She tipped her head to one side. “What?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a navy velour pouch. After a moment’s hesitation, he slid it across the table. He looked incredibly nervous, which also explained why he’d been a little off for the entire evening.
She was nervous too. “Noah?”
“Open it.” He forced a smile. “It won’t bite.”
She reached with tentative fingers to pick up the pouch, opened the gold drawstring, and tipped it over. A silver chain fell into her palm. When she set the pouch down, she realized there was a pendant.
A single rose.
It was so beautiful.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Her hands were shaking.
Noah leaned across the table and wrapped both her hands in his. “Be mine, Ellie. Please. Say you’ll give us a chance. Don’t walk away from this.” He didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he stood from the table, rounded it, and took the necklace from her hand.
He straightened it out, brushed her hair to one side, and fastened it at her neck.
She couldn’t speak. She fingered the tiny rose against her chest and closed her eyes. She couldn’t have been more emotional if he’d given her a diamond ring. Did he realize how much more this meant to her?
He crouched next to her and tipped her head his direction with a finger under her chin. “Don’t cry, baby. It was supposed to make you happy.”
A tear fell, and then another.
He stood, took her hand, and helped her rise. With an arm around her shoulders, he led her from the dining room and down the hall. He didn’t take her to a club or a show or a bar. He took her back to their cabin and shut the door.
When they were finally alone, he cupped her face and kissed her gently. “Be mine, Ellie,” he repeated. “I don’t care about the past. It’s over. I want you with me every day for the rest of my life.”
More tears. Of joy and sadness combined. She wiped them with her hand. He leaned toward the desk and grabbed her a tissue, pressing it into her palm. And then he wrapped her in his arms and rocked them both back and forth in the dim light of the room.
One hand threaded into her hair, the other one flat on her lower back. “I love you so much, baby. I won’t accept no for an answer because I know you love me too. Don’t let this end here.”
She tipped her head back. “Love isn’t the problem, Noah. I never stopped loving you.”
He swallowed visibly. “Don’t say no. Think about it. Please.”
She set her cheek against his chest again, uncertain how to respond to him. He’d asked her to think about it. So, at least she didn’t need to shoot him down this second.
“Come on. Let’s go out onto the balcony. It’s so nice outside.”
She let him lead her through the sliding door. Instead of sitting, he pressed her against the balcony and settled his hands on the railing, trapping her as he’d done several times before. It made her heart race. Being surrounded by him always did.
He set his chin on her shoulder lightly, and they both stared out into the night. “There are so many stars out here.”
“Yeah. It’s beautiful.” She covered his hands with hers on the railing.
After a few minutes, he turned his lips toward her neck and kissed her behind the ear. He didn’t stop, however. Instead, he nibbled a path to her shoulder and then up toward her mouth.
She tipped her head to give him better access, needing this kiss more than her next breath. She needed all of him. It was a stabbing pain in her chest.
When his tongue stroked her lips and then dipped inside, she turned around to face him, grabbing his waist and letting him deepen the kiss further.
Suddenly, she felt a desperation born of pent-up sexual frustration and days of denial. Years of denial. She couldn’t have sex with him. She wouldn’t. But she could do everything else. And she wanted to more than anything in the world. She wanted to bring him pleasure.
His hands slid to her back and then down to cup her ass. He moaned into her mouth, tipping the other direction as if he could kiss her deeper if his head were angled just right.
She shoved him backward so that they made their way back into the cabin. It only took a few steps for him to hit the bed. And then he was falling, taking her with him, not breaking the kiss as she came down on top of him.
The lighting was dim, but he reached back with one hand and flipped it off, leaving them bathed in nothing but the moon and the stars. She reached for his shirt and tugged it out of his dress pants. Her hands went to his tie next, but she couldn’t get it loose.
Straddling his waist, she worked on the buttons instead while Noah reached between them to tug off his tie. After fumbling around like a randy teenager, she had his chest bare and yanked her lips from his to explore the expanse of flesh she’d been staring at all week.
She was out of her mind. This was a bad idea. But she couldn’t stop. She needed to taste him. All of him. She wouldn’t take him in her pussy, but she wanted every inch of him in her mouth.
When she kissed her way down to his belt, he cupped her head. “Baby…”
She batted his hands away and worked his belt buckle, and then the button and zipper on his pants.
“Ellie… Baby…” He clasped her shoulders and tried to tug her up his body.
She lifted her gaze. “Please. Noah, let me do this.”
He stared into her eyes for a long time, reading her. Finally, he licked his lips. “I won’t enter your pussy until you agree to be mine. It would kill me otherwise.”
“Good. Because I’m going to take you in my mouth.”
He swallowed hard, his eyes narrowed now, his expression one of concern. “I…”
“I want to, Noah. Give me this.”
He nodded slowly and released her, relaxing more fully onto the bed as she wiggled down his body and then worked his pants over his hips and lower. She had to stand to take off his shoes and socks, and then she tugged his pants the rest of the way down. His briefs went next.
For a moment she stared at his impressive length. She hadn’t had a chance to get up close and personal with it this week. It was time to make that happen. His erection bobbed against his abs, pleading with her. It was thick and hard, and a drop of come already leaked from the tip.
