by Force, Marie
Take the way his mother had cornered him first thing in the morning, wanting to lay eyes on him for the first time in weeks when they lived on the same street. He took care of shoveling her snow, but he rarely stopped in to say hello to her. That needed to change. None of the shit that’d happened to him was her fault, and after everything she’d done for him and his siblings, he owed her better than what she’d gotten from him the last few years.
Noah eventually dozed off, but a sound had him jolting awake sometime later to realize it was Brianna, whimpering in her sleep. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he moved a little closer and rested a hand on her back, which seemed to settle her.
“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t do this.”
Was she talking to him?
He raised his hand from her back, and she whimpered again. So, he put it back.
“Rem… Don’t go. Please.” A sound that might’ve been a sob came from her, and Noah’s heart broke for her.
“Brianna,” he whispered. “Wake up.”
He’d left the bedside light on in case she woke during the night and forgot where she was, which was how he saw her eyes flutter open.
She blinked several times, her brows furrowing in surprise, maybe, to see him there.
“I think you were dreaming.”
“Oh.” She licked her lips. “Did I say anything?”
“You were talking about your husband.”
Her eyes filled and then closed, tears leaking out the sides. “That hasn’t happened in a while.”
“What hasn’t?”
“Dreams. About Rem. Used to happen a lot. I’d wake up and realize I’d dreamed about everything being normal, and I’d have to remember what happened all over again. That was torture.”
“I’ve had a few of those dreams, too. It’s the worst. Fucks me up for days afterward.”
“Yeah.”
“You want some water or something?”
“That might be good. My head is pounding.”
“Coming right up.” He got off the bed and went to the bathroom to fill a glass with tap water. In the closet, he rifled through the various offerings until he found a packet of painkillers. The good old Pig’s Belly thought of everything. He brought the items to her and sat on the edge of the mattress. “Found some pills.”
“Oh good. That’ll save tomorrow from being a total loss.” She took the glass and downed the pills, chasing them with a drink of water. “It’s not like me to party on a school night.”
“You’re a good girl, then, huh?”
“I always tried to be. For all the good that did me.”
“Remember what you said to me? None of this was your fault.”
“And I believe that. I honestly do. But I can’t help but wonder why he chose to target me. What was wrong with me that made him think I’d make such an easy mark?”
Noah couldn’t help himself. He reached out and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, even though he knew as he was doing it that touching her was a mistake. “There is nothing wrong with you.”
“There must be something. He played me so easily.”
“You cared about the guy. Any time you care about someone else, you’re taking a gamble. Some gambles pay off. Some don’t. But it takes guts to risk yourself that way.”
“Do you think you’ll ever be able to gamble again?”
“I don’t know. How about you?”
“No idea. I’ve kind of lost my nerve.”
“You’ll get it back when the time is right.”
“You think so?” she asked in a wistful tone.
“I do.”
“Will you?”
“I hope so.”
They stared at each other for a long, breathless moment.
Noah could hear his better judgment screaming at him to move away from her, to go back to his side of the bed and stay there. But he didn’t do that. It was almost as if he couldn’t move, even if he’d wanted to, which he didn’t, not with her soft hair curling around his fingers.
He wasn’t sure who moved first, but later, he would decide it was her. It made him feel better to think he hadn’t kissed her. No, she kissed him, and he let her. That was how it went because it would be highly inappropriate for him to kiss the architect overseeing the biggest job of his career.
It’d be super inappropriate for him to like kissing her or to wrap his arms around her and slide his tongue into her open mouth. Not to mention going with her when she fell back onto the bed without breaking the kiss. This was complete insanity. They worked together. They fought like cats and dogs all day, every day. What in the name of hell was he doing kissing her like he’d just found a boat after a year on a deserted island?
He’d stop this. He would. In a minute. Or two.
Chapter Seven
“Suffering is the price of being alive.”
—Judy Collins
Brianna should not have been kissing Noah Coleman as if her life depended on it. This might count as the single stupidest thing she’d ever done, and considering her track record with men, that was saying something. Surely somewhere in architecture school, they’d told her not to make out with her general contractor, hadn’t they? If not, that should’ve been on the day-one agenda. Twisting tongues with the contractor when the job was only half finished wasn’t a good career move.
But damn if she could be bothered to care about her career when Noah’s lips were so soft and his kisses so hot and dirty. And was that his hand sliding under her sweater and branding her back with its heat? God, no one had touched her this way in so long, she’d almost forgotten what it was like to feel desired. If the hard length of him pressing against her core was any indication, Noah wanted her.
While she knew she ought to put a stop to this, she couldn’t seem to find the wherewithal to do it, not when her sweater slid up and over her head or when he released the front clasp on her bra and pushed aside the cups so he could get to her nipples. She didn’t stop him when he kissed and sucked on the hard tips or when he moved down to unbutton and unzip her jeans.
