I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned my head away from his intense stare, feeling tears beginning to form in my eyes.
"Nothings keeping me here anymore," I answered, honestly not bothering to lie anymore. "It's time I moved on."
"Is it because of what happened last week?"
I shook my head. "Last week was the final straw. I'd been thinking about moving the moment you fired me."
Nathaniel's nostrils flared as he came to the realization that my decision was partly his fault.
"What about Stella? You know she wouldn't want you to leave."
I shrugged. "She has Theo now, and I'm sure she'll understand, same with Carter."
Nathaniel's grip on the counter tightened as he continued trying to figure out more ways to get me to change my mind.
"What if I gave you your job back?"
I laughed and rolled my eyes at his desperate attempt. "So you can hang it over my head whenever shit doesn't go your way? I'll pass."
He clenched his jaw and roughly ran his fingers through his hair, becoming impatient by the second. "Then stay for me," he finally whispered in defeat.
My stomach did a complete somersault.
"Why would I do that?" I tilted my head to the side, hoping he would give me an answer that would convince me to stay but instead, he opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, and shrugged as expected. He was still too much of a coward to admit his feelings even with me days away from moving.
I laughed bitterly and shook my head, feeling a boil of fury swelling inside of me. "If you have nothing else to say, then get out; I have packing to do."
The chair scraped against the marble floors as I stood up to leave, not wanting to spend another second in his presence. After everything we'd been through, he still wasn't ready to let his guard down and face reality, and suddenly, I didn't feel the guilt of leaving him behind anymore.
Tears stung my eyes, but even after attempting to blink them away, a few still escaped. I hated how he was still capable of messing with my emotions like he's been doing since the day I met him.
Nathaniel called out after me, but I was done wasting my time with him, seeing that I clearly wasted enough.
My phone rang seconds later, and I knew it was the moving company calling to tell me that they're ready, but before I had the chance to answer, Nathaniel came out of nowhere, ripped my phone out of my hand, and pressed decline.
Blinded by the rush of emotions coursing through my body, I raised my fist to land a blow on his cheek, not caring that it would hurt me more than it would him, but Nathaniel's reaction time was much faster than mine, and in seconds he had me pressed against the wall, pinning both of my hands above my head with only one of his. The other hand gripped my chin, forcing me to look up at him, but I quickly averted my gaze to the clock hanging on the wall behind him.
"What do you want me to say?" He murmured, sliding his hand down to my waist.
"Nothing," I mumbled in defeat. "You've said enough."
"Then why are you angry with me?"
"I'm angry with myself for falling for someone who isn't capable of giving me what I was willing to give him."
A flicker of regret flashed across his face as he took in my words, and I knew I hit a nerve.
"You've done a great job at fooling the world to think that you're a man with no heart or emotions, but I've seen first hand how far from the truth that really is, yet you stand here pretending that nothing between us meant anything to you. Maybe it doesn't now, but I refuse to believe that during the moments we had, you felt absolutely nothing."
At this point, a dam wouldn't be able to hold the tears pouring down my face. "Tell me I'm wrong, and you'll never have to see me again."
"I can't," Nathaniel finally whispered in a strained voice, brushing away my tears with the pad of his thumb.
"Why?"
He pressed his lips together and remained silent once again.
"You'd rather watch me leave than admit your feelings because if you do, it'll break down the barrier you've spent years building up, am I right?"
His grip around my wrists tightened, confirming that what I said was true.
"Then let me go so I don't ever have to see you again."
"What do you want me to say, amore mio?" Nathaniel asked again in a low guttural voice leaning forward to trail his nose along my collar bone, sending a shiver of pleasure shooting down my spine.
I wanted to answer, but I knew the only thing that would come out of my mouth was a moan, so I kept it shut.
"I'm addicted to you, Anastazi," he finally murmured after minutes of silence.
He placed a wet kiss at the base of my throat before continuing.
"Your smell, your touch, your smile, everything about you is intoxicating, and God knows I've done everything in my power to keep you away from me--to make you hate me, but no matter what I did, you always kept coming back. It's like you were sent here from the devil himself to torture me and make my life a living hell, and you succeeded, but in the process, you stole something I thought I lost a long time ago."
