14: I've Never Heard Any Complaints

Warning: Adult language

"Good evening, Miss Hudson." Nate said as he grinned when Gabriella answered the door. His eyes greedily took in the sight of Gabriella in the dress she wore. He knew right then and there that 'going easy on her' might be more than he could manage tonight.

"Likewise, Mr. Hamilton." she responded and wondered what kind of mood he was in from the look he gave her. She'd wondered if perhaps she was overdressed for the occasion; she didn't know where they were going or what they were going to do. She'd wanted to be prepared for anything since she had no idea what Nate might do on a date.

"Ready?" Nate asked, wishing for his own peace of mind that she'd chosen something else to wear that perhaps covered more of her legs but enjoying it all the same.

"I guess so. Where are we going, might I ask?" she asked, wondering if she should go change.

"Well, I'm assuming you'd like to eat something first, right?" he asked with his eyebrows raised. He motioned with his hand for her to proceed out the front door in front of him.

"I thought we'd keep it simple tonight, if you don't mind." he said as the two of them started walking down the sidewalk together.

As they left her driveway, Gabriella said out of the blue. "Oh, that reminds me." She was thinking of the two of them on the sidewalk in the middle of the day last week. "How was it you were out in the sun that day?" she asked, knowing he knew she referred to last Saturday.

"I can... for short periods of time. It also made it easier we were standing in the shade of the school's gymnasium." he answered as he reached down to possess her hand.

"Why do you have to do that? Hold my hand that is." she asked and clarified, unable to let herself look at him to gauge his reaction to what she said.

"I don't have to. I want to. Is it really a big deal?" he answered and asked a question of his own as he squeezed her hand gently. She'd tried to pull it free.

"I'm just... not used to it." she answered as she mentally almost berated herself, reminding herself that this was a date. She'd not been on many. She'd not wanted much to do with the dating scene.

Nate stared at her and watched her fidget next to him as much as she was able. Oh, this must stop now. He stopped and Gabriella faced him, wondering why he stopped.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Gabriella, I like holding your hand. I'd like to do alot more than just hold your hand, but I promised I'd go easy on you." and I'm an idiot for coming up with that, "Right now I'm wondering what exactly that means, but I'd like to think that holding your hand qualifies." Because if something that simple doesn't then I'm throwing out the whole idea, period.


"Sorry." I wish I wasn't so nervous.

"Don't be." he said in answer to what she said as well as what she thought before bringing her hand to his lips. After he kissed it, his eyes snapped up to hers because she'd meekly tried to pull her hand away again. He then placed his other hand on top of it before taking it with that one and walking a little further down the lot with her.

"See?" he asked. "There you go again." he said after she tried to sneak her hand free. He paused a moment as he considered what he would say next. "Gabby, if this is too much then I'm going to be tempted to forego the whole 'easy on you' bullshit to show you how tame this really is." he said as he mentally laughed at himself. He still couldn't believe it was he that up with the whole mess. He chuckled quietly as he imagined the lines they were drawing.

Thinking he was laughing at her, Gabby responded, "No, that's okay. Let's just go to dinner, okay?" She really felt like they needed a subject change.

"Okay." Nate answered with a glint in his eye. He dropped their hands at their sides before running his thumb along the lines of her palm.

Gabriella felt shocked that something as simple as what his thumb was doing could affect her on not only her hand, but all up her arm and onward. She tried to pull her hand free again.

Nate laughed aloud this time. "This is almost like a challenge. Or a game. 'How long can Nate keep Gabby's hand?'."

"You have to let go sometime." she said and watched him warily.

He grinned. "Why?"

"Well, for starters, I have to eat."

"I could hold the other hand." He cut his eyes in her direction as he continued, "Or I could feed you."

Why the hell does that sound erotic? Gabby thought to herself before remembering to control her thoughts.

He jumped in front of her suddenly and pulled her hand a little behind him, forcing her to move closer. "You spend way too much energy trying to keep your thoughts under control. Why?"

"You know why."

"I wanna hear you say it." he said as his other arm worked its way around her waist.

"I thought you said you were gonna go easy on me." she said in warning as he pulled her closer.

"I am." he said plainly.

"I could show you what would not be going easy on you, if you'd like." he said, grinning. He brought her hand behind his back and grabbed her shoulder to keep her from leaning any further away.

You must think of yourself as Don Juan or something.

He laughed outright now at her thought. "Even at sixteen I could make girls swoon. Any time you want a demonstration all you have to do ask."

"Swooning is not always a compliment." she narrowed her eyes at him, working very hard not to take any of his bait.

"I've never heard any complaints."

My, my, what an ego!

He laughed again and said, "It's hard not to build one after a while."

Gabriella suddenly felt small as she thought of her complete lack of experience, compared to him especially. He let go of her hand and moved that arm around her waist, keeping her against him. His smile slowly faded.

What? No! That's not what I wanted at all, damn it!

Nathaniel knew in that moment he'd fallen in love with her. He didn't like how she 'felt small' compared to him. She shouldn't feel anything of the sort. He didn't want to let her. He reached a hand up to hold her cheek. She watched him with a slightly worried look that bothered him. As his thumb traced along her cheekbone, she brought her hand up to his. He couldn't help but catch the irony of the moment. She's holding my hand. Even if it is to try and keep me from holding her face. 

I'm going to kiss her now whether she's ready for me to or not.

"This isn't exactly what I'd call 'going easy on me'." Gabriella interrupted his intentions momentarily.

He smiled a little down at her and said, "I just can't help it, I'm afraid."

Gabby's mind flew from thought to thought. Can't help it... afraid... no control... no choices... vision! She fought to get free. Nate grudgingly let her go, and she took a step or two back from him. She stared at him with a look of fear.

