by Amelia Jade
If he pushed it, Angela knew she wouldn’t stop him. He could take her right then and there, as long as he held her up so her weakened knees didn’t collapse. Images of him bending her over the couch and ripping her clothes off flashed through her mind and she almost tried to tell him to do it, to make her his, to do whatever he wished to her.
But Noah stopped it. He set her down, his teeth nibbling gently on her bare earlobe before he whispered to her. “I’ll message you so we can get together again soon.”
Then the door opened and he was gone, disappearing into the night before she could come up with a witty reply. Or try to. Her current brain function was next to nothing.
“Okay,” she said weakly long after the door was closed.
That would be nice.
Still in a daze, she wandered back into the main room, bending over to collect Cooper and heading to the bedroom. A smile slowly spread across her face as she closed the bedroom door behind her.
She was going to have some good dreams tonight.
Chapter Ten
Noah
“See ya tomorrow,” he mumbled to Hector as they were relieved by Charles—that was the other senior guard’s name, he remembered now!—and headed off to do their own things.
“Yeah,” Hector said distantly and then walked straight out of the embassy.
Noah frowned. He was getting really tired of the way that they were treating him, though it was hard to blame them now that he knew what they must be thinking.
He’d come out of the evening at Angela’s with two distinct thoughts in his head. The first was that she was a phenomenal kisser and that he couldn’t wait to do it again. The way she’d simply met him and fallen into the kiss had been a pheromone in itself, drawing him in until it was almost too hard for Noah to pull away. He’d almost lost himself in the moment, his fingers a scant inch or two away from beginning to pull her clothes off.
She would have let him too, he knew. Angela had been ready to let him have her; he’d sensed it in her body and heard it in the moans and other noises she’d made as they kissed. The knowledge that she’d wanted him, and wanted him as badly as he did her, had almost tricked him into taking it. But he hadn’t. Not the first night. Maybe the next time they got together, if circumstances went that way he could allow their instincts to take over.
But the knowledge that she was an amazing kisser was the good part of what he’d taken away from the night. He’d also come to the realization that the fact that one of the three new guards was an Intelligence agent was going to be a bigger issue than he’d originally thought. Angela might be willing to believe him that he wasn’t, but that’s because she wasn’t involved in anything.
Hector, Gray, and Andrew couldn’t take that chance. Hell, they probably thought he was the agent, which hurt somewhat. All three of them were under suspicion until the agent could be identified. Which meant for Noah to be able to truly fit in with the others and begin to settle into a life here that he thought he might enjoy, he would have to find out who the spy was, and then expose them for all to know.
The idea of doing so left him a little queasy, however, and he couldn’t completely ignore the cause behind it. The hesitation he felt could all be boiled down to one thing in particular: What if there really is something big and bad going on here? Something that needs to be stopped. What if I do a disservice to everyone by revealing the agent?
Noah was in a pickle, and he didn’t quite know how to act. What should he do? Reveal the spy, or figure out if there was any truth behind the rumors? Neither option really appealed to him without knowing fully what was going on in Cloud Lake. It seemed more and more though that something was up, but he wasn’t sure if it was something to be concerned over or not.
An idea occurred to him, flitting unbidden into his mind. He didn’t need to do anything. All that was necessary was for him to know things. If Noah could figure out who the agent was, and also what it was they were trying to figure out, then he could make his own judgment call on whether to reveal that to the other side or not. It would all be in his hands, and he wouldn’t have to worry about a moral quandary of his own. At least, not until he had more information.
Okay, so do I figure out the spy, or the secret first?
The answer seemed logical. At the moment, nobody from Cloud Lake was going to share their secret with him. If he wanted to find out what was going on, it would have to be by accident or excellent sleuthing, neither of which he was ready for. So the spy then. That was easy. He had it narrowed down to two candidates. Either Braden or Chase was the spy.
And conveniently enough, all three of them were off for nearly twenty-four hours, a nice break from their routines.
It should prove easy enough to round them up for a beer to swap stories. There’s no way the spy will be able to say no to the possibility of picking up more information. Also there’s beer.
***
It was easy. The offer of communal beer was always a hard one to turn down, and neither Braden nor Chase put up much of an argument after he tracked them down. They went to one of the bars in town that served shifter beer and walked over to a table that appeared ready to deal with their size. The chairs were all made of solid metal and the table was an extra-thick slab of wood. They must get shifters here semi-often if they had an entire table set aside for their use.
Once they’d ordered beers and an extra large serving of nachos the swapping began.
“So I hear on your first night that you threw a guy through a door and then remodeled the outside of the building with his body?” Chase asked after they’d said cheers to each other.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Noah cursed. “Can that just be put to rest?”
“Wait, you actually did it?”
“Absolutely,” Braden said when Noah refused to answer. “Then he got chewed out big time for use of excessive force.”
“The guy was a dick anyway,” Noah said, looking up at the pair of them, gauging their reactions to his next line. “He was trying to jump Gray from behind with a metal pipe. If I hadn’t gotten involved he would have succeeded. Maybe I overreacted on dealing with him, but I wasn’t wrong to get involved in the first place, I know that much.”
