Broken (5 page)

“I’ll be there at six thirty.”

“That’s in half hour. Will you be ready since you’ve spent all this time talking to me? What are you doing with Melly?”

“Sadie is coming over to watch her. I’m sure they’ll have fun.”

“Okay, well let me go, so I can finished getting dressed.”

“So what were you wearing?”

“Bye, Nathan.” She bit her lip as she disconnected the call. Nerves stirred in her stomach as she rubbed on lotion and slipped black jeans on. She had considered buying nicer clothes for their dates, but Nathan had begged to be let off the hook and dress down. Since that’s what she wanted for herself, she had agreed. He had made up for it—if there was anything to be made up—by being funny and sexy all in one package. Every time she told herself she would stop seeing him, she couldn’t. Now they were at the point where the kisses were getting hotter. She had invited him over to her place for the first time, but she was losing her nerve big-time.

When the doorbell rang, Ciera was just about to fight through putting on some makeup. She glanced at the eyeliner in her hand and sighed in relief. He’d have to take her as is. She just wasn’t that much into dolling up. After tweaking her coils in the front of her head, she left the bathroom and headed down the hall.

“Housewarming gift,” Nathan said, holding up a bottle of red wine.

“Thanks. I didn’t just move in.”

He wrapped an arm about her waist and drew her to him. Their lips touched, and Ciera grasped his shoulders. The sound of their hungry kisses filled the apartment and probably entertained the neighbors. She pulled out of his hold and tugged him inside.

“Then it’s an excuse to get you drunk,” he said as he walked behind her. Ciera could feel his eyes on her butt, and she couldn’t wait to get to the couch.

“You’re crazy. It takes a lot of wine to bring me down. I made spaghetti like my mother used to make when I was young. Everything homemade, not the bottled sauce. I hope you like it.”

He looked like he’d died and gone to heaven. “I know I will.”

They sat down to dinner, and Ciera passed him the spaghetti. Nathan heaped food onto her plate and his. He filled her salad bowl and cut her generous slices of garlic bread. “I wasn’t going to eat that much. I’ve been thinking of going on a diet.”

She didn’t look at him while she poured them both a glass of wine. Nathan stopped her movements and took the bottle from her. He set it down and raised her fingers to his lips. “You’re beautiful like you are, Ciera, but if that’s what you want, I’m okay either way. Well, not completely okay.”

She felt sick. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to offend you.”

“I think you better say what you really think, Nathan!”

He groaned and pushed fingers into his hair. “I really like your breasts the size they are, and your ass.”

With these bold words, the man scooted closer to the table. She knew in a heartbeat why he’d done it. Nathan was trying to hide a hard-on.

“You probably think I want you just for sex. I promise it’s not that.”

Ciera sputtered. “Oh, hell, I thought you were going to say I’m too fat.”

“Too…? Ciera, the only complaint a red-blooded man could have about you is that you won’t open up, and I’m working on it. But your body. Sweetheart, you’re killing me every time I taste your lips and hold you.”

Sweetheart? She
was killing
him?
Ciera panted. She stared down at her food and shifted it around on her plate. He was killing her with his words, and she kept trying to resist. Nothing worked, and now she had to add to it that Nathan truly wanted
her
, as she was. None of it seemed possible.

Ciera laid her fork down and licked her lips. She drew in a deep breath and looked him dead in the eyes. “What if I don’t believe you?”

“What?”

“You heard me, Nathan. What if I don’t believe you? You say you want me, and you’ve been hinting around all this time about us having sex.”

“If I made you feel rushed or—”

“No, you didn’t. I want yo—
it
—just as much. I’m a woman, and I have needs. What I want to know is, what if I think you’re just horny and any woman will do? Okay, so you haven’t slept around. With Melly to care for, you didn’t have a lot of time. That doesn’t make you a good guy. It makes you a great father,” she rushed to add.

His expression softened. “Thanks.” He too set his fork down and leaned back in his chair. “If I make love to you, that proves nothing?”

She noted he used “make love” rather than “have sex.” “I don’t think so.”

“Unless I stay with you.” His words were spoken so low, she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.

“What?”

