Chapter 23
“Milo!” Nolan yelled, trying to project his voice through the wind and rain. “Are you okay?”
He waited, hoping his friend wasn’t hurt. “I’m okay!” Milo’s voice cut through all the other sounds, and Nolan breathed for the first time since the tree fell down in front of him.
Nolan looked around the tree, but it extended from one end to the other, blocking not only the street, but the sidewalk as well.
“I can’t get to you!” Nolan called out to him.
“I’m going to tie the raft off. Give me a second, and I’ll meet you over there.”
Rain pelted Nolan in the face, and he bent his head to avoid the sting. He slipped his phone out to text Isla that he was okay, but he had zero service.
A few minutes later, Milo hopped over the Peterson fence and met Nolan with a hug. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Nolan slapped a hand on his back and held him tight. “Me too. I thought I lost you there for a second.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Let’s get in the truck and get the hell out of here.” Nolan nodded toward the truck.
“Slight problem,” Milo said. The wind tossed his chestnut hair around and rain dripped down his face.
“What’s that?”
“I wanted to make sure you were here first before I took anyone else on the raft.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The water is rising faster than you can imagine. I went by two houses that the water is already halfway up their front door. They saw me going by and asked for help. I told them I’d go back for them.”
Nolan ran his hands through his wet hair. While he wanted to get back to Isla, he couldn’t leave anyone in danger. “Are you sure the raft will make it? Maybe we should wait for the winds to die down.”
“According to the Weather Channel, they’re not going to die down anytime soon. We have an hour before the eye of the storm makes landfall. By then we’re screwed. It’s now or never.”
“How many people?”
“Two. Summer Renters. I’ve never seen them before. They have a dog.”
“You better go. You’re running out of time.”
Milo nodded and took off, disappearing behind the tree, and leaving Nolan to wonder when he’d see him again.
***
Another hour had passed, and Isla’s nerves were shot. She tried calling Harper to see if she heard anything, but she had no cell service. One of the towers must’ve gone out.
She thought about going to the fridge and drinking whatever alcohol she could find, but what good was she, if she was drunk. What if Nolan needed help? Somehow, he was able to contact her and he was stranded, and she needed to rescue him?
She imagined the truck slammed into a tree, Nolan slumped over the steering wheel, blood dripping from his eyebrow as he made one final attempt to call her.
Her heart stopped at the thought.
She couldn’t just leave him out there. She needed to go find him. She grabbed her keys and bag, and with a deep breath, headed out into the storm.
As she made her way to the driveway, bright headlights illuminated the night, and the Bronco came to a stop behind her car.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” Nolan yelled over the pounding wind as he stepped from the Bronco.
Her heart started to work again, and tears of relief licked the backs of her eyes. He was saturated from head to toe, but he was alive. Her lips curved as he got closer, and she could see the blues of his eyes. “I was going to look for you.”
“The hell you are. Are you out of your damn mind?” The tone of his voice was more menacing than the storm. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there?”
Any nerve she had left snapped. “I was scared! I was scared you were hurt and that you… that you needed me. I couldn’t just sit here waiting and wasting time. I’d never be able to forgive myself.” The pent-up emotion that she’d suppressed finally pushed its way to the surface. Tears pooled in her eyes, and Nolan’s hand cupped her cheek.
She closed her eyes, relishing in the warmth of his touch, and the fact that he was there with her, safe and sound.
“I’m okay,” he said as if he knew she needed the reassurance. “Milo’s okay, too.” He urged her face up to his. “Look at me.”
The wind howled around them; the trees swayed violently, but none of that mattered. She blinked up at him, looking right into his blue eyes.
“I’m right here.” His head dipped, and he captured her lips in a penetrating kiss. Water dripped down her face, her hair whipped around them with the relentless winds, but their lips melded together like they were one. His hands drifted down her back, settling on her hips.
She jumped up, wrapping her legs around him. He grabbed her ass, holding her close as he made his way to the house. Rain smacked her cheek, and the wind fought them, but nothing would tear them apart.
He stumbled through the door, slamming it shut, and pressing her back against the warm wood. His hands slipped beneath her shirt, hooking the hem and peeling the wet material from her body.
Their lips parted momentarily to rid the shirt from between them, but then they came together again in an erotic dance of give and take. His hands ran up and down her arms and he kissed her shoulder. “You’re cold. You’re covered in goosebumps.”
She shook her head. “Not cold. Not in your arms. Never.” She urged his chin up with her finger and smashed her mouth to his, taking control. She parted her lips, thrusting her tongue along the narrow divide. Nolan met her with the same fiery passion, thrusting his tongue against hers in relentless strokes.
He kissed her cheek, her neck and shoulder. His hand cupped her breast, and she whimpered for him to touch her more intimately. He didn’t disappoint, rubbing his thumb across her nipple until it was a greedy bead that craved even more attention. He pinched the sensitive bud between his thumb and forefinger, and she cried out as pleasure shot through her.
He bent his head, taking the hardened flesh between his teeth, before swiping his tongue in loving strokes that had her screaming out for more. She knotted her fingers in his damp hair, holding him close and pulling tight when the pleasure became too much.
