How is it that I have no clothes to wear?
I have jeans and shirts and underwear. But I have nothing that I deem sexy or even date-worthy. The jeans are expensive but old, with tears that are not supposed to be there and frayed from so many washes. My shirts are all T-shirts, and nine out of ten of them have Demon’s Wings logos on them. My bras and panties are all cotton and the least sexy things I have ever seen.
With a sob, I flop onto my bed and stare at my now disaster of a bedroom. All my clothes have been tossed around the room. There’s even a bra hanging from the head of my bed.
I can’t go out on my first date with Nik—fuck, my first date ever—in jeans and a T-shirt!
There’s a short tap on my closed bedroom door before it opens and Nik sticks his head in. “Hey, babe, you ready?” His voice trails off, and his eyes get huge when he sees the mess I made of my room in the last fifteen minutes. “Em?”
Another sob escapes me. “I have nothing to wear.”
His brows rise in that adorable way I love so much, and he walks fully into the room. “Your room suggests differently, baby. What’s the matter?”
“All I have are stupid jeans, and most of my shirts have Demon’s Wings logos on them. I don’t own one freaking dress! Not even a skirt. All my panties are made of cotton, and my bras are boring.” I grab my pillow and hug it against my chest.
He cocks his head to the side. “And you want a dress and skirts and underwear that aren’t boring? To tell you the truth, that bra hanging from your bedpost is pretty fucking hot.”
I shoot him a glare. “I want something I can wear on our date that you will want to tear off me with your teeth. I want to be sexy!”
His nostrils flare, and he turns away. Before I can even think about what he’s doing, he has the door locked and he’s suddenly in front of me. “Stand up, Em.” When I don’t move, he takes hold of my hands and pulls me to my feet. Gentle fingers lift my chin, forcing me to meet that intense ice-blue gaze of his. “Have I ever lied to you, baby girl?”
Biting my lip, I shake my head. Nik has always told me the truth. Maybe he has kept things from me, but he has never lied to me. Ever.
“Then listen to me because I don’t want to repeat myself, okay?” I nod, captivated by the way he looks down at me from his six-foot-three height. “You are the sexiest woman I have ever met. You don’t need more than a pair of ripped jeans, a tattered shirt, and ragged underwear, and I’ll want to strip you with my teeth. Fuck, girl, you make me hard just by being in the same room. If I smell your perfume, or whatever it is that you wear that makes you smell so amazing, I can’t walk straight.”
I forget how to breathe. All my brainpower is focused on his lips as they form those deep, insanely endearing words. “If you want those things, then we will get them. Tonight, tomorrow. Whenever you want. But don’t get them unless you want them because I want you more now standing here in that too-big shirt and those cutoff jeans than I ever would in some dress or lingerie.”
“R-really?” My voice comes out all breathy.
“Really.” He traces the waistband of my jeans, making my head swim with desire. “So, what do you want, Em? Want me to take you shopping?”
“Yes.” Because I still don’t feel sexy, despite his words. My tongue licks my parched lips. “But…tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” His voice lowers, taking on that seductive quality I remember from our stolen night together. “So, our date is off?”
I shake my head. “No, I just want to skip dinner and fast-forward to the kiss goodnight.” And this time, I want to bask in the fact that he really knows it’s me that he’s kissing. “And maybe see how talented you are at stripping me with those teeth of yours.”
He gives me a predator’s grin, causing me to shiver deliciously. “I think I can oblige the lady.”
All right, I will be the first one to say that having sex with Nik is not a smart idea. But damn if it isn’t the best idea I have ever had. That man has talent; this I knew from our first night together. The man can use his tongue in a way that makes me beg for mercy.
Our first night together had nothing on last night. Maybe it was because I didn’t have to feel guilty for taking advantage of him or having to hide how I really felt about him. Perhaps it was because this time he was sober and cried out my name when he came instead of “baby.” Or maybe it was because afterward, instead of passing out on me, he turned me so my back was against his chest and he cuddled me until I fell asleep in his arms.
Whatever the reason, it was magical, and I wake the next morning feeling like I’m floating. He’s still pressed up against my back, with one hand cupping my breast and the other lying protectively over where our daughter grows in my belly. It’s the perfect way to wake up, and I want this every morning for the rest of my life.
Warm lips caress my neck. “Morning, baby.” His hot breath is at my ear. “How did you sleep?”
“If I said it was the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had, would you believe me?”
I feel his smile against my shoulder. “Yes, because it was one of the best nights of sleep I’ve ever had, too.”
I’m not exactly happy about his answer. Turning in his arms, I grasp his chin and meet his smiling eyes. “One of the best?”
He nods. “Yep.”
I narrow my green eyes. “What were the other ones?”
He grins. “Let me see… A few weeks ago, when you crawled in beside me on the bus. When you couldn’t sleep last year and spent the night in my hotel room talking to me until I fell asleep…” He shrugs. “All of them seem to involve you sleeping in my arms.”
Okay, so I’m decisively happier with that answer. Not many women wouldn’t be, especially when someone as sinfully sexy as Nikolas Armstrong says those things to her. “I don’t know why I keep you around sometimes, mister.”
He bats those thick eyelashes at me, and I’m transfixed for a moment by the sheer beauty of them as they frame his eyes. Gods, I would kill for eyelashes like that. Several shades darker than his hair, they are magnificent. It’s not fair that his eyes are so beautiful. “Let’s grab a shower, baby. I’m starving.”
At the suggestion of getting up and eating, my stomach automatically grumbles. Nik grins at me. “How about some bacon?”
I laugh. “I’m going to end up hating bacon before this is all over.”
“Probably.” He kisses me, quick and hard, but no less potent. “Now, get that sexy ass up so that we can eat. I need food, woman. Food.”