Crashing Down

by Cathryn Fox

  He grinned like he knew better. Like he was going to get what he wanted, one way or another.

  “Do you always get everything you want?” she asked. Catching her by surprise, something dark and dangerous moved over his face and he went eerily quiet. Her gut tightened, and she reached for him. “Noah?”

  He flinched but then the darkness disappeared as quickly as it had appeared; his playful side once again slipped back in place. “Yeah, I do,” he said, and before he disappeared to his own room, he leaned in and stole a quick good-night kiss, one that left her standing at her door in a quivering mess and wondering what it was about him that had her doing things that were so uncharacteristic for her.

  Chapter Five

  Kathryn sat at her desk, going over the print copy on the brochures and checking for grammar. Every time she lifted her arms to her keyboard they ached, a constant reminder of yesterday’s activities, of the kiss in the hot springs.

  With a long list of duties in front of her, things that needed to be done before the wedding on the weekend, she worked to get Noah off her mind. She read over her list, then jumped from her seat to grab a file from the cabinet. A noise outside her office door drew her attention as she sat back down. She glanced into the hallway in time to see Noah walk by, or rather, slide by. Unable to help herself she laughed and then clamped her hand over her mouth, thankful that Shannon wasn’t in the office to see her acting unprofessional.

  He slid by again, and even though it was risky and inappropriate, she grabbed her phone from her briefcase and sent a text.

  The moonwalk? Seriously, Noah?

  He slid by a third time, looking oh so pleased with himself, but then Donald walked up behind him, and Noah came to an abrupt stop. Looking like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Noah tugged on his work t-shirt and cast Kathryn a playful grin before giving his boss his full attention.

  They spoke for a few minutes, but from her distance Kathryn couldn’t hear the exchange. A few minutes later Noah disappeared, and she could only assume he was headed to Canyon Run for his shift. Donald looked into Shannon’s office, his brow furrowed like he was trying to figure out what was going on, but Kathryn smiled politely and busied herself with her work.

  The day seemed to drag on. Kathryn normally lost herself in her tasks, but tonight she was anxious to go to town with Amy. She was looking forward to picking up a few pairs of shorts and some t-shirts, clothing more suitable for after hour activities. For a brief moment she thought of her father and what he might say about these changes in her. Unease moved through her, and she suddenly found herself second-guessing her decision.

  When the clock finally hit quitting time, she went to her room, still unsure, but when Amy flung her door open, standing there in a cute thank top and frayed shorts, she knew her friend wouldn’t let her back out, even if she tried.

  “All set?” Amy asked.

  Kathryn drew a breath, let it out slowly, and before she could give it any more thought, before she let her doubts get to her, she blurted out, “Let’s go.”

  They didn’t bother to grab a bite at the buffet, since Amy wanted to take her to Grizzly’s, the hottest club in town, at least on the weekends. The shuttle to town was fairly quiet, and soon enough they found themselves sitting at the bar inside Grizzly’s. Kathryn was thrilled to see Trent was their bartender.

  “What brings you ladies in here tonight?” he asked, pushing his dreadlocks off his shoulder.

  “Two cold beers and two burgers,” Amy said, rubbing her stomach.

  Trent ran a cloth over the bar top. “You got it.”

  He disappeared to put in their order and Amy turned to Kathryn. “Now that we’re alone, tell me. How was the kiss?” Kathryn felt heat move into her cheeks, and Amy rolled her eyes. “That good, huh?”

  She nodded. “So what do you know about him?” Kathryn asked.

  Amy shrugged and smiled at Trent when he delivered the beer. “Not much really. He came here three years ago the same time I did. He’s a good guy, though.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Jared didn’t really get that black eye rafting.”

  “I kind of figured.”

  “He owned money to the wrong guys, and Noah bailed him out. Jared felt bad, because Noah had been saving forever.”

  “For what?”

  “He didn’t say, but I think it was for some part for his bike.”

  “The one that’s in pieces in the garage?

