"I've never been this swept away, all my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze, when I'm lying wrapped up in your arms. The whole world just fades away, the only thing I hear, is the beating of your heart. I can feel you breathe, washing over me, and sunddenly I'm melting into you. There's nothing left to prove, baby, all we need is just to be- caught up in the touch, a slow and steady rush. Isn't that the way that love's supposed to be? I know my heart is waking up, as all the walls come tumbling down. Closer than I've ever felt before, and I know, and you know, there's no need for words right now. I can feel the magic floating in the air, being with you gets me that way. " ("Breathe", Faith Hill)
Chapter Fourteen
Friday Afternoon
Kerry stood staring at the cash register, trying to remember how to do a price override, a task she usually performed somewhere near 300 times a day. She hadn't been able to cocentrate on anything for the past two days, but today had been ridiculous. She was so lost in her own world that basic respiration was requiring thought.
Deidre put her hand on Kerry's shoulder. "Girl, go home. I'll cover things til Sara comes in."
"Huh?" Kerry was only remotely aware she was being spoken to.
"Go home. Go chill out and then have fun tonight." Deidre said, smiling.
Kerry looked at her, shocked. She hadn't mentioned her plans for the evening to anyone but Haley. "How...?"
Deidre shook her head. "Sweets, it's written all over your face, you didn't have to say anything. Have fun, make him be good to you." She hugged Kerry and pushed her towards the door.
Kerry sat in the car, looking at her reflection in the rearview mirror. She wondered exactly what it was that Deidre had been able to so clearly see. She did seem a little more... glowy, maybe? She giggled and drove home, glad that Haley took Miah to the park after school on Fridays.
She got home and ran water in the bathtub, adding her favorite strawberries-and-champagne bubblebath. She poured herself a glass of black cherry juice, grabbed a few candles, and headed back upstairs. She lit the candles and stripped quickly, then sank down into the warm water, the bubbles tickling her chin.
As she relaxed in the deliciously scented water and sipped the cherry juice, she thought about what tonight would be. A big step in her relationship with Nick, a new beginning for her personally- and a reward for keeping a promise to herself. She sighed contentedly, she was ready for this. Ready to allow herself the pleasure of being possessed by the man she loved.
She rinsed off and smoothed lotion over her body, before dusting powder that sparkled faintly over her chest and neck. She curled her hair and fussed with it, trying to get it to lay exactly right. She finally gave up and twisted it up, securing it with a clip, letting the curls tumble however they choose.
The burgundy bra and panties she'd bought the other day were laying on the bed, and she slipped into them. She looked at herself in the mirror, admiring what she saw. Herself, for once, without hearing any unwelcome voices in her mind, echoes of Josh, taunting her. She stood in front of the closet trying to decide what to wear when she heard Miah and Haley come running into the house. Miah announced she was going to play outside with Cole and ran out the door into the backyard .
Haley walked upstairs, wondering why Kerry was home already. She peeked her head into Kerry's room and saw her looking dazed in front of the closet. "Sissy, why are you home so early?"
Kerry turned and smiled. "I was completely useless at work today, I couldn't think straight, so Deidre told me to just go home. I came back, took a bubble bath... just getting ready."
Haley sat on the edge of the bed and watched Kerry ruffle through the closet, dismissing everything she came to. "What about that navy blue slip dress? It's not too dressy, not too casual.. and easy to remove in a hurry." she suggested, grinning.
"I knew I loved you for some reason." Kerry said, pawing through her dresses to find the one Haley was talking about. She quickly put it on and turned around for Haley to inspect.
"Perfect. You really do like nice, K." Haley said, standing to hug her sister.
Kerry dragged Haley into the bathroom with her while she put her makeup on. Miah soon came bounding back into the house, running upstairs to say 'hi' to her mom.
"What ya doin', momma?" Miah asked, sitting on the edge of the tub.
Kerry finished curling her eyelashes and walked over to Miah, trying to think of the best way to explain this. "I'm getting ready to go out tonight, baby. I won't be here in the morning to watch cartoons with you, but Aunt Hayhay will."
