Frozen Heat

16. Noah

“Doyou think that maybe we just need to tell your mom and my dad what’s going on between us? If we tell them, then we take away the threat this psychopath is trying to present,” I asked Jade. She had just finished telling me what her stalker left on our porch.

“That’s not even the biggest concern, Noah. Whoever this is knows where we live, who our parents are, how we’re related.” She shook her head. “Plus, if our parents find out, it won’t be long before it spreads. You can’t have a scandal just as you’re about to enter into the NHL.” She shrugged and locked eyes with me. She looked close to tears, and it made my heart clench. “I also would become the center of attention. Just starting this relationship with you, I’m really enjoying being in our little bubble for now. I know it’ll change, eventually, but this will ruin everything for both of us right now.”

“I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, but we need to make some sort of move,” I pointed out.

She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. “We need to figure out who this is before we can really do anything. I didn’t see any distinct features, but this isn’t a college kid. Which makes this harder.”

I sat thinking about that for a minute. Who the hell would be stalking a college girl when they were obviously older? It sounded just like her ex-boyfriend, but she had told me when this all started that her ex was still in jail and not slated for a parole hearing anytime soon. Suddenly an idea hit me. She had an uncle, Steve something or other. Obviously, he wasn’t her real uncle, as Gail had no siblings, but he was a family friend who had always been around as she was growing up. I had only met him a handful of times, but she told me that he had always been there.

“What about your uncle? Not that it might be him, but maybe he has noticed somebody hanging around or lurking near our parents? If he’s seen anything, that might help us figure some things out.”

She worried her lip with her teeth, and she wouldn”t look at me. “I don”t know if he”ll be much help,” she muttered.

I narrowed my eyes, zeroing in on her because she was acting weird. “What”s going on, J? And don”t try to tell me nothing.”

She sighed, rolled her eyes, then finally looked at me. “He doesn”t like you.”

I was a little taken aback by her response. “What the fuck? Why? I”ve been nothing but nice to him every time I”ve seen him, and I don”t think I”ve been around him enough for him to have a reason to dislike me.”

She looked at me with a knowing expression. “Even though I was oblivious to everything, he told me more than once ‘that boy doesn”t look at you the way a brother should.’” She fingered a strand of hair before letting it drop, then she grabbed my hand. “Plus, my mom adores you, but she told me I should stay away from guys like you. ‘Emotionally unavailable, an athlete, and a complete player.’ I think there”s a story there, like maybe my dad was that way. I don’t know.”

“Then don’t mention me. This is about if anyone has been around our parents,” I told her. I couldn’t believe her uncle didn’t like me. I wasn’t surprised about Gail because she was always judgmental.

“I’ll ask but don’t get your hopes up. We may need to come up with another plan. Maybe a way to find out who this person is. That would be greatly appreciated,” she said.

I had finally had my fill of talking about this crazy person and our parents who had no business in my mind when Jade was in front of me looking delicious and sleepy. I wanted to devour every inch of her. Maybe the wacko was still hanging around and would get it through their head when she fell apart from my hands and mouth.

I kneeled on the bed, pushing her to lie on her back. I continued to move forward with her and rested between her thighs. She laughed and threw her arms around my neck. She must have caught up to my mood because she pulled my lips to hers. I rolled over onto my back, pulling my shorts down and my shirt off as she straddled me. I realized she was bare under her sleep shirt, so I skated my hand beneath the hem of her shirt and down her thigh. My fingers slid through her wet slit, rubbing her clit. She bucked her hips into my hand, moaning, and let her head fall back on her shoulders. I wasn”t having that shit.

I gripped her hair in my other fist, pulling her head toward me. I kissed her lips then growled in her ear. ”Open those fucking eyes, sweetheart. You watch as I play with your pretty little pussy and make you come all over my fingers.”

She opened her eyes and those green orbs stared back at me. ”Noah,” she breathlessly groaned.

I would never get over the way my name sounded falling from her lips. I was so in love with everything about the girl straddling my lap right now. I thrust two fingers inside her, and her mouth opened in a silent gasp. Her breathing picked up, and I smiled as I let go of her hair and pulled her shirt off over her head, giving me access to her breasts. Rolling one of the buds between my fingers and licking the other, I continued to glide my fingers in and out of her, rubbing her clit with my thumb.

”That feels so good. Fuck.” She started bucking her hips faster, trying to chase my fingers, seeking out her orgasm. When her breath sped up and her legs started to shake, I knew she was close. I pulled the hardened tip of her nipple into my mouth and bit down on it. Her thighs tightened around me, and I felt her arousal gush out of her and onto my fingers. I used her blissed-out state to flip her onto her back, licking my fingers clean of her juices.

”Oh god, I want you inside me. Please.”

”I love to hear you beg, angel.”

She had gotten on birth control, so I thrust inside her and started a swift pace, knowing I could get her to come at least once more before I did. Jade”s hands slid up and down my sides, tracing my tattoos. She loved to touch and outline my ink, and it always gave me goosebumps. I gripped her chin and kissed her lips, our tongues sliding against one another. Her taste was still in my mouth, and I loved that she didn”t shy away from kissing me after I had devoured her pussy. It was one of my favorite things to do. We were even more perfectly matched than I had originally hoped when it came to sex.

I kissed her lips again before pulling away to kiss along her neck. ”You feel so good. Always so ready for me.”

”Shit, don”t stop doing that.”

