by A. M. Myers
“Did you break up with him?”
I roll my eyes and turn away from him, leaving the door open behind me ‘cause Lord knows he won’t leave, even if I asked him. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“Sure you don’t.” He laughs. The click of the door lock fills the space and I suck in a breath as I turn around to face him. There’s a hunger in his eyes that I remember all too well. It sets my body on fire despite all my inner objections and goose bumps race across my flesh.
“What are you doing?”
“You and I aren’t leaving this cabin until we work this out.” He motions between the two of us and I scoff, turning away from him.
Oh, hell.
If I’m locked in this house with him, I’ll never be able to resist.
“Just try and stop me from leaving, Noah.”
He closes the distance between us and I shiver when his breath hits the back of my neck. “What’s wrong, Kady baby? Afraid to be alone with me?”
“Not afraid,” I breathe, trying to ignore the knot of desire forming in my belly. “Just not interested.”
“You don’t sound as confident as you did a second ago,” he whispers in my ear and I barely hold back a shudder. He grabs my hips and pulls me back back into his body. “Stop pretending like you haven’t missed this.”
“Noah,” I sigh and he hums in my ear.
“Fuck, I missed hearing you say my name like that, baby.”
A feeling of comfort surrounds me and I curse myself as I lean back into him, soaking it up. “We can’t.”
“We can,” he murmurs, his lips brushing against my neck and I moan. It’s the thing that snaps the last thread of his restraint and he grabs my arm before spinning me around to face him. Gripping the back of my neck, he pulls my lips to his and we start moving. My back hits the living room wall and I moan again, arching against him as he slips his tongue into my mouth, ramping things up a notch. We’re frenzied as we kiss, grope at each other, and pull at the clothes between us.
“Jesus Christ,” he breathes in between kisses. “I fucking missed you, baby.”
Moaning, I tip my head back and push his head down to my neck, refusing to admit that for the past seven years, there’s been a permanent ache in my chest.
He lets out a growl as he pulls at my shirt. “Get this shit off.”
I reach out and pull his shirt up over his head as he does the same to mine and when they’re laying in a heap on the floor, my hands drop to the button of his jeans. I’m delirious with lust, deranged by my need for him, and nothing else in this moment matters. We can deal with everything else later. He takes a step back and shoves his jeans down his legs as I do the same. I stare at him, taking in everything that is so familiar to me and all the little things that are different as I wonder if he’s doing the same with me.
His cock juts out in front of him and he wraps his hand around the base as he closes the gap between us and wraps his other arm around my waist. My eyes flutter closed as our bodies mold to each other and his lips hover above mine, making me needy.
“You’re my drug, Kady,” he whispers, his voice strained. “My own personal brand of heroine.”
“Noah,” I moan, dragging my nails down the front of his chest and he growls. With one arm still secured around my waist, he drops his other hand between my legs and presses his fingers to my clit before circling them around the sensitive bundle of nerves. My eyes snap open and my mouth forms an “O” as pleasure races through me. Seven years may have passed since the last time I was in his arms but Noah knows me and my body just as well as he always did. Just when my release starts building, he stops. I make a noise of protest that makes him flash me that damn grin of his as he slips two fingers inside me.
“Fuuuuck,” he groans, his eyes practically rolling back in his head. “I knew you missed me, baby, but damn… you’re dripping.”
I ignore his comment, tilting my hips forward as he strokes that spot inside me and my entire body trembles. Throwing my hands up, I press them against the wall above my head and rock my hips in rhythm with his fingers and pressure builds in my belly.
“Oh, God,” I gasp. “Don’t stop.”
“Tell me you love me,” he demands and everything screeches to a halt. Opening my eyes, I meet his gaze and glare. Fuck him for thinking he can force the words out of me when I’m on the brink of an orgasm.
Bastard.
I push his hand away from me and ignore the ache of the loss as I lean in close and level him with a look that conveys all my anger. “No.”
“Have it your way, then,” he shoots back and before I can ask him what the hell that means, he spins me back around and plants my hands against the wall for me. Peeking over my shoulder, my muscles coil in anticipation as he steps up behind me and lines himself up with my entrance before meeting my gaze. “Say it.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“As you wish,” he snarls, his smile sinister as he grabs my hip with one hand and slams into me, stealing the air right from my lungs. I turn back to the wall, my fingers turning white. I press them harder against the drywall as I moan, my body stretching to accommodate him.
Fuck.
He feels so damn good and it’s like no time has passed at all.
“Tell me you love me,” he demands, placing one hand over mine on the wall and leaning over me as he finds a grueling pace that’s designed to wring every drop of pleasure from my body. I shake my head and glance at him over my shoulder as I grit my teeth.
“Go to hell.”
He groans, reaches around me to grab my breast, and squeezes. “Goddamn it. Why the hell does fighting with you turn me on so fucking much?”
Each word is punctuated with a thrust and I close my eyes as my head spins and I release a moan. It’s certainly not healthy but he’s not the only one that gets revved up by our arguments - which is probably why we liked fighting so damn much when we were together.
