Page 18

Air e

"I am not sleeping with you."

Nolan's bedroom was exactly how I expected it to be. It had darker, more masculine furnishings. Gray walls, brown leather headboard, coffee brown duvet, deep oak drawers and oak floors. There was also a touch of color from the yellow empty vase in a corner and a mostly yellow abstract painting by an artist I didn't recognize above the bed and opposite the bed, floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a beautiful view to complete the room. This was my first time entering it and it had been off limits during the redecoration. I felt like an alien entering combative territory.

I clutched my night clothes and toilet bag to my chest like a flimsy shield to the hulking man standing a few feet away from me.

"I don't like the situation the same as you, but here we are." Nolan casually strolled to the chest of drawers lined on the wall on one side of the bedroom and opened a drawer.

"When is he leaving?"

Nolan chuckled."Now you want him to leave?" He was very nonchalant about the whole thing. Meanwhile, my heart was beating so fast, I was sure I would wretch. He glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "I am not an ogre. You don't have to worry about me mauling you in the middle of the night."

That's not what I was afraid of. My feelings were more frightening. He might be better at it, but it had been difficult for me to ignore him. I was positive I could still feel his kiss on my lips from earlier in the day. And part of me had wanted him to do more. If we hadn't stopped, I would have let him have his way with me in that studio. Happy to be there along for the pleasurable ride.

"Good. Dibs on the bed." There was no other place to sleep besides the floor and I could slum it for a day, but I don't think my back could take a hard flat surface for longer than that.

"There's no way I am sleeping on the floor," he turned to face me. "And besides," He folded his arms. "That's my bed."

"And the guy occupying my bedroom is your brother. You're the one who should slum it."

"I'm not the one who changed the spare bedroom into a studio."

"I didn't do anything you didn't approve of."

"Don't freak out." He marched to the bed and flipped the duvet to one side to reveal pristine white sheets. "I'll sleep on my side of the bed as long as you sleep on yours. You can handle that, can you?"

I grunted, words failing me. His audacity was something to behold. "You're perfectly resistible."

He chuckled and disappeared through a door that blended with the wall so well that I didn't see it before. A few minutes later, I heard the water running. Since he was in the shower, I rushed to change into my nightdress, cursing myself for snatching a silk, almost negligee looking dress instead of practical cotton pajamas.

When I was done, I went to the bathroom in the hallway, brushed my teeth and by the time I got back, Nolan was coming out of the shower, towel loosely wrapped around his waist and another in his hand, which he was using to rub his wet hair. My breath stuck in my throat as I stared at the gorgeous man in front of me. Drops of water slid down his chest as he lazily sauntered towards a chest of drawers. His eyes were dark with unmistakable desire. He took out dark looking clothes, closed it, focused his fiery gaze on me and said,"Hot," before disappearing through another door.

I marched to the bed feeling even more exposed than before and placed pillows in a row along the middle of the bed. I was dividing the bed when he came in wearing nothing but navy blue boxers.

I shot up straight and pointed. "What is that?"

He glanced down at his underwear and smirked as he saw the horror, no doubt written on my face. "What I wear when I sleep."

"Sh-shouldn't you, uh, be wearing something more… conservative?"

"I could say the same to you."

"Well, I am fully covered. You're just wearing underwear!"

He strolled to his side of the bed and began removing the pillows I had placed.

"Hey!"

He paused. "You don't roll around in bed, do you?"

"No. But I would prefer to have a buffer between us."

Then continued throwing the pillows to the floor. "I told you already. I am not going to maul you. "

"I don't trust you."

He rolled his eyes and put the pillows back.

"Thanks."

He went through the same door he came through and a few minutes later came back, arms heavy with a duvet, and threw it to my side of the bed.

"Thank you," I said again as he pulled the duvet that was already there over to his side.

Nolan could be considerate if he wanted to, I thought as I unfurled the bed linen. Satisfied, I climbed into bed. Nolan was already in with an e-readerI hadn't noticed before in his hand.

"I never took you for a reader. What is that? Spy fiction? Literary. Self-help slop?" Although self-help wasn't something he needed. He was doing amazing for a man his age.

"Quarterly reports."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. But why not read on a tablet like a normal human?"