  “Yeah, I think. I think it belonged to a buddy of his. Someone he lost.”

  “J?” Kathryn asked.

  Amy crinkled her nose. “J?”

  “The tattoo on his arm.”

  Amy nodded. “Oh right. I don’t know, he doesn’t talk about it, but that would be my guess.”

  As she thought about that, Kathryn turned the conversation to Amy. “So you and Jared…?”

  Amy smiled. “Yeah, thanks for coming yesterday, it was fun.”

  “Are you dating now?”

  “More like we’re fucking.”

  Kathryn choked on her beer and as she gasped for breath, Amy patted her back and started talking nonstop about Jared, relaying almost every detail of their trip in the woods. Kathryn shifted uncomfortably, not used to hearing such intimate things—things that Amy clearly had no trouble sharing. A short while later, Trent brought their burgers.

  “What are you doing later?” he asked Kathryn.

  “I…just shopping.”

  “If you’re still in town after dark, stop by Union Street.” Kathryn recalled the graffiti on the brick walls lining Deerfield’s art district. “I’ll be hanging out with some of the guys.” He made a fist and jerked his fist back and forth, mimicking the shaking of a spray can. “Getting in to some trouble. I’ll introduce you around.”

  “Sound great.” She looked at Amy. “Do you think we’ll have time?”

  “Sure.”

  Trent left and they dug into their food, the conversation bouncing back and forth between Jared and Noah. Oddly enough, every time she thought of Noah, she felt her stomach swirl. They eventually talked about their degrees and she came to learn that Amy wanted to specialize in helping teens. They finished their burgers and headed outside. Amy practically skipped along the sidewalk, pulling Kathryn into one of the many shops lining the streets. She grabbed piles and piles of cute clothes and shoes and gave Kathryn an honest critique when she came from the change room. Amy was so kind, always complimentary, so unlike the girls she knew. Even though she was strongly opinionated and gave advice, she never seemed to judge, leaving all final decisions in Kathryn’s hands.

  The more time she spent with her the more she liked her and knew that someday she’d made a great psychologist. During their shopping trip, Amy even picked herself up a few new items.

  Deciding to leave on one of the cute pairs of shorts, they made their way down Main Street. Last stop on Amy’s list was a lingerie shop, and Kathryn felt a little out of her element. She looked over the pretty clothing, running her fingers along the lace fabric.

  “Oooh, Kat, look at this, you would look amazing in this.” Amy pulled a pretty, see-through nightgown off the rack, and held it against Kathryn’s body.

  “I...don’t know.”

  “Come on, don’t tell me you’ve never worn lingerie for a guy before.”

  “Well…you see…”

  “Oh, my God!” Amy said, her eyes widening as she flipped her hair from her shoulders. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize this until now.”

  “What?” she croaked out.

  Other than the two staff, who were talking amongst themselves, she and Amy were alone in the store, but Amy lowered her voice anyway. “You’re a virgin.”

  Embarrassment flooded Kathryn. “I…”

  Amy touched her arm, her face serious. “Are you saving yourself for someone?”

  “No, it’s not that.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Kathryn shrugg
ed and absently ran the lace material between her fingers. “I guess it just never happened.”

  “So you want it to?”

  “Well…yeah. I do. A lot.”

  Amy lifted her head high. “That settles it, then. You’ll sleep with Noah,” she announced matter-of-factly.

  “What? I don’t think…”

  “He’ll be perfect for your first guy. Believe me, you don’t want to end up with some bumbling idiot who has no idea what he’s doing.” Amy cringed, like she had firsthand experience on the matter. She threw the lingerie over her shoulder and dragged Kathryn through the store. “Come on, let’s pick out some nice things. You’ll put one on tonight, invite him to your room, and once he gets a look at you bam, pop goes the cherry.”

  After trying on nearly ten pretty outfits, Kathryn picked her three favorites, the three that made her feel feminine and sexy. The thought of wearing them in front of Noah, however, made her nervous, excited...nervous.

