by Anthology
Sure, he had said ours when referencing the house, but that wasn’t true. It was his. I’d had no part of the decision-making process or transaction.
I felt trapped and betrayed, and it sliced deep.
Fuck this. I’m gone.
I reached for the handle, pulled it, and threw my shoulder into the door to open it while snatching my purse. “Good-bye, Noah.”
The Florida air was still fairly warm as I rose out of the car and began to walk down the cement driveway. I’d rummage through my contacts in my cell phone and find a way out of this mess. Maybe Jackie could swing by and pick me up after she collected Raelyn and Iris from the bar.
I was six yards away when his determined voice filled the air. “This would have played out differently if you’d just gone on the blind date with me tonight.”
I damn near tripped on my feet and face-planted at his confession. Luck was on my side though, as I managed to save myself the embarrassment by keeping my body vertical and accident-free.
I inhaled a deep breath and released it before slowly turning to face him. “Did Raelyn know it was you she was setting me up on the blind date with?”
Noah shoved his hands into his front pockets. The movement caused his chest to expand. “That depends,” he drawled slowly.
“On?”
His lip twitched. “How mad you’re going to be with my answer.”
I didn’t need him to tell me that Raelyn had been in on setting Noah and me up because his face told me all I needed to know. I tugged my lip between my teeth, contemplating who I was angrier with—Noah, for underhandedly reentering my life, or Raelyn, for throwing me under the bus.
I moved on to the next topic that was eating me alive from the inside out. “Did you ever think to call me to just say, Hey, how are you doing?” I threw my arms up in the air as I stalked toward him. “Or did you just believe you could show up after all this time and pick up right where we’d left off?”
“You needed to be in Sarasota. With your mom, taking care of her.” He gradually inched his way closer to me, his broad shoulders swaying with his movements, making him look incredibly sexy. “And I needed to be in California. Focusing on earning a respectable degree to give us a future.”
Tears stung my eyes as I rapidly shook my head, completely in denial that his response could be so simple. “You shouldn’t be here. I’ve been doing fine without you.”
Noah paused in front of me, and I tilted my head up to gaze at him.
“You haven’t been fine, Kate. And I sure as hell haven’t been either.” He brought his hand to my face, flipped it over, and brushed his knuckles down my cheek, wiping the droplets of water. “We were always meant to be together.”
The agony surfacing in his gorgeous blues devastated me as he continued, “There are so many things I should have said before getting on that plane four years ago, so many things I would have done differently. I wish I could go back in time and right all of my wrongs, but I can’t. All I can hope for is that you’ll forgive me and believe me when I say I’m here to stay.”
The gravity and truth of his words caressed over me, affecting me in ways they shouldn’t. I needed to leave, to tell him what we’d had in the past could never be again because he’d broken my heart. But I couldn’t.
Noah was bending my willpower, snapping my resolve to fight against him.
He must have read me like an open book because, in the next split second, his mouth was on mine, kissing me—hard. My lips parted on a gasp, and he used my moment of surprise to his advantage to deepen our kiss. His tongue caressed back and forth over mine, reviving me.
I melted into him and matched his fervor, completely taken by the feelings he invoked in me. His hands went to my sides and slid around to my ass where he grabbed me and hoisted me up. My legs automatically went around his waist, and I crossed my ankles to hold myself in place while my fingers delved into his hair to keep him close.
All the while, our mouths remained locked as we explored one another. I barely realized we were moving until I heard the unmistakable sound of a door opening and then closing behind us. Noah carried me through the house. The old wooden floor creaked as he padded down a short hallway and crossed through the threshold of a room.
His knees bumped into the bed, and he slowly lowered me onto the plush mattress. He climbed up over me and used his knees to push my legs apart.
I snuck my hands beneath his dress shirt, feeling the hard planes of his abdomen and chest. He gently grasped my nape and lowered his forehead to mine.
A heady groan tore from his lips. “God, how I’ve missed your touch.”
My blood sizzled. Wanting and needing more of him, I sealed my mouth over his. Our tongues intimately danced back and forth, stroking one another. All the broken pieces of my heart shifted, fitting together to close old crevices and locking into place.
Only he held the power to make me feel whole again.
Noah unbuttoned his dress shirt and removed it, giving my hands free rein to travel up and down each defined muscle of his torso, until all my movements came to a rapid halt when I took in his bare chest.
Those thick, broad muscles of his were not only sculpted to utter perfection, but they were also inked.
Ink. Muscles. Gorgeous, captivating blues…
I am fucking doomed.
Most of the tattoos were black tribal designs, each with great detail. Both of his arms were sleeved with ink along with the right side of his chest. My hand skimmed across his six-pack and traced over more artwork that ran down his left side.
Noah’s eyes burned into me, gauging my reaction to his naked upper body.
“They’re beautiful,” I whispered, running my hand over the black ink on his pectoral muscle. “Did you draw these?”
“Yes.”
His answer didn’t surprise me. Noah was extremely artistic with an incredible eye. Back in high school, he’d always carried around several sketchbooks.
