dissolve. nh

Chapter 13

We drove through a town completely unfamiliar to me before Niall pulled onto the busy highway, city lights and cars flying by. He put his finger on the radio dial, turning it up for the soft music to fill my ears.

My hands were folded loosely in my lap and I chewed my bottom lip, refusing to look at Niall, refusing to let myself succumb to him. I was already going home with him, and I wouldn't allow myself to give in to him any more than I already had. 

He reached for my hand with his own, squeezing it and lacing our fingers together. I tensed, and he obviously caught my discomfort because he sighed and gently let go of my hand. I snatched it back into my lap and clasped it in my other, my head snapping back to look out the window.

My heart was beating out of my chest and I couldn't get the images of Niall smashing his fist into that guys face, and then nearly breaking his shoulder. I shuddered at the thought of it, my eyes glancing over to Niall, situated comfortably in his seat. 

It wasn't long until we were driving through a little neighborhood, small houses spaced apart, leaving just enough land between them. Niall pulled into the driveway of a small brick house, reaching up to press a button before his garage door opened and he pulled inside. The lights flicked on as the door slid shut behind us, and he cut the engine before sliding out of his seat.

He walked around and opened my door, and I stayed staring straight ahead. He sighed, then grabbed my hips and effortlessly spun me around in the seat to face him. My breath 'whooshed' out and he braced his hands on either side of my hips.

His head was dipped down, and I was frozen, watching him and waiting on baited breath for what he'd do. He finally raised his head, slowly, before his oceanic eyes connected with mine, and his jaw clenched.

"Bleu...please." He said, and though to anyone else he would have sounded just as hard as ever, I felt the helplessness twinge at my heart, and it was all I could do not to oblige.

I huffed, dropping my head before nodding. One of his warm hands came to grasp mine before he coaxed me out of the seat and onto the ground. After he'd shut my door, he led me into his house, and I was immediately hit with a sense of warmth and...home. 

It smelled unfamiliar but it wrapped around my heart and made me feel welcomed. I caught waves of the scent of Niall-of his clothes, his cologne, his skin...it was completely and utterly him. The floors were a dark wood and the walls a deep red in the foyer, and as we passed the kitchen I caught glimpses of rustic yet sleek appliances. He led me to his living room and dropped my hand, cutting on the light switch and dropping his keys onto the table.

"Welcome to the house a-la... me." He said, turning to face me as my eyes wandered. I barely noticed as he came up to me, grasping my jacket lightly and sliding it from my shoulders as I stared at the pictures on his mantle, noticing a folded flag in a solid oak case. It struck a nerve in me, and I whipped around to face him. 

He was thumping down the hallway toward the door we entered in, boots clonking on the hard wood. I turned back around, my own feet hitting carpet as I walked over toward where I'd seen the memento. My hand reached up to clasp my chain absent-minded as I tilted my head in wonder.

There was a picture of a man in an Army suit right beside the folded flag, and alongside it dog-tags hanging up. Whoever it was, he was a handsome man, and he had Niall's eyes. I shifted my weight to my other foot, tipping my boot up to rest one of the tips on the floor. The picture obviously wasn't that dated, so it had to have been in the last six years, maybe. 

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I nearly jumped a foot in the air when Niall cleared his throat. I turned around to face him, dropping my chain and eyes growing wide. A smirk quirked at the corner of his mouth, and my eyes traveled up the length of his long body. One leg crossed over the other, arms crossed over his chest, shoulder leaned up against the door frame of the kitchen and head tilted down just slightly.

He looked like some handsome villain out of a comic book...and I couldn't deny that I was attracted to him. 

I turned back around to face the vestige stationed up there, pushing my shoulders back.

"Niall...who is that?" I asked him softly, hopefully not offending him. I didn't hear a reply for a while, and then there was the soft clomping of his feet coming toward me, and he stopped right behind me, so close that I could feel the heat radiating off of his chest. When he spoke his voice was low and husky, and as he breathed out his shoulder brushed the back of my own.

"That's my brother." He said, and I nodded.

"If you don't mind me asking, Ni, what happened to him?" I asked, turning around to face him and look him in the eyes. For a moment he didn't look at me, and there was no reality in his eyes that I wondered if I should reach out and shake him. His tongue flicked out to wet his lips before he spoke again, his eyes casting down to stare into mine.

"He passed away five years ago, in May, right before his birthday." There was some sentiment in his voice, a steady, microscopic amount of heartache, but it was there.

"Oh, that's terrible. Were you close?" I asked, trying to console him but not really knowing how, or how he'd take it. I was a stranger, a girl that he'd known for less than a week, standing in his living room and trying to comfort him for reasons that I didn't even know. 

His eyes went down to the floor, and he nodded. "We were. He was my best friend. But...it's over now." He said, and then we met again. 

His hands slowly reached out to brush the hair out my face, his fingers so feather light that I closed my eyes. He stepped closer to me, if that was even possible, and cupped my cheeks in his warm, calloused hands. I breathed in the scent of him, my hands going up to rest on his wrists, the muscles moving as his thumbs stroked over my skin.

"You are so beautiful, Bleu." He said, and he leaned down to brush his lips over my own. Even that little contact, the slightest connection sent stars spiraling behind my eyes and made my body tingle.

"Thank you, Niall." I said, and that was when he kissed me. 

He tasted like beer and peppermint, an oddly delicious combination on his soft, full lips. They moved like liquid against mine, melting me down to a puddle on the floor, and I dropped my hands from his wrists to rest them on his chest.

I tilted my head to the side and the kiss turned to tongues and teeth nipping at each other gently, my front pushed to every plain of his own. His hands slithered down to grip the bottom of my shirt for the second time that night, and he tugged it upward until the fabric was wound through his long fingers and half of my back was bare and exposed.

He pulled away, kissing the corner of my mouth, down my jaw line and dipping into the hollow of my ear. A gasp escaped my parted lips before I could stop it, and I felt him smile against my skin. 

Suddenly it got heated. He bit down on the skin, nibbling lightly yet still causing pain and pleasure to ricochet through my body. His hands slid down to my bum, squeezing lightly and causing me to part my lips against his own, and he clamped down on my bottom lip with his warm, delicious mouth, sucking and tugging before moving to the other side of my neck.

He hoisted my body into his arms, my legs straddling his waist and rendering me helpless and suspended at his will. He walked me to the bedroom with what seemed like the least effort in the world, and I was laid out on the bed. 

I pushed him away the, my breath coming in shallow, helpless little breaths. His own chest was heaving as he gulped in air, giving me a dark look in his pretty eyes.

"No, Niall. Not now." I said, shaking my head. His eyes dropped down to where we were pressed together, and it surprised me when he lifted his head and a smirk was on his lips.

"At least let me give you a shirt. Yours is still dirty." He said, and all I could do was nod my head.