Fire on Ice

Part 29

Nora POV

I wake up to a strong arm wrapped around my bare stomach under my shirt. Or, well... Nikolas' shirt. I turn over to face Nikolas. I trace his jaw as I spend time appreciating his features. Damn. Even when asleep and relaxed his face is so structured, sharp. Yesterday was......amazing. He starts stirring so I brush his hair away from his face and he calms down before wrapping his arms tighter around me and pulling me closer.

"È così bello, tesoro (That feels so good, baby)" he whispers before falling back asleep. HIs accent comes out rough and raspy, with the words flowing out of his mouth. I have no idea what he said, but it seemed good so I keep going.

He's laying a little lower than me on the bed so his face is buried in my chest. It sounds a little pathetic to say it, but I have never felt more at home. Nikolas makes me feel so safe that my insides feel like jelly.

We sit like that for a few minutes before I have to get up for my shift at the cafe. I slowly unwrap his arms from my body and shove a pillow towards him before he realizes I got up. I do my business in the bathroom and shut the lights off to find my clothes. The first night I stayed over Nikolas cleared out three drawers and 2 sections of his closet for me, but I barely have enough clothes to fit half the space. I change and find Nikolas still sleeping. I was kind of hoping he would drive me, but I don't want to wake him so I walk over and place a kiss on his forehead before heading to the kitchen.

I make myself a cup of coffee and chug it down. As I am putting the cup in the sink, Nikolas walks out.

"What are you doing up?" I ask him.

"What do you mean, I'm obviously driving you."

"You don't have to. It's early, I'll take the bus." I insist.

He rolls his eyes at me and grabs his keys. He shoves his shoes on, but I'm still standing there, frozen. He looks at me and says, "Am I driving to the cafe alone?"

His attitude snaps me out of my daze, "No".

I rush to get my shoes on before we head out. I can tell he is still sleepy and I'm grateful he's doing this for me. When we're in the elevator I wrap my arms around him from the side and he puts one around me. I shove my head into his chest and he laughs, "What?"

I pause for a second before saying, slightly muffled, "I'm not going to ruin the moment by saying something that will go straight to your head." This makes him laugh even more and it's such a gorgeous sound. Deep and strong.

"Smart choice."

***

After my shift is done, I walk out to see Nikolas' car on the side of the street. There were a ton of people at the cafe today and my feet are exhausted. All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep, but I can't. There is a 4 hour session with Nikolas waiting for me at the rink. I hop in the car and he smiles at me.

"How was it?"

I dramatically flop back, "Ugh, so many people."

"Wanna skip today?"

I snap my head up and look at him, "No." He laughs and starts the car.

When we get to the rink Gigi and Sebastian are walking in at the same time and we greet them.

"Nora!" Gigi says with a bright smile, which dims when she sees Nikolas.

"And Nikolas I guess." Nikolas just flips her off as a response and we all laugh.

"Wow look at us, all couple-ly and shit." Gigi comments

Sebastian wraps an arm around her, "Couple-ly and shit? What does that even mean?"