A/N: For my lovely Tweeps who gently nudged (nagged, threatened) me to finally finish this chapter, then beta'd it because I cannot edit ONE MORE PAGE. And to LoveActuallyFan, who I don't think is around anymore, but whose story Shattering the Glass worked its way into my head canon and the previous chapter. Oops. Go read it. After this. Oh, and fair warning: if you're into things like plot, there really isn't on here. It's just gratuitous fangirling :D Review and I may supply you with more!
As Helen slowly made her way out of a deep, peaceful sleep, she observed that something felt…off. Not wrong necessarily, but different. Like the feeling you get when you wake up at the wrong time of day, or in someplace other than your own bed. Actually, it felt very much like both. Before she opened her eyes, she realized that the sheets she was between were nice, but crisp and functional—more like guest bedroom sheets than the soft, silky ones on her own bed. She reached out to grab her pillow and it moved, wrapping itself around her and nuzzling into her neck.
"Niko…" she murmured, realizing the identity of her pillow. Still too asleep to think practically, she cuddled up against him, drifting in and out of sleep and enjoying the feeling of being held protectively against his chest. Eventually, she forced her eyes open and caught him contentedly watching her sleep. "Hey," she said, her still soft and sleepy.
"Hey," he grinned, pulling her close for the softest of kisses.
"Why am I in your bed?" She asked, not quite yet filtering her words. She realized what she had said, and hastily added, "I mean, why are we in your bed and not mine?"
"You don't remember?" he laughed. Then she remembered. They managed to eat the Chinese food in the kitchen, but then the night had deteriorated into flirting and innuendos and then finally they went scrambling for a room—any room—while they still had clothes on.
"Your room was closer," she concluded. With a smirk, he kissed her shoulder blade, slowly moving his way up until he could tease the back of her earlobe with his tongue. Helen was wide awake now, tiny moans escaping in response to Nikola's precision attack. Reluctantly, she finally shoved him aside and moved to get out of bed. He pouted. "How long were we asleep?" she asked, concerned. There was a timetable to her plan, and although she was perfectly willing to spend every waking moment in Nikola's arms, it just wasn't possible.
"Only an hour or so," he reassured her, knowing where she was coming from. Then he smirked. "You were so tired," he cooed, "they must really be riding you at work." Helen rolled her eyes.
"I have a conference call with the other heads of houses in an hour," she explained, crawling out of bed against her will and reaching for her dressing gown which was not there. "Damnit," she muttered, taking in what was left of her dress on the floor in what amounted to shreds. "We do have a tendency to get carried away," she observed, biding time while she tried to figure out what to do.
"Problem, Helen?" Nikola asked, knowingly.
"It would appear that I am stuck in your bedroom with no clothes," she explained, grinning.
"I'm failing to see how this is a problem…" He wrapped his arms around her waist, trying blatantly to distract her.
"Shower…meeting…" she murmured.
"Well, I may have a solution to part of your problem," he suggested. Leaning in close to her ear, his breath making her shiver, he whispered, "shower with me."
"As tempting as that is, Nikola, I have to be at this meeting in an hour, and a shower with you will NOT get me there on time…"
"There's a first time for everything," he suggested, tracing the fingers of one hand lightly down her back while the other hand reached up to gently massage one of her breasts. Helen moaned and pressed into him, forgetting why she thought showering together was a bad idea…
"I have to get ready Nikola," Helen protested, moving to step out of the shower. They had just…she hated to say wasted…reallocated sounded better. They had just reallocated a good 45 minutes that should have been spent preparing for her meeting. Helen's mind and body stood in opposition to each other; intellectually she knew she had a job to do, but her body was still quivering, protesting the idea of prying herself out of Nikola's arms.
"Mmm…but you're so wet…" he muttered, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her flush up against him.
Helen fought back a shiver, instead rolling her eyes. "Yes, Nikola. That often happens in the shower. Now let go, I need to get dressed."
"But I haven't washed my hair yet," he whined.
