When the Tide Rolls In [COMPLETED]

Chapter 25: I Love You

Author's Note:

Hello! Thank you all so much for reading this far! This will be the last chapter of When the Tide Rolls In aside from its epilogue. If you need more content to read after this, I will have another story coming out soon! Again, thank you all so much and please vote and comment!

After ten minutes of calling May, she finally arrived in my room rubbing her tired eyes.

"What is it, Sammy?" she mumbled, and I was too excited to see Nick to be upset at her nickname for me.

"I need you to take me to the boat. Our grandfather's boat," I sighed, groaning as I struggled to sit up. May hurried over to me, helping me stand and get dressed without asking questions. I had expected her to start firing them off any minute, but she stayed silent.

It was only when we were downstairs and I was in a wheelchair when May asked a quiet, simple question.

"Are you going to meet Nick?"

"Yes."

She replied with a nod, and wheeled me out of our house. Getting down the front steps was hard, but we managed. May pushed me down the sidewalk in silence. It seemed a little difficult for her since the streets here were all either uphill or downhill. When we finally made it to the docks, my eyes grew wide.

Fairy lights decorated the side of the yacht and from what I could tell, all around inside as well. Nick stood outside dressed in a suit, and here I was in my plaid pajama shorts and a white tank top. He held a rose, and May smiled when she saw him.

"Okay, take care of her, I'm trusting you," she spoke, breaking the silence.

"What?" I asked, looking up at her. She just smirked down at me and allowed Nick to help me to my feet. His hands on me felt like taking a warm blanket out of the dryer and wrapping yourself up in it.

"Will do," Nick smiled at May, and he helped me up the latter onto the deck of the yacht. I audibly gasped as my feet hit the deck. Rose petals and fairy lights were covering the entire boat. A table sat in the middle of the deck with two champagne glasses perched atop it. Nick walked me over and sat me down. I smiled at him, not daring to say anything. We grinned at each other until he broke the silence.

"I told May to make sure you were dressed nicely," he smirked. I gasped playfully and narrowed my eyes at him. Nick just held his hands up in defense. We both lifted our glasses to each other, and clinked them together. Taking a sip, I felt the fizziness of the drink run over my tongue and down my throat.

"Why are you doing this?" the words left my mouth before I could catch them.

Nick smiled knowingly, as if he could tell I was going to ask this. He seemed to already have an explanation made up, and he started to speak.

"Well, Samantha, I thought that by sending Conner, it would make it less hard on me. But when he came back and told me what happened, it broke my heart. I tried to reason with myself, telling myself that I couldn't put you in harms way but..." Nick trailed off, looking everywhere but my face.

He was nervous? Nick Sanduvol was nervous?

"What is it Nick?" I asked, reaching across the table. His eyes flicked to my hand, and then my face. They were dark and I felt heat rise in my cheeks. Nick slowly put his hand into mine. He whispered something, and I leaned forward to get him to repeat it.

"I'm selfish, Samantha. I thought I would be able to do the right thing, but I want you so bad that it's taking all of my control to not let go and take you right here on this table," he growled, his grip on my hand tightening. His eyes were almost black with lust, and I felt heat pool in my lower abdomen.

"Nick," I whispered, and he met my eyes at the sound of his name spoke huskily through my lips, "let go."

Nick pulled me too my feet, lifting me up into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist, ignoring the dull pain in my ribs. Nick walked us down the stairs and into the master bedroom of the yacht, all the while leaving trails of kisses down my neck and shoulders. I felt my breath grow heavy. He laid me down on the bed, hovering over me as to not hurt my ribs.

I raised arms and wrapped them around his neck. My fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck and tugged. He paused, and then without warning, rolled his hips into mine as he sucked particularly hard on my neck. I let out a loud moan, and Nick groaned in response.

"Oh fuck, I could get used to that sound," he mumbled under his breath, working to remove his suit jacket. I began unbuttoning his dress shirt, and stopped a couple of times to steal a few kisses. Once Nick was undressed, leaving only his underwear, I paused to take him in.

His chest was extremely toned, muscles rippling with a sheen of sweat. The muscles in his arms bugled as he held himself above me. I dared myself to look further down and once my eyes met their target, I sucked in a deep breath. Nick smirked at my expression.

"Come on," he spoke, "let's get you out of those shorts."

--

I groaned in pain as light met my eyes. The sound of waves and seagulls filled my ears but at the moment I could only focus on one thing: the intense pain in my abdomen. I cried out as I rolled over to find my pain medication. Instead of my bedside table, my hand met something else.

Nick shouted out in surprise as my hand landed hard on his face. He sat up quickly, which was a mistake, because despite the pain I was in, I still let my eyes roam over his chest.

"Samantha, what's wrong?" he asked, reaching for me. The sheets fell farther down his body and I caught the sight of his V-line. My eyes snapped back up to his face, and he knew I had been checking him out.

"My ribs," I could hear the struggle in my own voice. Nick was suddenly in care-taker mode instead of sexy boyfriend mode, and he practically leapt out of bed to my backpack May had brought.

Boyfriend?

Nick handed me my pain medication, which I gladly took. He pulled on his underwear and moved me into his lap. I basked in the feeling of his hands running through my wild hair, attempting to tame it.

"Nick, are you my boyfriend now?"

His laughter caught me off guard, but I loved the feeling of his chest rumbling.

"If last night is of any evidence, then yes, I am definitely your boyfriend," Nick chuckled, placing a kiss on the top of my head. My chest filled with warmth, and I snuggled into him further. I heard him grunt at my movement, so I looked up in concern. He just gave me a small smile, and leaned down to press his lips against mine.

"You know, last night was amazing," I murmured against his lips.

"I was supposed to tell you something else last night. When I told you I was selfish, I meant to say something else. I mean, it's true that I am a bit possessive," he chuckled, pulling me closer, "but that's not all I had to say."

"Then what else is there?"

"I love you."

I grinned, feeling the safest I had in the past few months.

"I love you too, Nick Sanduvol."