"I... I can't do this! I have to go." she turned and fled back in the direction of her house, moving surprisingly fast for a woman in heels.

Damn! Nate thought as he went after her at as fast a speed as he could manage and have it look normal for a human.

He caught up with her in her driveway. "No, Gabriella!" he spoke low into her ear as his arms circled around her waist from behind. "Forget the damn vision! We're out tonight because we want to be and not because we're supposed to be!"        

"But, Nathaniel, I'm afraid! What with me in possession of the dress and how I'm starting to feel about you..."

 

"How are you starting to feel about me?" he interrupted quickly, extremely curious but also wanting to change the subject. He wanted to know what she'd say.

Gabriella sighed exasperatedly and pulled at his arms around her with no effect. "I can't put it into words." she said quickly, speaking the truth. Her breathing was rapid as panic started setting in when her thoughts returned to why she shouldn't be out with him tonight.

He obstinately retained the subject as he said, "I'm the same, Gabriella. I'm drawn to you like a moth to the flame." He remembered his dream from the other night and his arms tightened around her reflexively, daring reality to make him catch fire.

Aggravated that her mind refused to leave the thought of the vision he said almost harshly, "Vision be damned, Gabriella. I'd want you anyway." She stopped struggling and he nuzzled his face into her hair. When he found her ear, he kissed it tenderly.

"Let's go to dinner." he said quietly into her ear.

"I'm not hungry."

"Fake it. Humor me."

"Nate..." she whined like a child.

"That or I really could stop going easy on you." he mumbled into her shoulder after having had run his mouth and nose across the back of her shoulders. He placed light kisses on her shoulder and brought his hand up to run it back down her arm. He could hear Gabriella's heart quicken. His other arm worked its way up to her other shoulder, his intent to turn her around.

"I'll go to dinner." she said quickly while successfully freeing herself once more from his embrace.

"Pity." he said disconsolately. She stepped forward and turned around to face him.

He smiled to himself as he heard her sigh exasperatedly when he grabbed her hand before they made their way back onto the sidewalk.

While at the restaurant, Gabby was amazed Nathaniel ate. When she asked him about it, he explained he could eat it, but it did nothing for him.

"I find it interesting that the taste of food is mostly disgusting, but not so for alcoholic beverages." he said as he thought of a few other things he'd like to taste that had entirely to do with her. Once again, he was glad she couldn't read his mind.

When they'd finished eating, Gabriella asked, "So what now?"

"I thought I'd teach you how to dance." he said with a grin.

"Oh." she replied, feeling a little embarrassed.

"What? You don't need to look embarrassed; not many people know how to these days." he said reassuringly and took her hand again before she could stop him.

"Alright, I guess the easiest for you might be the foxtrot." he said as he brought her around in front of him. The two of them had sneaked into a room in the community center designed specifically for dance lessons.

"The foxtrot?" she asked with a ridiculous grin spreading across her face. She couldn't help but think of how she thought the dance was old fashioned.

"Not as old fashioned as the waltz or others." he said, his eyebrows raised.

"Well, those are more like classic standards."

He smiled a crooked smile at her and asked, "Would you prefer to learn to waltz first then?"

She shrugged. She figured any dance would be just as hard as the next.

"Waltzing is my favorite anyway. Good choice. We'll start with that." he said as he gladly took her in his arms.

Gabby began to wonder if he was purposefully making her make mistakes so that they would collide or brush up against each other "unexpectedly". Nathaniel would would smile down at her if she looked at him accusingly.

"Are you doing that on purpose?" she finally asked.

"Doing what precisely?" he asked, knowing fully what she meant.

"Well, either you're not a good teacher and I'm making several errors because of it, or you're messing up on purpose." she stated, almost glaring at him.

His dancing became smoother all of a sudden. "Hm, one: I am an excellent teacher in many things so that's out. Two: why would you suppose I'm messing up on purpose? Why do such a thing when I'm trying to teach you?" he grinned and waited to see which answer floating around in her head she'd end up choosing.

She blushed, but looked him square in the eye as she said, "Because I think you enjoy making me bump into you."

Happy she chose that one, he suddenly dipped her low. After she made a shocked, squeaking sound, he said, "Of course I do, Miss Hudson. You've already got the hang of it, by the way, so I thought I'd have a little fun."

"And purposefully make me mess up." she snapped her head up to look at him.

"Yep." he grinned down as he adjusted his hold of her.

"Making you a poor teacher." she said, wondering when he would let her up.

"On the contrary, it makes me a great teacher if I test you and see how you handle it. However, I recommend not calling out to your dance partner that they are making mistakes." he grinned down at her mildly irritated expression. Then his face became more serious as he continued to look at her.

There she was. In his arms. In essence, completely at his mercy. As far as he was concerned, the rules were a little grey on whether or not he should take advantage of the situation.

Holding her in just one arm now, he reached up to touch her face. Her heart rate increased as he lightly ran his thumb across her cheekbone.

"Aren't you going to let me up?" she asked somewhat impatiently/somewhat nervously.

"Maybe. Maybe not just yet." he answered, determined to kiss her now.

Gabriella's phone rang loudly on the floor where she left it. She turned her head in its direction.

Nathaniel inwardly groaned in frustration. Bothersome things! Submitting to her silent plea, he grudgingly let her up.

Gabriella ran over to answer her phone, disturbed by the past few minutes. Nathaniel watched forlornly as she quickly bent to retrieve the phone.

"Hello? ... Yes, this is she. ... Um..." Gabriella suddenly cried out and her phone slipped out of her hand.

Nathaniel caught it before it hit the ground and spoke into it, telling the person on the other end of the line they were on their way.

Then he wrapped his arms protectively around Gabby as she wept bitterly into his shoulder, repeatedly saying the word no.