"Are you still mad at me?" Nate blurts out as soon as they're inside the confined space of his car. That's the only thing that has been on his mind since this morning, or more exactly the loudest one in the cacophony of his mind, and it's becoming deafening when he throws an anxious glance at Anastasia and can't read her more than during the previous hour.

They haven't got the chance to talk with everyone around, and she hasn't avoided him, nor his touches – which he must admit has felt so liberating to not have to keep their distance or hide – yet she still has the same creases between her eyebrows, letting him see she's haunted by too many troubles, and he doesn't want to be one of them.

"I'm not mad," she sighs, the heavy breath counterbalancing the certainty in her words and leaving him as lost, although he still forces himself to start the car, as they can't stay exposed in plain view like that; it would only add them more problems.

"What's done is done. I just don't want you to lie to me again."

"Never." He immediately nods, rushing to type the destination and set the automatic pilot so he can show her his sincerity through his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. The note didn't mention you, nor what Sacha knew, and I knew that if I told you, you would have come with me. I didn't want to make you take more risks."

His gaze stays, unblinking and so penetrating, in hers, and she isn't sure what's worse: the way he is piercing through her so easily or the soft earnestness melting her in the chocolate shades. Between the two, she is losing her words and her breath, and she has to avert her eyes down before forgetting all her arguments.

"I understand. But it's together that we're stronger." Her fingers instinctively reach for her pendant like the tangible proof of her words, and indeed, she can sense the power of what they have accomplished together passing through the warm metal. "We could have talked about it. If it'd been a real threat... and if you were alone... if... I can't..."

Nate recognizes the shakes in her voice. It's something he's dreaded more than her anger; it's disappointment and fear, and he would rather have her screaming at him or sulking than hear her quavering voice losing her words. When the blows are aimed at him, he can take it, but here, she's the one attacked by shadows that he can't reach, and all his strong hand can do is join her delicate one over her pendant, instead.

"I promise I won't lie to you ever again." He dives his gaze into hers, making the promise with his hand over her heart, and in front of the mystical colors of her eyes, he knows he will never break it.

They don't even need to talk; it all passes through the sparks lighting up in her eyes, the shadows they are now both sharing behind, and this special glow, which is more than trust.

"Don't you think we should seal this promise officially?" He leans even closer so when a slow smile forms on her lips, she can feel the brush of his warm ones.

These tempting lips and the delicious tingles they send with just a light graze... they are as irresistible as his teddy brown eyes. How can she ever stay mad at him? Or even have a coherent thought for that matter?

She is very well aware that he is distracting her on purpose from those aforesaid thoughts, as for once, the roles are reversed, and she is the one spiraling in memories of hell. Even if those flashbacks aren't her own, everything she has discovered yesterday has made it too real, and now, every file is inked in her memory like she is carrying the testimony of these ghosts. It is crushingly heavy, and she is glad that Nathaniel is here with his strong arms to support her.

He has exactly the right words to lighten the mood, and together, they have found this strange, yet perfect balance to escape the world and its darkness. That's why, as he throws a quick glance around to be sure there is only the infinite of azure surrounding them, she doesn't even wait to jump on his mouth, creating their safe bubble of light.

The promise is indeed sealed intently as their lips mold together, their tongues even joining to stamp the words, and the sparks rushing from there are annihilating any haunting shadow on their way.

"You're right we're stronger together," he breathes out, his fingers running all over her face to feel her more-relaxed features, and to make sure there isn't any remaining tension in her face and clouds in her mind, he adds with a playful grin, "And we now have a plan with a real code name."

The sound of her light giggle fills his chest with more pride than any victory, the feeling of her nose crinkling up under the pad of his index finger so much sweeter.

"We have a plan," she repeats, yet the words don't have time to fully sink in as a beeping sound startles them.

It isn't the same nerve-racking ringing as the warnings that have made her heart race a few times. This one is lighter and shorter, yet when the electronic voice of the GPS sounds from the dashboard: 'You're nearing your destination', her smile falls down instantly. She would have preferred a tornado if it had meant she could stay a little bit longer with Nathaniel.

"Oh, right... we already have to go–" she stops as her gaze catches sight of the address flashing on the screen, and her heart takes off faster than if it was blown away by a tornado.

