Animate Me (24 page)

“I know, I know,” she says gently. “It’s okay…just whenever you’re ready.”

“Oh, Brooke…” I start the slow sinking of the last few inches. When our hips finally meet, I gasp. She’s pulsing around me, and there is no question that this is the best feeling in the entire universe. I mean it was great when her mouth was on me, but this is great times a trillion. My head falls back and we both moan in unison.

“Ahhh,” she groans, as she struggles to catch her breath.

I still, and study her face, which looks slightly strained. “Does it hurt?” I’m compelled to ask, hoping I don’t kill the moment.

The strained, focused expression melts into bliss. “This is heaven. I’m in heaven.” Her eyes meet mine, and they are warm and soft and so happy.

“Oh…oh,” I moan as she grips me hard.

“And let me now state for the record, that size does matter. Oh yeah, it matters.” She grins.

“Yeah?” I ask, starting to feel more confident. I concentrate as I shift my hips up, pulling partway out, and then push back down.

“Oh, yes. Do that again harder.”

I lift up, her tightness fighting my release. I grit my teeth and pause, hanging on before I push back hard. The flush spreads across my chest as I do it again.

She’s moaning, her hips rising and falling as her head rolls side to side.

I want to growl from this raw male thing rising out of me. Brooke is under me, and she wants me to take her hard.

“Oh, my God…so good,” she cries out as I thrust again.

She winds her fingers in my hair and pulls me towards her. I feel her lips skim my neck until they press against my ear. “Do you understand what you’re doing to me?” she whispers.

“Oh, Brooke,” I moan.

Her eyes are almost violet and hypnotizing in the gray morning light. I pull out even further then push harder back in, a current of supreme pleasure coursing through me.
There are no words to adequately tell her how incredible this feels.

“Nathan,” she whispers, smiling as she suddenly realizes something. “You did it…we’re doing it!”

Yes, we did,
and
we are,
and it’s friggin’ great. Let’s bring out the marching band and a skywriting plane to spell it out…
We’re doing it!

And even though I’m about to come…far too soon…before I could flip her over or hang her upside down, or that crazy stuff they do in porn films…I now know what’s possible.

I can’t believe it. I’m inside Brooke and she likes it…a lot.

“
Don’t talk to me about importance! Because of you, the future of this entire universe is in jeopardy!” ~Buzz Lightyear to Woody
^xiv

M
y face is pressed against her neck as I try to remember who I am.
Oh my God, that’s right, I’m Nathan, and I just had the best orgasm of my life.
A moment later, however, I realize that I’m probably crushing the woman who put me in this blissful state.

“Brooke?” I ask, my voice heavy with concern as I regretfully lift up and move off of her. The withdrawal of my manhood from its happy new home is particularly jarring.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah,” she purrs as she settles on her side, up against me.

We lie silently for a while. I’m spooning her from behind, holding her tightly, grateful that I seemed to satisfy her despite my past history. I don’t think there’s ever been a time I was more curious to know what she’s thinking. I just can’t wait any longer…I need to know. I clear my throat.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” I whisper. “Was it okay for you? Was that too hard?”

“No, it was perfect. It was all perfect.” She lets out a long sigh.

“Then why are you so quiet?”

“I’m just thinking.”

“About?” I run my fingertips lightly along her arm.

“Was it what you imagined?” she asks quietly. “Was it what you hoped for?”

“Actually a million times better,” I respond. “I can’t tell how many times I’ve dreamt of it being like this.”

“With Dani?” Her voice is soft and tender.

She knows the answer to this question. Maybe she wants to know if I’m brave enough to admit it. I take a deep breath. “No, with you,” I admit.

I can feel her body shift even though she stays quiet for a minute. I hold my breath waiting. Embarrassed, I decide to deflect the question back to her. I take a deep breath for courage before planting kisses along her shoulder. “Have you ever imagined doing that with me?” I try to stay calm despite my pounding heart; I desperately want to hear her answer.

Say yes, Brooke…say that you dream of me making love to you every single night.

