Good Girl Gone Wild: When Lust Turns to Passion... (Good and Wild) (10 page)

“I’m
fine, just a little tired. The new mall over the bridge is running into all
kinds of restrictions, and it’s giving me a headache,” Nick said, avoiding
direct eye contact.

“Liar,”
she said softly. Nick said nothing, looking out the window again. “It’s
Christine, isn’t it?” Kate said shrewdly. “Something happened.”

Nick
shrugged, refusing to be drawn. Kate settled herself more comfortable on his
desk, and leaned forward. “Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.”

Nick
looked at her doubtfully; all at once he was telling her everything. He skimmed
over the sex parts, but Kate wasn’t stupid; she knew they had spent the night
together. She listened closely, noting the change in his voice every time he
mentioned her name, and inwardly sighed. He had really fallen hard, and it was
probably with the only woman she knew who didn’t want what Nick had never
offered to anyone else. He finished his story, looking with some hope at Kate.

Kate
considered for a moment, then told him crisply, “It’s clear enough. You rushed
her, and she likes to be in control of her own life. That’s a good thing, you
know. You need to slow down, let her get used to the idea.”

He
suspected as much, but he was afraid she might decide that she didn’t want him
after all. He voiced his concerns to Kate, who tut-tutted him.

“So
what? At least you’ll know, and you can move on. She did say she wanted to keep
seeing you, right?” He nodded. “Then you’ll have to take your chances.” Kate
patted his cheek and jumped off the desk, smoothing her slacks down. “Call her
now.”

He
didn’t have her number anymore, but he knew where to find her. He went to her
apartment and just caught a surprised but clearly delighted Lisa who was on her
way to deliver a birthday cake. She told him where to find Christine.
Of
course
, he thought, running down the stairs,
back to ground zero
.

And
here he was.

Christine
found herself feeling shy, and she dropped her eyes after she spoke, reaching
for her mug as a shield. It was a full mug, the coffee was hot and with her
hand trembling she nearly dropped it on her laptop.

Nick
reached out and plucked the mug from her hand before it could do more than
wobble slightly. He set it aside before sliding into the alcove, holding her
chin and forcing her to look at him.

“I
seem to do that a lot around you,” he said softly, and she smiled at the
memory.

“You
have a very unsettling effect on me,” she said softly, warming his heart. He
tilted her chin slightly and bent to kiss her, closing his eyes in anticipation
of her soft lips against his once again. It was a sweet kiss, and Christine
placed a hand on his neck, rubbing her thumb across his jaw. They drew apart
after a long moment, and Christine sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m
sorry I didn’t call you,” Nick said.

“It’s
okay, I understand,” Christine replied, savoring his familiar smell. “I’ve
missed you terribly, though.”

Nick
was tempted to ask her to move in with him again, but restrained himself. “I’ve
missed you, too,” he said instead, hugging her to him. They were screened from
the rest of the café by the high sides of the alcove, but he didn’t really care
if anyone saw.

“Kiss
me again,” she said, lifting her face. Nick bent down, and this time her mouth
was slightly open, and he slipped in his tongue, tasting her. His hand crept up
under her shirt to cup her breast. He could feel her nipple straining against
her bra and he gently squeezed. A low moan escaped her and his dick responded with
gratifying alacrity.
Oh, joy
he thought, at the same time resigned to
suffering blue balls in this very public cafe. A small price to pay for knowing
he could still get it up.

Christine
felt the familiar and sorely missed heat building up as he caressed her, and
her own hand crept to his jeans, feeling the bulge there with some longing. She
pulled back, looking into his eyes.

“I’ve
really missed you,” she said with meaning, and shut her laptop. She picked it
up, grabbed his hand and called out something to Ted, who nodded. They went out
of the café and up to her apartment, where she quietly opened the door.

“Lisa
went to deliver something, I saw her on her way down,” Nick said, whispering
anyway. The apartment was hot, but not any hotter than he was feeling. Christine
winked conspiratorially and tugged him in, shutting the door quickly.

Christine
was kicking off her shoes and tugging at his jeans as she led the way to her
bedroom, and he was pulling off her shirt, and they both laughed a little as
they stumbled on to her bed, tumbling the long pillow off as he pulled her
jeans and panties off. He shrugged off his shirt and stepped out of his jeans
before falling on top of her, kissing her mouth and neck with some urgency,
roughly pulling down her bra so he could give her breasts the attention they so
badly needed. With one hand squeezing her breast, he entered her with a speed
that took her breath away, and the sensation explosion made her scream
breathlessly. She was wet, but he was huge, and the friction was incredible. He
covered her mouth with his hand, and her muffled moans of pleasure against his
palm and her thighs wrapped around his waist were driving him insane. He rocked
her hard, the sexual frustration of the last few weeks threatening to overwhelm
him.

“I’m
sorry,” he panted in her ear, still thrusting furiously, “I’m going to explode,
I can’t stop it!” Her wide eyes met his, and he removed his hand to clamp his
lips on hers, uttering grunts deep in his chest as he came again and again.

Christine
received his release with joyful satisfaction, her senses too overloaded to
register her own orgasm as a separate event. Waves of pleasure and pain
centered where they were joined, and she shuddered with him as her sex sent out
frissons of heat, draining her.

For
a suspended moment, his mouth remained locked on hers, and then he slowly
raised his head, his eyes as dazed as she felt. Without a word, he pulled out
from her and spooned with her in her narrow bed, sated for the moment.

They
were sitting decorously in the living room, Christine in her favorite armchair,
Nick on the sofa nearest to it, and both were holding mugs of coffee, when Lisa
came back. She looked tired, but perked up when she saw Christine smiling. Lisa
hadn’t seen Christine smile spontaneously for a while, and the alarming thing
was Lisa didn’t think her sister had even realized it.

