Free Fall

"Nico, that's fucking amazing," I moaned. I slid one hand down between us and started rubbing my clit. I was instantly rewarded with a zing of pleasure that made my pussy pulse. "You're deep inside me."

He gasped and then groaned. "Oh, sweetheart..." His eyes were intense, but he managed a grin and shook his head. "You have no idea how good this feels."

He continued filling me deeply again and again and I stroked my clit, still staring up at him. The openness of his facial expressions was so exciting. He looked at me with lusty eyes that melted into something like disbelief, then his brow tensed and he whispered my name as he pushed himself deep. He pressed his hips against mine, trapping my stroking fingers on top of my clit, and then drew himself out again. Again and again, his face transformed until he stopped pausing with his cock deep inside me. His hips rose and fell in a relentless rhythm of solid fucking thrusts.

After a few minutes he asked, "Could you come again?" His voice was hoarse with excitement. I could tell he was close to coming himself. "Like this?"

"I think so." I gasped and increased the pressure on my clit, feeling my pussy tightening in response.

"Do you want something different?" He dropped his eyes to my stroking fingers and groaned. "Do you want me to stop until you—"

"No, don't stop. Don't stop, Nico." I stared up at him watching his rapturous expression as I pleasured myself. "Oh God, don't stop."

"Talk to me," he whispered. "Tell me what you want. Tell me how to make you come."

"Fill me up, Nico. All the way. Fill my pussy."

He groaned, obviously thrilled by my request. He shifted and slid his hands under my hips. He lifted them and began fucking me in long, powerful thrusts. The bed protested with a rhythmic squeaking as he fucked me with effort. That was just what I needed, and I realized a moment later, just what he needed, too. He was watching my face, trying to hold off his orgasm.

"Are you going to come?" I gasped. I crushed my clit under my fingers and felt my pussy tensing around his thrusting cock. Realizing we were about to come together was all I needed.

"Should I wait?" His face was flushed and the look in his eyes was wild.

"God, no. Come inside me."

He gasped, bucking hard. "Oh baby, are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes, Nico. Come deep inside me."

"Come with me," he growled. He closed his eyes tight and his thrusts became rougher, more powerful. My breasts bobbed and my legs jerked in the air with each forward thrust. "Come with me, Zoe."

"Fill me up. Don't stop. Don't stop!"

I reached the peak a moment before he did. My pussy clenched and I held my breath, waiting for the release. Nico felt me tighten. His eyes flew open. "Oh God, I can feel it, Zoe," he gasped. My tightened muscles released, then tightened again and again. I barely heard him over my own keening cry. "I'm gonna come, too," he gasped. His hips paused, his cock halfway inside me, and then he groaned again from deep in his chest, a growl of intense pleasure, and pushed himself deep. He thrust two more times, his hips shaking, and I knew he was filling my throbbing pussy with cum. He trembled while his cock pulsed deep inside me, his face red and sweaty, his expression completely unguarded and raw.

I reached up and ran my hands through his hair. He was breathing too fast to kiss me, but he looked down at me and managed a shaky smile. "Oh my God," he said breathlessly. "Oh. My. God." His whole body was rigid as he held himself inside me. The muscles in his arms strained and his shoulders bulged with tension. "Oh sweetheart," he breathed. "Zoe. Baby. You are amazing."

He took a full minute to relax and then pulled himself out with agonizing slowness. I felt his cock slip from my body and the sensation of fluid leaking out of my pussy. It made me shiver and I let out a soft moan that made Nico smile weakly.

"Oh God, me, too," he said breathlessly. "Zoe, you are...I don't even know what to say. I can't believe this—you. I can't believe how lucky I am."

He sat for a moment, eyes moving over my body, and I watched his broad chest rise and fall rapidly. He wiped the sweat from his face and sighed, then laid down on the bed next to me. I turned and he shifted his arm to give me room to press myself close to him. His skin was so hot, but I slid my arm over his chest anyway and let my palm rest over his heart. It was still thumping hard, but after a while it started to slow.

He laid his hand over mine, pressing my palm to his skin.

"Still ticking," I observed.

"No," he said. He was still a little out of breath. He closed his eyes. He had to be completely exhausted, after all that and on top of his long work week. "It's just an illusion. It has to be. I have obviously died and gone to heaven. It's the only explanation."

