Page 55 of Captivated

His finger pauses its movements and he kisses the words before resuming his tracing.

My eyes sting with a rush of emotions I wasn’t expecting, and I blink them back.

“I’ve never told anyone what it means before or why I got it,” I admit, his soft touch lulling me into a relaxed state. “I got it a couple years ago as a reminder to myself. It’s a part of a poemby Rumi. We’re all just pieces to a puzzle, continuously looking for other pieces to fit with us to make us whole. People to love, what brings us joy, where we belong. It all comes together to be a picture of love.”

“I like that,” Nico says softly, kissing my tattoo again. “You just described how I feel about you perfectly.”

“How?”

“A piece of my puzzle that’s been missing. You fit just right, Cassandra.”

I pinch my eyes closed to keep the unshed tears from escaping. That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.

“I feel the same way,” I admit, and a large chunk of the wall I’ve kept my heart barricaded behind is demolished.

Nico rolls me onto my other side so I’m facing him, and he tucks my wayward hair behind my ear. He’s looking at me with soft brown eyes. Open brown eyes that have me feeling like warm chocolate is flowing through my veins rather than blood.

“What made you need that reminder?” he asks gently. He wants me to open myself even more for him, and for once, I want to share something I’ve never talked about.

“It’s a story a few years in the making.”

Nico cups my cheek. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I lift my chin and give him a quick kiss before tucking myself against him. I can’t look at him when I tell him this. Not that I’m ashamed. I just don’t talk about myself, and I’m already feeling too vulnerable.

“At the end of my freshman year of college, Lexi and I went to a frat party to celebrate the end of finals week. I got a little too drunk, and when I went to find the bathroom, I was followed. I was too wasted to know what was really happening, and was lucky Lexi came looking for me when she realized I wandered off alone. She saved me. She pushed him off me before he could do anything and then got me out of there.”

Nico doesn’t say anything. He just drags his fingers up and down my spine, so I keep going.

“I woke up the next day extremely grateful. I know it wasn’t my fault. It was his for trying to take advantage of me. But I made a promise to myself that I was going to be more careful with myself and the situations I put myself in. Rumors spread about me through the frats that I was down for anything and up for the taking because I dated one for a month and had a one-night-stand with two others. They needed to save their egos by making me sound easy rather than admit I wanted nothing more from them. I got the tattoo a year later to remind myself that there’s more out there for me.

“I only started to try dating recently because I was tired of being alone, but it was a disaster. No one was interesting. No one made me feel like they were listening to me when I talked. And” – I reach up and trace his jawbone – “no one made me feel anything like how I do right now. Not even close. In fact, I felt nothing until you.”

Nico lifts my chin to look into my eyes when he says, “You were looking for your lost puzzle piece.”

“Yes,” I whisper, and his lips are on mine in an instant.

He kisses me with a passion I haven’t gotten yet. This is different. This is a silent agreement between us that we’re both feeling the same thing. We’re both realizing that this is real and there’s no more confusion for either of us.

Nico rolls on top of me and I slice my fingers through his hair, holding him to me.

“Cassie,” he says roughly against my lips, pressing his forehead to mine. “I want to feel you. I want this moment to keep going. I want to be as close to you as possible.”

“I’ve never done that.”

“Me either. I’ve never wanted to be so close to someone before you, Cassie.”

I stare into his eyes and see nothing but the truth shining in them. He’s going to make my heart explode with too many emotions I’m not used to if he keeps saying such sweet fucking things.

“I’m on the pill,” I tell him. “I…I want to feel you too, Nico.” I scratch the back of his head, which elicits a low rumble from the back of his throat. “I want you to be the one I’m closest to.”

“Piccante,” he cajoles, and my lips lift in a small smile.

“Not sopiccanteright now. I’m agreeing with you.”

“You know I like you both ways.” He kisses me hard, pressing me into the bed with his full body weight.

I hook my legs around his hips and tilt mine up so he can easily position himself at my entrance.

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