All of Me (25 page)

Nathan couldn’t
stop inhaling her scent.  He was like some kind of creepy huffer as he took in
Stella’s scent over and over again.  He gently skated his fingertips up and
down her spine over her thin tee shirt.  Nathan caressed the bare skin of her
arm and pushed her dark waves off her cheek.  He stared at her face so hard he
thought it might wake her up. 

She was so
beautiful it hurt.  He loved every freckle on her face.  Every inch of her
skin.  Every mark and line and feature on her body.

He loved her
laugh, her soft sighs, and the way she gazed up at him like some kind of
fucked-up Superman. Her honesty and passion and kindness.  Her acceptance.  The
way she didn’t let him get away with anything.  The way she took care of him. 
The way she let him take care of her.   

He loved
her
. 
So much it was nearly unbearable.  So much he couldn’t breathe or think
straight or do anything except stare at her lying in his arms like it was the
most natural thing on earth. 

And she’d said she
loved him yesterday.  

But that had been
before he’d spilled all of his dirt.  And yelled at her and thrown things and
broken her door.  She couldn’t possibly still feel that way.

And yet here they
were.  Tangled up together in her bed.  Stella was lying in his arms and he was
about to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming because something this
incredible couldn’t possibly be happening. 

Not to me.

And then the
incredible became even more surreal as Stella sleepily, lazily nuzzled his
neck; kissing and nipping and licking at his skin as her tight little body
undulated against his.

Nathan groaned as
she hooked a leg over his hip and pressed their pelvises together.  At the feel
of his rock hard erection, Stella made an “mmmm” noise in the back of her
throat that had Nathan panting.

Stella reached
down between their bodies, grabbed Nathan’s erection through his boxers, and
pulled it toward her crotch.

Nathan groaned,
eyes closing, and pressed himself into her hand. 

Stella’s little,
impatient moan and not-so-little tug on his dick made him smile.

Yes, ma’am.  

Nathan pulled his
erection out of the flap in his boxers and grabbed a hold of Stella’s upper
thigh draped over his hip.  It didn’t take a road map to find the warm, sweet
wetness between her legs and, in one strong thrust, Nathan entered her
completely – hilt to tip. 

Stella cried out;
pulling her hips back slightly only to push them forward and fully impale
herself on his dick again.  And then again.  And then again. 

Nathan buried his
hand in her hair and gently tugged back.  The moment her lips were within
reach, he went after them; delving into the depths of her mouth hard.  Stella
sucked at his tongue and scratched her nails down his chest as she fucked him
over and over and over again. 

Nathan pulled back
from the kiss to look down at their bodies coming together and pulling apart
and coming back together.  It was the hottest, most erotic thing he’d ever seen
in his life:  watching his dick pleasure the woman he loved.  It sounded nasty,
even to him, but there was no other way to describe it.  It was wet, it was
frenzied, and it was the magnificent thing he’d ever seen.  Or felt.

“I love watching
you fuck me,” he whispered hoarsely when he caught her watching him from under
hooded lids. 

When Stella
dropped her eyes to watch what he’d been watching, Nathan almost came. Which
worked out well, because Stella took one look at their manic coupling and
shattered around him.  She threw her head back and cried out his name and
Nathan reveled in the pulsing of her body as she came around him.

He thrust a few
more times and found his own insanely incredible release.  Stella melted into
him, limp and shaky and Nathan held her tight against his chest.  A few minutes
later, they both drifted back to sleep.

Sated.  Peaceful. 
And happy.

***

Stella slammed on
her brakes the second she turned onto her street.  Because there was a car in
her driveway she’d never though she seen in her driveway again. 

And no one was in
the car, which meant that person was – dear, God – in her house.  With Nathan. 
Alone.

Stella floored it
and braked in front of her house with a squeal of rubber on pavement.  She
forgot all about the coffees she’d run up to Dunkin’ Donuts to get and scurried
up to her door.  It was wide open, which meant there was no delay for the shit
show she was about to stumble into.

But when she
walked in, all Stella found was Ryan sitting on her couch, drinking a beer,
like it was the most natural thing on Earth.  No sign of Nathan anywhere. 

“Uh, just make
yourself at home.”  At Ryan’s grin, Stella lifted her hands.  “Ryan, what in
the hell are you doing here?”

