Chapter 5 Valencia
Valencia
We collect our coats, but I don’t put mine on.
I’m overheated, either from dancing or from the thought of bringing Noble home with me—probably both.
On the sidewalk, we run into Noble’s coworker, Rodrigo, who breaks away from a larger group to stand with us.
Noble introduces me as his “friend from school,” and I don’t contradict him.
This is the girl whose life I made a living hell would invite a lot of questions I’m sure neither of us feels like answering.
Rodrigo is medium height with tan skin and dark brown waves, and his boyfriend, Bailey, is my height, with light brown skin and glossy black curls.
They laugh and brush body glitter off each other while Noble frowns at the rideshare apps.
But when Rodrigo shortens my name to Val, Noble is quick to correct him.
“She doesn’t like being called Val.”
“Oop. Sorry, honey. I don’t blame you. Valencia is a beautiful name.”
I wave off Rodrigo’s apology, but the exchange unnerves me. My mom’s name was Valerie, and it made sense for people to call her Val. But the beginning of Valencia doesn’t even sound like “Val.”
It’s also extra painful to be called by my mother’s nickname now that she’s gone.
But that’s not what unsettles me tonight. No, the question rattling around my mind is, how the hell does Noble know that?
Rides are scarce, so Bailey suggests a bunch of us split a car back to Manhattan. I do a head count, then catch Noble’s eye.
“Go with your friends,” I say in a low voice. “I’ll take the subway.”
His nostrils flare in annoyance. “Torres, I’m taking you home, and I’m making sure these clowns get back, too. Don’t fight me on this. You won’t win.”
There’s no reason why his irritation should turn me on, and yet here I am, holding my coat to my chest to cover my hardening nipples.
“Well, it appears I am overruled,” I say lightly, and give Noble my address.
I expected Noble’s friends to be a bunch of cocky finance bros, but to my utter amazement, they’re delightful . Rodrigo ruffles Noble’s hair, which the latter permits with a long-suffering sigh. Bailey playfully sings the “Man in Finance” song at Noble, which pulls a laugh from me.
I still haven’t fully decided why I’m bringing Noble home with me. To talk, sure. He seems to have something he needs to say, and I’d rather do it in the privacy of my apartment.
But I can’t dismiss the feeling of his erection pressed into my abdomen. Or the blatant way I ground against him while staring into his turbulent green eyes.
When a black SUV pulls up to the curb, I give myself a shake and climb into the cramped back row.
Noble follows and settles in on my right.
His body is big and warm, and the scent of his cologne surrounds me.
It’s such a tight fit, we have to fasten each other’s seat belts.
The others cram into the seats in front of us.
The overhead light flicks off, casting Noble and me in relative darkness, relieved only by brief yellow flashes from streetlamps as the car rolls through Brooklyn.
He leans down to speak in my ear, pitching his voice low under the sounds of classic R & B and his friends’ laughter.
“Are you comfortable?”
The ghost of his breath on my neck makes me shiver. I wish I’d put my coat on, even though I would’ve been roasting.
“Mm-hmm. I’m fine.”
I’m so far from fine it’s not even funny.
Noble shifts next to me, repositioning his long legs, and I feel bad.
“You didn’t have to squash yourself back here, you know. Bailey could’ve sat next to me.”
Noble gives me a look I can’t decipher. Sort of stern, a bit glaring, and very hot.
“Torres, I’m not letting anyone else squash in next to you. Not even Bailey.”
“Okay.” I’m finding it hard to breathe normally, a condition which is not improved when his gaze drops to my lips.
“I liked dancing with you.” He says it so quietly I almost don’t hear him, but I’m watching his mouth, too, and I see his lips and tongue form the words.
“So did I.”
I utter the admission before I’m even aware I thought it. My mind is clouded, not from alcohol but from him .
Then his hand lands on my bare knee, big and strong and scorching . I want to feel his hands on every inch of my skin.
Before I can think better of it, I part my legs.
Not much. I’m not sitting in the back of this SUV with my legs wide open and a neon sign proclaiming Take me now, Gideon Noble!
