” I ask. Glancing at my agenda again.

  “Quite. We'll save you the trip and meet you. Your office?”

  And they know where I work, a quick internet search could tell them that. But why are they searching me at all.

  “Yes, that will be fine.”

  We ring off and I wonder if I should be calling my lawyer. Whether that would make me look suspicious.

  No. No lawyers. I don't need one.

  I think it all over, from the night I met Lily until today. I don't think I have anything to worry about. I didn't kill that man.

  Inspector Bisset is led into my office by Caroline at noon sharp. He has this ease about himself, a confidence in both his job and his ability to do it.