Page 40 of Catch Me

Callie muses playfully, smirk tipping her smile again. “Oh well then on second thought, maybe I will tell Sean. I’d quite enjoy seeing that arrogant fuck getting put in his place.” I slap her arm, eyes desperate and pleading with her. “Relax,” she says, “my lips are sealed.” She zips them shut and turns to leave, but stops just before she disappears from sight. “Don't drag this out too long though Lo. It’s my duty to keep secrets for my friends, but I can’t lie to my soon to be husband for long.”

I salute her, skin still tingling with panic. “I swear, I’ll tell him soon.” Callie nods and starts to leave again, but I call after her. “Oh, by the way Cal, Molly knows.”

She flaps her hands in the air, exasperated. “For the love of god! That girl knowseverythingbefore I do.”

I try not to laugh, but a whispered chuckle leaves my lips before I can stop it.

Callie heads upstairs and I hear Sean trail behind her, muttering something about waking up early with Lily and making cookies. The girl is barely able to roll over, let alone bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies at 6am with her much too excitable,golden retriever father. The kitchen door swings open only a few moments after I hear Sean’s bedroom door click shut. Nick stands in the open doorway with a shit eating grin.

“What’s that smile for?” I say, pursing my lips with amusement.

“I just realised I finally get you all to myself for the rest of the night.”

He crosses the room and pulls me to his chest, cold lips finding my neck and sending a path of shivers down my spine.

My voice is a whisper when I say, “Let’s go to bed.”

“Good idea, I have a present for your upstairs and I need you to open it tonight.”

I pull back to look at him. “It's not Christmas until tomorrow.”

“I don't give a shit, you’re opening it tonight otherwise I don't get to see it in action until we get home and I don’t have that much control over myself.”

He pulls me by the hand, up the winding staircase and into my bedroom at the end of the hall. The house is silent, dark and still which makes me nervous as usual. If Nick is planning to touch me anywhere tonight he’ll have to have his other hand securely over my mouth so I don’t scream too loud and wake up the entire house.

But when we step inside he doesn’t touch me at all, he moves towards the bed, ducking down to retrieve something from underneath. He appears with a slightly nervous grin and a pink wrapped box with a large bow in the centre. He holds it out to me, eyes big and filled with childlike excitement as I take the gift in my hands, delicately tracing the lines of the bow. I can feel his gaze on me but I don’t look up from the sparkling pink box in my hands, lifting the lid slowly and tentatively like something might jump out at any moment. I toss the lid aside and stare down at the lace trim inside the box. It’s a set of lingerie that looks like it cost more than I'm comfortable with Nick spending on me. I lift it up and hold it out in front of me, letting it hang. The purplelace has spiralling flowers and tiny details that my eyes can’t even blink to look away from. The underwear is barely a string that could cover anything between my legs, but I know that was likely the whole reason Nick chose this particular set.

“Nick, it’s beautiful.” I almost whisper, finally catching his eye. “But I can’t wear this, I'm too shy.”

His eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Not with me you’re not. That’s for my eyes only and you and I both know that you’re the most confident when you’re alone with me.”

I feel my shoulder sag a little and I shrug lightly. “I don't know Nick, I’ve never worn anything like that before.” My go to underwear usually consists of a plain black thong and a boring black or white bra with little to no padding. The thought of putting my body on show like that, wearing something so bright and showy is making my stomach slosh. I trust Nick with every fibre of my being, really I do, but I don’t feel like I can pull this set off. I’m scared that he’s going to be disappointed, the girls he’s used to seeing in this type of shit are probably built like Victoria’s secret models.

Nick takes my waist in his hands and pulls me close. “Well, good, I'm glad you haven’t worn anything like this before because I don’t want you wearing sexy shit for anyone but me, not ever.”

“Oh, ok.” I snicker, tucking a rogue curl behind my ear. “So this is basically your way of pissing all over me.”

“Okay, you’ve lost me.”

“Marking your territory,” I say, amused smile pulling my dimples in deep.

“Oh, well yeah. You’re mine, so I’ll mark my territory whenever I want to…” he pauses, glancing behind him at my queen sized poster bed. “Like right now, get on the bed.”

I lay back with a smile as he prowls towards me like he’s planning to devour every single piece of me as slowly as possible.

I can’t fucking wait to let him.

When he whips the thick, black sweater from over his head I notice a new swirl of slightly red ink on his inner forearm. It’s small, but I know Nick’s body so well at this point I’d notice a new freckle if one developed. I grip his arm and twist it towards me, studying the new, delicate ribbon of ink and when I realise what it says my eyes almost pop out of my skull.

“When did you get this done?” I croak, struggling against the instant dryness in my throat.

Nick smiles sweetly. “Yesterday, do you like it?”

“Like it?” I gawk, pressing a light kiss to his still red skin. “I love it.”

“Good,” he smiles, taking my chin between his fingers and catching my lips with his for a long but soft kiss.

The ink is black, thin and delicate in style and fits right between two of his other larger tattoos. The swirl of the ‘L’, the way it dances across his skin so beautifully, like it was made to be there, it makes my skin tingle.

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