This chapter is very...mature. Please, if it offends you, don't read!--Please excuse all mistakes-my "Editor" is out of town!
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"Where are we going again?" Daine asked.
Numair smiled a truly evil grin. "You'll see."
Daine sighed and looked out the window. "You promised no surprises."
"Did I? When?"
She played with a curl. "I don't remember. Sometime."
He smiled. "I promise you'll like it. How about that?"
Daine sighed again. Ever since she had waken up this morning to his announcement of "I have a surprise for you", she hadn't been happy.
He drove down a newly paved street, and they started passing houses with large fences and gates. Numair pulled into the drive of a massive stone-built home with two twisting stairs leading up to the front door. He rolled down his window and put in the code to the gate. The black metal gate opened slowly and he pulled up next to the large garage.
Daine got out, a bit confused. The house was very large. If fact, the outside of the garage looked as big as her old apartment had been. There were fountains and landscaping all the way up to the stairs. The sides of the yard had no fences, but large hedges instead.
"Welcome home, Daine." She turned to look at Numair with wide eyes.
"Home?"
"Our home. I hope you like it. I sort of bought it on a whim."
She jumped into his arms suddenly, and he caught her. She wanted to be mad at him and tell him to sell it, but she couldn't. A house, a real house was all she ever wanted. She could live with Numair in this house and get married and have children and have a garden like her mother. She could do laundry and cook dinner and have bookshelves filled with books. And Cloud! Cloud could have another cat to play with, and maybe a dog...
She hadn't even noticed Numair had carried her up the stairs during her overwhelming joy. He set her down to unlock the door, then opened it, swooped her into his arms, and carried her inside.
Daine looked around at the white walls and the wood floors. "It's empty."
"Of course it's empty, sweet! We have to pick out our furniture."
"Oh." Daine smiled at him. "We get to go furniture shopping?"
Numair sat her down and wrapped an arm around her. "Sure. And we need to pick out paint, too."
"What about our other house? The apartment?" Numair had her in the habit of calling it an "apartment", even though it was more like a penthouse.
"I'm going to keep it. This is too far to drive when I'm at work. We can come here on weekends, for now."
Daine smiled at her new, bare house. It had so much potential to be everything she dreamed about, and then some. She took his hand and pulled him toward the door.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To decorate our house, silly!"
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Numair took her to a store in the city, a forty-five minute drive from their new house. Daine looked at all the beds. They were all beautiful in their own way, but not what she was looking for. "What colors do you want our room in?" Numair asked helpfully.
Daine shrugged. "I like red and black, to tell you the truth." She sat in a chair and looked around once more. "Maybe we should try another..." She stood suddenly, making Numair jump to follow.
"Have we looked at this bed?" she asked, running her hands over the black sleigh bed.
"No, I don't think so. Do you like it?"
"I love it," she whispered.
Numair laid down on it. "It's long enough!" he said with a smile, and she laid down next to him. The lady who worked there gave them a glare, but held her tongue, afraid to lose such worthy customers.
"Now what?" Daine asked quietly.
Numair smiled. "Well, we need a couch and a TV, and a dresser and chair for our bedroom, and a refrigerator--"
She reached over and put a hand over his mouth. "One room at a time, please."
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Daine looked around their house from the landing. The furniture had all come in and the walls had been painted. Pictures hung on those walls and sat on the mantle. Their refrigerator was stocked, their pool filled, their backyard landscaped.
Numair came in the door behind her and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "It's nice, isn't it?"
She smiled and leaned against him. "Beautiful."
Tomorrow they were having a Fourth of July party for Numair's family. At first Daine had been skeptical, but seeing her home now let her mind settle.
Numair reached into his pocket and handed her an envelope, folded in half. "What is this?" Daine asked.
He smiled. "I've always heard that you put the house in the ladies name, so..."
Daine opened the envelope and pulled out the deed to their house. Her name was written in Numair's steady hand. "Me? But we aren't even married."
He shrugged. "Well, this way I won't have to change it later."
Daine wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "I hate you," she whispered, and he drew her closer with a deep chuckle.
"I hate you too, dear."
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Later, Daine looked out the window in their room, watching the water from a garden waterfall fall into the pool.
Numair came in from downstairs and jumped on the bed, making it squeak in protest. He laid back on a pillow and turned on the TV.
"Numair," Daine called, "we need a carton of milk."
He looked over at her quickly. "Why? Can't you get it tomorrow?"
She shook her head, still gazing out the window. "I need it tonight; for a pie I'm making."