His eyes flicked back and forth between them, watching for any sort of unordinary reaction when he mentioned Gray’s name. They both looked angry though, upset at the notion of one of their own ambushing another with a weapon that could cause serious damage, even to a shifter.
“Ah, that makes a bit more sense then,” Chase said, his laughter dissipating. “I hadn’t heard that part.”
“Well of course not,” Noah said with somewhat more acidity than intended. “It’s not as funny when you hear that part too.”
Chase inclined his head in a mixture of agreement and apology, and the trio all had another pull from their glasses.
“What do you guys think of this place anyway?” he asked, pressing them for some generic information, trying to see if he could pick up on anything. “We’ve been here almost a week now. Anything good?”
“Not really,” Chase said. “Charles is pretty dull. Nice guy, but we haven’t really done anything or had to respond to anything. Today is my first real day experiencing the town itself.”
Noah pursed his lips in understanding. They’d all been paired off with one of the senior guards. He and Hector, Braden with Gray, and Chase with Charles, learning the ways of Cloud Lake from them.
“Yeah, Hector took me to a few things at the start, but he’s sort of pulled back from me now,” he agreed, watching again for any reaction.
Again, nothing out of the ordinary.
“At least he did that,” Chase complained. “Charles has just taught me what I need to know, and that’s it. I don’t even see him outside of work hours. I don’t even know where he goes. He’s so private. I don’t even know his last name!”
They all shared in Chase’s pain for a moment before drowning it in beer. Noah was starting to get frustrated. What
had he thought, that a professionally-trained spy would just slip up on some basic questions and reveal himself to Noah? This was going to take work, he told himself, work and some time, or else nothing was going to come out.
“What about you?” he asked Braden.
“Not much, really. Gray has shown me to a few places, like this one, and we had one call, but once we showed up the guy calmed down and realized he’d fucked up. Was sent back to Cadia the next morning once he was sober. So I didn’t get to beat anyone up like you did.”
Noah glared at him but Braden just laughed. “I hear you’ve been having a fun time though?”
“What do you mean?” he asked cautiously.
“Something about a woman I hear?” Braden said slyly, winking at him.
“Oh, Angela?”
“OH, Angelaaaa is it?” Chase joked, chiming in. “She has a name now? Must be pretty special.”
Noah considered his answer here. He’d already revealed her name, which he shouldn’t have done. If he tried to clam up now, they’d needle him until he revealed even more than he was comfortable with. The trick was to give them enough to satisfy them, without actually revealing any important information. If one of them was the spy, he didn’t want them knowing any more about him and Angela than necessary.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “She could be, but we’ve only seen each other a couple of times. Before you ask, yes we kissed, but that’s all to this point.” He shrugged. “We’ll see if it goes anywhere I guess.”
By giving them the tidbit about kissing he would hopefully distract them from any other questions, such as how they met and the like, which he didn’t feel like answering.
“Kissing already? You playboy you!” Chase teased. “I’m surprised you haven’t slept with her yet.”
He grinned, adopting a bit of a swagger and trying to act like Angela was only someone he was interested in for sex. “I could have, and would have, but the first time things got hot and heavy I had to work in less than an hour. It was immensely frustrating.”
Noah kept the smile on his face, even though he hated himself for talking about Angela that way. She was so much more to him than just a body to have sex with. He liked her mind, her intellect and wit, and the love she showed for her child; it all spoke to him deeply, showing him someone he could spend every night with, not just one.
But it was in her best interest if they just assumed she was a plaything and let it drop. That would hopefully keep her safe from any prying eyes. In the future he’d do a better job of not revealing information to them. He was going to have to adapt, to play the spy’s game alongside them, and to play it better.
Speaking of Angela made him think of her, and he resolved to see her as soon as he could. He’d text her later and find out when he could come by next.
Hopefully it was soon. This had been a waste of his time, and he needed to rethink his strategy.
Chapter Eleven
Angela
She’d just finished putting Cooper down after his late-night feeding session and was gulping down a glass of deliciously cold apple juice when her phone buzzed.
Noah: Um, don’t freak out.
Her mind immediately started freaking out.
Angela: That’s like saying don’t think of a pink elephant. You immediately do what you’re told not to do. What am I not freaking out about even though I’m actually freaking out?
Noah: At this.
Her phone buzzed with his answer and a second later there was a gentle knock at the door.
She looked up in shock. He was here. Now. And she was…in a robe. Angela whirled to look behind her at the closet and her clothes. Then she looked at the phone and then back to the front door. There was no time to get changed. He was here. Now.
Pulling the robe tight around herself, she went and opened the door, knowing full well what she was likely getting herself into by doing so. It was just after midnight and he was knocking on her door. Memories of how she’d felt after he’d kissed her came bubbling up to the surface, eliciting reactions from her breasts and between her legs.
Oh, it had been so long.