That really should’ve been the end. Brianna was about to say no more when his hand slid inside her pants, and one finger ended up deep inside her.
Stop. The word was on the tip of her tongue, but unfortunately, her tongue was super busy at the moment, wrapped as it was around his. With his hand inside her pants, she didn’t think it would matter much—in the grand scheme of things—if she unbuttoned his jeans and returned the favor.
One of them would come to their senses before this went too far, before something happened that they couldn’t undo.
Any minute now.
He’d call this off. Or she would. She definitely would. But not quite yet, not when he was stroking her there and making fireworks explode within her entire body. Not when he was pulling off her jeans and panties or moving down to replace his fingers with his tongue. That’d be a terrible time to stop him.
Oh God.
And was he ever good at that. He had her holding back a scream in a matter of seconds. Usually, it took her months to feel comfortable enough with someone to let them do that, but Noah didn’t ask if she was comfortable. He just did it, and as she launched into an explosive orgasm, she was damned glad he had.
She was still panting as he kissed his way up the front of her.
“Tell me to stop,” he said in a gruff, sexy voice.
“No, I don’t think I will.”
“Brianna, seriously.”
She pushed at his jeans and stroked the long, thick cock that had breached the top of his boxer briefs. Who’d a thunk he had that going on inside the faded jeans he wore to work? It really would be tragic to let that go to waste.
“Brianna.” His breath was hot against her nipple, which tingled from the brush of his whiskers against it.
“Hmm?”
“Tell me to stop.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Now, this was more like their usual bickeri
ng routine, only usually they were fighting over construction priorities or supplies or invoices or something that simply didn’t matter. As the wind howled outside and the icy snow pinged against the glass, Brianna wondered how long they’d be stranded at the Pig’s Belly. They might as well enjoy themselves before they had to return to reality.
“Do you have a condom?”
He stared at her, his face flat with shock. “No, I don’t have a condom.”
“There’re some in the cabinet. You want to get them, or should I?”
“Are you still drunk?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You must be drunk if you’re not telling me to stop.”
“I’m not drunk, and I’m not telling you to stop.” She stroked him with a firm grip, from root to tip. “Unless you’re telling me to stop.”
“Not saying that,” he said through a clenched jaw.
“Why don’t you go see what kind of condoms the Pig’s Belly left for us.”
He gave her a long, intense look as if he was waiting for her to say “April Fools” or “psych” or something that meant game off.
She said nothing.
Noah lifted himself on his arms and pushed off the bed to go into the bathroom and root around in the cabinet. When he returned, he stood by the side of the bed, the hem of his Henley hiding his erection. “Last chance to say no.”
“Not saying no. Are you?”
“I should.”
“But you’re not?”
“I don’t seem to be.”
“Take your shirt off.”
He did as directed, revealing a well-defined chest and abdomen covered by dark blond hair that got darker at his waist.
“Now, your pants.”
Brianna propped herself up on her elbow so she could watch him strip for her. If she was going to cross every line, she might as well enjoy the show. She held out her arms, inviting him to come back to where he’d been before he’d gotten up.
He hesitated. “Tell me this isn’t going to make everything between us weirder than it was before tonight.”
“I won’t let it if you won’t.”
“I won’t. And it’s just this once, right?”
She smiled at him. “Maybe twice if the first time goes well.”
A grin stretched across his face, which softened his hard edges. It was shocking to discover how genuinely handsome and sexy her adversary had turned out to be.
Brianna drew him into another one of those fantastic kisses that had led to all this nakedness. The brush of his chest hair against her nipples made her gasp from the pleasure that touched every part of her.
Fourteen months ago, the thought of being naked in a bed with anyone other than her beloved husband would’ve been ludicrous. Since then, every aspect of her life had changed. Not one thing was the same, except for her family.
Never in her wildest dreams had she pictured herself in a bed above the Pig’s Belly Tavern in Somewhere, Vermont, with a sexy contractor named Noah Coleman, who had been, as recently as this afternoon, the most irritating human being she’d ever met. When it came to unlikely lovers, she and Noah had to take the prize.
They might be unlikely, but they moved together like they knew what they were doing, the desire drowning out everything other than the urgent need to see this through to the logical conclusion.
“Condom,” she said. “Now.”
He pulled back from her, grabbed a condom from the strip of five he’d brought from the bathroom and rolled it on.
Brianna’s mouth watered at the delicious sight of aroused man and the knowledge that he wanted her badly enough to say to hell with all the reasons why this might turn out to be the worst idea either of them had ever had.
As he pushed into her, moaning from the connection, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. No, it didn’t seem so bad at all. If anything, it was really, really good.
He was big, and the fit tight, which made for intense pleasure as he pushed into her slowly, giving her time to accommodate him before he went farther.
Brianna sank her fingers into the muscles on his back and held on for the wild ride they took each other on. Her better judgment screamed at her with outrage that she was screwing the cranky contractor.
