Chapter Thirteen
Elsie
"Noah," I whisper, reaching out to run my hand down his chest, through the light dusting of hair, then across the contoured plains of his stomach.
I keep my gaze locked on his sleeping form, memorizing the way shadows spill across his body in the early morning light.
His naked body is sprawled across my bed, the satin sheet riding low across one hip.
The man is a god in clothes. Out of them, he's whatever comes after that.
I left little red marks on his shoulders and upper arms. Ask me if I'm sorry about them. I'm not, not even a little bit.
I feel as if waking up to him in my bed like this is a dream.
But it's not. I know this because, in my dreams, no matter how many times he made love to me, we never fell asleep together.
It's as if my subconscious always took pity on me, protecting me from the pain I'd feel when I opened my eyes and realized he wasn't here.
But he's here right now, and the dull ache low in my belly…well, a vibrator didn't cause that. Not this time. That was all Noah, every delicious inch of him.
Alice will be so proud.
"Noah," I whisper again, running my fingers across the hipbone peeking from beneath the blanket.
He doesn't stir, but his cock does, the head playing peek-a-boo from beneath the sheet as it swells.
I scoot closer, curling my body against his.
I can't stop touching him, running one hand up and down his stomach, then back to his hip.
Each time, he grows a little harder, his dick pulling the sheet lower until it finally slips off entirely.
I smile to myself before sliding my hand down his stomach and around his shaft. I hold the hot weight in my palm for a long moment, savoring how my fingers barely fit around him, at how intimate this feels.
I run my hand up and down his length.
As the soft rays of light spilling through my bedroom window begin burning shadows away faster than before, Noah stirs—his arm curling around me and his hips lifting from the bed. A lazy groan tumbles from his lips.
My heart stutters at that sexy, sleepy sound. I pump him again, and then again. His hips lift each time, searching out my hand.
I know the instant he's fully awake. He stills, groans, then rolls toward me.
I grumble when his cock falls from my hand.
"Mmm," he murmurs, nuzzling his face into my neck. "Good morning, Dimples."
"You're in my bed," I say.
"Fuck yeah, I am." The satisfaction in his voice makes me smile. He slides his hand up my stomach, cupping my breast. "How do you feel, baby?" he asks softly, his breath warm in my ear.
"Perfect." The dull ache between my thighs doesn't even register with his thumb brushing like butterfly wings across my nipple.
"I want to show you what I dreamed. May I?" His teeth graze my ear.
I nod, heat spreading through me at his far-too-polite question. He leans away for a moment, nudging me to roll away from him. Heat spreads faster when he curls around me again, his cock pressing between my legs from behind.
He stills, groaning. "You already feel so fucking good, Dimples." He presses a kiss to my shoulder, then lifts my leg, lining himself up with my entrance.
He doesn't push into me, though. Instead, his hand slips between my legs, his thumb swirling over my clit.
When I'm whimpering, he tilts his hips, sliding inside inch by delicious inch until I feel as full of him as I did last night—fuller, even.
He splays his hand across my stomach. "You okay?"
I nod, unable to speak through the powerful sensations twisting through me.
"Good," he murmurs, his thumb sliding over my clit again.
He doesn't move, not a single inch. He just buries his cock deep and holds it there, one hand keeping my leg hiked over his hip.
The other works slow, sweet circles around my clit.
He knows every trick already, every angle and pressure point.
It's like my body told him all its secrets last night and he remembered every one.
He kisses the back of my neck, little nips and soft, open-mouthed kisses, his beard scratching in a way that makes me shiver.
"That's it, Elsie. Let me feel you," he whispers, his voice all gravel and sugar. My name sounds like a prayer in his mouth.
I arch against him, needing friction, but he doesn't thrust. He just keeps his cock perfectly still inside me, stretching me open, coaxing all my nerve endings to the surface.
My toes curl.
I reach back, digging my fingers into his hip as I come apart around him.
"You're so beautiful like this, Elsie," he murmurs against my ear as the pleasure cracks me open in waves. "So fucking sweet—every sound, every perfect squeeze. You make me lose my mind."
"Noah," I whimper.
"I'm going to make love to you again, slowly this time.
Carefully." He finally, finally moves, pushing his hips forward as he speaks.
