Chapter 37
Alex
‘A lex.’
‘Noa.’
‘Why have you brought me here?’ she whispered, like there was anyone around for miles who might actually hear them. He shrugged casually.
‘We’ve been travelling Southeast Asia for the past two months now, and we still haven’t been to a waterfall. This seems like as good a place as any.’
She had that shy look on her face that he thought was the most adorable thing in the world.
‘That’s the only reason?’
‘What other reason could there possibly be?’
‘I… Oh nothing. Never mind,’ she shrugged off whatever she’d wanted to say, nerves clearly getting the better of her.
‘It could also have something do with that list of yours.’
She looked up at him then, with wide, hopeful eyes.
It was one of those moments where she looked at him like he hung the moon.
He tried not to read too much into that, especially since helping her to achieve her goals was simply the bare minimum.
It gutted him that the look in her eyes made it clear she hadn’t had that before.
‘Seemed to me like you still had some things that you needed to tick off. Number six, if I remember rightly.’
‘Swim naked in a waterfall.’
‘I’m just here for the show. Completely selfish really,’ Alex said, trying to sound nonchalant as he leaned against a nearby tree.
His eyes didn’t stray from her for a moment. Because what a view it was. He knew their trip was coming to an end, and he didn’t want to think about what that meant for them once reality kicked back in. So, he just wanted to enjoy these moments with her.
He pushed out the voice in his head that worried he was just a fun adventure for Noa like the rest of this trip, a brief lifting of inhibitions that would snap back into place when the holiday was over.
He didn’t ever want to have to watch her walk away again but, unlike when they were younger, he wouldn’t let her go without a fight.
She beamed at him and all his worries dissipated. That’s what she was for him, a brightness that permeated all the darkness. A lighthouse in the storm. She made him believe in the good and effortlessly quietened his demons with nothing more than a smile.
‘I will if you will,’ she teased, nodding toward the water.
‘Oh. Trouble, I thought you’d never ask.’
He kicked off the tree and, with predatory steps, stalked toward her, tugging his T-shirt over his head as he went and letting it fall to the grassy floor.
Noa tracked the movements his arms took as he undressed himself the rest of the way until he stood in front of her wearing nothing but a wolfish grin.
‘Your turn.’
She looked at him, then got to work on the button of her denim shorts. He watched her shaky fingers move as she undressed herself and he didn’t know whether it was anticipation or nerves. He never wanted her to be nervous around him.
As she stood there, finally bared to him, he let his gaze sweep over every part of her.
‘You are incredible, Noa. You have the hottest body I have ever seen.’
She dropped her eyes as if she didn’t believe him and didn’t want to see the lie in his eyes, but she wouldn’t find it. So, he pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifted it until their eyes met.
‘You believe me, don’t you? Do you know how many times I have dreamed of being able to see you like this? To touch you like this?’ he asked, letting his hands graze down the side of her body, across her ribs, and to the back of her thighs.
He lifted her and her legs reacted instinctively by wrapping around him so her bare pussy was pressed against his abdomen.
‘The you I pictured in my imagination had nothing on the real thing. It must have been self-preservation that made me block out those memories of you like this. Because there is no way I’d have been able to keep my hands off you all these years otherwise.’
Reaching behind his head, she pulled him into her, their lips meeting in a frenzy of open-mouthed kisses before his tongue slipped inside, savouring the taste of her.
The lingering taste of this morning’s coconut coffee.
This taste was undeniably her. His little coffee fiend, despite all her best intentions to cut back.
He hoped she never did, because she was delicious.
Breathlessly pulling away, he said, ‘Let’s go for that swim, shall we?’
Noa’s mouth parted as she let out a needy groan like a child not getting their own way, and the sound travelled straight to his cock, which now stood to attention.
Knowing exactly what she was doing, she ground against him as he carried her across the grass and through the shallows of the water.
Nipping at her ear, Alex picked up his pace before dropping them both down with a splash, dousing them in the cool water.
It did little to douse the fire burning inside of him, though.
The same fire he could see reflected in her eyes.
Her skin was so hot beneath his fingers.
And he thought she barely registered the cold water, other than to let out a small gasp, before continuing her movements. God, he could get used to that sound.
‘We need to teach you some patience, don’t we, Trouble?’ he managed, despite the desperation coursing through his own body.
‘Patience is overrated,’ she breathlessly retorted.
‘Oh, I think I can prove to you otherwise. ’
‘Well, I guess if you must. For research purposes,’ she quipped before he pulled her lip between his teeth, hard enough to sting.
He loved this bratty side of her. In fact, he loved every side of her.
Lifting her onto the rock at the side of the water, he pulled her to the edge. She looked like a fucking queen on her throne. The water dripping from her every naked curve made him want to lick every droplet from every inch of her.
‘Feet flat on the rock, Noa. I want to see what you look like spread out and waiting for me.’
She did as she was told, and his chest rumbled in response.
He watched her intently, licking his lips as he took in the magnificent curves of her body.
The swell of her breasts called to him, the hardened peaks begging to be touched.
He reached out to do just that. As his fingers grazed her sensitive nipples, tugging slightly, she arched her back, pressing them further into his hands.
‘Look at you, practically begging to be touched.’
She only moaned in response, and the sound spurred him on.
His eyes dropped to the space between her legs. She was spread wide for him, just like he had demanded. The sight had him wanting to burry himself deep inside her, but right now was about the long game.
Dropping to his knees in the water, he let his lips fall to her inner thighs, just above her knees, starting their trail towards the spot that he knew she really wanted him.
She writhed below him as he continued licking and nipping up toward her pussy and, as she bucked against him, he held her thighs down against the rock below her .
‘Lesson number one, you do as I say and you will be rewarded. I can make you feel so good, Noa, but you have to trust me. Can you trust me enough to let go and be present with me?’
She whimpered in response. That satisfied him.
He blew against her clit, hovering there for a few moments to test how sensitive she was and, again, she tried to buck against him, failing when his hands pinned her in place.
She let out a loud mewl. He loved how responsive she was to him, and it was going to make what he was about to do all the more enjoyable.
‘That’s it, baby. Let me hear how much you want me.’
‘God, I want you. So bad. Stop teasing me.’
‘Lesson number two,’ he answered, slowly licking her from back to front, savouring his first taste of her before he would dive in.
She was exquisite.
‘Teasing is all part of the fun. I’m going to show you just how fun it can be. So, sit back and get comfortable, baby. This won’t be quick, but if you can show me how patient you can be, I will make you feel better than anyone has before.’
She whined in protest. And if he hadn’t been trying to learn her—paying attention to every way that her body reacted—he would’ve missed it when she whispered, ‘You already have.’
That only made him more determined to wring every ounce of pleasure from her, making sure that the statement would always be true.
She was at his mercy, spread out before him, and the thought had him more turned on than he’d ever been before.