Chapter 39

Hannah

Nikolai wanted to go to his house, so now I sat in his car wringing my hands together thinking about what was going to happen between us once we got there. It was strange to think of sex as an actual part of my reality, rather than a far-off possibility or something I read about in books. Nikolai reached over and squeezed my thigh, his hand feeling like a hot brand burning through the thin layer of cotton covering my leg. My eyes followed his strong forearm, up to the tight muscles of his bicep, then down his chest to his ridged stomach. Heat hummed through my system as I admired his body.
Nikolai started to slowly rub the inner part of my thigh just above my knee, and the anxiety I’d felt when we first got into the car was slowly transforming into frustrated desire. I rubbed my thighs together to stop the sudden throbbing. Nikolai flashed me a smug, knowing look, moving his hand slightly higher on my thigh.
I cleared my throat. “I’m excited to see your house.”
Nikolai laughed and tightened his hand briefly on my thigh before continuing his light stroking. “I bet you are,” he said with a look of exaggerated lechery on his face.
I laughed. “Shut up, you know what I mean.”
He sighed and looked a little serious. “It’s just a house, Hannah. Even though it looks big and fancy, it mostly just feels empty.”
On that depressing note, we pulled into his circular driveway. He was right, it did look big and fancy. It was a large, white colonial, which was unusual in the Midwest. There were two giant columns on either side of the door, giving it a sort of plantation look. We walked into a large, white foyer with a set of stairs set slightly to the right. Nikolai looked around and apparently didn’t see or hear anything, so he grabbed my hand and quickly pulled me upstairs. There were a number of doors off the second-floor landing, but I didn’t get much of a chance to investigate, as Nikolai pulled me into his room and quickly shut the door.
“Um, were we being chased?” I asked comically, but I was curious why we dashed up here.
Nikolai smirked at me and pulled me into him. “No, but I didn’t want to take the chance of running into my father.”
I paused for a minute to take in Nikolai’s room, which was easily four times the size of my own. I noted the private bathroom. “Your own bathroom? What I’d give for that!”
“Well, you’d have to live with my dad, so you’d probably end up rethinking that decision.”
This was the second time in five minutes he’d made a negative comment about his father. I was going to push him on it, but then he distracted me. 

“Okay, I’ll give you the tour of my room. Here is my sitting area,” he gestured to the right side of the room where a couch, chairs and television had been set up. It looked like there was some video game equipment too. There was even a mini-fridge. It was strange trying to imagine Nikolai playing a video game. He seemed too serious for that, too intense.
“Through there is my bathroom,” he said, gesturing to the room I had previously noticed. I glanced inside the door and was impressed by how nice it looked. It was white with forest green accents. He had a double sink, a Jacuzzi tub with a separate shower stall.
“The last stop on our tour is the place I have been most eager to show you. My bed.” I laughed as Nikolai grabbed me and playfully tossed me on the bed. He quickly followed me down and planted a long kiss on my mouth. “How did you like the tour?” he asked with fake sincerity, propped up on his elbow, his hand cradling my jaw.
I laughed. “It was really great, but I have a feeling we’re going to be spending more time at this stop than the others.”
He laughed. “You figured right.”