Page 10 of Wild For You

The world outside ceased to exist, narrowed to the point of singularity where our bodies joined. Time stretched and folded upon itself, each second an eternity, each eternity a second.

“I never expected?—”

“Neither did I,” I interjected, my laugh a nervous fluttering of wings against the cage of my ribs. The gap between us was an ocean I longed and feared to cross. “But here we are.”

“Here we are,” he echoed, taking a seat beside me, close enough for his heat to wrap around me like a blanket.

“Tell me something,” I urged, craving the intimacy of secrets more than the touch we had just shared. It was easier, somehow, to bare my soul than my skin.

Nico ran a hand through his short, jet-black hair—a gesture that spoke of uncertainty in a man who seemed to be made entirely of confidence. “I’m scared,” he confessed, his gaze locked onto mine, intense and unwavering. “Scared that letting someone in means risking everything I've built for Haley and me.”

His confession was astonishing. Nico was a mysterious man, but for him to open up to me, especially about something as important as his daughter, made me feel worthy. Being a single father couldn’t be a harder job. My breath hitched. His admission mirrored my own fears, the fortress I'd built around my heart piece by painstaking piece. “I understand,” I whispered, my voice catching. “More than you know.”

“Then why does this feel so right?” he asked, his thumb tracing idle patterns on the back of my hand, sending shivers up my spine that had nothing to do with the chill of the evening air seeping through the window.

“Because sometimes the heart knows what the mind struggles to accept.” My words were a lifeline thrown into the turbulent sea between us.

“Maybe it's not about walls or defenses,” Nico mused, his eyes searching mine as if looking for an answer I wasn't sure I could give. “Maybe it's about finding someone who's worth the risk.”

I squeezed his hand, a silent affirmation. I wanted to be that person for him, to be brave enough to stand in the light of vulnerability. But the shadows of past hurts clung to me like cobwebs, and I feared what might happen if I brushed them away. My heart was a garden longing for sunlight, yet dreading the exposure.

“Josie, look at me,” Nico urged gently.

I lifted my gaze, meeting those deep wells of intensity, and found myself falling into them. “I have these moments,” I began, the confession spilling from me before I could stop it, “where I imagine a life not constrained by 'what ifs.' A life where I take the leap without looking down first.”

“Is that what this is? A leap?”

“Maybe it's the start of one.” My voice trembled like the surface of a pond touched by the wind.

“I’ve spent so much time building walls. But with you... it feels like they just... crumble.”

I reached up, my fingers tracing the line of his jaw, marveling at the strength I found there. “I know what you mean,” I said. “It's terrifying, isn't it? Letting someone see the real you.”

Nico's hand slid along my back, pulling me closer until our bodies aligned with an electric urgency. His other hand cupped my face, thumb caressing my cheek as if memorizing the curve of my smile. “Terrifying and... exhilarating,” he admitted, his lips hovering over mine.

As our mouths met in a kiss that held the promise of all the moments yet to come, a surge of heat fled through my body. This wasn't just a mingling of lips; it was an anchoring of souls, a silent acknowledgment of our mutual vulnerability.

Our movements became a dance of urgency, a choreography dictated by the rhythm of our hearts. Clothing fell away like petals from a flower in bloom, revealing the beauty of our imperfections, the scars, and stories. My mind whirled with a kaleidoscope of sensations—the heat of Nico's touch, the sound of his ragged breathing, and the scent of his cologne.

Nico’s arms were bands of steel wrapped around me, yet there was a gentleness in his hold, a reverence in the way his lips traced the path along my collarbone. I arched toward him,wanting, needing to be closer still, as if I could dissolve into him and escape the confines of my own guarded heart.

“God, Josie,” he groaned, his voice laced with a passion that resonated deep within my core. “You undo me.”

“Then let's come undone together,” I said, my words a whisper against the drumbeat of our escalating need. It was more than a physical union—it was the intertwining of lost and found, of fears and longings laid bare before each other.

The crescendo built around us, our bodies speaking in a language older than time. We moved together, racing towards an apex that shimmered on the horizon like the first break of dawn.

“Josie,” Nico gasped, his grip tightening as if he could anchor himself to this moment, to me, forever.

As we reached the peak, the world exploded in a symphony of color and light, every note of the soft music underscored by the beat of two hearts. I never could’ve imagined my night ending like this. Wrapped up in the sheets with a man as hot as Nico. Maybe I should take leaps more often.

In the aftermath, we laid entwined, the echoes of our connection reverberating through the stillness. I traced the lines of Nico's face, each one a story. And I realized that maybe, just maybe, the most beautiful leaps were the ones taken in tandem.

“We never did have our drinks,” I laughed, sitting up in the bed. It was time for me to head home, but it would be easy to just stay here tangled up in his arms tonight.

“You don’t have to leave yet,” he said as I finished getting dressed.

Our final kiss was a lingering press of lips, a seal upon the unspoken vows. It held the sweetness of our intimacy and the salt of impending separation, a testament to a connection that had no promises of tomorrow.

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