Page 34 of A Lot Like Forever
She shut her eyes and sighed, wishing she could just fall asleep right then and there. There was a reason she’d never let herself fall for Nate, why she only wanted to have fun with him and not let anything serious happen between them, and it wasn’t because she didn’t want to settle down one day. Nate might be best friends with her brother, but it didn’t mean he’d ever marry her. Her mom had fallen for a man not so dissimilar to Nate, had dropped everything to be with the man she loved, until eventually he’d finished with her to please his family, married a woman from a family more similar to his own. No one was ever going to make Faith feel like she was anything other than marriage material, which was why she’d wanted to call the shots with Nate. And after seeing the way her dad had gone on to treat her mom, she wasn’t sure marriage was what it was made out to be, anyway. She didn’t want to compromise, not her career, her life, her choices—nothing.
A knock echoed out on the door, just softly. If she’d been asleep she never would have heard it. Faith flicked on the bedside lamp, a soft light now illuminating the previously pitch-black room.
“Faith?”
Nate’s deep whisper made her heart start to race. She’d known it was him, there was no one else in the house, but just to hear his voice and know that he was standing outside her bedroom door sent chills through her body.
The door handle turned and she quickly ran her fingers through her hair, scooping it all over one shoulder. She glanced down to check her top was in place, opening her mouth to say something, until she saw the look on Nate’s face as he entered the room.
“Nate?” she murmured.
He was standing dead still, his hands balled into fists at his sides, mouth fixed in a straight line that didn’t give away any of his feelings. Until he ran one set of fingers through his hair and stepped forward, the look in his eyes like she’d never seen before.
“I can’t do this,” he muttered.
She dug her fingers into the duvet and tugged it up a little higher. He was an imposing figure just standing there like that, filling the doorway that he was standing in front of, but she wasn’t afraid of Nate. He was one of the few men in the world who could never intimidate her physically, because he was one of the only men she actually trusted. He’d protect her no matter what—and he was one of only two people in the world she could say that about.
“I don’t understand,” she said. As far as she understood, there was nothing happening between them. He’d made that clear less than an hour ago.
He stepped closer, his eyes pleading with her, the line of his jaw so rigid she didn’t know whether he was about to give in to anger and slam his fist into a wall or launch into bed with her. Anticipation hummed through her body as she thought about the latter. She still wanted him. Nothing would make her stop wanting Nate King.Nothing.
“I can’t sleep knowing you’re down here alone,” he muttered. “I can’t lie in my bed without thinking about you, without wanting to . . .”
“What?” she whispered, digging her nails into the duvet she was clutching. “What is it you want, Nate?”
She wasn’t going to make a move again. She’d shown him what she wanted, made it clear, and if he wanted her he was going to have to damn well take the initiative.
“I want to do wicked things to you, Faith,” he muttered as he stalked closer to her, eyes never leaving hers for a moment. “I want to throw back these covers and strip you naked. I want to taste every inch of you. I want to do anything and everything to pleasure you until you can’t take a second more of it.”
Faith gulped. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, her skin alight as if being stroked by flames. Just the thought of Nate touching her intimately was enough to ignite her pulse.
“So what are you waiting for?” she said, as brazenly as she could even though she was equal parts terrified about what he wanted to do with her.
“Don’t tempt me, Faith,” he as good as growled.
“This only has to be between you and me,” she said. “If no one else knows . . .”
“I can’t.” He was standing only a few feet from the bed now, still in his jeans but his torso bare, giving her a glimpse of the body she was desperate to explore. Now he was closer and bathed in light, she could see his abs, every single one of them, impressive on his tanned torso. His shoulders were big and broad, balanced by biceps so large she wanted to touch them to see how hard they were. He was built like an athlete; only he was a six-foot-four hulk of a man who wore Italian suits and was perfectly at ease running a billion-dollar corporation.
“So don’t,” she taunted.
“Damn it!” he swore softly under his breath, finally releasing his hands from the tight fists he’d been sporting until now.
Faith sucked in a breath, anticipation licking over every inch of her body. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything except watch Nate as he lowered himself onto the bed and reached for her.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he muttered as he cupped her cheek in one of his hands, staring into her eyes.
“I know,” she murmured back, lips parting as his mouth came closer.
Nate was done talking. His kiss went from soft, his touch gentle, to rough almost immediately. One second he was cupping her face; the next his fingers were tangled in her hair, his mouth rough on her lips and then her neck, his stubble a barely there roughness that reminded her just how damn masculine he was.
His mouth moved down her neck, his warm lips a contrast to his wet tongue that was trailing sensually across her skin. Faith moaned, she couldn’t help it, as one of his hands brushed her breast. She wasn’t scared of his hands—she wanted them everywhere.
“We need to slow down,” he muttered against her collarbone.
Faith laughed. “You’re the one racing ahead.”
He grunted and stopped, lifting his head. “It’s not my fault you’ve got such a goddamn irresistible body.”
