Hearth & Home

He smiled, "Right."

"Excellent." I raised myself up out of the water, and with all my strength, pushed him under. Then, self-preservation in the forefront of my mind, I struck out for the sailboat. When my hand finally hit the ladder rung on the back of the boat, I breathed a sigh of relief. A moment later, Nick's arm closed about my waist, dragging me back into the water.

"You do not play fair!" he muttered teasingly.

"You deserved it." I reached for the ladder again, and this time he let me go.

"So I did," he admitted, smiling as I ascended the ladder.

I didn't have to turn to know why he sounded so chipper, "Quit checking out my ass, Stavros."

He laughed, "Come on Martie..."

Once on deck, I reached for my beach towel before turning and looking down on him as he climbed, "I know you don't want me to tell John about this..."

"Bitchy, bitchy, bitchy," he shook his head in faux disbelief. "What happened to the girl who was all over me the other night?"

I blushed then, but couldn't help but laugh as he attempted to share my towel. "Fuck you, Nick."

"Right, exactly..." he teased. "That's what I'm talking about."

I don't know why I let him within ten feet of me, let alone wrap my towel around the both of us, but I was happy nonetheless. I rested my cheek on his shoulder, and fingered the curly black hair on his chest. After a moment, I said, "I love you, Nick."

His lips grazed my temple, "I know honey. I love you too."

I didn't cross-examine our declarations, just let them be. There was love between us – had been for ages. As for what kind of love it really was, time would tell.

Later, as we lay on the deck, soaking up the sun's rays, I asked, "How long have you liked me, Nick?"

"Since day one," he replied, obviously not understanding the question.

"No, no." I propped my chin in my hands and looked over at him, "I mean, how long since you thought about me as a woman, not as a pal?"

He grinned, "Martie, it's a little more complicated than that. I'm a guy, after all."

I raised an eyebrow, "Explain."

"When I first met you – the very first time – I saw you as a woman. I thought, 'Wow, she's really pretty.' The pal part came later."

I felt my cheeks get hot, pleased with his answer. "And then you were able to overlook that I was a woman, and be my friend."

"Yes. Of course, it helped that I was engaged at the time. If I hadn't been, maybe we'd never have become friends." He rolled over onto his side and reached a hand out towards me.

"So you're saying that if you hadn't been engaged when you first met me, you might have tried to date me?"

"Yes..." his fingers trailed down my arm.

I tried to ignore the sensation, "So after we became friends, when did you decide you wanted to date me?"

He didn't hesitate, "New Year's Eve. I saw you kissing Craig at midnight and realized that I wanted you to be kissing me instead."

Ugh! Craig! One of those guys with way too many hands. I hadn't seen him since that night. I smiled at Nick, "I would have let you punch him, if you'd wanted to..."

He laughed, "I never knew you were so blood-thirsty."

It was late when Nick took me home. He didn't come inside, citing the fact that he was a mess and it was a "school night". I smiled at his analogy, and tilted my face up to receive his kiss. He started on one cheek, moved to the temple, then other cheek, nose and chin. He was teasing me, and I hated it. Okay, I loved it.

*****

It was lucky for me that Nick and I didn't often see each other in the course of the day. His office was in a different wing of the building, which made it a bit easier to concentrate on work. I needed to finish my report on the trade show and talk to our exhibit house about billing matters. It certainly wouldn't help matters if I was distracted by Nick.

Not that he would purposely distract me. That was one of the things I really admired about the man. When he was at work, he worked. I didn't know if that was a European thing, or a Nick thing, but I respected it.

He had a lunch meeting downtown, so John and I went out for Mexican and I got the lecture Nick had been treated to earlier. My version, I'm sure was a little different. It was more about "being careful", and "making sure this is what I wanted to do." I told John that he was sweet, and I appreciated his concern, but that I was fine.

Turning the tables on him, I asked about Lydia. I'd been concerned on Saturday when he'd appeared to be 'down', although I didn't tell him that.

"Oh...you know..." he answered vaguely.

I recognized the signs – John was getting bored – so I went on the offensive, "Do you ever think about looking for someone you might want to be around long-term? I mean, no offense, but Lydia's no rocket scientist."

Yep, the bloom was definitely off the rose, because he didn't defend her. "Martie, I wouldn't know where to begin looking..."

"Maybe I could help you out – fix you up with someone?" I offered.

