Sorry to have made ya'll wait, I wanted to get this just right. I think I did. You let me know. – NN
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"Damn good pancakes, girl." Nick set down his fork and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his stomach.
Sara grinned, as much from the compliment as from the attention. "Thank you kindly" she quoted a movie western she'd seen once, as she rose and took his empty plate in hand. She started humming on her way over to the sink, immersed in the joy of feeding her man. She stopped suddenly, the dish slipping out of her hand, clattering in the sink. My man? She cocked an eyebrow at her own thought. Yeah she reassured herself, my man.
"Everything ok?" Nick was behind her, roused by the noise of the dish rattling in the sink. He took her hand, examining it for broken skin. "Did you get cut?" Satisfied that she was no worse for wear, Nick's eyes left her hand and met hers. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"Yeah. Sure. I'm fine." She had the urge to take her hand away, but fought it, leaving it right where it was, enveloped in between the two of his hands, warm and strong and pulsing with energy she drunk in. She watched, as he lifted her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed her palm.
"Dishes can wait" he said after the light kiss, her hand still in his, still so close to his mouth, she felt his breath on her skin, it dried the moistness his lips had left behind. She shivered as his words rippled down her spine. Misunderstanding the shiver, he let go of her hand, and rubbed her upper arms. "Cold? I know what'll get you warmed up." His hands on her shoulders he turned her around, and steered her from the kitchen and up the stairs.
---
She propped herself against the bathroom sink and watched him sit on the edge of that huge tub and lean in to run the water. His robe slipped away just enough for her to take a good long look at his sculpted thigh muscles tightening, holding himself on to the porcelain edge. He glanced up, caught her looking. "Like what you see?"
She tore her gaze away, moved her head to look at the floor at her feet. Suddenly shy, she grabbed for words. "I'm…uh…gonna go make the bed." Behind her, Nick chuckled silently.
Sara picked up the discarded pillows from the floor, and remembered flinging them down herself, getting them out of the way. Underneath one, lay a black swath of fabric. She picked it up and examined it. Her panties. The seams were torn, and they hung from her hand barely resembling themselves. Looking past them, her eyes landed on Nick as he watched her from the bathroom doorway. Leaning against the frame, he chuckled, out loud this time. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, her voice light and teasing.
Nick held up his hands, "Hey, don't blame me. I'm not the one who tore them off."
Sara blinked. "You're trying to tell me I ripped my own panties off."
"Hey, what can I say?" Nick verbally strutted. "Enough of that" he waved an arm toward the bed, "waste of time anyway." He waggled a finger at her. "Come here."
---
The water was warm, the bubbles Nick had added popped, tickling her skin. His cheek was stubble scratchy against hers, as she leaned back into him, resting her back against his chest, and he leaned forward to watch own his hands work the blue-green washcloth making small circles on her stomach, then up to her breasts.
Sara's lips parted, just a little, as she let out a soft moan, and she ran her hands down his thighs, palms slippery against his skin. She felt him stiffen against the small of her back. He abandoned the washcloth, letting it float away until it soaked up as much as it could take and sank slowly. Sara watched it, feeling very much like the small terrycloth square, knowing that she too, would take in as much of Nick as she could, until she floated away, only to sink into an oblivion of her own.
His hands moved down to her legs to the inside of her thighs. She bent her knees, bringing them up, allowing him better access, and he ran a teasing finger along her crease and she blossomed open for him, like a flower. He slid his tongue down the side of her throat. Sara rocked against his hand, wanting more of him, wanting all of him that she could take in. He chuckled, his mouth still against her, hot breath rushing past her wet skin.
He moved them in unison, sliding them down the tub, toward one of the jet spouts on the wall of the tub and positioning her against the stream of water that jetted out. Sara gasped as the water drove into her, tiny bubbles licked at her; Nick somehow kept his hand out of the way of the water, thumbing her, licking her in unison. The foreplay in the kitchen, the thought of her ripping her own panties off, the feel of the water, Nicks hand buried in her, it didn't take long at all for Sara to call out Nicks name over and over in raspy, throaty whispers.
After a moment, her spasms died down, but she could still feel her heartbeat with in her core walls, she sat up, his fingers slipping out of her, and she turned, sloshing water on to the floor, facing him, her breasts near his mouth, and Nick greedily took one into his mouth, sucking on the nipple, rolling his tongue over it, until she thought she might come again just from his mouth. She reached down, taking him in her hands, he moaned, her breast muffling the sound. He was already hard, and she ran a finger down to the tip, Nick's back muscles twitched with restraint. He muttered her name, taking her thighs in his hands, and she lowered herself on to him. He filled her, so deeply, so completely, this she thought to herself this is what has been missing.