"This is better for my eyes," he said as he brushed his finger on the screen, probably highlighting something. What a work obsessed man I had for a husband. I know there are people who took their work home, but he must be on another level. If he wasn't playing his games, he was in his office working. And I guess he took his work to sleep as well. "You must dream of pie charts and graphs," I said.

He did not respond and instead carried on with his work.I took out my phone and tried to read a book, but it was difficult to do when he was so close. His chest was so naked and induced erotic thoughts that were too embarrassing for me to even think in his presence. Here I was all hot and bothered while he was reading 'quarterly reports.' Literally minding his own business.

"Are you that obsessed with your work?" I asked after giving up the pretense of reading.

He responded without looking at me. His gaze locked in on some graph. "It's all I've ever known."

"Do you like it?"

"I'm not reading reports because I like it."

"Oh?" Interesting.

"I'm reading because I am distracted."

My pulse sped up. "D-distracted by what?"

He shut the tablet and placed it on the nightstand, then laid on his side facing me. "I've been thinking about us."

My mouth went dry. "What do you mean, us?"

"We never got to what I wanted to say during dinner." He was leaning on his palm, looking like a model in an underwear ad. Those boxer shorts were driving me crazy, wondering what's underneath them. But I couldn't look at his chest because that made me think of erotic things I wanted to do to that chest. As for his face, his piercing gaze was hard to resist, so I turned my eyes on my phone even though the words were meaningless at this point.

"I thought you said all that was to be said," I replied.

"No." his voice rumbled beside me. "I wanted to talk about our kisses."

I choked and put the phone down. "Our kisses?" His arresting gaze was difficult to pull away from.

"You feel the same way I do." His voice was low and caressing.

"Why are we rehashing this?"

"And the feeling is not going away."

"That's your issue," I said curtly. "My feelings are fine as is. I've gotten over you."

"That's not true." His gaze traveled down my body, lingering on my cleavage before moving down.

"Think whatever you want to think." I picked up my phone and feigned nonchalance as I mindlessly scrolled on my phone.

"Fine. Prove it."

I glanced to see him sitting straight, arms crossed. His bulging muscles were more pronounced now that he was half naked. I wanted to trace the lines where the biceps dipped. "P-prove what?"

"If you feel nothing for me, it should be easy for you to kiss me and not be bothered by it. "

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to my phone. "You think too highly of yourself."

"I am simply a realist who understands his needs. And you are in denial of yours. Pretending that your phone is more interesting than our conversation will not help you."

I dropped my phone and placed it on the nightstand. "Fine. I'll prove it to you." He raised his eyebrow, and I swiped the pillow between us off the bed. It tumbled softly behind me as I placed my hands on the bed in the space between us and leaned forward. He stayed where he was, letting me move all the way until our lips touched.Even then, he remained still, my lips moving against his as I tried to kiss the same way he kissed me before. Seductively. Coaxing him.

I felt like a fish out of water, being the seducer he thought I was. But I was nothing like Aelin. I've only ever been with three other men and the relationships were nothing to write home about. And Nolan was nothing like the men—no boys I've been with before. My tongue slid into his mouth. A burst of electricity shot from my mouth and traveled down my body all the way to my center. My hands buckled, and I held on to his large arms. And as though I ignited something in him, he slid his hands to my lower back and drew me to him. I dissolved like jelly while my hands held on to him for dear life .

My hands slid, almost of their volition, to his torso. Further down to the rim of his boxer shorts, and inside, where I came in contact with his rigid erection. He jerked. Our lips separated, and he stared right into my eyes. I stroked him.

"Fuck." He bit his lips as though he were stifling a moan. It was so sexy it made me want to kiss him again. He groaned when our lips touched again. I continued stroking him as his hands slid up my thighs, drawing up my dress to my waist. I slid forward, pushing away a pillow with my knee until I was practically straddling him. His fingers found my center and his knuckles brushed my aching clit through my panties. It was my turn to moan. Nolan took it as encouragement and swiped my panties to the side and thrust his fingers into me. I felt a pearl of pre-cum on his cock and I rubbed it around the head.

"Aire," he whispered against my lips. "We need to—oh," he groaned and pulled my hand away. "I want you so bad." He gave me a light kiss and gently drew me away from him. "Are we really doing this?"His gaze was arresting. His lips swollen from our kisses. And I was on fire.

