Chapter 26
Addie ran her finger along the small bandage on her neck, her gaze stuck on her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her skin was still damp from the shower, and a towel was the only thing that covered her body.
She’d been attacked. Attacked in her own home. And Ellis had been stabbed.
Would he be okay? He’d been hurt protecting her. And the guilt… God, it ate at her.
She closed her eyes and breathed, but her lungs felt tight.
Voices sounded from somewhere else in the house, probably the living room.
Were the deputies still out there? Or was it just Noah and Jesse?
The second she’d been cleared, she’d given her version of events to Jesse, then come into the bathroom to shower.
The need to wash the blood from her fingers had been so strong it was all she’d been able to think about.
She doubted she’d sleep here tonight. The glass beside the door was broken. But even if it wasn’t, her home didn’t feel safe right now. If she was honest, it hadn’t felt safe since her parents left.
In her bedroom, it was easier to hear. Hushed voices came from the other side of the closed door, and she could just make out what they were saying.
“We’ve taken prints. We’re interviewing neighbors. We’ll find something.”
It was Jesse. He sounded angry. But then, of course he did. It was his job to find this person. And not only had he not managed that yet, they’d attacked again.
“I need this to be over, Jess. Tonight could have been so much fucking worse.”
She dug her nails into her palms at Noah’s words. If she’d thought Jesse sounded angry, that was a drop in the ocean compared to Noah.
But he was right. Tonight could have gone differently. She’d had a knife pressed to her throat. She could have been killed if Noah hadn’t shown up when he did.
She took a quick step back.
It wasn’t just herself and Ellis she was worried about. Noah didn’t need to be dragged into this. He was already dealing with enough. Too much. And now her problems were weighing on top of his own, and she had no idea if he could carry it all.
She’d just opened the top drawer of her dresser when a knock thumped on the bedroom door.
Before she had a chance to say anything, it opened and Noah stepped in.
And God, there was something fierce about him tonight.
The way his eyes were narrowed, as if he expected danger.
The fisting of his hands like he was ready to jump into a battle to save her.
“Hey.”
She swallowed hard. “Is Jesse still out there?”
“He just left. They’re all gone. It’s just you and me.”
She nodded and looked back to her drawer, searching for her fluffy llama pajama top. “I’m sorry I bailed. I really wanted a shower.” Her finger trembled as she dug through the tops. Where was it?
“Are you okay?”
That quiet question made fresh tears gather in her eyes. She hated them. She didn’t want to cry. She wanted to rage and shout. God, she was tired of this. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t the one stabbed in the back, so I should be.”
“You still went through a lot, Addison.”
She pushed more clothes aside, noticing from her peripheral vision that he was moving toward her, closing that small bit of distance between them.
“I’m sorry I’ve dragged you into this. I’m sorry that you have to deal with this and me and all my problems when you have enough on your plate.
I’m sorry…” She couldn’t catch her breath, the air whipping in and out of her lungs.
Strong arms suddenly wrapped around her body from behind and covered her hands. “Addie, it’s okay to not be okay. You shouldn’t have gone through what you went through tonight.”
“You were part of it too.”
The muscles in his arms tensed. “If the asshole were here right now, I’d kill him.”
The quiet fury in his voice made all the fine hairs on her arms stand on end.
She closed her eyes, allowing the feel of his body surrounding her—his warmth and strength—to soothe some of the panic that had been sitting in her chest since she’d found Ellis.
“What can I do?” he whispered.
She shook her head and turned before pressing a palm to his chest. She meant to push him away, but for some reason, couldn’t. Maybe because she liked his closeness. Maybe because he made her feel safe, something she hadn’t felt in hours.
“Nothing. This is my problem.”
“Addie—”
“You were right to break up with me.” Jesus, the words hurt.
Like razor blades against her throat. “You need to focus on you and your healing. I’m setting you back.
” Selfish. The word flashed in her mind.
He wasn’t just protecting her…he was protecting himself.
And by fighting it, she was setting him back.
His hands went to her hips. “That’s not why I did what I did.”
“It should have been. And I should have left Amber Ridge after the first warning. Maybe then, Rhett wouldn’t have gotten involved with this guy and been killed, and Ellis wouldn’t have been hurt. Tomorrow, it could be you.” Her heart jackhammered at the thought.
“Addie—”
“But I can’t go back to Bozeman, in case he follows me and puts my parents in danger.”
“Addie—”
“I need to go somewhere else. It will give you the time you need to work through what happened. And maybe this person will forget about me.”
She’d thought there was no space between them, but he stepped closer. “Look at me.”
She didn’t want to, because he had the power to make her forget everything she needed to focus on.
Getting out of Amber Ridge. Keeping those she loved safe.
But when his thumb slipped beneath her shirt and grazed her skin, she inhaled sharply and looked up.
And those intense eyes made her feel everything she knew they would.
“You’re not going anywhere.” He said the words slowly. Firmly. Like that was the only way she’d hear or understand. “I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have asked for a break. I got scared, and I’m sorry. But I’m hoping like hell you’ll forgive me.”
She searched his eyes. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” Her voice cracked in the middle of her words. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” Physically. Emotionally. Hurt in any way. She loved Noah. And if anything happened to him…
“The only thing that will hurt me is losing you.” His hand slid up her side before cupping her cheek. “Don’t leave me.”
She closed her eyes and leaned into his palm.
“I missed you.” Her quiet words slipped into the air, soft but also so incredibly heavy.
He lowered his forehead and touched it to hers. “These last few weeks have been hell without you.”