Her hand reached out and paused on the lock. If she flicked it open, there was no turning back. She was opening herself up to him, and whatever else might happen when a sexy man showed up at her door while she was wearing nothing but a robe, her body furiously telling her that it had been nearly fifteen months since she’d last had sex, and that she deserved it after nine months of pregnancy, labor, and then five months of single-mom life.
The lock opened almost magically as she thought about it in those terms. Noah stood framed in the door, his blue eyes wide and focused on her. She couldn’t make out the color in the darkness, but she knew what they looked like. They were so vibrant they’d practically etched an image of themselves into her brain at this point. His muscles were flexed, his arms stiff with tension, and she could almost see the energy buzzing off of him.
“I didn’t think I was seeing you until tomorrow afternoon,” she said breathlessly.
“Me neither,” he replied huskily, his voice thick and deep. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
His eyes roamed freely over her body as he spoke, drawing shivers from her and hardening the tips of her breasts until she thought they might poke right through the thick robe.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, reaching out and pulling him inside, closing the door behind him to keep in the warmth. “Not anymore.”
“Are you positive?” he asked, his tone making it clear he didn’t want to ask it, but felt obligated to give her one last chance at backing out.
Her eyes roamed over the tight-fitting shirt and the way it strained to contain his muscles, exposing part of a tattoo that ran up the right bicep and disappeared underneath the shirt.
“Yeah, I’m positive,” she said, wishing she felt as confident as she sounded. It wasn’t a matter of whether she wanted it or not. That part was a no-brainer. But she still had to actually do it. Or him. Whatever. The fact was, what if she wasn’t good enough for him? What if he didn’t like being with her? Those questions rose up and swirled around her like a vortex.
Noah silenced those and more when he took one step toward her, slipped an arm around her waist, and lifted her up from the floor. Legs automatically wrapped around his waist and her hands grabbed the back of his head, both to hold her up and to pull his face to hers as they kissed.
It was just as good as the first time she remembered it. Heat blasted her as it rose from him in waves, and she gasped as the air became warm. Noah took that as a good sign and buried his face in her neck, his lips finding all the most sensitive spots along her skin, slipping over the bumps on her collarbone and then returning to her neck where his teeth sunk in, enough to cause a bit of pain but not break the skin. She shivered and arched her back, pressing her breasts toward him.
He used his free hand to slide under her robe and begin to massage and caress her breasts, his fingers sliding gently over her nipples with ease. The robe came loose and fell away as his arm forced it open wider, and her chest was suddenly bared.
A hungry growl escaped his mouth and he fastened his lips around the pointed ends of first one and then the other, drawing more sounds from her. God he was good. Not too rough, not too gentle, and never lingering in one area too long lest it get oversensitive. He kissed his way back up her sternum and found her mouth once more.
Suddenly they were on the floor, her back pressed into the area rug that was in front of the television. Noah spread her arms wide, taking the robe with it as he admired her body.
“You look damn good for just having given birth,” he rumbled, his eyes drinking in every inch of her exposed skin, leaving her feeling vulnerable and…alive.
There was no other way to describe it. Noah didn’t seem to care that she wasn’t slim and fit, that her frame had little in the way of curves to it, more of a square, blocky thing with some muscle on it. She was no weightlifter or even close, but i
t was just the way her body had always gone. Her breasts were there, they existed and she could get cleavage out of them. They weren’t particularly perky, but then again, they weren’t saggy either.
She’d never be a supermodel, but that didn’t seem to matter to Noah. His face was the most open book she’d ever read, and all she could see in it was arousal. The ripped shifter, who could have had any woman he desired, had eyes only for her, and those eyes liked what they saw. No, she decided as he slid between her legs, they loved what they saw.
Her. She was turning him on. The bulge in his pants was obvious even from this angle, and she couldn’t wait to rip his pants free and show him how turned on he made her.
His tongue made contact, and suddenly Angela decided that yes, yes she could in fact wait. That it wouldn’t be a hardship at all. His touch was soft and warm, moving slowly as he tasted her, getting her used to him. He looked up as he did, making all sorts of pleased noises. The fact that he wasn’t being silent, but instead showing how much fun he was having turned her on immensely. Suddenly Angela understood why guys liked it so much when girls moaned and such sucking them off. It was fucking hot. She grabbed his head and pulled him against her, signaling that she wanted it harder.
Noah obliged and she began to buck and moan as the pleasure built between her legs, the pressure growing and growing until she could take it no longer.
“Faster,” she panted. “I’m so close. Please.”
She half-expected him to tease her, to prolong her “suffering,” but he didn’t. His tongue sped up and pressed a little harder, touching her just the way she needed right then. Her climax came quickly and she shivered in pleasure, her body too overwhelmed to even spasm properly.
Angela whimpered and cried out as her brain and pleasure receptors were assaulted with wave after wave of her orgasm, but that was all she could do. Noah never slowed and she tried to close her legs to make him stop, but he didn’t. He kept going, with a lighter touch but still fast. Angela began to shake and suddenly she knew she was going to climax again.