"Where are you going to be?" Miah asked, scrunching her face up to show her displeasure with her mothers announcement.
"I'm spending the night somewhere, munchkin." Kerry said, pulling Miah into a hug.
"Where?"
"I'm going to stay at Nick's house tonight." Kerry realized she may be starting a conversation she wasn't ready to have yet.
"Oh. Why?" Miah looked at the candles left around from Kerry's bubblebath.
Haley watched Kerry, waiting to see how she was going to explain this.
"You know how Haley goes over to Alyssa's house to sleepover sometimes?" Kerry asked, trying to be vague, yet provide an explanation that would satisfy Miah's curiousity.
Miah nodded.
"It's like that, babygirl." Kerry said, squeezing Miah tightly.
Haley laughed under her breath. "Not quite the same there, Ker."
"Close enough," Kerry smiled and ruffled Miah's hair. As she walked back over to the mirror she asked Haley quietly, "You don't really want to spend the night trying to explain sex to her, do you?"
"Oh no! That is YOUR job!" Haley replied. "It's not like I'd have any clue what to tell her anyway!"
Kerry rolled her eyes and put the finishing touches on her makeup.
*****
Nick was nervous. He didn't know that he'd ever put this much thought into anything before. He wanted to so badly for the night to go perfectly, for Kerry to be pleased in everyway. It amazed him how much he felt for her, the things that she made him realize that would likely have never occured to him without her.
He glanced over at the clock, 6:30. An hour and a half before Kerry was supposed to be here. They'd agreed to meet after dinner, both knowing they'd never make it through the meal.
He's spent the entire day getting ready, making a few more purchases- silver blue satin sheets, groceries to make breakfast the next morning. He'd carefully arranged his room- placing the candles around and a few bouquets of deep purple, red and white roses. He made sure the cd that had taken him five hours to make was in place in the stereo. His project the evening before had been making a cd of slow, sensual songs that he knew Kerry liked. He'd listened to it today, while spending some quality time with himself, in hopes of ensuring he wouldn't get too excited later. Just thinking of being with Kerry had brought his release so quickly, he couldn't imagine what having her there was going to do to him.
******
Kerry took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She took one last look in the mirror, spritzed perfume on and walked out of the bathroom. She grabbed her purse out of her room, slipped on her sandals and headed downstairs.
"You look pretty, momma." Miah said, glancing up from the Barbie doll she was trying to dress.
"Thank you, sweetums." Kerry replied, kissing Miah's forehead. She heard a whistle and turned around to see Haley with a Polaroid camera to her eye.
"Smile!" Haley called, giving time Kerry to pose seductively before snapping the picture. Both girls giggled as they waited for the film to develop. Haley ran off into the other room before the picture became completely clear. She walked back into the room and handed Kerry the picture of herself looking good, with the words "Sex Goddess" written across the bottom.
Kerry laughed and asked what this was about.
Haley smiled and said, "You look good. I know you're going to freak out somewhere between our driveway and his, and I want you to look at this, think 'I am one sexy bitch!' and then go have the best night of your life thus far."
Kerry hugged Haley and thanked her. "You're good to me, sissy."
"But not nearly as good as Nick's going to be, so get going!" she said, nudging Kerry towards the door.
Just as Haley had predicted, about halfway to Nick's house, Kerry had a little spazz attack. She was more afraid of what she might do or not know to do than anything else. She wanted him to be glad he wanted her, and she was scared that she wasn't going to be able to do that. She pulled into his driveway, telling herself that she was worried for nothing. Nick loved her. She loved him. They'd figure it out together.
****
At 7:57 Nick looked at the clock and smiled. She'd be here any minute. He lit the candles in his bedroom, and went into the living room to wait.
As soon as he walked into the room, Nick heard the car pull up and the door slam. She was here. In seconds she would be in his arms and he wouldn't have to let her go for anything. He could hold her all night, and anything she wanted him to do, he would gladly oblige.
