Chapter Eight
Valli
I wake to the sound of the shower running.
I haven’t slept well since Cave has been gone, and it’s nice to have slept in, though both Cipher and Noa are no longer beside me.
Cipher never sleeps in, ever. He is always up at five, starting and finishing any island work early, and then he is on call the rest of the day.
Rolling out of bed, I decide to join whoever is in the shower, as I need to get my day started anyway. I have to convince Nixie to let me come back to work; doing nothing is driving me crazy, though I want to spend some time with Leni now that she’s here.
Testing the bathroom handle, I find it’s not locked, so I know it’s Noa. With a guest staying here, Cipher would lock the door, and so would Leni—so that leaves Noa, who has next to no concept of privacy or private space. And that also applies to himself.
I push the door open and steam billows out, then I step inside and lock the door behind myself. The screen is cloudy, and the silhouette of his naked body is outlined behind the glass. I watch as he washes himself, eventually pausing as he realizes someone is in the bathroom.
“If you’re here to tell me we are out of conditioner, I already know. It’s on the list already. I didn’t forget to add it this time.”
“I’m not here about the conditioner.”
“Shit, is breakfast ready? I thought we could take Leni out for food, so I wanted to shower first and then let her eat. I was hoping she would want to dig a hole with me today.”
I laugh. “Noa, I’m not sure Leni is the hole-digging type, but if you bring a chair, she will supervise. However, that is also not why I’m here.”
I strip off my clothes and wait.
“What’s wrong then? Shit, I have shampoo in my eyes.”
I chuckle. “Rub the glass and look for yourself.”
He makes a circle shape on the glass and peeks out. “Oh! Well, this is going to be a great day.”
I take a step closer, and his eyes follow my every move until he slides the shower screen open, and I step inside.
“To be clear, this isn’t just a shower, right?”
I snort. “Correct, this is not just a shower.”
“I just wanted to make sure, because Cipher told me last week I had the awareness of a golden retriever.”
That makes me laugh because that conversation was after he’d bumped into Cipher’s workbench. Noa had been excited to tell him something and had knocked all the parts on the bench out of order.
“You are my golden retriever, and I will take you how you come.”
He reaches out and grasps my hand, using it to pull me into his body. The warm water falls over my skin, and I gasp at the sudden heat. “Too hot?”
“No, it’s nice,” I reply as I tip my face up into the water and close my eyes. When I open them, I find Noa watching me. He reaches over and pushes my wet hair back from my face with both hands.
“You doing okay?” he asks.
“Better,” I say. “Right now, while I’m here with you, I am better.”
“That’s good. You know I would do anything for you, right? Like anything. I would dig a thousand holes or listen to Vero talk for an hour. I would even eat Cipher’s cooking, even after he poisoned me that one time.”
“He did not poison you.”
“I beg to differ . . . I was sick for two days.”
I chuckle. “He told me you ate three servings.”
“Because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. But the point I am trying to make is whatever you need, I’m always here.”
I put my hand flat against his chest, over his heart, his beat solid under my palm.
“I know you would.”
He kisses me, pulling me in with a hand on the small of my back.
The water runs warm around us, while the steam fills the small space, and just for a moment I stop thinking about everything else to focus on the man in front of me.
Noa gives everything he has to the people he loves, and that is what I love most about him.
He spins me so my back is to his front, then his lips find my neck, and he kisses along my jaw to below my ear. I tip my head, resting it back against his shoulder as his hand splays across my stomach.
“You smell so good.”
I chuckle. “We’re in the shower.”
“So? You still smell good.”
His hands move slowly across my skin, tracing lines down my sides and over my hips. I twist my body as I reach up to hold his shoulders, and he walks me backward until my skin meets the cool tiles.
“I need you to know something.”
“Noa . . .”
“I realize it’s terrible timing, but I have to get it out. You know me—I have to say what I’m thinking when I think it. You are the most remarkable person I have ever met in my life, and I have met so many people. I needed you to know that.”