She has been so lost in all her spiraling worries that she hasn't realized when he has suggested driving her home. Of course, there is only one place that is...

"Home, yes." He smiles, pulling the precious items that he hasn't got the opportunity to give her back as the last few days have been a whirlwind of unexpected, emotions, and plans. "I think we still have some time?"

She nods eagerly, grabbing the key and the keyrings, which are only hers, and even if it's just for a moment, even if it's just a guilty escape from reality, even if there are a million 'even ifs', he savors the simple feeling of driving home with the woman he loves.

He listens as she goes over their plan, and they discuss the various pieces of art they've read, listened to, or watched, and nothing else for the rest of the ride.

That's what they both need. The fears, worries, and all the clouds from the world outside are already too often in their minds, and today is a beautiful sunny day to enjoy.

***

It feels good to be back home. The familiar relief washing over all her muscles, the warmth erupting in her chest, and all the light tingles filling her with giddiness... Well, maybe it is just Nathaniel's lips that are having this effect on her because Anastasia hasn't had the chance to glimpse their surroundings. The second they have passed the door, they have jumped on each other's lips.

Though she doesn't even need to look at the place that she knows by heart. The wall still feels the same, hard and fresh, against her back. The same familiar scent, which is now a unique mix of wood, Nathaniel's addicting scent and her perfume, is invading her nose as she tries to take deep breaths, and Nathaniel once more knocks something over in their hasty movements, which she guesses is the small stool near the door.

It's indeed that, she notes when he pulls away from her lips, her eyes quickly traveling around to recognize the treehouse, home, exactly as she has remembered.

It hasn't even been two weeks since the last time she has been there actually, yet she has really missed home, and she smiles at the familiar surroundings... before her lips rush to his neck, her tongue tracing each nook and mole, and her gaze doesn't focus on anything else but the mark she is sucking when she reaches the tender skin underneath his jaw.

"Mmh... Ana..."

She even relishes the sound of his huskiest groans as they are echoing with no restraint in the only place they can be free, for now...

As if sensing this last thought, his fingers slide past the barrier of her tank top, running freely all over her burning skin and releasing a rush of desire at the small of her back, pulsing, fierce, ardent. She swears they have been here for barely two seconds, yet the fire gathering down her core feels like it has been fusing since an eternity, and as she tightens the grip of her legs around his waist, she can note that she isn't the only one desperate, her hips swaying for more contact.

"Ana..." he tries to say between two deep breaths, unable to find any other word as her determined fingers sneak to the slit of exposed skin between his ridden-up tee-shirt and the belt of his jeans.

The patterns she's drawing are dizzying, and it's hard to remember the trail of his thoughts under her faint yet electrifying touch.

"Ana." He forces himself to pull away before his idea melts away, along with his resolve, in the heat she's creating between their colliding centers. "Are you sure? I..."

Through the steamy daze, the question takes a few seconds to reach her mind, and her hips are still rocking aimlessly when he softly puts her down.

However, her attention and her breath are quickly caught by the shallow sigh he lets out, and all her movements freeze with his next words.

"I don't want you to think that-that... I'm only interested in getting into your pants."

She vaguely remembers spitting something like that in a desperate attempt to keep a strong facade, yet now, hearing them in his earnest cracking tone is making her weaker than ever.

"I know. I was angry and hurt when I said this. I know it isn't true," she explains the best she can when her blood is fusing with too many emotions, driven by too many heartbeats. "You proved it to me enough..."

"You know I love as much cuddling with you? Talking with you... just being with you." His attentive gaze dives into hers to make sure to convey the words and send them straight to her heart, where she is melting even faster, love and desire mixing and fueling each other until she is swamped completely

With his messed curls, his reddened lips that he is slowly nibbling, the tensions emanating from all his muscles as he is holding back his hips from moving against hers, and his dark yet transparent gaze, he is a sight for sore eyes, and her whole being is aching for him.

"I know," she assures him while her fingers are reaching and fumbling with his belt to slide inside his own pants. "I love you, and I trust you. And right now, I really need you inside my pants."

