Chapter 157: Because I have You
Alaric
Smack, smack, smack.
The sound echoed off the tiles, loud enough to cut through the roar of the shower.
It was the sound of our bodies meeting, wet skin against wet skin, over and over, and it pushed every thought I had right out of my head.
There was no room left in there for Miami, or the paddock, or anything else that had kept me awake for the past week and a half.
I had both hands pressed flat against the dark stone wall, my fingers spread out and digging into the grout as I tried to hold myself steady against him.
Hot water poured down my back and ran along my spine before it dripped off my knuckles, but I had stopped paying attention to it.
The water could have been ice cold and I doubt I would have felt the difference. All I could feel was Nico, pressed against me and his cock moving inside me from behind, and the heat coming off his body was the only warmth that mattered to me.
My back was bent at an angle that would normally have my lower spine complaining by now.
As a driver, I paid attention to my body constantly. I knew which muscles got tight after a long race, which ones needed stretching before I climbed into the car, and how one strained muscle in my back could cost me points on a Sunday.
My physiotherapist would have had a lot to say about the way I was standing.
Tonight, in Dami’s bathroom, with the door shut and the steam so thick I could hardly see the glass, I did not feel any pain at all.
My heart was pounding, and having Nico’s cock buried deep inside me pushed everything else aside.
I was floating somewhere I did not want to come back from. I did not want to fix my posture. I just wanted to feel him, so I let him take my weight, let go of my pride, and stopped trying to be in control of anything.
A moan slipped out of me before I could stop it.
"Ahhh... Nico... fuck!"
My voice bounced off the glass ceiling. It came out loud and messy, nothing I would ever let a microphone catch, and I did not care how it sounded. I was practically shouting his name, and I let myself do it.
For once, I did not have to worry about who might hear. There were no reporters outside the door and no PR team waiting to pick apart our relationship. Nobody was holding up a phone, and nobody from another team was waiting to use any of it against me.
We were hidden away at the top of Dami’s building, far from all of that, and the only person hearing me fall apart was the man making it happen.
Each time he pulled back and pushed into me again, a jolt shot through me and my toes curled against the wet floor.
The leftover soap made everything slick, and the water kept pouring down on us. He kept hitting the spot that made my knees weak, again and again, and he did not let up once.
I pushed back to meet him and took everything he gave me, feeling each thrust run all the way up through my body.
Then his hand left my hip and slid up to the back of my neck. He wound his fingers into my wet hair and tugged my head back until my spine arched and my throat was bare.
I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing, but before I got the words out, he leaned over my shoulder, turned my face toward him, and kissed me.
It was a hungry kiss, and it left me short of breath almost right away.
Our teeth knocked together for a second before our mouths opened and our tongues found each other.
It was messy and a little clumsy, and I loved it. He tasted like shower water and the red wine we had with dinner, and underneath that, he just tasted like Nico, the way he always did.
I kissed him back just as hard and let my head fall onto his shoulder.
By then he was the only thing keeping me upright, because my hands kept sliding down the wet tiles no matter how hard I pressed them.
Somewhere in the middle of that kiss, something shifted in my chest, and for a moment it was not about the sex at all.
I started to smile against his mouth. I could not stop it.
My chest felt too full, like there was not enough room in it for how much I loved him.
For ten days, I was sure I had lost him. I had spent those days staring at my phone, typing messages and deleting them, and pretending in front of everyone that I was fine.
Now, standing there with him, I knew we had finally worked things out.
He was not giving up racing, and he was not letting the media decide how he lived.
Most of all, he was not leaving me. He was right here, holding on to me like he never planned to let go, and showing me with his whole body that he meant it.
"You are smiling," Nico said against my lips. His breath was coming fast now, and his hips were picking up speed.
"Because I have you," I gasped.
My smile only got wider, even as another moan broke out of me and filled the steamy room. "I have you, Nico... do not stop. Please, God, do not stop."
Nico growled low in his throat, and I felt it against my back more than I heard it. He let go of my hair, wrapped both arms around my waist, and pulled me back against his chest.
His skin was burning hot compared to the stone in front of me, and he kept me trapped right there between the two.
Then the rhythm changed. He stopped holding back and started moving faster, chasing the end for both of us.
The pressure low in my stomach built and built until I could barely see straight.
I could not think about anything except the next thrust and the one after that.
Behind me, his whole body went tense, his arms tightening around me, and his breathing turned short and ragged against my shoulder.
"Alaric... Alaric, I am... fuck, I am right there..."
"With me," I cried, my voice cracking as I slapped my palms against the tiles. I could not hold it back anymore. "Come with me, Nico! Right now!"
He pushed into me one last time, deep and hard, and I lost it.
I shouted as I came around him, and the heat spread through my whole body until the bathroom seemed to tilt.
I squeezed my eyes shut and let my head drop forward between my shoulders while it rolled through me, again and again, until I could not think at all.
Nico came at the same moment with a loud groan, pressing his wet face into the side of my neck.
I felt him pulse inside me, and his fingers dug into my hips hard enough that I knew I would find marks there tomorrow.
He held me in place while we both rode it out, and I was glad he did, because I doubt my legs would have managed on their own.
We stayed like that for a while, too worn out to move.
The only sounds were the running water and the two of us trying to catch our breath. I sagged against the wall with my legs shaking, and a tired laugh escaped me. I had no idea what was funny. I was just happy, and it had to come out somehow.
Nico kissed my shoulder, slow and soft, and kept his arms around my waist like he was scared I would slip away if he let go.
"I love you so much, Alaric."
"I love you more," I murmured.