I lifted her legs farther up onto my hips so that I could slip deeper into her, and I started rubbing her clit again. She groaned and whimpered with need. I could feel her walls start to flutter and clamp down on me, spasming and convulsing. She dug her nails into my back, her climax bringing on my own. I stilled and spilled my release inside her, my breath coming out ragged as my limbs started to feel boneless. When I pulled out of her, I collapsed to my side, pulling her to me, not wanting to separate our connection just yet. She settled against me, and we lay in silence until sleep claimed us.

The weekend passed without event,and now I knew the stalker had definitely waited until I wasn’t around to mess with Jade. Monday before class, I grabbed her as she was coming out of the shower. She had a towel wrapped around her, and I wanted to lick the water droplets trailing down her neck, taking in her taste with the liquid. I reined in my desires.

“Hey, J. I wanted to talk to you about something. It looks like for our game this weekend in Michigan, Ruby is planning on driving down there so she can watch us. I was wondering, since you and her are becoming friends, if maybe you could split gas and hotel costs and come with her.”

I tried to keep my tone and body language nonchalant. When in reality, I really wanted her to agree. I didn’t want to tell her why I was so desperate to get her away from the area for the weekend, but Jade was observant when it came to me since we started our relationship.

She moved past me and started getting dressed for bed, distracting me even further with all her skin showing. “Why are you so eager to get me to travel with you for your away games? This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed this. Do you think I can’t handle taking care of myself?” she asked, looking a little hurt by this thought.

I shook my head, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “I think that your stalker somehow knows when I will be out of town and waits for me to leave to continue their harassment of you. They went from texting you to showing up, knowing we had cameras. They are growing bolder. ”

She huffed a sigh, her hands on her hips. In her Nightmare Before Christmas pajamas, she looked just the right mix of innocent and edgy.

“This is just so messed up, Noah. I’m just a boring college student. Why is this person so set on me?”

I walked over to her, putting my hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up at me. “You are not boring. I was obsessed with you, so I can understand the fascination.” I smiled at her and gave her a chaste kiss. “Things like this don’t run on logic, but you are mine and I will fight this asshole with everything I have. We’ll figure it out, but I don’t want to chance something happening this weekend.”

“Okay, I”ll call Ruby and see if she is down for a girls road trip,” she agreed.

I expected a bigger fight from her, so I was a little surprised she agreed so easily. It must’ve meant she was taking this seriously. Whoever was behind this had only made idle threats so far, but we didn”t want them to progress into actively hurting her. It really made me worry about when we left to play in the NHL. That was why this needed to be figured out before then.

She put her palms against my cheeks, making me look at her. “Thank you, Noah. I know that when this all started, I didn’t really take it very seriously, but this weekend changed things. I saw them on camera. They left me a threat. I just don’t know what the threat is? To tell our parents or they will?”

I shrugged because I honestly didn’t know the answer, but I assumed the danger was bigger than that. I had no problem telling our parents we were together, but she was right when she brought up that it would change things, and not all for the better. Honestly, I needed these next few months to be about winning our team championship and keeping my nose clean before I transitioned into the NHL, but Jade was what I wanted for so long, and now that I had her, I had a decision to make. I just hoped it would have been later rather than sooner. I turned off the overhead light once she crawled into the bed. In the darkness of the room, the only illumination was on her face from her phone. She was typing something out, and I figured it was to ask Ruby about accompanying her to our game.

I slid into the bed next to her. When she finished what she was doing, she locked her phone, then I heard her set it on the nightstand next to her side of the bed. Even though the light from her cell was gone, I could still see her head propped on her hand, her body turned on the side facing me.

“Do you think it’s weird we are together?” she asked softly.

Knowing more about Jade now than I did when I obsessively pined after her, I knew she was asking for reassurance. Her ex had done a number on her and all she wanted was to be actually loved, not seen as a victim or playtoy.

“Is it weird? Maybe. But we never really grew up together, Jade. I wasn’t your big brother who protected you as a child or groomed you to trust and love me. Our parents met each other and fell in love, then when I saw you, I was attracted to you. Spending the very limited amount of time with you that I did just made me long for you, more than I ever had felt with anyone else. Then you moved in here and it just made that yearning deeper. You took care of me, along with Oli and Callum. You didn’t seem impressed with the fact I was a hockey player or give a fuck that a majority of the people would get in line to kiss my ass. I was just Noah, your annoying, overprotective stepbrother,” I confessed.

Shit like this I would never really admit to anyone but her and Oli. Being vulnerable wasn’t my thing. Jade brought to life a side of me that softened only for her. I still didn’t give a shit what people outside of my circle thought about me, and I had no desire to impress anyone. The talent that I worked my ass off for, the grades I had studied for, those both spoke for themselves, and while I needed them to obtain my goals, I did that for me more than anything else. I had things to prove to myself and no one else. If I couldn’t push and be persistent to reach my goals, then I really didn’t want them enough.

Jade smiled and leaned in to kiss my lips. “Luckily, I kinda have learned to embrace your kind of crazy, Noah. It comes attached to this really hot guy, who plays hockey like he was born with ice skates strapped to his feet, and when he kisses me, I kind of feel like I could touch the sun.”

It was really hard not to return her grin because she was simply sharing and being honest. She wasn’t trying to sweet-talk me or charm me. It was just who she was. I grunted halfheartedly.

“Meh, he”s all right,” I deadpanned.

Jade giggled, muffling the sound into my chest. She looked up at me then burrowed her head back into my chest and pulled her body closer to mine before closing her eyes. “My hotshot,” she murmured.

I was hers, one hundred percent.