He stood up and walked around the table. Ciera was tempted to dart away, but he captured her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Right now. In your room. I think you’re ready as much as I am. We satisfy each other, and then I get to work proving to you I want you and only you.”

Ciera followed him down the hall with her head shouting,
Crazy, get your ass back in the dining room and finish your food!
Of course, she was no longer hungry. Eating just seemed like a good way to avoid what was coming and save face when Nathan realized how much she had stuffed into her tight jeans.

He stood in front of her as she sat on the bed and raised her chin to kiss her lips. When he leaned up, she had no doubt at least that he was turned on. His pants tented with his shaft straining toward her. Ciera ran the flats of her palms up his thighs, and she felt his muscles tense.

“I want to see you naked so bad, baby.” He dropped to a knee in front of her, and she froze. Her heart hammered in her throat as he raised her T-shirt. She covered his hands to stop him.

“Um, can you turn off the light?”

“I can’t see you in the dark.”

“What about just the hall light?”

He stood up and pulled her to her feet. “Ciera, you’re beautiful. Please let me see.”

She swallowed and jerked the T-shirt over her head. Nathan caught his breath, but she didn’t look at him. She started in on her pants before she lost her nerve. When she shoved them down her thick thighs, she bent to disentangle her feet, but Nathan beat her to them. He rested a hand on her bare leg and let her brace herself on his shoulder to get the pants off. She could only see the back of his head, so she didn’t know what his reaction might be.

Instinct made her fold both arms over her chest even though she still wore a bra and panties.
Granny panties. What was I thinking?

Nathan straightened. She’d turned her head to look at the wall, and refused to look back. He touched her lips with his thumb and then grasped her chin, forcing her to look at him. To her surprise, he seemed a little angry, and she didn’t get why.

“You’re going to let me look at your body without covering it up as if you have something to be ashamed about!”

“Nathan, you don’t understand what I’ve dealt with.”

“Put your hands down.” He had the nerve to ignore her argument and made a noise that seemed to mean business, so she did as he asked. Nathan looped a finger in each strap and dragged her bra down. Her boobs popped into view, her nipples already stiff.

“Shit!” He moaned.

Ciera drew in a sharp breath when he plucked at her nipples and bent to suck one into his mouth. She watched him as he squeezed her breast and teased the tip between his lips. Her sex clenched in longing, growing wet. Nathan hooked the waistband of her panties and was about to tug them downward, but she stopped him. He let her nipple pop from his mouth, and he looked at her.

“We’re almost there. Let me see it all.”

“I…” She couldn’t think of an excuse to delay him. Sure, she’d already revealed a lot, and she wasn’t ashamed of her cootchie. She kept herself trim and clean, but taking her panties off meant no going back. He’d look at her more closely. Damn it, why did she have to feel so insecure? She didn’t used to be this bad, not before Tony.

“How about we even it out?” he suggested, and he stepped back to pull his T-shirt over his head. He dropped it and waited for her reaction. Totally unfair when his body was so hot. As she’d known he wasn’t cut from steel, but he did have nice muscle tone, and at some point over the summer he had been out in the sun. Her palms were drawn to his warm skin, and she kissed his chest before boldly making her way to his flat nipple. She licked it and gave it a nip. Nathan moaned. He ran a hand down her back. She tried to stop him, but he made it to her butt and squeezed. Another growl of pleasure. “I love your ass, Ciera. It’s so round and perfect!”

He gave her ass cheek a gentle smack and squeezed again. Then he ventured past the band. Although she grabbed his wrist, he kept moving until his fingers dipped into her crack and massaged her anus. She sagged against him, gasping. Nathan bent his head and found her lips. They curled their tongues around each other, and she forgot about dimpled thighs and love handles.

Nathan grunted and groaned as he pushed against her. She landed on the bed, but he followed so close, they might as well have moved as one unit. His weight came down on her, crushing her into the mattress. Fire ignited in her belly as he kneed her legs apart and pressed his hard-on against her sex. She was so wet, only his jeans and her panties kept him from sliding inside her. He pumped once, and she shuddered on the edge of an orgasm.

