Chapter 52
CHAPTER 52
ATLAS
I t’s late afternoon by the time Scarlet finally leaves, and while Nora will never admit it out loud, I can tell my girl is running on fumes.
She needs food and a nap, in that order.
Well, and another apology, because once again, she was right and I was wrong.
It’s not that I want to control or micromanage her.
Hell no. The fear of losing her seems to override every ounce of logic I possess.
It’s like the minute her safety is on the line, my rational brain checks the fuck out.
I know she’s right, though—and now I have to make sure she knows that I know.
Which means we need to talk, and it’ll undoubtedly go smoother without an audience.
I nod my head toward the front door and lift my brows at Ellis.
Luckily, we’ve known each other long enough that he knows I’m silently asking him to scram.
“I’ve gotta head out for a bit,” he says as he stands.
“I’m sorry about this morning, Nora. I was a dick.”
Asshole just had to beat me to apologizing.
“You were,” Nora agrees.
“What can I say?” He shrugs his shoulders.
“Scarlet brings out the worst in me.”
Nora rolls her eyes.
“There’s a fine line between love?—”
Ellis slams his hands over his ears.
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence. The only person who’s ever loved that she-devil is her parents, and even that’s questionable.”
“Ellis Wilder, you better be nice, because there’s no way I’m naming my son after an asshole!”
“Whoa!” My best friend clutches at his chest like he’s been shot.
“Okay, okay. I’ll play nice—ish.”
“I’ll take what I can get.” Nora sighs and shakes her head.
“Be safe, okay?”
Ellis nods and then pulls the door closed behind him.
“So,” I say, now that it is just the two of us, “I need to apologize. Again.”
Nora simply quirks a brow at me, waiting for me to actually make good on my word.
“I'm so damn sorry, Pip. I heard everything you said last night, but I didn't listen.” I scoot closer to her and take her hands in mine.
“You deserve better than that. You hit the nail on the head this morning when you said you wanted a partner, not a guard dog. I promise—I fucking vow—to do better. To be the man you deserve.”
“You really mean that?” she asks, her lower lip quivering as she takes me in with damp, wide eyes.
“From the bottom of my heart.” I free one of my hands and draw an X over my chest.
She launches herself at me, peppering my face with sloppy, excited kisses as she climbs into my lap, her legs straddling mine.
“I love you so much, Atlas. You may be flawed, but you're absolutely perfect for me.”
“Love you, too,” I bite out between kisses. “Love you?—”
Nora nips at my lips, effectively silencing me. “Take me to bed.”
“Are... are you sure?” Nora tenses in my arms, making me want to kick my own ass. “Never mind. Ignore me. You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it.”
“Now you're getting it,” she murmurs, relaxing back into my embrace.
“Hang on tight,” I say as I band my arms beneath her ass and stand, holding her as close to me as her rounded belly will allow.
“So…” she draws out the word. “Would you consider this our first fight?”
“More of a disagreement, really.” I breathe the words against her neck, breathing in her sweet scent as I fumble down the hall.
“Shame.” She sticks out her tongue at me. “I was hoping we could make up.”
“Nora Morgan, are you asking me for makeup sex?”Honest to God, my brain damn near short circuits. I fucking love this bold, playful side of her.
“Maybe.” She tries burying her head in my chest, her cheeks undoubtedly strawberry red, but I'm not having it.
“You know what you need to do, Pip.” I set her down at the foot of our bed. “Look me in the eye and ask for what you want, like a good girl.”
“Yes, Atlas.” A shiver works its way through her as she peers up at me from beneath her lashes, her pupils blown wide. “I am asking you for makeup sex. I want you to show me exactly how sorry you are—preferably with your body.”
“Hot damn, Pip,” I groan, tugging my shirt over my head and tossing it to the floor. “Strip for me?”
“Are you asking or telling?” she asks coyly.The minx knows just what to say to rile me up.
“Asking. Always asking. When it comes to the two of us, you’re always in control, Pip. But you know that already, don’t you?”
“Yes, I know.” She grins and then captures her bottom lip between her teeth. “Sit down.”
My ass hits the bed like there's a magnet in it, my eyes never once leaving her. She starts slow, toeing off her thick socks before letting her hair down and running her fingers through it. Her long, coppery locks remind me of fire with the way the sun’s shining on her through the cracks in the blinds.
Then she pulls off my hoodie, leaving her in only a pair of my sweats. I have to clench my fists at my sides to keep from reaching for her, because while seeing her in my clothes is a sight I'll never grow tired of, seeing Nora naked is a damn near religious experience.
