India smirked, knowing Nick wouldn’t see her, as his eyes were glued to her body. She’d made him agree to not spend any money for Valentine’s Day, or if he did, it had to be less than five dollars. As she finished undoing her buttons and slipped the shirt – Nick’s shirt- off her shoulders and down to the floor, she stepped closer to him, mouthing the words to the song she was dancing to.
“Tonight he’s waitin’, I’m entertainin’ my number one fan, my back is achin’ from our love makin’… From head to toe, he makes me glow, he hits the spot, he makes me hot…” *
Nick watched as India turned around and moved closer to him, her body still just barely out of his reach. He had to admit, this was possibly the best Valentine’s Day he’d had- there was no stress over what to buy, just the anticipation of knowing that when she was done stripping for him – which he was thoroughly enjoying- that’d he get to have her- again and again. He licked his lips as her skirt slid over her hips and to the floor, seeing that all she had on underneath it was a very, very tiny red thong.
“He's so contagious, he turns my pages, He's got me anxious, he's what I waited for…
He keeps me guessin, spontaneous, He's so persuasive, and I'm his lady…” *
India kept moving to the heavy, sensuous beat, just out of his reach until the song was nearly over, then stepped to him, straddling his lap and reached for his collar, ripping the shirt all the way down the front, then tearing it off of him. She paused only long enough to revel in his extremely shocked expression before he kissed him deeply, her hands moving down to free him from his jeans and take him inside of her.
~~~~
Several hours later, Nick got up out of bed and went to the pile of suitcases, and pulled out a box, decorated in fuzzy red hearts. He returned to the bed and sat next to India, handing her the box.
“I told you not to buy anything!” she said, scowling at him.
“You said not to spend more than five bucks.” Nick corrected. “Open it.”
India pulled the lid off the box and giggled at it’s contents, her favorite candy- gummi bears. “Nice!”
“Notice anything?” he asked, pointing into the box.
India stared for a moment at the candy, wondering what she was supposed to see. “There’s no green ones!”
Nick smiled, “Not a one.”
India leaned over to kiss him and say ‘thank you’. “See… you remembering that I hate the green ones is way more romantic than you going out and spending an ungodly amount of money on roses that would die in two days anyway.”
“I was pretty okay with that whole stripping then ripping my clothes off thing… so we can celebrate like this again next year…” he suggested. “Or next week… that would be good, too.”
India giggled and set the gummi bears aside, and jumped on top of him, pinning him down to kiss him again.
****
“You want me to go WHERE with you?” India asked, looking at Nick, surprised.
“To the radio station…” he repeated.
“During your interview?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“I… don’t know… I just….” She wasn’t quite sure what to say to him. She’d been expecting another day in the studio- which she’d really come to enjoy, just watching him work and be creative, tweaking and fiddling with his sound until he was satisfied.
“Do you not want to?” Nick asked, tying a black bandana around his head.
“No, that’s not it at all… I’ll go if you want me to… I just… didn’t think that…” India stopped talking, not even entirely sure herself what she was saying.
Nick reached for India’s wrist and pulled her close to him, “I think it’s safe to say pretty much the entire world knows we’re together now.”
India laughed, “Yeah, probably.” She kissed his cheek, “Yeah, I’ll go.”
~~~
“Nick, man, you know we gotta ask…” the dj began.
Nick knew what was coming, he’d been expecting it since he and India had walked into the studio and a copy of the magazine with them in it had been lying there, waiting for his autograph. He was surprised that it had taken nearly 10 minutes for the dj to bring it up. “What’s that?”
“So, you’re sitting in here with your, girlfriend….” The dj said, reminding the listeners that India had joined Nick, “And there was a story about the two of you a few weeks ago…”
India giggled as Nick said, “It was my birthday! We were celebrating!”
“So it was true?” the dj asked.
“Yeah… we got caught.” Nick said, blushing even though India and the dj were the only ones who could see him.
The dj laughed and looked over at India, “You can jump in any time.”
“Nick’s doing just fine.” India told him, not having a clue what she’d say, knowing that some of the girls listening were probably already thinking of things to throw at their radios.
“So, you’re in love, huh?”
“Yeah, totally.” Nick said, smiling at India.
“You going to tell us about her, or just let everyone wonder?”
India reached over to grab Nick’s hand, telling him quietly that he could say whatever he wanted, or nothing at all.
Nick was silent for a second, weighing just how much he wanted to tell right then. “She’s my best friend… the only person I want to be with. When I’m happy she’s the first one I want to tell about it, and when I’m down she’s the only one I want to talk to. She’s just…she’s my girl.”
The dj nodded, “She the inspiration for any of the songs on the album you’re working on?”
“Yeah… a few of them.” Nick said, not wanting to say more, because besides “Taste of India”, India hadn’t heard any of the rest of the songs, either, and he wanted to surprise her, too.
“How is the album coming along?”
“Really well… I’m almost done. I’ve got maybe two more songs to record, then it’s deciding which ones go on the album.” Nick told him.
