by Harper Sloan
"You just hadn't said and I ... well, I didn't want to assume any titles had been placed."
"Yeah, I have, and now, I'm working on showing. Titles were placed the second you came on my cock, Ember. See you later, baby."
His disconnect is instant, and I pull the phone away wondering if I just screwed up by being all nervous and unsure.
My next call was to Nikki.
"So let me get this straight ... he sent you almost five hundred roses this week?"
I take a sip of my third glass of wine and look over at Nikki. She's about to fall off the couch as she leans forward with wide, excited eyes.
"Actually, it was four hundred and thirty-two. Not that I counted or anything."
"Holy shit." She gasps.
"I know. What does that even mean?"
"That's so romantic!" she screams, ignoring me.
I thought Nikki would be able to help me figure out what my mind couldn't, her experience with men being a lot more than the few short-term boyfriends I've had since high school, but I didn't think she would turn into a squealing and screaming freak fest.
"Yeah, but what does it mean?!"
She stops bouncing and narrows her eyes. "What does it mean? Oh my God, Em! If that isn't the grandest of gestures to show someone you love them, I don't know what is!"
"Love?"
Her expression gets a little crazy at that. Her eyes turn into angry little slits, as her head tilts to the side, and I can picture the wheels churning in her head. "Are you blind! Hell, I shouldn't be shocked you're confused when just last week I had to remind you of what the chemistry between the two of you would be like. Something, I might add, I was right about if the sounds that woke me up that night are anything to go by. Stop questioning his actions and just see them for what they are. He's trying to make up for the past by showing you how he feels first. My guess is that he's now the one worried about saying he loves you."
"Nikki, we haven't even been together for a month."
"And you've loved him for years. He made it very clear that he has had feelings for you just as long. Stop overthinking it and just enjoy the ride. You guys are being forced to date a little unconventionally with him being the uber-busy owner of the brand new most popular club around and all. If this were a normal beginning to a relationship, you guys would have been on a bunch of dates and you would be able to see how right I am."
I let her words sink in, and I have to admit she's right. It's been almost three weeks and had he not been so busy, my reservations wouldn't be warranted.
"Maybe he's waiting for me to say it?"
"So say it."
"You make it sound so easy." I laugh.
"What are you really all worked up about because I know it isn't the fact that he's sent you a ridiculous amount of roses."
"God, Nik. When he mentioned his mom asking about both of us, I freaked. I mean I know it's going to happen with us what we are now, but he had made it such a big deal when he rejected me. He said they wouldn't understand. How is it any different now?"
"Yeah, well, when he said it, he was probably right. A lot has changed in three years. You're not just a teenager fresh out of high school. You've been to art school, finishing well ahead of time. You have one hell of a career as an established artist now. You're an adult and even if your parents or even his thought something of you two being together, they have no say in it."
"Oh, I'm sure they'll have a say in it." I can picture my dad having a lot to say about it, actually. "I guess I'm really worried that he's going to cut and run when it comes down to standing up together in front of them."
She gives me a soft look of compassion. "I think you're underestimating him. The only thing I can tell you is to ride it out and let him do what he said he was going to do. Prove that he's worth giving your heart to."
We continue to talk about a whole lot of nothing after that, and by the time I felt him climb into my bed and pull me into his arms, my head was a lot clearer. I'm still a little nervous about what's to come, but seeing things through her eyes makes me look at them from another perspective.
One where he really might be the one afraid of getting hurt this time.
SATURDAY
By the time I realized that my daily deliveries weren't going to stop anytime soon, I started looking up places where I could share the happiness Nate was literally raining upon me. Sal showed up, surly as ever, and instead of taking today's nine vases inside, I had him help me load them in my car. It was a tight fit with all twenty-seven vases total that I had received since Wednesday, but we made it work. I think he actually cracked a smile when I told him I had planned to drop them off at the local nursing homes, but it was short-lived and he left with another promise to see me tomorrow. I didn't mention anything about it being Sunday and I would most likely not see him.
