Chapter 14
Addie pulled on an oversized sweatshirt. It was Noah’s but it had been sitting on his chair, and it looked big and warm, and she needed both those things right now. Even though she’d just broken a record for the longest, hottest shower, she somehow still felt cold.
Someone had tampered with the rock-climbing ropes today. Someone had tried to hurt her.
She still couldn’t wrap her head around it. If Noah wasn’t the former Marine that he was, she could have been seriously hurt, just like Buck. Not that she’d received an update on Buck—all she knew was that he hadn’t regained consciousness before the ambulance had arrived.
Her breathing was shaky as she left the bedroom. The second she stepped into the hall, she heard him. Noah was shout-whispering over the phone, and the anger in his voice…God, she could almost feel it.
“It was Rhett, Jesse, I know it was. The asshole helped set up the equipment. He had access to the climbing rotation, so he knew Addie and Buck were going up first. He was trying to hurt her. Hell, he already bruised her arm last night. He also had the means to steal her key from her bag. All it would have taken was telling Addie or Cass at the desk that he needed to use the kitchen while they were at the front desk.”
It was true. All of it. But her question was—why? Why would Rhett want to scare her? Hurt her?
Noah turned when she walked into the kitchen, and the second he saw her, he scanned her from head to toe. He seemed to take in her bare legs. His sweatshirt over her body.
She stopped at the kitchen island and lifted herself up to the edge.
Noah poured dark liquid into a mug before handing it to her.
Hot chocolate. Thank God. It was exactly what she needed.
“I know.” Noah sighed. “I just…I want him in your custody. I want him off the streets so that he doesn’t have the opportunity to hurt her or anyone else again.”
She sipped the hot chocolate, closing her eyes as the sweet liquid warmed her belly. What the heck had Noah put in this? She scanned the counter behind him, but he’d already cleaned up.
“Thanks, Jess.” Noah hung up and turned to her, gaze intense. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I will never rock climb again in my life. In fact, count me out of all semi-dangerous, could-fall-to-my-death outdoor activities.”
He growled like he didn’t find it the least bit funny before gripping her thighs and stepping closer. “You should have been safe up there.”
“Does Jesse know what happened?”
There was a small pause when Noah’s eyes darkened to the color of coal. “Battery acid. Someone coated the middle of the rope with it. When it evaporated, the rope didn’t look any different, but because the rope’s made of nylon, it weakened the internal fibers.”
“Which made it break when weight was applied,” Addie whispered, her skin suddenly cold again. “So it had to be whoever set it up, right? They needed the middle part of the rope to be coated in the acid so that no one smelled it.”
“Colt said Rhett, Cass and Buck were the first ones there, and they set up the rope. Cass said she didn’t see Rhett do anything wrong, and we haven’t been able to ask Buck yet.”
“How is Buck?”
“The crash pad saved him from any serious damage, but because of the angle he hit, he has a concussion and a broken wrist. He’ll spend the night in the hospital.”
Jesus.
“Why?” Addie whispered, the question one that had popped into her head so many times. “Why would Rhett do it?”
“I don’t know. But one way or another, we’re going to find out.” His hands slid up her bare thighs, making the hairs on her arms stand on end. “The important thing is, you didn’t get hurt today.”
“What does this mean for the park?”
“We’ll close down for a week or two. Have all the equipment checked and make sure it’s safe before we reopen. Hopefully in that time, Jesse can find the evidence he needs on Rhett.”
Thank God they’d been closed to the public today.
She focused on Noah. He was close, standing between her legs, hands on her thighs… It was the best kind of distraction. He was the best kind of distraction. “Thank you for saving me.”
“When I saw your rope almost snap, everything else disappeared.” His fingers tightened on her hips. “You scared me.”
“You didn’t look scared.”
“I was terrified. Of you being hurt. Of me not being able to get to you in time. And I just kept thinking…I shouldn’t have run from us.”
Her heart lurched then stuttered, the beats wild as she played his words over in her head. “What should you have done?”
“This.”
He lowered his head and groaned as he kissed her. The kiss wasn’t fast or rushed or desperate. It was slow. Gently coaxing her lips apart before he slipped his tongue inside her mouth.
