Envelope Challenge

A/N

I stared blankly at the bright screen in front of me, completely empty at what I was seeing. It had been three days, three whole days in which no one had read my story. I didn't think it would be as depressing as it actually was.

"Polly!" a voice called from the bathroom, but I didn't bother answering. "Can you grab me my clothes? Polly?"

After another minute that I still didn't reply in, he eventually ventured out into my room from the en suite. My dead gaze was fixed on the words I thought people were starting to like, but I was obviously wrong about that.

"What are you doing?" he whispered into my ear as he leaned over my shoulder to look at it. His wet hair brushed my ear, tickling it. "You're still on this? Weren't you on Wattpad when I went in to take a shower?"

"No one," I whispered despondently.

"What?"

"No one's read my new chapter."

"Yes, they have. Look, it says 3 reads," he pointed out, but I quickly and sadly shook my head in denial.

"Those happened when I accidentally clicked on the reader version of the chapter and refreshed the page. It's not from actual readers." I didn't realize I was on my profile and not my works page when I'd clicked on it, leading to an inaccurate count and a further sinking heart.

"I'm sorry, babe," he whispered in my ear and gently kissed my neck. "I'm sure that your readers just had stuff come up and couldn't read. Maybe they had to go to a funeral, like you did with your grandpa."

"Yeah, but I updated while I was there."

"Maybe you should con them into reading it like you did before. You know, with that fake chapter that you deleted a couple days after posting." Suddenly, his tongue flicked out and traced my neck, his lips kissing the spot immediately afterwards.

"That..." I moaned. "That's just mean. I felt so bad for doing that."

The kisses continued, the movement of his lips as he talked making it even more seductive. "Then do it in reverse. Give them a chapter disguised as an author's note. They loved your other author's note." They did; I'd gotten 12 whole reads.

I pushed my rolling chair forward so his contact with my neck was broken. "Do you think that'd work?" I asked before turning around to face him. Immediately my eyes bugged out of my head and my cheeks flushed.

A grin spread across his lips at my expression. "Like what you see?" A towel was hanging low on his hips, loosely knotted at the side in a way that could oh so easily - and oh so wonderfully - slip down. He stepped forward so he was between my legs and my eyes were level with his chiseled torso.

Tearing my eyes away, I turned my face to the side and cleared my throat. "Um... yeah, ok, I'll just... um... make a fake author's note. Thanks."

I tried turning back around so I could do as he suggested and he grabbed my knees to stop me from doing so. Curse me and keeping my chair up high enough for him to grab my legs. Instantly, tingles shot from the pads of his fingers to my legs. Leaning forward, his hot breath whispered into my ear seductively as he spoke.

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

I barely finished my head shake when his lips began their descent to mine. My eyes fluttered closed and I leaned forward to hasten the connection. He barely nipped my bottom lip before he began to kiss me earnestly, his state of near undress noted when my fingers ran up his torso to tangle in his hair.

"Polly," he groaned.

"Polly!" a voice yelled from downstairs. My eyes burst open, Nathaniel jumped back and we stared wide eyed at each other. "Polly, I'm home," mom called. "I brought Chinese from that store you love."