The doorbell rang, and startled him. He let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and quickly walked to the door.
Kerry's heart was pounding while she waited for the door to open. She saw the knob turn, and watched as the door was pulled open, and Nick appeared, his smile bright and eyes shining.
Nick's eyes wandered over her body, taking in everything he could about the way she looked right then. His eyes met hers, and for a moment neither of them made any move, but just allowed everything to be said through their gaze. The mutual love, trust, anticipation, and excitement conveyed clearly in the locked contact of their eyes.
He reached out for her, pulling her into the house, into his embrace. Kerry dropped her purse on the floor and immediately slipped her arms around him, pressing her body to his. With one hand Nick closed and locked the door, the other wandering over the satin of Kerry's dress as he wrapped his arm around her waist. He bowed his head to kiss her, tracing her lips with his tongue, before slipping into her mouth and kissing her deeply.
As her tongue danced with his, Kerry could feel the worry and fear leaving her. She'd seen so much in just the look they'd exchanged, and could feel even more in his kiss. She pulled away from him, and looked deeply into his eyes again, "I love you."
"I love you, Kerry." he scooped her up carefully, kissing her cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her to his room, setting her feet back on the ground in the center of the room. He went to turn off the lights, bathing the room in the soft silvery glow of the candles and turned the stereo on, allowing the music to faintly float through the room.
Kerry gasped as she looked around. She almost couldn't believe he'd done this for her, but at the same time, it made perfect sense that he would. That's how he was. He thought of her, and was always doing something sweet to surprise her. And now would be her chance to show him that she appreciated the little things he did to show he cared. She slipped her shoes off, placed them by the door and smiled as she recognized the song playing. She walked over to Nick, put her hands on the back of his neck, and gently pulled him down to kiss her again. Her hands slid down over his shoulders and met at his collar where she began deftly unbuttoning his shirt.
Nick watched as she undid each button and kissed his chest where each button had been as the shirt fell open. He shuddered slightly as her hands reached under the waistband of his khakis to untuck his shirt and finish unbuttoning it.
Kerry slid the shirt off his shoulders, and tugged it off him, allowing it to fall to the floor. She smiled at the sight of his bared chest and decided this would not be the place to stop. Her hands went to his belt, and then the button and zipper of his khakis.
He sucked in a short breath when she hooked her fingers in the belt loops of his pants and began drawing them down his legs slowly. He stepped out of them and obeyed her motions for him to lay down on the bed. This wasn't going at all how he'd planned, but he was more than willing to let things go however she wanted them. He lay down in the center of the bed and waited for what she was going to do.
Kerry walked to the foot of the bed, watching Nick's eyes follow her. She smiled at him, laying there in his black boxer briefs, head propped up on a few pillows, grinning back at her. She slowly slipped the straps over her dress over her shoulders and let it slide down her body.
Nick's eyes got wide as the dress fell to the floor. He took a shaky breath and looked at her, standing there- the curves of her body, the creaminess of her skin against the dark bra and panties she was wearing. He knew she was beautiful, but this was more than he could have fathomed. He held his arms out, inviting his beauty back into his embrace.
Kerry quickly climbed onto the bed and crawled up to him. She carefully straddled his waist and leaned down onto his chest, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her. She skimmed a few dry kisses over his collarbone and over his neck, up to his ear. "Can I touch you?" she whispered.
Nick didn't want to let go of her, but the idea of her hands anywhere on his body seemed like an acceptable alternative. He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly before letting his arms drop to allow her to do whatever she wanted with him. "Please do, baby." he replied softly.
She started at his neck, brushing her fingertips across his shoulders, down his arms, and took his hands, kissing the tips of each of his fingers, before moving back up his arms. Her hands grazed over his chest slowly, feeling each deep ragged breath he took.
Nick's mind had almost completely shut down on him, the feeling of her hands all over his skin was quickly becoming his only awareness. He watched as she raised up and scooted back, sitting just above his knees. Her hands wandered farther down, over his abs and down to his stomach.
