Chasing Silver (22 page)

Her hand trembled when she reached up to touch his face. “Do you know why my threat wasn’t going to work?” She didn’t wait for a response. “Because I lied to him. I would’ve died without blinking if it meant you would be safe. Because I love you, too.”

Nathan’s smile changed from hesitant to glowing. “Do I need to remind you we only just met?”

The sudden exhalation of breath came out as the laugh she intended. “You’re the one who said it first. So if Isaac or anybody gives us shit about this being too fast, I’ll make sure he knows that.” Her face softened, and her thumb brushed over his mouth. “Not that it matters. Not really. Being with you has always felt like being home.”

Nathan’s fingers were all over her face, his eyes searching hers. “It hasn’t even been a week,” he murmured. Something seemed to occur to him, and he frowned. “Though speaking of home, I wish I had something more to offer you.”

Remy smiled. “Do I get you?”

Nathan traced the outline of her lips. “Yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters.”

Remy’s eyes widened as the waitress set a massive platter of ribs in front of her, and another platter with all the sides she ordered. As the shock on her face turned to hunger, Nathan smiled. The greedy hunger was mirrored on Isaac’s face as a second waitress brought his food. They dug in without hesitation, their fingers and mouths soon covered in sticky red sauce.

Nathan picked at his own meal, taking the time to butter his roll and cut into his steaming baked potato. Isaac tossed a bone to the side of his plate without thought and dug in for the next one. Nathan liked the Barn well enough, but he never understood the gusto Isaac exhibited every time they ate there. He always behaved as though it was his last chance to eat ribs…or anything at all, for that matter. Remy looked to have the same fear.

“You have to try this,” she said around a mouthful of spiced apples. She scooped a spoon into the dish, then slipped it past his lips. The hot cinnamon liqueur coated his tongue. “The only thing that would make this better is if I was eating it off you.”

Isaac grimaced. “Whoa, whoa, back it up.” He waved a bone in Remy’s direction, the sauce still clinging to his fingertips. “Remember the conversation in the car about appropriate subjects to talk about over dinner? Any reminder Nathan is getting some while I am not is at the top of that list.”

Nathan swallowed the apple before smirking. “I’ll ask the waitress to bring us another order to go.” He cut into his steak and chewed it thoroughly while Isaac looked at him with exasperation. “What?”

He shook his head before tossing the bone aside and tearing another from the slab in front of him. “I take you to the best rib place in a hundred-mile radius, and you order a steak.” Abruptly, Isaac picked up a knife and jabbed at Nathan’s meal. “It’s not even bloody! Who orders a ribeye that isn’t rare?”

Nathan hit his hand away. “After thirty-five years, I thought I was capable of choosing my own food. But I guess not. Would you like to order for me next time?”

“If you’re going to order like an idiot, yes.”

Nathan cut another measured piece and chewed it with exaggerated care. “You know what makes this steak so delicious? The fact you’re paying.” He sipped from his beer and turned to Remy. “Are you enjoying your dinner?”

He almost jumped when he felt her small foot in his lap, though from the zest with which she was attacking her food, he was sure Isaac had no clue what she was doing under the table. “Food this good makes a girl hungry for even more.”

“Hey!” Isaac said with a good-natured smile. “The list, remember?”

Remy’s eyes were large and innocent as she turned them to Isaac, but her toes were most definitely not, curling over Nathan’s growing erection. “What? Did I say it was Nathan I’d be jumping?”

“Watch it,” Nathan warned, his voice light. “I’m the jealous sort.”

He tried to catch Remy’s eye, but she was pointedly not looking at him. If she didn’t stop, he might have to carry her out of the restaurant over his shoulder. The past week had been excruciating, and not just because of his healing stitches. The fear of opening his cuts had put a serious damper on their activities.

Isaac rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. Like she even knows the rest of the world exists when you’re in the room. It’s almost enough to make a guy lose his appetite.” He licked spare sauce from his finger. “Almost.”

“Let’s make a toast.” Her foot stopped. Nathan looked up from his plate to see Remy holding up her bottle of beer. “To Nate’s clean bill of health. May I spend the rest of the night figuring out just how healthy he is.”

“Cheers!” Nathan tapped his bottle against hers, his smile matching hers. Isaac rolled his eyes and shoved another rib in his mouth. “I’d like to make a toast, too. To Isaac’s long-suffering patience.”

