Nico's POV:

I awoke to a very strange sensation.

Strange in the sense that this wasn't something that I've ever expected to wake up to.

Apparently, the combination of my already existing exhaustion mixed with Khloe's warmth on me lulled me to sleep leaning far back in my desk chair.

Except now I had the slightly familiar feeling of lips ever so slightly caressing my neck.

The hand that I already had on her back tightened against her, feeling her body jolt a small bit now that she knew I was awake.

Which I'm guessing was her intention, but she didn't stop.

Instead, the hands that had previously been wrapped around me slowly made their way to my shoulder, the tips of her fingers dragging against me along the way.

A low groan escaped my lips as I turned my head up, trying to blink the grogginess from my eyes.

Her lips had no right to be that warm and inviting this early in the day.

Yet they always were and I loved it, especially when she made the first move.

She reacted to the sound that came from me, beginning to drag her hands down my biceps, her nails pressing ever so slightly against my skin.

Meanwhile, her lips decided to travel up, her knees pushing against me as she rose herself up to follow her intentions.

As soon as her tongue came into play, my hand went to the back of her neck, fingers spreading into her hair.

I really didn't know what she was hoping to accomplish, but I sure was interested to find out.

It didn't take much longer for my purr to begin vibrating through my chest.

Apparently, that's what she was looking for because barely a couple seconds later, she stopped.

I turned my head towards her a bit as she lifted herself from me, an accomplished smile and glint in her eyes.

"Got it," she whispered under her breath.

"Got what exactly?" I questioned, my voice just a bit lower than it probably should be

Her smile turned to that of proud innocence as I leaned the chair forward to its original position.

"You seemed really stressed and sidetracked yesterday. In all honesty, I just wanted to make you happy and relaxed enough to purr." She answered.

A warmth spread through my chest at her intentions.

Last night was definitely one of the more... stressful ones I've had lately given the new information given to me.

I tried to hide it, but I guess I didn't do as well as I had hoped.

That or she's begun to learn how to read me.

Regardless I leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek as my purr continued to rumble, thanking her quietly.

She tentatively placed her hands on my chesk, probably wanting to feel it before she asked her next question.

"You are okay though, right?" she asked, her voice carrying the slightest bit of worry.

It took me a moment to actually think about that.

In all honesty I don't think I've ever felt so on edge.

Ever since yesterdays events, a part of me has been aching in apprehension.

Whether that feeling was real or just a result in my worry of what's going on, I wasn't too sure of yet.

But whatever it may be, It wasn't something I needed her worrying about.

I didn't need both of us worrying about this yet.

"Of course," I began, smoothening out the top of her hair, "Yesterday was an off day, but yeah, with you here I'm okay."

I willed my purr to continue, hoping it would aid in my persuasion.

Even though my words weren't completely untrue, it still pained me to lie to her.

Whether or not I was sparing her from this, I didn't like it.

She seemed to believe me, a look of relief replacing the concern.

"OK good," She sighed out, "How long until you have to leave?"

I glanced at the clock.

I did have a couple thing I needed to accomplish, as well as have a couple more questions answered for me from Carlo.

Plus I had already missed having breakfast with my family.

"About three hours give or take. Why?" I looked back at her with a slight smirk, "Is there something that you wanted to do?"

She responded exactly how I wanted, her eyes growing wide as a tint grew across her face.

"Well, I-I," She cleared her throat, "We could keep doing this if you want."

I chuckled a bit.

"Sounds good to me."

She squealed as I grabbed the back of her thighs and stood from the chair, her hands gripping onto my shirt.

Being in that chair for so long left an ache in my back, so I moved us over to my bed.

I sat so that she was still on top of me, her knees on either side and finally did what I wanted to ever since I woke up to her antics.

Leaning in I connected her lips with mine with a soft tenderness, cherishing that small moan she gave me.

Her hands made their way into my hair before I parted from her, eyeing the part of her neck that was currently being covered by what she was wearing.

She followed my gaze, apparently reading my thought process.

"Should I um- Should I take it off?"

"If you want," I replied, "If not, I can manage."

She thought for about three seconds before taking a deep breath and leaning back.

Then, crossing her arm over the other she grabbed the bottom of the hoodie and lifted it off in one fluid motion.