Kerry felt him tremble under her touch as she neared his boxers that stretched tightly over his growing erection. "Raise your hips." she whispered as she moved off him, kneeling beside him and easing the boxers off as he lifted his hips off the bed. She dropped them on the floor beside the bed, repositioned herself just above his knees once more. She allowed her eyes to glance over his body, paying special attenion to his pulsing cock. She smiled as her fingertips danced lightly across the very sensitive area of his lower stomach and she heard a low moan escape from his lips.
He knew if he let her go much further, this was going to be over before it had begun. He reached for her, grasping her shoulders gently and pulled her back up to him. "Kerry..." he murmured.
She kissed him softly on the lips, and said, "Shh... I'm not finished yet."
Nick closed his eyes and whimpered as she trailed kisses down over his neck and to his chest, then swirled her tongue over his nipple. 'Oh god' he thought, moving his hands to her back and rubbing across it lightly. He'd intended to be lavishing attention on Kerry, not the other way around. He'd never experienced this- having someone touch him like this- taking the time to explore his whole body, and realized that tonight was going to as new to him as it was to Kerry. She cared just as much about making him happy as he did her. He squirmed underneath her as she took his nipple in her mouth, bathing it with her tongue before nipping gently at it, then repeating the same actions to the other one.
The more she touched him, and saw that he was obviously enjoying what she was doing the more confident she became. She looked up at him, eyes closed, expression euphoric. She sat up straight and said, "Nick, you might want to open your eyes for this..."
Nick immediately opened his eyes to look at her, a delighted smile spreading across his face as he watched her reach behind her back and undo her bra, slipping it off and tossing it on the floor.
Kerry leaned down to kiss him again, her tongue invading his mouth and dueling passionately with his. She felt Nick's arms come around her, sliding over her back, and up to her head, where he undid the clip holding her hair in place and took it out, causing her curls to cascade down over her shoulders.
Nick kept a hold of her and didn't break the kiss while he carefully rolled them over so that he was on top. He pulled away from her to smile at her and whisper in her ear, "It's my turn now." He wanted to touch all of her, to worship her whole body like she deserved. His hands slipped down to her breasts cupping them gently as his thumbs brushed over her nipples.
Kerry moaned softly, he'd barely touched her, but it already felt so good, just to have his hands on her. She closed her eyes, concentrating on his actions as he continued to caress her body tenderly, moving slowly from her chest over her stomach, her hips and down her legs.
Nick feathered light kisses from her calves up, spreading her legs slightly apart as he continued moving up, loving the soft sighs he heard. When he reached her inner thighs, he slipped his fingers under the waistband of her panties and slowly removed them, adding them to the pile of clothes on the floor. He immediately turned his attention back to her, running his hands over her thighs, separating them further, to situate himself between her legs. He leaned down, inhaling her scent deeply, becoming dizzy with desire to put his mouth all over her. He kissed her thighs trailing up towards her pussy as his eyes caught sight of small purple and red japanese design. He looked closer, tracing the tattoo with his tongue, and felt Kerry shudder. "Baby, what's this mean?"
Kerry drew in a breath, and replied, "It means 'control'. I got for my 18th birthday, as a promise to myself to never be involved with anyone like Josh again... that I could control what happened in my life. And whoever got to see it... they would have to be someone that I thought was worthy of losing control with. Besides the artist, no one else has ever seen it.. Haley doesn't even know I've got it."
Nick had always thought tattoos on girls was sexy, but this was incredible to him. He liked that it held special meaning to her, but he really loved that no one else had seen it, and if he had his way, no one else ever would. He outlined the design with his tongue again and moved his hands further up her thighs, to lightly brush across her pussy, happy to find that she was wet, ready for his attention.
She gasped at the feeling of his fingers gliding over her slit. Her eyes closed, and breathing became heavier as everything except his touch and the new feelings drifting through her body faded away. The first few passes of his tongue over her clit caused her to shriek with estatic surprise.
