Chapter 159

Veronica hugged Laureen and Julie, waving bye as they made their way out with Brent. She watched as Nick shut the door and turned to look at her a moment before starting towards her. She looked away quickly, taking a step back.

“How bout that swim now?” Nick said suddenly as he stopped in front of her.

She looked up at him quickly, nodding, “Yeah ok, I’ll go get changed,” she said suddenly, turning and heading up the stairs.

Sighing, Nick turned and headed out back to the pool, he quickly lit some of the tiki torches and then flipped the light on for the pool before heading back in and coming back out a short time later with a portable stereo and several towels. Hurrying back in he changed into his trunks and headed back down, refilling the cooler with beer for him and pop for Veronica, he brought that out as well. He grabbed the net and skimmed the pool, getting out the few leaves that were scattered around in the water. Nick hoped she wouldn’t get cold feet, he couldn’t explain why, but he had a feeling that things were going backwards suddenly. Ever since the interview, she was more distant and hesitant.

He really wasn’t thinking when he answered the question, he didn’t really consider himself single, not really. Granted they weren’t going out, but he wasn’t looking for anyone else, as far as he was concerned, he’d found the woman he’d been searching for, although he didn’t know he’d been searching for her.

Nick set the net down and put a cd in the stereo before walking over to one of the chairs and sat, the scent from the tiki torches was starting to fill the air. It would be dark soon and Nick wanted to avoid the bugs as much as possible, usually if he lit the torches early enough, they weren’t a problem. Reaching into the cooler, Nick swiped a beer and popped it open, taking a long drink, stilling when he saw Veronica make her way out and start over.

Nick slowly lowered the can, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. He watched as she stopped by the chair and slowly said. He noticed with a frown, that she was wearing a shirt over her bathing suit. He didn’t want to ruin the day, so he wouldn’t mention it just yet. Watching her carefully, he could tell she was reluctant to sit next to him. Struggling not to show his growing frustration, he patted the chair next to his and waited while she hesitated again and then slowly made her way over and sat in the chair.

Veronica stared out blankly, shifting slightly. She couldn’t sit still for some reason, she needed to be moving, needed to just be away from him. Immediately she felt bad for thinking that way, but she just couldn’t be so close to him, it felt wrong.

“Did you enjoy talking to Laureen and Julie?” Nick asked suddenly.

She licked her lips slowly before replying, “Yeah I did. They’re really nice.”

“Yeah they are, I’ve known them both for a long time. Laureen and me, we kinda had a…thing for a bit ya know. But I’m sure she’s already told you,” he said softly, looking over at her.

Veronica smiled, but said nothing. She wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say.

Nick continued to watch her, looking away for a moment before reaching into the cooler and pulling out a can of pop, offering it to her. “I bought you some Sprite, I know you don’t drink so…”

Finally she looked at him, a soft smile on her lips.

“Thanks Nick,” she whispered, reaching out to take the can.

He nodded, looking out across the pool, listening as she opened the can and took a small sip.

“Is there anything you wanted to do tomorrow after the BBQ at AJ’s?”

“Mmm, not really.”

“Well we have a few days left, I’m thinking we should go to Busch Gardens at some point if you still wanted to.”

“Absolutely, I’ve heard it’s really nice.”

“Alright, we’ll have to pick a day. Um…since you don’t have anything special that you wanted to do, I was thinking we could ya know…just hang out alone together. Kinda chill. I have stuff to cookout and we can just relax and swim and do whatever.”

She was silent for several moments.

“Ok,” she said softly.

Nick let his head fall back on the lounge, staring up at the sky in frustration, slowly closing his eyes, trying to calm down. He stood suddenly, whipping his shirt off.

“How bout a swim?” He said suddenly, walking over to the pool, not waiting for her to reply. He could feel her eyes on him. Turning slightly, he sat on the edge of the pool, letting his feet dangle over the edge, trying desperately to relax. Nick could see her out the corner of his eye as she slowly stood and suddenly she pulled the shirt off to reveal a simple black bathing suit. His eyes widened and he looked away quickly, a small smile on his lips.

He could feel her come up next to him and then she slowly lowered herself into the pool and swam out a bit. Nick quickly slipped into the pool and under the water, enjoying the feel of the cool water against his skin.

