Fight With Me

  “Nate,” I murmur against his lips.

  “Yes, beautiful.”

  “In.” Kiss. “Me.” Kiss. “Now.”

  He pushes back to look down at me, his eyes on fire, matching mine, and I grab for his fly. My fingers feel clumsy, and it takes me a few tries, but I finally get his zipper down, push his pants and briefs down far enough to unleash his beautiful, already hard cock, and run my thumb over the tip, back and forth over his apa.

  “Fuck,” he growls. He tears the yoga pants I threw on after my shower at the crotch rather than take the time to pull them off, and pushes two fingers inside me. “God, baby, you’re so wet.”

  “Now. I need you now.”

  “This is going to be fast, Jules.”

  “Yes, fast.” I guide him through my lips to my opening, and he slides in, all the way to the hilt. He’s so deep, so big, and I know this will not last long, for either of us.

  Jesus, two minutes ago I was about to fall asleep in his lap!

  “So beautiful.” His hips are moving quickly, he’s slamming into me hard, and he pulls my leg up over his shoulder, letting him sink into me even deeper.

  “Holy fuck, babe.” I grip onto his arms and hold on for dear life as he thrusts into me fast and hard, and oh so deep. His hands tighten in my hair and he rests his forehead against mine as I feel his orgasm work through him.

  “With me,” he whispers, and it pushes me over the edge, and I shatter around him.

  “Wow,” I whisper and kiss his nose.

  “God, Julianne, I never stop wanting you.” He pulls out of me and reverses our position so I’m lying on top of him, my head on his chest. His pants are still pulled down, and mine are a torn mess, but neither of us cares.

  “Back at you, ace. You are so beautiful, inside and out.” I lay my hand over his heart and smile softly. “Thank you, by the way.”

  “No need to thank me for that, baby. It’s my pleasure.”

  I laugh and prop myself up on my hands so I can look into his face. “Not that, smart ass. Thanks for this weekend. We needed it.”

  He tucks my hair behind my ear and sighs. “Yeah, we did.”

  I yawn and settle back down on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat and enjoying the rhythmic rise and fall with each breath he takes.

  “Let’s sleep,” he whispers and kisses my hair.

  ***

  I wake alone. A fresh log has been tossed onto the fire, I smell something delicious coming from the kitchen, and the radio is still on. I don’t recognize the song that’s playing.

  I sit up and stretch. There is no sign of Nate, so I stand up and run upstairs to throw away my ruined yoga pants and change into jeans. I pick up my iPhone and turn it on as I descend the stairs.

  Hmm… where did Nate go?

  I sit back down on the couch and rub my hands over my face, trying to wake up. Naps always leave me extra groggy.

  My phone starts to ring on the couch cushion next to me. I don’t recognize the number.

  “Hello?”

  “Jules?” a woman asks.

  “Yes.”

  “Hi, this is Marie Desmond from Playboy Magazine. I’m sorry to bother you on a Saturday.”

  “No problem, what’s up?” I frown and stand to pace the room as I talk. What could they possibly want?

  “Well, I’m calling because we are about to do an anniversary shoot for the July issue, and we’re bringing back some of our most popular girls. Do you have any recent photos of yourself?”

  “Yes, I have some recent photos, Marie, but none that are nude.” Holy shit!

  “That’s okay, I’d love for you to email a couple to me.”

  “I’m not even sure that I’d be interested in posing for an anniversary issue.” I stop pacing in front of a wide window and watch the ocean crash on the sand below.

  “Well, it pays fifty thousand dollars, Jules.”

  “Fifty thousand dollars? Holy shit, Marie, that’s double what I got for the month I was the centerfold. Why so much?”

  “We’ve been authorized to offer that to you veteran girls for this special issue.”

  “I don’t know, Marie. That part of my life was a long time ago, and I’m not so sure that my father’s heart could survive me posing nude again,” I say with a laugh, and I hear Marie’s chuckle on the other end.

