“They won’t,” she reassured him, not sure if it was true.
“I mean it. You’ve been here for a long time. Even if…” He sighed. “I can’t be around.”
“Don’t say that. Your father wouldn’t do that to you.” She took his hand in hers.
His eyes were glued to their joined fingers. “Kara, that’s not what I mean.” His eyes moved up to hers. “After the kiss… I don’t want things to change between us,” he said again.
She felt her entire world shift slightly at the thought of not being friends with Nick. She wondered if something as strong as heartbreak could wipe away all the years of friendship. She wasn’t sure it would be worth it.
Instead of answering, she nodded and swallowed her fears.
After they finished the meal, they stood in the kitchen and did the dishes together. The sun had already gone down, and she knew that it was time to go home. But something kept playing over in her mind. The desire to have him touch her started to bubble deep in her gut and spread throughout her entire body.
As if he could read her mind, he finished drying his hands and then took her hips and pulled her close, wedging her between his body and the countertop.
“Kara?” he said, his eyes glued to her lips.
“Hm?” She watched his mouth move and wished more than anything that it would cover hers soon.
“Stay.” His one word had her knees weakening. To answer him, she lifted on her toes and placed her lips over his. When the kiss grew heavier, he hoisted her up on the countertop. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him closer to her.
Feeling his hardness pressed against her core, every fiber in her body lit on fire. She wanted, needed, more than she ever had before.
Her fingers dove into his hair, holding him to her as she poured everything she was feeling into the kiss. Trying to prove to him, to show him, just how much she wanted him.
“Kara,” Nick groaned against her lips.
“I need…” She ended on a moan when his hands snaked under her shirt and cupped her breasts.
When she reached for him, however, he pulled back. His eyes locked with hers as he started removing her boots. He moved slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. Didn’t he know she was on fire? Couldn’t he see it in her eyes?
When her boots hit the floor, their eyes locked as he reached for the zipper of her jeans. Her shirt followed and landed in the pile of her clothes. As she reached for his, he yanked off his shirt, and she was momentarily frozen in place as her eyes ran over him while he toed off his shoes and removed his jeans.
When they were standing in the kitchen in nothing but their underwear, her in an amber silk set and him in black boxers, it was as if the air itself crackled around them.
“You’re sure?” he asked softly.
To answer him, she rushed towards him and placed her mouth over his. He hoisted her up in his arms, and she wrapped her legs around his hips again. He took a few steps backwards until she was once more sitting on the edge of the countertop. Her hands roamed over his arms, his chest, every part of him that she could while he did the same to her.
Her bra was tossed aside moments later after his fingertips brushed underneath, playing with her nipples. When she was free, his mouth covered each nipple as he took it into his mouth and ran his tongue over her heated skin.
She almost lost it right there, and he hadn’t even really touched her. While his mouth played over her, his hands cupped her hips. With each breath, she willed him to feel her. To pull her panties aside and dive into her heat. She was impossibly hot and wet, waiting for him.
When his hands finally did cup her silk panties, she moaned, and his mouth returned to hers.
“I want to take you upstairs,” he said against her mouth. “I need to.” He wrapped his arms around her.
She wanted to tell him no. To stay here. To take her right here, but he was already carrying her towards the stairs. She held onto him as the anticipation built even more.
The staircase was made of thick wood beams. There was a small loft at the top, with two hallways leading in different directions.
Since her eyes were focused only on him, she didn’t see where he’d taken her. Nor did she care. When he laid her down on a bed, she shifted and tried to pull him down with her. He briefly disappeared to grab a condom from the nightstand and then reappeared above her.
His hands roamed over her again, this time with a little more urgency while she nudged his boxers from his hips. He shifted to lay beside her as he continued kissing her.
As she wrapped her fingers around him, he nudged her panties aside and slid his fingers into her.
“Nick, I need you,” she practically begged.