“And then all the press starts.”
“Yeah… I guess I got a little jumpstart on that this time, though.” Nick said, laughing. “I’ve got a couple of interviews next week with different magazines.”
“We’ll look forward to hearing more from you, man.” the dj said, pointing to a clock to indicate it was time for a station break.
“Thanks, dude.” Nick said, sliding off the headset.
***
India sat silently, taking intermittent bites of her Caesar salad as Nick answered a barrage of random questions from the latest “journalist”- from a teen magazine- about everything from what was currently in his cd player to the coolest vacation he’d been on. She wondered a lot during these interviews, just what the point was. She’d figured it be more about the music- what was he writing about, what inspired him, if he was working more on production this time, etc. But those kinds of questions were always an after-thought, if they got asked at all.
She’d found, though, that she enjoyed watching him “work” in this capacity just as much as she did watching him in the studio. It was like seeing two completely different sides of him- the passionate, creative one in the studio who was all business and very serious about the music, and then the ‘public’ Nick, doing obligatory interviews and letting nosey people pry into the areas of his life he wished he could keep them out of. But he was always polite, always nice and very charming- and she was proud of him.
It was nice for her to be able to just sort of kick back and observe. She’d always been working so hard, as a student herself and then as a teacher, that she rarely had time to just watch everything and she was really enjoying it- just being able to be with him in so many different situations.
***
“So, that’s it?” India asked.
“That’s it. We can go home now.” Nick said, after telling her that he’d finished up his last song and had basically selected the songs that would be on the album. “All I have to do now is wait for the label to decide what they think of what I’ve picked and then we’ll start arguing about what the first single should be.”
“Wow… home… seems like it’s been forever since we’ve been there.” She said. It seemed like it’d been years since she’d gotten to hang out with Chasity or drive down a street lined with palm trees. She’d become somewhat accustomed to life in New York City, and going home was going to be like another round of culture shock, just as arriving in NYC had been.
Nick sat back in a chair and pulled India onto his lap, “It’ll be nice, though, won’t it? Back to our favorite places… back to our normal life.”
She turned a little to look at him, “Nick, I don’t HAVE a ‘normal’ life anymore. If I did, I’d still be in school teaching, not following you around all over the country.”
“I said OUR normal LIFE, not our normal LIVES… I was meaning us, together… the way things are for the two of us, not you and I separately.” he said.
India just looked at him, unsure of what to say. He was thinking totally in terms of the two of them together, and that was it- there was no longer any kind of separation. She was surprised, but comforted by it. She may not be going back to anything that had previously been normal, but a whole new life that revolved around them as a couple. She knew that she had him and she’d be fine as long as he was with her.
****
India sat up to look at the clock again, unwilling to believe it had really only been 10 minutes since she’d last looked at it. When he’d left her house earlier in the night, she had assured him that she would be fine. She’d thought she would be. She’d have never expected that the night would be neverending and that she’d not be able to fall asleep, no matter what she tried. It had been months since she’d tried to sleep alone, without having Nick beside her, his warm body curled around her, his breathing to lull her to sleep. And now that she didn’t have it… she just could not fall asleep.
Finally, out of desperation, she reached for the phone, dialing Nick’s number. Only two rings later, he picked up, sounding almost as awake as she was. “I can’t sleep.”
Nick chuckled softly, “Neither can I…. I miss you.”
“Will you come over?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
India got out of bed and slipped out of her old t-shirt, changing into a silky nightshirt, since she knew someone else’s hands would now be on it. She waited in the living room for him to arrive, jumping up into his arms as soon as the door was open.
Nick held her tightly, a tiny part of him wondering how the two of them ended up so crazy, when he’d been sure he’d never feel like he did.
“I don’t think I can function without you anymore.” India whispered, nibbling on his earlobe as he carried her back to her bedroom.
“Guess that means we can’t be apart, huh?” he asked, gently laying her down and arranging himself beside her, then pulling her against his chest.
“Nope… not apart… “ she mumbled, quickly nodding off to sleep as soon as her eyes closed.
~~~
“Mmmmmm….” India moaned softly, thinking the dream she was having was so good she could feel it. Nick’s hands on her thighs, his tongue gently working around her… “WHOA!” she yelped, her eyes flying open. Suddenly awake, she realized it wasn’t a dream, Nick’s hands really were on her thighs and sliding around underneath her, and his tongue… “Ooooohhhh goddddddd.”
Nick’s tongue trailed along her slit, lapping at the wetness he found escaping her already, and savoring her taste. He pulled away from her for a moment, licking his lips. “You taste different.”
India raised up on her elbows, “I what?”
“You taste different.”
“Like, bad different?”
“No, not bad at all… just… different.” he said, then lowered his head again, resuming his slow, delicious exploration.
India lay back, finding his observation to be slightly random, but really unconcerned with it as he continued to work his magic on her.
(“Addictive”- Truth Hurts)