  “I understand. Think about it over the weekend and call me on Monday.”

  “Okay. Thanks for the opportunity, Marie.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  I hang up the phone and lean my forehead against the cool glass of the window.

  Holy fuck.

  “Hell, no.”

  I twirl around at Nate’s angry voice and find him standing next to the couch, leaning his hip against it with his arms folded over his chest.

  “I take it you heard?”

  “No way, Julianne.”

  “I didn’t say I was going to do it.”

  “You didn’t say no.” His eyes are glacial, his jaw clenched, and he’s just so pissed.

  “She offered me fifty grand. That’s double what centerfolds make.” This is so not about the money. I don’t need it. But it is such a boost to my ego to know that they still want me!

  “I’ll deposit a hundred grand into your account when we get home. The answer is no.” His voice is so calm, but he’s radiating anger, and this really pisses me off.

  “I didn’t ask you.” I respond with a scowl.

  “Julianne…”

  “Stop.” I hold up my hand and shake my head. “I am not your child, nor am I your wife. This is my decision, Nate.”

  I see a muscle twitch in his jaw and his eyes narrow on mine.

  “So, what you’re saying is, when my girlfriend, whom I happen to be in love with, is propositioned by Playboy Magazine to pose nude, I don’t get to have an opinion in the matter?”

  “You’re not giving me your opinion. You’re putting your foot down and telling me that I can’t. I’m twenty six years old. I’ll do what I want.” I cross my arms over my chest and glare back at him.

  “No discussion?” he asks quietly.

  I sigh deeply and look down at my bare feet. I know I’m being stubborn and stupid, but damn it, I’m not his property!

  “Nate…” he crosses the room quickly and grips my arms in his hands, holding me in place.

  “I can’t stand the thought of it, Julianne. No other man will ever see you naked again, do you understand me?” His voice is raw, his eyes are pleading with me, and my brain just stops.

  “Nate…” I try again, but he interrupts me once more.

  “No,” he shakes his head in denial. “I want to build a life with you. This isn’t just an affair for me. And you get a call from someone you don’t know who wants you to pose naked in a national magazine, and I don’t weigh in on your decision at all? How is that supposed to make me feel?”

  Fuck.

  “Nate.” I step toward him and he loosens his grip on me, but his face is hard, his eyes pleading with me, and I take a deep breath and wrap my arms around his waist, press my cheek against his chest and hold on tight. “Stop, babe.”

  His arms fold around my shoulders and he hugs me to him.

  I caress his back reassuringly, kiss his chest and back away, still in the circle of his arms. I look up into his uncertain, weary face and smile, my anger gone. He loves me. He wants to protect me.

  “I was never going to accept their offer, Nate.”

  “Why didn’t you just turn her down?” he asks quietly.

  “Two reasons: One, because it felt nice to get the offer, and two, because ironically, I hadn’t talked it over with you. You know I’m not interested in that. But it’s really flattering that they thought of me, out of all the girls they could choose.” I shrug and look at his chest. “I would hope you’d be proud of me.”

  “Oh, baby, I am.” He kisses my forehead and I feel the tension seep out of him. “I’m so proud of you. B
ut I can’t deal with the thought you of posing again. Please turn them down.”

  “Like I said, I wasn’t going to accept the offer. But Nate, you can’t just dictate to me what I will and won’t do. I’m not the kind of girl that will just go along with your orders.”

  “I know, but damn it, it pissed me off.”

  “So noted.”

  “You’re not going to do it?” He asks quietly, tilting my head back with his fingers under my chin, pinning me with his gray gaze.

  “No.” I run my fingers down his smooth cheek. “Besides, my brothers and Dad would freak.”

  “They’re not alone.” He kisses my forehead once again and pulls out of my arms, takes my hand and leads me toward the kitchen. “Come, I have something for you.”

  “I hope it’s food, I’m starving.” He smiles back at me.

  “You’ll see.”

  “So many surprises this weekend, Mr. McKenna.”

