“That’s right, sweetheart,” he coached. “Just keep moving. Just like if I was buried here and stroking you deep.” He slid his thick middle finger into her, amazed all over again at how tight and hot she was.
She arched her back instinctively. “Noah.”
Damn he loved his name on her lips. “Right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He added a second finger and thrust deep. “Just like this.” He pulled out, then slid home again. “Stroke my cock like your pussy is stroking my fingers.”
Her inner muscles squeezed him in response, and she gave a little moan as he curled his finger against her G-spot and rubbed before sliding out again. Her hand tightened and she moved up and down a little faster.
“That’s my girl,” he told her without thinking.
At his words, her muscles again squeezed. She liked that? There was a lot more sweet talk where that came from.
“I fucking love knowing that no one has touched you like this, Brynn,” he told her honestly. “The idea that my fingers, my tongue, my cock are the first to give you pleasure like this.”
She whimpered and her pussy clamped onto his fingers.
“The idea that these muscles have never stretched for anyone else. That no one else has made this sweet body get all hot and wet—” He stroked in and out, increasing his speed.
He felt the effect in the way her breathing increased and the way she was stroking him, now on instinct rather than because of coaching. She ran her thumb over his head and he felt his knees wobble. At the base, she brushed her finger tips over his balls, and he felt everything get harder and tighter.
“I fucking love the idea that no one knows how sweet you taste and sound. That I’m the only one who’s heard you come. That I’m the only one that knows how your hand feels around his cock.”
And she came just like that. Without warning. She gasped his name, her whole body arched, and he felt the sweet heat against his hand.
“You really are perfect,” he told her gruffly.
She let out a long breath. “Now you.”
He started to pull back. “No, I—”
“I know I’m not the first,” she said, stopping him. “But I want to know what this is like with you. I want this connection of being one of them.”
He felt like his heart was actually twisting in his chest. She might not be the first or the only one, but he wanted her to be the last. That he knew to his bones. She was the only one that he wanted to know him. Not just because her hand on his cock was heaven itself, but because she was the only one that mattered.
He pressed his hand against hers on his cock. “You’re the one, B.”
Then she kissed him. She put one hand behind his head, her lips against his and kissed him, nearly knocking him to his knees. As her tongue stroked hungrily against his, her hand moved again, and this time Noah let himself get lost. He’d been holding back. In so many ways with her. Afraid of going too far. Getting in too deep. And now he just let it all go.
He arched into her hand, he curled her fingers even tighter around him, and he thrust into their combined grip. And with her breathing heavily against him, her sweetness still on his hand, her scent rising up around them, he felt his orgasm rushing at him, coursing up his spine, his entire body hardening and straining.
“I’m going to come, B,” he told her hoarsely.
“Yes, please,” she answered.
And then he let it go.
They stood together, panting, their hands in each other’s clothes, for several long moments. Then Brynn took a big, satisfied-sounding breath and leaned back. “I totally get the appeal to being the one putting the other one against the wall.”
Noah couldn’t believe how good he felt. Orgasms were always good, of course. But with this woman, it was so much more.
And he was screwed for ever being happy with anyone else again.
But he still felt fucking amazing.
He gave a little growl and quickly twisted, so she was between him and the wall this time. “Yeah. It’s pretty great.” He kissed her long and hot.
When he finally lifted his head, her eyes were dilated again and she licked her lips. “So, I was wondering…”
He lifted a brow. “Yeah?”
“Well, I mean, after a hand job, what happens? Everyone just goes home until another time?”
Noah felt his heart thump hard. Were they talking about a sleepover here? Were they ready? Did he care? All night in Brynn’s bed? He was trying to be a better guy, but he was still a selfish bastard at times and yeah…he wasn’t passing that up.
“It can depend,” he said. “But showers are pretty close to the top of the list.”
“Oh, showers.” She nodded as if really giving that some thought. “That makes sense.”
He leaned in and put his mouth against her ear. “You wanna learn about shower sex, B?”
