Love and the Laws of Motion Page 17

  “Jesus, your breasts are fantastic,” he breathed.

  “They are?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  She’d never thought of them as anything particularly exceptional, but the way Nick was looking at her said otherwise. Before she could figure out how to respond to that, he set one hand on her right breast and lowered his head to the left, drawing her nipple into his mouth and sucking gently.

  The sound that left her throat was barely human, and she arched up underneath him. God. She’d had no idea...the heat, the wet, the incredible sensation of his tongue on her nipple.

  Without realizing it, her hands sank into his hair, fisting tight. Oh, yes, more of this.

  His fingertips traced shivery little trails across her other breast, brushing her nipple, teasing it until she was practically panting. Then his fingers closed around it and pinched, squeezing hard enough to almost hurt. Once again, she couldn’t control the needy little moan she made.

  He shifted over her, his mouth closing over her other nipple, while his hand slipped down her stomach, tickling and teasing as he skated across her skin. Her breathing stalled when he flipped open the button of her jeans and lowered the zipper. She couldn’t breathe at all as his hand slipped inside, under the waistband of her panties, and then lower.

  “Nick,” she gasped, alarmed at the sudden, unfamiliar sensation.

  He lifted his head, looking down at her. “Are you okay? Do we need to stop?”

  Just knowing he would was enough to dispel her attack of nerves. The last thing she wanted now was to stop. “No, I’m fine. I promise.”

  “Tell me if—”

  She put her fingers over his lips to silence him. “I will. I don’t want to stop.”

  He kissed her again, slow and gentle, his hand cradling her face with such tenderness that it was easy to let go, to let her body sink into his. Then he was there again, sliding through her wetness, dancing past the most sensitive part of her, teasing at her entrance. This time she wasn’t nervous at all.

  Oh, God. Her thighs began to tremble as his fingers kept up their gentle assault, first teasing, then rubbing, and finally touching that perfect, aching spot. Suddenly it was happening, she was falling and flying, tumbling down deep into pleasure. She stiffened and cried out, her head falling back and her body going rigid.

  As she floated down from her orgasm, her eyes fluttered open. Nick was leaning over her, smiling down at her.

  “That was amazing.”

  He grinned. “We’re only getting started, sweetheart.”

  “Show me the rest?” Because she was ready, so, so ready.

  His smile faded. “This is crazy, but I’m actually nervous.”

  “Why are you nervous?” He was the one with loads of experience. Why was it different with her?

  “Because it’s your first time. You’re the one who gets to feel nervous.”

  He was taking the whole thing much more seriously than she was, which was very sweet, but totally unnecessary. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. “I’m not nervous at all. I trust you.”

  “I don’t want to mess this up.”

  “You won’t.”

  “Please tell me if I do anything you don’t like, okay?”

  “I will, but so far I’ve liked every single thing you’ve done.”

  He grinned again. “Okay, let’s see if I can top myself. You know I love a challenge.”

  Slowly, he stripped her out of her clothes, kissing his way down her thighs as he slid her jeans down and off.

  “You have great legs,” he murmured, his hands tracing their shape as he moved back up her body. Then he kissed her right at the top of her sex, over her panties, and she gasped. “Shhh, just getting ready to take these off.”

  Then he did, taking away the last garment between his eyes and her body. His eyes roamed over her, from her toes to her face. She resisted the urge to cover herself, as he seemed to really like what he saw.

  “You still have a lot of clothes on,” she observed.

  “Well, let me take care of that.”

  He rolled away from her long enough to strip efficiently out of his jeans and boxers before rolling back to face her, propped up on one elbow.

  Suddenly, she had a hard time lifting her eyes to his. Maybe Nick was inured to it, but she found the experience unspeakably intimate, being this bare and vulnerable in front of each other.

  She didn’t make herself meet his gaze yet. Instead, she looked at all the rest of him, the sculpted planes of his chest, the scattering of dark hair between his pectoral muscles, and another line of hair low on his abdomen. That one led straight down to...

  Oh, wow. She hadn’t expected it to be quite that large or prominent, hard and curving up toward his stomach.

  Nick slanted a grin at her. “Have you ever...?”

  “You know I haven’t,” she said, unable to tear her eyes away from it. “Can I?”

  “Touch me? Absolutely.”

  Tentatively, she reached out for him. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing, but she figured he wouldn’t mind letting her figure it out on him. She wrapped her fingers around the hard length of him and looked up to gauge his reaction. He was watching her intently, breathing heavily, holding himself very still.

  She squeezed once, tentatively, and he sucked in a breath. She did it again, this time stroking him from the base to the tip. He groaned, a sound she felt in her stomach.

  This time her hand tightened on its own, and she took her time with the stroke, watching Nick’s lips fall open, watching his breathing hitch.

  “You can go harder,” he bit out through clenched teeth.

  She leaned in, until her lips were close to his ear. “Show me?”

  He closed his hand over hers and squeezed. Oh, better. She liked them doing it together, watching him slowly come apart as he showed her how he liked it. When she had the tightness and the rhythm of it, he let go, his hands fisting into the pillow on either side of his head. Without thinking, she sped up, loving the feel of it, knowing she was making him feel good. He threw his head back, the tendons in his neck straining.