Numair sighed. He didn't want to go, not at all. But he wanted Daine happy, in her new house and all, and those feelings overrode his tiredness.
With a sigh he stood and kissed her cheek. "Your humble servant," he said with false happiness, and left.
She heard the door close not soon after and smiled.
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Numair unlocked the side door that connected with the garage and let himself in. "Daine!" He put his keys on the counter and walked through the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs. "Daine! I didn't know if you wanted skim or whole, so I got..." He looked up.
Daine stood at the top of the stairs, the only light coming from the small bulbs behind little screens in the stairs. Her hair was down, curling to her shoulders. She was wearing a white silk dress that came down to her thighs and nothing more. Her hands were in front of her, twisting together nervously.
Numair dropped the milk, not caring that it landed on the floor, and vaulted up the stairs, stopping suddenly in front of her. "Hi," he whispered.
"Hi," she whispered back.
He groped his thoughts for a sentence, but all the words were swimming in his head. "You look lovely," he finally said. She blushed a deep red and looked down.
"Thanks." Numair took her hand and led her into the bedroom.
They stood there, for a time, doing nothing but thinking. Numair then cleared his throat and stroked her arm. Daine looked up in surprise, only to see him staring intently down into her eyes. "You planed this? With the house and the milk.."
She smiled and nodded.
"But you said you wanted to wait."
Daine controlled the butterflies in her stomach for a moment. "Wait until I was ready. Until you were ready."
He shook his head. "I don't understand."
She smiled, placing her hand on his forearm. "I was waiting until I was sure you loved me. All those other girls...I wanted to be different, to make you wait, so you would see there is more to a real relationship than sex. And it's taken a while, but I think you're ready."
Numair smiled and wrapped her in his arms. "The question is, my dear, are you ready?"
Daine smiled back at him, butterflies erupting once more. "I think so." She bit her lip as he lowered his mouth to hers. "You'll have to help me. I have no idea what I am doing."
"Don't worry." She saw his smile before his lips touched hers. "We will take it nice and slow."
The only way to describe it was like a dull ache. It had stared when Numair had come home, when he had first looked up at her. It grew more and more steady in the past few moments, and now the ache was anything but dull. She was afraid the feeling was all wrong until Numair brushed his hands across her chest. The ache subsided, replaced by hot fire. But the fire was wonderful, and she wanted to feel it more.
Everything he did made her ache worse. The way he whispered to her and kissed her; the way he gently lifted off her dress and nuzzled her neck.
Their clothes fell to the floor, piece by piece, until they were all gone. Numair then got on his knees and examined her body by the flickering candlelight. He kissed her nose, her nipples, her navel and her toes, then took his hands over her belly and hips, leaving the places he touched with the wonderful fire.
She stared to twist her fingers again, but he took her shaking hands in his gently. "Easy," he whispered, making the ache flame bright inside her. She only nodded.
He kissed her belly once more and stood, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her to her feet. He cradled her in his arms and carried her to the bed, pulling back the comforter and sheets and gently laying her down.
He then laid on top of her, slowly lowering his body to hers, and when their skin touched the fire came again, only in new places. He slowly ran his hands down her sides and between her thighs.
She pulled away from his touch suddenly, and it surprised him. "Easy," he reminded her. He took his hands down her again and let them stroke her in the same place as before, when she had pulled away. But this time she didn't. A tiny groan escaped her lips, and he smiled. He took her hand and guided it down his chest and belly. She didn't want to touch him at first, because she was embarrassed. But when she saw his eyes light up and a smile play on his lips the embarrassment was gone, and it felt very right.
"Slowly," he whispered to her, after some time of kissing and touching. He pushed her knees up and put his hands on her upper back, pulling her closer.
"Slowly," she agreed. She felt a slight pressure between her thighs and whispered a groan. He smiled and shifted, ever so slightly.
"Does it hurt?" he asked quietly.
"No. Not at all." He pushed into her a little more, and she bit her lip. "I take that back." Daine tried to pull away, but he held her shoulder.
"It will stop, I promise." She looked up at him, eyes watering. I did hurt now. Numair sighed. "But if you would like to quit, then I will."
She shook her head and rested it on his shoulder. "No, I'm fine. Or I will be. Just...keep going."
He smiled crookedly and held her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I have you," he told her quietly. She smiled back. It was Numair, and he would take care of her.
"I know."
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Kinda short, but sweet. This was a really sexy chapter, I must say...Swear is next.