“I do,” she said softly.
“Just so you know, it really works best if you’re the one against the shower wall.”
She tipped her head as he dragged his lips down the side of her neck. “Am I facing away from the wall or toward it?”
Heat slammed into him and he pulled his jeans up, scooped under her butt, and picked her up. “Yes,” he answered, and started for the steps.
She giggled, wrapping her arms and legs around him. “Which do you like better?”
“Buried deep inside you,” he told her honestly. “Nothing else about it really matters.” He started up the stairs.
She squeezed him tightly. “I intend to make you too tired to drive home. You should stay.”
He lived about three minutes away. He nodded. “I should definitely stay.”
12
“You might have a future as a party planner.” Cori bumped Brynn’s hip with hers, giving her a huge grin.
Brynn looked around the pie shop and took a big contented breath. “It’s going really well. But I’m going to leave the party planning to you and Evan.” Her sister was a natural. For Brynn it wasn’t about the party, it was about giving these women a place to go and relax and talk and connect with other women.
So many of them needed this. Not just Kayla. Sure, the young moms deserved a break, some time that wasn’t about their jobs or their kids. But the older women with kids who were teens and young adults and more self-sufficient had just as much stress. They worried about their kids too. They worried about their husbands, their parents, their friends. It was nice for them to have a place to come and share some of that stress with people who would understand. And have a few drinks. And maybe forget about those worries for a little bit.
Brynn focused on MJ. This was not a Moms’ Night Out. It was Ladies’ Night Out and she was glad to see the woman here. She was sitting with a couple of other women her age, but Brynn had seen her chatting with Kayla earlier, that soft half-affectionate-half-exasperated smile on her face. Brynn didn’t really know MJ’s family situation. She’d never asked. But she never heard the woman talking about a husband or children. It did, however, seem that she had some friends. And she had the guy who came over and took care of her house. Brynn wanted to know more about her, but it would take time. MJ didn’t share easily, like Kayla did, and Brynn wasn’t a pusher. But MJ was definitely on her radar. She’d figure her out eventually.
“Well, I think this is awesome,” Cori said. “And I got the little china tea sets in the mail yesterday so we can start doing some Mom-Daughter teas and birthday parties. I love that you’ve come up with all of this, Brynn.”
Brynn shook her head. “But I didn’t. I heard other people say it.”
Cori lifted a brow. “You heard someone say that they wished we had little tea sets and would host teas and birthday parties?”
“No.” Brynn lifted a shoulder. “I heard them say there wasn’t a great place for a birthday party for her daughter who didn’t want to go to the park, and that the woman thought her house was too small to host a really nice party. And, by the way, it can’t be a Mother-Daught
er tea. Some of the girls don’t have moms. And some of them would have a grandfather who would love to bring them.”
Cori gave her a look that reminded Brynn of the way MJ looked at Kayla. “Which grandfather?”
“Walter. He’s the one who pays for and takes his granddaughter to dance class. It’s so sweet.”
Cori shook her head. “Well, honey, I think you’re sweet. You might have overheard the conversations, but you took what they needed and wanted and told me to order tea sets and came up with pie and liquor pairings. That’s a pretty great thing.”
“It will be good for business, I think,” Brynn said with a nod.
Cori nudged her and gestured with her chin toward the room. “It’s good for them.”
Brynn looked around again. Everyone was smiling, including her sisters, the conversation was loud and friendly. She felt herself smile too. “I’m glad.”
“I love that the least social one of us is the one turning this place into a social hub.”
Brynn felt her smile spread. That was pretty cool. “If I’d known socializing could be like this, I might have tried it a long time ago,” she teased.
Cori laughed. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but socializing is not like this just anywhere. At least, it’s not the same. There’s something about this town.”
Brynn felt her heart squeeze at that. She nodded. She’d kind of been afraid of that.
“Oh, I’ve got a couple of coffee customers,” Cori said, waving at the two women standing at the counter. They were the women who had been sitting with MJ. “Talk to you later. You did good.”
