Conflict of Interest_A Mustang Prairie Romance

by N. D. Jackson

  Noel stood smiling at Shellie, happy to see that the protective wall she put up each time was taking a much needed break. “Well it smells amazing. You don’t get smells like this in New York unless they come from a candle.” He ran his fingers through his hair, hoping that he didn’t sound as foolish to her as he did to his own ears.

  “After a few months of this,” she said indicating the lavender, “a candle won’t get the job done. Trust me.” She looked into Noel’s emerald eyes for the first time since setting foot on her porch and Shellie felt her knees go weak. The intensity of his gaze had unlocked something primal, something sensual within her. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time and wasn’t sure she wanted to now. Her friendly demeanor quickly turned ice cold. “Did you need something?”

  Noel knew that Shellie said something to him. He could see her lips moving as she looked at him with confusion on her face. The problem was that he had been so focused on her lips and her playful gold and green and brown specked eyes that reminded him of autumn in New York, that he hadn’t really heard anything she said. Something about lavender and all fours was it, and he had begun thinking of how it would feel to have her down on all fours smelling like lavender body cream. The stirring in his pants could not be ignored but he didn’t want to scare her away. Again.

  “Earth to Noel,” Shellie said as she waved both her hands in front of his face. He had a goofy look on his face that, if she were another woman, could be construed as lust or hunger.

  Still unable to think clearly Noel remembered there was something in his hand and he held it up. “I brought you something,” he said woodenly.

  Shellie rolled her eyes, annoyed that he wouldn’t give up. “Look Noel, that really isn’t necessary.”

  “Of course it isn’t necessary Shellie, but I wanted to.” He smiled at her. “Take it.”

  She did love gifts and it had been a long time since a man had brought her anything other than condoms. But judging by the daytime outfit Noel was wearing she figured it would be something that was worth a lot of money but not a lot of sincerity or thought. Reluctantly Shellie held out her hand to take receipt of the bag hanging from his index and middle fingers. “Oh alright,” she turned towards her door. “You may as well come in since you’ve brought me a gift.”

  Finally thinking clearly again, well as clearly as was possible when Shellie was around, Noel followed closely behind her before she abruptly changed her mind about the invite. “Well I would love to see your face as you open the gift.”

  The skin all over Shellie’s body tingled as his warm breath washed over her. Why did he have to be so irresistible, she thought as she pressed her key into the door and turned the knob to enter. “Let’s make this quick, I have plans tonight.”

  Noel smiled at how she tried so hard to pretend she didn’t want him around. “Hot date tonight, Shellie?”

  She shook her head as she dropped her bag in the foyer and kicked off her shoes. “I’m not the hot date type of girl Noel.” Her shoulders sagged at the thought. “I’m just having a few friends over.”

  Not a hot date type of girl? Noel couldn’t believe what he just heard. Had she no idea that her pouty lips could reduce a man to a puddle? That her breasts were torn straight from the naughtiest of fantasies? And let’s not forget those freckles. Hell Noel hadn’t stopped thinking of her freckles since the day they met. He would make sure she knew exactly how hot of a date she was. “Are we not friends,” he questioned playfully as he followed her into the kitchen.

  “It’s a girl’s night, actually.”

  “Then I guess you’d better open these gifts while I watch.” He smiled at her with lust in his eyes. “I’ll just sit right here,” he said pointing to the navy blue plush chair at the kitchen table. Looking around he noticed all the chairs were mismatched jewel tones. Odd.

  Shellie plopped the bag down on the opposite end of the table and began pulling out its contents without much enthusiasm. When she finally surveyed the contents and recognized the electronic corkscrew her eyes lit up. “Thank you Noel, this was very sweet of you.” She graced him with a smile that spread across her entire face.

  He unfolded his legs and stood up with another bag in his hand. “That’s not all I have,” he dangled the other bag between them.

  Great, Shellie thought to herself, he’s going to try to buy his way into my bed. “What’s in there?”

  “You’ll just have to open it and find out.”

  Snatching the bag from his hand, Shellie gave yet another smile when she realized it was a bottle of her favorite wine. “How did you know?”

