Love Lessons (8 page)

“Come closer,” he said, his voice thinning to a whisper.

She closed the distance, and his thumb brushed her cheek as his mouth found hers.  He kissed her deeply, passionately, and in no time at all, she became lost in the sensations, lost in Nate.

He picked her up and laid her out on the bed, then crawled over her, her body fitting against his like it was made for him.  A tremor ripped through her as his hardness pressed her against the mattress, her large breasts crushed beneath his chest.  He trailed kisses around her jaw, her neck, the soft hollow in her throat.

“Vanilla,” he licked his lips.  “I fucking love vanilla.”  His mouth went lower and lower, until his lips were hovering over one nipple.  “You have no idea how many nights I’ve dreamt about tasting you.”  His hot mouth closed over one hard bud, and she trembled from head to toe.  “Oh, God, Gracie,” he mumbled then went back to sucking, nibbling, licking.

“Nate,” she cried out, raking her fingers through his hair to hold him to her as he flicked a nipple with the soft blade of his tongue.  Desire seared her insides and her breath came in a rush.  Everything inside her tingled as want settled deep between her thighs.  She lifted her hips, but he seemed in no hurry to move downward, to the spot that craved him the most. 

He inched to the side, and she could feel his hardness on her thigh as he paid homage to her other breast, one hand shaping her curves as he ran it over her nakedness.  She moved against him, writhing with want, his slow seduction nearly killing her.  She was used to wham-bam between the sheets, but Nate…well, he was taking his sweet time introducing himself to her body and learning all her likes.  

His hand moved to her knees, and he urged her thighs apart.  She widened for him, and as his fingers climbed higher and higher, a maelstrom of sensation erupted inside her.  He shifted to position himself between her legs, and when she felt him gently ease open her lips with his fingers, a whimper escaped her. 

He bent forward and licked her, one long, delicious swipe of his tongue that had her hips coming off the bed. 

“Nate,” she cried out and went up on her elbows to look at him.

He mumbled curses under his breath, then shot her a glance and said, “Baby, you’re the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.”

A second later, he buried his face between her legs, his mouth settling possessively on her sex as his tongue circled her swollen clit.  She could feel tension building in her body as he pushed a thick finger inside her. 

“Jesus, you’re so wet, baby.”

Her blood raced as her body shuddered involuntarily when he reached the sensitive bundle of nerves inside that no man had ever found before.  He brushed lightly, teasing her as he took her closer and closer to the edge.

He took his sweet time pleasuring her, like
he
was the one who couldn’t get enough.  His lusty moans of want and the way he seemed to be enjoying what he was doing helped shed the last of her inhibitions.  She lifted her hips, moving against his face, and when his tongue finally made contact with her clit again, caressing her with the utmost expertise, shockwaves rocketed through her body.

Oh. My. God.

A hard shiver ignited every nerve ending as his fingers pumped deep, and she exhaled a breathy moan. She fell back onto the bed as pressure built up inside her.  As he stayed between her legs, licking, sucking, taking her to places she’d never been before, her throat tightened with emotions. No man had ever put her needs first, taking his time to give her what she needed before he took for himself.  In that moment, her whole world shifted, but she didn’t have time to think about it, because Nate was applying more pressure with his tongue and doing the most delicious things with his fingers.

Grace gripped the sheets and reveled in the sensation.  “So good,” she cried out, a wheezing sound escaping her lips as her muscles began trembling.  Blood pounded through her veins and she gasped, wanting to hang on, fighting to hang on, but knowing it was a losing battle.  Her body wanted release and was determined to have it.  She closed her eyes in sweet agony as heat licked over her flesh.

So much pleasure.

Nate must have felt the changes in her, because he punched up the pressure and asked, “You going to come for me, Gracie?”

“Yes,” she cried out, her breathing growing shallow as she gave herself over to the magical things he was doing to her.  She clenched around his fingers, drawing them in deeper as an orgasm tore through her.  His groans mingled with her moans as he continued to lap at her, drawing out each pulse until she finally stopped spasming. 