Brynn was touched by the look of pride and affection in her sister’s gaze. “Thanks. Nobody I’d rather do it with than you and Ava.”
And that pang in her heart intensified. When she went back to New York, Cori would stay in Bliss and run the shop with Parker. Ava would be living in Bliss almost full-time, taking trips to New York only as needed for her position as Carmichael Enterprises’ CEO. Brynn would be in New York alone.
Which had seemed like a good thing a few weeks ago. And for the past seven months. Now…she wasn’t as sure.
Putting this Ladies’ Night Out together with her sisters had been fun. She’d contributed on every level from the food and drinks, to the decorations and the invitations. Instead of just letting her sisters lead, she’d been a real part of it. And it had been fun. Strangely, her sisters had seemed less overwhelming when she wasn’t just sitting back, observing and listening. They stopped talking and listened when she talked, and it had been fun putting it all together.
Maybe things like twice a week workouts and lunch and shopping and weekend trips would have felt less overwhelming if she’d given her input and not just let them always take the lead. Maybe she wouldn’t have felt dragged along then.
Maybe being alone wasn’t what she wanted so much as she wanted to just be a real part of things. And maybe she shouldn’t have been waiting for them to ask her what she wanted or for her opinions. She should have been just giving them all along.
Seeing all of this come together and actually happening in front of her now gave her a thrill she’d never had before. When things came together in the lab and clinical trials went well and they got FDA approvals, she was always happy and proud. But she didn’t get to actually see their products at work. This was different. It might not seem as big as the pharmaceutical work, but, it felt like it was at this moment.
With a smile and a sense of contentment she hadn’t had in a while, she started for MJ who was now sitting alone, at least temporarily. “Hey, MJ.” Brynn pulled out one of the chairs at the table. “How are you?”
“Great.” MJ lifted a shoulder.
Brynn noticed that MJ had eaten all of her pie, but had only sipped down her drink down a little ways. “You don’t like the bourbon with the pie?”
“Oh, it’s good,” MJ told her. “And it goes perfectly. Just like I figured.”
“You’re not drinking much.”
“Honestly, I’m more of a beer and potato chips girl.” She gave Brynn a smile. “Simple. But this is good.”
“You don’t seem to be having as much fun as I’d hoped,” Brynn told her. She wasn’t typically this direct with people. She learned things about them over time, just by listening. She didn’t pry. But this was MJ. She’d fascinated Brynn from the beginning, and she had a feeling that MJ would be okay with direct.
“I’m a little…ticked off,” MJ admitted. “Just some things on my mind.”
“Want to talk about it?”
MJ looked up, seeming a little surprised. Heck, Brynn was a little too. “Okay,” MJ said with a nod. “I’ll tell you about it.”
Brynn felt a flip in her stomach. She wasn’t sure if it was happiness or dread. What did she know about talking like this? But she settled back in her chair. “Hit me,” she said.
“Remember the guy who comes over and takes care of my house for me?”
Brynn nodded. “You call other people, they call him, and he comes instead. But the other day he couldn’t make it.”
“Right.” MJ dragged her fork around her pie plate. “And after that, I started thinking about how it annoys the shit out of me that he does that. Not the not showing up. I was actually glad. I mean, the guy needs to do his own stuff, you know? But he’s always over taking care of me.”
Brynn frowned and crossed her arms over her stomach. “Why’s that annoy you?”
“Because he’s doing it out of a sense of obligation,” MJ said. She shrugged. “It just doesn’t feel as good when someone has to do something for you. If he just did it because he cared or because he liked me, that would be one thing.”
Brynn couldn’t say why, but she felt tension tightening around her spine. “He doesn’t like you?”
“He used to,” MJ said, almost sadly. “He was my son’s best friend growing up. He was at my house a lot.”
“And now?” Brynn wasn’t sure why, but she steeled herself for MJ’s answer.