He shook his head, "Who do you know that I don't?"

He had a point. "Well, maybe if you stop chasing skirts, one of the women you already know might think you're reformed and take a chance on you."

Cocking an eyebrow, he said, "You'd dump Nick for me? Now that's sweet!"

*****

When I told Nick about the conversation later that night, he laughed, "Isn't that just like John? Hitting on my girlfriend while my back is turned!"

"Am I your girlfriend, then?"

We were standing in his kitchen, having just finished cleaning up the dishes, and he said, "Aren't you?"

I smiled and walked over to him, kissing his chin. He moved his head slightly downward to capture my lips, then broke away suddenly. "Did you get taller?"

"Nope..." I lifted a pant leg to display a black leather pump with a 4" heel. "New shoes," I explained.

"Damn!" he said, pulling me closer, "Very sexy. You should wear those with a dress."

I laughed, "I don't know if you could handle that."

"In fact," he went off on a bit of a tangent, "I really like it when you wear dresses. You have very nice legs."

He was overstating my assets, but I felt flattered all the same, "Thank you."

"And I like this blouse too," he said, running a finger inside my neckline from the nape, hesitating just past the collarbone.

"What do you like about it?" I asked, my breathing arrested.

His finger continued its downward trend, very lightly caressing my skin. "This," he said, as it curved over a swell of breast. "Very tempting..."

"I'm not trying to tempt you..." I lied.

"Really?" He didn't believe me...

I decided to go for broke, "Are you temptable?"

"...Maybe..."

His finger was still resting on the skin barely exposed by my blouse. Throwing caution to the wind, I reached up, and released the next button, revealing a generous display of cleavage, instead of just a hint.

He followed my hand with his eyes and didn't speak for a moment, absorbing the sight before him. "You don't play fair, Martie..."

I was in it now, with too much pride invested to allow Nick to turn away this time. Another button popped free, "You started it Nick."

He lifted that finger that had been still, and I thought for a moment that he was walking away. A second later, his entire palm slid inside my blouse and cupped my breast. His thumb grazed across the sensitive peak, causing it to tighten immediately.

My hands fumbled with the next button, and then Nick was helping, and the garment slid unnoticed to the floor. He looked at me then, standing there in my black lace bra and dress pants, and he made a decision. I could see it in his eyes seconds before he crouched down, flipped me over his shoulder and headed for his bedroom.

"Nick!" I shrieked, trying to get down.

"Quit it!" he silenced me with a playful slap on the bottom. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

Damn right! I wanted to say.

He tossed me in the middle of his king sized bed and said, "Don't move."

I watched as he divested himself of his shoes, socks and shirt, then joined me on the bed. "Did I ever tell you I love your chest hair?"

He laughed, "Do you think I have enough of it?"

I threaded my fingers through the dark curls, over his well-defined pecs, down to his abs, "It's perfect."

"I think I have some on my back too," he teased.

"Excellent," I replied with a smile, sliding my hands over his shoulders. Then I stopped for a moment and met his gaze. "You're beautiful, Nick."

He kissed me then – one of those kisses that starts out slow and ends only when you're incapable of speech or intelligent thought. My hands found a home in his hair, holding his mouth on mine, not wanting the kiss to end.

The combination of his tongue stroking mine, and his hands on my breasts was maddening. I arched against him instinctively and his mouth left mine to fasten on a recently bared nipple. A moan escaped my throat, and I vaguely realized that this had very quickly turned into a serious mating ritual. When he replaced his mouth with the soothing pressure of his palm he muttered shakily, "Very nice tits, Martie..."

That broke the tension and made me laugh. "Thank you. I'm glad you like them..."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to like everything about you..." and he kissed me again, his hands going to work at the button on my pants.

I watched him through heavy-lidded eyes as he broke away from me long enough to rid us both of our remaining clothes. The flush in his cheeks, the flare of his nostrils, the desire in his eyes... He was delicious. Simply delicious.

When he rejoined me, my hands began to roam – over his shoulders, his back – caressing what I'd long wanted to explore. He seemed content to let me do what I wished, not touching me other than to run a gentle hand over the arch of my back to caress my behind. I'd never thought of the ass as a particularly erogenous zone, but the way that Nick was touching mine, stroking it, I realized I'd been mistaken. I slid my own hand bravely downward, eventually allowing it to smooth over his hard curves. I glanced at his face and was caught by the emotion I saw in his eyes.