These words seem to relieve more tensions than her fingers sliding down his zipper, as he heaves out a sound between a raspy laugh and a shaky breath, and after seeking her gaze for one last meaningful second, he finally crashes their lips together, making her back collide with the familiar hardness of the wall again.

Just like that, they go back to their frantic kissing. Their mouths are devouring each other, and their tongues are chasing more of their tastes, while their hands are rushing to every inch of exposed skin – his hands particularly, as they are almost tearing open her jeans, and as strange as it is, it doesn't erase the truthfulness of his words, only imprinting it deeper.

Being together is already the most satisfying feeling in the world. The last few days since they are back together stronger have been proof of it, as they have grown closer than ever, without even going farther than passionate kisses. But right now, they need to release all the emotions they have been through in this last week, and their bodies are desperately trying to express themselves.

"I love you so much... and I trust you too..." he whispers between kisses along her neck, as if marking each word on her pale skin, and they are echoed by each roll of his hips pressing her deeper against the cold wall and knocking her breath out as she pants,

"And?"

She doesn't even know how she manages to sneak her hand to his boxer as his whole body is pinning her firmly to the wall, and the contact of his hard muscles against her sensitive breasts and core is dissolving her legs into a fuzzy liquid. Yet her fingers are driven by an unwavering pull as they brush the tip of his hardness.

"Fuck! And... and I need you." Nate chuckles, a sound that resembles more a strained moan as she's smoothly stripping down the last strings of his restraint, exactly like she's pulling down his pants.

She has a way to call the most essential parts of him every time they're together, and it's more than just lust. It's a surge starting with each of his heartbeats, although the strong thumps are indeed pumping all the blood to his throbbing length as she wraps her small hands around him.

In no time, his pants, boxers, and shoes are kicked off the way, and then, he gladly lets her lead him backward until his calves hit the mattress, both his hardness and his heart twitching when she stops. It might only be for a split-second, but it's enough for him to glimpse the ardent look in her doe eyes and the hint of a smirk playing on her swollen lips before she lightly pushes him backward on the bed, and it's the sweetest fall when he takes in the sight in front of him... her petite silhouette standing like the most sinful apparition he could ever dream of.

He already knows by heart every curve and edge of her naked body, and he's seen her in various attires highlighting these forms. Yet there's a special glow emanating from her today. His eyes can't decide where to gaze at, running from her crinkled tank top, clinging to her heaving chest, to her exposed heat dripping down her inner thighs that she is trying to squeeze together, and when he finally settles on her gaze, he recognizes immediately the light.

It's her fire that has now fully ignited. She's fierier and more herself than ever, and he can only watch captivated as she's setting him ablaze.

In one swift motion, she is taking off her tank top, the flimsy white fabric suffocating her as Nathaniel's gaze is magnetized to each of her movements, even if actually, she is the one mesmerized under his dark gaze, and it feels more like he is drinking, devouring, and swallowing her whole with his penetrating eyes. It sets the powerful hammering of her heart and the light tremors invading each of her nerve-endings until her body is just an erratic echo of throbbings.

She is sure that he hears it in the heightened silence because he grabs her waist and tips her over just when her knees are about to buckle under the strong intensity, and her body dissolves into delicious shudders as soon as he leads her to straddle him.

There is nothing in the way between their naked centers, and the tight hold he has on her hips is urging her to press closer until the warm smoothness of his erection is sliding through her wetness. Yet he is still too far, and just as his hard length twitches too close to where she needs him the most, he withdraws his hips, replacing it with his fingers.

"Nathaniel..." She drops her forehead against his shoulder, gripping his strong back as she is barely holding herself up.

The pulsations in all her nerve endings are gathering into an overwhelming pounding under the pad of his fingers and these unique patterns only he knows to drive her to the edge, and she is already about to cross it when the first spark of ecstasy is igniting. But before it can propel her there, she stops his hand.

As delicious as his lips feel on the sweet spot below her left ear, and as tempting as it is to surrender to the sweet assault of his fingers, she needs more. She needs all of him. Nothing else can satisfy that clenching deep inside about to swallow her whole. She can't even put a word on it, except maybe love. It is all the love that has been tested, stretched, and pulled to grow stronger in the last few days, and now, she just needs to share it with him.