Then she was tasting him. And God, he tasted good. Whiskey and a hint of mint.
She ran her hands up his chest and around his shoulders. Strong shoulders that, just a few hours ago, had been all that stood between her and a fall that would have hurt her.
She curved her legs around his waist and tugged them closer together. Then she felt him everywhere. In front of her. Around her. Flush against her body.
His hands moved higher, pushing up the sweatshirt. She liked his touch. It made her feel alive and feminine and wanted.
A small gasp escaped her lips when she was lifted off the island. Then they were moving, walking through the house and only stopping inside his bedroom.
Gently, he lay her flat on the bed, his body hovering over hers. Covering her. Warming her.
“Do you want this?” Noah whispered, his words like gravel. “If you don’t, I’ll stop.”
“I want this. I want you. I’ve wanted you for so long.”
A deep growl rumbled from his powerful chest before his head dropped, his mouth latching onto her neck so he could taste her skin.
Oh, God, yes. Yes to him and this and everything he made her feel. She wanted all of it. And she didn’t care if that made her desperate.
She was so absorbed in the feel of his mouth on her neck that she barely felt him grip the edge of her sweatshirt until cool air hit her belly. She lifted her arms to help him before the soft thud of fabric hitting the floor cut through the room. Then she lay there in panties.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, as his sweet kisses trailed down her chest.
When he took one nipple between his lips, she couldn’t breathe. She arched as his teeth grazed her hard bud. Then his tongue ran over it, flicking it back and forth and running in a circle.
It was torture. All of it. This man and the way he made her belly pulse like nothing and no one ever had before.
He sucked hard and she felt it everywhere. It made her writhe and bow her back.
He shifted to her other nipple and started the same slow torment. But this time, he also played with the breast he’d just released. Rolling the bud between his thumb and forefinger, pushing his thumb into the center.
She was drowning in Noah. The desire was wrapping around her lungs, keeping her head beneath water. But she didn’t want to come up for air.
When he lowered his hand between her thighs, she stilled. Then he slid inside her panties.
Her thighs instinctively parted, giving him space to touch her. He took it, swiping across her clit.
A gasp cut from her throat, and she grabbed at his hair, tugging and pulling.
“Every sound you make drives me crazy,” he whispered, before kissing up her chest and taking her lips again.
She kissed him. A deep kiss where their tongues tangled and any world beyond him and what he made her feel just ceased to exist. His thumb continued to move over her core, and she ground into him.
“You have too many clothes on,” she whispered, the words barely leaving her lips before she yanked at the hem of his shirt.
He chuckled and slid to the side so he could remove his shirt and his jeans.
Her heart jumped at the sight of him in just briefs. Every inch of the man was power and strength.
She ran a finger over the scar on his shoulder, then another on his arm. He’d been through so much. And yet he was still here, trying to be better. Trying to overcome all his demons.
Slowly, she lifted her head and kissed the first scar. Then the second.
The air hissing through his teeth was loud. He gripped her wrist, the one that was still touching the scar, and kissed the inside. The second his mouth found hers again, she ran her hand down his chest and beneath the waistband of his briefs.
When her fingers wrapped around his length, the muscles in his chest expanded, his head dropping to the crook of her neck.
She slid her hand up until she reached his tip, then she ran her palm over him.
A shudder rolled down his body, and he groaned as she ran her palm back down to his base.
His reaction to every touch made her feel powerful and wanted and his.
“Addie.” There was something dangerous in the way he said her name…like it was a warning.
She didn’t listen. She wasn’t finished touching and exploring him…learning what drove him as wild as he drove her.
But when he lifted off the bed, it was too soon, and she groaned in frustration.
He chuckled before pushing down his briefs. Then he stood in front of her completely naked. Her mouth went dry, her belly doing something between a somersault and a clench.
God, he was beautiful. If he stood still long enough, he’d almost look like one of those perfect sculptures.
He reached for the side drawer and pulled out a foil that he tore open with his teeth. Before he could slide it on, she sat up and took it from his fingers. Slowly, she rolled it down his length, her lower belly throbbing at the feel of him.
