His features softened. "That's fine, baby. You want to go back to the penthouse?"
"I want to stay until the party's over so your mother doesn't ask a million questions."
He shook his head. "We're leaving. But go make your excuses. Tell her you have a headache--"
"You are a headache," she said with a glimmer of a smile.
He narrowed his eyes, acknowledging her teasing tone. "Tell her you're going to the penthouse for some quiet. She doesn't know I'm back in town; she'll never question you for wanting to get away from the noise. Besides, since Damian brought a date, if you leave it'll make her numbers right again."
"She won't care about that. She'll worry-"
His thumb stroked her chin. "Baby, she always worries about one of us."
Even as those words left his mouth, Courtney watched as his face darkened with a scowl. She realized he'd just grouped her in with Justine's children, with him and his siblings, and it was obvious that he didn't like the fact that he'd done it. He'd always had a problem with that, but what could she do about it? His mother had raised her during the last of her teenage years; Justine was Courtney's godmother and had been her guardian as well. There wasn't a damn thing Courtney could do about those facts and she couldn't help it if it made Nick feel guilty.
But there was one thing that she did know. Nick was right. The time had come. She was as tired of waiting as he was.
"I'm going to get my bag and I'll tell her I'm leaving. I'll follow you to the penthouse, okay?"
Chapter Five
Nick didn't really want Courtney to follow him. He wanted her strapped inside his vehicle, sitting next to him. He wanted her without transportation to leave his penthouse if he inadvertently did something that would upset her or piss her off.
He just wanted her. What the hell was wrong with that? "I'd rather you ride with me, but your car needs to be gone from here so no questions are asked." He studied her intently, trying to gauge what was going on in that brain of hers. He was sick of the subterfuge. He wanted everything out in the open but he didn't want Courtney upset. "You don't want any questions asked, right?"
She shook her head. "Not yet."
He'd let her get away with keeping their relationship secret for a few days while she came to grips with it, but that situation wasn't going to last indefinitely. She was his and he wanted his entire family to know. "Okay, fine. But grab some more clothes if you need them, because you're staying the night at the very least, and maybe a couple of days."
Even as he said the words, he knew they were pure bullshit. She wasn't going back to his mother's house ever again. Wasn't going to happen.
And with the unmitigated possessiveness that was bleeding through his bloodstream, there was no question that she'd realize that truth sooner rather than later.
When they arrived at the underground parking beneath the Rule Corporation building, Nick guided Courtney up to the penthouse in the private elevator. He leaned against the back wall and tried to get control of the testosterone raging through his veins. It didn't help that her face was flushed and the strap of her sundress had fallen off one smooth, white shoulder.
She tugged it back up without glancing at him. Her gaze was firmly glued to the doors in front of her as if she had no escape route.
Well shit. She didn't. He was about to make sure of that.
He looked away from her with mounting impatience and studied the digital display as the elevator climbed. Courtney Powell was about to be in his bed. About fucking time. He inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to regain control. Six years. Six years. That's all he'd had to wait. No big deal. Right.
The six years had been hell, but he could've waited any number of years if he'd had to.
He'd wait a lifetime for Courtney if that was the only choice he had.
He loved her that much.
He clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to reach out and grab her. He ran his eyes over the slim line of her back as impatience clawed down his spine. Did she know he loved her? She damn sure knew he wanted her. But did she know that he loved her with everything he had to give and that he always had?
Fuck. His brothers could have an issue with this. He should care, he really should.
He didn't. Not anymore.
The elevator doors swished open and with a firm hand on her lower back, he escorted her inside his penthouse and to the future he had mapped out for her.
The lights were dim as Courtney followed behind Nick to his suite of rooms, his hand clamped around hers in an unyielding vise. Her heartbeat was uncommonly subdued considering what they were about to do. Was she in a state of shock or just in a trance? Whichever it was, she was glad that her pulse was steady and that she seemed to be in control of her emotions.
It could so be going in the opposite direction right now.
She was finally getting what she wanted. What she'd wanted since she'd been eighteen years old. Seventeen, really, but who was counting?