Just a few inches, but that, and maybe whatever is showing on my face, gives him the go-ahead to glide his hand a little higher.
His fingers caress my inner thigh, and my breath catches.
“ Valencia. ” He utters my first name like it’s a prayer or an oath, and I respond in the only way that makes sense.
I grab his tie and yank him down to kiss me.
And then, finally , that captivating lower lip is mine.
I catch it between my teeth—gently, though, testing and tugging, learning its shape and suppleness with my tongue.
Noble makes a tortured sound in the back of his throat that I swallow.
I could spend hours exploring this lip, and it wouldn’t be enough to fully map its mysteries.
But I’m too impatient for that, and I stroke my greedy tongue deeper into his mouth.
Then it’s my turn to groan, because holy fuck, he tastes amazing . Like whiskey and spearmint. And he feels amazing. Like a sex dream come to life.
Noble cups my jaw and proceeds to make good on the promises his body made on the dance floor, which I’m only now beginning to comprehend.
I am going to turn you inside out, his kiss says.
I’m going to completely upend your world.
I surrender to the unspoken demand, and our kiss devolves into a frenzied tug-of-war of probing tongues and nipping teeth.
It’s still not enough.
When his hand slips just under the hem of my dress, I whimper. “ Touch me. ”
I can’t believe I’m saying this, doing this. In the back seat of a car full of strangers! But I’m so enflamed, I wouldn’t care if all the patrons from Dazzler were watching.
His other hand lands on my breast, and while I meant for him to touch me somewhere else, that works, too. I arch into the warm pressure of his palm.
“What the fuck is this?”
I laugh at his confused growl. “Battery pack. Ignore it.”
He does. And since I’m not wearing a bra, there’s only the thin material of my dress between his stroking thumb and my nipple. I gasp, and he uses that to take the kiss deeper. God, his mouth is so fucking dreamy . I’m frantic for more.
My right hand slides up to cup his neck, and I drop my left directly onto the bulge in his pants.
He jolts, but I don’t let him break the kiss, not even when he moans hungrily into my mouth.
Between the seat belt and his perfectly tailored trousers, I can’t get a decent grip, but I can feel enough to know I won’t be disappointed.
Because I’ve already decided I’m going to have sex with Gideon Noble. I think I knew it back on the dance floor when I let him feel me up. Or maybe when I took his hand and dragged him away from the bar.
Or maybe it was before that, the second I turned around and saw his handsome face, almost a decade older but still familiar, morphing from a seductive smolder to a nearly comical expression of shock and dismay.
Before I can make a half-assed attempt to talk myself out of it, Noble chooses that exact moment to slip his hand farther between my thighs. The tips of his long fingers brush the lace covering my mound, and now I really am sitting with my legs wide open in the back seat of a car.
But as with his pants, the seat belt and the hem of my dress conspire against me, and all we can do is grope and make out as the car takes us over the Williamsburg Bridge, across Lower Manhattan, and up to my apartment in the West Village.
“We’re here!” a cheery voice calls out.
I pull away from Noble with a gasp. Rodrigo and Bailey grin at us over the backs of their seats.
Disoriented, I blink out the window at the familiar four-story redbrick building, its stair rails twined with garlands of fir and pinecones, a large wreath hanging on the front door.
Bailey hops out of the SUV and lowers his seat so we can exit.
“Ah, thanks.” I gather my coat and purse as Noble unbuckles us. “Who should I pay?”
Rodrigo chuckles. “Gideon’s paying. Aren’t you, lover boy?”
“Out, Torres.” Noble grabs my hips and propels me ahead of him. I nearly trip over his long legs.
My face must be beet red as I say goodbye. Noble climbs out and mutters something to his friends, who hoot and holler. And then the door slams shut, the SUV pulls away, and Noble’s hand is on my lower back, guiding me to the steps of my building.
The breeze chills my heated flesh. My fingers tremble, though not from cold, as I pull out my keys and let us in.
We climb one flight of steps to my unit. At my door, Noble’s hands grip my waist. His lips trace up the back of my neck.
