Chapter Twenty-Three
NOAH PULLED THE truck around back, where ClamClam relaxed on a plush cat bed on the rear deck, a new arrival since her departure this morning, her tail playing catch and release with the breeze.
Rachel climbed free of the cab, not waiting for Noah to round the front end. “Noah, what did you do?”
A six pack of longnecks on ice had replaced the wood log of the small round pit in the yard.
On the deck, outlined in mason jar lanterns, a warm artificial light glowed against a lemonade setting sun.
A picnic table covered in red and white gingham cloth held two champagne flutes, an unopened bottle, and a vase filled with a bouquet that matched the arrangement he presented earlier tonight.
Noah wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. “You thought I would jump into romancing your stone, didn’t you?”
In the stillness between the sounds of their breathing, there was a quiet pulse of nature, where the rustling of leaves in the wind and the occasional birdcall added a softer layer to the already tranquil scene.
The water’s rumbling provided an ever-present background score, its rhythm shifting with the wind as it tumbled over rocks, growing louder at times and fading at others.
Rachel let her head fall back to rest against his chest.
“Honestly, yes.” There was a satisfying weight to the atmosphere—a feeling that everything was connected, from the moss-covered stone of the waterfall’s base to the flickering flames of the firepit, to the steady hands that worked slow circles on her skin.
She rubbed her bottom against his lengthening erection. “I’m ready… if you are.”
He planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’m not that easy. You’re gonna have to homemade-blackberry-wine-me and biscuits-and-gravy-dine-me. And a swim in the pool. With or without a suit.”
She quirked a brow at Noah’s suggestion. “You want me outside and naked.”
“As long as you’re naked, the location is irrelevant.”
“What I’m wearing is it, hot guy. There are no costume changes for tonight.
Noah gestured to a shopping bag on the lounger. “That’s for you.”
Rachel moved, scooping up the bag. She separated the bag handle and peered inside at the contents.
“A two-piece bikini.” She lifted out the stringy contraption that sent tingling awareness down her spine, then set it aside.
“Boy shorts, the stretchy lace ones”—she had to hunt for those because of her ample hips.
“A V-neck T-shirt in my favorite emerald green; a new pair of jean cutoffs; a Cashmere Mist deodorant stick, which I never share; avocado hair oil mister for my curls; and two boxes of prophylactic protection.
“Noah.” She sighed. “What is all this?”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “I may have asked my sister-in-law to check your bathroom and give me some clues to what you might want in your overnight bag.”
Noah wrapped her in his loving embrace. A warm and gooey sensation rushed through her. “Oh,” Rachel turned in his arms. “You’re sweet. But I’m going to make you pay for recruiting spies to infiltrate my porcelain sanctum.”
“Any price,” came his quick reply. Halfway through her witty reply, the words evaporated on her tongue. Noah’s arresting gaze was on her. Rachel stilled when he captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“I’m serious, Six. I’ve loved you my whole life. You name it and it’s yours.”
Noah. God, the man just charged right in, leading with his heart. While she tried not to lose her head. How could she compete when he disarmed her with honesty?
He devoured her with eyes that pleaded with her to accept his love. Devotion that spanned years and miles. “You’re so beautiful, Rachel… it hurts to look away.”
“Then don’t.” She toed off her boots and added an intentional wiggle to her hips, satisfied when his eyes moved like a hypnotized diamond pendulum.
When she reached the waist of her jeans, she didn’t hesitate.
His lids widened before lowering to half mast, as if her boldness surprised him.
He didn’t reach for her with his hands. Instead, he brushed her curves with a long, concentrated gaze.
Her body responded to his silent demand.
Slowly, Rachel eased the thin fabric tank top over her head.
Standing there in her lip-biting nude lace bra, the skin beneath her freckles reddened more with each still moment.
Noah sucked in a breath so deep she worried he’d choke.
A flash of something she’d never seen before, complete vulnerability, lit in his eyes. He placed both hands on either side of her trim waist. She softened at the contact, the rightness of his touch. His breath, warm and sweet, caressed her cheek.
“You say you’re ready, but I sense you have questions. Ask them, Six.”
Her lids drifted closed, and Rachel inhaled a long, deep breath.
This wasn’t the kid telling her she was his wife.
This was the man begging her to be his lady.
What could she ask for that she didn’t have?
They were on Calvary land, outside of the house he’d built with his two hands, that his family had labored over for them.
This was the fantasy made real. This could be their everyday life, she told herself. Take it. Take what he’s offering.
“Not questions, really. I want you to love me the way I love you, Noah. That stuff with Cheyenne and Petey is childish, but it pisses me off.”
“You know—”
Rachel held up her hand. “I’m not done.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“Your love changed me once, Noah.” Rachel blew out a breath and kept talking.
He needed to hear this, and she wanted to tell him.
“I know we were kids, but you were the air I breathed, the melody my heart sang, the hope that burned in my heart for a love that would last for always, forever.” She tangled her fingers in his hair, edging his mouth to hers.
“I want the same kind of crazy love from you. And, and… I’m scared, Noah, that you’ll drag me up on a pedestal with you, and then I’ll get shoved aside when the distance is too much or your friends keep suggesting more convenient options. ”
He dropped his forehead to hers, their breath connected, their energies flowing in a constant stream from one to the other, feeding their desire.
“You talk about a pedestal. I’m a man dragged low without you.
I feel like I’ve been stuck in an undercurrent waiting for a rescue—like I did when we were little, Rachel.
What other women want… what Petey thinks means nothing, nothing.
I’m running to you, giving you everything I got, praying you’ll have me. On everything I am, you got me, Six.”
Rachel looked up, and her hand moved to the button at his collar, slipping it free of the fabric. She raked her nails across his rippled abdomen. The muscles quivered beneath her fingertips. Did her touch undo him, too?
“You sure about us?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Holding his stare, she felt the glide of his belt releasing, along with the breath escaping his lungs.
All of it—sounds, smells, and the tactile sense of raw masculine desire—wrapped together in a harmonious rhythm, where nature and need met in a contained combustion.
“Show me,” she challenged, then took off down the hill with Noah in pursuit.
Their laughter joined with the noisy splash as the current swallowed her wild red curls, full breasts, and long legs.
Noah dove, headfirst, his carefree joy reaching beyond her ears, to surround her heart.
Under the water, he reached for her foot, tugging until she wrapped her arms and legs around his torso, two strands becoming one.
They burst through the water’s surface, gasping for air.
Where their bodies touched, passion ignited, and Rachel felt his mind drift, but not away.
She connected with Noah on both a physical and emotional level.
Every cell clamored for his attention. Noah had to feel the change he wrought in her.
As if by instinct, his hips bucked. Rachel’s legs, still around his waist, clamped down, locking together.
When she looked at his face, his lips parted, not in a cocky grin, but in relief.
“If it takes all night,” he whispered, “I’ll show you that you can trust me with heart, your body, your soul.”
The rush of water crashed into their bodies, pushing them, washing away restraint, leaving only love in its wake.