No Strings Attached (18+)

Chapter 3

God dammit.

Defeated, I opened my eyes. A vile, red glow tainted the darkness next to me, and I turned to see-

12:17 AM.

Pure exhaustion surged through my bones.

I'm not gonna be able to sleep.

At this point, it was inevitable.

It was the same old story; I was gonna lay there, catching brief snippets of rest, but never actually falling asleep until the sun came up.

Unless...

I glanced aside, vision catching on the odd lump lying next to me.

There was always one way to make me fall asleep...

"...Nick?" I whispered, ignoring the screaming of my rational mind.

"Hmm?"

"Did I wake you up?"

"Nn-no, it's fine," his voice was soft, and slurred.

My teeth caught my lower lip.

Last chance to back out.

"I need to ask you something."

"What is it?" He mumbled.

"It's- it's a little weird."

"Okay?"

"Okay. I'm going to ask this, and if the answer is 'no', then can we both pretend that I said nothing?"

Raising his head off of the pillow, he asked, "What?"

"Nick, if you're not up for it, can you promise to forget I said anything?"

Nick glared, "Leah, what the hell are you talking about?"

Here goes nothing...

Sucking in a breath, I asked, "...do you want to fuck?"

The mattress shifted violently as he scrambled upright, reaching for the bedside lamp.

As warm, incandescent light filled the room, he turned to me, "What?"

I rubbed a hand over my face, "I'm too keyed up to sleep, and when I get like this, the only thing that helps is, well..."

Nick stared, hair rumpled, jaw open, looking like I'd ripped the tongue out of his mouth.

"Normally I've got the equipment to take care of this myself, but I obviously didn't bring anything with me - I mean, this was supposed to be a work trip-"

"So, you're asking me to fuck you?"

The look in his eyes, wild, turbulent, filled me with despair.

"Okay, that's a no - just forget-"

"That was not a no, Leah, that was a request for clarification."

My breath caught, and I sat up, facing him.

In the golden lamplight, Nick's dark eyes shone, luring me into their fathomless depths.

Shifting, I reached for the hem of my hoodie, pulling it up and off of my body.

The cool air of the room caressed my bare skin, and I shivered as I watched the undeniable need in his expression.

"Nick, will you fuck me?"

He looked at me the way a starving man would look upon a feast. "I... I don't have any condoms."