Nick's head snapped up, "Are you alright?"
"Don't stop!" she panted breathlessly.
Nick smiled and resumed the long slow strokes of his tongue over and around her clit. He slipped his hands underneath her, cupping her ass, raising her off the bed a little. He continued lapping at her, moving from her clit down to her entrance and slowly slipping his tongue inside her.
Kerry was writhing on the bed as she felt the ticklish licks from his tongue darting in and out of her. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and her head pressed back into the pillows, as she began to move her hips to the slight rhythm he'd established. Her breathing quickened as a warm tingle began to consume her body.
Nick listened carefully to her- the whimpers and soft moans. He was encouraged by her vocalizations, no matter how quiet, and further excited by her gently thrusting against him. He drew his tongue back up to her clit, and sucked it into his mouth, nibbling gently on it, and he carefully slipped two fingers into her wetness.
The grazing of his teeth over her clit and movements of his fingers inside her proved to be too much for Kerry to resist. Her whole body tensed up, stomach muscles contracted, and she crunched up, shaking as her walls clenched around his fingers repeatedly. She fell back into the pillows, taking gulps of air, as she tried to catch her breath, and calm her quivering body.
Nick kissed a straight line back up her body, beginning at her belly button up to her breasts. He gently brought her breasts together, his tongue floating over her nipples before tenderly taking them both in his mouth.
Thoughts were almost beyond Kerry, she was so caught up in physical bliss to be aware of anything else. Her back arched off the bed at the flutter of his tongue on her aching nipples. Her entire body longed to feel him covering her. She ran her fingers through his hair and whispered his name softly, unable to make her voice any louder.
He released her breasts and brought his face to hers, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Yes, baby?"
Kerry opened her eyes and looked directly into Nick's. "Please make love to me."
Without breaking eye contact, Nick carefully positioned himself and thrust slowly into her. His heart was pounding as her silky wet warmth surrounded him. He couldn't recall anything else in his life, that had ever caused feelings this intense. His gaze shifted from hers only to close his eyes and press his lips to hers, kissing her with all the love and passion rushing through his body.
Kerry kissed him back, with equal feeling and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her eyes met his again when he broke the kiss and just looked at her again. She didn't blink, barely breathing, wanting him to be able to look into the depths of her soul and know everything about her. She tried to memorize exactly how she felt at that moment, the weight of his body on hers- covering her, protecting her- him inside of her, filling her, making her complete in every way.
Nick bit his lip, realizing as he peered into her eyes, he was seeing his future. She was what he wanted, what he'd been waiting for, what he needed. He had to close his eyes, knowing if he didn't he was going to lose what little composure he had left. He brushed his lips across hers once more, before pressing his cheek to hers, and whispering, "I love you so much, Kerry."
Kerry held tightly to him as he began moving, rocking his hips slowly against her. She tried to concentrate on just feeling him all around her as she wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to slide deeper inside of her. She couldn't help but let the tears fall, spilling down her cheeks as she felt like every bad thing that had been done to her was somehow being undone by each move Nick made.
He felt the cool drops of her tears as they touched his cheek, still pressed against hers, and lifted his head to look at her. "Baby, what is it?"
Kerry sniffled and smiled, "I love you. That's what it is."
Nick's vision became blurry with his own tears as he slipped his arms underneath her back, holding her as close to him as possible. He realized that he had no clue the full impact of what he'd said to her when he told that he wanted to make love to her, before now. He knew what he'd had with his ex wasn't real, but now he knew just how superficial and meaningless it had been. He continued thrusting, picking up the pace a little as his head dropped to kiss and nip at Kerry's neck.
She moaned softly and tilted her head to the side, to allow him better access. She caught the rhythm of his thrusting and began to match it, shuddering at the warmth of the friction between their bodies. She ran her hands over his shoulders, clasping them behind the back of his neck and listened to Nick's breathing, becoming more irregular with each move he made. Kerry could feel the heat of her climax beginning to spread through her body and moaned louder, consciously tightening her muscles around Nick as he continued to thrust, a little harder and faster than before.
