Page 61 of Nolan
It both scares and excites me.
I can feel the pressure building. I’m so close. Nolan trails kisses along my jaw to my ear, whispering, “I love how soaked you are for me, baby girl.”
Thrills coarse through me, bringing me closer. Baby girl. I didn’t know he was capable of talking like this. Did he learn it from someone else? Did he research it? Do I really care, when he’s here with me? I’ll do anything he wants, if it means he’ll call me that again. I can’t say a word. If I open my mouth to even respond, I’ll moan or whimper, and everyone will know precisely what we’re up to.
Then he slips his hand down, slowly pumping two fingers into me. “You like that, don’t you?” he rumbles, teeth teasing my earlobe. “You love being pleasured in public by an android.”
I stifle a sound in my throat, not daring to answer, rocking my hips as he fucks me with his fingers. They move faster, in and out, then they curl.
And I shatter.
My entire body is pulsing. Nolan puts his free hand over my mouth, nuzzling me as my legs spasm, heat flooding between my thighs.
I melt like butter in my seat, a breathless, trembling mess, and Nolan holds me close, whispering my praises. I don’t even try to keep up with the movie anymore. Nolan holds my every thought.
I’m falling for him. No, no, it’s already happened. I’m past tense. How do I tell him so?
After the movie is over, we cuddle through the credits as everyone else leaves. I’m playing the will I say something, or won’t I? game with myself and finally settle on won’t.
If I tell him I’m falling in love with him, will it be too fast? I don’t think I could recover from a rejection from him. Nolan is the ultimate sweetheart, and I know deep down he would never hurt me. But even if he let me down easy I don’t think I could take it.
We enjoy our session of stolen kisses in the dark until ushers wearing vests and bow ties come in to clean up the place. We exit together, hand in hand, out to the street.
“You, sir, are not a droid, you’re a devil.” I’m grinning as he pulls me to him after I playfully try to pull away. “I can’t believe we did that.”
“Believe it,” Nolan replies, rubbing the small of my back as he gazes into my eyes. “Sorry, I can’t keep my hands off you.”
“Are you really that sorry?”
“No.” He laughs. “Not even a little bit.”
As we walk past the cute little brick shops on Main Street, Nolan slows. “Mia, about before—I do need to speak with you about something.”
Uh-oh. That off feeling I had before the movie returns with a vengeance. That must be bionic for “we need to talk.” Nolan’s expression is soft, almost apologetic. My thoughts are flying wild, a mile a minute.
Is he breaking up with me? Can he even break up with me? Is he my boyfriend?
Settle down, Mia. Chill out. He’s not a dick. He wouldn’t have just fingered you to oblivion if he meant to break things off.
“What is it?” Apprehensive, I turn to him, gazing up into his eyes.
Nolan sighs. “Look, I didn’t want to ruin our date. But there’s no way around this, and if you don’t hear it from me, you’ll hear it from Apollo, and I don’t want that to be the case.”
Every muscle in my body tenses. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m getting deployed,” Nolan says.
All the warmth he brought me goes cold like ice inside my veins. I pull my hand away from his. “Deployed?” I repeat. “When? Where are they sending you? For how long?”
“Southern California.”
“To the wildfires?” I remember how my parents weren’t keen on letting me stay in their home while they vacation. My heart is on the verge of sinking.
“Yeah, it keeps growing and getting worse.” Nolan rests his hands in his pockets as he studies me, his usual disarming smile completely absent from his face. “So they’re sending me.”
“Well—” I can’t even hide it. I’m upset by this news. It’s nothing I want to hear, like soaring sky high only to crash and burn a second later. I’m Icarus, flying to close to the sun. I appreciate that he tried to give us a chance to enjoy our time together rather than douse the mood with this uncertainty, this fear. But I remember him saying that wildfires were a true danger to him, more than others. Everything’s going so good, and now he’s being sent away?
Deep down, I know it’s selfish. I lived in California. I know how serious wildfires are. People’s lives are at risk. They’re losing their homes. And with a firefighter for a brother, I should be more prepared for this kind of scenario.