  Abruptly, he put his hand on her wrist, stilling her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing at all. But this is going to be over really soon if we keep doing that. Besides, tonight’s your night.”

  “Yours, too.”

  “Trust me, I’ll enjoy everything.”

  He took her face and drew her in until he could kiss her, gentle and easy, slowly rolling her onto her back. She felt his weight as he shifted over her and it filled her with anticipation and arousal. She was a little nervous, but not worried. Never worried. He’d never hurt her.

  When his hand closed around the back of her thigh, urging her legs apart, she spread them for him, letting him slide between. The hard length of him was pressed against the inside of her thigh, but he made no move to go further, just kissing her, stroking her, toying with her breasts, until she was nearly desperate for more.

  “Nick...”

  “What? Did I hurt—?”

  “No, you didn’t. I’m ready.”

  He touched the side of her face with infinite gentleness. “Are you sure?”

  If she hadn’t been, that would have made her certain. She touched her fingertips to his bottom lip. “I’ve never been surer.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, he licked his lips and pushed himself away. “Hang on.” He fumbled over the side of the bed, retrieving his wallet out of his pants pocket and pulling out a condom. She watched, fascinated, as he broke open the package and rolled it onto himself.

  “It might hurt,” he murmured as he came back over her.

  “I don’t care.” Whatever discomfort was to come, she was sure he’d make it as good as he possibly could. And that, more than anything, was what really matt
ered. She trusted him to take care of her. How could she possibly be afraid?

  Slowly, he began to push in.

  First there was an unfamiliar pressure. Then a stretching, uncomfortable and getting worse, sharpening into pain as he kept going. She sucked in a breath.

  He stopped moving entirely. “Livie?”

  “It’s okay,” she whispered. It was that, his willingness to stop, that made her not want to. “Keep going.”

  He did as she asked, not stopping, pushing forward. Then the pain faded away as quickly as it had come and he was in, fully sheathed by her body, holding himself still as she breathed deep, adjusting to him.

  “It’s okay,” she said.

  “You sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “Open your eyes and look at me when you say that.” She still had them squeezed tightly shut, which she hadn’t realized. She opened them and looked up into Nick’s eyes. He was staring down at her with such concern and gentleness. He was inches away, arms caging in her head—over her, inside of her, hard and pulsing. He was everywhere. There wasn’t a single part of her, inside or out, that Nick wasn’t touching in some way, and looking into those gentle dark eyes, too...it was too much.

  Suddenly she wasn’t so sure. No, that wasn’t right. She was sure she wanted to have sex with him. But she hadn’t expected this part, this unbearable closeness, the feeling that she’d bared much more to him than her body, that she’d let him into much more than her vagina. She’d been naive and foolish, she realized, when she’d assured him a few minutes ago that nothing would change. Everything had.

  * * *

  Nick felt like he might die if he didn’t move soon, but not until he was sure Livie was okay. He waited, barely breathing, for her to tell him to keep going.

  Something passed in her dark eyes as she looked up at him, something bleak and sad, and for a moment, he’d worried he’d fucked this all up, hurt her in some way he’d never be able to undo.

  “Livie,” he whispered. Reaching up, he touched her cheek, ran his fingers down the side of her face. “What is it? Did I hurt you?”

  She blinked and that terrible expression on her face cleared. She slid her palms up his biceps and over his shoulders, linking her fingers behind his neck. “A little nerves. I’m okay.”

  He wasn’t entirely sure he believed her. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

  “You’re just saying that because I’m naked and underneath you right now.”

  Despite being in the middle of such a momentous event, he laughed. She did, too, which helped the steel band of anxiety around his chest ease a little.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Positive.”

  “Okay. Because I promise, it gets much better.”

  “It’s already great.”

  “What did I tell you about me and challenges?”

  That made her laugh again. This was more like it, easy and fun. He could do this without hurting her—her body or her heart.

  “Tell me to stop if I hurt you again.”

  “You won’t.”

  He wouldn’t, he swore. That was the last pain he’d cause her tonight. The rest would be pure pleasure.

  Finally, he let himself move, slowly at first, and then a little faster when Livie began to move with him, when he could tell she was enjoying it. He’d intended to control himself and make this experience entirely about her, but his body couldn’t do it. Without meaning to, his tempo picked up, his hips snapping against hers faster and faster.

  Her breathing grew ragged under him, her hips moving in tandem with his. Her eyelids fluttered. Her lips parted. He felt like she might be close.

  Without pausing, he rolled them, bringing her on top of him. Her eyes went wide as she braced her palms on his chest and stared down at him.

  “I don’t know how—”

  “You don’t have to,” he told her. “Do whatever feels good and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  She began to move over him, tentatively at first, but gradually with more confidence as she found her pace again. He’d told her he’d do all the work, but the scientist in her wasn’t satisfied, trying first one thing, then another, until she found her groove. Her eyes were closed, her teeth digging into her bottom lip, when he reached between them and found her clit with his thumb. She moaned, her head tipping back.

