Something changed after Nate answered the door. I just don't know what it could be.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder. Nate’s empty gaze darts to the side, unwilling to meet mine. “Is there something you need to tell me?”
His eyes wince at the question like it pains him, and his jaw tightens before he shakes his head back and forth. Still, the movement is unnatural, forced, like he doesn’t believe it himself.
My brows furrow at his behavior, and worry rises within me, but I let him be. I want to probe. Ask more questions. Get an answer out of him. But he seems out of it. Whatever it is, he’ll come around with time.
Seconds of waiting in anticipation of his answer turn to minutes. Those long, dreadful minutes eventually turn into however much time passes before his lips land on my jaw. Small kisses pepper down the side of my neck, but they aren’t filled with eagerness or excitement like they usually are—they feel dampened with sadness, remorse, and loss.
“We both got what we wanted,” Nate whispers against my damp skin. “You’re on your way to finishing your PhD.”
His hand delicately trails down the side of my body, sending the hairs on my skin upright.
“You have that job offer in California lined up.” He squeezes my breast once before his fingers land on my nipple—twisting and pinching, harshly.
I gasp at the pain that shoots through me, arching my back when it turns to pleasure.
“I got the electric plane deal.”
A moan leaves my mouth when his other hand cups my core. He passes his fingers against my slit, teasing, taunting, but not doing anything to bring about any relief.
“My reputation isn’t as shit as it used to be.”
He flicks my clit once before he begins circling that small bundle of nerves. The pace is slow at first, languid, until it picks up, then slows down again.
I want to scream—in pleasure, in pain—and beg him to tell me where this conversation is going. But I’m too caught up in the sensations going off in my body to truly understand what’s happening. To even utter the words I’m looking to speak.
He’s edging me—mentally and physically—bringing me to insanity with his fingers and words alone.
“So where does that leave us?”
There’s no time for me to process what he said right before, nor to come up with an answer to his question when two fingers plunge inside me.
My breath seizes in my lungs, knocking the air right out of me. It’s only when he makes his two fingers three that my mind registers his words. I let out a breathless moan when it turns to four.
We both got what we wanted.
So where does that leave us?
Could he really be insinuating that whatever is happening between us is ov—
Thick fingers plunge in and out of me, fucking the thought right out of my brain. Water splashes out of the edge of the tub with the ferocity of his movements. This goes on for however long, my body pushing back against his with each thrust until I shatter around his fingers.
“Such a good girl for me,” he whispers in my ear as my pussy spasms around him.Somehow in the midst of it all, he flips me over to straddle his lap.
My arms wrap around his neck on instinct as I feel my body turn to mush. I stay there, recuperating my strength to look him in the eyes. It’s only when I pull back to meet his gaze for the first time since he’s entered the washroom that I see it.
Cold. Dark. Distant.
He’s never regarded me that way before.
There’s something off. Very off.
I close the gap between us, pressing my lips to his, and praying that whatever is going on with him can be healed.
A true love’s kiss. I never believed in fairy tales, but right now, that’s all I can think about in the hopes of breaking this curse.
What starts off as something delicate quickly turns desperate, filled with passion and longing, but most prominently, bittersweet. A war of the tongues. A nibble on my lower lip so hard I’m certain it draws blood.