Veronica rubbed hard at her face, wiping the water away. She looked around and watched as Nick surfaced on the far side of the pool. Her mouth went dry at the sight of wet, his hair plastered to his forehead. Slowly she backed up until she hit the wall, just staring at him. He was beautiful and although the pool was Olympic sized, it felt as if he took up the whole space. He turned suddenly and caught her staring at him. She blushed and looked away, her heart beating frantically.

Nick smiled, so she wasn’t as unaffected as she acted. Taking a breath, he knew what he had to do and although he never wanted to be that way with Veronica, she left him no choice. Up until now, he’d never had to act that way, had never wanted to, and he still didn’t want to. AJ had been right when he said he could pretty much make a girl do anything he wanted, even the ones who said no. He knew just what to say, just what to do to manipulate a woman to do things she’d never imagined doing. It’d been something that he’d been proud of for a long time, a skill he’d honed after many years of groupies and fans had taken him up on his offer and them on his and then get cold feet mid way through. Taking a breath, he kicked away from the side of the pool and dove under the water once again.

She heard him splash a bit and when she looked again, she found that he was gone. Looking around slowly, she gasped suddenly when he materialized in front of her, pushing his hair back and wiping the water from his eyes.

“Refreshing isn’t it?” He questioned, smiling.

She nodded dumbly, just staring at him. Her eyes widened as he slowly started towards her.

“Why are you afraid of me suddenly Veronica?” He asked quietly.

She shook her head, “I’m not.”

He raised an eyebrow, “No?”

“No.”

“Then how come every time I come close to you, you back away. Are you afraid I’m going to hurt you?” He asked suddenly, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Her eyes widened more, “No! Of course not.”

“Then what is it?”

“Nothing.”

Nick took another step towards her and then another.

“Looks like you can’t back up any further, can’t run. What are you going to do now Veronica?”

She felt her stomach drop, and panic set in. She didn’t like feeling like she was caged in. Looking around frantically, Veronica tried to find away out. She supposed she could escape on either side, but didn’t know if she would be fast enough. Slowly she looked back over at him and was horrified to find that he’d advanced a few more steps and was now only inches from her, she could feel the heat emanating from his body starting to envelope her.

Nick smiled suddenly, “Plotting how to get away?”

“Nick…”

“Hmm?”

“I…I…” she started, tensing slightly when he brought an arm up on either side of her, bracing his palms against the edge of the pool and effectively cutting off her only other means of escape.

“Veronica?”

She swallowed hard, “Y-yes?”

“Why are you fighting it?” He whispered.

“Fighting what?”

“This…the pull between us. It’s strong, why are you resisting so hard?”

Veronica inhaled sharply, “There’s no pull.”

He smiled again, leaning in, brushing his lips against her cheek lightly. “I’m glad you took the shirt off,” he whispered in her ear. “Seeing you in that suit gets me all worked up.”

“Nick…”

“But you know that don’t you,” he rasped, his voice dropping.

She braced her palms against the wall to keep from touching him. She could feel her eyes starting to drift shut.

“Are you thinking about it Veronica? What it would feel like to have my lips on your body, my hands touching your skin, making you hot? Cause I know I am,” he murmured, sliding one hand up and down over her hip gently.

Veronica flattened back against the wall as much as possible, her breathing labored. Biting her lip, she looked away, trying to get away from his words, from the truth, because he knew. He was in her head it seemed and he knew, knew exactly what she was thinking.

He took another step forward, his body just scant inches from hers.

“I can feel your body trembling Veronica and I’ve barely touched you. I can feel the tension, your body is exhausted from holding back isn’t it? Don’t fight it Veronica,” he said, lifting his head only slightly to look into her eyes, brushing his lips over hers lightly.

Slowly she closed her eyes and then opened them, her body was weak from the exertion of trying to stop its natural reaction to him, to his body, his touch.

“Nick, please…” she whimpered.

He moved his lips down to the other side, bushing over her neck.

“Please what baby?”

He took another step and his body pressed against hers and her body jerked from the contact, a small gasp escaping her lips.

“It’s always like this isn’t it? It hasn’t gotten any weaker has it?”

Veronica let out a soft moan when she felt his hands circle her waist, pulling her tight against his body.

“Let go Veronica…let go and give your body what it wants. Touch me…touch me Veronica,” he whispered, kissing her neck suddenly, sucking on her skin.

