Shallow (15 page)

Somewhere along the way, the distinct line of what Nick was to me had changed. I couldn’t pinpoint the moment he had gone from being nothing I wanted to everything I didn’t want to live without and it scared the hell out of me. I was terrified of his past and afraid of being used up and tossed aside like he had done so many times before.

“I feel like you’ve backed me into a corner.” It came as a whisper from his mouth against the skin on my neck.

“Umm, I think I’m the one that has my back against the corner of the pool.”

He stopped kissing my neck and put both of his hands on my face. His eyes watched mine as he searched for an answer to a question I didn’t hear him speak.

“I’m talking about the way you make me feel.” He rubbed his thumbs over my cheek bones. “We have a connection and I’ve never felt that with anyone before you.”

My jealous chord was struck. We might both like to feel a rush, but that wasn’t the only way he had connected with someone before. “I highly doubt that. I think you’ve been very connected to a countless number of girls according to your own confession.”

“Dammit, Payton, this isn’t me bullshitting you so I can screw you. I want to tell you how I feel about you and you don’t make it very easy when you say stuff like that.”

Oh, hell. He wasn’t playing with me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were being serious.”

“When we’re not together, I want to be. When we’re not touching, I hold out hope for just the slightest, accidental graze. You’re all I think about and it’s because my whole world is falling for you. Hard.”

14 I’ll Teach You

Nick

Oh, shit. I just told Payton I was falling in love with her. Well, not in those words exactly, but close enough for her to get the gist.

I was still holding her face in my hands and I cringed as I waited for her to tell me how she felt. I looked in her eyes and she didn’t say a word. That’s when I realized the truth. She wasn’t saying anything because she didn’t feel the same and I had screwed up big time.

What was I thinking? I had hoped for something that was never gonna happen. A girl like Payton would never go for a guy like me. Jessie told me she and I would never happen and I should have listened, but I couldn't consider the possibility because I was too busy being a pompous ass in thinking no girl would turn me down.

I waited a few more painful seconds and Payton still said nothing, so I became resigned to the truth. She didn’t feel the same about me and I suddenly felt stupid because I had gone against all of my own rules and opened myself up only to be hurt.

I swallowed the pain of her rejection and took my hands from her face as I pulled away. I was desperate to get out of there and away from her, but she quickly reached her arms up around my shoulders and stopped me.

“I want to be the only one you think about.” She gently pressed her lips to mine. “But let’s be clear about one thing. I won’t be just another one.”

I pulled her closely and pressed my forehead to hers as I made a vow. “Never, Doll Face. I swear.”

It felt like only minutes had passed as we made out in the pool, but it was almost midnight when Payton checked the time. “Oh, shit. It’s midnight and I told Aunt Tillie I would come to her house tonight. I need to check my phone because I bet she has called a thousand times. Be right back.”

She gave me a quick kiss before she got out of the pool and I couldn’t stop myself from watching her as she walked up the steps out of the pool and grabbed a towel. God, what I wouldn’t give to be that towel right now.

I knew our night swim was over since it was so late and because she had somewhere to be. I got out and dried off while she was talking on the phone and was finishing up as she came out of the house.

“I told Aunt Tillie I would be there in a little while and she’s cool with that.”

“She won’t get you in trouble with your parents?”

“Nah. She’s the total opposite. She has helped me out of hot water with them more than one time. Man, I wished my mom was more like her.” She threw her head over and shook her hair out before she twisted it up in her towel. “You wanna come up with me while I pack a bag?”

“Sure.” I’d do anything if it meant I got to spend more time with Payton.

I followed her up the stairs into her bedroom and saw Fair Bear sitting in the middle of a dozen pillows on a luxurious bed. Lucky Bear. “He looks really out of place on your fancy bed.”

“My bed’s not fancy. You can sit on it while I pack.”

I looked at the sleek comforter and thought about the mark my wet trunks would leave on it. “Payton, your bed
is
fancy and my trunks are wet so I’m not sitting on it.”

She dropped the bag in her hand on the floor and walked over to where I stood by her bed and shoved me backwards so that I fell right in the middle. “Tell me you won’t sit on it and I’ll make you lie on it.”

God, this girl was impossible.

I sat up on the edge of her bed and watched her while she finished packing her bag. “When will your parents be back?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Could I talk you into spending tomorrow with me since they won’t be here?”

She grinned as she looked at me. “Possibly.”

“Then you’ll possibly need to pack something casual like a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers.”

That peaked her curiosity. “And why do I need to be casual?”

“Because those tall ass heels and short skirts you like to wear won’t be too appropriate for what I have planned.”

“Ooh...mysterious.” She went into her walk in closet and came out holding a T-shirt with a pair of jeans thrown over her arm. She folded the shirt and put it in a bag I was sure cost more than my entire wardrobe. “I’m dying to know. Can I have a little hint?”

I was titanium and there was no way I was giving her one little detail. “Nope.”

She put her bag on her dresser and came over to stand between my knees. She poked her bottom lip out at me and I was positive it wasn’t the first time she had used her beautiful pouty face to get what she wanted. “Not even one little ‘ole hint?”

She sat across my lap with her arm around my shoulders and nibbled my earlobe. Although I recognized it for the tactical move it was, she was irresistible and I couldn’t reframe myself from giving in to her just a little bit. “Okay. One hint and that’s all you’re gettin’. I’m going to show you one of the things I like to do for fun.”

She moved further down on my neck. “So, I get a glimpse into Nick Hawke’s life. Tell me more.”

“Nope, you’ll have to wait and find out tomorrow.”