At this point, I wasn't sure when they would stop, but Nate was determined to make a point and I was loving every second of it. Which is why I decided to pass them out at nursing homes. Seeing the look on some of the elderly patients was the best feeling in the world, but hearing that I was the only one who had visited the vast majority of them in years solidified my decision to share Nate's love. Of course, I planned to talk to him tonight when he came over for dinner now that I had given the majority of them away. I probably would have kept each one, but after almost breaking my neck on one of them earlier, I realized that I couldn't keep the overwhelming amount I had.
I hear his truck pull into my driveway right when I pulled dinner out of the oven, and I felt giddy with happiness that he was here. I continue getting dinner ready as I dish out the lasagna onto our plates and the sounds of him greeting Bam reach my ears.
Just when I had put them down on the table, I feel him.
His arms go around my middle and his mouth presses against my exposed neck, making me shiver. I straighten and wrap my arms over his as he continues to kiss up my neck until he has his lips at my ear. "You smell good enough to eat."
"I think that's dinner," I joke.
"No, definitely not dinner," he rumbles and presses his erection against my back. "I love food, but food doesn't make me hard."
"You're a man. Food is like number one on the makes you hard list."
"Not true," he groans when I push against him. "You're number one through fifty on that list."
"And what's fifty-one?"
"Probably porn, but I haven't tested that since I haven't watched a single one in weeks."
I throw my head back against his shoulder and laugh.
"Damn, it's good to have you in my arms."
Still laughing, I turn to look up into his eyes with a smile. "You've been in my bed every night. Me in your arms. You're good for my ego when you act like you haven't seen me in years."
His lips are smiling as he gives me a brief kiss--one that had dinner not been ready, I'm sure we would have gotten lost in--before resting his forehead against mine.
"Hi," he whispers.
"Hi." I sigh.
"Thanks for making me lasagna. I've been craving that for days."
I shrug as if it's no big deal. The last thing I'm going to admit is that I hate cooking the dish and only did it for him. Hell, no. Not when he's looking at me like I'm the answer to his prayers.
"Come on; let me let you feed your man before I forget about dinner and demand dessert first."
He has to turn and literally push me into my seat after that comment because the thought alone is enough to make me want to forget all about dinner myself.
"Are you ready for your show next weekend?" he asks a little while later, after he's devoured his third huge plate of lasagna.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. I'm nervous, but Annabelle seems confident that I shouldn't be."
"It's normal to be nervous, Em. This is your first solo show? Right?"
I finish swallowing my bite before wiping my mouth. "Kind of. I had one when I had just finished school, but it wasn't this big. Things kind of got a
"She's the one?"
I tilt my head in confusion. "The one?"
"The one who went to one of your art school's showcases and freaked out about you right in the middle of it, right?"
"How did you know about that?"
"Uh, I probably shouldn't admit this at the risk of sounding pathetic, but I was there."
I can feel the shock on my face. He was there? I knew that the majority of our group had been there, but I didn't remember seeing him. Then again, I had been about as close to freaking out as it got when the Annabelle Kingston, the owner of the largest gallery in Atlanta, had started dancing and screaming in front of one of my pieces. She had taken me under her wing before I even finished school, each of my paintings turning in a higher and higher profit. Here I am, two years later, debt free, in my own home, and my own show proving that I am--in fact--a successful artist.
Finally able to find my words, I open my mouth. "How come I didn't see you?"
He wipes his mouth before dropping his napkin over his plate and leaning back. "I didn't want you to see me."
"I see." The hurt I feel from his answer is not something I'm proud of.
"Stop whatever you're thinking, Ember. I went because I wanted to support you, but I knew things were still weird between us and I didn't want you to look back on that show and remember me making it awkward for you. I went and celebrated for you in the shadows."
"I wish you would have been at my side." I think out loud.
"Yeah, I wish I would have been too, but the time wasn't right."