  Good God, did she really have it in her to slip into something so see through and blatantly invite him over to take her virginity?

  Bags in hand they made one more stop at Randall’s Market where Amy picked up some soda and candy. Night had fallen over Deerfield, and tomorrow was a workday, but Kathryn still wanted to go to the art district. They took a corner, and when she spotted Trent leaning against a street lamp, a few friends with him, they hurried along.

  “Hey, Kathryn,” he called out. “Come on over.” When she reached him, he introduced her to his electric group of friends. One of the girls, Jasmine, with numerous piercings through her nose was on break from design school in Toronto, and one of the guys, Sam, was a machinist, who did machinist art and sold it locally. She talked with them for a moment and made plans to visit Sam’s shop.

  She turned back to Trent and he gestured toward the wall. “It’s still a work in progress, but how do you like it?” he asked.

  She looked over his Wildstyle graffiti. It was complicated and stylized and, to the untrained eye, probably extremely hard to read. She looked at the arrows, spikes and curves in the lettering, tracing her finger along them. “Trent, it’s gorgeous.”

  “Gorgeous?” a familiar voice said from behind. “It looks like a big hot mess to me.”

  She turned to see Noah walking toward them, and the second their eyes met in the dark, heat arched between them. She gulped, sure that anyone within a fifty-mile radius could see the sparks, feel the heat they generated even from a distance.

  “That’s because you have no idea what you’re looking at,” she explained.

  He gave her a cocky grin and nodded. “No, I know what I’m looking at. A blob.”

  Beside her Amy ripped into her bag of candy, and it gave Kathryn a fun idea. She looked at the cans of spray paint on the ground, and then shot Trent a glance. “Do you mind?”

  “Be my guest.”

  “Perhaps I should draw something more on your level, Noah. Something you can identify with.”

  “Now this I can’t wait to see.” Noah leaned against the wall beside her and crossed his feet at the ankles.

  Even though it was difficult to concentrate with him so close, she set her shopping bags down and went to work. She switched colors and cans when she needed them, and after a few minutes she could hear Trent and his friends laughing, clearly onto what she was doing.

  When she was done, she turned to Noah and worked to keep the smile from her face. “This is what we call Appropriation, but you can call it an M&M.”

  Everyone laughed, including Kathryn, as Noah looked at the bag of candy Amy had just finished eating and then back at the wall.

  “I think you just been schooled, Noah,” Sam said. He patted Kathryn on the back. “Great work.”

  “An M&M?” He gave a slow shake of his head. “That says a lot about what you think of me,” he said, working to smother the grin that reached all the way to his eyes. “Nice, Kat. Real nice.” He laughed then, like he couldn’t hold it back any longer, but when a siren sounded in the distance, all humor disappeared from his face and everyone took off running. A patrol light lit up the end of the street.

  “Come on,” Noah said, grabbing her arm.

  Kathryn scooped up her bags and ran with him. They turned so many corners she had no idea where she was. He finally dragged her into an alleyway and pressed her against the wall. Breathing hard, he dipped his head and looked at her. “You okay?”

  She nodded, even though her insides were in a big knot.

  He scanned the alleyway, and then pushed against her. “That was fun, huh?”

  Her heart pounded against her ribcage and her hair flared around her face as she shook her head. “I’ve never run from the cops before.” She swallowed. Hard. “What if they caught me spray painting the wall?”

  He shrugged. “They didn’t.”

  A tremble moved through her. She let her head drop as she thought about getting in trouble with the law. It could have ruined everything for her. Why the hell had she picked up that can of spray paint in the first place?

  Because it was fun, some inner voice answered.

  “Hey,” Noah said, putting his fingers under her chin to lift it. “You’re pretty talented. You should paint more often.”

  “I’m never doing that again.”

  They heard a noise at the end of the alleyway, and when a light shone in, Noah dropped to the ground and pulled her on top of him. He put his mouth close to her ear and said, “Shh…”

  She stayed completely still on top of him, her heart racing so hard she thought it was going to pop from her chest. A few minutes later the light disappeared and Noah let out a breath.

