As my eyes surveyed over my primped, styled, and finished reflection in the mirror, I could feel the butterflies ramming around in my stomach relentlessly like they had just done a line of Coke.

My toffee colored hair cascaded down my back in soft, large curls. I had done my makeup elegantly with a darkened smoky eye look, light blush covering my cheek bones, and a deep maroon lipstick enhanced the curves of my lips, making them look enticingly pouty and irresistible.

The dress fit like a handmade glove and before I had time to complete my internal freak out over not having supplies to get ready with for the night, Nathan brought in my curling iron and make up bag.

That sly, sneaky, sexy professor of mine had thought of everything.

I ran my hands over the material of the dress, the lace rubbing across my fingertips pleasantly. Every curve of the dress attached to my natural curves exquisitely. The sweet heart neck line and tightness of the dress pushed my cleavage up, displayed the perfect amount that I knew would tease Nathan's eyes and hormones throughout our night. The rest of the dress clung seductively down my slim waist until the material cut off just under my knees.

This dress was truly gorgeous.

"Am I allowed in yet?" Nathans voice rang out from behind the closed bathroom door.

I smoothed my hands over the lacy dress one more time for good measure, fluffed up the curls in my hair and decided that I had hogged the bathroom from Nathan for long enough.

I was ready.

"Yes, you're allowed in. It is your home after all," I said as I faced away from the mirror and grasped the door handle, turning and opening the door in the process.

"Yes, well-"

Nathans words were cut off the second we both landed eyes on each other.

"Holy sweet mother of Jesus."

The words were out of my mouth without consideration as my eyes raked over Nathans appearance.

He was wearing a suit. A suit that I was becoming increasingly jealous of as the seconds passed as it was formed to every inch of his delicious body.

It was a dark, navy blue suit that only seemed to make his shoulders even broader and every other inch of him more attractive, which it wasn't even conceivable to me how that was possible at that moment. He had a slim, matching blue tie on as well which only accented his entire suit to perfection.

And his eyes. Oh, his eyes against the color of the suit popped and seemed to glow in their sapphire blue depths, shinning with so many emotions as he gazed at me that I was left winded and ultimately stunned.

"I... you look," he tried a few times with little success to find the correct wording, his mouth moving open and shut multiple times as his eyes trailed over my entire body.

"This looks way better than I ever imagined," he finally landed on.

"So what? In your mind I'm not as attractive?" I asked with a wicked smirk, my eyes eventually prying themselves away from Nathans body and finding his wide, dazed gaze.

"Nothing is ever as good as the real thing," he shot back with a shake of his head, his hair which was styled in a neat, yet wild look, not moving an inch.

"Sap." I threw at him teasingly, taking a few steps in my black stilettos, planting myself directly in front of Nathans tall frame.

"Yeah?" He asked as his hands snaked around my waist and brought our chests flush up against each other's. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"Hmm," I hummed out as I advanced the tips of my fingers up the length of both his arms, ran them across his wide shoulders and scaled them ever so slightly up his soft, warm neck, bringing my lips closer and closer to his with every passing moment.

My lips were mere centimeters away from brushing across his. The desire was beginning to well up in his eyes as his breathing increased, blowing softly onto my face. And then I spoke.

"Nothing."

And with that, I slipped my frame from his grip and walked myself back a few steps, relishing in pride at the bewildered look upon Nathans face. It took him a few seconds to come back down to face the unsatisfied reality and once he did, he shook his head and cracked a smile.

"Tease."

"Always."

We drove for what could have been ten minutes or could have been three hours. I never would have noticed with the playful banter and relaxed conversations that Nathan and I were having on the way to our destination.

We didn't even touch the radio once. Our laughter and flirtations filled the dead air with ease. So much so that I hadn't realized when we had arrived at our destination until Nathan parked the car and looked over to me with his brilliant blue eyes expectantly.

"So?"

"So what?" I asked, confusion swarming my thoughts.

"So do you get sea sick?"

"Um, not that I know of. I've never actually been on a boat."

His lips drew up into a wide grin and he shook his head and leaned over the middle panel of his car.

"Well tonight will certainly be a night of firsts then. Look." He nodded his head in the direction of my window and my eyes followed his movement.

An unexpected gasp escaped through my lips.

Floating just yards away from where we sat in our car was a ship. A breathtaking, beautiful ship with white lights that danced across the bow and stern and across the railings of the ship. It was large enough to fit roughly 50 or so people I assumed and written across the very top of the ship was a handmade, carved out sign that read 'The Calypso' in deep red letters.

"So we'll go on here and drinks and food are free throughout the night. There's also gonna be dancing if you're into that sort of thing." Nathan spoke as I continued to ogle the ship just outside of my glass planned window.