His voice was gravelly when he spoke. “Take off your dress. I want to see you in that lacey bra and panties.”
Before she climbed back onto the bed, she pulled the dress over her head.
“You are so fucking sexy.” He reached for her.
She smoothed her hands up his thighs and crawled between his legs.
Slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, she licked a line up his cock from base to head.
He moaned, his hands landing on her hair, threading into it but not pressuring her. She enjoyed the feel of his strength as she sucked the tip into her mouth and then swirled her tongue around the head and through the slit.
“Jesus.” That one word came out on a breath.
She sucked him deeper next, sliding her tongue along the vein. He was bigger than she remembered. Not that she’d given him hundreds of blowjobs in high school. But she had a few times. And he was definitely larger.
Everything about him was larger.
She also hadn’t given a blowjob since the last time she’d held him in her mouth fourteen years ago, so she was nervous.
He didn’t seem to mind or notice her lack of experience. Considering the last time she’d done this, she was certain she had fumbled and made a mess of it.
She smoothed her hands up his thighs and cupped his scrotum, gently rolling the skin there until he stiffened and bucked his cock deeper from beneath her.
He was panting when he set his hips back down. “Ellie…”
She loved the way he said her name. She loved the way he said every word when he was aroused. It empowered her to continue. It also made her wet. Her panties were soaked.
Noah’s hands trailed lower to her bre
asts, but he could only reach the upper swell, so he dipped his fingers into the lace of her bra to flick over her nipples.
She squirmed, her arousal shooting through the roof at the contact. It went straight to her sex and left her panting around his girth. She also sucked him deeper and let her cheeks hollow.
He groaned. “Baby… I’m gonna come.”
That’s the idea.
“You’re too good at that. It’s been so long… I need…” His voice trailed off, and she forced her throat to open so she could take him deeper. She wrapped one hand around the base of his cock and sucked him harder and faster, lifting up and down rapidly until he let go of her entirely, gripped the bedding at his sides, and stiffened. His entire body went tight. A glance at his face showed his mouth open and his eyes closed.
On the next pass, he jerked, his body thrusting upward again as his seed shot into the back of her mouth. It was the most beautiful thing to watch. This giant of a man, a Navy SEAL no less, losing all control. For her.
For her.
For her.
She sucked him until he was completely spent and flinched slightly. When she finally released him with a light pop, she continued kissing his abs, working her way up to his chest, and then flicking her tongue over a nipple.
He made a primal growl, grabbed her biceps, and flipped her onto her back.
She squealed at the sudden change.
His mouth came over hers so fast she didn’t have a chance to catch her breath. He kissed her like a man desperate to stake his claim. His hands landed on her waist and trailed up to her breasts. He cupped them and squeezed hard enough for a jolt of pain combined with intense pleasure to make her writhe.
His knee landed between her legs, and he released her lips to dip his head and suck her breast, lace and all.
A hand wiggled under her back, and seconds later, her bra was freed, and his mouth was suckling her nipple deep and hard.
“Noah…” Her turn to breathe out his name.
She was completely relaxed, knowing he’d meant what he’d said and he wouldn’t enter her with his cock. It was all the promise she needed. But she was on fire for him, and she lifted her pussy to rub against his thigh.
He lowered one hand to her hip and pressed her firmly against the mattress, her breast popping out of his mouth so he could meet her gaze. “Stay still. Let me.”
The tone of his voice shot her arousal up ten notches, and she bit her lip as she nodded.
He smiled. “God, I love you. I love everything about you. I love the way you moan and squirm and writhe beneath me. I even love the way you bite your lip when you’re trying not to cry out.” He cupped her breasts reverently, kissed the tips gently, and then slid down the bed.
His hands were on her panties in a heartbeat, and then her thong was over her hips and off her body just as quickly. Without warning, he grabbed her thighs, spread them open, and lowered his mouth to her sex.
She cried out, just as he’d predicted, the bite on her lip no longer effective under the onslaught of his lips and tongue. When he sucked her clit into his mouth, her vision blurred. She tipped her head back and concentrated on every single detail. Every sensation. Every stroke of his tongue over her sensitive flesh.
His thumbs slid up her thighs and between her legs to part her lower lips and then he dipped one inside her. Her body gripped him instinctively.
She bucked, but he held her steady with his other hand on her belly. Between the flicking of his tongue and the sucking of his lips and the thrusting of his thumb, she was losing her grasp on reality.
She was going to come. She never came this fast. Not even with batteries. But then again nothing electronic in her apartment compared to the multifaceted assault coming from this man she dearly loved more than life itself.
He pulled out his thumb and replaced it with a finger, thrusting deeper. She arched her chest since she couldn’t lift her hips. Her breasts felt heavy. Her hands roamed his shoulders until she couldn’t control them anymore and gripped him so hard she would probably leave an indentation from her nails.
The suction increased. The flicking faster. And then he hit the sweet spot in her pussy, angling his finger so that he stroked over it rapidly. That was it. She couldn’t hold back another moment. She was already falling, her entire body pulsing with the ripples of her arousal as both her clit and her channel seemed to participate.