His grip on my hip tightens and he releases a low groan. He stills, breathing heavily behind me as his cock pulses and his orgasm spills inside me.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
Gritting my teeth, I stand up straight and as soon as he pulls out of me, I push off the wall and turn away from him. My pussy aches with need and I don’t give a single shit if it hurts his feelings. I’m going to go into my bedroom and break out a vibrator because at this point, I don’t have any other choice. My entire body hurts with my abandoned orgasm.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he growls, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to him. I open my mouth to start yelling at him when he bends down and picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“You didn’t really think I was done with you yet, did you?” he asks, smacking my ass hard as he starts off down the hallway to my bedroom. My pussy clenches as I fight back a smile.
Thank God.
Chapter Eleven
Kady
Wincing, I tiptoe into the kitchen and turn on the coffee maker before sitting down at the dining room table. There is a wicked ache between my thighs this morning but I don’t know if I can wipe this damn smile off my face. At least for now, anyway but it’s not like I can let Noah see. The smug bastard would never let me live it down. On top of that, we’re not back together or anything but there’s something to be said for whatever it is we have going on right now. Here, in the cabin, we’re in our own little bubble. I don’t have to worry about our relationship or the consequences of letting Noah back into my life. It’s simple - in the same way it was before he got arrested and everything else went to shit.
The coffee maker dings, signaling that my coffee is ready and I sigh as I stand up and walk over to it. Jack barks and I glance over my shoulder as Noah walks out of the bedroom in just his jeans. We lock eyes and his gaze falls down to where his t-shirt hits me mid-thigh before he grins.
“Woke up alone and thought I had imagined
last night,” he murmurs, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I lean back into him and shake my head.
“No, you didn’t.”
He groans as he presses his lips to my neck. “Have I told you how much I missed you?”
“Only every five minutes.”
“Mmm,” he hums, kissing my neck again. I shiver. “Well, why don’t we go back to the bedroom and I’ll tell you again a few more times?”
He presses his cock against my hip and I fight back a smile.
“I have to go to work.”
Shaking his head, he holds me tighter. “Call in sick.”
“No.”
“Careful, darlin’. You start in with the foreplay and I can’t be held liable for my actions.”
I laugh as I spin in his arms to face him. “How is me telling you “no” foreplay?”
“How is it not?” he asks as he leans down and buries his face in my chest. Giggling, I push him away and the smile on his face when he glances back up at me is breathtaking. Shit. I forgot the way he could completely disarm me with just a look. “I forgot what this felt like.”
“What?”
“Being happy. It’s been so long since I’ve had a reason to smile.”
My heart breaks for him as I place my hand on his cheek and loop my finger through one of his belt loops, pulling him close again. In all this time, I was only able to focus on my own pain and even though getting locked up was his own fault, I never took the time to consider how much he might be hurting.
“I’m sorry for never coming to see you.”
He studies me, his gaze full of questions. “Why didn’t you? Were you really that mad at me?”
“Shit,” I whisper, dropping my gaze to my feet as I realize my mistake. Emotion crashes over me, the same way it does each time I think about that time in my life and tears fill my eyes. I’ve been putting this conversation off but I suppose it’s time to get it out in the open. “If we’re going to have this conversation, I need coffee.”
Nodding, he releases me and gently shoves me toward the table. “Go sit down and I’ll bring it over.”
After plopping down in the chair, I turn and watch him as he prepares my coffee just the way I like it, my mind working through the story, trying to find the best way to frame it. There’s so much that happened and I’m honestly a little unsure of where to even start. My stomach flips with nerves as my hands shake. Besides relaying the story to Hannah, I’ve never spoken of this to anyone else and it feels like something is lodged in my throat. Like I’m going to open my mouth to speak my truth but no words will come out.
Noah joins me at the table, setting my mug of coffee down in front of me and sitting in the chair across from me. He looks nervous but also curious whereas I can barely manage to get the coffee mug to my lips my hands are shaking so badly.
“Just spit it out, Kady,” he orders. “That look on your face is killing me.”
I suck in a breath and nod, my gaze focused on the coffee in my mug as I wrap both of my hands around it, soaking up the warmth. “I never came to see you because I couldn’t.”
“What does that mean? It hurt too much? You were mad?”
“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. I take another deep breath and meet his eyes, my heart pounding madly in my chest. “At first, I physically couldn’t and after that, it wasn’t safe for me to see you.”
His brows shoot up as he searches my face. “What does that mean? Will you stop being so goddamn cryptic?”
I nod. “On the night you were arrested, I got off work at the diner and I was waiting outside for you to pick me up when a big, black SUV rolled up.”
His brows furrow and I release the mug to clasp my hands together in my lap, staring at them as I continue.
“Two men jumped out and grabbed me. I screamed so loud, praying that someone would hear me, but it was late and no one was there. They threw a bag over my head and shoved me into the car.”