“I’m just glad you’re around to try my patience.” They tapped the lips of their bottles together. “Even if you do order like an idiot.”

Nathan motioned at the waitress as she passed. “Can we get a couple of to-go containers? Thanks.”

“You’re leaving already?”

“I’m eager to see how healthy I am,” Nathan explained. “Unless Remy wants to stay for dessert?”

She shook her head, an emphatic no.

Ten minutes later, they left Isaac to finish his apple cobbler. Nathan carried the boxes in one hand, the other pressed against Remy’s back. Her warm skin and the brush of her hair against his knuckles were almost more than he could stand. His apartment was only eight miles away, but it might as well have been on the other side of the city. By the time they reached the Mustang, he knew Remy sensed the tension in his body.

As he unlocked her door, she slithered between him and the car, running her fingers along his waistband. “He’s going to make us pay for ditching him, you know.”

“Yes, I’m sure I’ll have to hear about it until the day I die.” He pinned her against the car with his body, tilting his head to kiss her full lips. “It’s worth it, though.”

With the last of his stitches removed earlier that day, it was a welcome relief to feel Remy slipping her arms around his shoulders, clinging to him almost precariously as her mouth opened to his. “This has been the longest week in recorded history,” she murmured. “Not getting to touch you whenever I want, however I want, has been awful.”

“The universe has got to keep balance somehow.” Nathan lowered his head to kiss her again, but the heat from the boxes burned his arm, distracting him. Grimacing, he reached behind her and pulled open the door, eager to get on the road. “The week hasn’t been so awful. The other night was nice.”

She slid into her seat, but not before he caught the satisfied smile on her face. “There’s that word again,” Remy teased as she took the food from his arms. Her fingers stroked his. “But yeah, it was.”

Nathan hated breaking physical contact with her—no matter how slight—but since the burn on his palm was still healing, he needed both hands to drive. He was able to focus until they reached the Ten and she slid across the seat, closing the distance between them. She pressed her chest against his arm, her head resting on his shoulder. Her fingers danced across his chest, light enough she didn’t aggravate his sensitive skin.

“It’s hard for me to drive while you’re doing that.”

Her hand drifted downward, outlining his erection through his pants. “What about when I do this instead?”

He didn’t even try to push her away. Instead, he bit his tongue and kept his eyes glued to the road as she smoothed her palm over his cock.

“Have you missed me?” Her breath was hot against his neck, and he shivered when her tongue snaked out to run along his jaw. “I’ve missed you. Missed how hard you pound into me, how tight you hold me against you.” She turned her hand near the base of his cock so that her fingernails dug into his inner thigh. “Will you do that for me tonight? I’ll even beg for it if you want.”

“Remy…” Nathan knew if she kept that up, he’d be begging her. It was on the tip of his tongue to plead with her right then, but he didn’t know what he wanted. Did he need her to stop? Continue? The large sign over the freeway promised his exit was only another mile and a half away.

She nibbled on his neck now, tiny bites leading straight to his ear. “Will you wait until I’m on my knees? I can’t beg you with my mouth full, you know. Or maybe that’s what you want.” When she dragged her palm back up his cock this time, Remy let her nails scrape against his covered balls. “Maybe you want me sucking instead of fucking. God, do you know how much I love the way you taste?”

Nathan moaned in frustration as the traffic seemed to close around him. Jerking the car over to the right lane, he took the next exit without thought, knowing he needed to get off the freeway. He couldn’t sustain speeds of over seventy-five miles and imagine Remy on her knees in front of him at the same time.

“Both,” he managed. “I’m greedy.”

Her low chuckle went straight to his cock. “That’s my Nate. Always wanting more.”

He turned down his block with a sigh of relief. The torment was going to end, one way or the other. “We’re not going to make it upstairs. I thought I’d give you fair warning now.”

She must have exhausted all her words. Remy’s response was a fresh attack along his neck, teeth and tongue and warm breath rasping along every inch of exposed skin she could reach. His concentration slipped with every roll of the tires. He had to get the car parked. It was his mantra until he finally came to a stop.

As soon as he turned off the engine, he was moving to capture her mouth. Her hands were everywhere, threading through his hair, along the sides of his face, down his shoulders. He moved his fingers up her thigh, dipping beneath the black skirt to find the edge of her briefs. Her mouth was hot and demanding against his, the kiss almost punishing. They both pressed for more as their hands moved in quick, graceless gestures.