She slowly let her head loll back as her hands came up, sliding along his arms, squeezing his biceps. His lips were on her neck as he pressed her tighter against his body, his arousal hard against her. Suddenly her body could take no more and it relaxed against his and she would’ve slid under the water if he hadn’t held her up.

“Ahh that’s it babygirl, I want you so bad Veronica. All the time, every minute of every day.”

Veronica let out a soft whimper, bring her arms up to wrap around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

“Nick,” she moaned.

“You want me, I can feel it,” he sighed.

She did want him, and it was wrong, wrong to want someone she couldn’t have. It was this reason that she’d tried so hard to avoid him, she had no control around him, couldn’t stop herself from wanting him.

Nick slid his hands up, removing her arms from around his neck and slowly backed away a bit. He looked into her eyes as he slowly lowered the straps of her bathing suit, peeling it away from her body. He stared into her eyes a moment longer before bringing his gaze down, inhaling sharply.

“Beautiful.”

She closed her eyes suddenly, feeling the heat in her cheeks.

“No Veronica, open your eyes, look at me, I want you to watch me while I enjoy your body,” Nick whispered.

Hesitantly she opened her eyes and looked down at him. His head was down, but he lifted his eyes and looked into her as he brushed his lips over her nipple lightly, causing a soft whimper from her lips. She bit her lip to keep from crying out when his lips closed over that nipple and sucked harshly. Nick slowly pulled away, her nipple slipping from his lips.

“Don’t hold back, I wanna hear you, I want to know how it feels Veronica,” he murmured, his voice rough with passion.

Struggling to breathe, she nodded, letting out a low moan when he repeated the action, this time with the other nipple, sucking deeply.

“Shit, oh…shit,” she whimpered.

“That’s it baby, let me hear it,” he coaxed, sliding a hand down to her thigh and then up, running a single finger along the edge of the suit before sliding it in.

Veronica cried out suddenly, “N-Nick…what are you doing?”

“Shhh…just enjoy.”

She struggled a bit, the fear returning. Suddenly she felt her legs being lifted and she quickly wrapped them around his hips, she looked at him and was shocked to find that it was exactly what he wanted.

“Don’t be afraid Veronica, I just want to make you feel good, just feel.”

She blinked, tensing a bit when his hand returned to her thigh and then moved around to the inside. He slid his finger along the band once more before again pushing it inside and over her lightly. She let out a startled gasp and moaned louder this time when he pushed his finger inside, rubbing her gently.

“God you’re so hot, so tight Veronica,” he breathed, struggling to get the words out, inserting another finger.

And suddenly she couldn’t stop herself. She felt her hips starting to move in time with his hand, her body starting to tense with the impending release.

“Yes Veronica…ride ‘em baby,” he moaned, leaning in and sucking on a nipple.

“N-Nick…god yes…yes.”

Her release was near, he could feel it. He pulled away from her breast, moving his hand faster and faster, rubbing and squeezing her clit.

“V-Veronica,” he whimpered, leaning in suddenly and kissing her hard, squeezing his eyes shut when he felt her release, her body squeezing his fingers tightly. His body jerked slightly and he felt her body slowly start to relax. Slowly he pulled away, breathing hard.

She moaned softly, her head resting back on the warm pavement. Veronica struggled to breathe, waiting for the dizziness to pass. On a subconscious level, she felt him gently remove his hand from the suit and carefully set her down on her feet again.

“You…ok?” He whispered.

She nodded, ashamed with herself that she had so little control.

“Veronica…please don’t,” he said suddenly.

She brought her head down and looked at him in confusion.

“Don’t regret it, don’t analyze it. It was perfect, you were perfect,” he said softly, leaning in and kissing her gently.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, kissing him for a moment before realizing she was naked from the wais down. Pulling away suddenly, she crossed her arms over her chest.

Nick chuckled suddenly, “I’ve seen and tasted you baby, no need to hide from me, but if you insist,” he stated, stepping back, prying her arms away, he slipped them back through the straps and pulled it up.

She blushed a bit, and looked away shyly.

“You’re so cute,” he smiled. “C’mon, let’s get outta here, it’s getting dark and the bugs are gonna eat us alive.”

Veronica smiled a bit and followed him out of the pool.