“I’ve got to get you out of those panties and me out of my pants before I come.” He jumped to his feet and shed his clothes. Ciera stared at his erection. His dick stood up, slightly curved. She didn’t judge his width or his length. She just knew if he put that in her, she was going to come fast. She bit her bottom lip, unable to stop staring, but Nathan pointed. “I need you to take those panties off, baby, because I don’t think I can wait much longer.”

Damn him for calling her baby. She melted and shed the panties and waited, watching him for his reaction. Without thinking about it, once she had discarded the underwear, she’d drawn her knees up. The movement spread her nether lips, and she could feel her juices dripping down. The bed sagged, and Nathan pulled her legs wider apart. He said something she didn’t hear, but he kept looking. His gaze focused on her heat and then skittered over her legs, her belly, and her breasts before he centered on her core again.

“You were hiding
this
from me?” he demanded. He touched her wetness with a single fingertip. She almost fainted. “I have to ask. Ciera, do you like your man to go down on you?”

“If he wants to,” she croaked, thrown by his question. Tony hadn’t liked it, but he’d been just fine with her sucking his dick.

She’d scarcely spoken the words before Nathan’s head was tucked between her legs, and he was eating her out. He paused for an instant to say, “Squeeze my head between your thighs. I want to be buried alive in your sweetness.”

Ciera’s mouth fell open. Nathan was a perv, but she was soon shouting his name as he stuck his tongue deep into her and lapped at her come. He moved up to suck on her swollen bud, and she creamed some more. Just as he wanted, Ciera hugged his head with her legs just enough not to hurt him but trapped him against her aching heat. She arched her hips over and over to ride his face, and soon her orgasm exploded with wave upon wave of pleasure.

Nathan climbed up the bed thumbing a bit of come from his lip. He paused long enough to grab a condom from his pocket and rolled it on. Then he laid over her, his gaze locking with hers. Anticipation kept Ciera quiet, but she reached up to grasp his hips as he lowered his weight down on her. She gasped at the first touch of his shaft’s head. So much time had passed since she’s last had a man inside her. She figured it would hurt at least a little. Nathan took his time and held the fronts of her thighs in a gentle grip before he sank slowly into her heat. Ciera shut her eyes and tensed. She drew in a breath.

“I’m sorry,” Nathan whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s okay,” she murmured as the stab of pain faded as quickly as it came. “It feels so good.”

Nathan stroked into her wetness and pulled out. She moaned, losing strength. He pumped in again, ground his hips into hers, and then drew back.

“You’re killing me, Nathan. Do it now, please!”

He kissed her lips, holding himself still. His tongue teased hers, and he nibbled at her bottom lip. When she raised her hips to try to get him to pump, he held her down and broke the kiss. “Baby, there’s nothing I want more than to do it fast, but it’s been a while. I’m about to burst, and if I do, you’re going to think I’m a lousy lover. So I have to wait until it calms down some. Give me a minute.”

“Oh, sorry.” She uttered a nervous chuckle and buried her face in the base of his neck. That part had slipped her mind, but from the pleasure Nathan had already given her, she would never think he was a lousy lover.

“Kiss me,” he ordered in a husky tone, and she raised her face. Nathan cupped her cheek and thrust his tongue into her mouth. At the same time, he began pumping his dick into her snatch. He ground slow and steady, driving her toward another orgasm, and then he sped up until he pounded into her heat. Sitting up, he pushed her legs higher and closed them so that he bumped her butt over and over. He leaned to the side a little, staring at her rear each time he drove in. A cry left his throat, and the last thrust was hardest. He held deep inside her, and she came a second time along with his release.

Nathan dropped behind her on the bed and pulled her roughly back to his chest. He slung a heavy leg over hers, keeping her in place. Feeling satisfied, Ciera yawned and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Seven

“Ciera, wake up.”

She moaned.

“Come on, baby, open those beautiful eyes for me.”

She kept them closed. “I don’t know what time it is, Nathan, but I’m going to crack you if you don’t back off and let me rest.”

“You can rest at my house.”

“What?” Now she did open her eyes. He was sitting on the side of her bed pulling his shoes on. “You’re going? What time is it?”