Chapter 51

"You get used to speed as time goes by," he smiled, with that amused look that was getting on my nerves, and even though we were stopped, I couldn't undo the strong grip of my arms around him. And I did well, because soon he sped up again, causing me to open my eyes and stumble into a slightly familiar garage.

"Where are we?" I managed to ask, watching the several imported cars parked side by side speed past us, and I felt a pang of panic. Please God, he hadn't done this.

Nicholas didn't answer, he just parked his motorcycle in a spot that was next to a red Ferrari and a silver Porsche. That had previously given way to a black BMW, probably sitting in a junkyard at this hour, after its collision with a pole. He had really done it.

"Why did you bring me here?", I exclaimed, my voice louder now, as he turned off the bike. "What kind of troublemaker are you?"

"I told you I was going to give you a ride," Nicholas finally said, taking off his helmet with a bored face, and turned his face to look at me sideways "But I didn't say at any point that I would take you to your house."

I felt my blood heat up in my veins, not sure if it was panic or anger. What was I thinking, getting involved with him?

"You idiot! Take me home now," I shouted, taking advantage of his unfavorable position and slapping his back mercilessly, "I never want to look you in the face again, you shameless bastard!

Seeming not to feel the slaps and punches I was giving him, he stood up unceremoniously and began to walk calmly to the garage elevator, activating the motorcycle alarm on the way. I remained motionless until I realized that he really wasn't coming back to take me home, and without the slightest intention of getting stuck there, I ran after him, discarding my helmet along the way.

"Oh yeah, aren't you going to take me?" I hissed, walking briskly after him, who was a few steps away from me, almost reaching the elevator. "Fine! I'll walk!"

Nicholas burst out laughing and stopped right at the elevator door, only then turning to me.

"You'll die before you even get to your neighborhood. Either from exhaustion, or struck by lightning with the rain that's going to fall soon."

"I don't care!" I yelled, stopping walking a few feet away from him, totally enraged. "Anything is better than staying one more second near you!"

I continued walking toward the garage exit, and ignored the monstrous thunderstorm that shook the ground. When I was just a few steps away from the exit, which thank God was not far from the elevator, I heard rapid footsteps behind me, and quickened my pace. Totally in vain.

"What's that?", I screamed, as I felt Nicholas' arms wrap around my legs and lift me off the floor "Get off me!"

I was practically hanging onto his shoulder, feeling him hold my legs together with one arm, my torso falling behind his back. As he walked back toward the elevator, as if he were carrying a feather and not an angry person, I spanked him again, punching him as hard as I could. My hair tangled in my arms, forming knots that I knew I couldn't undo so easily, but I didn't care.

Totally ignoring my screams and aggression, Nicholas continued to lead me to the elevator, which was waiting for us with the automatic door open. As we passed, he pressed the button for the 23rd floor, which would take us to his apartment. Even inside the elevator, he wouldn't let me go, and I started making concrete threats, desperate.

"Let go of me or else I'll scream for all the floors to hear!"

"The apartments are soundproofed, but it'll be fun to hear you try," he grinned, not shaking in his sockets a bit. But that's okay, I still had arguments.

"Then I'll sue you as soon as I get the CCTV footage from the internal cameras in this building!"

"Fine, I'll bribe whoever I have to bribe. I have the money to pay for all your cheap attempts to hurt me."

"aaaaaaaah!", I screamed, punching him harder and faster "Let go of me or I'll tear a piece out of you, you maggot!"

And unexpectedly, he put me down, with a smart smile. Before I had time to assimilate that my feet were on the ground and I could volley at him, Nicholas pressed me against the elevator wall in a way that gave me goose bumps. Why did I have déja-vu at that very moment?

"Now it looks like we're entering into an agreement," he murmured, close enough to me that I could feel his warm breath hit my face. "I'll let you rip a piece of me if you let me do the same to you.

It took me a few seconds to understand his words, due to the dangerous proximity between us. The perverted smile on his lips no longer looked so irritating, and his eyes, intensely brown, couldn't decide between my eyes and his mouth.

"I nunc...," I began to protest, my voice failing, but I couldn't finish. Nicholas pressed his soft lips to mine, making my whole body tingle uncontrollably. I let out an involuntary groan as our tongues met, and only then did I remember how wonderful it was to have him so close to me, to have his hands traveling limitlessly over my body, to have his freshly brushed breath mingle with mine, to feel the warmth of his arms enveloping me... How good it felt to kiss him, to hold him, to wrap my fingers in his hair, to slide my hands through his shoulders without the slightest censorship, without the slightest fear.

With each second, that kiss became deeper, as if we were sick with longing for each other. Which was no lie in my case, even if unconsciously. When he approached me like that, with those intentions, in a place where nobody could see us, it was as if everything around us disappeared. There was only him and me. The rest was mere detail.

The elevator stopped at the 23rd floor a few seconds later, but neither of us seemed to notice it right away. It took Nicholas some time to stagger out of the cubicle until he was lying on the spacious sofa, pulling me along with him. Thank goodness that in that building, each apartment occupied an entire floor, and we didn't have to go through any kind of hallway with several apartment doors or anything like that. I don't think he could find the right key to open the door, for lack of concentration and because I would not give him a break to think. I was fully aware that if I stopped now, there would be no way to start over, and every little part of me was begging me to keep going.