  “Know what?”

  Her smile was replaced by a scowl. “How did you know Sangiovese is my favorite wine, Noel?”

  Holding up his hands in surrender, Noel replied, “I didn’t until just now, I swear. But I love it and I figured it was the perfect accompaniment for this gift. That’s all.”

  Pleased with his answer, Shellie began to open the box to open the bottle. “Noel?”

  “I swear Shellie it was just a happy coincidence that we both love the same wine. Who knows what else we have in common.”

  With one hand on her hip Shellie glared up at him through her eyelashes. “No, I was going to ask what on earth this thing is,” she said holding up another sleek black box.

  He came closer, standing just inches from her and took the box from her hand, slowly grazing her with his fingers in the process. “This,” he said as he began to open the box, “is an aerator. It lets the wine breath so you don’t have to let it sit open before you drink up.”

  “Well let’s give my new toys a try, shall we?”

  Noel nodded, satisfied to see Shellie so relaxed and open to him again. For now.

  “My guests will start to arrive in an hour Noel so you have to be gone in 45 minutes. Deal?”

  He nodded. In 45 minutes a lot could happen.

  ##

  “Get some glasses, you know where they are,” she instructed Noel. “I need to change out of these clown clothes and I’ll be right back.”

  Shellie couldn’t believe she was not only allowing him to stay but that she was going to take off her clothes with Noel just a few feet on the other side of the door. She could tell he had something on his mind as she watched him from her car. He was talking to himself, looking around her yard and rearranging his clothes. She swore she saw him looking at her as though she were as beautiful as Alexis. It couldn’t be, she reminded herself. “Guys like Noel Hampton don’t go for women like me. At least not for more than a round or two in the sack.” It was truly unfortunate though because her body responded to him in ways it had never responded to Joshua or even Charlie.

  “Just because your body responds to him doesn’t mean you have to,” she chided herself as she checked her appearance one last time in the mirror. It was a casual night with the girls so she opted for a simple knee-length green silk tank dress. “Good enough,” she said to her reflection and walked back into the kitchen where she spotted Noel running his fingers through his hair again.

  “So is the wine aerated or whatever?”

  Noel turned away from the window at the sound of her voice. “Wow,” he said.

  Shellie felt the flush creep down her face to her neck and then her chest before continuing the path down to her toes. She tried to remind herself that all he wanted from her was sex, but it felt so nice to not just hear a compliment but to see the appreciation in a set of eyes. Especially Noel’s sensual gaze. “You probably say that to all the girls,” she said in an attempt to cut the tension.

  Noel walked over her as quickly as he could without running around her cramped kitchen. “Shellie wow, you look…beautiful.” He pulled out a chair for her, brushing her bare shoulders as he pushed her chair in and walked around to grab his glass. Looking as great as she did, he wanted to sit close enough to smell her unique scent and feel her heat.

  “So uh, what should we drink to?” The look in his eyes made her nervous because she
wasn’t sure she was strong enough if he acted on the look he was giving her.

  Noel lifted his glass high in the air. “To beautiful women, a sexy new landlord and great wine.”

  An embarrassed smile washed over her. “Cheers,” she mumbled before taking several large gulps from her glass. A little liquid courage was good in any situation, she reminded herself. She allowed the delicious wine to wash over her and warm her already overheated body and basked in the silence. Unsure what to say while he undressed her with his now dark green eyes.

  Noel never took his eyes off Shellie. When she blushed he noticed, when she got turned on by his gaze he really noticed and when that questioning look flashed in her eyes he noticed and worked quickly to diffuse it. “So Shellie tell me,” he began slowly to make sure he had her attention.

  “Tell you what?”

  Noel placed his free hand on her right shoulder before answering. “Tell me why you have been avoiding me.”

  She finished the glass and slid it over to Noel for a refill. “It’s not you Noel, really. It’s the inevitable conclusion to this whole thing you’re working up to.”

  He leaned in, “And what thing is that?”