My girl’s pale, freckled perfection, and I can’t fucking wait to worship at her altar.
She hooks her thumbs beneath the waistband, tugging the fabric down ever so slightly, toying with me in the most delicious way.
“Take them off,” I growl, desperate to see how wet she already is for me. Because if I know Nora even a little, she's dripping. Her pregnancy hormones have her libido in hyperdrive, and like the idiot I am, I've been denying her since everything went down with Rand. “Show me that pretty pussy, Pip.”
Her cheeks burn my favorite shade of red as she tugs them down, baring herself to me. All I want is to lean forward and finish stripping her down.
Thankfully, she doesn’t draw out her sweet, teasing torture for long.
As soon as she’s bare before me, I give in to the temptation her naked body brings, dragging my lips over her lower belly as I breathe in the intoxicating scent of her arousal. “Fuck, you’re already so wet for me,” I moan, my mouth already watering at the thought of tasting her.
“Atlas,” she whimpers, and it’s hands down the single most erotic sound I’ve ever heard in my life. I’m helpless but to give her what she wants—what we both want.
I pull her into me and flip us around, laying her out in the middle of the bed. She looks like a damn siren, with her wild hair, rosy cheeks, and lust-blown eyes.
“Spread your legs for me, Pip,” I command, leaning over her.
She complies with a breathy moan, parting her thighs for me and then hitching them up toward her chest, completely baring her slick pussy to me.
“Such a good girl,” I say as I settle myself between her legs and shoulder them wider before licking a path right up her center. “Tastes like fucking heaven.”
“Atlas.” My name is nothing more than a whine as she writhes against the sheets. “Please.”
“Tell me what you need.” I already know, but like always, I crave her words.
“Make me…” She squirms beneath me, desperately trying to create friction. “Feel good.”
I spread her lips with my thumbs, lick my way up her slit, and then draw her clit into my mouth, sucking hard on the sensitive bundle of nerves.
“Oh, God,” she pants, twisting the sheets in her grasp as she bucks against me. “More!”
“You want more, Nora?” I sound more beast than man, but that’s what she does to me. She brings every baser instinct roaring to life.
“Please.” One word, and it’s somehow both a taunt and a plea. But I’ll never, ever leave my girl wanting, and I’ll never not rise to the occasion.
“I’ve got you, Pip.” Dipping my index finger inside of her, I tease her mercilessly before adding another, curling them inside her in the way I know drives her wild.
She tunnels her fingers into my hair, tugging hard as I work her over with my fingers and my tongue in tandem. “Oh, God, I’m so?—”
“I know, Pip.” I nip at her thigh. “Ride my face and let me hear you scream.”
She tugs hard, guiding me back to where she wants me, and I dive in, licking and sucking and kissing and rubbing until her legs shake and her back bows up off the mattress as she screams my name.
“I still want more,” Nora whispers as I pepper her slick thighs with soft kisses.
“Then I’ll give you more.” I kiss my way up her body, paying special attention to her hips, belly, breasts, and neck, before lining myself up and pushing into her tight, wet heat. “Fuck, you feel so good, Pip.”
“So do you.” She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls my face toward hers, meeting me halfway for a sloppy kiss.
I rock into her, over and over, keeping a slow, tantalizing pace. But my girl’s not having it. “Harder, Atlas. Please, I… I want it harder.”
God, I love hearing her vocalize what she needs. It’s so fucking hot.
“You want it harder?” I ask, my lips curling in a pleasure-soaked smile.
She nods frantically as she reaches behind her head to grip the headboard.
I pull back, until just the tip of my cock is still inside of her, and then slam back into her hard enough to make her eyes roll back into her head.
“You feel so fucking good, Pip. Like heaven.” I murmur sweet filth into her ear as I fill her over and over again. “So wet and tight and perfect and mine. You’re mine, Nora. In this life and the next.”
“Always,” she vows, her chest heaving, her cheeks flush, and her pupils blown wide with pleasure. She’s a sight to behold—a fucking goddess, my goddess.
I feel the telltale tingle at the base of my spine and slip my hand between us, pressing my thumb down onto her clit, massaging it in time with my stroke. “Need you to come, Pip. Be a good girl and come all over my cock.”
Nora throws her head back, crying out my name as she crashes over the edge into oblivion.
Her pussy squeezes my dick like a fist, milking me for all I’m worth as I spill myself inside of her.
“So. Damn. Perfect.” I rasp my praise against her neck, punctuating each word with a kiss as we both come back down to earth.
“I love you,” she murmurs sweetly, exhaustion already settling in.
“I love you, Pip. So damn much.”