He growled, a long, deep sound, then gently pushed her back and dragged her panties down her legs.
Finally he lay between her thighs, and she could feel him right there at her entrance. It was intoxicating.
His gaze bored into her as he whispered, “Last chance to walk away?”
He thought she could walk away from this? He was already under her skin, deep inside her chest… He was everywhere.
She hooked a leg around his waist and tugged, feeling his tip slip inside her. “I’ve never walked away from something I’ve wanted. And I’m not going to start now.”
Her name hit the air like a flare, before he dropped his head and kissed her while sinking deep inside her.
Noah burned for Addie. She was like a flame that never died. And right now, the feel of her walls wrapped around his cock lit a fire in his blood.
He tangled his tongue with hers, forcing his body to remain exactly where it was, to ignore the urge to drive into her.
She groaned and rolled her hips, testing his self-restraint.
Shit, this woman killed him.
Slowly, he lifted his hips and pushed back inside.
Oh, Jesus, she felt good.
Her nails bit into his shoulders, her breath running over his mouth as she gasped. Even the fucking scent of her made him lose his mind.
He kissed across her cheek, then behind her ear, sucking her delicate skin as he continued to thrust in and out. Every moan, every time her body did that thing where her back arched and her nails raked over his skin, he was pushed that much closer to the edge.
He gripped her knee to lift it higher, hitting a new point inside her. The need to see her had him lifting his head. He watched the desire play over her face. The scrunch of her eyes. The separation of her lips as air panted out of her.
Perfect. She was fucking perfect. And she was his.
He lowered his head and kissed her while reaching for her breast and holding the small mound in his palm. When he found her nipple, he rolled it in a circle.
She gasped. He did it again. Her hips began to lift, meeting him thrust for thrust, drawing him deeper inside her.
Fuck, he was almost at the tipping point.
He thrust harder. Faster. And when he shifted his hand from her breast to her clit, he ran his thumb over the spot that made her entire body tremble. He did it again.
“Noah…” Her voice was almost a plea. And he knew exactly what she needed.
Simultaneously, he sucked her neck and rolled her clit, his movements fast and hard, before finally she cried out, her head flinging back as her walls pulsed around his cock. She broke beneath him, and it was fucking glorious.
He continued to move, but he didn’t have much left. Everything that was his now belonged to her.
He dropped his head and kissed her, sinking his tongue deep into her mouth. Three more thrusts and he finally broke, growling deep in his throat as his entire body shattered.
Then the room shifted into silence as he lowered his head into the crook of her neck and breathed her in.
Her softness, her sweet scent, all of it called to him.
Her fingers ran down his back, her chest rising and falling in quick succession. “If there’s any way to turn a shitty day around, it’s that.”
Despite everything, he laughed and lifted his head. “You’re something else. You know that?”
“Something pretty?”
“No. Pretty is a drop in the bucket compared to what you are.”
The smile disappeared and a hot intensity burned in her eyes. “What we just did…it wasn’t a reaction to what happened today, was it? It didn’t happen out of fear of losing me? You’re not going to wake up tomorrow and tell me it was a mistake?”
He fingered a lock of hair from her cheek. “I’d be lying if I said the fear and doubt weren’t there. I’m only a week into therapy and I have a lot of work to do. But I want you. And maybe that makes me selfish.”
“It doesn’t. It makes you human. I want you too.”
“Good.” He lowered his head and kissed her, one soft kiss before dropping beside her and tucking her into him. “Do you need anything?”
At her pause, he frowned.
A half smile played at her lips. “I might have seen some peanut butter cups on your counter.”
She was thinking about chocolate right now? “You’re hungry?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t need to be hungry to want chocolate.”
He laughed. Jesus Christ, Addison was like no one he’d ever met. He kissed her forehead before climbing out of bed. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
He stopped in the bathroom to clean up before pulling on some briefs and heading to the kitchen. But the second he was away from her, his mind shifted back to what had happened earlier that day. To Buck’s rope breaking and him falling. To Addie almost experiencing the same fate.
That same fear he’d felt in the moment returned.
He wanted to kill Rhett. Because that was who’d done this. Noah was sure of it. Now he needed to work out why.