"Nat-Nathaniel... I-I need..." She loses her breath as his tenebrous eyes search frantically over her face, filling as quickly with worry as they are pouring more love and need into her whole body. "I... I need you."

He could come just at the sound of her breathless murmur combined with all the love shining in the dark shades of her eyes, and if he hadn't understood, she makes it clearer, grabbing his already leaking hardness and positioning herself above him.

"Are you sure?" He fights to find his voice. He fights to hold her hips in place, and he fights to keep his own hips still as her walls are already swallowing his tip. Yet for her, he's ready to fight anything to make sure she's okay and happy.

"Yes! I'm sure," she assures him, her breathless tone not taking anything away from her determination, nor from her playful smile when she adds, "But if you prefer, we can just talk and cuddle?"

"No!" he almost shouts, sounding as desperate as he is, because she is probably the only woman in the universe that can make him laugh and still manages to make him harder, and he shows her how serious he is. "I need you too."

His hips lightly thrust forward at the same time that he's slowly lowering her on him until he's fully buried inside her warmth, and they both gasp, still taken aback by the feeling.

He's been there, figuratively and literally, a hundred times before, yet each time, it seems they are completing each other more perfectly. All their differences and imperfections that the government is calling out, and even every second they've been pulled apart, it doesn't matter when they're forming one like this. Nothing else matters.

He puts his lips on her parted ones, savoring this moment, which three days ago he hasn't even dared to dream of living again, every part of her the closest possible, while he's seen her drift away the farthest possible too many times, and he also basks in the hope of a freedom like this forever.

They aren't moving, but it's already bliss.

However, as his hand slides to her lower stomach, pressing down slightly to feel himself deep inside her, something snaps inside them, maybe their hearts releasing the desperate rush they've been trying to slow down since the second they've arrived home, or maybe it's just her tight muscles clenching around him perfectly. Anyway, the kiss that has started as a featherlike suspended moment falls back to an earth-shattering frenzy, and even though they would love to relish every sensation, they are about to implode under the intensity of it all.

They will have more opportunities to savor them. They will have more, that's what his lips are promising on hers, while their whole bodies start moving again, chasing the desire spreading with each erratic beat of their hearts. Their hips are clashing each time faster, and their hands are rushing to peel off the last pieces of clothes they haven't even bothered taking off in their haste before.

Nathaniel and his talented fingers, of course, unclasp her bra in no time. But for her, it is an impossible task to get rid of his shirt, especially when his lips latch around the tip of her left breast. So she just rolls up the bottom of his tee-shirt, her fingers following the lines and edges she has all memorized, and her nails scratching the central line from his pendant all the way down when he tugs her swollen peak between his teeth.

"Oh-Oh mon dieu! Nathaniel!" she cries out, her legs trembling, although she still picks up the pace of her hips, the growing burn in her thighs only fueling the one in her core.

Before she knows it, it is overpowering her, sucking in all her being, like a tidal wave drawing in all the water off the shore to crash harder.

"Please... more..." These are the only words she can strain out, sounding almost like a moan of pain.

Well, she is aching with too much pleasure, as it is gathering too tightly in her core. It's a feeling she can't comprehend, and her brain can't function right now to even start to process it.

But thankfully, Nathaniel understands because he is going through the same sensations, from what she can glimpse in his parted lips and dark gaze, gazing at her in a mix of awe, bliss, and excruciating need. His back falls back down on the mattress, pulling her down with him, and as his hands grasp roughly her butt, and he bends his knees, taking support on his feet for leverage, she instantly feels closer to him, closer to the glorious peak. It is right there–

"Say... my nickname," he demands, his drunk gaze focusing on hers as he is slowly drawing out of her, and it might be a struggle to stand still, to keep her eyes from rolling to the back of her head, and to find her breath, yet the words come out naturally.

"Mon amour... pleea–"

His hips jerk up before she can even plead, her voice lost somewhere in the ecstasy as he fills her completely with a new angle that reaches this deep point of pressure inside.

"I love you... my angel... my tornado... Ana..." He doesn't control the words leaving his mouth anymore. They're shooting out as fast as his wild thrusts and the frenetic thumps of his heart, driven by the sight of Anastasia getting lost in her high.