“Jared was killed in a car accident his freshman year of college,” MJ said, her voice catching. “Noah was his best friend. After Jared died, Noah took off for the Marines. When he came home, he came back determined to take care of me the way Jared would have. The way Jared asked him to.”
Brynn’s stomach roiled and she gripped her hands tighter. MJ’s son was Jared, Noah’s friend. The one he’d lost. “Jared asked him to take care of you?” Brynn asked. “You’re sure?”
MJ nodded. “Noah told me the first day he showed up on my porch, banging on my front door, telling me he was home now and he was going to be taking care of things from then on.”
Yeah, that sounded like Noah. “And you let him?”
MJ scowled and sat up straighter. “Hell, no. I took one look at that angry boy that was missing my son and feeling guilty for going off and not coming straight home and nearly bent over under the pressure of all of that and the responsibility to right all the wrongs, even though he never really could, and I told him to get the hell off my porch and not dare touch anything on my house.”
Brynn felt her eyes widen. “Wow,” she said softly.
MJ sighed and slumped in her chair again, her expression now sad. “It wasn’t the best way to handle it, I’ll admit. And I was a mess. A big mess. I just…let everything go. I didn’t care about anything. And yes, when Noah first got home, he brought with him a bunch of memories of Jared and a horrible sense of loss all over again. I lost Jared, I lost Noah for four years, and then he was suddenly back, and I realized I’d stuffed a whole lot of feelings down deep. They all came roaring back seeing him again.”
“But he kept coming over anyway,” Brynn said. “Right? He didn’t stay away?” But she knew the answer.
MJ gave a short chuckle. “No, no he didn’t. He kept coming. And honestly—this sounds weird—but even feeling angry, helped. It was something other than numb.” She looked up. “I’d felt numb for four years. Nothing mattered. But once Noah was back, he s
tirred up feelings and—” She sighed. “It was good to feel things.”
“And he made a deal with the other guys in town to call him if you ever called them needing work done?” Brynn asked.
“Yeah. I don’t know what he said to them exactly, but I know he gives them all discounts on their vehicle repairs in exchange.”
Brynn swallowed hard. She was torn between running to Noah and hugging him tight and telling him he didn’t have to try so damned hard to be a good guy and shaking him and then still telling him that he didn’t have to try so damned hard to be a good guy. Either way, she really wanted to see him.
“And now you’re annoyed with him for it?” Brynn asked, feeling a little annoyed herself. Though she wasn’t sure if it was at Noah or MJ. Or both. Did Noah have to insist on taking care of MJ even if she didn’t want it, just because Jared had asked him to? And damn that seemed familiar. He was taking care of her because of Rudy. Sure, she hadn’t known that at first. She’d just gone along, because that’s what she always did. She’d let him take care of her because it made him happy to do so.
Until it didn’t. Her going out with other guys wasn’t making him happy. Sure, they’d found a loophole. None of her dates had really been dates. At least, there had been no intention of them turning into anything more than the simple outing. But as she and Noah had gotten closer, and more intimate, it had obviously been less and less satisfying for her to be out with other people. For both of them. Rudy’s wishes or not.
Yet, she knew that he would insist on date number six happening.
But she was also annoyed at MJ. Why didn’t she release Noah from this feeling of responsibility? Tell him she was okay. Tell him he didn’t have to keep doing something that made him unhappy. And why didn’t she do that same thing?
“Do you think he’s happy doing these things for you?” Brynn asked MJ.
“That’s why I let it go for a very long time,” MJ said. “I thought it would help him work through some of the stuff over losing Jared. And honestly? I wasn’t leaving the house much for a long time after Jared died. But I’d leave when Noah came over because…I just thought we were reminding each other too much of him, and I felt bad that he kept doing things for me, but he wouldn’t stop. So, he did help get me out of the house.” She gave Brynn a rueful smile. “Leaving the house to get away from him maybe doesn’t sound positive, but it probably was in that it made me actually get dressed and interact with people. And then it felt like it had all gone on too long to change things. I don’t know if it helps him or not, but I just try to leave him alone.”
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