Next-Door Nemesis(52)

But right now? Standing in front of Nate and witnessing his undoing just by looking at me? I’ve never felt sexier. I’m sure that’s anti-feminist or something and I should just love myself without the need for validation, which I do.

This is just icing on top of a very sexy cake.

I try to notice everything, from the way my skin is tingling to the feel of his rug beneath my feet, and hope that I never forget a single detail of this moment. A moment where Nathanial Adams no longer looks at me with contempt, but as if I’m the most beautiful person he’s ever set eyes on, and I do the same.

I climb on the bed, crawling up the comforter and between his legs. My hands skim the tops of his legs, feeling the way his body tightens beneath my touch. I look up at Nate, holding his gaze as I drop my head and use my tongue to start drawing a line up the inside of his thighs, stopping on occasion to nip at the sensitive skin and then kiss away the hurt.

I watch as his eyes squeeze shut the higher I go. His legs tremble under my touch and his breathing is so frantic, I worry he might pass out. Even though part of me wants to torture him a little longer, my kinder (hornier) side takes over.

Without hesitation, I move my mouth to his cock. My hands work in tandem with my mouth as I lick from the bottom to the top of his impressive manhood, circling the tip. Every hiss of breath, every moan, spurs me on. I start to move faster as I feel him growing in my mouth, but before I can do any more, he scissors off the bed and the room flips upside down.

“Oh my god!” I try to reorient myself. “What did you just do?”

“If this is happening,” he whispers in my ear, his raspy voice sending chills down my spine, “there’s no way I’m coming before you.”

I can’t help the way my legs clench together when his teeth graze across the shell of my ear. His lips move down my throat, stopping to suck and bite the sensitive point above my collarbone that I love so much. It’s almost unnerving how well he can read my body. It’s like we’ve been doing this for years instead of mere minutes.

My back arches off the bed as he pulls one nipple into his mouth through the thin lace while his hand yanks down the fabric, exposing my other breast. He alternates sides—sucking, licking, and biting until I’m trembling.

“Oh my god.” My hands find their way to the back of his head and I’m not sure if I want to push him away or pull him closer. “You’re really good at this.”

He doesn’t stop as his deep laughter rumbles from his throat. The vibration on top of everything else is almost enough to send me over the edge.

“I’m so glad you approve.” He sits back, looking down at me with those hazel eyes of his blazing. “Let’s see if I can keep it up.”

He watches me closely as his hands move downward, gliding over my rib cage and across my stomach until his fingers loop into my underwear. He tugs and my hips automatically lift off his bed so he can slide them off. Goose bumps trace his movements and the cool air from the air conditioner blowing above the bed causes me to shiver.

And yet, I’ve never felt hotter.

He throws my underwear off the end of the bed and quickly finds his place between my legs. He spreads my thighs apart, but his eyes never leave mine. I should have known this is what it would be like to share a bed with Nate. All that focus and attention he dedicates to everything he does is directed at the lucky woman he’s with. His intensity outside the bedroom transfers flawlessly to his determination in it. He watches me carefully, noting every sound and movement I make. Cataloging everything I like inside that big, beautiful, infuriating mind of his.

By the time his mouth reaches the apex of my thighs, I’m so wound up that just the feel of his breath causes my legs to clench together.

“Oh no, no, no, Colls.” Nate slips his arms beneath my legs and wraps his strong hands around them. I try to pull them closed, but in his grip, they don’t so much as budge. “You’re always hiding, always in control. But tonight? In my bed? That’s not how things are going to play out. I’m going to taste you and watch you fall apart over and over again.”

I tense for a moment at his words. The idea of being vulnerable in front of—and beneath—Nate scares the crap out of me. But I tried to cling to control of everything in my life for so long and fell in love with a man I thought I could trust. Where did that get me? At least with Nate, I know where he stands. His bed might be the safest place to be. I relax into the mattress and stop resisting his hold.

“Good decision.”

He rewards me with the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen before his head dips between my legs and his tongue finds its target on the first try. I don’t even realize I try to close my legs until his grip tightens, his fingers digging into my thighs. But he doesn’t miss a beat. His tongue circles the bundle of nerves, alternating between light and hard pressure. His mouth closes over my clit and every muscle in my body goes taut. My feet push into the mattress and my toes curl. I grip on to the sheets as if I’m in danger of levitating if I let go.

“Fuck. Nate. I . . .” I’ve lost the ability for speech, my words only going out in fragmented sentences as he pushes me closer and closer to the edge.

Goose bumps and beads of sweat cover my body as tension weaves through my veins. Whimpered moans intermingle with pleas for more. I have no idea what I’m saying. I can’t think with the pressure building deep in my belly. I try to shift my legs, to get closer or move away, I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter because Nate’s grip tightens and he pulls my legs farther apart.