Chapter Fifteen

"You're grinning like a lunatic," Ruth notes.

Nelson is lying in her bed, still trying to catch his breath. The bedside lamp is on, which he's more than pleased about. And he is grinning. He knows he is, and he can't help it. He doesn't want to. "I'm happy," he tells her. Nelson turns his head toward Ruth, who is propped up on her elbows beside him, and presses a swift kiss to her cheek.

She chuckles softly. "I've never seen you like this before. I didn't know you could be giddy."

"I'm not, usually," he replies. "But tonight…I dunno, Ruth, it just feels so good."

Ruth blushes in a manner that reminds him what they've just got finished doing. Not that he needed reminding.

"That's not what I meant," he clarifies. "Although it certainly makes for a great end of the evening."

It is Wednesday, and after work, Nelson had driven right to Ruth's. He's brought a change of clothes this time, and Ruth's said he can use the shower before he leaves in the morning so he can head right into the station. They'd been talking last night and he'd casually suggested coming over for dinner again, to see Katie, of course. And Ruth had been the one to tell him to bring his clothes. They still have an understanding that Katie shouldn't know about this aspect of their relationship yet, but Ruth seems slightly more willing to let him into their lives, and he will very happy take what she offers.

And so he'd come over to help Ruth cook, since he's trying to learn. She had put some frozen chicken fingers in the oven and had Nelson make the pasta. Ruth had been so clinical about cooking. Perhaps its that scientist thing about her. But it had almost made him laugh when she'd instructed him to wait to put the pasta in the boiling water until it was a 'proper rolling bubble' and not just a mere simmer, which was his instinct. Bubbles are bubbles, and that means its boiling. Nelson hadn't thought there was a difference. And if he was in a different sort of mood, he might have gotten sore about how bossy Ruth was being. But he was useless when it came to the kitchen, and he had asked her to help him learn.

"Are you like this with your students?" he'd asked her.

"Like what?"

"Demanding."

"I am not demanding!" she'd replied, aghast at the very idea of it.

But Nelson had smiled at her and glanced around to make sure Katie wasn't nearby before he said in a low voice, "I think I'd like you demanding if you were naked."

That had certainly shut her up for that moment. Nelson loves doing that, loves putting her on the back foot. Ruth's so bloody clever, always practical and rational and logical when it comes to nearly everything. Nelson knows he's got plenty of skills of his own, knows he's good at his job and good at being a father and protector and such, but he's never had a woman make him feel like he wants to prove himself. Not like this. And it's not like the at all wants to overpower Ruth or make himself superior to her. But he wants to be better. He wants to match her. And if all he can do is make some suggestive remarks to make her eyes go wide and her cheeks go red, he'll be happy with it.

Later that night, of course, after they said goodnight to their adorable daughter and made sure she was fast asleep after a fun evening of bathtime and bedtime with her dad, Nelson had taken Ruth up to her bed and reminded her about being demanding.

"You want me to be demanding?" Ruth had been horrified at the idea, initially. She's always enjoyed sex and been good enough at it, she supposes, but she's never really been one to initiate things. Mostly, she just goes along with whatever her partner goes for, though she does know how to make sure she finishes, in case she's not being properly attended to. With Nelson, that's never been a problem. He's one of those rare men who actually takes pleasure in having the skill to turn a woman into a whimpering, shuddering mess. And Ruth knows she's extremely lucky to benefit from that.

Had Michelle been demanding? Ruth wonders. Does Nelson want to be bossed around and told what to do? Powerful men are like that, sometimes. There's that weird trend where MPs or whatever get caught having an affair with a dominatrix because they want to be made submissive in contrast to their usual roles in live. Oh god, hopefully Nelson doesn't want that from her. It's only their fourth time together. There's another thing—will she ever lose count? She hopes so. She hopes she will one day have had so much sex with this man that she cannot recall each and every time with exact detail.

But, it had turned out, Nelson did not want Ruth to tie him up and whip him or whatever terrifying bondage kink she'd had in her head. No, instead Nelson had said, "I want you to tell me what you want. Whatever you want, Ruth. Tell me what you want me to do."

And that allowed Ruth to live out a small fantasy of hers, something she'd thought about particularly in the few days since he was last in her bed. Ruth had told him to take off his clothes and she had watched him do so—something she found much more erotic than she'd initially imagined. And when he was entirely naked and already half-hard, she'd told him to lie on the bed. Ruth—still mercifully clothed, as she wouldn't have dared try this if her rolls of fat were on display, particularly with the light still on—had crawled over to him and taken his cock in hand and stroked him a few times before swirling her tongue around and taking him between her lips. Nelson had sworn, making her lift her head to shush him (Kate is just across the landing, after all), but after that, she had gotten to enjoy making Nelson as unhinged as he had made her.

She had made him so unhinged, in fact, that he had pulled her off him, practically ripped her clothes off, and had his wonderful way with her. Lying here beside him, she can still feel where his left hand had gripped her hip hard enough to bruise as his right hand worked her up enough to be ready for him. He'd also left quite a mark on her left breast, something that she feels like she should be cross about, but she isn't.

Ruth smiles, glad that he's so happy to be here with her. "I'm glad you're happy," she tells him softly.

"Are you happy?" he asks, his dark eyes suddenly full of grave concern over her answer to that question.

"Right now, yes. I can't see how I could be unhappy."

Nelson rolls over. "Come here," he says, pulling her into his arms. "Sometimes, I don't think I can ever let you go," he muses. "After all those years of having to keep you in a box, being able to just touch you is quite a treat."

"You kept me in a box?" she teases. Ruth is rather certain she knows what he means, but he's been much more forthright and open in these recent weeks, she figures she may as well press for a bit more.

"I couldn't let myself think of you too much. Daydreams here and there. What this would be like, getting to be in bed with you, being here with you and Katie. But it never seemed like it could be real. I didn't think of the details because I knew it would never happen."

"Yes," Ruth agrees, "I know the feeling."

He presses a kiss to the underside of her jaw. "But now I can touch you and hold you and feel you, and I don't have to hurry up and find my pants and drive away before anyone misses me."

She likes that he wants to touch her, though she would be lying if she said she understood it. "I'll overheat in the night if you're all over me like this," she teases. Well, she's partly teasing. She won't be able to fall asleep if he doesn't leave her be, but she also does not like to be smothered like this. After sex is one thing, but the time for intimate cuddling is quickly drawing to a close.

"Alright," he concedes, kissing her one last time. "I'll leave you be. But don't go too far."

"Where would I go?" she asks, scooting away a bit so she can reach the lamp to turn it off. "You're in my bed, remember?"

The two of them settle into bed, still naked and smiling, but the darkness has brought a quiet severity to the mood that she had not anticipated. Nelson is not grinning as madly anymore. "I know where I am, Ruth. And I'll be here so long as you let me."

She does not quite know what to say to that. Ruth murmurs a quiet "Goodnight, Nelson," and kisses the corner of his mouth before turning over onto her other side. She feels Nelson scoot closer and place one hand on her hip. She does not push him off. Strangely, she does not want to.