Niq - New Adult

Chapter 11

Dinner passes and we stick to safe topics: pasta, yoga, weather.  It’s nice to suspend the reality of our situation, even if it’s only for a few minutes.  Mopping the plate with a hank of sour dough, I sigh contentedly.  “This was far and away the best meal I’ve ever eaten.”  I stuff the soggy bread in my mouth and chew happily.

Onrhi smiles gently at me.  “The meal was good.  The company was better.  Dinners at my house when I was a kid, they were mostly about my dads lecturing me and trying to steer me into dance and art.”

“You were lucky to have them,” I reply.  “My meals as kids were always just me and whatever carer was rostered for the day.”

“That sounds lonely.”

I shrug.  “I never knew any different.”

I can feel Onrhi’s sad eyes on me but I refuse to let tonight be about me and my orphaned childhood.  “Player, something happy please.”

Music begins to emanate from all around us, a warm soundtrack after a perfect feed.  Onrhi stands and extends a hand to me.  “Do you dance?”

“Yes.  Yes, I do.”  I let him pull me to my feet and he spins me fast enough that I stumble and clutch his shirt for support.

Raking a hand through my hair, Onrhi rocks me in time to the tune.  “When you sent me that forum message last night…  I was contemplating jail time rather than come.”

My happy buzz dissipates.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You could have just let me be.”

“No.  No, I couldn’t.  You’re the most important person in my universe.”

His fingers trail down the fitted material across my back and shivers explode across my skin.  “Your universe is so limited, Niq.  In regular relationships, people give each other space.  You’re spoiled.”

I pull back.  “No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are,” he laughs.  “In the Wild, do you know who I answer to?”

“The call?”

“Funny.  I answer to myself.”  He scrubs a hand at his stubbly chin, the short blonde hairs catching the last of the sun.  “I’m not a ladi-boy.  I’m a man.  I’m a proud, red-blooded male.  Do you think we have a chance in hell of having a relationship built on trust and equality if you can have me thrown in jail every time I don’t answer the phone?”

Understanding dawns.  “I made you feel impotent.”

“Yeah, you kinda did.  Twice.”

I can’t say sorry again.  It will just sound like overkill.  “What can I do?”

“We have to find a way to at least pretend you don’t hold all the power, if we ever want to be a couple.”

“Done,” I breathe.  “That’s easy.  Take me.  Make me yours.”  I press into his chest and lace my fingers across his taunt backside.

I can feel his body respond and he struggles to keep the conversation logical.  “Niq, it’s not just that.  Where do you see this going?  I want no part of this whole Royal ride.  I don’t want to be photographed or followed or analysed by the masses.  And you’ll be a Harvest Queen in less than a year.  How can we make this work?”

Tracing my fingertips over his nipples, I don’t care about anything beyond this night.  “I don’t know.  We can keep it a secret for now.  I don’t know…”  He lets his hands trace the flat planes of my stomach through my dress.  “Can we work it out later?”  His fingers skim my hips and I gasp.  “Please…  Onrhi…”

He gives up.  “Woman,” he growls like a caveman into my neck, before lifting me clear off the floor.  He kisses me, hard, like he can imprint inside me.  I whimper, lost inside the smell and taste of this man, my core on fire.

He bears me inside without breaking our lips apart and carries me up the stairs with urgency.  My suite is the entire top floor, so I don’t need to give him directions.  Dusk cloaks the room as Onrhi drops me gently on to the bed.

“Wait,” I stop him, as he crawls above me, forcing me back to the sheets.  There’s something beautiful in the thought that I’m about to give up all my control, that Onrhi is about to take something I’m gladly going to give, but he needs to know…  “I have to tell you…  I’m a virgin.”

He marvels at me.  “How…  How is that possible?”

“I think…  I think it’s because I’ve been waiting for you.”

“I’m a virgin too, Niq.  Don’t worry.  We’re going to figure this out together.”

We lie side by side and do nothing more than kiss for an age.  Eventually, our hands become more and more adventurous in their exploration.  I slip my fingers under his sweater and run them along every ridge and bump, taking note of when he moans or breathes faster.

Onrhi finds the zipper along the side of my dress and drags it down.  My skin goose-bumps at the cooler air and turns to liquid fire when his hands slip inside.  I grasp desperately at his shoulder and Onrhi checks in.  “Are you okay?”

“Yes.  So yes.”  I roll on top of him and he reaches his wide hands up to trail along my collarbone.  Inch by inch, he eases the dress off my shoulders, until my bra is exposed.

His eyes go wide.  Reverently, Onrhi fingers the lace.  I lower myself to his chest, crushing his lips to mine, hoping everything that follows will be as perfect as this moment.

It’s not.  It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong.  I flame with every touch, but there are still awkward bits.  Like getting his jeans off.  How do people do this and still look sexy?  I wonder, tugging at the denim cuffs while Onrhi grins and lifts his hips to help.

Unfastening my bra proves to be an impossible task for Onrhi.  He struggles with the clasp for several minutes, and eventually I try giving him directions.  “Try pushing one side and pulling the other.  No, not like that, the other way.  Look, do you want me to help?”  I start giggling and Onrhi laughs too.

“I can assemble a two-man tree tent in the rain.  At night!  I can do this!”  Finally, he gives up, pulling my bra over my head and throwing it away.  I move to cover my chest on instinct, but he catches my arms.  “Let me look.”

Shaking, I lower my hands.  The wonder on his face makes it worthwhile.  Onrhi brushes my hard nipples with the back of his fingers, softly, softly, allowing me to adjust to his touch.  There’s a sudden spark below my skin and the fear vanishes.  I want everything that’s happening. 

Onrhi dips his head and takes a nipple between his lips.  The growl in my throat doesn’t sound like me, but I don’t care.  He finds my other nipple with his fingers and there’s pleasure radiating from both sides to deep within me.  Onrhi nips at the puckered skin, just hard enough that I call out his name, and he moans in response.

By an invisible signal, we pull apart, tugging and dragging off the last of our clothes.  I can’t help but stare openly at Onrhi’s body.  He is smooth and long and incredible.  Every line is perfect, every surface of his skin begs for my touch.

The look on his face mirrors my own.  We collide like waves, and his naked skin against mine hums with current.  I may not have done this before, but Onrhi is all that I want, every piece of him, however he comes, whatever it means.

Pushing above me, he reaches between us and parts the softest folds of my skin delicately.  Watching my face intently, he begins to enter me.  I arc my back as he fills me slowly.

There is a sweet stab of pain, and then nothing but a burning ache that I instinctively know needs friction.  I grind against him as he moves inside my core, both of us vocalising with animal grunts and cries.

We build in speed.  I spasm fiercely, lost in a haze of pleasure and new sensation.  Clawing at Onrhi’s back, I’m sure I must draw blood, but I don’t care.

A few seconds later, he cries my name and bites my shoulder.  There is warmth between us as he collapses heavily on to me, and we lie, joined and replete. 

 Niq and Onrhi might have finally made love, but the drama is only just beginning.  Remember to vote!