  “I like surprising you. We’re going outside.”

  I look down at my bare feet. “Should I grab some shoes and a jacket?”

  “No, you’ll be warm enough. Here.” He lifts me effortlessly into his arms and cradles me against his chest. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss his cheek and breathe in his clean, Nate scent.

  “You smell good. I like it when you carry me.”

  He smiles down at me, opens the sliding door, and walks out onto the deck. The sun is setting on the water, turning the sky orange, red and purple. It’s stunning.

  He walks to the stairs leading down to the beach and starts descending them.

  “You don’t have to carry me down all these stairs.”

  “You’re fine.” He responds and easily moves down the staircase. We arrive at the gazebo and I gasp.

  “Surprise.”

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Nate lowers me to my feet and I stand in front of him, his hands resting on my shoulders, transfixed. The gazebo has been transformed into a lovely, romantic getaway. The fire pit in the center of the rustic space is ablaze, there is a table set up on one side, filled with silver-dome covered plates and a bottle of champagne chilling in a silver ice bucket. An ottoman has been pushed flush against one of the plush outdoor loveseats, and there are large, colorful pillows and blankets propped on it.

  White Christmas lights have been strewn along the perimeter of the space, both along the ceiling and the railing, adding a soft glow.

  Added to that is the amazing orange, red and purple sunset happening over the deep blue ocean, and I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

  “Say something,” Nate whispers.

  “Wow,” I murmur.

  Nate turns me around so I’m facing him, his gorgeous gray eyes dancing with humor. “What do you think?”

  “You went all mushy and romantic on me.” I cup his cheek in my palm.

  “Luke can give you mushy and romantic on the screen, but it’s my job to give it to you in real life, baby. Get used to it.” He leans down and gently lays his lips on mine, kissing me in the way only Nate can, and I sigh.

  “Let’s feed you.”

  We walk to the beautifully set table and Nate lifts the silver dome lids off the platters. There are finger foods on display that are amazing and too lovely to eat.

  “Okay,” Nate says, pointing at each dish. “We have chorizo-stuffed clams, bite sized Caprese salad on crostini,” he smiles down at me, “which means cheese, tomato and basil on toasted bread, crab-cakes and bacon-wrapped steak.”

  “Holy shit, this looks delicious.” Nate hands me a plate and we dig in, piling food on our plates. He pours us each a glass of champagne and leads me over to the plush lounging space. We are sitting side-by-side, Indian-style, our plates in our laps, facing the ocean.

  “A toast.” Nate holds his glass aloft and I follow. “To you, Julianne. For making me feel alive and happy, no matter where we are.”

  I smile up at my man, still overcome by this amazingly romantic gesture. I’ve never been romanced like this. “Thank you,” I whisper.

  “My pleasure.”

  We clink glasses and sip the delicious pink champagne, then dig into our dinner.

  “How did you do all this?” I ask with a bite of steak in my mouth.

  “Minions,” he responds with a shrug and I laugh.

  “Seriously, when? This wasn’t here when we went for our run this morning.”

  “I had it done this afternoon while you napped.”

  I take a bite of my Caprese crostini and watch him while I chew. His hair is loose, he’s wearing a black t-shirt, showing off his beautiful tattoo, and his blue jeans fit him perfectly. Nate glances over at me, and his eyes soften. He brushes a crumb off the side of my mouth and runs his thumb over my bottom lip.

  “What?” I ask.

  “You look lovely with the firelight dancing on your skin, and your beautiful blue eyes look happy.”

  Oh. Yes, he’s in uber romantic mode tonight.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, completely caught up in him.

  I take another sip of the delicious champagne and finish the food on my plate. “That was delicious.”

  “Mmm…” he responds as he also takes his last bite. He takes my plate and napkin and sets them aside with his and turns back to me, opening his arms. I slide easily between his legs, leaning my head on his chest, to enjoy the view.

  “It’s really beautiful here, ace.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” He kisses my hair and wraps his arms around my shoulders, hugging me against him.