She shoved me back on the bed again and crawled over me. I lifted my head from her bed to kiss her and she backed away just barely out of my reach to tease me. “I don’t want to wait until tomorrow to find out.”

I tried to kiss her again and she barely got away from me, so I reached for the back of her neck and pulled her down until we were eye to eye. “I said you’d find out tomorrow. Now, stop teasing me and kiss me.”

“I’ll kiss you when you tell me what I want to know.”

That little vixen
. She just thought she was going to tease me and hold her kisses hostages in exchange for information. Well, I had news for her; two could play this game.

I sat up and grabbed her by the waist to quickly flip her onto her back before she squealed. “Nick!”

I crawled up her still bikini clad body the way she had mine, except my mouth was only millimeters from her skin. “It’s too late to beg for mercy now.”

Her voice was trembling. “What are you gonna do to me?”

“Finish what you started.”

“By the word finish, I hope you don’t mean us having sex because we’re not.”

“Oh, you got that right, Doll Face. We’re definitely not having sex tonight.” I put my mouth over her ear and whispered, “Not even when you beg me to be inside you.”

I heard her sharp intake of breath and I smiled. I had succeeded in shocking her, but it didn’t last for long because only a second later she was trying her hand at a comeback for me. “I hardly think that I’ll...”

“Shh. Don’t talk.” I didn’t give her the chance to finish because I put my finger to her lips.

She opened her mouth and drew a breath to say something else, but I covered her lips with mine before the words could escape. I lightly feathered her mouth with kisses and then took advantage when she opened enough to allow my tongue access.

Her heart was against my chest and my lips were pressed to her neck when I started my Southward journey. I heard her breathing become increasingly louder and her chest began to rise and fall harder when my mouth paused just above the top of her bikini. I stopped, giving her the time she needed to tell me to go no further, but she didn’t so I pressed on and continued my journey in exploring her beautiful body.

I reminded myself of how Payton was different from the fast girls I was used to so I proceeded with great caution because I didn’t want to scare her. I spread my fingers and placed my hands around each side of her ribcage as I went lower on her body. I let my thumbs lightly touch the under edge of her breasts while my tongue tasted the spot between them. I felt her heart beating a million times a minute under my mouth as she bent her knees upward and apart so my body could fall in between them.

When I finished giving her breasts the attention they deserved, I slid lower down her body to her stomach and I dipped my tongue in her bellybutton so I could see her squirm and she didn’t disappoint me.

“Oh. Oh. Ooh.” That was the sound of reassurance and it meant I was doing something very right.

She jerked beneath me and arched her back as my mouth moved down to her hipbones just above the waist of her bikini bottom sitting low on her hips. I didn’t try to slide it down, but I wanted to when I kissed her groin through the damp white material.

“Shall I stop?” I whispered as my mouth moved across the top of her pelvic bone.

I managed to make out the sound of a ‘no’ through her heavy panting so I didn’t stop. I slid my hands inside the sides of her swimsuit bottom and wrapped them around her hipbones and cupped her bare bottom in my hands. “How ‘bout here? Want me to stop?”

She squirmed beneath me and her voice was breathless as she begged me to not stop, but I had a promise to keep. It was a no sex night, but I planned to give her what she needed while I stayed true to my word.

I heard a moan escape her lips as she covered her eyes with her hand and pounded the mattress with her other and I knew I had just given her an experience she would never forget.

15 Titillating Details

Payton

Wow. He considered that my punishment for teasing him?

I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling with my comforter still fisted in my hand. Was that what I think it was? Hell yes it was and it was magnificent. It was without a doubt the most incredible sensation I had ever experienced. Shiz, I wanted him to do that to me again.

He slid up my body and rested his weight on his elbows that were pressed into the mattress on each side of my head. He stroked his fingertips down each side of my face as he watched my eyes. “Liked that, did ya?”

“Umm, yeah...just a little bit.”

“I could tell...just a little bit.”

He smiled because it pleased him to hear me admit I liked what he did to me. I felt the heat rise in my face when I thought about what I had shamelessly begged him to do to me. He warned me I would, but I didn’t believe him because I had no idea he was capable of eliciting such an uncontrollable urge that would make me throw good sense out the window.

It didn’t matter how much I begged and pleaded with him. He kept his word when he told me we wouldn’t have sex and I found myself feeling regretful about that instead of relieved.

Geez. I needed to get away from him fast because I was thinking about asking him to break his
no sex tonight promise
. “I probably shouldn’t push my luck with Aunt Tillie. I don’t know how cool she’d be if I showed up hours after I told her I would be there.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble because I have plans for you tomorrow, Doll Face.” He lowered his lips to mine and gave me a gentle kiss. “Does 12 o’clock sound all right to you?”

“Perfect.” That meant we would only be apart for eleven hours.

We spent the better part of the next 30 minutes kissing good-bye until we finally unglued our lips long enough for me to go to Tillie’s house. When I walked into her house, I found her casually lounging on the chaise in the living room watching television. “Hey, Girly Girl. Have a good night?”

I fell backwards onto the couch and sighed dramatically.

“Sounds like someone had a great night.”

“I did. It was one of the most wonderful nights of my life.” I thought about my incredible experience with Nick and knew I wasn’t giving him enough credit after that thing he did. “I take that back. It was definitely my best night ever.”

“Were you with a cute guy?”

Cute didn’t seem to cut it with Nick. “You have no idea. He is hot, I mean like really hot and he’s considerate. One of my favorite things about him is that he loves my smart ass mouth. Oh, and he’s an awesome kisser.” I thought it might be wise to leave off the part about him giving me my first big O. “Tillie, I seriously think I could fall for this guy.”