"Is this real, Martie? I can't believe this is real..."

I kissed him softly, realizing for the first time that maybe he did really love me. "It's real..."

Raising himself up on one elbow, Nick looked down at my face then cast his gaze lower. "You are beautiful, Martie," he whispered, running his hand from my neck, down across my breasts and my stomach before settling between my thighs to touch me there.

I was undoubtedly ready for him, but that didn't stop me from gasping. Oh...Lord...he was good...

"You're so soft..." he breathed as he stroked upward.

"Mmm..." I arched against his hand, my fingers reaching out blindly to close around the impossible-to-ignore hard-on nudging my hip. Ohhh...yes...I thought smugly as I heard the sharp intake of his breath.

"...and so wet..." He kissed me then, his tongue invading my mouth at the same time as his fingers slipped inside me. And for long, breathtaking moments, we played – stroking squeezing, caressing until I was a slippery mess and Nick was pushing my hand away.

And then he was kissing his way down my body, stopping to pay highly indecent homage to my breasts. When he realized that I was watching him lick my nipples, he looked at me, and smiled devilishly. Then he deliberately scraped his teeth over one sensitive tip before salving it with the swipe of his tongue again. I moaned. I couldn't help it.

In fact, I couldn't stop any of the small sounds emanating from my throat as he made his way south, making no secret of his destination. His fingers pressed my thighs open, and he lowered his head between them.

I'd never really enjoyed it when former boyfriends had gone down on me. I always felt supremely self-conscious, and ultimately like they were only being polite. But Nick... God, Nick!?? Oh, Nick applied himself to the task enthusiastically. With tongue, teeth, fingers...Lord, he deserved a gold star!

"God," I moaned, cresting the first wave, my fingers curled tightly in his hair as he sucked on my clit, "Oh God, Oh God..." I was bucking against him now, willing him to hang on, which he did admirably. I'm quite sure my cries could have been heard next door, although that was just about the last thing on my mind as stars exploded in my head and I drew Nick up to lay atop me.

He kissed me deeply, letting me taste my essence on his tongue. "You're...so...sexy..." he murmured between kisses, right before he slid his cock deep inside me. Oh...God...

Reality crashed over me like an icy wave. ...deep inside me??? Oh, shit!

My hands moved to his hips and I forced him to still his movements, "Tell me you have a condom somewhere in this room. I mean," I was babbling, "It's obvious that it's not on you, " somehow, he managed to shift himself deeper..."Oh, God...jeez, you're good at that...but...oh God...you...need...oh God..." he was wedged so deeply inside me, that he was touching my womb and I could feel him throbbing. "Nick...you need to wear a condom...please..."

He shifted once more, before withdrawing himself from me, and riffling in his bed stand drawer. When he came back to me, he apologized, "I'm sorry honey, got a little distracted..."

I reached down to verify that he was indeed, fully covered, pausing to stroke him slowly. "Me too...um...maybe another time..." I let my voice trail off as I guided him back to me, arched my back as he entered me, and moaned as he covered a breast with his hand, rolling the nipple between his fingers.

He had such a nice rhythm – slow, deep, hard. I, Martina Patterson, who had never in my life had more than one orgasm in a sexual interlude, felt myself getting close. And the closer I got, the more my fingers dug into his hips, urging him on. But he wouldn't go faster, just kept up that slow, relentless, agonizing pace, grinding his pelvis hard against me, building...building...building...until I was flying, and crying out, and he was too, his face contorted in a mixture between pleasure and pain.

He shifted his weight, coming down beside me and drawing me into his arms.

"Jesus..." he murmured into my hair, sounding slightly awestruck.

My heart was still pounding as I pressed a kiss to his shoulder, "You are just way too good at that Nick. A girl could get addicted."

I felt the vibration of his chuckle, "That was my plan all along..."

After another moment, he moved away from me and got out of bed. "Where are you going?" I asked drowsily.

"I'll be back in a minute," he answered. And true to his word, he was. Nick climbed back into bed, and wrapped his arms around me.

"It's a school night," I mumbled, hazily remembering we had work the next day.

His lips brushed my forehead, "Go to sleep Martie..."

"I should go home..."

"You are home," he whispered.

He was right. Nick was my home, and as I settled against him and started to drift off to sleep I knew there would be sweet dark-haired babies in our future - and love...so much love...