Chapter Nine: Relying On What You Know…Rather Than Taking a Chance On What You Don’t
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay somewhere else?” Nick inquired as they climbed the stairs of Ashley’s apartment
“No thank you, I’ll be fine” she remarked.
They’d left the apartment about 5 hours ago and had spent most of the day idly chatting and wandering the streets, stopping briefly for ice cream at a nearby park.
“Well thanks, for you know, everything” Ashley smiled as she unlocked the door – Jacob was nowhere in sight.
“You want me to stay a while?”
“No, really I’ll be fine”
Nick nodded as he backed away from the door when Ashley entered.
“Nick” she called, he stopped and turned, “Thank you” she smiled.
She leaned in and kissed his cheek briefly, her lips gliding over the softness of his skin. When she pulled away he placed a solitary finger on her chin, lifted her head and kissed her lips ever so gently. The kiss melted deeper and deeper until a surging power came over them.
There was a current of unadulterated passion sweeping through the two seemingly strangers. Ashley stumbled backwards into the apartment and with a rush Nick slammed the door shut with one kick of his foot.
Their lips scattered across one another, accurately devouring lips, cheeks, any flesh they met with. With a hurried sensation Ashley led Nick into the bedroom, and again the door slammed shut. Clothes dropped off in their wake. Nicks mouth furrowed deeper onto Ashely’s, his body entwined haphazardly with hers. His tongue swiftly moved around her mouth as his hands explored her now nearly naked body.
He grasped at her black bra as her hands delved under the tin cotton of his boxers. She felt the rush of material stripped from her body and his mouth suckling gently at her hardening nipples.
Her mouth begged for his pace, her back arching as her hands trailed a fine line down his almost hairless chest. She felt the push of his body against her, a heavy intense feeling that made her heart pound in lustful desire. She whispered his name as he grew above her. Her legs grinded against his side, the silken feel of her skin sending a unmistakable passion through his body.
They touched and explored each other before the build up became too much to take. He entered her with a swift moan, her own vocal cords mimicking his. He moved in and out, reading the needy expression on her face. He nails dug into his back as she cried his name. He relished the moment, expressing his own pleasure with one loud exclamation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sheets lay entangled in each other as two lovers lay side by side, silent in their own minds.
“That was uh,” Nick began, then clamped his mouth shut, a wave of guilt breaking over him
“We shouldn’t have done that, should we?” she whispered, clutching the white sheet tightly around her body
“Ashley, I'm sorry” Nick replied
“Don’t be, things like this happen, that’s why lust is one of the sins” she smiled, “cause its so easy”
Nick sighed, he felt something more than lust, but it was obvious she didn’t
“Maybe I should go”
“If you want to”
She glanced at him then looked away, she felt much more that lust, but it was obvious he didn’t.
“I don’t know if I want to”
She sat up, the sheet still tightly around the body, and the sensation of his intensity still tight in her mind.
“You shouldn’t be here, and neither should I. You have your girlfriend, and regardless of what happens, I’ll still keep going back to Jacob”
“Why?” Nick spat, sitting bolt upright, the sheet just laying across his lap, exposing his flawless skin
“Because, It’s what I know, and sometimes we all crave for things we know, things we can rely on been there tomorrow, that’s what I have with Jacob, and what you have with Amanda”
“But do you love him?”
She looked across at him, her eyes flickering quickly, he soon realized she was cry. He reached to touch her, but she pulled away, fearing his touch may conjure up the passion she felt deep inside.
“Do you love her?” she replied finally, as she stood up, sheet and all and walked from the room.
Nick dressed in record time, and walked from the bedroom to find Ashley sitting at the dining table.
“So that’s it?” Nick remarked coolly
“What more do you want from me?” she whispered, afraid to look up
“You want me to walk away”
“I cant take a chance Nickolas” she cried
“On what, on me?”
“On love” she paused, then began again, “I cant take a chance on what I don’t know, we’re not meant to be together, people like us don’t belong together”
“Why?”
“Because we’re too similar”
“I care about you Ashley, ask me to leave Amanda and I will”
A soft smile came across her face.
“We barely know each other Nick”
“I feel like I’ve known you for longer than physical time, doesn’t that count for something”
“You mean fate?”
“I mean this” he clenched a fist over his heart
“Don’t you see, we’ll never make it because we’ll keep going back to what we know, what’s safe for us, we cant take a chance on what neither of us know”
“Which is?”
“Love”
Nick took a step back and starred at her blankly. She didn’t believe he’d ever been in love, and sadly – she was right.
“Ask me to leave Amanda and I will”
“See Nick, that’s just it, people in love don’t need to be asked”
She walked over to the door and opened it.
“You should leave” she remarked quietly
He gathered his coat into his hands and walked out. Before she closed the door, he turned away and whispered one last thing.
“If its meant to be, it will be”