Chapter Twenty-Five
EVERLY
I must’ve looked pathetic and small sitting against the wall watching Noah thrash and twist in the bed we’d been sharing.
We’d hadn’t been in the house for more than a few days.
There wasn’t much beyond the two beds and the dining table downstairs, since he hadn’t had much time to shop, and I wanted nothing to do with the things in my cottage.
Hearing the anguish and distress in his voice as he moaned at something I couldn’t see, I wanted to go to him more than anything. To take away whatever had him that terrified.
Only one thing had stopped me. I promised him that I would get to safety.
If I did try and wake him, there was a chance that he would hurt me.
Not only that, if he couldn’t trust me to take care of myself, he would never fall asleep next to me again.
I needed to assure him that he was free to suffer through his nightmares alone. Comfort would need to wait.
I hugged my arms around my legs, holding my knees to my chest. In nothing but a T-shirt of Noah’s, I tucked the hem under my butt.
My bare toes curled to the wooden floor.
Finding my sleep shorts would have been a good idea, but I didn’t want to do anything that would scare Noah more.
Whatever was happening in his mind had to be terrifying.
No doubt it had to do with the fact that he and his team would be leaving on a mission in a few hours.
We’d had at least a dozen conversations about it over the last week. It wasn’t the mission that scared him. The idea of leaving me alone terrified the hell out of him. It was part of the reason I agreed to stay with Jake and Cassie while he was away. Although, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea.
If I was in danger, I would be taking it to their door and that didn’t sit right with me.
Little Daisy was in danger too. Even with that argument, I was still out voted three to one.
Even if she could talk, I doubted Daisy would have agreed with me.
I suspect that she would have agreed with the person who provided the food.
And then my protection and transport arrangements were divided up without my input.
Sky was happy since it meant she would be going to and from school with Aidan since Jared was away and both kids needed to get to school.
That was a whole other situation to deal with, I was almost sure the crush was mutual.
It seemed they were both oblivious and I wanted to keep it that way.
She was too young to have a boyfriend, and something told me that was inevitable.
Once they caught a clue and understood their feelings were mutual.
Noah jerked and sat straight up on the bed. His wide eyes darted around the room until they met mine. “I’m sorry.”
My heart broke at his apology. I stood and walked over to the bed.
“Is it over?”
He dragged a hand over his face. “Yeah. I’m awake.”
I let out a long breath. My shoulders relaxed and my jaw unclenched. I got onto the bed and straddled him. I pulled him close and just held him. His head rested against my chest, and he took a few deep breaths.
“You want to talk about it?”
He shook his head. “Not really, and it wasn’t much different from usual except while I was being held captive, someone had you too. I couldn’t get to you, Ev.”
My arms wrapped even tighter around him. “Sshh. I’m here in your arms and I’m safe. I will do whatever you tell me to do to keep myself that way.”
That was the reassurance he needed. I was safe and I would continue to do so.
He buried his head into my breasts, obviously finding comfort there. I wasn’t sure what it said about it either of us that I liked the idea that he found comfort in me.
“I was held captive for over a month.” There was a pause, but it was not the time to ask questions.
Instead, I waited until he was ready to speak again.
“We were ambushed and captured. None of my teammates survived. Two died in the explosion when we were taken. The other three died while in captivity. Two had such severe injuries that they never even made it to the torture table, the other was killed in front of me. They never meant to kill him though. They wanted me to talk, and they believed the best way to accomplish that was to let me watch him being tortured. It may have worked if they carried on for much longer. But they overdid it and instead of merely injuring him, they killed him.”
There was a long pause as I held my strong man in my arms. The fact that there were assholes out there who had hurt him to the degree that they still visited him in his nightmares made me understand why he took the situation with my stalker so personally.
I wanted nothing more than to find the men who hurt him and tear them apart, limb from limb.
That, of course, was never going to happen. Instead, I focused on the man in front of me.
I lifted his face and looked directly into those soulful eyes. “You, Noah Moore, are the strongest man I know. What those assholes did was meant to break you, but you were stronger than them.”
“I don’t think you heard me, babe.” His hands moved over my thighs, and he frowned up at me. “I nearly cracked.”
I brushed my lips against his, sending sparks through my body. “Nearly, Noah. It's not the same thing. Their overenthusiasm was their weakness. That was all you needed. To be stronger than their weakest link. And you were.”
He swallowed hard, and I watched as he convinced himself that what I said was the truth. “Thank you”
Inhaling deep, I nodded. It was time I was honest with him as well. “I need to tell you something.”
He frowned up at me. “I’m listening.”
That little scowl was adorable. I’m sure it intimidated men way bigger than me, but I could never be scared in Noah’s presence.
I swallowed before I confessed my one secret. “I never told anyone why I left the music industry.”