  Is he going to make me spell it out, she thought with more than a little frustration. She sighed, figuring it was best to get it out of the way now rather than later when she had feelings for him. A week or two of cold showers and masturbating was more desirable than nursing a broken heart for any amount of time. “You know this thing where you pretend you’re into me until you meet someone more suitable for you and start avoiding me.” She gladly took the glass from him, careful this time to avoid touching him. “This way I save you the hassle of feeling bad, avoiding me and moving.” She hoped it sounded as upbeat as she intended.

  Noel shook his head. “You’ve got it all wrong Shellie.”

  “Do I?” She raised a questioning eyebrow.

  He leaned in so close that his lips brushed her earlobe as he spoke softly. “There’s no need to fake a cold shower if you’re not there to witness it.”

  A shudder passed over her body at the thought of him naked in the shower. She turned to face him and tell him that cold showers weren’t exactly proclamations of love but before she could get a word out Noel claimed her mouth with his own, giving soft nibbling kisses as first before progressing to harder more passionate kisses as she responded to him. Without prompting Shellie opened her mouth to his sweet tongue and explored his mouth, imagining what other places that mouth would be if she allowed it.

  She groaned when Noel tangled his fingers in her hair, leaning into him and caressing his well-built chest through his thin work shirt. “Noel,” she panted when his lips left hers. She hadn’t meant to say a thing but his name just rolled off her lips on its own. He smiled deviously and went back to her mouth for more of her sweet honey taste. “Your mouth tastes as good as it looks,” he said breathlessly running his hands up and down her back. “Come here,” he squeezed her round bottom and lifted her from her chair onto his lap in one fluid motion.

  Before Shellie could protest she found herself sitting on top of some genuine male hardness with just the thinnest of layers between her wetness and his throbbing heat. “But Noel,” she tried to protest to no avail. He simply moved his mouth to her neck, peppering it with kisses and soft bites that made her nipples stand on edge. “Mmmmm,” was all she could say to his gentle enticing touches. That sensual purr was all the encouragement Noel needed to kiss his way down her neck to her chest before stopping his warm lips at her tender breasts. He took one nipple between his teeth through her thin dress while his hand caressed the other. Arching her back to get more of herself into this mouth Shellie was wetter than she’d ever been. And he hasn’t even done anything to me yet, was running through her mind as he pulled down the straps of her dress to expose her breasts. Noel teased her breasts, kissing one then the other, biting one then the other, suckling one and then the other. Normally she hated that men paid so much attention to her breasts because they had never been an erogenous zone for her. But tonight, here with Noel at her kitchen table. Oh god, at my kitchen table, she cringed inwardly, damn that feels good. The more aroused she became by the nipple play, the more she began to grind her wetness into him and get closer to ultimate satisfaction.

  Noel could tell Shellie was close to coming. Her breathing was faster and she was grinding harder and faster, so much so he hoped he didn’t finish before he got inside the hot wetness he felt against him. He grabbed her soft mounds in each hand and pushed them together for simultaneous action. He knew she was seconds away from orgasm when he put both hardened buds into his mouth and alternated between suckling and biting. Sucking her with just a hint of teeth Noel felt Shellie’s body tense for a brief second before convulsing. Her soft orgasmic screams were the only sounds he could hear between his own heavy breathing.

  “Wow. Noel. That was…incredible. I’ve never…,” she trailed off, too embarrassed to finish the thought.

  “You mean you’ve never come just from having your beautiful tits sucked and bit and caressed?”

  She nodded, clearly seeing this time that his smile was not one of mocking but one of satisfaction.

  Noel stood up never removing his hands from her backside. He laid her gently down across the table. “Then let’s give you something you’re more accustomed to,” he licked his lips as he leaned to meet hers.

  Shellie placed her hands against his chest, “Noel I can’t, I have people,” she panted unable to concentrate with his impossible hardness pressing against her.

  “I know, you have people coming. But first, you come.” He hooked his forefingers into the waist of her underwear and slid them off. To his great surprise and pleasure, Shellie lifted her hips to help him get them off.