His warm breath whispered against her skin, making her tingle. It had been so long since she’d touched this man. Kissed him. Let him chase away the world around them.
He lowered his head to the crook of her neck, and his lips grazed her skin. “God, I’ve missed kissing you.”
She closed her eyes and tangled her fingers through his hair. The next graze of his lips was higher.
“Noah…kiss me.”
He lifted his head, fire burning in his eyes before his mouth crashed to hers.
The groan that tore from her lips was loud, and even though it was just a kiss, she swore she felt him everywhere.
She parted her lips for his tongue and curved it around hers. Then she was tasting him. He was mint and warmth, familiar and safe.
Needing more, she reached for the base of his shirt and tugged it over his head. The second it was off, she worked on his jeans. He stepped out of them before lifting his head.
She wanted to groan and plead for his mouth to return to hers. But then she looked up and saw the way his chest heaved. The way he looked at her with quiet awe, as if she was something he’d never quite get used to seeing in his arms. “I love you, Addison.”
Her heart squeezed, the words sinking deep inside her, filling every inch of space, even space she didn’t know was there. He loved her…and that meant everything.
“I love you too.” Her words were barely a whisper but sounded loud in the quiet room. “I love you so much, Noah Hayes, that I ache for you.”
Noah wanted to fucking drown in those words. Love. She loved him, and he loved her.
His mouth crashed to hers a second time, this kiss a slow invasion of her mouth. A taste of the sweetness that was Addie.
She was all he wanted…and she was his.
He reached for the knot in her towel and undid it, letting the material drop to the floor. Then he was lifting her into his arms, but she was only there for a second before he set her on the low dresser behind her.
He stepped between her thighs, and she widened for him, welcoming him.
This…this was where he wanted to be. Where he’d clawed his way back to ever since leaving her.
She wove her fingers into his hair and tugged him down. He kissed her before shifting to her cheek, then her neck. He kissed all the way down her chest until he reached one perfect nipple and took it between his lips.
Addie gasped, and the sound gutted him.
He swirled the hard bud in a circle with his tongue before sucking it deep inside his mouth. Fuck, she tasted good. And every sound she made, every groan, every whimper, felt like a reward.
He switched to her other breast and did the same, but this time grazed his teeth against the nipple before flicking it back and forth. He continued to suck her like candy as he trailed a hand down her stomach, reaching her core.
Slowly, he ran his thumb over her clit. Her entire body jolted as if struck with a bolt of electricity.
So damn sensitive.
He did it again, this time rolling the small bud.
Her breathing grew choppy, her fingers tugging at the strands of his hair, lifting his head up until she was kissing him again, her tongue diving straight into his mouth.
She shuffled closer and wrapped her legs around him, his cock fucking stone as it pushed against her, only the thin barrier of his briefs between them.
The need to plunge inside her tore at him, so fucking desperate that it took every scrap of self-restraint to remain exactly where he was.
Like she could read his mind, she reached between them and freed his cock.
His breathing stopped. It just fucking halted. Because her fingers were around him. Holding him. Driving him fucking wild.
She slid her hand up and down his cock before pressing the tip to her entrance.
He hung his head. It was the best kind of torture.
She urged him closer with her legs.
“Addison.” It took everything inside him, every scrap of willpower, to grip her hips and still them both. “Wait. I’m not wearing anything.”
She gasped, like she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten. And yeah, he’d almost lost his damn mind too.
She reached down and opened a drawer before rummaging to the bottom to find a foil. He had it open in two seconds. As he rolled it over his cock, Addie’s mouth was on him again. His shoulder, then his neck. Kissing and sucking. Toying with him.
When he was finally covered, he gripped her hips and pulled her to the edge of the dresser, his tip once again at her entrance.
Her eyes flared as she cupped his cheeks and tugged his head down, and the second their mouths met, he slipped inside her. And fuck, she was tight.
Her moan cut into the air, making blood roar between his ears. For a second he didn’t move. He barely breathed.
But then Addie nipped his bottom lip before whispering, “I love you so much, Noah Hayes.”
Her legs tightened, pushing him deeper, and he completely lost himself. He started to move, falling into everything that was Addie as he thrust in and out of her.
It was ecstasy. This woman and everything she did to him was exactly why he’d been fighting his way out of his head and back to her.
For this…for her.
He lowered his head and sucked her neck, tasting her skin. It was as sweet as every other part of her.
She latched onto his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin. The bite of pain competed with the waves of pleasure.
He lifted her and turned to press her against the wall. Then he was deeper, her walls clenching his cock, tipping him closer to the edge.
He continued to thrust, deeper, faster, reaching for her nipple and rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.
Her breathing grew louder. More ragged. She was close. And he wanted to nudge her over the fucking edge.
He hooked her thigh higher around his waist, and her breathing hitched, then she cried out. And he lifted his head to watch her fall. Her head flung to the side and her lips parted as she cried out his name.
Fucking beautiful. All of her.
He kept thrusting, kept moving in and out of her, until that last bit of restraint snapped and he shattered. Broke into a thousand fucking pieces and lost himself inside her.
Then he couldn’t move. He just held her, touching his forehead to hers as they sucked in long gasps of air.
“I think,” she whispered, heaving breaths cutting into her words, “make-up sex is my favorite.”
He laughed. That…that was just one of the reasons he loved her. Because she made him laugh when laughing was the last damn thing on his mind.
Eventually he’d need to move. They had to pack up and go to his place. But right now, he couldn’t. All he could do, all he wanted to do, was hold her as they stayed connected in the most intimate way.