“You comfortable?” he asks as he slides his arm behind my back. The jolt of electricity that shoots down my spine as he does it does not go unnoticed by him. He just smiles his knowing smile as I nod. “To Portland,” he says, holding up the bottle. “To us.” The top makes a loud “pop!” and he goes to pour us each a cup of warm champagne.
“To Portland and to us,” I say, tapping my cup against his. He doesn’t look at me.
“Eye contact,” I urge, and he looks into my eyes, confused. “Haven’t you ever heard that doing a cheers and not making eye contact with the other person means bad sex for seven years?”
He laughs loudly and shakes his head.
“You’re making shit up.”
“Am not!” I say incredulously. “And even if I were, why would you want to even mess with bad sex?” I cringe and pretend to be disgusted.
“Evi, I think of all people, you and I do not have to worry about bad sex.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know,” I say, sitting up and crossing my arms.
“Let me show you, then.”
Before I can say or do anything, he leans over and kisses me hard. I have to keep from moaning out loud as his hand brings my face in closer to his and gets tangled in my hair.
“Are you okay?” he asks, gesturing to my cast.
“I don’t plan on using my left leg, so yes, I’ll be okay.”
He smiles and stands up. “I think you’ll be more comfortable in our bedroom,” he says, and he bends down to carry me.
Unlike last time when he picked me up and carried me into the Caribbean Sea, this time I let him, and this time I don’t say a word as Nick carries me to the bedroom. Our bedroom.
Fortyfive.
Nick
I set her down on the air mattress, and I go to close the bedroom door. She’s looking at me in such a way that I know I won’t be able to control myself tonight. She looks too fucking good not to have my way with her. And let’s be honest… I’ve been waiting to do this since September.
I can tell she’s a little nervous. I am, too. I haven’t been with anyone since Isabel. I dim the lights and walk back over to her. She’s biting her lip, and my God if that’s not the sexiest thing ever, I don’t know what is. She has no idea how beautiful she is. No idea. And I think that’s why I love her so much. Because she’s real and good. She’s so good, deep down to her core. I mean, she almost lost her fucking life trying to save a dog.
I try not to think as I crawl into the bed beside her and bring her in close to me gently. I’m going to have to be careful. I probably shouldn’t even be doing this, but I already know I won’t be able to stop now. Her eyes tell me everything I need to know. I’ll just have to be really careful.
“You okay?” I ask for the millionth time.
“How about I let you know if I’m not okay. Okay?” She smiles as she says it, and I brush my lips against hers. “Nick,” she moans, and that moan shatters me, slays me, into tiny little pieces. I’m not sure I ever want to be whole again.
I kiss her more passionately, and she twists her body slightly so that she’s on her back. I sit up next to her and move to the end of the bed. Her eyes are hooded, and she looks so into it. I guess I must be doing something right, because she bites that fucking lip again.
I reach up and unbutton her jeans slowly. She gasps and throws her head back. This is the part where I know I’ll have to be careful. I climb out of the bed and I pull her jeans off slowly, one leg at a time, ensuring I don’t disturb her broken leg. I keep my eyes on hers to make sure I’m not hurting her, but she just looks at me longingly.
I cast the jeans to the side, and I go up to her torso and begin to remove her shirt gently. Slowly. Tantalizingly. She gasps again.
“What? Did I hurt you?”
“For fuck’s sake, Nick, I’m fine. It just electrifies me every time you touch my skin in certain places. I feel like I’m on fire.”
Oh. Wow. Fuck.
I pull her shirt off gently and toss it to the floor. I take in her body—lean and thin, lithe in all the right places, yet generously curvy in all the others. She could be on a fucking magazine. Her light-purple bra and panties are hot—I can’t help but notice that they match, and that thought clouds my vision even further.