Then he kisses me again before I can respond, his hands trailing down my hips to my inner thighs, and I inhale sharply as my fingers tighten on his shoulders. Then he inches them up slowly, agonizingly so, and I tremble under his touch, needing more.
“Please,” I beg.
His hands move back up to my hips, and when he lifts me, I wrap my legs around him.
“Look at me.” He pushes forward slightly as my eyes meet his, and his cock slides inside me, filling me. “Fuck, Valli.”
He moves slowly, his forehead against mine, our eyes locked, while he whispers things between thrusts, like “I’ve got you,” and “You feel incredible.”
I pull him closer, and he groans as his pace shifts deeper and faster, pressing my back harder against the tiles, his fingers digging further into my skin.
“You’re incredible,” he murmurs against my neck. I lose the ability to form coherent words, so I moan. “You don’t have to say anything back.”
Tension builds with the exquisite way he feels inside me, how our bodies move together, and from the sound of his voice every time he says my name. My orgasm hits me fast, with Noa following quickly behind, his eyes closing as he comes.
He pulls back after we ride out the waves of pleasure, a smile on his lips. “Now that is the best way to start a day.”
“I agree.”
Noa turns the water off, and we get out and dry ourselves. He steals the good towel, and I let him. We get dressed and come out of the room to find Cipher at his workbench, bent over the music box with a small tool.
“Good shower?” he says without looking up.
“Best shower ever,” Noa says, and Cipher smirks.
“I bet. There is coffee if you want it.”
Noa beelines for the coffeepot, and I look around the shed, but don’t see Leni. Noa and Cipher cleared out the storage room and converted it into a guest room. It’s not huge, but it really looks good.
“Is Leni still asleep?”
Cipher looks up and glances at Leni’s door, then back to me. “No,” he says. “Khodi came by around seven, I think.”
“And she went with him?”
Cipher nods. “She did. He asked her to breakfast.”
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” I reply honestly, and Noa laughs.
“Khodi will look after her,” he says.
“That isn’t what I don’t like. I know what goes on around here.”
No one can respond before Nixie waltzes through the door.
“Morning, I come bearing news.” We all wait in silence as my stomach twists into knots.
“The extension request was denied. The judge rejected the facility’s filing this morning, so only the original thirty-day hold stands.
That is unless they can produce sufficient additional evidence. ”
“And can they produce it?” I ask.
“Vincent doesn’t believe so. Cave has been compliant and has not had any incidents over the last week. Seth’s session notes are also in our favor. It doesn’t mean he will come home tomorrow, but it means the window is closing on their end and opening on ours.”
We should be happy about that news, but it’s hard to feel that way when Cave is stuck in that place, especially when he doesn’t need to be.
“He is coming home on schedule. Vincent has more paperwork to file today, and although it’s nothing he can share with us yet, let’s all hope for the best.”
Noa moves closer and wraps his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head and squeezing me tight. I look at Nixie, who is still watching me.
“Thank you for everything you’re doing to get him back.”
She holds my gaze for a moment. “He is mine too. I would go to war for him, for all of you.”
Nixie is a mother figure to a lot of the staff here. I see it every day when she checks in with those who need her and makes sure everyone has what they need. Nixie nods once and leaves.
The shed is quiet for a moment. Noa still has an arm around me and I lean into him, then Cipher puts down the tool in his hand.
“Right,” Noa says. “Who wants breakfast? And not shed breakfast, I’m thinking Rue’s eggs. We eat and pretend everything is fine, even just for a few minutes.”
“Give me ten minutes to clean up,” Cipher says.
“Okay. Are you in, Valli?”
I nod. “Sounds good. It gives me a chance to check on my sister. You will need a jacket—it’s cold outside.”
Noa grins and goes to find his jacket, while I look around the shed, wondering when it started to feel like home.
It’s not the house I grew up in and spent years trying to hold together while my life fell apart around me.
I may have ended up here by accident, but now I cannot imagine being anywhere else.
Cave may not be here, but he knows we are waiting for him to come home and that we’re doing everything we can.
With a deep breath, I pull my jacket off the hook by the door and wait for my men to be ready.