He climbed up her body, and when his eyes met hers, warm shivers of need moved through her.  “Nate,” she whispered, putting her hand on his cheek.  He closed his hand over it, and his nostrils flared.

“Baby, I need to be inside you.”

She nodded, and he hurried from the bed.  He reached into his jeans, pulled out a condom, and quickly sheathed himself.  A second later, he was back on top of her, and her body responded with a shudder. 

He brushed her hair from her face.  “Tonight, I’m going to take you like this, because I need to see you when you come.  But tomorrow, just know that I’m going to take you fifty different ways.  All the ways I’ve been lying in bed and dreaming of taking you for the last year.”

She swallowed, and because her brain wasn’t quite functioning correctly, all she managed to get out was, “Okay.”

“Good.”  He reached between their bodies and rubbed his cock along the length of her crevice.

She moaned and closed her eyes.

“No,” he said.  “I want to see you.” 

The second her lids flicked open, he pushed inside, and she gasped as his fullness stretched her.

“Oh, my God,” she cried out as he filled her completely. 

Holding her gaze, he buried himself deep and stayed completely still, like he was savoring the moment.  “Jesus, you feel good,” he finally murmured. 

She moved against him, needing more, and he began powering in to her, her body growing slicker with each hungry stroke.  She rocked with him, welcoming each delicious thrust, and when she wrapped her legs around his back to hold him inside, it triggered a reaction in him.  He pressed a possessive kiss to her mouth, and it touched something deep inside her—something that had never been touched before. 

“Nate,” she whispered, the pull between them so strong, so powerful, she knew there was no coming back from it.  They’d always been close, but there was no denying that making love with Nate had changed everything between them, creating a deeper, more intimate bond.  “Oh God, Nate.”

He pushed her hair back and cupped the sides of her head, his breathing growing more erratic by the second.  “I know, baby. I know.”

She squeezed her legs around his back, and her nipples brushed against his hard body.  He grabbed one of her legs and held it to his chest as he shifted positions, angling his body for deeper, harder thrusts. 

“So good,” she cried out, a new wave of tension building inside her as he pounded into her, like he couldn’t get deep enough, like he was seeking more than just release. 

“Baby?”

“Yeah?” She ran her nails over his shoulders, soft quakes beginning in her core. 

His gaze swept over her face.  “I’m afraid this is going to be fast,” he said.  “I’ve wanted you for so fucking long now, I can guarantee I’m not going to last long.”

A thrill moved through her to know she did this to him.  “Take what you need, Nate.”  She cupped his face and rocked her hips, encouraging him to just let go.  He began driving into her, seeking what his body craved. 

As another orgasm built inside her, she grabbed his arms to hang on.  When she found his muscles trembling, a surge of love rushed to her heart.   

His groin pounded harder against hers, and when he slipped a hand between their bodies to caress her clit, she gave an erotic whimper and let go.  Her liquid heat coated his cock, and as her sex muscles continued to clench around him, he growled, drove all the way inside, and stilled.

A second later, she felt him release, pulsing deep inside her.  She hugged his sides with her thighs, holding him tight as he collapsed on top of her, his mouth going to her neck. He breathed heavy, his breath hot on her skin. 

“You’re mine, Gracie,” he whispered into the hollow of her throat.  “Mine.”

She raked her hands through his damp hair, holding him to her as she worked to catch her breath.  They stayed like that for a long time, then he broke the quiet.

“Gracie?”

“Yeah?

“You good?” he asked, a new tenderness in his voice as he lifted his head to see her.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Okay,” he said, and as she looked at him, took in the warmth in his eyes as they moved over her face, her heart swelled.  Oh, God, she loved him so much.  

Looking completely drained, he rolled beside her and pulled her in tight.  “Let’s rest for a few minutes, then I’ll drive you back so you can get your comic strip down before your deadline.” 

“Okay.”  She snuggled in close, loving the way his arms held her so protectively.  Even though she was exhausted from the amazing round of sex, she was too keyed up, too excited to sleep.  As Nate fell asleep beside her, her mind raced, taking her back to the morning not so long ago when Nate volunteered to give her love lessons.   