“Yes, I’ve imagined it. I’ll tell you a secret,” she says softly. “Sometimes at work I want to lure you from your cubicle into a conference room. Then I imagine pushing you down into the chair at the head of that long table, undoing your jeans…”

“Yes?” I gasp, as I excitedly wait to hear the next part.

“…and then sinking to my knees and taking you in my mouth.”

I swallow hard.
Whoa…in the conference room?
“Well, that could be arranged,” I say.

“Would you like that?” she asks in a raspy voice.

“Yeah, I’d like that a lot,” I sputter, thrilled to know she’s fantasized about me too.

We continue to talk, undoubtedly both of our minds racing with the information we’ve shared. But after a few minutes the conversation shifts, I feel her soften into my embrace and then she speaks up again.

“Can I ask you something, Nathan?”

“Anything.”

“Tonight, the way you looked at me…the things you’ve said. This feels like it’s more than sexual attraction. It almost seems like you’re falling in love with me.”

For a moment I can feel the worry start to bubble up somewhere deep inside but I try to calm myself enough to respond to her.

Be brave…

“What if I am?” I say softly.

She’s so still, probably in shock. Well, I’m in shock too.

Please answer, Brooke. Say something…anything.

“You’re so important to me…but I’m so afraid to complicate things…mess this up.”

Complicate things? That sounds like a problem with a business deal. That doesn’t sound like love. My heavy heart falls.

“Everything with you is different, Nathan.”

“Different?”

“There are things I’ve never felt with anyone before. Sometimes I don’t know how to handle it, and it scares me.”

I pull her closer. I can’t help wondering how much of this is about Arnold. “Do you love him?” I ask, trying to mask the sadness in my voice.

“Arnauld?”

I can’t even speak; I just nod my head against hers.

“In the beginning I felt something I thought could have been love. But actually, now I understand that I never felt that way about him.”

Be brave…deep breath.
“Do you think you could ever fall in love with me?”

There’s a long pause. I know this isn’t easy for her. I brace myself, in case her words crush me.

“I have so many feelings about you…as I said, I’m scared. I need to sort them all out. But you’ve got stuff to sort out too.”

Not really. I know my love for her is permanently etched into me, like a tattoo on my heart. But she’s still thinking of Dani and all the fiction I created while trying to build a bridge between our worlds.

It suddenly occurs to me that maybe this is too much for her…her fear of commitment may ultimately cause her to push me away. I can’t let that happen. I decide to soften the edges. I know she just needs time to get used to the idea of us.

“You won’t pull away from me, will you? I can still see you, be with you?”

“Yes, yes,” she sighs and pulls me closer. “I need you Nathan. Don’t worry, I won’t let you go.”

I skim my lips along her ear and into her hair. “Okay. Please don’t, Brooke. I need you too.”

We hold each other until the room grows brighter. She finally speaks up. “Hey, are you hungry?” She asks shifting to face me.

“Starving,” I smile, trying to keep things light.

“Pancakes?”

“Oh yeah…I’ll help.”

We tumble out of bed and pull our nightwear on before heading off to her kitchen. We’re sitting close at her breakfast table, our feet criss-crossed together.

“These are so good,” I say happily as I finish off my first stack.

She nods happily. I take a sip of coffee and look at the clock. Seven, I don’t need to be at work for another few hours. I help myself to more pancakes and settle in. It occurs to me that every morning could be like this if Brooke ever chooses me.

When we’re done I carry our dishes to the sink and start washing. She presses up behind me. “Oooo, I love a man who washes dishes.”

I press back. “I love a woman who makes me pancakes.”

“When you’re done you wanna watch cartoons?” She asks grinning.

“You need to ask? You pick. I’ll watch whatever you want.”

I can’t even imagine feeling happier than this.

When I finish the dishes we crawl back in bed, curling up together to watch
Toy Story
. Even though I imagine I’m more like Woody, I always root for Buzz. I love his unwavering confidence in his abilities. It almost doesn’t matter that he can’t actually fly as long as he believes he can.

When it’s finally time for me to leave, I pull on my tuxedo slacks and white undershirt, and sling my jacket and shirt over my shoulder. I look like one of those wild party boys the morning after…after he was up all night long in bed with a beautiful, sexy woman.

Hell, yes.