“Because you wanted to raise Sky away from the limelight. You already told me that, babe.”
I pushed a little away from him so I could look at him. He still managed to hold on to me, his hand moving up and down my ribs.
“Not exactly. I left because you didn’t want to raise your children in that environment.”
“What?”
“I figured you wouldn’t be around to make decisions about her life, so I should at least honor the one you shared with me.”
He never said anything, but emotion swirled in those eyes.
One hand continued to move up my body. His other hand threaded through my hair as we deepened our kiss.
I didn’t let go of his face as I moved my hands into his hair.
The tongue tangling and hair tugging was enough to get me all worked up.
The kiss wasn’t just hot. It was everything.
Both of us had poured all that remained unsaid between us into that kiss.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have the feelings, I just wasn’t ready to say the words.
Noah pulled away enough to move his hand and pull his T-shirt over my head. “You, in my shirt and nothing else, is still the biggest turn on.”
Instead of answering him I moved my lips to his neck, slowly I moved my way down over his collarbone, his chest, and finally torso.
“Ev, you don’t need to.”
I snorted as I looked at him. “I am aware. I want to. It's been a long time since I’ve done this.”
Yeah, I had given one or two blowjobs over the years, but that was more of a returning the favor kind of thing rather than because I actually wanted to. “Lie back.”
Noah did as I suggested resting on his elbows as I slowly made my way down his body before I freed his cock.
Taking him in my hand I stroked him slowly watching his eyes snap shut. “Fuuuuck”
“Nah-ah. Eyes on me Mr. Moore.” His eyes opened and, if it was at all possible, he hardened even more in my hand. I echoed the words he had used on me. “I want you to watch me bring you pleasure.”
My tongue swirled around the head of his cock, lick up the precum that had formed.
His musky taste exploded on my tongue and another jolt of lust surged through me.
As slowly as I could manage, I lowered my mouth around him, taking as much of him as I could.
“Damn, woman. Your mouth feels so fucking good.”
His words spurred me on, and I took a little more.
I couldn’t take all of him, and used my hand for the rest. With both my hand and mouth moving in tandem, my head started moving.
Noah’s hand moved into my hair, gathering the loose strands into a makeshift ponytail.
His hips moved to the same rhythm as my head, though I didn’t think he was aware of that.
His hand on my head applied only a little pressure and I liked the idea that he was as eager as I was.
Our eyes connected and control went out the window. At least for me. Before I could attempt to move him to the back of my throat, his hand was out of my hair and under my arms. One hand moved between my legs, his fingers slipping through my wetness.
I pouted at him. “I wasn’t done.”
“Don’t care.” He pulled me close and kissed me. Groaning as our tongues once again melded together. “I’m going on a mission. I am not coming anywhere else but inside you.”
He reached over to the drawer where he kept the condoms. I tugged him back. “I am on the pill. I’ve got us protected.”
“You sure?” His eyes widened as understanding dawned. “We don’t have the best track record.”
He had a point there. Still our circumstances were different. “I wasn’t on the pill back then. Besides, I made sure that it was in my contract that it could not be terminated because of pregnancy by either party unless a doctor deemed it unsafe.”
“Well, then.” Noah grabbed me once more and rolled on top of me. “In that case, if you’re protected, we might as well practice.”
He tugged his pajama pants off and flung it across the room. “All fours, woman. I want to fuck you so deep, you’ll still be feeling it when I return.”
I was quick to do as he asked. I looked over my shoulder. “I want that, too.”
“Head down, ass up.” The commanding tone was new, but I loved it. “Grip onto the headboard if you need to.”
Instead of slamming into me like I’d anticipated, Noah had found his own brand of torture. “Babe, you need to move faster.”
His chuckle was nothing short of evil. “No, I don’t. You don’t get to rush me. I want to savor this. It will be a while before I get to do this again.”
Slowly, he pulled out of me, ensuring every inch of him dragged against my walls.
As his tip reached my entrance, he did what I originally expected.
He slammed into me. Both our groans filled the room.
Then he repeated the motion again and again.
Pulling out excruciatingly slow and slamming back into me.
Even at that pace I could feel myself climbing. My body clenched as my first orgasm slammed through me. Yeah, I was that confident that I would have another. My walls closing around him, had Noah increasing his pace.
“Fuck, babe. You’re so tight. And so warm. I could stay like this forever.”
I never had a chance to respond as Noah pulled out and spun me around. When he reentered me, his pace was faster, headier. It was relentless and nothing short of pure pleasure.
My nails dug into his back, my ankles at his ass, as he plowed into me over and over. Our eyes connected, and just that connection triggered my second orgasm. He bent over to kiss me and swallow my screams as his body jerked with mine and we went over the edge together.