Page 66 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
“No.”
“Get on that fucking plane and make this right!”
This time when I flinched, my phone didn’t stop two inches away from my face. Instead, it traveled up to Nick’s ear in the hand that had ripped it from my own.
Nick’s face turned to stone and the muscle in his forehead twitched as my father continued his rant.
“Shut the fuck up,” Nick growled. “You won’t talk to her like that again.”
Straining my ears, I barely made out my father’s reply, “I’ll talk to my daughter any way I see fit.”
“You’re done, pal. Call her again and say anything other than how beautiful, smart or kind she is and you’ll be talking to me,” he said and hung up the phone.
Nick and I both took a few moments to compose ourselves. His chest heaved with deep breaths and I assumed he was trying to calm his temper.
My chest did the same but it was to keep myself from crying happy tears.
This was what it felt like to have someone who stood up for me without question or restraint? Incredible.
As a child, my mother had always played mediator but her tactics against my father had always been to change the subject. She’d distract him from whatever rampage he was on and I’d sneak away. Unfortunately, he’d usually find me again when she wasn’t around to act as the buffer.
And because it took so much relentless energy, I’d rarely stood up for myself.
But not Nick. Standing in my living room, wearing only a pair of flannel pajama pants, he was infuriated. Whatever he’d heard had been enough. Without hesitation, he had defended me to the one person who had always made me feel like I was less.
Nick managed to collect himself before I did and knelt down in front of my chair.
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Emmy. He’s an asshole. Are you okay?”
My blurry eyes looked into Nick’s and I nodded. Reaching out, my fingers slid into the soft hair on his face while I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his.
I wanted to be as close to Nick as I could get.
I was ready.
I softly kissed Nick’s mouth until he caught on and took over. I opened and his tongue slid inside, stroking back and forth while his lips pressed deeper and deeper into mine. His taste invaded my mouth, and as I dragged in a ragged breath, his scent filled my nose. Every one of my senses was consumed by Nick.
His hands came to my waist and he picked me up out of the chair. The robe I was wearing fell open as my legs wrapped around his hips and my ankles locked together at his back. I gave his beard one last stroke before wrapping both arms around his neck.
His mouth never broke from mine as he carried me upstairs and toward my bed. As we walked, Nick pushed the thin cotton fabric of my pajama shorts up and slid his hands underneath them and into my panties.
I gasped when his palms squeezed my ass and he pulled my core into the hardness under his flannel pants.
Feeling how much he wanted me sent sparks all over my skin. Every inch of my body was tingling. My sex was throbbing and I ground my hips into his, trying to get some friction to ease the ache.
Nick lowered us down into the bed and his weight settled on top of me, pushing me deep into the mattress. I cradled his hips with mine and gazed into his vibrant hazel eyes full of lust and heat.
Without breaking eye contact, his hand reached out to the nightstand and came back with a condom. When had he put them in there? It didn’t matter. I was just glad that he had.
As he eased off the bed, I lifted my head so I could watch his movements. His chest was lean and cut, the muscles of his pecs and abs perfectly defined. I couldn’t wait to trace the strong lines at his hipbones with my tongue. My fingertips were itching to run through the dark sprinkling of hair at his chest and lower belly.
I was so primed and ready for him that my whole body twitched when he put two thumbs into the waistband of his pants and slid them off. The sight of his hard cock sent a fresh wave of tingles to my core.
With the condom on, he came to me and pulled the robe from my shoulders and the tank off my top. Both went sailing to the floor, followed shortly by my bottoms and panties.
Nick’s hands spanned my ribs as he picked me up, setting me farther up the bed. Then with one powerful surge, he sank deep. My eyes squeezed shut as I savored the burn and stretch, my body molding to him.
“Emmy,” he groaned as his hips pushed hard into mine.
