Beneath the Layers

Chapter 19

"Would you like some wine?" Nick offered as I stepped out of the hallway bathroom.

"Sure. But not too much, please."

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked, pouring red wine into a glass.

"Ummm...yeah, I'm okay," I replied, but truth was, I felt overwhelmed by his persistence. His questioning about Alex made me lose my appetite at the table. Feeling uneasy, I excused myself just to get away and avoid answering him. Hopefully, he would drop the subject and let the night take its course.

"Here you go." He handed me the glass as we took a seat on his sectional.

I sipped it lightly. The exquisite taste of the drink, the dim lighting in the living room, and the soft tunes filling the air were supposed to help me relax, but I had too much running through my mind. It was not easy.

"Come here." Nick pulled me closer to him as he took a seat beside me. Moving my hair aside, he gently rubbed my shoulders.

"Mmmm. That feels so..." I couldn't finish my sentence. His fingers felt almost magical as they eased away all the built up tension. I closed my eyes, wallowing in the moment, when his hot breath caressed my neck. Planting soft kisses, his fingers continued working down my back. Seconds into it, his hands roamed around my body and onto my breasts. Rubbing and caressing with such finesse, I almost came apart on the spot.

"So...are you going to answer me?" he whispered softly before running the tip of his tongue down the length of my earlobe.

I tensed. Why did he feel the need to keep pushing the subject?

"How many times will you keep asking the same question? I can't tell you, Nick. Don't you get it?" I moved away from him, chugging the entire contents of the glass before placing it harshly on the side table as if I'd just taken a shot.

"I am a stubborn man, Tara, and I always get what I want. Always!" he admitted just before reaching his hand behind my neck to pull me closer as he covered my mouth in a ferocious kiss.

I was taken aback by his sudden impulse, but I couldn't deny how delicious he tasted. His questions receded into the dark corners of my mind while his lips devoured mine, pulling away only to gently nip at my bottom lip. The all too familiar pull pulsed in between my legs. "Nick..." I murmured between ragged breaths. I felt like I was floating, high off him. Then suddenly, he pulled away, leaving me panting for more.

I turned to face him, but he was no longer sitting. Instead, he was walking toward the kitchen with both wine glasses in hand. It gave me the perfect opportunity to recoil from the emotions that were running, not only through my mind, but my entire body. I had to get it together. Somehow. Or else I'd be in deep shit.

"What's going through that beautiful mind of yours?" Nick asked, handing me another glass filled with the tempting red liquid as he took a seat beside me.

"I'm thinking, why am I here?"

"Why are you here?"

It was a rhetorical question.

"I'll learn the truth about the secret you hide, Tara. You will tell me. One way or another," he declared. I sat dumbfounded, staring at his Adam's apple move as he swallowed a sip of his drink.

By no means was it a threat. No. I sensed the promise in his words. This man would stop at nothing until he learned the truth. But why? Why was he so determined on knowing something that was so personal to me?

Something about him made me feel at ease though, almost like I could trust him. But almost didn't count. I had trusted Alex with my life, and look where that got me.