“When I wasn’t studying or working, all my thoughts were of you. The only thing that restrained me from getting into my car and leaving Berkeley was familiarizing myself with a sketchpad once again. Most of my nights were spent drawing and fine-tuning these designs until I was ready to search for a tattoo artist.”
Warmth pooled in my chest as I admired his creations in a whole new light. To hear he’d struggled to cope without me gave me an odd sense of comfort, knowing I wasn’t the only one.
“It was all I could do to keep myself from coming back to you.” He placed a kiss at the corner of my mouth and then all the way across my jaw before leisurely making his way down my neck.
He removed my shirt and continued his descent, brushing his lips along my sensitive skin, as if he were reacquainting himself with my body. The purity of his raw, unabashed desire for me was evident in each of his caresses.
I briefly closed my eyes, writhing with pleasure, as I absorbed each sensation. He hooked his finger beneath the strap of my bra to pull it off my shoulder, first the left side and then the right. When his mouth connected with the curve of my breast, I arched up into his touch, giving him the perfect opportunity to reach around my back to unclasp the white lace.
As I lay bare to his eyes, Noah devoured me, closing his lips around my nipple, while kneading my other breast in the palm of his hand. A cry of pure ecstasy poured out of me when he lapped and teased me endlessly.
Needing to alleviate the pressure building at my center, I rocked my hips up into him where I felt his erection, hard and thick, pressing against the denim of his jeans.
He splayed his fingers across my stomach, flattened his palm, and slid his hand beneath my skirt and thong. The pad of his finger connected with my clit and began to make slow, deliberate strokes. “You want to come?”
Everything clenched, tightening and pulling from deep within me, as my orgasm brewed like a fierce storm inside me, begging for release. “Yes.” My answer was more of a plea.
“Not until I’ve tasted you
.” He lowered himself down the bed and settled between my thighs.
The unmistakable sound of my panties ripping filled the room. I didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that he’d ruined my favorite matching bra and thong set because his tongue began to wreak havoc on me.
Layer after layer of sensations unraveled within me as he lapped at my center, flicking his tongue up and down and circling all around. My hips had a mind of their own and gravitated toward his talented tongue that was coaxing a delicious moan from me.
My release was imminent. I couldn’t hold it back.
The tip of his tongue pressed into my sex, and that was it.
The intensity of my orgasm took me by surprise as I catapulted over the edge. Waves of ecstasy billowed within me, and I shuddered uncontrollably as my release undulated through me.
Several moments passed before Noah came up over me and rested his elbows on either side of my head. He swept errant strands of hair off my face and then brushed his lips along mine for a tender kiss. “Get some sleep. I want you well rested for when we talk in the morning.”
Perplexed, I mentally stumbled over his words and cupped his face. “I’m not done with you yet.”
“You are for tonight.” Uncertainty rang loud and clear in his voice, as if he were trying to convince himself more than me, while sporting a raging hard-on.
A muscle in his jaw flexed, and it was obvious he was fighting for control. Shaking his head, he rose from the bed and took measured backward steps until he lowered himself into a chair on the opposite side of the room.
The desire burning in his eyes was a complete contradiction to his words and actions.
The moonlight and the nightlight shining from the bathroom illuminated the room enough for me to see his hand working back and forth along his jaw.
“You chugged half a bottle of tequila tonight, and we haven’t done much talking yet. I don’t want to fuck up my second chance with you by rushing it.”
That wasn’t going to work for me.
Naked, except for the bunched up skirt around my waist, I stood to my feet and padded across the wood floor. “You’ll undoubtedly fuck it up if you leave an unsatisfied woman on your hands.”
I placed my hands on my skirt and hiked it up before I straddled his waist, making sure I rubbed him in all the right places. He wasn’t going to get off the hook so easily. I wanted more. Now. And so did he.
“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, tensing. “A man has only so much restraint, Kate.”
“Good.”
I unbuttoned his jeans. The sound of the zipper being lowered was nothing compared to our uneven breaths filling the room.
He didn’t stop me when I lifted myself to pull his pants down his legs. I lowered myself onto his thighs and gripped his cock in my hand. He was thick and hard. I gave him a firm pump from the base to the tip, once and then twice. The air coming and going from his lungs increased.
Maybe it was the alcohol making me bold and brave, but I didn’t care. My feelings toward Noah hadn’t changed; I’d always want him. There was no reason to deny him or myself. Even if it was just for tonight.
His gorgeous blues went dark, scorching with lust. “There is a lot to be said between us.”
“I know.”
“We will talk tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” I agreed.
He sucked in a deep breath when I lightly swirled the crown, spreading the bead of cum. He positioned his large hand over my much smaller one. Tightening his hold, he guided our hands down his shaft, then up, and then down again, coating my palm with his arousal.
A shiver raced down my spine as I anticipated him filling me full. The inner muscles in my sex began to spasm, making it clench and ache. I was dangling by a thread.
“What do you want?”
I nearly came undone at the gruff dominance in his voice.
“You.” I rose up on my toes to prepare to sink down on him.
Noah seized my hips to stop me.
