69

GABRIELLA’S POV
Her hand grabbed mine when I reached her upper thighs, just below the hemline of her dress. She tugged, and I refused to stop. She was used to this, but tonight was simply different-totally and entirely.
When I looked up, her eyes overflowed with several emotions. I could see fear and panic. I wondered why, because we weren’t first-timers in reality. So, what was causing her fear? Or was something bothering her? Nevertheless, there was also curiosity and lust.
I needed her to focus on the latter two.
“Gabriella, I’m going to take your dress off,” I mumbled.
“No,” she whispered in response, and I was taken aback, wondering why she said so.
I looked up, my eyes stern as I spoke. “Yes, Gabriella. We’ve done this so many times, so what’s the problem? We even did this earlier today. So why are you feeling this way now? Are you bothered about something else?”
“I… uhmm… Nicklaus…” She incoherently mumbled, her voice trailing off.
“Shh, Gabriella,” I crooned. “I understand what’s bothering you, but I know you’ll do just fine. This isn’t our first time, Gab. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or something else, but you really seem to be acting like a first-timer.”
I reached my hand out to her and waited. She looked at it like it was the hand of the devil, but I didn’t grow impatient. It seemed like she was overthinking everything, having second thoughts perhaps.
It took her a good 3 minutes, but she finally whispered, “Yes, Nic, yes.”
She put her hand in mine, and I sat up, pulling her towards myself. What was the problem now?
She landed in my lap, her legs straddling my own. Her light blue eyes were so dark they were almost black.
I saw fear and uncertainty in her eyes, and I forced myself to stay calm, to go slowly with her, because it wasn’t her first time. So if she was fidgeting this much.
“Easy, Gab, easy. Stop overthinking this,” I murmured, placing my hands on her thighs, where the bottom of her dress had bunched up higher. She gasped and put her hands on top of mine to stop me, and I let her, knowing she needed to feel more in control-just for tonight, though.
I didn’t even know why I was feeling compassionate for her, or rather, why she was behaving like a virgin on the first night.
She looked into my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. “I don’t know if I can do this, Nicklaus. I’m scared. I feel nauseous and unsettled all of a sudden,” she said, letting me in on exactly how she was feeling.
“How can you know, though, if you don’t try, Gab?”
Her gaze swept down to where her hands lay on top of mine. I could feel the tremor in them. I understood that she was worried or scared, even.
Her panic was so severe, as if what I was going to do terrified her. She suddenly seemed so scared, like it was taking everything in her to not tell me to stop.
And the last thing I understood was why. Even when we were rough about this, she didn’t panic at all.
“Kitty, look at me.”
She pulled her head up and met my gaze. My face was only a few inches from hers.
“Baby, have I ever hurt you?” I asked softly. At this point, it seemed like I was going to have to persuade her.
“No.”
“Do you think I ever would?”
“No.”
“Then stop thinking so hard,” I said, a small laugh escaping. “Just look at me and breathe, Gab, just breathe.”
She tensed back up again, staring into space, as if whatever bothered her had come back.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice tinged with concern. “You just tensed back up. At this point, tell me what’s wrong.”
Wrong? Everything was wrong. Her panic shifted from my touching her legs to touching her heart. She felt like her entire world had just collapsed. How had this happened? When had this happened? She couldn’t feel things for him.
“Easy, baby, everything is okay. Just take slow, deep breaths and calm down,” I soothed, calming her down.
Calm down? How was she supposed to calm down when she was in love with the manwhore? Dear God, how had she let herself feel things for him? She knew better. He wanted in her panties, simple as that. He didn’t love her. She couldn’t ever let him know how she felt.
“Nic?”
“Give me a minute,” she told him, her voice a little sharper than she’d meant it to be.
Something was wrong with her, and he could feel it.
“I’ve got all night, Gab. You take as much time as you need. It’s alright. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I understand.”
Damn him. Why couldn’t he still be the manwhore to her? Why couldn’t he still be wicked? Why did he have to be sweet, kind, and considerate? He was a monster, so why was he being so nice all of a sudden?
He began rubbing his fingers back and forth over her thighs, and she closed her eyes.
The panic tried to resurface, but her fear of him breaking her heart drowned that out enough for the sensations of his fingers to break through, and it felt… so good. Oh hell, it felt really good. She was in so much trouble.
“Do you have to do that?” she asked, trying once again to pull his hands up.
“Yes, I do,” he said, laughter evident in his tone. “Besides, you like this.”
His hands slid higher, slipping under the hemline of her skirt and pushing it farther up, his fingers continuing to massage the flesh he exposed. Holy hell. It was all she could do to stifle a moan from slipping past her lips. She wanted to squeeze her thighs together to relieve the pressure that was starting to build.
“Easy, baby,” he murmured. “I’ve got you. It’s okay. You’re safe with me.”
Gabriella did moan when his wandering fingers traveled up, her dress inching up her hips. Her hands fell away as he caressed her hips, moved around to cup her ass, and squeezed gently.
She felt every caress travel from his fingers in a little path of lightning all the way to her core. She did squeeze her legs together then, and he let out another low chuckle that sent a shiver through her.
His hand drifted up her back to where the zipper rested. She felt him tug on it, heard it as he slowly pulled it down, felt the cool air against her back as it was exposed. He laid his hand flat against her back and looked up, his eyes meeting hers.
Her eyes widened when she felt his touch through the sheer lace of her panties. Flutters started in her stomach, but that sense of everything closing in on her came back. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly in and out.
“Are you good?” he asked.
“I… I don’t know, Nic. I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
“It’s not your first time, baby. So stop overthinking this and go with the flow. Are we good?” he cooed.
She nodded, not knowing what to say.
“Good girl,” he smiled and moved his other hand to the small of her back. Then he moved both hands up and around her shoulders. Gabriella’s fear was rapidly receding, replaced by a completely new fear. The fear she wouldn’t say stop.
His fingers felt like a trail of fire as they danced their way up her neck, burying themselves in her hair. He pulled her toward him, his lips settling over hers.
Nic wasn’t gentle with his kiss. It was hard and demanding, revealing his actual demeanor.
She shuddered, her arms coming up to cradle his neck, her fingers tugging at his hair. She felt his groan reverberate through her, causing another full-body shudder.
His lips moved from hers, his kisses trailing across her cheek, then her jawbone, along her throat. He stopped to nibble at the pulse point, and she moaned softly, her fingernails digging into his hair.
He continued his lip torture while his hands came to rest on her shoulders, pulling the lacy concoction that couldn’t even really be called a dress aside, letting it slide down her arms, over her breasts, to settle around her waist.
Nicklaus pulled back and looked at her through heavily-lidded eyes. “Beautiful.” He had been thinking about this all night, and now that it was here, he wasn’t going to rush it.
She sat on his lap in her black lacy underwear, her dress bunched around her waist, her arms trapped within the sleeves. “Magnificent” was more the word he should have used. She was truly magnificent.
He let his fingers roam over every silky inch of flesh he had revealed. She shivered, a whimper escaping her, and his nostrils flared.