Royal Treatment

 Oh geez I'm confused! Voting should be between Van and Siegfried for 3rd place.  Nathan lovers, he's already in the top 2.
 So I was going to write Ian's first, but Nathan's came out first. Ian's shall be out in a bit.


Nathan's Valentine's Story

I stood in my tiny apartment, sleeves rolled up with an intense look of concentration on my face. In front of me was the most daunting challenge I had faced in a while. I was making a cake. The decision to do this had started from a conversation I had recently had with a certain someone.

-Earlier that week-
“They look pretty,” Nathan said nonchalantly as we strolled down the street. He was wearing a tight black knit sweater and long dark pants.

I looked over to where he had been looking. We had passed a small cake shop and there were pretty little cakes lined up in a row, each emblazoned with cute items like hearts and fancy script. They indeed looked very pretty. I stole a glance at Nathan. He had paused to stare at them a moment.

“Want to try some?” he asked with a wide smile.

I shook my head. “You’re such a sweet tooth,” I said. “We just had dessert.”

It was true, we had just come from a restaurant, and Nathan had eaten both his lemon meringue pie and half of my raspberry dacquoise. At the time I had been upset but when he smirked at me and licked the whipped cream from his fingers, I had forgotten why I was mad in the first place.

Nathan looked sadly through the window but then a light rain began to fall. He grabbed my hand, my fingers tingling at the touch and began running, leading me to the car. I tripped at the end, falling into his chest. I was frozen against him, his hands grabbing my shoulders to steady me.

Looking up into his steel grey eyes, he brought his hand up to the back of my head. His other hand let go of mine and tilted my chin upwards until we were staring straight at one another. He bent down and our breaths mixed together. My heart was racing so fast I felt dizzy.

The thunder clapped loudly then, startling us from our reverie. Nathan pulled away and opened to his truck for me, his sweater sticking to him and revealing every curve of his lean body beneath the fabric. He looked at me quizzically and I blushed, hiding it by quickly climbing into the truck.
-End flashback-

Mid-February in Corsac was rather chilly and sometimes rainy as that day had been. Being close to the coast had its downfalls, and the winds could be rather unforgiving. However the citizens didn’t seem to notice, because the town was filled with bright red and pink decorations and store displays, touting Valentine’s Day.

As I stared back at the ingredients laid out on my counter, I scratched my head at the recipe I had printed out. It seemed simple enough, but somehow the task seemed daunting. I set to work, opening the bag of flour and cracking eggs into a bowl. Things seemed to be going well and I was rather pleased.

Then the phone rang. Wiping my hands on my apron I rushed to my phone, picking it up and tucking it under my chin as I mixed the ingredients in the bowl vigorously. “Hello?”

“Hey,” said a smooth tenor that made my heart skip a beat.

“Nathan, I—” Just then I accidentally dropped the bowl, spraying batter everywhere. “Oh no…”

“Are you all right?” said his worried voice on the other line.

Looking down at the mess on the floor I sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine.” It was a good thing I had bought extra since this was my first time baking so seriously, but now I wouldn’t be able to try again if I messed up a second time.

“I’m sorry about tonight,” Nathan said suddenly, his tone rushed. “Something last minute came up and I have to go back to Zerda. I’ll catch the next flight back to Corsac as soon as I can.”

My heart sank and I felt my fingers tense, gripping onto the mixing spoon tightly. The silence was long and Nathan’s concerned voice asked me if I was all right. “I’m fine. I mean, that’s fine,” I said forcing a laugh. “I didn’t really plan anything special tonight anyway.”

Hanging up after a small chat, I stared at the mess in my kitchen. It was Valentine’s Day, but Nathan seemed oblivious. Stupid Nathan! I suddenly felt foolish for my excitement over baking. Grabbing a roll of paper towels I began wiping up the mess. Looking at the pile of dishes in my sink I suddenly felt bad.

“It’s not like I will ever use these ingredients before they spoil,” I mused. “I guess I can try and make it anyway. For myself.” I firmed my resolve and shook Nathan from my thoughts, getting back to work.

About an hour later, I had managed to assemble everything where it needed to be and got it into the oven. I sat down exhausted on the couch, covered in flour and batter. Delicious smells began wafting from my kitchen and I peered over my couch, anxious. I could see that outside the kitchen window it had started to rain hard.

The timer dinged and I rushed to the oven, carefully pulling it out. The mini cakes sat somewhat lopsided in their pans but they looked pretty good. I put them on the rack to cool, getting out the strawberry topping. If Nathan wasn’t going to come, I’d eat these alone!

The doorbell rang just then and I stared at it in surprise. No one was supposed to be coming. I pulled the messy apron over my head and hung it up, going to the door. Opening it, there was no one there. The rain pounded down on the steps. I almost shut the door but a crinkle from the ground made me look down.

Sitting there was a bouquet of six long stemmed red roses, wrapped in flower paper. I bent and picked them up. When I stood again, Nathan was standing before me grinning, his dark green nylon shirt sticking to his skin from the rain. His hair was plastered to his face, droplets of water dripping down his neck but he looked incredibly erotic in a wild way. He leaned one arm over my head against the doorjamb and looked down at me.

“Happy Valentine’s day,” he said with a laugh. “Did you really think I’d forget?” His eyes widened as he saw my appearance. “You have something on your cheek.” He moved in close to my face and licked my cheek, pulling away as I blushed red. He mused over the taste. “What have you been up to?”

Pushing inside my apartment he rounded the corner to the kitchen, kicking off his shoes as he went. “Wait, Nathan!” I called out, shutting the door and hurrying after him. “Let me get you a towel!”

My protests caught in my throat as I caught up to him. He had pulled the wet shirt off and was standing there at the entrance to the kitchen, his skin glistening from the rain. I began stammering but I couldn’t look away. He turned to me with a smirk, dropping the shirt onto the floor. “Did you do this for me?” He gestured to the cakes.

I felt embarrassed again, and managed to look at the cakes. “N-No, I was going to eat them both.” I could feel his eyes fixing me with an intense heat.

Nathan reached out and pulled me into his arms, backing up to the counter. His skin was damp and I squirmed a bit. He buried his face in my neck, his scent like warm cinnamon. I could feel the muscles in his arms circling around me, strong and dependable. I pressed my face into his chest, blushing as I realized just how intimate this was.

“I want a taste,” he whispered, the suggestive words making my body tingle.

His long dark eyelashes touched my cheek as he leaned forward and captured my lips in a kiss. His tongue darted into my mouth gliding over mine, and he gently sucked on my lip before pulling away. My hands had gripped onto his shoulders for the duration of the kiss and when it ended I slid them down his back, feeling the muscles beneath my fingers. His body was radiating heat now. He leaned forward again and stole my breath away a second time, more bold.

When he broke the kiss at last, I felt weak in the knees. “Thanks for the dessert,” he said with a playful grin. “Now let’s have some cake.” I blushed but agreed. Maybe there’d be time for a second round of dessert later.