Lessons Learned

Part 21

"Niall do you have another roll of tape?"

"Yup," he tossed it at me, not looking up from where he was sitting cross legged on the bed wearing an unbuttoned plaid shirt and a pair of striped boxers.

"Your outfit clashes," I walked over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before snagging a handful of the pictures scattered around him.

He looked down at himself and shrugged out of his shirt, "Better?"

"I was just joking," I held the pictures up to the wall and began taping them in place. I studied the collage we were making on our bedroom wall, which consisted of hundreds of stupid pictures of the two of us that we had taken over the course of my stay in the limbo.

"I printed more," Niall rolled off the bed and fell to the floor with a muffled groan. "Be right back."

I finished hanging up the ones we had as I heard Niall whistling from somewhere deeper in the house. The pictures varied, from sweet to funny to just plain weird. They told my journey of recovery.

"Back," Niall dumped an armload of pictures on the duvet before flopping himself down. "We took a lot of pictures."

I jumped on the bed to join him, leaning my chin on his exposed hip as I studied the laptop he was scrolling through. Hundreds of pictures went flashing by in quick succession on the large screen.

Niall's hand reached behind him and grabbed me, nudging me up towards his head. He rolled over, the laptop forgotten, and gave me a long, shivering kiss. We kissed for a few minutes before I moved my lips down, lightly kissing the beauty marks that danced across his skin. His arms went around me and he pulled me close, dropping a kiss on my head before slipping away.

"Let's finish this," he indicated the wall as he grabbed a few more pictures. I skipped over to join him, holding the photographs up to the wall while Niall taped. As the pictures went up we stole kisses, giggling and flirting with electric lips and searching hands. It took hours to put up because of all the make out sessions we paused for but eventually the whole wall was papered with our happy faces.

"We're done," Niall sang out, his chin resting on my shoulder and his arms around my waist from behind. I titled my head back and twisted it to the side, my lips melting into Niall's smile. I raised my hands above my head and ran my fingers through Niall's thick silken hair, electing a small moan from his pretty lips. I flipped in his arms, turning so I was facing him and giving me a better angle at his mouth. My fingers worked their way deeper into his blonde locks and I moved closer to him, wanting to press as much of my skin to his as possible.

Niall pushed aside the thin silk of the pink robe I was wearing, letting the smooth material flow down over my shoulder and reveal the creamy white of my skin. He rubbed his thumb across my shoulder, gently tracing my collarbone. His other hand fumbled at my waist in an attempt to untie the thin strip of fabric that held the robe to my body.

"I'll do it," I murmured against his lips, pushing him away so I could undress. He watched me for a few seconds before moving the laptop off the bed and dimming the lights. I let the robe drop, allowing it pool in a silky mess at my feet. I elegantly stepped out of pink pillow of fabric on the ground, feeling seductive and beautiful in my lace underwear. Niall was sitting at the edge of the bed, the ice blue of his eyes alive with a bright light as he watched me move towards him. His arms went out automatically, drawing me into a loving embrace as his lips brushed gently at my ear.

"You move like liquid silver," he murmured. "It's mesmerizing."

Gently Niall laid us out on the bed, his lips briefly searing different points of my skin before moving away. I enjoyed the sensation, but I didn't want just his lips on me. I wanted every inch of my body to be covered in his. When his lips moved back up to mine I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and didn't let him go. The slip of his skin on mine did things to me that I couldn't even fathom to explain. I traced a finger over the tender curve of his slim hip and felt his skin melt into mine as we kissed. I could hear every beat of his heart, taste every whisper of his breath, feel the bite of his salty sweat on my neck.

His gentle touch sent tingles of pleasure up my spine and all he was doing was wrapping his fingers through mine as they rested on the white sheets. I could taste the curiosity on his lips as his other hand moved down towards the thin lace covering my hips. "Can I take this off?" he whispered against my mouth, his fingers dancing across the lace.

I nodded, my hands back in his hair. At his prodding I lifted my hips so he could slide the fabric away. Once my legs were free of the lace Niall returned his hand to my hip, letting his kiss deepen slightly. I removed my hands from his perfect hair and moved them to the soft cotton band of his boxers, pushing them down slightly until he nodded his consent. My hands skimmed his smooth butt before settling on the backs of his thighs. I arched my neck as his lips moved down, my legs automatically tangling with his in an attempt to get as close to his flushed skin as possible.

His hand lovingly stroked my cheek as he pulled away slightly, "Are you ready?"

I nodded, catching his hand on my face. "Just go slowly."

"Of course," his lips were on mine again. I felt myself falling, losing myself with every touch and hint of warm breath. In the warm bedroom with the lights low and Niall's heart beating next to mine everything felt perfect.

-

Niall's tender fingers brushed a damp strand of dark blonde hair away from my face, the love shining in his blue eyes such a strange sight. I wasn't used to seeing that after sex. It surprised me how much I was actually affected by it and I tried to hide the tears welling in my eyes from Niall's gaze.

"Belly, did I hurt you? Are you all right?" the concern and pain lacing his voice sent me over the edge. I cried into his chest as he held me close, soothing me even though he didn't know why I was crying.

"Thank you," I murmured over and over into his flushed skin, clinging to him like I never had before. His gentle lips brushed my forehead and brought out a smattering of goosebumps on my skin. I nuzzled even closer to him, listening to the unnaturally rapid beat of his heart.

"I love you Annabelle," Niall muttered into my hair. "I just wanted you to know that."

"I love you too." Before the words had left my mouth I hadn't really thought of them, but I knew how true they were now that they were out in the open. "Thank you for everything. Really."

I felt his hand move down to my ribs, which no longer stuck out as much as the first time Niall had touched them. I had been eating a lot better lately. I melted into his touch, letting the soft slip of his fingers transport me.

"Thank you," his eyes found mine and held them. "You've helped me too."

I kissed his lips softly before slipping out of bed and collecting my rope from the floor. I pulled it back on, tying it loosely around my waist as I flipped the lights up. Niall's skin glowed angelically from the bed, lite from within by the slight sheen of sweat on his perfect body. The sheet was pooled gracefully around his legs in a simple yet provocative way. I found myself staring at him, still as mesmerized by his beauty as I was the first time I saw him. A small smile was fixed on his face, a tiny dimple popping out in his cheek as he watched me watching him. I could feel my cheeks heating up, so I turned away from his bright gaze and focused instead on the wall of pictures we had completed that day.

"We look so stupid," I pointed out a few of the weirder pictures.

Niall laughed, "No we don't. We look fine."

I titled my head, studying the strange faces and odd looks we were wearing. "Well that's easy for you to say. You have confidence. You know how to laugh at yourself and not take yourself too seriously. Maybe I need to learn that."

"No!" Niall shouted, launching his thin body off the bed towards me. I felt his arms go around me and heard his distant sobs fill my ear as everything went black.

And just like that I was gone.