Even she seemed to be surprised with how well she did it, placing it beside us on the bed.

I watched as her hair fell back into place, adoringly meeting her eye before I looked over what she was gracing me with.

Eyeing down the freckled skin of her chest and waist that was paler than the rest of her, I gently placed my hands at her sides

Even now I was careful with her.

Her confidence had grown exponentially and I was so proud of her for that, but that still didn't mean that she wasn't still hesitant at times.

She still had limits and I knew to respect that unless she gave me the go-ahead.

Until then, I already knew what she was okay with at this current moment.

I felt ever so slightly the shiver that ran up her spine at the cool contact of my skin directly on a sensitive spot on her body.

Still, she promptly leaned back towards me, Both the sound and the subtle feeling of her heart thumping being evident as I moved some hair  behind her shoulders.

The wide-eyed anticipation on her face caused my grin to grow and a possessive growl to rise from my throat.

I had learned very quickly what that sound did to her, and thus held her against me as it sounded.

Her gasp followed by her knees pressing against me were exactly the reaction I was looking for.

Her gorgeous laugh then bubbled in my ear as I skimmed my lips across the underside of her jaw.

Then seemingly out of nowhere a sharp pang filled my chest, nearly causing me to stop completely.

I did, however find my fingers pressing harder against her, trying desperately against nothing to keep her there.

The thoughts that I've been trying to keep in the back of my mind were beginning to resurface.

The fear that I wasn't completely willing to admit to filling my head at seemingly the worst moment possible.

Having her here right now, happy in my arms seemed to have intensified the fact to me that she was in some unknown danger.

That my father was for some reason after her and most likely wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted.

Adding to the fact that if he really wanted to, he could get to her himself and I would be nearly powerless to stop him.

The thought that he could have figured out even a fraction of what was going on between me and her was terrifying enough.

I couldn't think of a single reason why else he would want her in his grasp.

Although I also knew that panicking usually lead a person to believe the worst case scenario.

I wasn't usually the type of person to panic, but since it was her on the line, I couldn't help but do just that.

I barely felt myself bury my head into her shoulder, my arms wrapping around her tight.

The thought of him even coming near her her was sickening and enough to put me into a panicked frenzy.

Maybe that's exactly what he wanted.

"Nico?" Her voice managed to cut me from my thoughts from a moment, but I didn't budge.

That feeling still sat heavy in my chest.

I didn't say anything, worried that my tone would expose every feeling I was currently feeling.

I loved her. I loved her so damn much.

The one person in this world that I could say that about and yet with this circumstance she was so unattainable.

"Are you sure that you're ok?" She asked softly, her hand now rubbing my back.

Which equally made the situation better and worse.

I ended up having to force some very controlled words out of my mouth.

I was afraid that if she pushed the subject hard enough, that Id break and spill everything.

I couldn't let myself do that.

Very carefully, I pulled my head back, trying at all costs to mask my emotions.

"Yeah," Is all I could let come out.

It wasn't convincing in the slightest and she knew it.

For the short moment I allowed myself to look her in the eye, her worry had returned tenfold.

Which managed to crack down my façade more than I had hoped.

"Nico..." She began, now fully noticing that there was a definite problem, "Talk to me. You know you can talk to me, right?"

I nodded with a small smile.

"I know," I took in a breath before continuing," This is just something I need to handle myself for a little bit. I don't want to burden you with something that you shouldn't have to worry about." I spoke calmly.

"I want you to," She replied almost instantly.

Reading the slight shock on my face, she kept going.

"You've dealt and helped me with my problems ever since we met. Now its my turn to help you with yours."

Her words somehow intensified the feeling in my chest, now mixing the anguish with guilt.

I finally allowed myself to look at her face, cupping her cheek with my hand.

"I will in time, but not yet," I assured her, "There are just something I need to look into alone first."

I could tell my words weren't the ones she wanted to hear, but luckily she accepted them anyways.

Her eyes shifted down for a few seconds.

"Ok. I can respect that, but promise me you'll tell me about this as soon as you can. If somethings bothering you, I don't want you experiencing it alone."

I nodded, rubbing my thumb against her cheek.

"I promise."