She braces herself, her hands on his shoulders, his hands on her hips, they rock against each other. Nick moves one hand, rubbing her with his thumb; Sara bucks against his hand, and comes again quickly, barely losing her stride. She twists her fingers in his hair, holding the back of his neck, pulling his head back to look her in the eye. She licks her lips slowly, his eyes on her mouth. She takes his cue and leans down, runs her tongue along the side of his ear. "So good. Don't. Ever. Stop." She thrust her hips with each word. His breath became harder, wafting against her neck and shoulder, she felt his fingers digging into the flesh of her thighs, she knew he was close, "Come on baby, come for me" she clenches the muscles of her inner walls, grabbing at him tighter, moved her hips faster, pumping him like an oil well.
"So sweet, so sweet" Nick mumbled, lost in the sensation of her. She picked up the pace even more; until she feels his muscles tighten, and a moment later, he's mumbling her name into her collarbone.
---
"Who knew that dressing you could be as sexy as undressing you" Nick said as he pulled the zipper on her jeans up.
"Sexy?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Damn sexy" he grabbed her belt loops and pulled her in to him, her hip to his. He kissed her quickly, lightly, and he tasted the bubble bath on her. Pulling back, smiling, he swatted her butt. "Come on." He moved away from her toward the door.
Sara held her hands out in front of her. "Where're we going?"
"Come on." Nick called back from the hall.
---
He watched her descend the stairs as he stood at the front door, her coat in his hands. He tossed it to her as she stepped onto the landing.
"Did you leave something in the car?"
"Sara. Don't you ever just go for a walk?"
"A walk?"
He chuckled. "Yeah. A walk." He held out his hand and she took it, entwining her fingers with his. With his free hand he opened the front door, the rush of frozen air hit them both with a force neither was quite prepared for.
They stood in the threshold, staring out into the foreign ice world. Sara pulled herself up to Nick, holding her body against his arm; the warmth of him seeped into her through her clothing, a single straight line of heat.
He tightened his grip on her hand then released it just as quickly. "Come on."
Outside, at the bottom of the front steps, near the hood of their SUV, she breathed deeply, the brittle air smelled sweet and clean, and she let it fill her completely, all thoughts of death and evidence as far away as the city that contained them.
They set off on the path Sara had noticed when they arrived, around the house toward the lake. Nick looked to the cloudless sky, remembering Texas winter skies full of shouts and laughter of his sisters and brother, his mothers voice calling from the back porch of the ranch that coco was waiting for them. "Ever been in snow before Sara?"
"Ah. Yeah. It snowed in Boston."
"Oh yeah" he said from just in front of her, their arms stretched, still connected as they carefully made their way down a small hill. "Harvard. Sorry, I forgot." His head dropped, watching the ground they covered, but his voice betrayed him, he'd wanted to introduce her to something, to be a part of something new to her. She picked up on his tone of voice.
"But it was nothing like this" she said quickly. He brought his head back up, glanced over his shoulder at her. She looked up toward the icicle-laden trees. "It's beautiful here."
The small hill gave way to even ground, they found themselves about three feet from what would have been the shore, had the lake not been frozen. The silence surrounded them, bundling them up like a comfortable quilt. The vast difference between this haven they'd found and the city they called home was lost on neither of them.
"I never knew there could be so many different shades of white." Sara whispered and stepped into Nick's arms, putting her cheek against his chest, she could hear his heartbeat though his thick coat.
His arms wound around her, and he held her to him, the warmth of their bodies combining, melding, shielding off a sudden gust of wind that blew across the back of his neck. He tightened his hold around her, unconsciously protecting her from the cold, and he knew he was in love with her, completely, utterly hopelessly in love with her. Suddenly, like a bolt of lightening had lit up his brain, he just knew. "Sara."
"Hmmm" he felt it against his chest more than heard it. Snowflakes glittered in her hair, shiny against the chestnut locks, winking at him, urging him on.
"I love you."
Her breath caught in her throat, he felt the gasp reverberate in his arms. She raised her head to look in his eyes. Her lips parted in a silent gasp, and she blinked away the sudden moistness in her eyes. He brought his hands to her cheeks, cupping her face in his hands. If her skin was pink from the cold or his declaration, he didn't know, but he ran his thumbs across her cheekbones, as if he was drying tears that weren't there. "Say somethin' Baby."
Baby he called you Baby. Sara thought to herself, and she could no longer blink away the tears that Nick was ready to wipe away. She looked in his eyes, saw nothing but devotion, acceptance. "No one -" she swallowed tightly "No one's ever loved me before."
"Someone does now" he said quietly, brought his lips down on to hers and kissed her softly.