She was getting Nick.
Or rather, she was about to sleep with him.
Her pulse began to race as the reality of that truth began to sink in.
As he locked the bedroom door and turned to her, she took a deep breath and blurted out, "I'm on the pill."
He froze for a moment, as he seemed to digest her words. "Since when?"
She swallowed. How to answer that? "Since . . . since the closet incident."
He didn't reply and she couldn't decipher his expression, but she had to get something out there; her nerves were stretched too thin to put it from her mind. "You know I've never done this before." She let out a deep breath of relief after she'd uttered the words. Even though she'd already hinted at her virginity, she wanted to fully admit the truth.
His expression changed to one that, this time, she had no problem deciphering; a hard look of satisfaction blazed across his features. "I wasn't completely sure, but I'm guilty of hoping that was the case."
Courtney cleared her throat, wanting to know the answer to a question that had been bothering her. "We've waited so long . . . but you shouldn't have made us wait such a long time. It wasn't fair. What would you do, what would you say if I wasn't still . . . " Her voice trailed off.
He shook his head, although a pained look encompassed his features. "It wouldn't matter. I can't deny that I want it; I want your innocence. But I want you more than that. Maybe you don't understand, but I had no choice. I had to let you go . . . I had to give you the time to grow up . . . and now I'll take you however I find you and thank God every day that I have you."
"So it's just you and me, then?" She asked, wanting no question unanswered in her heart.
"Hell, yes. I can't take being separated anymore. Not going to happen," he gritted out.
She took another breath and carried on, his answer satisfying her, pleasing her down to her bones. "So, I don't want to have to use a condom, at least, not this first time. Will that be possible?" Thankfully, her voice was steady.
His eyes sharpened as he began to walk the few feet it took to reach her. Taking her bag from her arm, he tossed it aside. While staring at her, his palms wrapped around her bare shoulders. "Why wouldn't it be?"
Her heart rate picked up and it took everything she had to continue to breathe evenly. "Are you going to make me ask about your personal health, Nick?"
Very subtly, his fingers clenched on her skin and his voice dropped an octave. "I can't believe you think you need to ask, but go ahead."
Maybe he didn't care that she doubted him, but she had her own health to consider; she wasn't stupid. "Is it safe? Do you know for sure that you won't . . . won't give me anything?"
His gaze became pointed and his mouth flattened, but he gave her the answer she sought. "Yeah, it's safe, and yeah, I know for sure."
Courtney breathed a sigh of relief. Not only for his answer, but for the fact that she'd been brave enough to confront him about the issue. She didn't want to lose her virginity with a condom between them; it seemed less than romantic somehow.
She dampened her lips as he wrapped an arm around her waist and she raised her eyes to his.
"Does that make you feel better, sweetheart?" he asked in a more gentle tone.
She felt color hit her cheeks. "Yes."
"I'd never do anything to hurt you or to put your health at risk. I'd cut off my right arm first."
At her silence, he asked, "Okay?"
She breathed in slowly. "Okay," she managed, but it was little more than a whisper. It was as if she'd used all of her strength even asking the question, and now her mind turned to the act itself, what was about to happen. She wasn't taking this lightly; she'd waited too long for it to be less than a monumental decision and moment in her life.
As his beautiful brown eyes stared into hers, he slid one strap of her sundress off her shoulder, and then the other. Her blood heated and she felt her eyes flare. At her reaction, he glanced down to the heart-shaped bodice of her dress held it in place by her breasts, and then slowly, he reached around and slid her zipper all the way down.
When her bodice loosened she let out a small gasp; the dress was lined so the only thing she had left underneath was a pair of abbreviated satin panties.
She glanced down and watched as Nick fisted the material of her dress in both hands. All it took was a small tug and then the garment lay pooled around her feet. She continued to stare down between them, a small memory, a frisson of déjà vu tickling along her nerve-endings and blending with the sexual awareness beating through her blood. She'd stood in this same place before him, looking at the floor, trying to contain the raw emotion she felt for him.