Nick could feel her squeezing him, and he tensed, knowing his climax was rapidly approaching. "Kerry... baby, I'm gonna cum..." he whispered.
"Please... I want to feel you." she replied before raising her head to press her lips against his.
Nick's hand slipped back around her, gliding over her stomach and down, to massage her clit. He heard her whimper and felt her move her hips to brush against his hand. "Kerry, look at me."
Her eyes met his as his finger gently pinched at her clit, sending waves of pleasure washing over her body. She moaned his name, clinging tightly to him- her muscles gripping him snugly.
Hearing her call his name and feeling her walls massaging him from the inside brought him to the most powerful release he'd ever experienced. He held her close as the tremors rocked his body, and collapsed against her chest, breathing hard and mind reeling.
She welcomed his full weight on her, rubbing her hands over his back as they both caught their breath. She was pulled on top of him as he rolled over, and cuddled against him, resting her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat return to normal.
Nick tangled his fingers in her hair, "Kerry?"
She moved up his body to look at him, and kissed him softly on the lips. "Yes?"
"I love you... every little thing about you. I want... I want it to be like this always... feeling this close to you... " He was quieted by Kerry putting her finger to his lips.
"You are this close to me. It is like this. I love you, Nick." she kissed him again, and lay down on him, her head resting on his shoulder, and quickly drifted off to sleep, feeling content, secure and completely loved.
Nick wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She was right. They were this close, and there was no reason why they shouldn't always be. He fell asleep- a smile on his face and the love of his life in his arms.
Kerry awoke the next morning to Nick stirring underneath her. She was in the exact same position she'd fallen asleep in, only covered by delightfully sensual satin sheets. She smiled at Nick, who looked like he'd been awake for awhile.
"Morning, love." he said, kissing her forehead. "I was going to make us breakfast, but you looked so beautiful sleeping, I didn't want to move you and wake you up."
"How about I help you with that?" she kissed him lightly on the lips and rolled off of him. "Can I help you make breakfast?"
"I'd love it." he smiled, getting up and pulling a pair of boxers out his drawer and slipping them on.
Kerry stretched on the bed, loving the feel of the satin as she slid over it. She giggled, "Next time we have to pull the sheets back, I love this."
Nick laughed and said, "Get used to it now, so we won't be sliding all over the place later. I'm gonna go downstairs and get things started, come on in when you're ready."
Kerry rolled out of bed and padded into the bathroom as Nick went to the kitchen. She finger combed her hair and found his mouthwash. She grabbed a t-shirt of his and a pair of his basketball shorts and found her panties, slipping them on before joining him. She giggled as she tried walking, the shorts kept slipping down over her hips. She chucked the shorts and tiptoed into the kitchen. She found Nick at the counter, and crept up behind him, slipping her arms around his waist and kissed his back before putting her head against him.
Nick smiled feeling her touch him again, and turned around to hug her. He noticed she was wearing his shirt and told her it looked way better on her than it did on him. He kissed her and then tilted her head up so she could look him in the eyes. "I was thinking about something this morning... I'd thought about it before, but I didn't know how you'd feel about it .. but I'm gonna ask now.. you don't have to answer yet, just think about it..."
Kerry looked curiously at him and waited for his question. She grabbed his hands and held them, "So, what am I thinking about?"
"I want you and Miah to move in here... with me." he said, feeling fairly certain she wasn't going to freak out on him.
Kerry smiled. Of the two things she was hoping his question would be, that was one of them. "I'd say yes right now.. but this isn't just my decision...I mean, I know Miah wouldn't object, but..."
Nick hugged her tightly and said, "I know. Talk to Miah, talk to Haley.. and decide. I just wanted to ask you now, let you know that I wanted you here, to be with me all the time."
"I want to be... it'll work out." she smiled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
Nick kissed her back, "If anybody can make something work, it's you."