The orgasm lasted longer than any she remembered. And then she was panting as he eased slowly off her sensitive nub and nibbled around it in a circle. Worshiping her.
He pulled his finger out last, his gaze on her. “That was so beautiful, baby. I could do that to you every night of my life.”
She tried to smile, but her face wasn’t registering messages from her brain yet.
Flattening his hand on her belly, he climbed up her body and settled on one hip along her side, his head in the palm of his hand. “You’re tighter now than you were in high school. How the hell do you manage that? I thought I wouldn’t be able to get my finger back out.” His voice was teasing as he leaned down to kiss her neck.
When he lifted his face to catch her gaze again, his free hand trailing up from her waist to gently toy with her breast, he suddenly paused. Frozen.
Dammit.
“Ellie…”
She looked away, not wanting to have this conversation. Ever. But here it was. He wasn’t the sort of guy who would let something like this go. Not a chance.
“My God, Ellie.” His voice was softer. Lower. He released her breast to grasp her chin and turn her face toward him. “Please tell my you’ve had sex with other men.”
Her face heated, but he wouldn’t be able to see it in the dim lighting. Besides, she was already flushed from the orgasm. She blinked at him and bit her lip again.
He groaned. “Baby, why?”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. God, don’t cry.
There was no way to hold back the tears, however.
His expression was impossible to read as he wiped the tears away and then traced the edge of her lips. “Baby. Jesus. I—”
She shook her head. “Please. Don’t say anything. Please.”
He swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay.” He lowered his head to her shoulder and held her close. “Okay. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” He stroked her face and kissed her neck and continued to whisper. “I love you so much. Baby, you have no idea.” His voice trailed off.
Thank God he stopped talking. He kept touching her. Everywhere. But he didn’t speak or force her to look at him.
She gradually relaxed in his arms. At some point he pulled the covers back and managed to get them under the soft blankets. And then he hauled her into his arms and didn’t let her go.
It took her a while to let sleep drag her under, but eventually it did, and she slept better than she’d slept in years.
Chapter 13
Sun was streaming into the room when Ellie woke up. Noah’s hand was on her belly, but he was flat on his stomach, his face relaxed in sleep. She watched him for several minutes, memorizing everything about him, and then she slid out from under his hand, careful not to wake him.
She padded to the bathroom, quietly closed the door, used the toilet, and came back out. As she stepped closer, thinking to grab a pair of panties and a tank top, she stopped dead.
The sheets had worked their way down Noah’s body. His leg was out and so was his right hip. She blinked several times as she leaned over him and then gasped.
A single rose. Intricate. The stem reaching down his butt. It must have hurt. If she wasn’t mistaken, her initials were woven into the stem too. Yep. EG. Not a doubt.
She stumbled backward, unable to stop herself, and fell against the closet so hard it banged shut. Apparently, it hadn’t been fully closed.
Noah jerked awake, his head lifting and turning her direction. He shook himself out of the sleepy fog. “Ellie? You okay?” He slowly pushed his chest off the bed.
Her gaze was on
his ass, though, and she shook her head. “No. Not even a little.”
He lowered his eyes to the spot she was staring at and came completely off the bed. “Shit.” Instantly, he was in her face. “Don’t freak out.”
She was so far past that. “Don’t freak out? Are you serious? You have me tattooed to your ass, Noah.”
“It’s just a rose.” He ran a hand through his tousled hair but didn’t touch her.
“It’s way more than a rose, and you know it.” Her voice was high-pitched, squeaking.
He set one hand on the closet next to her head. “It’s a rose.”
“My fucking initials are woven into the stem, Noah,” she shouted.
He sighed. “Yes. They are.”
“That’s…creepy.”
He shoved off the closet. “Why? Why is it so fucking creepy that I put a small rose on my hip as a symbol of the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
She flinched, wrapped her arms around her naked chest, and took a step away from him. Her head was shaking. “You can’t love me.”
“Why the fuck not?” He was also yelling now.
“Because I hurt you,” she retorted. “I hurt you so badly I messed you up. You can’t love me. You need to let me go.”
He lurched forward, apparently done giving her distance, and grabbed her biceps. “I’m not fucking letting you go. Not now. Not ever. If you run from me, I will find you. You’re mine. You’ve always been mine. I don’t care what happened fourteen years ago. I never should have let you go then. I should have hunted you down and dragged your ass back home. I was a fool. I made a mistake. I won’t do it again. This time you’re mine.”
She was shaking now. Her voice trembled as she addressed him. “You can’t have me. I’m not available.”
He glanced down at her body. “You haven’t even fucked another man in fourteen years, Ellie. How the hell do you figure you’re not still mine and always have been?”
She shook her head violently again. “Because I’m not going to fuck you now. Or ever. So you have to let me go.” How had she let things get this far? She was so stupid. Weak.
His entire body jerked. He still held her biceps. His eyes narrowed. His nostrils flared. He was angrier than she’d ever seen him, and she oddly sensed it wasn’t at her. “Did someone touch you?”
Hot SEAL, Red Wine (SEALs in Paradise) Page 11
