Noah’s grin spread wide and his eyes sparkled under the glow of neon lights. “Not planning a threesome, I hope.” His gaze wandered back to Mira, and he looked her up and down. “I couldn’t participate with my cousin, but if you’re in need of a little private workout …” He shrugged and winked. “I might be your man.”
Mira swirled a shot of tequila around in her mouth, allowing the burn to occupy her tongue so she wouldn’t say what she wanted to say. And what she wanted to say was a mouthful.
“Noah!” Sandra slapped the tabletop. “That’s a wonderful idea. A proper workout with a trial membership is just what Mira needs.” She wagged her brows at Mira as she swayed back and forth.
No! That’s a horrible idea. Chills seized Mira’s spine, alleviating the heat flash she’d suffered. Shouldn’t her best friend be there to keep her out of trouble instead of shoving her toward it? Great.
“You’re drunk.” Mira hugged her purse to her. The leather buffer between her body and Noah’s hid her excessive curves, preventing Noah from seeing her less-than-perfect figure. “And Noah has a bar full of super-hot ladies to warm his bed. He damn sure doesn’t need me.”
She looked around him at the other people in the bar, trying to appear disinterested.
Noah cocked his head to the side. “Maybe I’m not looking for just anyone to warm my bed, Mira.”
Mira rolled her eyes and fidgeted uncomfortably. Yeah, right. She ignored his comment. “Look, Sandra, I’m wasted and I really need to go to sleep.” She slipped her purse strap over her shoulder. “How much do I owe you for the drinks?”
“Not a damn thing,” Sandra barked. “Tonight was my treat, honey.” She pursed her lips and rose up across the table with her eyes closed.
Mira took a deep breath and bent over to meet Sandra’s pucker, but just as she did, Noah leaned in, forcing Mira to kiss his cheek instead.
She jerked her head back as her lips grazed the stubble of his five o’clock shadow. “What the—?”
Noah’s mouth curled up at the corners, demonstrating his obvious delight. “It’s about time I got a kiss from you.”
“Cute,” Mira said as she scooted off her seat. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Sandra.”
Sandra rested her chin on the palm of her right hand and offered a floppy wave with her left. “Call me a cab, will ya’, Noah?”
“Mira, wait!” Noah called out. “Why don’t I drive you both?”
Mira dragged in a deep breath as the sensitive nerves on her scalp tingled. “Nah, that’s probably not a good idea.”
Noah reached for her arm and she instantly looked to where he gently gripped her.
“Please. It’s freezing out and you’re too drunk to drive.”
“He’s right,” Sandra said before she drifted back into her drunken stupor.
Should she accept? Could she tolerate him long enough for a ten-minute ride home? “Okay.” Mira relented. This better end well.
“Great.” Noah collected Sandra, her coat, and her purse. “Follow me.”
As they headed toward the exit, several of Noah’s friends whooped and hollered out his name.
“Sorry, guys. Somebody lit the bat signal and I’ve gotta save Gotham,” Noah shouted back to them as they neared the front door.
Mira shrank, recognizing a few backup members of Santa’s team of shifters. Now they would all know she’d left a bar drunk and with Mr. Rutting Stag himself. Shit.
Chapter Three
Noah opened the back door to his car and helped Sandra inside.
Mira planned to slide in behind her, but Noah closed the door before she could.
“Keep me company?” He unlocked the passenger door and ushered Mira toward the opening.
White puffs of smoke encircled the air between them and Mira stood there for a moment, entranced, wondering if Noah could hear her pounding heart. The booming filled her head triggering a slow ache at the base of her skull.
“It’s kind of cold out here, Mira.” He cupped his hands together and blew into them while he shivered in place.
Mira shook her head, clearing the foggy haze. “Sorry.” She ducked inside the car then Noah closed the door behind her.
City streetlights blurred as they sped away.
“Sandra’s place is closer. I hope you don’t mind if we take her home first.”
Great. Now she’d be alone with him. Alone and still tipsy. This just gets better and better. Reluctant, Mira shook her head. “No. It’s okay.”