"Nathan, I..." I was at a loss. No one, in the entirety of my existence had ever done anything like this for me before. I could feel my heart swelling to the tipping point and I had to fight the relentless urge to tell Nathan in that moment how deeply I loved him. Yet, I reared my emotions back down for the time being and turned my gaze over to Nathans.

"You didn't have to-"

"I know." He spoke quickly; firmly. His eyes pierced through mine and my heart convulsed within my chest at the warmth embedded in his eyes.

"Let's go."

The inside of the ship was even better than the outside. There were people bustling all around, all with friendly faces and kind words to be said. There were tables set for two scattered around the main floor of the ship, each with name cards and a vase of red roses placed thoughtfully on them.

Nathan and I walked across the carpeted main floor hand in hand until we found our table.

I placed my purse across the back of my cushioned seat and sat down, still admiring the intricate, ornate designs on the inside of the ship.

"This is amazing!"

Nathan nodded, taking off his suit jacket. "Yeah, the reviews said that it was one of the best dinner cruises on the east coast."

As my eyes finished roaming the room, they took up analyzing everything on our table with great joy. I picked up the name card that was placed on our table and turned it over so I could read it.

"Um, is there something you would like to tell me about?" I inquired, breaking Nathan from his own observations of the ship.

"What do you mean?"

"Like did you drug me and take me to Vegas while I was out, hubby?" My tone was overtly playful as I handed him over our name plate that had 'Mr and Mrs. McCoy' written on it in elegant, cursive handwriting.

Nathans eyes widened almost laughably as he took in the card.

"I swear I didn't tell them to do this. They must have just assumed that-"

"Relax! I'm joking!" I couldn't help the genuine laugh that tore through my throat at the whole situation.

"You should have seen your face!" I continued to laugh and point at him like a five year old, earning us a few odd looks from the other guests.

"Not funny, minx. Not funny."

"Yes it was!" I declared. "Get your panties out of a twist, McCoy."

"Hey now, that is Mr. McCoy to you!" he demanded, finally beginning to loosen up again.

"Oh is it now? And what if I choose not to call you that?" My voice had dropped to a deep, sensual tone as I leaned in towards Nathan, my eyes challenging his.

"Oh, Ms. Merrick, I don't think you want to go there," he retorted, his hungry stare matching mine.

"Oh, I think I do."

The night continued along just like that. The same fun, flirtatious atmosphere surrounded us, the food was delightful and the free Sangria that kept flowing my way over the next two hours was extraordinary.

Even Nathan took part in the complimentary drinks, downing a few beers throughout the night, loosening him up even more so than usual.

We were both tipsy, happy, and having a wonderful time.

It was relieving to leave behind my Greg induced worries for a few hours. Every ounce of my brain power and time over the last few days had been exhausted on thinking about Greg and his follow through on his threat. My mind had been consumed with thoughts of what he would do, who he would hurt, and how my life and Nathans life might change if Greg commits to his threat.

I had spent too much time worrying over the 'what ifs' over Greg and tonight was exactly the experience I needed to get me out of my gloomy shell.

"Dance with me," Nathan commanded, his eyes glazed over gleefully as he wrapped his hand around mine and dragged me out of my seat at our intimate table for two.

"Do I have much of a choice?" I asked with a smile as I trailed behind him as Nathan led us to the wooded dance square in the middle of room.

There were ten or so more couples on the dance floor so finding a place for us to stand wasn't that difficult.

Once Nathan had decided we found an acceptable place to dance, he spun me around suddenly and caused a yelp to rip through my throat at his sudden movement. His hands gripped at my waist and pulled me back into his chest quickly as laughter rippled through my body and I threw my head backwards in pure joy.

I soon felt a nose brush against my exposed neck and seconds later a head full of hair nuzzled into my neck as well.

"Mhh, you smell so good." I felt Nathans lips move against my skin as he mumbled.

"Note to self, alcohol makes you incredibly affectionate." And I liked it.

"I'm always affectionate towards you. I just never wanna stop touching you sometimes," he continued to mumble into my neck, his hot breath fanning across it making the hairs stand on their ends in anticipation.

"Your skin is so soft..." His fingers were suddenly on the move, grazing up my naked arms and shoulders. "And your body... don't even get me started on that incredible body of yours. The things I would do to you right now," he trailed off, leaving the rest up to the imagination.

My body was abruptly ignited with flames of desire and undiluted passion.

"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep." I spoke into his ear coarsely, letting my lips hover over his skin.

"I would have every intention of keeping that promise if there weren't groups of people surrounding us."

I hesitated before asking but ultimately, every bone and fiber in my body yearned for me to put the question about there.

"What about when we get home?"

His lips left my skin as he raised his head back up, connecting his stare to mine. I could tell he was taken back by the question but the heat that was accumulating behind his sapphire eyes was also a telltale sign that maybe he wanted to take our physical relationship to that point as badly as I wanted to.