Her unrestrained sinful moans, each roll of her hips following the push of his hands, and her teeth sinking into his shoulder, she isn't holding anything back. She looks so free and blissful. He could believe it's an angelic dream if her tight muscles weren't clamping him and rushing the same wildness in his veins.

"My... my love bug."

"Oh my–" She falls limp on top of him, stricken by the intense bliss happening inside.

She has been expecting her orgasm to come like an earthquake, those pulsations of pleasure finally spreading throughout her whole body. But, no, each throbbing turns into an explosion, and she feels like a grande finale as sparks of pleasure are bursting out again and again.

She isn't even sure if she is crying Nathaniel's name or not, not even if she is still breathing, and her body is still quivering with the last explosions as Nathaniel is driving his hips relentlessly into her, chasing his own devastating high.

"Ana-Anastasia!" he screams, and as the intensity of her climax is about to swamp her into unconsciousness, she fights to open her eyes, watching from up close his open lips moaning her name again and again and his face contorting into the same euphoria still tingling in all her nerve-endings.

It is love, she concludes as she savors every little spark keeping her high and the warmth of Nathaniel filling her completely. The rush of desire has been their love and every emotion it has led to being released and sublimated, from heartbreak, anger, and fear to hope, pleasure, and happiness. That's why it has been almost painful, and now, it is like they have been purified of all these emotions, remaining with peacefulness and love.

Love, her eyelids are fluttering closed on that feeling, and she is drifting into a semi-sleep cozier than cloud nine as her head rests on Nathaniel's firm and smooth muscles, the drumming of his heartbeat lulling her in spite of its erratic rhythm.

Indeed, Nate can't regulate his heart rate, and his head hasn't stopped spinning, as he's getting as drunk by the soft haze invading his blood as by the rush of electric ecstasy of his orgasm. He's still wrapped inside Anastasia's warmth actually, so this is still heaven, especially as he's holding her closer in his arms, breathing in her sweet perfume, which is now a mix of fruity notes with a hint of vanilla, and mainly, the intoxicating scent of sex, love, filling the air.

He is taking in and treasuring all these tiny little details of their bodies together, his gaze running all over their entangled members, and his tongue licking her taste on his lips, while his fingers are tracing mindless patterns on the red marks he's left in her pearly skin. Although it isn't mindless; they're the words of love that he doesn't dare to say out loud to not wake her up.

She needs to rest after those last few days, and maybe he would need it too as the tiredness is tickling behind his eyes. However, he doesn't dare to close them, or even blink for too long, because of the lingering fear that she might disappear like the angel she is, his angel.

It's still hard to believe she is here and they're both wrapped in each other, when one week ago, he's been here alone, drowning in his sorrow and thinking about burning this place down. Yet she is really here, her fire making those dark memories vanish and lighting hope around.

"I missed home," she murmurs, letting him feel her smile against his damp skin before he can even glimpse her beautiful eyes fluttering open, and his heart instantly picks up its pace again.

She has been asleep seconds ago, and now, she's already reading his mind?

"Feels nice to come home?" He softly grabs her chin to pull her lips to his lopsided, lazy grin, and she replies as deviously with a roll of her hips, stirring all his nerve endings again, particularly the ones she's still engulfing down there. Though it could almost look innocent as she's observing him with her doe gaze and rosy cheeks, smoothing a few curls away from his forehead.

"Yes, it feels incredib–" Devious or angelic, all her movements are frozen, along with the warmth spreading inside his body, when she gasps, "It's already 6.25 p.m.?!"

Even if the numbers have trouble making their way to his dazed brain, Nate is sure it's been barely a few minutes since they've entered the treehouse and seconds that he's watched her sleep. It can't be hours?! But she must know better as she's staring at her watch, which they haven't bothered to take off in their rush, and she quickly mutters,

"Merde, merde, merde!"

Those words never announce anything good, and it isn't different today, as she pulls away from him, sitting up and looking around for her bra, all in the same second. The tornado Anastasia...

"I'm sorry... I have to go already." She offers him a sorry smile, her chest tightening in front of his sad puppy expression, the same way her stomach is contracting at the sight of the hands of the clock moving too fast.

So much for feeling like floating in heaven to come back down to earth with so many tensions as soon as she is away from Nathaniel's embrace, and she isn't even facing the world out there yet; she isn't even at...