  “That was a close one,” he said.

  “Too close,” she whispered.

  She shifted on top of him, and he groaned, his hands going to her back to hold her still. That’s when she felt something grow against her pelvis. Oh, God.

  Kathryn felt her own body grow needy as his cock thickened and pushed against her. “We…ah…we should probably move.”

  “Okay, he said, and rolled her on the ground until he was on top.

  “I didn’t mean like that,” she whispered, but it was getting harder and harder to think as his weight pressed down on her. Not because she was becoming oxygen deprived, but because she was hyper aware of the way he was looking at her mouth, of how much she wanted him to kiss her again.

  He slid his hand down her arm, brushing the outer edges of her breast. She quivered, his touch going right through her. Her breath grew shallow and she closed her eyes against the flood of heat pooling deep between her legs.

  “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

  Her lids flicked open, and when their gazes locked, it fueled the flames inside her. “I’m feeling a bit dizzy.”

  “Maybe you’re not getting enough air.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” she said.

  His grin turned wicked. “Maybe you need a little mouth to mouth again.”

  She didn’t get the chance to answer him, because the next thing she knew his mouth crashed down on hers. His cock swelled against her body as he shoved his knee between her legs to widen them.

  She moaned and it seemed to give him all the encouragement he was looking for. One hand went to her blouse, and he began popping the buttons. After he released the last one, he braced one palm on the ground beside her head and pushed himself up an inch. His nostrils flared as he looked at her cleavage, running his hand from her neck to her bellybutton. “Nice,” he said, then moved his mouth to her breast, kissing her hard nipple through her satin bra. The heat of his mouth burned her body, and she put her hands on his shoulders, needing in the most unfathomable way to touch him.

  He growled, and grabbed her hands, pressing them above her head like he didn’t want her touch.

  “Keep them there,” he ordered. Desperate to feel his body, she was about to protest, but he dropped a kiss onto her mouth, stealing her ability to think with any clarity. He slid down her body, and tugged on
her bra, freeing one breast. Even though the night air felt cool against her bare flesh, when he swiped his tongue over her nipple, her entire body went up in flames.

  Oh, God it felt so good.

  “You like that, baby?” he asked, but she was too far gone, too lost in the feel of his wet mouth wrapped around her hard bud to answer. As she arched into him, one hand slid up her thigh, and he rubbed her at the juncture between her legs. He growled and she could feel the tension rise in him. As sensations exploded inside her, it occurred to her that she never did things like this, but it thrilled her to see—feel—the effect she had on him.

  His breathing changed, became labored as his mouth moved downward, his lips brushing over her hot flesh. His kisses felt like fire on her skin, and she began burning up, no longer caring that she was in an alleyway, spread out on the hard ground while he ripped at her clothes. He buried his face in her bellybutton and made a slow pass with his tongue. Moisture grew between her legs, dampening her panties.

  “Noah,” she cried out, her throat going dry. “Oh, God, Noah.”

  He popped the button on her jeans, and the hiss of her zipper cut through the quiet of the alleyway. He pushed a hand inside her underwear and moaned, the heat of his mouth eliciting a shiver from deep within as he swiped his fingers over her clit.

  “Oh. My. God,” she cried out as a shudder overtook her body.

  He stroked her again, his fingers circling her clit, and her pussy tightened, rippled. Feeling lightheaded, feverish, she rocked her hips, wanting more.

  “That’s it, baby,” he murmured, his voice so deep she barely recognized it.

  Pleasure forked through her and her brain began buzzing, the world closing in on her. He stroked her again, applying more pressure, and the buzzing grew louder, more demanding, and that’s when she realized the sounds weren’t coming from inside her head.

  She froze, and Noah murmured, “Ignore it.”

  Some small coherent part of her brain reminded her that she’d just run from the cops, had left her friend to fend for herself while she made out with Noah in a dark alleyway. Amy didn’t deserve this from her, and she could very well be in trouble.