Neither spoke much as they made their way to Sandra’s apartment and Mira waited patiently in the warm car while Noah walked his cousin to her door. She took the time to collect her thoughts and to remind herself that Noah Donner was a man-whore of epic proportion and there was no way in hell she would become another notch on his bedpost.
Nope. Not her.
When Noah returned to the car, Mira stared out into the dark night, focusing on anything other than the flurry of excitement in her stomach she knew she shouldn’t have. As they neared her house, she held her purse tight against her belly, now more for the sake of comfort than as a barrier.
Noah jumped out and opened her door then escorted her up to the house.
“Thanks for the ride.” Mira trembled as she extended her hand to him. The frigid air had the sobering effect she’d need to prevent herself from swooning.
Noah eyed her keenly. “We’ve worked together for several years, Mira.” He stepped closer. “Shouldn’t I have earned a hug by now?”
“A hug?” Mira held her breath, and stared into his big brown eyes, still clinging to her purse. She backed away from him, stopping when she felt her closed front door against her back.
Noah inched closer, too close for any semblance of comfort. “You have really gorgeous eyes, you know?”
Thrilling flutters tickled her insides. “I do?” He actually noticed my eyes?
“One blue and one green? That’s very rare.” Noah grinned.
His unexpectedly warm breath spilled onto Mira’s face, captivating her with his too-close lips. His woodsy scent of pine with a hint of peppermint filled her senses. God, he even smells like Christmas.
“Invite me in,” he whispered like a vampire seducing his prey.
Mira mindlessly fumbled inside her purse until she felt cold metal brushing against her fingers.
“Keys,” she said, dangling the key ring from her middle finger. Duh! Her heart pounded even harder.
Noah folded his hand around hers, took the keys, and unlocked the door.
Her pulse raced, quickly reaching full throttle.
When they entered the house, Mira’s purse slipped from her grasp and landed on the floor by her feet.
Noah nudged her against the door, closing it behind them.
Mira gasped. His smoldering expression turned her stomach upside down, and heat pooled between her legs. Had he cast a spell, stealing away her ability to escape? Her skin tingled at the thought of giving in to his silent intent.
Noah’s hands found her midsection and needy eyes drank her in as though she were a mug of hot, buttered rum on a cold winter’s night.
I’ve totally lost my mind. “Is this really happening?” Did I say that aloud?
Noah’s eyes gleamed and a mischievous grin spread across his face. “Oh, it’s happening.” He slowly leaned in, and his lips grazed hers, immediately followed by his tongue. Warm swipes plunged deeper with each pass, triggering moisture that dampened her panties.
Mira’s knees buckled and Noah scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the sofa as though she weighed next to nothing.
His kisses grew more passionate. Deeper. Hungrier.
Mira could hardly catch her breath. This was crazy. Insane. “Get the fuck out!”
Noah stopped. A look of confusion and shock flashed in his eyes. “What?”
Mira laughed, covering her mouth as heat rushed to her cheeks. “I’m sorry. That sort of slips out whenever I’m surprised.”
Noah’s
brow pinched. “You’re surprised?”
She bit back another laugh and went with an enthusiastic nod instead.
“Why?”
Mira’s head spun and she strained to sit upright. How could she explain this? “Men like you don’t come home with women like me, Noah.”
He shook his head. “Why?”
He sounded like a broken record now.
“Be-because,” she said stammering through her reply. “Look at you.”
Noah rose and stood by the sofa, gazing down at her. “What about me?”
“Uh … well, you’re built like a Greek god and you have a reputation as a …” She searched for the correct words—words that held a little more delicacy than man-whore. “Ladies’ man?”
“Humph.” He rested his hands on his hips. “Ladies’ man, huh?”
“I was being polite.” Mira squirmed.
Noah’s eyebrows arched high. “Is that so?” He folded his arms across his chest. “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel, Mira?”
