As my fingers came to a stop, they slowed on the keys and fell into my lap. He leaned closer to me, pressing his lips to my temple. "Lovely babe, really."
I smiled, feeling butterflies in my stomach. I hoped I never became tired of his kisses. "Thank you so much." I whispered, and he nodded. His arms snaked around my waist and shoulders and he pulled me up. I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and nuzzled into his neck, breathing in. God he smelled amazing.
This is a problem. I literally think about his smell.
I sighed and he chuckled. "Tired?"
"Ah...not really." I said, but I yawned despite my wants.
"Come on, let's go to bed. We can snuggle?"
"Well how can I deny that sort of offer?" I said, causing him to laugh. He brought us over to my bedroom, laying me down and pulling my blankets over me. I shivered, remembering the night before. He must have picked up on this because he slid into the bed next to me, pulling me into his shirt. "I know baby, I know. I'm sorry and I won't let anything happen to you again."
I fell asleep to his quiet humming.
_________________________________________
Four hours later he had taken me out to dinner. He offered to take me somewhere fancy and even though I fought his gracious offer (I had wanted to go to McDonald's). We settled on a pub a mile or so away from my house. After a finished meal, Nicholas had gone up to pay for our dinner when an attractive blonde slid across from me at my table.
His blue eyes raked over me, sliding down to my chest and back up. I suddenly became strikingly aware of my strapless dress.
"Excuse me." I said quietly, looking away and back at him.
"What's a beautiful lady like you doing alone here?" he said smoothly, eyes glazed over with lust.
"I'm not alone actually. My boyfriend...boyfriend is here." I stuttered, fiddling with my hands in my lap.
"Well I don't see him now. Why don't you give me your number so we can talk later-"
"I don't think that will happen." I heard a stony quiet voice from behind me.
"Uh, what?" The guy across from me asked, raising is eyebrows. Nicholas was tall, but when this guy stood up, he was as tall as him.
"You heard me."
"Well it's not that intimidating when a stick is trying to threaten me." he hissed. Granted, this blonde had huge muscles. Unattractive, no thanks.
"Oh shut up. She's mine, you knob." he spat, and I silently wondered what a twat was. I stood up quickly and moved over to Nicholas.
"Let's just go home, please?" he looked down at me, eyes soft but when he looked up at this guy they darkened with anger.
"No, I can't. Not when some jerk is trying to hit on you."
The blonde ignored him and looked at me. "Maybe you should come home with me. We would have a lot more fun that whatever you do with him."
In an instant, Nicholas had shoved him into the wall and was screaming at him. "Don't you dare talk to her like that!" He reached back to punch him and I dove forwards.
"Nicholas!" I shrieked, not wanting him to get hurt. Sure, Nicholas was tall, but the blonde was huge. He yanked his arm away and grabbed his opponent's collar.
I turned around, not knowing what to do as panic built up inside of my chest. This couldn't happen, Nicholas could get hurt!
"Ryder?!" I heard a deep voice yell and someone came running past me. He was a brunette, and I thought he was going to break up their fight. I just wanted to go home.
I turned around and saw Nicholas being thrown to the ground, the brunette starting to punch him.
"NO!" I yelled, feeling tears start pricking in my eyes. The blonde now had a name, Ryder came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Relax, let me take you home, you can forget about him." he murmured, and I struggled to push him away.
"Don't touch me!" I cried, but his arms tightened around my waist.
Behind me, I heard a loud thump and a cry of pain.
"KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS AWAY FROM HER!" Nicholas shouted, and for a second this guy was distracted. I backed up a little and kicked up, feeling my knee connect with his crotch. He was on the ground in a moment, and Nicholas rushed over to me.
"Are you okay?" He whispered, eyes filled with hatred, glancing at the two bodies on the ground. One was unmoving, the other whimpering in pain. Everything had happened in a minute, and soon the manager was screaming at us.
I was sobbing at this point, and Nicholas quickly gave the manager a giant check to not call the police. Thank God the manager was a douchebag, he took the money and allowed us to leave without another problem.
The car ride home was silent. I didn't know what to say. I was so shaken up. Nicholas had a black eye, a few bruises scattered around his body, and a cut underneath his left eye. I helped him out of the car and up to my front door, and into my house. I brought him to my bed and helped him lay down and I sat next to him, my eyes locked on his bruised face.
"I'm so sorry, Nicholas." I finally managed to say.
"For what?" he whispered back, eyes closed.
"This. You're hurt, and it's all m-my fault..." I sucked in a breath, trying not to cry. I hated knowing it was my fault Nicholas was so beaten up.
"Hey, shh. Stop worrying, I'll be fine. They're in much worse pain than I am right now. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"No, you have nothing to be sorry for. Thank you for protecting me." Our voices never reached more than a whisper, my entire house was quiet. It was a comfortable quiet though.
"I wouldn't let him talk to you like that. You're mine." Usually I would be mad he said that. I was no one's, no one owned me. But I felt so secure, he cared about me. I could call him mine, and he could call me his.
"Thank you. I'll go and get some ice, I'll be right back." I left my room for the kitchen, grabbing an ice pack and a wet rag and returning in a few minutes. "I'm back."
"I missed you." He said quietly, and I giggled.
"I was only gone for a little bit, silly."
"I still missed you." he said, sounding so sweet. My feet padded across my white rug, and I sat next to him.
"I've got to take your shirt off baby, okay?" I asked, and he nodded, sitting up. I started unbuttoning his shirt, apologizing each time he winced until I had pulled it off his body.
The damage was worse than I expected. He had a bruise forming right above his left hipbone and it was huge. As big as my fist. "Oh gosh..."
"What?" he asked, laying back down with his eyes closed.
"Um, nothing. Just a bruise." I gently placed the ice pack on his body and picked up the wet rag, starting to clean the cut on his face as lightly as possible.
He moaned softly, trying to push my hands away. "No baby, I have to clean this." I said, feeling horrible. His hands fell to his side and he sighed.
My thoughts wandered back to the restaurant, and I decided to say "I just want to say I would prefer you over him any time. He had too many muscles. Ew."
He smiled and murmured "You know exactly what to say, love." and pushed my hands away, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me down to lay next to him.
"Hey!" I protested lightly. "I need to clean that cut, it could become infected!"
"Just be quiet and hold me."
He sounded so tired I decided to follow his orders exactly.
guys.
guys.
GUYS.
G U Y S.
10,000 reads?! I never ever thought I would have 10,000 reads on a story. This is nuts. Thank you so much for every read, for every vote, everything. You guys are the best! c:
And I love new covers, it annoys me when I have to leave the same cover on for a while. If anyone wants to make me a cover I would be oh so happy!
love,
~chekoli