I laughed and pulled myself closer to him, snuggling up against his hot torso. I slid my knee over his thigh and felt my pussy throb distantly. "I don't think so. I think it's real."

"It can't be. It's too good to be true." He craned his neck to look down at me. "It's just a dream, isn't it? I'm going to wake up in a minute and realize I'm late for work."

"Not a dream. And you don't have to work tomorrow."

He sighed and let his head fall back onto the bed. "Thank God for that."

"Although you do have to get up with the kids and get their breakfast."

"Ohh God." He groaned, but it turned into a laugh. "I am going to be a wreck tomorrow."

I sat up on my elbow and looked around the room for a clock. There was a digital alarm on the table on Nico's side of the bed, but I couldn't see the time on its front. Reluctantly, I sat up and reached across his prone body to turn it toward me. It read: 11:40. I sighed. I'd need to leave soon. I slid back to his side and draped my arm over him again.

"Do you have to go?"

"Not yet. Soon."

He turned on his side to face me and slid his hand into my hair. "I don't want you to go," he said. I tilted my face up to his and he kissed me softly. He looked at me for a long time without speaking. I watched his face change again and again, registering different emotions I couldn't pin down and guessed there was a lot going on in his head. He was silent so long I started to feel nervous.

"You OK?"

"I am." When he smiled it was natural and sweet and eased my concern. "I'm really, really happy right now. You make me so happy."

He kissed me once more and then I snuggled against his neck, enjoying the slow expansion of his chest and the sight of my pale hand on his light brown skin. I ran my fingers over his sweaty side and felt him sigh.

"I wish you could stay. I want to wake up in the morning just like this," he said.

"Glued to the bed with our bodily fluids?"

He laughed, a deep rumble in his chest. "Maybe not just like this." I looked up at him to see he'd closed his eyes. He looked so content. After a few seconds, he mumbled, "Maybe just like this, after a shower."

"A shower sounds good."

He mumbled something about laundry, but it was clear he was falling asleep. I watched him for a few seconds as his body relaxed and his breathing grew slow and even. I sat up on my elbow and studied his face. When I ran my hand up his hairy chest, he didn't stir. I laid my palm on his rough cheek just to feel the heat of his skin, and then traced the shape of his mouth with a fingertip. How many fantasies had I had about that mouth? It thrilled me to think I'd kissed it tonight.

There were creases at the corners of his eyes, the ones that sprang to life when he smiled. I'd loved those from that first moment he'd smiled at me. I traced those, too, and then the soft fringe of his eyelashes. He twitched slightly, but didn't wake.

He had a very attractive face, even sweaty and worn out and overheated, he was good looking. But it was the way he looked when he was animated that really made him handsome. He didn't hide his emotions. They played out on his face and in his body language, and it was the most genuine and real thing I'd ever seen.

I pressed one more soft kiss on his sleeping lips and sat up. I had to get home before my grandparents worried. It was possible they weren't home yet themselves, but if they were, they would wonder why I wasn't. I slid from the bed and pulled my skirt on, trying to smooth down the wrinkles in the front. I slipped my panties on next. They were soaked and unpleasantly cool, but necessary unless I wanted to leak all over my skirt on the drive home.

I whispered his name, but he didn't even stir. I spoke it, and then gently shook his arm. I thought of letting him sleep, but I didn't want to leave and have him wake up and feel bad he'd fallen asleep.

"Nico?" His eyes fluttered open. "I have to go."

He shifted and sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked like he'd been asleep for hours, not just a few minutes.

"Mmm. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're exhausted. I just didn't want to go without saying goodbye."

I slid from the bed and he followed me sleepily. "Besides, you haven't brushed your teeth yet, and I'd be remiss in my duties if I left without reminding you do that."

I heard him chuckle and then yawn as he followed me out into the dark house and to the kitchen. I picked up my clothes and began to dress, trying not to feel the guilt at the sight of my discarded bra on Rose's clean kitchen floor. This probably wasn't what she'd imagined happening when she asked me to help Nico tonight.

I put my bra on, tugged my tank top into place, and smoothed it down. I looked rumpled and wrinkled and guessed my hair was a mess, too. I combed my fingers through my sweaty, tangled hair, but I knew there wasn't much I could do without a comb. And maybe a shower and some shampoo.

I picked up my purse and slipped my feet into my sandals, and faced Nico again. He was leaning against the counter, still naked, where he'd leaned earlier in the evening just before he'd kissed me. His voice was low and sleepy.