She
had suspected that Nick had finally pierced the barriers Christine had put up
to keep most people out, and now she knew it for a fact. She was glad, but also
a little worried. The St. Claires were not exactly from their side of the fence.

“Hey,
Nick, I see you’ve found her,” she said, looking satisfied. They looked at each
other and smiled.

“Yes,”
Christine said simply.

The
next few days were a period of adjustment for the both of them. They arranged
their schedules so that they could see each other every weekend, and once
during the workweek. Nick’s workload was such that he had to work late most
nights, especially when the building of the new mall drew closer to its
deadline.

Christine
was much more relaxed, simply turning down projects that would take up too much
of her time, so more often than not she adjusted to his schedule. At first she
was inclined to resent it, but when she saw how tired Nick was, and how pleased
he was to be with her, she softened her attitude.

Sometimes,
she would go over to his office on their date night when he had to stay longer
than he planned, and spend it watching him work from a corner of his office.
Afterwards, they would make love and Christine would give him a neck massage as
he talked about his life. She came to know how much he loved his parents, so
much so that he had gone into the family business instead of striking out on
his own, something he referred to as a “cushy job.” Seeing how hard he worked,
she knew it wasn’t true.

One
argument that almost broke them apart was when she refused to see him one week
every month, the period she referred to as “red flag” week. She had started on
the pill, so it was just that one week that she wouldn’t allow him to be
intimate. Finally, after two months of it, Nick exploded.

“I
need to see you, Christine!” he said, pacing the length of his living room.
They had decided to spend the night at his condo, and she had again informed
him that she wouldn’t be available the following week.

Christine
said reasonably, “We can’t, Nick, it’s icky.”

“We
don’t always have to have sex when we’re together,” he argued, sitting on the
sofa, his expression taut.

“But…”

“We
can go to the park, feed the goddamned ducks!” Nick said, running a hand
through his hair, something he did when he was upset. Christine suppressed an
impulse to brush back that stubborn lock, knowing he was in no mood to be
touched. Nick pinned her down with his stare, “Is that all you want from me,
Christine? God knows you don’t even let me give you flowers!”

Christine
flinched, reminded of the one occasion when he had brought a beautiful bunch of
long-stemmed roses and she told him bluntly that she didn’t want him spending
money on her. They had argued that time, too, but she had won that round.

“Of
course not!” she said, stung.

“Then
don’t deny me your company just because you won’t let me make love to you!
We’re so much more than that, aren’t we?” he almost pleaded, and she had finally
agreed to try.

And
he was right. She enjoyed herself very much. That time, they actually did feed
the ducks and visited a nearby fair, getting stomach aches from corn dogs and
popcorn. Other times they would watch movies on his state-of-the-art entertainment
system or play Xbox. From that time on, they had designated that period
“abstinence” week. They learned more about each other during those weeks than
any other they spent together.

Present Day

Christine
stared at him as he twiddled with his coffee spoon, and had an insane desire to
take it and whack him with it. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and looked
down, asking “Why not?”

Nick
moved restlessly, wondering if he was doing the right thing.
What if she
agreed?
he thought wildly.
What if she says that’s a good idea, Nick,
it’s time to move on?

He
began carefully. “We agreed that when you were ready, you were going to tell me
if you were ready to take it to the next level.” She nodded warily. “It’s been
six months.”

Christine
said nothing, thinking furiously.
Has it really been six months already
?
she marveled.

Nick
leaned back and sighed. “Your silence is very reassuring.”

“What
do you want me to say, Nick?” she asked, goaded. She leaned forward, putting
out her hands. “It’s been wonderful, Nick, why do we have to rock the boat?”
she asked pleadingly. He put his hands in hers, gripping it tightly.

“We’ve
been on the dock for six months, baby. I want to set sail,” he countered. “I
want us to go forward, and seeing each other three times a week at most is not
enough. I need you to be with me, always.”

Christine
stared into his eyes, which were compelling her to agree with him, that she
should give up her independence and move in with him. She imagined herself
puttering around in his house, waiting for him to come home, cooking his meals,
washing his clothes. It was a warming thought; she could continue working
anywhere she was. Then she imagined his parents looking at her askance, Nick’s
“little girlfriend,” and she flinched from it.

He
saw her withdrawal, and knew he had lost. He gave it one last try. “I love you,
Christine, but I won’t be just your lover. Not anymore. I want all of you, or
nothing.”

Christine
felt herself getting angry, and if at the back of her mind it was because she
mostly agreed with him, she successfully repressed it. She never wanted to be
told what to do, and an ultimatum was just that. She withdrew her hands. “Then
I guess it’s nothing,” she said coldly.

Nick
stared at her, all his hopes crashing to the ground. He had bet all on the last
throw and he had lost. He had never felt so empty in his whole life.

It
was so easy for her. She had barely paused when she had decided she didn’t want
him anymore, and that was devastating. He refused to let her see how much she
had wounded him, not wanting her pity. So he nodded slowly, regretfully even,
and signaled for the bill. He took out his wallet and laid some money on the
table.

“Okay,
then, I guess it is,” he said, getting up. He looked down at her, his face
unreadable. Christine wanted to reach out to him, stop him from leaving, but
she folded her hands tightly in her lap. “I really think we could have been happy
together, Christine,” he said softly then turned away.

Christine
watched him walk away, willing for him to return, to take it all back, but he
didn’t. She felt tears stinging her eyes, and she blinked them back, taking a
deep breath.  She finished her coffee to give her time to gather herself, even
managing a smile and a nod to the waiter who presented the bill and took the
cash Nick had left.