Nathaniel stared at me, his fists clenching at at his sides. The muscles in his jaw were doing the same. He wore a pale blue denim shirt with the top buttons undone and the steady rise and fall of his chest was evidence of the storm rumbling with in him.
He was massive, 6'3" maybe 6'4" I wasn't sure, but he sure took up a lot of space. He hadn't shaved in a few days so his usually kept goatee was growing out into a five o'clock shadow. It suited him, but I still couldn't help the pang of guilt at the the thought that our time apart took it's toll on him.
Could I be the one who made him look like this?
We stood staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. His pale eyes roamed my face searching for something, and I knew what it was, I wan't sure I could give it to him yet. He wanted me to come to him. He needed me to close the space between us and go running into his arms.
It's not that easy Nathaniel.
"What are you doing here?" I nearly shouted, not meaning to.
"Aw come on now Nuri, don't scream at me," he said rubbing at his chest. "What was all that about with Maggie?" he asked throwing a glance over his shoulder. The sound of his voice doing interesting things to my body.
"If you mean why one of your employees was here this early in the morning, I'm not sure you are asking the right person. Perhaps you should ask Maggie."
He was obviously expecting things to go a certain way by coming here this morning, but my response to his question completely dashed that reality for him. I could tell by the way a light glinted across his face.
He scoffed. "I don't know why she came here, that's why I asked," he stated simply. "I didn't ask her to."
"And I am supposed to believe that?"
"Yeah," he said nodding. "I'm not a fucking liar."
"Well, I don't know why you're here either. Do you know why you're here?" I was frustrated with him and also very turned on by his presence, but for the sake of my sanity I held on to my frustration and ran with it. It was the only thing that made sense to me now. The other thing was venturing off into unknown territory.
"This is the final step Nuri. If you'd answer your fucking phone once in a while you would know that I've been trying to get a hold of you."
"Don't you fucking curse at me," I said jabbing my finger at his chest and turning on my heels.
His hand came down hard on my wrist before he forcibly spun me around to face him. The violence of his action sent me on high red alert as I went crashing into him. His face gave away the slightest bit of alarm as well, but her controlled it. "You have turned your back on me for the last time," he said, his breath labored.
Beneath his shirt, his heart was beating something fierce against my cheek.
But why?
"I know you feel that," he whispered at my ear, his minty breath and warm spicy scent filling my nose once again. "It's been doing that since the day I met you, and it's only gotten worse since you ran away from me. . . again."
I untangled myself from his embrace took a few steps back. "You probably know more about me than I could ever hope to know about you. Don't you see how that could be a problem?" I had to stand my ground or this man would have me following his every command. I pulled at my dress trying to conceal myself from him. "Please leave Nathaniel."
"What do you want to know about me? Ask me and I'll tell you anything," he said stepping towards me keeping the space between us minimal.
"Please leave," I whispered fighting back traitor tears.
He chewed on his bottom lip and shook his head. Stepping out of his shoes, he kicked them off and placed them at the entry way. I gaped at him as he removed his shirt and tossed it over the living room chair. His perfectly sculpted body and those chiseled muscles making an appearance in reality like they had in so many of my dreams.
He went for his belt and made it a point to pin me with his eyes, I quickly found a spot on the floor to stare at as his buckle came undone and fell to the floor along with his dark blue denim jeans.
In nothing but his black socks and black briefs he padded his way into my kitchen and chugged down my last Naked Green Machine Juice Smoothie. Scratching the back of his head, he walked over to my bed and slid under the covers.
"I ain't going anywhere," he said with finality punching at my pillows and shoving them under his head.
Was this actually happening?