"You're going to Fergus's?"

She isn't the only one stiffening, and she notices too well Nathaniel's jaw ticking on the last word; however, she also catches the change from 'your fiancé' to 'Fergus' in a few weeks, maybe because now, there is hope that it won't be his title forever.

"Yes, I have to go try his mom's dress, and then, they've invited me for dinner." Her stomach is already turning at the thought, and she busies herself with the search of her top to not think, nor see all the tensions appearing in Nathaniel too. "I couldn't really escape it again..."

"I know we've already talked about it... but you're sure my idea to kill him wouldn't solve our problems?" he asks with a half-smile as he hands her the balled-up tank top, yet there is no hint of playful sparkle in his eyes. They have gone from thick dark pouring with desire to a teddy brown illuminated with so many twinkles, and now, they are clouded with jealousy and darker shadows.

Who would have thought chocolate brown could take so many shades in a matter of seconds? Anastasia is still discovering new ones, and it is a bitter-sweet feeling when she is responsible for each of these colors.

"It doesn't matter if there's no wedding." She leans closer, trying to brighten his gaze with a soft smile, though it doesn't pull more than the tiny lift of the corner of his lips, and too soon, it is replaced by worried creases adding to the shadows in his eyes.

"Are you going to be alone with him?"

"I don't know... I don't think so." She sighs, not sure where this conversation is going and not liking that it seems to be away from all the euphoria and lightness they have created together, as each word is weighing down in the air.

Yet she would rather let all the burdens crash down on her stomach than leave Nathaniel with them hovering around, and that's why she adds, "You know I won't do anything. Well, if I have to, I'll kiss him to not arouse suspicions, but nothing else." Her eyes don't blink away from his intense dark ones to show him, maybe even vow, how serious she is. "And I'll be thinking of you the whole time."

Since they are always sealing their words in only one way, that's what she does, her lips meeting his for a long and meaningful second, and she has to force herself to lean away and get up before giving in fully to the irresistible pull.

It might be tempting, yet it wouldn't be wise when she is already late, and she has to undertake excavations to find her panties, which is maybe more literal than she has expected. With the modest size of the treehouse, it shouldn't be that hard, but in the rush, her underwear can have been thrown out anywhere, and with Nathaniel's gaze following all her movements and the clock ticking, it is impossible to focus.

"I know, I trust you." He stands up, picking her panties from under the knocked-down stool and fighting all his instincts to give them back to her.

He trusts her; it's the rest of the world that he doesn't trust. However, he can't add more weight on Anastasia's fragile and tensed shoulders with a bad feeling and fears that might as well be only jealousy, since he's still new to that feeling.

"But I better leave you a good taste so you'll still feel me on your lips."

She doesn't have time to argue, barely having put on her pants when he cups her face and crashes his mouth on hers, and it is more than just a taste that he offers her. His lips are merciless, sweet and demanding all at the same time, while his tongue is exploring every inch of her mouth to make sure to imprint his mark everywhere, and she returns it with the same possessiveness and the hint of desperation they are sharing.

There is no doubt she will remember this kiss – if this intensity can even be called a kiss, as it revives all the sparks from their recent high – and when they pull away, the tick-tock of the clock is muted over the loud beats of her heart.

"I'm not sure I got all the savors, can I get another taste?" she asks breathlessly and recklessly, knowing she will have to make up more lies for these few minutes of heaven.

I think it was time for a steamy chapter, it has been more than 10 chapters since the last time Nate got inside Ana's pants 😏😅, and I hope this one has made up for it! 🔥

Let me know what you think of this 'coming home' chapter in the comments 😉 and don't forget to vote ⭐ if you liked it and want more 😈

Though before that, Ana will have to face her 'future in-laws' and make up some lies for her lateness... 😅 

Finally, I just wanna say that I love you and thank you because these days my health hasn't been at its best, plus, we're in lockdown with a lot of cases of covid here, but all your support and love bring me so much joy and energy 🌞❤🥰 

Don't forget to take care and stay safe, my little rays of sunshine 😘❤

PS: For the French words, like Nate, you must know them by now: 'Merde' = 'shit' and 'Oh mon dieu' = 'oh my god' 🤓