“I came by to see
how you were doing.  And maybe take you to lunch.”  Ryan’s blue eyes narrowed. 
“You can imagine my surprise when I found a dude in your house.  In his
boxers.”

“Why would that
surprise you?  You know nothing about me or my life anymore.” 

“And he seemed
pretty damned surprised to see me too.”  Ryan eyed her.  “Is that the Cleveland
cop I heard you were dating?”

“No, Ryan, I’m
sleeping with my neighborhood patrolman.”  Stella rolled her eyes and stalked
toward her bedroom.  “Of course it’s the guy I’m dating.”

Stella found
Nathan in her bedroom tying up his shoes.  When he looked up and met her eyes,
Stella winced at the steeliness there. 

“Nathan, I swear
to God, I had no idea he was coming over.”  Stella walked over and sat next to
him on the edge of the bed.  “I haven’t seen him in a year months.  I can’t
even begin to imagine what the hell he’s doing here.”

“I’m pretty sure I
can imagine.” 

Stella grabbed his
arm and forced him to face her.  “You can’t believe I knew about this.  Or
wanted it.  Or wanted
him
.  In any way.  You couldn’t possibly be that
ridiculous, right, Nathan?”

Nathan pulled his
arm back and stood up.  He teetered a bit and Stella figured his head was
spinning.  He had to have one hell of a hangover, which is why she’d gone out
for coffee while he was sleeping.  

He slipped his
Indians hat on backwards.  “I’m leaving.”

“No.  You’re not. 
He
is.”  Stella beat him to the door and stalked out to find Ryan still
sitting on her couch.  “Ryan, you need to leave.  Now.”

“I want to talk to
you.  Give me five minutes.”  Ryan glanced over her shoulder at Nathan and
smirked.  “I’m sure your
friend
won’t mind, will you, brother?”

“Fuck you!” 
Nathan lunged at Ryan who had wisely jumped up and moved out of the way. 

“Nathan!  Stop
it!” Stella grabbed Nathan’s arm and pulled as hard as she could.  It didn’t
deter him, but it slowed him down enough for Stella to position herself between
the two men.  “Nathan, please stop!  It’s not necessary!  He’s leaving!”

“Says who?” Ryan
said and Nathan lunged again. 

But he wasn’t
going to shove Stella and he couldn’t get to Ryan without doing that, so Nathan
backed off. 

Stella grabbed
Nathan’s hand and turned to face Ryan.  “Ryan, I’m dead serious.  Get out of my
house or I’m going to call the police.”

“You’re not gonna
need to call the police.  ‘Cause I’m about to throw him out on his ass, no back
up required.”  Nathan stepped toward Ryan and Stella gave him a good, hard yank
back. 

“No need to get
all worked up, my man,” Ryan said, hands up, smirk still in place.  “Stella,
I’ll drop by some other time.  When you don’t have company.”

“Like hell you
will!” This time when Nathan lunged, Stella couldn’t hold him back. 

Ryan very wisely
slipped out the front door before Nathan could get to him.  Ryan was well-built
and not a short guy, but Nathan had about four inches and fifty pounds on him. 
Plus, Nathan was enraged.  And a cop.  Even as stupid as Ryan obviously was, he
wasn’t stupid enough to take on a pissed off, hung over fellow police officer.

And Stella was
very glad because she had no doubt Nathan could be very dangerous with those
hands.  He’d grown up having to defend himself and Stella knew if Nathan got
his hands on a mama’s boy like Ryan, there’d be nothing left.  

As soon as Ryan’s
truck pulled out of the driveway, Nathan sank onto her couch and dropped his
(probably throbbing and spinning) head into his hands.  Stella grabbed some
Motrin out of the cupboard and a bottled water out of the fridge.  She went
back into the living room and handed Nathan both.

He swallowed down
the Motrin and polished off half the bottle of water. 

“Drink the rest,”
Stella said, sitting down next to him.  “You’re probably dehydrated from all
that alcohol.”

Nathan stared at
the water bottle he was cradling with both hands.  “Why was he here?  Is there
still something going on between you two?”

Stella knelt down;
positioning herself between Nathan’s splayed knees in front of the couch.  She
braced one hand on each of his thighs and looked him directly in the eyes. 
“There is nothing –
nothing
– going on between us.  I swear to you that
I haven’t seen him or talked to him in any capacity in a year, Nathan.  My
guess is he heard I was dating someone and showed up here to make trouble. 
He’s very immature like that.” 