Bile shot up in the back of her throat as her nervous demeanor morphed into one a little more hostile. “How I really feel?” Dozens of irritating things about the man came to mind. Everything from his obnoxious, too-loud laugh, to the ugly reindeer sweater he wore, to the Christmas party every friggin’ year. “Well … for starters, you brag about your conquests entirely too much.” She’d keep her comments limited to the facts rather than opinions. “You treat women like trophies and well … you seem to have a serious problem with my ass.” The last part flew out of her mouth so fast she had no time to reel it back in.
His eyes widened. “What the hell does your ass have to do with anything?”
Mira shot up from the sofa, squaring her shoulders with a newfound sense of power. “That’s exactly what I want to know.” She stomped around the coffee table, invigorated by a new sense of ire. “Every year you wait until we’re harnessed and about to take off with the sleigh and then you start talking about my ass.”
Noah shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
Was he serious? Puffing out her chest and adopting a deep, masculine bravado, Mira attempted to impersonate him. “Hey, Comet, who needs Rudolf’s nose, I have my own personal full moon to lead me around the globe.”
Noah sat back down and lowered his head.
“Well? Did you say that or not?” She stood before him on the verge of tears as the painful memory she’d tried so often to forget suddenly came rushing to the surface. “Let me guess …” Her bottom lip quivered and the back of her throat seized. She gulped away the ball of air strangling her. “It was just a harmless joke, right?”
Noah’s eyes slowly found hers and his once seductive gaze darkened, and not in a romantic way. “Mira, I’m sorry. I’m a jerk.” He rose again and eased toward her. “I know that doesn’t excuse it, but I honestly didn’t mean anything by it.”
Mira held her breath as she detected a note of sincerity in his tone. “It really doesn’t matter, anyway.” Her eyes burned from the building tears.
Of all the shape shifters in the world, why did Donner have to be the man she couldn’t get out of her head?
“It does matter.” He reached for her arm and ran a gentle hand up to her shoulder where he lightly squeezed. “Let me show you how much it matters.”
Mira’s stomach fluttered and her muscles tightened as he pressed himself against her.
He slipped his hand around her neck and thumbed the side of her throat.
She gazed up at him as his over six-feet tall, mountainous form engulfed her much shorter stature. Five-feet five and a good forty pounds overweight, she felt even heavier as he took her in his muscled arms.
Mira pushed away. “You don’t have to do this. I don’t need your pity.”
Noah jerked her to him again. “This isn’t pity. I really want you.” His reply came out gravely, almost a growl. His chest heaved as he covered her mouth with his, teeth clanking and tongue diving recklessly deep. His moan vibrated against her lips. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
Mira’s nipples balled. “Oh.”
Thick fingers fumbled down her blouse as he plucked open her buttons, one after another, until he peeled it from her shoulders and sprinkled kisses across her exposed flesh. He pressed her breasts together, dipped down, and trailed from one mound to the other, tasting her with the tip of his tongue. His groin jammed into her side and she easily felt the monstrous erection building up steam behind his jeans.
Holy shit. She was in trouble now. Her panties dampened even more and her clit pulsed, yearning for release. “Fuck.” She groaned as he pried one of her breasts free from her bra and suckled her burning nipple.
“I’m getting to that,” he whispered as he unfastened the front hook of her bra and lapped wildly at her other nipple. Noah knelt before her and Mira tensed as his kisses trailed down her stomach.
Her first instinct was to hide her body and she immediately covered her exposed midsection with her hands.
Noah stopped and looked up at her.
Almost on the brink of tears yet again, Mira held back a whimper.
His commanding gaze demanded submission and her body instantly obeyed. He moved her hands away and flattened his tongue against her stomach just above her navel. Swirling it in wide circles, he eased down even lower where he slurped kisses mixed with heated flicks of his tongue. “Do you have any idea what I’m about to do to you?”
His gravely timber sent shockwaves pulsating across her throbbing clit.
She sucked air through her teeth and pinched at her nipples, for no other reason than to remind herself she wasn’t dreaming.
“Tell me.” Her breathing quickened, matching the accelerated beat of her heart.
