He stood in the doorway staring at her dumbfounded that she had actually been awake and had heard everything he just said. He was a little embarrassed because he knew that had he known she was awake he would have not been able to admit all that he just had.

When he didn’t say anything she went on, “Nick, I don’t want to fight with you either. It hurts so much when we fight.”

Now, even though Nick couldn’t see her face he could tell by her voice that she was crying. That was all it took for him, he immediately went to the bed. Sitting on the side of it he gently pulled her up into a hug. “Shhh, Bree, don’t cry. We’re gonna be fine.”

“But, but we went three years without a single fight, and now we’ve had two really bad ones in just a few months time.” She was holding tightly onto his shoulders, her head tucked just under his chin.

“I know. I know. Things are just crazy right now, ya know. Everyone’s on edge and upset, so things that maybe normally wouldn’t bother us, really upset us now, ya know.” He was rubbing her back and rocking her back and forth. He felt her slowly stop crying and thought that she had actually fallen asleep.

Just as he was starting to lie her back down she looked up at him, “You know what, Nick?” She said with a very serious face.

“What little girl?” He asked wiping the remaining tears from her cheek. Her answer made him pause with his thumbs still on her cheeks.

“You say ‘ya know’ a whole lot.” Now she was smiling at him.

Nick shook his head, giggled, and then with a big smile he said, “YA KNOW, that’s why you’re so special. Only you could make me smile like that.” And for emphasis he added, “Ya know.” Taking one hand away from her cheeks he tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her close so their noses were touching. “I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“Me too.” Bree answered before leaning the rest of the way in to kiss him. It was a gentle kiss. They were both cautious and hesitant due to their earlier fight.

Nick took his other hand from her cheek and placed it on her lower back pulling her even closer. Breaking the kiss he began placing light kisses down her neck and shoulder. Between each kiss he would whisper, “I’m so sorry.” Kiss. “I hate it when we fight.” Kiss. “I don’t want you mad at me.” Kiss. “So sorry.” Kiss.

Bree had chill bumps. “It’s okay, Nick.” She tried to say, but about that time he found her mouth again. So, instead of talking she ran her nails down his back from his shoulders. He quietly groaned into the kiss and lay her back on the bed. He didn’t even hesitate to shift so he was completely on top of her. Placing both hands under her shoulders he pulled himself up against her and felt her shiver. Brianna, completely overwhelmed with what she was feeling, didn’t even realize she had bitten down on Nick’s bottom lip. She didn’t realize she did that, she didn’t realize that it wasn’t a hard bite, and she didn’t realize how much that turned Nick on. He ran his tongue along the roof of her mouth before deepening the kiss once again. One of his hands ran up along her leg and over her hip. When he reached he hem of her shirt he let his fingers go underneath the edge, his thumb over her belly and his fingers along her back. He could feel the chill bumps on her skin and had to pull back to look at her.

“Bree?” He was only an inch from her mouth and had to fight to keep from running his tongue along her lips. She opened her eyes to look at him but didn’t say anything. Instead she lifted her head to kiss him again. After a sharp intake of breath Nick leaned back down into the kiss. At the same time the hand that had stopped just at her belly continued slowly up until he was able to run his thumb along the underside of her breast. He only did this once and very slowly. When he stopped he could feel Bree arch into his hand. As she did that he very softly, barely even touching her, ran the pad of his thumb over her breast and felt her nipple harden. At the same time she broke the kiss, and grabbing the back of his neck she pulled him down so his mouth was at her shoulder.

“Nick, please don’t….”

Immediately, Nick pulled his hand away and wrapped it around her back. Into her neck he spoke, “Bree, sweetie, I’m sorry. I just wanna touch you.” He was alternating between kissing and nibbling at the side of her neck. Needing to feel her in some way he put both his hands around her back and ran them up her back under her shirt. Following the line of her neck he continued to nibble all the way up to her ear. She combed her fingers through his hair before pulling at it slightly to make him lift his head. When he did she forcefully brought him back down and into a kiss. Then taking both her hands she pushed at his arms to bring them down from her back. Nick mistook what she wanted and started to bring them back up along her arms, outside of her shirt, when she took one of his hands and placed it back on her side just underneath her shirt. He immediately brought it back up and this time pinched her nipple between his fingers before running the palm of his hand over it, causing her to whimper. He again moved his hand down to her hips, pushing down on them causing his body to slide upwards against hers, the friction only increasing both their desires. Nipping at her chin and then down her neck, Nick brought both his hands up under her shirt and started pushing it up over her breasts.

Suddenly, panic started to set in for Brianna and she started pushing at Nick while sitting up and moving away from him. “I’m, I’m sorry Nick. I can’t. I’m so sorry, I just can’t.” Still lying down Nick blew out a puff of air before letting his head fall face first into the pillow. Bree thought he was upset and started to apologize again. “I really am sorry, I shouldn’t have let things, it’s just that I, well I…”

Looking up at her he had a smile on his face, “Bree, it’s okay. Nothing’s gonna happen that we both don’t want to happen.”

“You sure? You looked upset.” She was sitting at the head of the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest.

“Yes, I’m very sure. Listen, why don’t we go in the other room to get some sleep.”

“What? Don’t want to sleep in here?” She half smiled at him.

“I’ve never slept in this bed, and I’m positive you’ve never either. If it’s all the same, I’d be much more comfortable in my own room, wouldn’t you?” When she nodded her head he stood and took her hand pulling her along behind him.

<~ Chapter 35 or Chapter 37 ~>

In the End

Karina 2003