"You're coming next weekend, though?"
He stands and offers me his hand. Once I'm upright, he bends to look into my eyes. "I'll be by your side every second. I'm so damn proud of you, and I want everyone to know that I'm the man in your life." I shiver--something he doesn't miss. "Clean up in here first or dessert?"
"Dessert. You could burn the kitchen down for all I care, just as long as I get dessert now."
He bends and with a squeal, I'm in his arms as he walks to my bedroom.
"I WANT YOUR COME IN my mouth," I tell her, feeling her hum against my cock. All fantasies I had over spanking her ass before she had me in her mouth vanished when I first felt her mouth take all of me. Her head moves up and down quicker, but I don't miss her hand moving between her legs. "You touch my pussy, and I'm going to spank your ass, Ember."
My cock touches the back of her throat before I feel her relax her neck and take me so far down that I feel the breaths from her nose on my skin. My head slams against her headboard when she swallows my cock. The sensation of her wet mouth sucking hard on me, her hand playing with my balls, and the hum of her enjoying the fuck out of this was becoming way too much.
"Jesus fuck. That's right, baby, take all of me."
She continues bobbing her head and hollowing her cheeks until I fist her hair in my hand and thrust into her mouth. She whimpers against the bite of pain I'm sure my hold brings her, but just sucks a little harder before she pauses in her sucking to lick against the sensitive flesh she's consuming.
Through the narrow slit in my eyes, I catch her free arm moving, and I know she's ignored my warning. With a noise of protest from her, I pull her up off my cock, ignoring my own jolt of displeasure when I lose the heat of her mouth, and lean forward so that she is looking directly at me from her kneeled position between my legs in the center of her bed.
"I told you not to touch yourself. You don't come unless I tell you, and you damn sure don't get to take your sweetness from me by coming against your own hand." She doesn't speak, but her eyes spark with the knowledge of something, although it's a mystery to me what that something is.
"You're going to wear my mark on your ass now," I promise her darkly.
She shifts and I watch as she rubs her thighs together. Then, to my utter disbelief and fucking pleasure, she turns so her head faces the end of her bed, and bends so she is on her elbows with her knees still kneeling on the mattress. That ass I just promised to mark is up in the air, presented to me like a goddamn gift. The wetness coating her pussy makes my mouth water, and for a brief second, I forget why she is getting her ass pinked.
"You're going to remember what I said about taking your sweetness from me tomorrow when you can't sit without the burn of my touch heating your flesh, aren't you," I vow, my voice low and controlled even though I feel seconds away from losing my shit. The sight of her offering herself to me, ass up with her wetness begging to be filled, is unmanning me.
Shifting until I'm up next to her, my knees next to her legs and my cock pointing at her hips, I rub my palm softly against each of her smooth cheeks. I go back and forth as my free hand trails up her spine. I can feel the heat of her with each pass I take down her left globe, but I ignore her whines when I get close enough, and continue to caress her skin.
Just when I know she had started to relax into my touch, I bring my hand back and quickly slap one and then the other cheek before rubbing the sting. Her scream, of pleasure and not pain, hits my ears, and I give her another two quick cracks of my palm. It isn't long before she has the red imprints of my hands on her skin. I keep rubbing her flesh with my hand as I lean to the side and see that her arousal is now starting to drip down her thighs. She could come from my hand alone and that thought pleases the fuck out of me, but it won't be tonight. After another solid slap, I keep my hand in place, loving the way that her ass shakes.
My eyes never leave her red ass as I straddle her calves and take her hips in my hands. I lift her up with my hold and dig my fingers in while lining up my cock. The second I push into her, she lifts up her head and screams. Her cunt sucks me in even deeper before it clamps down tightly. I grunt, deep in my throat, and rock forward even though she has every fucking inch of me. That's all it takes for her to scream my name and coat my fucking balls as her juices leak from her body.
"God, yes," she continues as I pound into her.