“I’ve been wanting to do this from the first second I saw you.” He breathes the words into my skin.
My eyes flutter shut and I drop the keys. “You have?”
“ Mmm. I think part of me knew it was you when I saw your neck.”
Holy shit. All I can do is stand there as he drags slow, open-mouthed kisses up and down my nape. “H-how?”
“I often sat behind you in class.” There’s a rough edge to his voice that sends a shiver down my spine, or maybe it’s from his lips moving against the sensitive spot below my ear. “I lived for the days when you wore your hair up.”
His teeth scrape lightly against the tendons of my throat, and the only reply I can verbalize is a broken moan.
“Fuck.” His curse is savage, and he pulls away to scoop up the keys. “Which one?”
“Huh?”
“The keys , Torres. Which one?”
“Um, silver. Old looking.”
He unlocks the door and all but shoves me inside. Our coats drop to the floor.
He backs me into the closed door and plucks the clips from my hair. His fingers tangle in the loose tresses as he nips my jaw. “I really only meant for us to talk.”
I pull his mouth back to mine. “Later. I need this, too.”
With a growl, he hikes up my dress with both hands and shoves down my thong. He hurries to undo his belt and open his pants, then freezes.
“Fuck, I don’t have a condom—”
“I have an IUD.”
I can’t believe I just blurted that out, but his eyes glow with unabashed awe. That look sets me aflame, and I don’t regret my admission.
“Yeah?” His voice is barely a whisper.
“Yeah. And I can show you my latest tests. It’s been months since I was with anyone.”
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, and I notice that his tie is loose, probably from me mangling it in the car.
“We’ll compare results later,” he says. “And me, too. Nearly a year.”
Before I can wonder at that, his mouth crushes mine, and he grabs me by the thighs, hoisting me up.
The door is hard against my back, and his chest pushes that goddamned battery pack into my sternum, but I don’t give a shit.
I reach between us, clasping his length and guiding him to my entrance.
After all the foreplay in the car, I’m wet, but his dick is big.
I wince when he pushes the head into me.
“Sorry.” He halts, panting into my neck. “I swear I’ll go down on you for hours later, I just need—”
“Me too,” I whimper, cutting him off. “I need you inside me.”
He lets out a harsh groan and sinks all the way in. My eyes roll back at the delicious fullness.
“Hang on.” The command is issued in a hoarse whisper. “Gonna fuck you now.”
Just the thought of it has me mewling, but I muster the wherewithal to clamp my thighs around his hips.
And then all I can do is hold on for dear life as he slams into me.
The angle is right, hitting just where I want it.
My LEDs flicker on and off from his chest repeatedly bumping the power button.
I bite my lip, muffling my moans while pleasure spirals through my limbs and my skin tingles.
And when he sucks on the sensitive place at the curve of my neck? I fucking unravel, quaking in his arms from a swift, blinding orgasm.
He fucks me through it, and mere moments later, his taut ass cheeks flex against my calves as he thrusts deep, locking our pelvises in place. He comes with a ragged groan.
Tension drains from his body. We’re breathing hard and leaning all our weight against the door. When my brain finally comes back online, only two thoughts flit to the surface.
One: I just fucked Gideon Noble.
And two: It was incredible . The kind of effortlessly perfect sex I was searching for during my Hookup Era.
Why the hell did I have to find it with Gideon Noble , of all people?
Luckily, I don’t have time to obsess further, because Noble exhales with a grunt and shifts his hips.
His cock slips out of me, and I clench reflexively, feeling a trickle of wetness.
God, why is that so hot? When he lets me down, it’s nice to see we’re both a little wobbly.
I’m still regaining my balance when he drops a soft kiss on my forehead.
“Sorry.” His voice is gruff and my heart sinks, because I know he’s not apologizing for what we just did.
No, that “sorry” is for the past.
I’m not ready to dig into those memories yet, not until I can get a better grip on my emotional state. He’s still wearing his tie, so I grab the end and tug him away from the door.
“Come on, Noble.” I flash him a flirty smile. “Let’s shower.”