My body yearned to feel his fingers inside me again. Just like that, he had proven his thesis. He should gloat, but there was nothing but naked desire in his eyes. I wanted him just as he wanted me. It made me feel sexier than before. It was just sex; I told myself. Feelings didn't need to be part of this. We could just enjoy each other.

I leaned in and kissed him.

"Make love to me before I change my mind," I whispered against his lips. He groaned and encircled me with his arms, pulling me flat onto the bed. He splayed his body on top of me and slid his hand up my silk dress, pushing it up, his lips never leaving mine until the dress was at my head. He leaned on his elbows, pulled it up, removing it fully and throwing it next to the fallen pillows.

His scorching gaze made me feel self- conscious. The soft light that bathed the room suddenly felt like harsh fluorescent lighting that showed all of my flaws. I had to fight the urge to cover my breasts.

"You're so beautiful," he said, and my entire body warmed with the compliment. He was being nice, I thought. I could lose a few pounds around my waist and my thighs were thicker than I wanted to be.

"You don't have to lie," I said.

"We promised to be honest with each other, remember?" He dipped his head to my nipple and gently sucked while his hand played with the other. Suckling and rubbing both, alternatively until I was writhing against him. My hand went to his boxers again, but just as I was about to pull them down, he took both of my hands, imprisoned them in his, and swung them above my head. My breasts thrust upwards. My body displayed to him like an offering to a god.

His lips found mine again, and he gave me a kiss that was sweet at first but soon turned hard and thirsty, just before he left my mouth to make a trail of kisses from my neck, to my shoulder, chest, nipples, kissing each twice before moving further down my stomach, and further still until he reached my pussy. I gasped when I felt him blow on my clit. I heard a chuckle right before he licked it.

He ate my pussy like a man hungry for it. He devoured me as though he was on death row and I was his last meal. He had such control over me that all I could think of, concentrate on, was him and what he was doing to me. I writhed and moan until I reached the peak and shook in his arms as a massive orgasm took over my body.

Nolan let go of my hands and got off me, kneeling to remove his boxers, freeing a stiff cock. He threw them to the side, leaned over to the nightstand and took a gold square foil. Through my orgasm induced daze, I languidly watched him as he put on the condom with deft fingers. Then he took hold of both of my legs, opened them wide, and thrust his cock inside my pussy.

A frown marred his brow as he entered. He groaned. His voice sounded strained as he spoke. "Fuck, you're so tight."He thrust in slowly, agonizingly so, his cock filling me up and stretching me.

"That's because you're so big," I said.

He chuckled and leaned forward to kiss me as he dragged out and slowly thrust back in. He was being deliberately slow. I could see it in the way he was biting his lip to control himself. My hands went to his butt and pushed him into me. "Faster."

"No."

"Nolan…"

"Beg."

"What?"

"You heard me." He withdrew slowly, so slowly that I almost cried out.

"You're a sadist."

His lips trailed against mine as he thrust back in, taking his time as though he was okay, delaying his orgasm forever. I couldn't wait anymore. Unlike him, I did not have the rigid control he had.

"Please," I cried. "Please Nolan. Fuck me. Hard."

He withdrew, and I moaned at the loss of his cock, but I had little time to react because he then flipped me over until I lay flat on my stomach. He drew up my legs, so I was kneeling, my breasts flat against the sheets. He gripped the sides of my hips and entered me from behind, his thrusts harder and faster than I could keep up with. I was like a sex doll in his hands. And I loved every minute of it. My moans turned into whimpers as he drove me mad with lust. His hands trailed from my hips to my back, where he pulled my hair and drew me up, until I was in a kneeling position on top of him in his lap. He grabbed my waist and drove me up and down his cock.

"Fuck." I reached for his neck and tilted my face up for a kiss. He brushed his tongue against my lips as his hand went to my clit, where he brushed it a few times before I came apart in his arms. My knees felt so weak as I shook in his arms, but he kept thrusting, until I felt him stiffen and then heard a harsh groan as he jerked behind me, his cum flooding the condom. We both fell back onto the bed and he rolled beside me.

I flipped over until I was facing the ceiling and tried to catch my breath.

I've never had sex like this before. I wanted to cuddle him and sleep, but that would be too forward. It was not the relationship we had. And when Nolan got up to discard the condom, saying nothing about what just happened, reality settled on me like a brick. I had done what I promised myself not to do. I’ve had sex with Nolan.