He moved his mouth up her breast, kissing and licking as he went. He stopped at the crook of her neck, suckling the sensitive skin before placing a chaste kiss on her shoulder. His lips came back to hers, and she melted into the soft flesh.
It had been so long, but she and Nolan didn’t skip a beat. They moved as one, giving pleasure and taking it. He had ruined her for every other guy, and now he was nailing the final nail into the coffin. She was his mind, body and soul, and whether he stayed or was gone tomorrow, that simple fact would never change. She’d given him her heart long ago, and she never got it back. That hole had festered, but it was slowly closing with each stroke of his tongue, feel of his hand on her body, and each chaste kiss in between.
Isla grabbed his shirt and yanked on the soaking wet cotton. Nolan held her against the wall with his hips as he helped her rid himself of the barrier between them.
Isla gasped. “Your arm.” She pointed at the four red scratches that marred his skin.
“It’s nothing. Just a terrified Jack Russell Terrier that Milo and I helped rescue.”
Her kiss-swollen lips curved up. “You rescued a dog?”
“Does that turn you on?”
“You have no idea.”
He tossed his shirt to the floor and their bodies came together, flesh on flesh. His finger snapped her bra, peeling the straps down her arms and tossing it on the floor as well.
He grabbed her face, pinning her against the wall, kissing her with a renewed vigor that took her breath away.
“Bedroom,” she said against his ear. She nipped his earlobe, and he let out a growl that egged her on. She nipped it again, then dragged her tongue up the curve of his ear. “Bedroom,” she said again. It had been three years since she had sex and while she wasn’t opposed to him taking her hard and fast against the door, she wanted to be in bed with him, taking their time to rediscover one another. Reintroducing themselves to the familiar curves of their bodies and learning of the new.
His fingers dug into her ass, and she tightened her hold around his neck as he made his way toward the bedroom. Desire dipped and swirled, and she captured his lips once again, absorbing every hard brush of his mouth against hers.
He bent down, lying her on the bed and climbing on top of her. Water dripped from his hair, landing on her cheek. He wiped it away and kissed her softly first on the lips then her chin, down her neck and over her breasts. He continued his journey, kissing her stomach until he came to a stop at the band of her shorts. He undid the button and slid them over her legs, discarding them to the floor. His lips pressed against her inner thigh, and desire and need twirled together.
“So beautiful,” he said, lifting his head as he hooked his fingers into her panties and slipped them off of her.
His eyes met hers right before he dipped his head and touched his tongue to the swollen bundle of nerves. Her hands slammed into the mattress as electricity shot through her body and reverberated from head to toe. His tongue swiped lovingly, and she was lost to the ecstasy.
It had been three years since she’d been loved and her body worshipped. No toy could duplicate the things that Nolan could do to her body. She absorbed every blissful second, savoring every mind-numbing touch of his tongue and his hands.
Her body jolted as the pleasure became too much. She could feel herself riding the crest toward the shore, but she wasn’t ready to crash, not without Nolan. She reached down, cupping his cheeks and pulling him up to her. He came willingly, capturing her mouth with his skillful lips.
“Three years has been long enough,” she said. “I need you before I go insane.”
“I’m already there.” He nipped her lip then devoured her. She groaned as pain mixed with pleasure. He pulled away, and she whimpered.
“You never did have any patience,” he said.
“Nope, now get back here.”
“One second. He went to his dresser and grabbed a box of condoms. He came to the bed, stepped out of his pants, and Isla took a second to admire the beauty that was Nolan Parker. It was a view she’d missed.
He tossed the condoms on the bed beside her and came down on top of her. Hot, steamy anticipation coursed through her. She cupped his face, bringing his mouth to hers. She kissed him like her life depended on it, letting three years of regret flow through her.
The hard press of his length against her sex had her desperate to feel him inside her. She reached down, stroking him from root to tip. She rubbed the head of his cock against her slick folds, and he moaned. “My impatience is kicking in.”
He kissed her hard, then slipped a condom on. He positioned himself, eyes locking as he pushed into her. She cried out as he filled her completely. Her eyes rolled back and slipped shut as the pleasure slammed into her.
The love she had for him that she had shoved down, rose to the surface, and unable to keep it to herself, she pulled his lips to hers. She kissed him, letting her love show, refusing to shove it down any longer. She didn’t care if he knew; she was sick of hiding from the truth.
Nolan Parker was the only man she ever loved. Her heart hadn’t only been broken — it had been split. When he left, he took half of it with him, and now, it was finally full again.
Her body shook as the pressure built. She clung to him, digging her fingers into the strong muscles of his shoulders as he pumped into her with delicious strokes.
His eyes met hers, and she held his gaze, refusing to look away. Not again. Not ever.
“You feel too good. I don’t know how long I can go.”
“I’ll follow you no matter what.”
His finger slipped between them, finding her swollen bud. He rubbed earth shattering circles, and her body bucked with the intensity. His thrusts slowed to a torturous pace.
“Please,” she begged. “Don’t hold back.”
He grunted as he slammed into her. Her muscles tightened around him, and his name fell effortlessly from her lips as they both rode the wave and crashed into heavenly bliss together.