Worth the fight

Chapter 14

Elle

I leave work at five, instead of my usual seven or eight on Friday night so I have time to get ready for my date with Nico. I shave my legs and put on a matching lace bra and underwear set…just in case. Not that I’m planning on sleeping with him tonight, but I’d be kidding myself to think I’d stop it if things started to escalate. Nico Hunter might just be my kryptonite.

The buzzer rings and I feel like I’m fifteen again. The cute boy is about to talk to me and I swallow my words like an idiot and embarrass myself when I choke as I try to bring them back up. What the hell is wrong with me? I am smart and in control, and I’m acting like a complete idiot. I open the door and smile. Actually, I think I might have swooned instead of smiled. Do people actually swoon?

I step out of the way to allow Nico to enter. He takes one step inside and then turns to face me. My back is up against the door as he drops his head low to meet mine, brushing his lips softly against my mouth. “Hey.”

“Hey.” My response is breathless from just a whisper of his lips against mine.

Nico has mischief in his eyes that makes me want him to do things to me. It fuels my desire for his strong arms to pin me against the door and leave me powerless. It’s not a feeling I’m familiar with, and it scares me to feel it as much as it excites me.

He enters my apartment and suddenly it feels smaller with such a massive man standing inside. “You cooked?”

“If you can call it that.”

“It smells good.” Nico crinkles up his nose and it is an absolutely adorable face. One that looks like he’s five years old. I’m so enthralled by how such a large, powerful man can look so adorable, that it takes me a minute for his words to register. “But I think something is burning.”

Smoke billows out of the oven when I open the door. I grab two oven mitts from behind me and pull out the salmon that fell victim to my incapable culinary hands. The pretty peachy-pink color is now brown on the top. I don’t know how it could have burned so quickly, it had only been in there for less than half an hour.

Nico comes behind me and reaches to my side and turns the dial to the oven. “Bake, not broil.”

Looking up at him, he can see that his words meant nothing to me, so he explains. “You needed to put the oven on bake, not broil.”

Nico walks over to my refrigerator and opens the door to help himself. I see him grab something out of the cabinet, but I’m too busy trying to figure out how to salvage the mess I’ve made to pay any attention. He sets down a glass of wine he’s poured me on the counter next to me and leans back against the counter in my U-shaped kitchen.

I lift the glass to my mouth and take a long sip before turning to face Nico, a few feet away from me. “I’m sorry, dinner is ruined.”

Nico smiles at me and says nothing for a minute. “Come here,” his voice is low and soft and he extends a thick arm to me. I comply and his arms wrap around my waist, gathering me close against his hard chest as he lowers his mouth to mine. Our lips connect and I follow his lead as his they open. His tongue slowly licks the outline of my lips, sending a shiver down my spine.

A low moan escapes my mouth and I feel his grip tighten in response. I surprise even myself when I bite down on his lower lip, drawing a low groan from him that makes what’s between my legs swell with excitement. Nico tilts his head and our kiss deepens, our tongues explore each other’s mouth with a passion I’ve never known or expected, yet it feels so natural and right.

We’re both panting loudly when we come up for air. “I missed you.” His voice is low and raspy. Sinful. It’s only been two days since we saw each other, but I’ve missed him too.

“Me too.” I manage to get out between breaths.

Nico’s grip tightens on me almost to the point that it’s painful, but I don’t care. His hands are at my lower back and when he pulls me closer, I can feel his erection against my belly and I want to reach between us and grab him. Feel his thickness that is throbbing against me.

I think he’s going to kiss me again, but instead he plants a soft kiss on the tip of my nose and then my forehead before engulfing me in a bear hug. It’s such a tender moment and so unexpected after the passion of his kiss just a minute ago.

Too soon after, Nico loosens his grip on me.

“Where is your menu drawer?”

“How do you know I have a menu drawer?”

“I’ve seen how you cook first hand now, remember?”

Playfully, I smack at his stomach with the back of my hand and it meets a brick wall. “Second drawer down to the right of the sink.”

Nico rummages through my menus. “You eat this junk?”

“Which one?” I look over at the pile of menus thinking he’s found one that he doesn’t approve of.

“All of them.” For the first time, I look at my heap of menus and recognize that it’s a pretty thick pile.

“Only when I want to eat.” I smirk and Nico shakes his head disapprovingly, but I can tell he’s teasing me. If I had a body that looked like his, I’d only feed it healthy food too. I might even learn to cook if I looked like him.

One menu catches his attention and seems to meet with his approval. “Is there anything you don’t eat?”

“I’m pretty easy.”

My response earns me a devilish grin before Nico takes out his cell phone and orders.

After we’re done eating, Nico shows me the movie he brought and I look down at the movie, then at his face.

“Do you really want to watch this?”

The corner of his mouth twitches upward in barely concealed amusement. “Not really.”

“Then why did you bring it?”

“I thought you’d like it?”

I tilt my hand to assess the man. He earns credit for bringing something that he thought I would like, but I’m not going to let him off this easy.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you think I would like The Notebook?”

“Because you’re a woman and women like this mushy crap.”

Taking his hand, I lead him to my closet off the living room and open the door to reveal two shelves filled with some of my favorite movies. He peruses the titles and then looks back at me in shock, as if I had just showed him the dead body I kept locked in the closet instead of a simple movie collection.

“You like action movies?”

“The more jumping out of planes, the better.”

Nico wraps his arm around my waist and turns me, pulling me to his chest before planting a chaste kiss on my mouth. He looks down at me. “Yep, totally worth it.” I almost don’t hear his words, they’re spoken so low.

“Worth what?”

Another kiss is planted on my mouth. “Nothing.”

Throughout the movie we have periodic make out sessions. Nico’s big hands glide up and down the side of my body. His fingers slow as they pass the curve of my breasts and his thumb just barely grazes the swell underneath so that I can’t be sure if his fingers touched me or just came really close.

As the movie credits roll on the screen, we’re locked in a steamy kiss that I don’t want to stop. My hands slowly feel their way down from his muscular chest and stop on his abdomen. I’ve never been the one to make the first move, but I don’t care at this point. I want more from this man. Need more. My hands slip under his shirt and I gently score my nails against his tight flesh as my hands retrace their path down, stopping as I feel the top of his waistband.

A low growl erupts from Nico and he guides my back down on the couch as he climbs on top of me. With his weight pushing into me, I can feel every muscle up against mine and I swear I might finish before our naked flesh ever meets. He’s just that damn incredible to feel. A low moan from somewhere within me escapes and our kissing becomes deeper, almost frantic.

Groaning, Nico sits up and leaves me breathless on the couch. My body is desperate and I need more. When I look up, I find Nico running his hands through his hair in frustration.

“Why did you stop?” My voice comes out like a whiney high school girl who is unsure of herself with her new boyfriend. But that’s what the man has reduced me to, heavy panting and desire with no happy ending.

“You have no idea how hard it is to stop.” His voice is raw and honest and filled with emotion. Somehow it makes me feel better knowing it isn’t easy for him. But it also confuses me. Why does he keep stopping?

“So why then?”

Nico struggles for a moment, “Because I want you to know me first, so I don’t scare you away.”

“Why would you scare me away?”

He thinks for a long moment, before he responds. “Because it’s who I am.” Nico looks at me and touches the side of my face gently with his thumb. “You’re a beautiful, smart, strong woman who is used to being treated like a lady.”

I’m confused at his words and Nico sees it on my face. He pulls me to him and buries his face in my neck. His breath is so close to my ear when he speaks, I feel the words throughout my body as he speaks them. “But when I finally get you underneath me, I’m definitely not going to treat you like a lady.”