Nathan lowered her to the seat once her briefs were discarded, unmindful of the possible witnesses that could stroll through the parking lot. He only had one thought, and she seemed to share his single need, her body arching as he positioned himself between her thighs. Bracing himself with one hand on the back of the seat, Nathan kissed her, catching her moan of satisfaction as he pushed the head of his cock into her waiting body.

Her heels pressed into his ass, pushing his trousers down further around his hips as he thrust almost violently into her searing heat. One arm bent over her head to brace herself against the car door, while the other raked nails over his back.

Her eyes were wide, riveted on him, when he pulled away from her swollen mouth. She swallowed once, then said, “Love you.”

She told him all the time, as though the words tasted novel and sweet in her mouth. She told him before they fell asleep at night, told him when he stepped out of the shower, mentioned it over lunch, and in passing whenever the mood struck her. But it didn’t matter how many times he heard it. It always sent a warm thrill through his body, always took him a little bit by surprise. And if he ever doubted her, ever let the past’s demons sneak into his mind, all he had to do was look in her eyes. She couldn’t hide the truth, couldn’t fake the emotions, the adoration, he saw there.

It was just as thrilling to return the words. Just as thrilling to know she was as hungry to hear them as he was delighted to say them. “Love you, too.” He rested his brow against hers. “Love everything about you.”

He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Remy ignited beneath him, her lush body meeting him thrust for thrust, his name and more filling every breath. It didn’t surprise him when she came. It only surprised him he didn’t come first.

A shudder wracked Nathan’s body as he found the release he needed. He continued rocking his hips slowly after the first wave of pleasure made his muscles convulse, trying to milk the moment for as long as possible. She buried her fingers in his hair, forcing his mouth to hers once more. Nathan finally stopped, but didn’t pull away.

“What happened to begging?”

“That comes later. When I have the patience.”

He felt her smile rather than saw it. “I get the feeling it’s going to be a long time before that ever happens.”

“Maybe a few days. A month, tops.” He licked her neck. “Let me get you upstairs so we can start working on it.”

*   *   *

It took all her willpower not to jump him again before they reached his apartment. The doctors had been suitably severe about Nathan taking it easy until the last of his stitches were removed, and now that he’d been cleared of the worst of his injuries, all Remy wanted was to feel her against him. Without worry, without heed, with only their skin separating them. While the past week had been restful, long hours spent lying next to each other and talking, she was ready for time not so low-key. She wanted more than her fingertips as her only exploration. By his reaction in the car, so did Nathan.

She nestled into his side as he fumbled with the lock. The fresh smell of him always made her mouth prickle. She had to tamp down the urge to rip his shirt from him then and there. Inside, she reminded herself. Just a few more feet.

Nathan slammed the door behind them with surprising force. He flashed a sheepish smile as the walls shook, then took her by the shoulders and kissed her again. He kissed her as though it had been days since their last contact, not mere minutes. Without breaking the seal of their mouths, he pushed her toward the hall. Somehow, he managed to keep his feet from tangling with hers as he guided her to the bedroom.

Remy kept her back to the room, though when they reached it, she let go of him long enough to flick the switch, flooding it in light.

Nathan broke the kiss, gasped for air, and lowered his head again, but he paused as his eyes flickered over her shoulder. He remained frozen for a moment before straightening, his gaze moving from the bed, to her, and back to the bed. “It’s…new?”

She couldn’t hold back her smile of delight. It had taken a bit of finagling, and promises from Isaac to keep Nathan out all day so it could be delivered, and she had had to dip into the money they put into the bank from the sale of the rest of her coins, but in the end, Remy was more than pleased with the result. Gone was Nathan’s old full-size bed, with its saggy spring in the middle and the aged headboard. In its place was a king-size four-poster, with the softest of comforters she had been able to find.

“Do you like it?” She climbed on to jump up and down near its foot. “And look! No squeaking!”

“No squeaking,” Nathan repeated under his breath, gliding his fingers along the comforter. He circled it once, tracing the edge as he walked. She couldn’t read his face, and she couldn’t tell if he was about to smile or about to yell at her for presuming she had the right to make major purchases and replace his furniture. Nathan stood in front of her and wrapped his hands around her waist. “But what did you need with such a big bed?”

Dropping to her knees, Remy rested her arms on his shoulders. “We were always so crowded on your old one. This gives us room to move around, so if you get hot in the middle of the night, you can just kick me over to the other side. And it wasn’t that much more expensive than the queen, so I thought…”