Helen smirked, opening the shower door and a wave of steam followed her as she stepped out and grabbed a towel from one of the cabinets. "If you're upset that I finished first, you can only blame yourself, Nikola." He was thrown off balance for a moment, not used to her giving quite as good as she got, and Helen took the opportunity to close the shower door in his face and stride back into the bedroom.
She closed the bathroom door, muffling the sound of Nikola's protest. Out of habit, she walked over to the closet and opened the doors, staring without seeing, lost in her thoughts. Soon enough, things would settle down and they would have an eternity together. Unfortunately, things were going to get worse before they got better. Ignoring that train of thought, Helen really looked for the first time at the closet, remembering that she was not in her own room. She sighed. It looked like she could either dart back to her room in a towel or find something in Nikola's closet that she could throw on for a few minutes. If there was really anything in here besides suits, which she doubted.
On closer examination of the walk-in, she found exactly what she expected—a row of suits, hung neatly and organized by color. A small row of dress shoes were lined up across the floor, and the left side of the closet was filled with a row of shirts and rather generous tie selection. A dresser sat pushed up against the wall of the right side. Maybe she could at least find a t-shirt long enough to cover everything that was important. Worst case scenario, she could always risk his wrath (and being seen by one of her staff) and throw on one of his dress shirts.
The top drawer was nothing Helen hadn't seen before—neatly folded stacks of boxers and a pile of socks. While definitely interesting, they were not remotely helpful to her predicament. She pulled the next drawer open and found what she was looking for—undershirts. She slipped one on, grateful that he was just enough taller than her that the shirt—barely—covered all the essentials.
Helen knew she should run back to her room to change before Nikola got out of the shower. Otherwise, she would likely end up missing the meeting. The bottom drawer caught her eye, though, and Helen couldn't help but let curiosity get the better of her.
"Bloody hell!" she said out loud in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Nikola asked, stepping out of the bathroom. Helen didn't even need to turn around to know that he was standing there completely bare. Her mind started to haze over, her body and its ideas gaining the upper hand. "What are you doing in my closet, Helen?" He didn't sound upset, just…amused. Gathering herself, Helen grabbed what she had found in the drawer and, hiding it behind her back, stepped out to confront Nikola.
His breath caught when he saw Helen, wet hair tangled around her face, wearing only one of his white t-shirts. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered, and Helen couldn't help but smile, almost forgetting her new mission. Almost.
"Nikola," she began sweetly.
"Yes…" He knew that tone in her voice, and it meant trouble. "Wait. What's behind your back?" He finally noticed that she was hiding something from him.
"Well, I was looking for something to wear, and I stumbled across something I've never seen you in." Nikola groaned, realizing where this was going.
"No." He said firmly. "Anything but that."
"But Nikola," she begged. "I bet you look stunning in them." He crinkled his nose, and Helen giggled.
"Give them here," he grumbled, reaching behind her to snatch the offending garment out of her hands. He held up a pair of faded, boot-cut jeans. "I look ridiculous in these." He assured her. "I really should just get rid of them. Let them blow up with this place."
"Absolutely not. And Nikola, when did you get jeans, anyway?"
He looked sheepish. "Well, it was while I was at SCIU. I was running low on clothing—"
"Because you had slowly destroyed your entire wardrobe in a series of laboratory experiments?" Helen supplied helpfully. Nikola scowled.
"Anyway. I didn't want to take time to go shopping, so I just had my assistant order an entire line from a collection at Bloomingdales. These came with it, and I wasn't paying much attention when I packed and threw them in. Now, don't you have a meeting to get to?"
"What meeting?" Helen asked, her voice dropping to the low, seductive tone she knew Nikola couldn't resist. "I could forget all about the meeting if you tried those on for me…"
"You'll laugh." He insisted.
"I assure you I won't. And look at it like this, even if you were to look silly in them—which you won't—it isn't as if you will have them on for long," she promised.