But it had turned out, shockingly, that he wasn’t cranky so much as wounded, and that was something she certainly understood.
God, it felt good to be held and touched and caressed by a man again. For a time, she’d wondered if she’d ever be able to do this with someone else. Noah had answered that question rather definitively. As she climbed toward another incendiary release, she was overwhelmed with relief at knowing it was possible to not only do this with someone other than Rem, but to truly enjoy it.
Noah thrust into her, triggering the release that’d been brewing.
She held on to him as she rode the waves of pleasure that knocked every other thought out of her head. There was only right here and right now. Nothing had been able to wipe her mind clear like sex with Noah had, which was another thing to be thankful for.
Afterward, he came down on top of her, breathing as hard as she was.
“That went well,” he said after a long silence.
Brianna laughed. “Sure did. Maybe we should do it again to make sure it wasn’t a one-off.”
“I’d be down for that. Just give me a minute to recover.”
He withdrew from her and moved to his side, facing her with an arm around her.
“That was the first time I’ve done that since everything happened,” she said softly.
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh.”
“How do you feel?”
“Other than conflicted about being naked in bed with a work colleague?”
Smiling, he said, “Other than that.”
“Pretty good.” She rested her hand on his arm. “For a long time after, I wondered if I’d ever do that again. I mean, if I couldn’t be with him, would I want to be with anyone else?”
“Took me six months to go looking for it with someone else,” Noah said. “I was numb with shock for so long.”
“Did it help? To get back on the horse, so to speak?”
“A little.” He sighed. “I mean, it doesn’t change what happened, you know?”
“Yeah, I do. And while this doesn’t change anything, it made me feel good, so thanks for that.”
“I aim to please, ma’am.”
Brianna giggled at the exaggerated drawl he affected with the statement. “Maybe it’s a good thing Mrs. H meddled in our business, and then it snowed.”
“Doubt this ever would’ve happened without her involvement.”
“Definitely not. I wanted to stab you, not, you know…”
“Fuck me?”
“Stop! Oh my God. You had to say it like that?”
“What would you call it?”
“Not that.”
“Such a good girl. I need to dirty you up a bit.”
“Didn’t you already do that?”
“Nah, that was just the appetizer. We’ll get dirty on the next round.”
“Um, not sure how I feel about that.”
“Trust me. You’ll like it.”
Brianna was so tired and so sated that she didn’t ask for more info. If he said she’d like it, she probably would. She dozed for a long time before the brush of his lips over her nipple awakened her. At some point, he’d turned off the light, and she had no idea what time it was or if it was still snowing. What did trivial stuff like that matter when Noah was teasing her nipples with his tongue and fingers?
Brianna closed her eyes and floated on a wave of contentment. Right here in this gorgeous room in the most unlikely of places, she felt wonderful for the first time after a very long and harrowing ordeal. Maybe she and Noah would go back to locking horns when they returned to the jobsite. Maybe whatever this was between them would never be more than a snowy interlude at the Pig’s Belly.
If that’s how it worked out, that’d
be fine. No matter what happened next, this evening with Noah had given her hope for a future that wasn’t all gloom, doom and crushing disappointment.
He turned her onto her belly and rained kisses down her back. Then he tugged her up to her knees and caressed her bottom with a light touch that made her skin tingle and her clit ache with desire.
She was about to beg him for relief when he pushed into her from behind and nearly made her come with one deep thrust.
“Not yet,” he whispered gruffly in her ear.
Brianna bit her lip as she tried to hold back the need to let go.
He withdrew from her, making her whimper from the loss. “Easy,” he said. “You’ll get what you want if you’re patient.”
“I have no patience.”
“That’s good to know.” He slid his fingers through the liquid heat between her legs, but studiously avoided the one place that burned for his touch. “You need to get some.”
“I’ve never had any.”
He set out to torture her until she was nearly wailing from the effort it took to hold back the release that was bursting to break free.
“Noah,” she said on a sound that resembled a sob. “Please.”
“Is this what you want?” he asked as he drove into her and triggered an orgasm for the ages.
It was so intense, she nearly blacked out from the overload of pleasure that coursed through her body.
Afterward, she felt utterly wrecked. She couldn’t have moved if the place was on fire.
Noah withdrew from her and went to dispose of the condom and retrieve a towel to clean her up.
Brianna didn’t do a thing to help him.
“You all right down there?” he asked, placing a kiss in the middle of her back.
“Mmmm.”
“I need words.”
“Yes, I’m all right.”
“You’re sure?”
“Uh-huh. How are you?”
“Pretty damned good.”
She was glad to hear him say he felt good. That was her last thought before a ringing phone woke her from a dead sleep. She opened her eyes to daylight.
Noah shifted next to her as he reached for the phone. “Hello.” Pause. “Yes, sure, that sounds good. Hang on a minute.” To Brianna, he said, “The road to Butler is still closed, and the snow hasn’t let up. They’re offering breakfast delivery.”