Words couldn't even begin to describe how I felt finally hearing the confession I've waited so long for. The world seemed to stop, and it felt as if my heart was going to explode out of my chest. I desperately wanted to wrap my arms around his neck and close the small space between us, but he still had my hands pinned against the wall.
"You own me, Anastazi," Nathaniel continued, brushing his lips against mine. "I'm yours as much as you are mine," he murmured, resting his forehead against mine and releasing my wrists from his clutches. "If you still want to leave--"
Before he could finish his sentence, I knotted my fingers in his hair and molded our lips together. Nathaniel groaned and lifted me up, pressing me against the wall with my legs wrapped around his torso. I could feel his growing member pushing against the thin fabric of my shorts, eliciting a loud moan from the back of my throat. I needed him now, and I couldn't think of a better moment to lose myself to him.
"Take me now," I whispered seductively in his ear before sucking on his lobe.
Nathaniel cursed lowly in Italian and carried me all the way to my room, gently placing me on the bed with my legs still wrapped around him. My hips moved on their own, grinding against his large bulge until the precum leaking from his cock stained the front of his sweatpants. He quickly untangled my legs from around him and slid his shirt and pants off in motion leaving him in nothing but boxers.
"Fuck," he groaned the minute he looked down and saw that I slipped out of my clothes as well, leaving me in a revealing bralette and thong.
Nathaniel leaned down and began peppering kisses on my belly, trailing up to my breasts where he captured one of my nipples in his hot mouth while rolling the other between his fingers. I moaned his name loudly, feeling heat rush to my head from the pleasure coursing through my body.
I reached my hand down and slid his swollen member out of the hole in his boxers, and began pumping his entire slippery length eliciting a guttural groan from the back of his throat, his voice sending vibrations throughout my breast.
I slid my thong to the side, needing to act fast before he changed his mind like he's done previous times, but before I had the chance to plunge his pulsing cock into my drenched entrance, he quickly lifted himself off me and tucked his member back into his boxers with an apologetic look on his face.
I clenched my jaw and rolled my eyes in frustration as I slipped my t-shirt and shorts back on, knowing he was getting ready to come up with yet another excuse as to why he wasn't going to pound me into tomorrow.
"Anastazi," Nathaniel mumbled softly, catching my arm as I attempted to leave the room in frustration. "The timing needs to be right--"
"Yea, I know the drill," I grumbled, pushing past him and making my way into the living room where he tossed my phone on the couch.
"I don't like it when you're angry with me," he muttered from behind of me, wrapping his arms around my waist and nuzzling his head into my neck.
"And I don't like the fact that you don't hesitate to fuck random females but won't give me, someone you claim to like the light of day," I snapped, doing my best to wiggle out of his firm grasp.
Nathaniel chuckled softly and pressed his lips against my collar bone. "You make it sound like some petty high school crush."
"Is it not?" I asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear him say it out loud.
"No, amore mio, it's much, much more than that," he mumbled in between kisses while slipping his hands under my shirt to pinch my nipples.
"Then show me," I teased, pressing my ass against the bulge, threatening to escape his pants.
A low groan escaped his lips as he began rubbing himself against me, getting caught up in the moment. "Patience," he whispered before releasing me and taking a seat on the large sectional.
I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes. "Fine, but until you're ready to fuck me senseless, you're not allowed to touch me like that again."
Nathaniel frowned. "That's not fair."
"Then fuck me."
"This isn't something I can just rush; it has to be perfect."
"You sound like a fucking girl," I groaned, throwing my hands up in frustration.
"Anastazi," he murmured, pulling me onto his lap and wrapping his arms around my waist, my legs placed on either side of him. "I've spent years having meaningless sex with females I couldn't even begin to care about, but I don't want to do that with you, so be patient with me, please."
Even though his sex escapade was public knowledge, I couldn't help but cringe hearing him say it out loud, but I was also grateful that he wanted things to be different between us, and I knew he meant every word.
"Fine, but you're still not allowed to touch me," I mumbled, wrapping my arms around his neck and placing a soft kiss on his lips.
He chuckled softly and pulled me closer. "Fair enough."
--