Stella searched
his sad, whiskey eyes.  “You know what he did to me.  What he said about me. 
Do you really think I would ever so much as speak to him again, let alone…” 
She scrunched up her face.  “Ugh.  I can’t even say it.”  Stella stood and
straddled Nathan; leaning him back into the couch and wrapping her arms around
his neck.  “But none of that would matter anyway because I’m in love with
someone else.”

Nathan grunted. 
“That’s some lucky bastard.”  He eyed her lips, which were very close to his
own.

“Oh, yes.  Very…” 
Stella kissed him.  “Very…”  She kissed him again.  “Lucky.”  She cast a glance
at the cable box clock.  “I’ve got two hours until I have to leave for work.” 
She gave Nathan a sly smile.  “Wanna see how lucky he can be?”

Chapter
Twenty

“I assume you’re
not stopping by Marshall’s bachelor party with me tonight?”

“No.” 

“Because you think
Marshall is a sleazy prick or because it’s at a strip club?”  Danny asked.

“A – I want to
spend the evening with Stella.  B – Marshall is a sleazy prick who has no
business getting married considering he screws anything with a heartbeat.  And,
C – I don’t do strip clubs.  I can’t stand those places and you know it.” 
Nathan shot him a look.  “That answer your question?”

“Yep.  And, no
problem.  Just means more strippers and booze for the rest of us.”

“Be careful,
Danny, okay?  I worry about you in those situations.  You have no personal
limits and when you mix with other people who have no personal limits, crazy
shit happens.”

Danny grinned. 
“That’s what I’m hoping.”

“I never
understood that tradition anyway.  “A man – or woman – is about to make a
lifetime commitment to another person, so what do you do?  Purposefully put
them in a tempting situation where bad decisions can be made and relationships
have the potential to be destroyed.”  He shook his head.  “Never made a bit of sense
to me, but whatever.”

He knew he sounded
like…well, as Stella would say…Sergeant Stickler, but facts were facts.

“When you and
Stella get engaged, I am going to throw you the sickest, most twisted bachelor
party ever.  We’re going to have the raunchiest strippers money can buy, a
lesbian act, top shelf booze…”  Danny paused.  “…and a chocolate fountain. 
‘Cause I’m dying to rent one of those bitches for any reason whatsoever.”

“Your fucked-up
party planning sounds like my own personal version of Hell, but thanks,
anyway,” Nathan said.  “And Stella I are not getting engaged.”

Danny gave him a
sideways glance.  “Uh-huh.”  He pointed to the hospital.  “Does she know you’re
coming?” 

They pulled into
St. Mary’s Emergency Room parking lot. 

“Nope.  I thought
I’d surprise her.” 

“What the hell is
that called again?”  Danny gestured to the Starbucks cup. 
“Mocha-Stinka-Frappa-Shitta?”

“Yeah, that’s
it.”   

“Whatever it is,
it looks damn good.  I love shit like that, but I am way too much man-“  Nathan
scoffed.  “…to order one of those.”

“Whatever, Rambo. 
Just keep your mitts off that.  It’s for Stella.”

“You do realize
you are completely whipped, don’t you, man?  Don’t get me wrong…it’s sweet. 
But, as your best buddy and partner, it’s important I make that fact that very
clear to you.  The minute you pulled through and ordered that caramel nightmare
because your woman likes them – and probably just because you needed an excuse
to see her - signifies that you are completely, totally, and nauseatingly
pussy-whipped.  You’ve made your peace with that, right?”

Nathan pulled the
cruiser along the curb and parked.  He grabbed the drink and popped the locks. 
“I don’t like you using that word in any sort of context related to Stella. 
But, yeah.  I’m aware and I’ve made my peace with it.” At Danny’s loud bark of
laughter, Nathan cracked a half-smile. 

Because he was
happy.  And he was about to get happier because, in a minute, he was going to
see Stella.  And do something nice for her.

Nathan approached
the triage desk and asked for Stella.  Thanks to his uniform (and probably the
Iced Caramel Macchiato he was holding), the triage nurse buzzed him right
back.  As Nathan came up on the nurse’s station, he saw Stella’s friend Christopher
talking to another nurse.