Free Manhattan Muse: A Contemporary Romance by Vivian Wilde

sturdy legs bent softly as they had into my sheets. My eyes glided across his stomach, which tensed the same way it had when it was pressed against mine. His chest contracted into the mold I had remembered grasping between my hands as he had spilled inside of me.
    The sound of weights hitting the floor snapped me back to reality as I watched his mass make its way over to where I stood. My breath had been taken from my lungs even though I had done everything but exert myself.
    “Hey,” Nate grunted, wiping the sweat from his brow. “What are you doing here?”
    “Hey,” I breathed. I felt a warmth build inside of me. His scent was intoxicating. “D-dancing. Adam renewed my membership while I was gone.”
    “Adam did, huh?” Nate said, fixing the grips tied around his hands.
    “Yes,” I managed.
    “Well, you enjoy yourself,” Nate said. His eyes danced with mine for a brief moment before turning to walk back to his frustrated trainer.
    “Wait,” I said. “That’s not fair.”
    Nate stopped in his tracks before turning around.
    “What’s not fair?” Nate said.
    “You leaving without letting me ask you questions,” I said after being put on the spot. The truth was I was saying anything to make him stick around longer.
    “No,” Nate said, dismissing the idea. “What’s not fair is having to be across the hallway in compression shorts doing rep after rep while you prance around in the tightest clothing on Earth.”
    My eyes crept down to his goods before my mind caught up to reprimand them.
    “Ah,” I said, embarrassed. I felt the color creep to my face as Nate’s light laughs wafted to my ears. I drew in a deep breath to try and calm down. When it came out shaky, I grew more timid and turned away.
    “Hey,” Nate said softly. When he didn’t receive a response, he walked over to my side and brushed his hand down my back. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    I nuzzled my head into his pecs and rocked back and forth for a few moments. His hand hovered in the air while he decided where he was allowed to put it. It settled on caressing the side of my shoulder, running soothing trails on along my nerves.
    “It’s OK,” I said.
    “No, it isn’t,” Nate said. “I upset you.”
    “ I just didn’t want it to be like this,” I said, pressing into him a little more. “I want things to be normal.”
    “They are normal,” Nate said. “Nothing has changed.”
    “Now you are the one lying,” I said, looking up at him. “I saw your hand. You didn’t know where you were allowed to touch me. I swore I could almost hear your brain cranking with reasons. Don’t touch her hair – its fake. Don’t touch her face – she spent hours on it. Don’t touch her side – too close to her-”
    “OK,” Nate said, cutting me off with a soft kiss to my hairline. “OK, you caught me.”
    “I want to have those feelings,” I said. “I mean I still do. I’m just really self-conscious.”
    As I finished my last word, I felt Nate’s body die a little inside. Those were the last words he wanted to hear escape my mouth. His hands drew me into him for a full embrace.
    “I don’t want you to feel that way, at all,” Nate said. His lips met my neckline and I melted in his arms. Taking in his scent which was now peppered across my outfit, I couldn’t help what I did next. Hidden from the rest of the world by his bulky arms, I licked the length of his breast and found out that he tasted just as good as he smelled. I felt Nate take in a deep, shaky breath as I hummed as if pleased. “I was trying to give you your space these past few days.”
    “I appreciate that but, truly, I don’t need space right now,” I said closing my eyes to take in the music of his beating heart. “I had six months of space. And I was selfish that day.”
    “You were no such thing,” Nate said. I lost myself in those words. It was one of the things I most admired about Nate – he never made me feel guilty for my actions despite