  “If we didn’t have work, I’d never want to leave.”

  “Like I said earlier, we can come here whenever you want.”

  “We should try to come once a month. And bring Nat and Luke and the baby. They’d love it too.”

  “That sounds great to me.” He kisses my hair again and I smile. He’s so kind, and I love that he likes my friends.

  The sun is slipping into the water now, sending orange reflections across the surface. The sky is dark purple, and in the distance I can see some dark clouds rolling in.

  “We might get lucky and get a winter storm tonight.” I rub his arms where they rest across my chest.

  “You like thunderstorms?” he asks.

  “At the beach I do. They’re awesome.”

  “Would you like some dessert?”

  “I always, always have room for dessert, babe.”

  Nate chuckles as he climbs around me to the table and returns with two small individual chocolate cheesecakes.

  “Oh, my. Even here you manage to feed me chocolate cheesecake.”

  “Of course. It’s your favorite.”

  “What’s your favorite?” I ask and dig into the decedent dessert. “Oh sweet Jesus, that’s good.”

  “You.” He responds, his eyes on fire as he watches me lick chocolate off my lips.

  “You are romantic tonight.” I take another bite and moan.

  “Does it really bother you?” he asks with a grin.

  “No. It’s nice. Don’t tell Natalie.” Nate laughs and offers me a bite of cheesecake from his own plate, which I happily accept and offer him some of mine.

  We finish our desserts this way, feeding each other, and then settle back against the cushions, drinking another glass of champagne.

  “I have something for you. I’ve been trying to give it to you all day, but you kept distracting me.” He smiles ruefully at me and digs into his jeans pocket.

  “You don’t have to give me anything, Nate. This whole weekend is amazing.”

  “Well, this is special to me, and I want you to have it. It’s why we stopped at my dad’s this morning.” He pulls his hand out of his pocket, but holds whatever it is in his fist.

  “Okay,” I murmur, encouraging him to keep talking.

  “I already told you that my mom passed when I was very young. I don’t remember a lot about her, just mostly what my dad has told me, but I remember that she was really pretty, and she was very af
fectionate.”

  “I’m sure she was gorgeous, Nate. One look at you, and no one would doubt that.”

  He smiles at me and runs the backs of his fingers down my face.

  “The year she passed, I gave her this for her birthday, which was today.” He opens his fist, and inside is a silver chain with a pretty silver heart-shaped pendant.

  He looks up to me, still smiling. “I’d like to give it to you.”

  I feel my jaw drop and I watch as he takes the heart in his fingers with one hand, cups my hand in the other, and places the warm metal in my palm.

  “Nate…”

  “She would have loved you,” he continues. “I wish she could have known you. I want you to have this.”

  My eyes are searching his, and I’m just so touched. He’s giving me something of his mother’s. If that doesn’t scream commitment, I don’t know what does.

  “Turn it over,” he whispers.

  Engraved on the back is Love, Nate.

  Tears spring to my eyes as I rub the sweet words with the pad of my finger. I am overcome with emotion.

  “I know it’s not diamonds, or wildly expensive…”

  Before he can finish the words, I climb onto his lap and wrap my arms around his shoulders, bury my face in his neck, and hold on tight, letting the tears come.

  “Hey, it’s okay baby.” His hands are moving up and down my back, soothing and caressing me.

  “Thank you so much,” I whisper into his neck, unable to look him in the eye and let him see my tears. “This is the most beautiful gift anyone has ever given me.”

  “Hey.” He pushes back on my shoulders so I have to look at him and he grins at me as he wipes the tears off my cheeks with his thumbs. “Can I put it on you?”

  “Yes, please.” I offer him a wet smile, pull my hair up off my neck, and wait patiently as he clasps it. It falls a few inches below my collarbones, and shines in the soft firelight.

  “It’s beautiful, Nate, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  There’s suddenly thunder in the distance, and we both look out to the water as lightning strikes through the dark clouds moving closer to us.