With our gazes transfixed on one another and our mouths less than an inch apart, breathing in and out with labored breaths, he rasped, “You need to know that, when I take you, you’re mine.” His blues were rapt with determination. “I won’t let you run.”
“I won’t.”
“Are you on the pill?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I don’t want anything between us. I want you to feel me, only me.” He pushed down on my hips while thrusting up into me, making me gasp. “Say it. I want to hear you say that this sweet pussy of yours is only for me.” He hit me with another deep thrust.
Oh God.
“Only you.” I threw my head back and counteracted against his upward movements.
The heat blistering between us seemed to melt us together while we found our perfect rhythm—in and out, up and down—as I rose and sank onto him.
It didn’t take long for sparks to launch in my core.
His cock hardened within me, telling me he was close, too.
Noah twined his hand in my hair and gently tugged, turning my head so that he could press his lips to my neck. “It’s you, Kate. It’s always been you.”
And then his mouth found mine as we tipped over the edge together.
Chapter Five
I turned onto my back and brought my arms over my face to shield the bright light from my eyes. An involuntary groan slipped out of my mouth as I mentally prepared myself to be smacked upside the head with a massive hangover at any second.
Only it never came.
I was a little tired, sure, and I needed to get a bit of food in me, but all in all, I felt pretty decent.
When I rose up onto my elbows and glanced from side to side, disappointment to see that Noah was MIA coursed through me. I’d have much preferred to find him next to me in bed, naked, so I could get another good look at his ridiculously hot body.
A clanking noise from the hallway caught my attention. It sounded like pots and pans. I smiled to myself, realizing I’d struck gold if Noah was in the kitchen, making us breakfast.
Knowing I probably looked like one hot mess, I decided to make myself look presentable first. I stood and began to search for my clothes. My white lace bra on the floor was the first item I found, so I picked it up and put it on. Next, I located my skirt and pulled it up over my hips, quickly doing the zipper.
There was no way I was going to put on the mangled thong, so I bunched up the material and shoved it in my purse on the nightstand. It seemed as though I was going to go home sans panties.
My shirt was badly wrinkled, so I tossed that in my bag, too. Then, I went over to Noah’s closet and opened the doors.
Many dress shirts and slacks hung on the hangers, and casual shirts and shoes filled the shelves. It was undoubtedly the closet of a businessman. I avoided the garments that seemed expensive and selected a folded white long-sleeved shirt from the top shelf. I instantly felt better when the soft material covered my cool skin.
Snatching my purse, I went into the attached master bathroom and got busy. When I assessed myself in the mirror, I came up short and inhaled a sharp breath.
I looked horrible.
No, scratch that.
I looked like I’d gone on a wild drinking spree—which I had—and then rolled around in a pile of hay.
Eyes wide, I patted at my hair in an attempt to tame its unruliness. It was all bunched up in several knots.
I sucked in a sharp breath when I finally evaluated my face. Two black eyes gave the distinct impression that I’d gotten into a good chick fight at the bar last night, only I hadn’t. It was just the aftereffects of my girls’ night out.
Thanks, tequila.
I set my bag on the countertop, pulled out a small travel hairbrush, and got to work, giving it my all to untangle the rat’s nest on top of my head.
Then, I used a bar of soap from the counter to wash off my leftover makeup and the black paint around my eyes.
I was nearly finished fixing myself when
my cell phone dinged in my purse. I retrieved it to see a text from my traitorous friend.
Raelyn: So…how are you feeling this morning?
I unleashed a fake your-ass-is-grass kind of laugh.
A second text came through before I could respond to the first.
Raelyn: P.S. Fuck tequila.
My fingers rapidly tapped at the screen.
Me: I hope you’re suffering, good and proper…with no aspirin in sight.
I hit Send and then kept typing. Maybe that message was a bit mean, but after all, she had thrown me under the bus last night.
Me: And WTF, lady? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that NOAH was the so-called blind date. I thought we were friends!
Raelyn: Oh, I’ve already taken a pain reliever. I wish it were helping more though. And don’t be so dramatic. He LOVES you, Kate. You two BELONG together. I was just there to give you a…nudge. Did you guys talk?
Hot, steamy images of last night entered my mind at the word talk.
Me: Er, not exactly…but we will today.
Raelyn: RAWR!
I chuckled.
Raelyn: So, does that mean I’m forgiven then?
I couldn’t stay mad at Raelyn even if I tried. She was one of my closest friends, and more, I knew she only wanted what was best for me.
Me: Of course. Now, I need to go talk to my man. I’ll catch up with you later. ;)
Raelyn: Give him a high five for me!
I rolled my eyes at the little con artist, unable to wrap my head around the fact that Raelyn—sweet, honest Raelyn—had kept a secret from me.
Eager to see Noah and to know where the two of us stood, I put my cell phone in my purse and walked out of the bathroom en route of the kitchen.
The smell of bacon hit my nose, and I inhaled the divine scent. Noah was standing in front of the stove with his back to me. I paused when I noticed he was on the phone, and I remained quiet, not wanting to interrupt him.