  God, she was gorgeous—exactly like he’d been imagining. All that long dark hair, spread around her shoulders like a curtain, her full breasts bobbing with his every thrust, her eyes closed and her expression clouded with lust. He closed a hand over her breast, teasing her nipple as his thumb teased her sex.

  In moments, she was falling apart, letting out breathy little pants as her fingers clutched at his chest, and he loved it, watching Livie, so solemn and self-possessed, lose herself with him.

  “That was amazing,” he told her, his voice ragged with emotion.

  She opened her eyes, smiling dreamily at him.

  “What about you?”

  “Oh, I’ll take care of that.”

  Gently he rolled her onto her back again, pulling her knees up, urging her to wrap her legs around his hips. It didn’t take him long after that. He’d been so close for what felt like hours now, and the memory of Livie’s gasping cry as she came was enough to drive him right up to the edge. Now he gave himself over to it fully, his whole body growing taut as his orgasm bore down on him.

  When it finally crashed over him, the pleasure rushed through his body like a wave, almost painful in its intensity. He gasped, his spine arching and his thighs clenching. It felt like it lasted forever, stripping him down to his bones.

  In the quiet aftermath, the only sounds in the room were their mingled pants. He felt wrung out, slicked with sweat, weak with his release. Livie was warm and pliant underneath him, her body still holding on to him.

  Usually right about now, he’d be getting twitchy, ready to make for the door or to roll over and go to sleep, but neither option so much as crossed his mind in the moment. He wanted to drag out this blissful moment as long as he could. Only the need to deal with the condom was enough to make him move away from her. Afterward, he lay back on his back and slipped his arm underneath her shoulders, rolling her body into his side.

  “Thank you,” Livie murmured.

  “Uh, I’m the one who should be saying thank you, Liv.”

  “I had no idea what I was doing. I’m sure it was—”

  He shut her up by rolling over on top of her. Smoothing her tangled hair out of her face, he looked down into her eyes with all the sincerity he could muster. “That was fucking amazing. You were so sexy and sweet. Thank you. For sharing that with me.”

  Her cheeks flushed with color. “I can’t imagine it ever being better.”

  He couldn’t help the self-satisfied grin that took over his face. “Oh, Livie, you know I can’t resist a challenge.”

  “What—”

  “Hold still,” he murmured. Then he began kissing his way down her body.

  Livie let out a low, slow sigh. “That feels good.”

  “I can make it feel even better.”

  “You can?”

  “I promise.”

  “Then I think you should.”

  He spread her thighs apart and pressed a lingering kiss to the inside of one, feeling her tremble, feeling her breath hitch. “With pleasure.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Livie kept her eyes closed for a long time after she woke up. When she opened her eyes, the night would truly be over, and she didn’t ever want last night to end. It almost hadn’t. She and Nick had had sex two more times. It was nearly three a.m. when they finally fell asleep, and for once, sleep came easy.

  This morning, her body was reminding her of everything they’d done as she lay still and took stock of herself
. The insides of her thighs ached. Between her legs she felt a little sore, and her nipples were tender. Her body felt gloriously used and tingly. Every bit of last night had been perfect. Well, except for that one moment of fear, when she’d realized she might be in much deeper than she thought. But this morning, it was just as clear as it had been last night that it was too late to protect herself. And as good as he made her feel, she didn’t really want to.

  Eyes still closed, she rolled her face into the pillow and smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. The pillow smelled like Nick. She hadn’t been aware that Nick had a smell, but after last night, if felt like her body might forever be attuned to it, some Pavlovian response she couldn’t control.

  She could feel him behind her, his body warming the length of her back. He wasn’t touching her now, but she had a hazy memory of falling asleep spooned against him, his arm slung across her waist.

  When she rolled over to look at him, her breath caught in her chest. He was on his stomach, his face turned toward her on the pillow, his dark hair falling across his forehead. His lips were slightly parted as he slowly breathed in and out. His expression was clear and untroubled in sleep. He looked years younger and utterly carefree.

  She wanted to run her fingers over his face, to trace the slashes of his heavy eyebrows with her fingers, to touch the fullness of his bottom lip. Instead, she curled her fingers into her palm and studied him. She’d promised him when this started that nothing between them would change. Last night might have rocked her world, but she would do her very best to hold to that promise, and that meant no mooning over him while he slept.

  As quietly as possible, she slid out of bed and retrieved her clothes from the floor. Nick slept too little as it was. She didn’t want to wake him unnecessarily. He shifted, let out a sexy little groan, and rolled over onto his back, but he stayed asleep.

  Pausing at the door, she took one more look at him. The sheet had ridden down to his hips. Even relaxed in sleep, his upper body was a wonderland. The broad shoulders, the muscles of his upper arms, the hills and valleys of his rib cage, the flat expanse of his stomach, that little dusting of hair starting low on his abdomen and disappearing under the sheet. Now she knew exactly where it led, which lent it a crazy, sexy appeal it hadn’t had before.