Nikola gulped. "Fine," he muttered. "Turn around." Helen fought back laughter at his sudden self-consciousness, instead doing as he asked. She would never admit just how excited she was—her stomach was fluttering like a love-struck teenager. In her defense, she had known Nikola the majority of her long life and she could count on both hands the times he had worn something other than a suit.
"Okay, you can turn around. I look ridiculous, just so you know." Helen spun around and her jaw involuntarily dropped as she took him in from head to toe. His still-damp hair fell lazily across his forehead, and he hadn't shaved yet, so the faintest stubble covered his face. Her eyes grazed further, admiring his well-toned, bare chest. The jeans sat low on his waist and fit perfectly, clinging to all the right places.
Nikola saw her jaw drop and watched her stare, in his own self-consciousness completely misinterpreting her reaction. "I told you they were ridiculous," he admitted. "Now you see why I—"
His rambling was cut off when Helen launched herself at his mouth. Before Nikola completely caught up with what was happening, her hands were tangled in his hair and her lips crushed against his. He returned the kiss, deepening it and pulling her close. When they came up for air, Helen whispered, "You need to wear them more often…"
"I don't understand," he mused, as Helen pulled out of his arms. He was about to protest when she knelt down in front of him, undoing the button on the front of the jeans. "Helen…" he said, cautiously.
"I told you that you wouldn't have them on long either way," she said with a smirk. He was already straining the front of the jeans. She stroked him through the rough fabric and he moaned delightfully. He tangled his hands in her hair gently and when she looked up at him his eyes were wide with desire.
She mercifully unzipped the jeans, freeing his length as she shoved the jeans down his legs. As he kicked them aside, she teased him for a minute, stroking him with her hands as she kissed her way down his torso. Right when he thought he was going to burst into flames, her lips met her hands. She kissed his tip lightly, drawing a faint circle with her tongue. He gasped sharply, and Helen chuckled, the vibration driving him even closer to the edge. She pulled him into her mouth, dragging her tongue from base to tip as she slowly released him, then swallowing him again. She continued to work him like that until he was sure he couldn't last another minute. As much as he was thoroughly enjoying her ministrations, he wanted to come with her quaking around him. He set his hands on her shoulder and pulled her away from him, and she mewed in protest. He knelt down across from her and grabbed the hem of her t-shirt, tugging it over her head and outstretched arms. Tossing the shirt aside, he pulled her to her feet and held her flush against his body. She felt him pressed against her leg and moved to the side so that she could create friction in a more sensitive area. They kissed hungrily as their limbs tangled. Without breaking contact, he guided them to his bed, stopping when the back of Helen's knees hit the mattress.
"I love you," he whispered as he lowered them onto the bed. Nikola buried his face in her neck, kissing his way up to her earlobe then down her neck and to her chest. Helen moaned as he pulled a nipple into his mouth, rolling his tongue and working it until she was so very close he could feel her body start to tense. He reluctantly pulled himself away from her chest and kissed her gently on the mouth, letting her body calm down—against her protests—before he repeated the treatment on the other side. Helen, growing impatient, ran her hands through his hair.
"Nikola," she said warningly. He looked up with a fake questioning look.
She tried to catch her breath. As much as she wanted to say something flippant, it just wouldn't come out. "Want you…now…" she insisted. He kissed her firmly as he positioned himself. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he sank inside her, pausing a moment just to enjoy the sensation of her surrounding him. Helen's hips thrust against him and he matched her move for move until they were sweat-soaked and on the edge. "I love you, too," Helen whispered as he dove into her one more time, hard, and she flew apart, quaking as she came around him. Nikola tried to draw the moment out, thrusting erratically, but moments later he moaned as he came, spilling himself inside her.
As they both lay on his bed, caught in a deliciously sleepy haze, he suddenly remembered why Helen had been so eager to escape earlier. "Your meeting," he reminded her.
She reached for her phone on his night table and groaned, seeing the time. "Meeting was an hour ago," she said matter-of-factly.
"You don't seem upset," he said, surprised.
Helen rolled on top of Nikola, cuddling up into his chest. "They aren't going to start without me…." She said, content to enjoy a few more minutes in his arms.