Thanks to him, she now knew that love looked like the guy across the hall.  A guy who knew her better than she knew herself and would go above and beyond to help her and open her eyes to what was really between them.  A guy who didn’t just make her feel like a star in his sky, but instead made her feel like she was his whole world. 

Love had been in front of her all this time, and she’d been too dense to see it—too insecure about herself to think that someone as great as Nate could love her in return.  But over the course of the night, he’d helped her fight those insecurities, making her feel beautiful, desirable, wanted by him.   

She considered his nervousness earlier in the night and couldn’t help but smile.  They were friends, best friends, and like her, Nate was probably afraid of doing something to jeopardize that friendship.  He was right to worry, because no way could they go back to being friends after sex.  

She stole a glance at the clock then slipped from the bed.  Leaving him sleeping, she pulled on her clothes, tiptoed from the room, and made her way to the front entrance to grab a cab home.

Nate woke up and instantly reached for Gracie, but when he found her side of the bed cold, he jackknifed to a sitting position.  Where the hell was she?  He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked for a note, then checked his phone to see if she’d messaged him.  Nothing.

Shit.

He pushed the blankets off and checked the time.  That’s when he realized she probably left through the night to go finish her comic strip.  Dammit, she was supposed to wake him, not sneak off in the middle of the night without letting him know.  As he thought about why she’d do that, a knot tightened his stomach.  Could he have taken things too far and scared her off?  But he’d felt her body beneath his, felt the way she’d opened for him, whispered his name when she came.  There was no way she could deny the sex between them was perfect. Everything between them was perfect.

He grabbed his clothes from the floor and pulled them on.  Just as he was about to open the door and go find her, someone knocked.

He opened it quickly to find Gracie standing there.  “Come here,” he said, pulling her inside and closing the door behind her.  He looked over her face.  “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t think so,” she said.

His heart fell into his stomach.  “Oh fuck.  I fucked things up, didn’t I?”

“Kind of.”

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” He said and fisted his hair.  “I’m so sorry.  The last thing I ever wanted to do was jeopardize our friendship, Gracie.”

She looked down.  “Well, you certainly did that.”

He cupped her chin and lifted until her eyes were locked on his.  “What can I do to make it right?  I don’t want to lose you.”

“We can’t go back to being friends, Nate.  We just can’t.”

“Fuck, Gracie.  Don’t say that.”  She pulled something out from under her arm and handed it to him.  “What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s the Valentine issue.  I thought you might want to see it.  It’s already gone to print.”

He pulled opened the paper, and when he read her strip, his heart stopped beating.  “Holy shit,” he said as his throat tightened.  After he read the words Kate Loves Nate, he lifted his gaze from the paper to find Gracie smiling at him.    

“We can’t ever go back to being just friends, because I never want to stop being your lover, Nate.”

“Gracie,” he said and pulled her to him.  His mouth crashed down on hers, and he kissed her with lust, need, possession. 

“So what do you think?” she asked, nodding toward the paper.  “Did I nail it?”

He laughed as emotions pressed against his heart.  “Yeah, a few times.”

She laughed with him.  “Just so you know,” she said, putting her hand on his chest and backing him up until his knees hit the bed.  “I really am Kate.”

“I know that.  It’s your middle name.”

“And Kate really does love Nate,” she said.

“Just like Nate loves Kate.”  He unzipped her jacket and pushed it from her shoulders.  “He always has, you know.  He was just too afraid of doing something to jeopardize the friendship.”

“Well, he sure opened Kate’s eyes last night when he did something…something big.”

He cocked his head and gave her a wry grin.  “Are you saying Nate’s big?”  When she laughed, he dropped a soft kiss onto her mouth.  “I can’t tell you how happy I am that Kate loves Nate.”

He deepened the kiss, and she moaned.  “Nate?” she asked, her voice a breathless whisper.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Why are we talking in third person?”

He laughed.  “I have no idea.  But I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Now that you’ve changed the direction of your comic, you’re going to have to start gathering material if you want to fill a weekly column.”