I let go of her ass when I push in again, using my own hips to hold her up and bring my palm down on her ass, loving when she clamps down on my cock again. "You're going to come again, Ember," I order before returning my hand to her hip and picking up my speed.
By the time I feel her start to tighten against me, I know she's close and I tilt her again so I'm hitting that sweet fucking spot inside her. The words coming out of her mouth don't even make sense, but the second I feel my come shooting deep inside her, she jerks in my hold and gives me what I want.
I slowly drag my spent cock from her wetness, loving the way that her cream coats it, and help move her so that we're lying on the mattress. She doesn't say a word as her fingers trace my abs. I place my hand on hers when I feel my cock twitch and hold it against my stomach, kissing her head, and tightening the arm around her back. She pulls one leg over my thigh and tilts her head up. Pressing my chin down, I look into her sated eyes with a smile.
"Thank you," she slurs, drunk from the pleasure I've given her.
"Thank you for what, baby?"
"For giving me you. For taking me. For giving us ... us. I think my head is ready to catch up to my heart now, Nate."
And with that, she tucks her head back down and drifts off to sleep.
If only she knew.
The sound of my phone hits my ears before I could register Ember shifting in my arms, our bodies still on top of the covers where we had fallen asleep after 'dessert.' Not willing to let go of the soft woman in my arms, I ignore it and pull her closer.
"That's the third time it's rung, Nate," she sleepily mutters.
Shit. "Okay, baby. Let me grab it."
She moves so that I can slide out of bed, and I almost ignore the phone when I see the look in her eye when she sees my hard cock.
"Hold that thought." I laugh, bend, and grab my jeans and search the pockets for my still ringing cell.
"Nate Reid," I answer, annoyance in my tone when I see Shane's name on the screen.
"I need you to come close. I got a call from Lacey and I need to go home."
Fuck. Me.
"Does she really need you to come home or is she just pulling some more of her shit because she doesn't like you working at Dirty?" I question, knowing damn well his girl would do that shit. I can't stand the bitch, but I'm not going to tell him how to live his life.
He sighs. "I don't know, man. She claims she fell and hurt herself, but she didn't sound like she was in pain. I need to go check it out, and if she's pulling another stunt, I'll be back. I don't know what the hell her problem is lately."
"Dent?" I ask, hoping that I don't have to leave Ember on the one night that was supposed to be just for us.
"Still in LA. Won't be back until next week. Fuck, man, I hate calling you for this shit, but I don't know what to do."
I sigh, turning to look at Ember, expecting to see anger. However, she gives me a nod and smile, understanding that I need to go without even hearing the reasons. Supporting me and my responsibilities to Dirty without thought. Something that Shane's woman clearly doesn't understand. "I need to say good-bye to my woman. Give me thirty and I'm there."
I hang up, and when she stands from the bed and walks into my arms, I pull her naked body close.
"I hate leaving."
"I know you do, but you can't help the reason why."
"I wouldn't go if I wasn't needed, but Shane is the only one there and he has to run home."
She leans back and looks up with a smile. "You don't have to explain things to me, Nate. I'm not upset."
"How can it not bother you? We haven't had time to do anything but eat, sleep, or fuck when we're together."
Her eyes narrow. "Way to make it sound so meaningless," she snaps.
I open my mouth to soothe my comment over, but she shakes her head.
"First of all, I support you and Dirty because I know how much it means to you. Does it take you from me? Sure. But it also just opened and you guys are all still just getting your footing. It won't be like this forever. Hell, it might not even be like this next week. You will all find your stride. If you feel like it's taking too much from you personally in a few months, I'll still be here, and you can find another person to help hold the reins. Second, we have spent plenty of time together, and if anything, it's been better than if you were to take me out to dinner or whatever. We've had time to ourselves alone, sharing who we are now and getting to know each other as a couple and not friends. Third, if you would kindly find another way to express what we do when we're in bed and not sleeping, I would appreciate it."
-->