"Are you busy on Sunday? Maybe we could take Lena to the park or something."

"I'd love that."

"I don't know what time. I'll figure it out and call you." He rubbed his tired eyes and gave me a weak smile. Then he reached both hands out. "Come and kiss me again before you go."

I crossed the room without hesitation and let him take me in his arms. He fit his mouth to mine with care and I was taken back to the first kisses we'd shared, how gentle he'd been. He'd been unsure of himself, or maybe of me, and I'd felt it in his body. But this kiss wasn't unsure, it was content. It was slow and soft and made me sigh. When he lifted his mouth from mine he straightened and looked down at me, slipping his hand into my loose hair.

"This all happened so fast," I said. "Are you doing OK?"

He slid his hand from my hair and cradled my face in his palm. His expression was so affectionate it made my heart ache. It took him a few seconds to answer me, though.

"I feel like maybe I shouldn't be, but I am." A sleepy smile stretched his mouth. "I didn't expect this to happen. I never thought I'd fall in love again."

My heart surged at his words. I couldn't hide my surprise.

"I think I've been in a kind of free fall for weeks, and tonight I finally hit the ground."

"That long?"

"Since that first time you stayed for dinner. Seeing you with the kids...with Lena. I'm not ashamed to say, what I felt scared the crap out of me."

I slid a hand up his chest to feel the beat of his heart, remembering his confession of fear earlier. He smiled weakly and his eyes closed for a few heartbeats. He was clearly worn out.

"Because when I saw you that night, out in the yard after dinner, it wasn't just, Oh, she's cute, it was like, Look at her, look at this gorgeous, brilliant, perfect woman. I never thought I'd feel that way again."

I stretched to kiss his mouth. His words were so thrilling I wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm still not convinced this is real," he said after a few seconds.

"Should I pinch you?"

"Hmm. Maybe kiss me instead?" He pulled my face to his and we kissed softly. I closed my eyes, but he kept his open. He sighed. "That was a very convincing kiss."

I reluctantly moved from his arms and backed away. "Call me tomorrow?"

He nodded.

"Lock the door behind me. And promise me you'll make it back to your bed before you fall asleep."

He laughed softly and yawned. I stepped out onto the deck into the damp August night and headed for my car. I knew it had really happened. I knew from the way my pussy ached and from the stickiness inside me. I knew from the way my heart beat faster each time I thought of something he'd said, or the way he'd carried me to his bed, or his facial expressions when he watched me orgasm. I knew it had happened, but it felt like a dream.

I'd gone to Rose's excited to spend a few hours with Nico, and for the chance just to be around him again, to see his handsome face and hear his deep voice. I'd almost left him in his sleepy state at 10:30. I'd been almost to the door—my sandals on, my purse on my arm—and then he'd confessed and kissed me. And then...

It wasn't just that he was attracted to me, too. It wasn't even that we'd had sex—amazing sex like I'd never imagined was possible—it was bigger than that. If he really felt the way he'd said, it hadn't just been the sex for him either. It was everything, and everything was different now.

I was relieved to find the driveway empty. My grandparents were very liberal-minded people, and since I'd moved in, they had given me all the freedom I wanted—not that I'd needed it, with no social life to speak of—but I loved them dearly and didn't want to feel like I'd abused their trust. I was glad I didn't have to sneak in past them looking the way I looked.

I took a quick shower and put my wet hair in a loose braid. I put on a t-shirt and clean panties, switched off the light, and slid into bed. I lay awake for a long time, long after I heard my grandparents' car pull in, long after their hushed voices found their way up the stairs to me, and long after the house grew silent again.

I thought about Nico asleep in his bed. I thought about how the kids would get him up before seven, and how tired he would be on just a few hours of sleep. I thought about everything he'd said and wondered if he'd meant it.

Was he really in love with me? Was I in love with him?

I wondered when I would see him again, and I wondered, particularly, what would happen when I did see him next. Where would things lead?

I thought, too—but only vaguely—of the choices I needed to make about school and my career. It seemed like such an abstract thing, a far off idea I couldn't quite grasp. I realized I didn't want to try. Anxiety waited just at the edges of my consciousness, threatening to upset my drowsy, blissful state, but I filled my head with images of Nico's smiling face, and drifted off to sleep into the most fantastic dream of his brown-skinned arms full of red-headed babies.