Noah laughed with what sounded like devilish intent. He ran his hand up her inner thigh and playfully cupped her crotch, pressing in a little harder along the slit until the lacy fabric grazed her sensitive nub.
Mira shuddered and chewed her bottom lip. Her fingers found the swirls of dark hair atop his head and when he hiked up her skirt and began kissing her inner thigh, her instincts kicked in and she urged him on. “Oh, yeah.”
“You like that?” His hungry growl made her tremble even more.
Mira moaned then slipped her hand down the front of her panties.
Noah groaned. “That’s it.” He grasped the fabric of her thong at her hips and tugged them down, a little rougher than necessary, which only excited Mira more.
Her middle finger invaded her seam and she quaked as her fingernail nicked her swollen clit.
Noah’s hot breath spilled across the delicate skin of her folds, followed by a stiffened flick of his tongue, competing with her fingers for the job.
Mira relented and moved her hand away, surrendering herself to his will.
Noah suckled her pussy and playfully teased her clit with the tip of his tongue.
She could hardly remain standing as her knees weakened.
He cupped the back of her legs, gripping her right below her ass, spreading her cheeks as his fingertips playfully invaded her from behind.
Mira gasped as he sucked harder and nibbled her now burning nub. “Fuck meee.” It was more of a sigh than a command, but Noah must have taken it at face value, because he slid his fingers inside her slickened channel then plunged deeper.
“Wait.” Mira eased around to the sofa with Noah following her every move while still on his knees. She sat down and scooted forward, allowing her ass to hang off the edge. Mira spread her legs wide, inviting him to pleasure her properly. “Now.” Where in the hell did this confidence come from?
“You are so fucking hot.” He roughly gripped her thighs, leaned in, and kissed her.
Her own salty essence flooded her tongue and she sucked his harder.
Noah chuckled. “Naughty little vixen.”
Mira laughed. “I think you’re a little confused. I’m Prancer, not Vixen.”
He sucked her left nipple. “Trust me.
I know exactly who you are.” Noah nudged her back, settled between her legs, and spread her thighs even wider.
Mira looked down her body, past her plump curves, and watched intently as Noah’s mouth pleasured her. She splayed shaky fingers through his hair and encouraged him to suck harder.
He slid one finger inside her, then two, and pumped feverishly as he lapped away her cream. “So fucking sweet.”
Mira’s eyes rolled back. Overwhelmed by her climax, she bucked beneath his laboring mouth. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Electricity zapped across her skin and skittered up her spine.
Noah grunted and sucked wildly as she exploded in his mouth.
Her body jerked and her vision dimmed. This was not at all how she had expected her night to end.
Chapter Four
Noah held on to the meaty flesh of Mira’s thighs, his cock twitching inside his jeans. How had he gone so long without indulging in his attraction for the demure woman he’d worked with for so many years?
Had he known she was this amazing, he would have approached her so much sooner. Why hadn’t that day at Headquarters happened decades ago? Why now, when he brought so much baggage along with him?
He had to have her, not just like this, but completely. In every way possible.
Mira caressed the back of his head then gently pushed him away. She bunched her skirt tightly around her waist and wrapped her legs around him. “I want you inside me.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. Who knew she was this passionate, this confident? She’d hidden her wild side so well. And the way her fingers so greedily toyed with her pussy practically caused him to come the instant her hand dipped down the front of her panties.
Noah unfastened his jeans and slid them down along with his boxers. His cock bobbed up and down as he freed it and inched his way toward her.
Mira’s expression brightened and her brows jutted upward. Was she impressed? Most women were. Judging by the enthusiastic gleam in her eyes and the flare of her nostrils, she appeared to be quite pleased.
Noah lifted her ass then pushed her legs apart, revealing the plumped lips he’d suckled and devoured only moments ago. Her salty-sweet taste still lingered on his tongue. The thin patch of flaxen hair covering her mound glistened with her juices, likening it to honey, which was about as accurate a description as he could think of for this particular part of her body.
Donner and Prancer Page 2
