Games of Power and Prowess

Chapter 20: I've Forgotten

We enter Natalie's warm, inviting home with our hands intertwined. We're both shivering at this point so we go into the kitchen and Natalie puts the kettle on. She's already expressed that she wants hot cocoa but I am going to have a nice, warm cup of tea. It's odd that she uses water and not milk for her cocoa but maybe it's just for convenience so she doesn't have to boil water and milk.

We stand on opposite sides of the counter as we sip on our rapidly cooling drinks in comfortable silence. I finish mine first and then Nat places her mug on the counter with a sense of finality. Her tongue swipes across her pale coloured lips and I look down at the ring sitting delicately around my index finger. I take a breath and the faded smile that was already on my lips returns wider than before.

"I want to do something in return for all this stuff." I admit, looking up from the counter into her striking earthy eyes. She smiles and laughs a little, standing upright and taking her mug to the sink.

"Take me on a date, then." She suggests, turning around to find me closer than before as I place my mug in the sink as well. I think about it, but I know for sure that this is something I want to do right here, right now. I turn her around and lean my front against her back, snaking my hands around her and up into her shirt so I can feel her warm skin on my hands. She sighs in bliss and I rest my head on her shoulder.

"We don't need to go out for this." I tell her, making sure my breath hits her skin as my lips move to kiss the dip between her neck and shoulder. She wriggles out of my embrace and turns to face me, kissing my face with amusement written all over hers.

"Whatever you want, princess." Her voice is still light and airy. I can't tell if she's being genuinely oblivious to what I'm trying to do or if she's putting on an act. Either way, I take her hand and pull her away from the kitchen and towards the stairs. I don't even turn around to see if she's finally getting it.

We make it to her bedroom door and I think she puts two and two together at this point because when I go to open the door, she stops me. It's her turn to take my wrist and pull me further into the hall. I've only explored down here a few times. It has an office and another bedroom.

"Where are we going?" I ask her, looking at her curiously. She gives me her million dollar smile and pulls both of my hands into hers. She walks backwards into the second bedroom, never taking her eyes from mine. I swear as soon as we passed the door frame, her already dark eyes became even darker.

She twirls our bodies for a moment and then moves me to the bed so I can sit down. Her hands leave me only for a moment to remove her long sleeved shirt. I look at her beautiful body for what seems like forever, making me want to melt. She is absolutely flawless, and not only that, but she's got muscles like a goddess.

"Are you okay with this, darling? I don't want you to do this just because you feel like you owe me." She says softly, bringing my attention back to her when she kneels in front of me and placing her hand gently on my knee. I look down at her and smile, a real big one that I only have when I'm around her.

"Natalie." I say, grateful that she's thinking of me but also a little frustrated that she took off her shirt and is now asking if I'm okay with touching her. Like, have you seen yourself? If I wasn't sure about this before (I was sure), I am now. "I want this. Are you sure you want this?" If I've learned anything from my shitty education so far, it's that consent is the most important thing in any relationship.

"I've wanted this from the first moment I saw you standing across from me in my office." She admits, bringing back the memory of the first day of school. It's been months but it doesn't feel like more than a few weeks. This is the longest and by far the most complicated relationship I've been in. To be fair, I've moved around a lot so the opportunity for long term relationships were slim.