“What?” he hisses, his muscles straining. Closing my eyes, images of that night fill my mind and fear claws at me the same way it did then. Glancing up at him, I swallow my fear and press on.
“They took me to a basement apartment and left me there. For two days, I was alone down there. It was fully furnished and there was food in the cupboards but all the doors and windows were locked from the outside and I could see two guards standing outside constantly through one of the windows.”
He scoots his chair around the corner of the table, the legs scratching against the floor, and it startles me as he pulls my hands into his. “What are you saying to me, Kady? Someone kidnapped you and held you hostage?”
“On the third day,” I say, ignoring his question as tears fill my eyes as I drop them to my lap again, sucking in a breath. “Someone came to see me. He told me that the apartment was my new home and that I was his now.”
“Who was it?” Noah asks, his voice deadly and I look up, meeting his green gaze. Tears slip down my cheeks and he reaches forward, wiping them away with a tenderness that surprises me based on the murderous look in his eyes.
“It was Oliver Ford… or as you know him, Biche.”
He falls back into the chair like I punched him as his eyes widen. Studying me, his entire body starts shaking and without warning, he slams his fist on the table and jumps up.
“Son of a bitch!” he roars, his voice booming off the walls of the cabin as he kicks the chair he was just sitting in, sending it flying across the room. A sob slips out of my lips. Whipping around, he drops to his knees next to my chair and pulls me off my seat and into his lap. “I’m so sorry, baby. So fucking sorry.”
Another sob overtakes me as I bury my head in his neck and he runs his fingers through my hair, trying to comfort me.
“I swear to God, I’ll make him pay for this.”
“There’s more,” I tell him through my tears and he pulls back just enough to cradle my face in his hands as he nods.
“Tell me.”
“He held me there for a year and he liked to talk… a lot. While I was there, he talked about how much he hated you for not only making him look bad in front of his father but for taking me from him.”
Pain splashes across his face, quickly followed by confusion and I can see him trying to work through everything I’ve told him.
“He held you for a year? Did he just let you go when the year was up or did you get away?”
I shake my head. “No. A week after I went missing, Bobby realized something was wrong and he went searching for me. It took him over eleven months to find where I was and get close enough to Biche to be assigned to my guard duty. There was this maid that came in to clean the apartment twice a week and whenever she did, a guard would always accompany her and watch over me. Bobby pretended like he didn’t know me the first couple of times so we didn’t arouse suspicion and then on the third time, he broke me out of there. After that, he brought me here.”
Bewildered, he shakes his head. “What do you mean I took you from him?”
“Apparently, we went to school with him. He said he was in love with me when you came along and stole me away. He always blamed you for taking what was his and when you started selling better than he did, he blamed you for stealing his father’s affection.”
“This is fucking insane,” he whispers, staring at the floor and I use the opportunity to slip out of his grasp and walk to the other side of the kitchen. Memories flood my mind, so many nights that I cried and prayed for rescue to come. More tears fill my eyes. “What else? Tell me what else he did to you.”
I back away from him as he stands and turns to me, demanding answers. “No, I can’t.”
“Kady, I need to know. He had you for a goddamn year and I need to know what happened to you down there. Did he…rape you?”
My skin goes cold and I back away from him, shaking my head. When he reaches out for me, I slip past him and head toward the bedroom, desperately needing an escape. It’s all too much and I can’t spend
anymore time talking about this today. Honestly, I’m surprised I was able to get through as much as I was. It’s so damn hard even thinking about what I went through for that year and talking about it all at once would break me, for sure. He has no idea the things I experienced while being held by Oliver and furthermore, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to allow this to continue. Oliver always told me that it would be a cold day in hell before he let Noah have me again and at this point, I know him well enough to know that he’ll live up to his word. If I allow Noah back into my life, one of us will get hurt, which is why I’ve been so reluctant to just pick up where we left off.
“Kady,” Noah calls after me, charging down the hallway and I stop in the bedroom and strip his t-shirt over my head before stepping into the bathroom. I flip the hot water on as the memories continue to bombard me and a soft sob bubbles out of me. Bracing my hands on the sink, I clamp one over my mouth and squeeze my eyes shut as I focus on my breathing in an effort to calm myself.
I can’t do this.
Not today.
“Kady, baby,” Noah whispers from behind me, his touch gentle on my hip before he wraps his arms around my waist and places a kiss on top of my head. He turns me in his arms so I’m facing him and as soon as my head is buried in his neck, it all comes out. Seven years of pain and longing pour out of me, the sound of the shower helping to mask my sobs and Noah just holds me close - letting me feel safe enough to let go for the first time since he got locked up.
“I didn’t know you’d been arrested until Bobby freed me,” I whisper and he pulls back to look at me.
“What?”
More tears fall down my cheeks as I think about how much Noah not coming for me hurt. “On the night I was taken, I was waiting for you to pick me up and I never knew that you’d been arrested or sent to jail. Every night, I looked out of the tiny window in the bedroom of the apartment and I prayed that you’d come for me.”