He didn't answer my question. He simply brought my body into his as his hand rested on my waist and his other hand swept mine up in a gentle hold as we danced and swayed to the slow, romantic beat of the song.

We danced like that for the remaining time we were on board. My feet were sore by the end of the night from all of the dancing and trying to keep up with Nathan as he twirled me around and dipped me on the dance floor.

To say I was shocked at his dancing ability and knowledge would be an understatement.

Our drive home contained the same relaxed, fun buzzing atmosphere as the ride up did. About half way to Nathans house the sky opened up and released a bale of rain, wind, and more rain upon us, causing vision to become minimized and our conversations were forced to come to a halt so that Nathan could focus on driving us out of this shit storm.

Sometime later, we pulled into Nathans driveway and unfortunately it was still absolutely pouring.

"Ready to run?" Nathan asked with a light laugh.

"If there was going to be any way I was going to get wet tonight, I certainly didn't think it would be like this."

Nathan barked out a very guttural laugh as he pinched his thumb and pointer finger together over the bridge of his nose as he shook his head as his laughter died down.

"I am never going to be bored around you, minx."

I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth and nodded. "It's what I'm going for," I said hopefully.

"Alright," I twisted my fingers around the handle of the car and pulled. "And go!"

And with that, I sprung out of the car as fast as I could, hoping that Nathan was following suit as I ran to his front door, splashing muddied water up onto my legs in the process.

I reached the front door and turned back to find Nathan. The cold rain pellets were cascading down my face and into the front of my dress, soaking my bra in the process. Nathan finally emerged around the corner looking every bit as soaked as myself.

"The keys!" I screeched as he fumbled around through his pockets in search of the keys all the while the rain was drenching every bit of my dress and I knew my hair was now displayed in sopping wet ringlets that looked nothing like the soft curls they once were.

"I'm working on it!"

Finally, he pulled his keys out of his pocket like the little piece of heaven that they were and slammed them into the key hole and opened the door, both of us toppling in immediately.

Once inside, I kicked off my drenched heels and ran my hands through my mess of hair, shaking off the beads of water that ran onto my hand from my hair.

"I'm soaking wet," I heard Nathan mumble more to himself as he peeled off his suit jacket.

"Hey! That's my line," I snapped at him teasingly.

His eyes lit up as he stared at me with a disbelieving smile.

"Where is your off switch tonight? It has been dirty remark after dirty remark with you tonight," he said as he strolled over to me and proceeded to turn my body in various ways, pretending to search for the imaginary switch.

"Don't pretend like you don't like it," I replied as laughter wracked my body as his fingers began to dig into my sides, tickling me tenaciously.

"Nathan, stop!" I yelled as my body convulsed and I squirmed under his fingers relentless assault.

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't like it," he shot right back at me earning another bout of laughter to erupt through my lips.

"Okay, okay! I surrender!"

His fingers work on my stomach subsided almost instantaneously. His arm swooped around my waist instead and dragged our sopping wet chests together.

Nathans smiling, tauntingly handsome and dripping wet face came into my view.

"Now was that so hard?"

"It doesn't feel hard to me now but we can definitely change that."

I had to pull both of my lips in between my teeth to keep my smile at bay as Nathan closed his eyes and once again shook his head at my vulgar wording, drops of water dripping off of his hair and onto my face from the movement.

"You're relentless."

"You love it."

Something passed through Nathans eyes as his smile began to drop. That something grew and grew until his gaze was practically over flowing with whatever intense emotion it was he was feeling in that moment.

It was the same emotion that I had seen countless times over the past two weeks. The very emotion that stirred up indescribable feelings within myself and I only prayed that whatever Nathan was feeling right now was half of what I felt for him.

"I do," he said in a low voice. His eyes danced over the planes of my face as it seemed he was having a battle within himself.

His fingers came up and brushed the hairs that were meshed to my forehead out of the way gently as he blew out a deep and audible sigh, the breath flowing over my face and neck.

"I don't want to scare you away, Alex," he said in a quiet whisper as his eyes continued to dance over my face, his fingers brushing their way through my dampened hair.

"But I've never felt this way for anyone and I know this is quick but...I think if I don't say it now, I'll never find the perfect moment like this again to say it."

His whisper swelled with vulnerability and his words had my heart pounding furiously in my chest.

Nathan's hand that was in my hair dipped behind my neck, pulling my head forward the slightest bit to meet his lips as he planted the sweetest, most tender of kisses on my forehead before he spoke.

"I am so in love with you, Alex."

SO SWEET! He finally told her :) So what did you guys think?! I had a really hard time actually ending this chapter the way I wanted to and am still not sure if I like it.

Please vote/comment/ share if you loved it! You guys have been amazing with your votes and comments on the last few chapters and I just want to say THANK YOU! And thank you to all of the new readers too! You all are amazing and I couldn't have gotten this far without any of you :)

The next chapter will certainly be one you guys will LOVE ;)