15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Noelle
I ’m Theo’s mystery girl.
The realization crashes through me as I stumble my way out of the study and down the hallway. My lips feel kiss swollen and I drag my fingers over them, as if by touching them I can go back and live that all over again. Because good lord, the man can kiss.
I’m Theo’s mystery girl. The one he said didn’t know he existed… the one he said the timing wasn’t right with…
Wait, I am his mystery girl, right? I suppose he could have been talking about someone else last night. He could just be saying all of this as a trick to get some easy ass.
Shaking my head even as the ridiculous thought starts, I know that isn’t it. Theo isn’t a playboy, a use-em-and-lose-em kinda guy. He isn’t just going to say pretty words to get a woman into bed, especially me. Our relationship—hell, our friendship—is currently balancing precariously on the precipice of a life-altering change. He wouldn’t be saying this, doing this, if he didn’t mean it. Our friendship runs too deep, has for too long, to chance ruining it just for some easy sex.
No, I believe every word that came out of his mouth. And it’s opened my eyes to what has been there this whole time. He’s wanted me for a long time.
I’m happy to oblige. If he’s as talented at the rest of it as he is at kissing… I just may cease to be part of this earth tonight. But what a helluva way to go.
I’m still half dazed when I make my way back to the kitchen where our families are congregated around the kitchen counter. I picked up my wine on my way through the living room and take a sip of it as I look around the kitchen. Mom and Marnie are hugging each other again. I know they’re both overjoyed with tonight. They’ve both waited a long time for this, even though this is Val’s second marriage… no one liked that cheating asshole ex-husband of hers anyway.
What’s that saying about marriages? Oh yeah, they’re like pancakes. You can always throw the first one out.
I scoff to myself at my own little joke and cough to cover it as they all turn to look at me. “Sorry,” I wheeze, thumping my chest, holding up my wine glass for show. “Swallowed wrong.”
I sense Theo come up behind me then. As our families turn back to what they were doing, he leans in close, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. His breath is warm, rustling the hair at my temple as he whispers, “You’ll swallow everything I give you tonight, Angel.”
“ Theo —” I hiss on a whisper between my clenched teeth, my face flaming at his bold, dangerous words. Butterflies erupt in my belly though. Because good lord, I want that. Yes please.
He chuckles, quiet and low and it sends shivers along my spine. His hands span my waist, settling between my ribs and my hip bones, and he squeezes once before stepping around me.
“I’m going to head home,” he announces to the room. Everyone turns toward him, and they all in turn give him good-bye hugs and final ‘Merry Christmas’ wishes. He turns toward me then, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously. “The snow is still coming down pretty hard. Want me to give you a ride home? You’ve had several glasses of wine.”
“Oh, what a good idea,” Marnie says, nodding along with Mom.
“Thank you, Theo,” Mom said, patting his arm with a smile. “You’ve always been such a good boy.”
I roll my lips in between my teeth to keep from laughing out loud. I choke on the laugh though, coughing for real this time when his eyes find mine. The mischievous twinkle is gone from his eyes and that heated, burning gaze is back in full force.
“Come on, you lush, let’s get you home before you turn into a pumpkin.” His tone is teasing, but that look in his eyes is anything but. It makes me shiver again.
I cock one hip out and tilt my head up to look at him, my brows raised. “I’m no Cinderella.”
He steps closer, our family blissfully ignorant to the heat and tension radiating between the two of us. “Is there a princess that gets tied up and spanked for her smart mouth?”
“I’m not sure Disney would sanction that—”
He grips the point of my chin between his thumb and pointer finger, pushing my head up further. I can feel my pulse fluttering wildly in my neck, my chest. My breaths are choppy, though I’m trying my damndest to keep it steady. “I have a better way to handle this smart mouth, Noelle. By stuffing my cock between these lips and fucking your throat.”
My eyes widen and my mouth drops open in surprise. I lick my lips, my heart beating like a fucking drum in my ears. I’m both nervous and outrageously turned on at his filthy threat. Instinctively, I clench my thighs together to relieve some of the ache he’s built there.
And, being the smart-ass that I am, I whisper, “Prove it.”