And somehow, after having him still inside me for so long, after being desperate while he cracked me open, that little move is enough to send me hurtling right back to the edge.
"Loving you"—he pulls back as slowly as he had surged forward—"completely.
" His hand curls around my breast again, his thumb brushing my nipple. "Stay very still."
I do as I'm told, too helpless beneath the onslaught of gritty whispers and gentle touches to do anything but listen. He makes love to me as slowly and completely as he promised, crooning as he uses his hands and body to wreck me.
The way he moves against me, the sweet words he whispers against my ear between soft moans and breathless groans—it's intimate, and so much more beautiful than the first time. I don't know how that's possible, but it is.
By the time he's ready to let me come, I'm a stuttering, pleading mess, sobbing his name.
"Fly for me, baby," he says, his mouth at my ear and his hand stroking between my legs as he rocks his hips against me.
Friction builds to a physical ache inside me, more powerful than before.
"I'll catch you. I'll always catch you," he says, his voice low and full of promise.
I sob his name as I slip off that edge again, shattering into a million glittering pieces.
He follows me over, moaning my name as he spills inside me, hot and perfect.
When I float back to earth, he's still whispering, his voice thick with sleep and emotion, his fingers stroking softly across my cheek.
"There you are," he says, smiling down at me.
I can't help but smile back.
We lie in silence for long moments, me watching him as he watches me, as if memorizing my face.
"You never said it," he finally whispers.
"Said what?" I bite the inside of my cheek to hide a smile, knowing exactly what he wants to hear but unable to resist teasing him.
His hand goes still against my cheek. "Don't tease me, baby. I need… I need to know."
My heart aches at the look in his eyes. I've never seen him so vulnerable before, like I have the power to break him.
To me, he always seems larger than life.
His confidence and strength are a shield against all the brutal shit Chicago throws at him.
But right now, he looks…human. He's just a man, putting his whole heart on the line for me, desperately hoping I don't shatter it into pieces.
I cup his cheek, brushing my fingers beneath his eye and along the sharp slant of his cheekbone. "Remember the night you told me about your challenge coins?" I ask him.
He nods against my hand.
"I knew then I'd fallen in love with you."
The breath shudders from his lungs. A slow, easy smile spreads across his face. He flops back beside me, pulling me up against his chest. "Well, damn, Dimples. Why the hell didn't you say something?"
I snuggle against him. "Fear. Doubt. I don't know. It seemed safer to keep it to myself than risk our friendship."
He doesn't say anything for a moment, then, "Yeah, I get that, baby. I really fucking do." He presses a kiss to the top of my head. "Is this worth it to you?"
"Without a doubt." I close my eyes, smiling as the last twelve hours run through my mind. I can't think of anything more worth it than this—than Noah and the soft feeling bubbling through me. It's peace, contentment, and the delicious ache of fulfillment. It's perfect.
"Same here, Dimples," he whispers to me. "Same here."
I snuggle up against him, letting him hold me.
"I hope you know you're never getting me out of your bed again," he murmurs a moment later, his lips against my shoulder.
I peek up at him. "It is pretty comfy."
"It is, but that's not what I'm talking about, baby." He tips my head back until our eyes meet. "I'm talking about the fact that I'm not sleeping across the street from you ever again."
"Are you…?" I bite my lip, trying not to get ahead of myself here.
"No," he says, rolling me beneath him. "I'm not asking, Dimples. I'm telling you that we're moving in together."
"You don't think it's too soon?"
"Do you?"
No. I want to wake up to him every day forever.
"I don't know," I whisper. "I've never done this before."
"Me either." He rests his forehead against mine. "But we're going to do it together, Elsie. Just you and me. We get to make our own timelines and rules here. What do you want? Tell me, and it's yours."
I see the look in his eyes and realize that he means it. Whatever I want, he'll give it to me.
"You, Noah," I say, wrapping myself around him like a Koala. "All I want is you. I don't care if it's too soon. I want to wake up to you forever."
His lips brush mine, his kiss sweet. "Wish granted, Dimples. I'm not going anywhere."
And he doesn't.
Within a week, most of his stuff is mixed up with my stuff all over the house. And a week after that, a 'For Sale' sign goes up in his front yard.
To no one's surprise, our first purchase together after his house sells is curtains.
Our second is a pregnancy test.