At the front door Brooke wraps her arms around me and I run my fingers through her hair. It kills me to leave her and the little cocoon we’ve wrapped ourselves in.

“What time are you going in?” I ask.

“I’m not sure I’m going in today,” she admits. “I might just take the day off and rest. It was a big night, you know.”

I grin. “Yeah, I’ll say. When can we talk then?”

“I’ll call you in the afternoon before you go to Starbucks.”

“I do home deliveries,” I tease.

“I’m sure you do,” she teases back as she opens the door. She leans into me and kisses me. “Thank you.”

“Please don’t thank me. Last night my whole life changed. You gave me an experience I was starting to think I’d never have. So if anyone is going to be giving thanks it’s me.”

She smiles shyly, takes my face in her hands and kisses me once more.

I regretfully move away from her, towards my car. But despite my reluctance to leave her, I’m energized knowing I’m a new man as I walk out the gate, a better man than I was when I entered just over twelve hours ago. And it’s all because of Brooke.

• • •

With everything on my mind, I’ve forgotten about my new haircut. Combined with my new glasses, my look is definitely different. But I’m reminded of this fact, as I pass the check-in desk in the lobby of Sketch Republic. The receptionist’s eyes widen and her mouth falls open as I walk past.

Honestly, it’s rather unnerving and I fear the worst when I finally face my gang. Unfortunately my trepidation was not unfounded.

“Ooooo look who got cleaned up for the Emmys,” Andy drawls as I turn the corner into production.

“You wish you could look this good, doofus,” I shoot back.

“Preet-taaay!” howls Joel.

Damn.

Genna peeks out of her cubical. “Wow, Nathan. You look really great with that haircut. I love the hot glasses too.”

I blush. “Thanks Genna.”

Just then Nick steps out of the break room and eyes me warily.

“Hey, Nick.”

He folds his arms over his chest. “How was the big night?”

If he only knew.
“Oh, the Emmys were all right I guess, if you like that sort of thing.”

“New haircut, new glasses…it looks like you’re trying to impress someone. Am I right?”

I can’t imagine why he looks worried about me. With his piercing blue eyes and longer, wavy blonde hair he’s always been the golden boy here with the ladies. His handsome looks and charming personality insured that he could have had almost any girl in this building.

“I didn’t want to embarrass Brooke. I had to do something.”

“Hmmm,” he responds before he turns away. Maybe he and Dani haven’t made up yet. He still doesn’t seem to trust me. I guess I was less of a threat when I looked like a weirdo.

As I watch him walk away I realize that if this is the worst of the fallout from my makeover, then I can handle it. I’m sure there will be some caricatures down the road, but how bad can they be?

When I get to my cube I realize that my cell phone is still turned off and when I check it I see that there is a call from Dad’s lawyer. I listen to my voicemail and am surprised to hear that Sharper Edge Comics sent over a proposal Friday. They must really be ready to move on our deal. He asks me to call and discuss details after lunch. I smile to myself. Everything is looking up.

At noon a bunch of us head over to Subway. I lag behind to walk with Dani whose spirits seem a little low.

“You okay?” I ask.

“I guess,” she replies, looking down and picking at her blue nail polish.

“Nick?”

She makes a face. “I don’t think he wants me, Nathan. When he took me home from the get together he didn’t even kiss me and come inside.”

“Did you ask him to come in?”

She grins. “Yes, as seductively as I know how.” But then her expression falls. “He must be over me. He’s probably into someone else now.”

“No. He would have told me that.” I say with conviction. “He wants to be with you. I think he’s just afraid that it may not work out again.”

“Yeah, well to hell with that! Why is everyone so goddamned afraid? Sorry, but I’m getting really tired of pussy men who don’t just say what they want and go for it. The bottom line is that women need to know they’re wanted.”

Could it really be as simple as Dani says it is?

Just then we reach Subway, and I pause before I pull the door open for her. “Shall I tell Nick that?” I ask as I try to imagine what Brooke would say to all of this.

“Be my guest,” she says, looking determined. “He only has so many more chances before this ship sails.” I’m not sure if she actually means that. With the smile she gives me, it’s hard to say for sure.