  Desperate for the rock hard erection shielded behind those clothes, Shellie decided since she was lying on her kitchen table without panties she may as well go for broke. “You. Have. Protection?”

  Noel shook his head, “It’s not time for that yet,” he smiled pleased to know that she was warming up to the idea of him. He started kissing her neck, slowly making his way down her womanly body.

  Shellie frowned, confused. If it wasn’t time for protection then what did he intend to do just now, leave her hot and panting and half naked so she’d touch herself and think of him all night? Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of one of her chairs falling over. “What are you, Oh!” She looked up to see only the top of his head between her thighs and threw her head back as waves of pleasure rushed through every inch of her body. “Oh Noel, my goodness!” The right words were impossible to find as she experienced a new kind of joy. The joy of a man willingly and without prompting giving her this kind of pleasure was greater than any she had ever known. She had to beg Joshua to do it and Charlie only ever did it for a few moments before sliding into her. But Noel had gone down there without prompting and the way his tongue gently lapped and massaged her most sensitive area, she knew he would be a fantastic lover.

  Noel was so aroused by her response to his mouth and tongue exploring her heat and moisture it was all he could do not to unzip and drive his stiffness straight into her damp heat. But this was about Shellie and the way she was bucking into him and holding his head, Noel knew she was enjoying herself too. He looked up at her, “Enjoying yourself?”

  She opened her eyes to see him licking two fingers, “don’t stop!” Damn that was hot!

  He smiled and dipped his wet fingers into her as he lapped at her lips slowly from top to bottom and back again. He continued this motion as he pulled his fingers in and out of her in a perfect rhythm. Blowing gently he opened her lips and flicked his tongue over her hardened center before taking it in his mouth. “Oh god! Oh shit! Oooooooh,” was all he heard as Shellie’s muscles squeezed his fingers and his mouth filled with her juices. He would never get sick of hearing the sweet sounds she made as she came.

  Still trembling from her second orgasm in a half ho
ur, Shellie relaxed as tiny aftershocks continued. She looked down again and could still only see the top of Noel’s head, but she could feel that he was still licking her softly and infrequently but enough that her body still shook in appreciation. “Noel.”

  The sound of his name rolling from her ecstasy drenched mouth broke the spell she had over him and he looked up. “Yes Shellie?”

  “That was spectacular,” she panted. “I mean truly magnificent.”

  “I’m happy to serve,” he said with a devilish grin.

  “Noel I’ve never come twice in a night before.” She knew she should be embarrassed to admit it, but she wasn’t.

  He stood up and took her hands to pull her up from the table. Leaning down he grabbed her back the back of the head and placed a passionate kiss full of need on her already swollen lips. “Next time,” he pulled up the straps of her dress, “let’s make it 3.”

  Shellie caught on to what he was saying through her lust filled haze. “Next time?”

  Noel pointed to a daisy clock on the wall. “Guests arrive in twenty minutes,” he sang.

  “Surely we can take care of you in that time,” she smiled into his mouth, taking a kiss for herself this time, enjoying her taste mingled with his.

  Noel shook his head and placed several short but explosive kisses on her mouth and neck. “Not tonight. I like to take my time and I promise it will be worth it.”

  Shellie groaned into him, “But—,”

  “No buts. Well maybe just one,” he said as he smacked her bottom and grabbed a handful. “But next time I promise. Three, maybe more,” he kissed her and made his way through the back door.

  “Maybe more,” Shellie breathlessly whispered to herself in disbelief.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  He said three times, no he said three times maybe more, Shellie reminded herself, still breathless and overheated from the orgasmic hour she’d spent with Noel. Still standing in front of the kitchen table with her dressed pulled down over her swollen breasts and her underwear lying in some hidden location, Shellie knew she should be getting ready for her guests but she just couldn’t. Wow Noel made that happen. Maybe he does like me, she was warming up to the idea then again she wouldn’t be the first woman to confuse sex for love. She scoffed aloud, “Who am I kidding? Guys like that never fall for women who look like me. This was all just a ploy to make sure I’m good and ready for next time.” Who are you kidding you were good and ready just a minute ago.