The elevator doors suddenly opened as they reached the fourteenth floor.
“Do you want to come over?” he asked, briefly pulling away, his voice rough and low.
“Yes.”
They stopped at her place so that she could feed Tomcat. Finally, she thought as he took her by the hand and led her down the hall.
20
Nick’s mouth was on Lily’s again as soon as they were both inside of his apartment. His hands fell to the curves of her waist and he bent his head, dragging slow, heated kisses along her exposed throat and across her collarbone. Lily melted against him, loving the feel of his tongue on her skin. She sank her fingers into his back as his lips found hers again, his hands gripping her ass. He was intoxicating, mesmerizing. She never knew that kissing someone could feel this good.
He pulled away, his lips hovering above hers, his breathing short and slightly erratic. “Are you okay?” he asked in a low whisper.
“More than okay.” She drew him back down to her, catching his bottom lip between her teeth. Nick groaned, squeezing her tighter, kissing her more urgently. He began backing them farther into his living room. She grazed her fingers along his lower abdomen, their mouths glued together, then coming apart.
Nick lowered himself into his yellow armchair, pulling Lily down to straddle his lap. Her skirt hitched around her waist, exposing her thighs, and Nick was already hard beneath her. She felt light-headed, drugged. He stared up at her, his chest rising and falling with each deep breath. He gently brushed his thumb across her bottom lip.
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
It was reverential. Her heart was bursting.
“So are you,” she whispered.
She bent down to him, capturing his mouth. Nick stroked his hands up and down her thighs. She let out a soft moan and rolled her hips against him.
“Jesus, Lily,” he hissed quietly.
She loved the way he sounded. Rough and a little uncontrolled. She loved that she could make him sound that way. He twisted the hem of her shirt in his hands, and his fingers brushed against her stomach, making her shiver.
“I think about you all the time,” he said in between kisses. “I’ve wanted this for so long. I’ve wanted you.”
“Me too.” She was breathless, floating.
His hands were still fisted at the hem of her shirt. He tugged in question. In answer, Lily peeled her blouse over her head and let it drop to the ground beside them. She was mentally kicking herself for wearing her old, plain nude bra. She would have worn something sexier if she’d known she’d end up here with Nick. But that didn’t matter. Because he was looking at her like both she and her bra were made of pure gold.
He placed a soft kiss in between her breasts, causing goose bumps to spread across her skin. Then he turned his head, kissing the top of her right breast, then her left, his fingers circling her nipples through her bra.
“Your turn,” she breathed.
Nick pulled off his T-shirt, and Lily stared at his bare chest and shoulders, his built arms and smooth stomach. She reached forward, faintly touching his hot skin.
“They must have made you in a lab,” she murmured.
Nick laughed softly. “The same one where they made you?”
She shook her head. Because she couldn’t make him understand. He was better than she’d imagined. He was real. He was everything.
He pulled her flush against him, covering her mouth with his. She pressed her chest into his and grasped his shoulders. She felt his hands pause as they smoothly roamed across her back. His fingers hovered at the hooks of her bra. “Is this okay?” he asked.
She nodded, and he unclasped her bra. She eased out of it and tossed it aside. His mouth was on her immediately, carefully caressing her nipple with his tongue. She tipped her head back, gasping. She rocked her hips against him again and Nick gripped her waist.
“Fuck,” he whispered, exciting Lily. She bent down and kissed his neck, sucking on his skin. “Wait, hold on.”
Lily froze, bolting upright. “Do you want to stop?”
“What? No. No,” he said, reaching up and holding her in place. “This chair is uncomfortable. It’s hurting my back.”
“Oh.” She laughed, relieved.
He smiled a little, then his gaze turned heated as he continued to stare at her. He looped her arms around his neck, and in one quick motion, he stood, lifting her against him. Surprised, Lily wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her down the hall to his bedroom. Only then did she notice the small black bookshelf by the window in his living room.