Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
SUMMER
I don't know the last time I was this horny. It might've been the other day when Noah had me pinned against the wall, fucking me until I wasn't angry again, only to make me angrier.
It could be the first time he touched me.
Either way, I'm looking at him sleeping beside me now, the first time in a long time, and I want him.
And here I thought our relationship was supposed to be something more than just sex.
But he doesn't want a life that's anything more than that, at least not enough to figure out how it would work beyond opening up to me just a little.
I don't need more to want to suck his cock, though.
The sheets are already half thrown from his naked body, his muscles lightly highlighted by the light streaming through the window.
I reach over, tracing a finger along his cock, his skin nearly as silky as the sheets.
He shifts, but his eyes are still closed.
I continue to tease his length with my finger, circling the tip with each pass before sliding back down.
His cock twitches, starting to rise.
I get to my knees and crawl down the bed, positioning myself between his legs.
When my tongue traces up his cock, he lets out a soft sigh. His eyes are still closed, hands at his side.
Smirking, I flick my tongue over the tip, getting wetter at just the thought of waking him up while I swallow him whole.
As I take him into my mouth, he moans, eyes fluttering open.
His heated gaze locks on mine, his hands going up to link together behind his head. Noah doesn't make any movement to stop me, his eyelids heavy as I take him to the back of my mouth.
His hips rock a little, encouraging me to swallow him, but I'm the one in control here.
I go back to teasing him with my tongue, sucking on the head before starting another pass with my tongue.
"If you're going to keep teasing me, I'm going to take control."
I rake my nails down his thighs, enjoying the shiver that rolls through his body. "No, you're not. You've had enough of the control, and for once, I'm going to be the one dictating how this goes."
He smirks and nods, giving me permission to do what I want to him.
It irritates me, but my pussy is too wet now to even want to stop.
I need him inside me, but I want to tease him the way he's been teasing me. I want him to want me like there's nothing else in the world he'd rather be doing right now.
My teeth graze his cock, tongue pressing hard against the underside.
He groans, his hips rising again.
I pull back, instead choosing to trace my teeth and tongue over his pelvis.
When I start sucking on the skin there, intent on leaving marks on his body like he scatters on mine, he groans, one hand flying to the back of my head.
His fingers sink into my hair, but he doesn't try to control me. Instead, he's pulling the strands back for me, giving me less to worry about as I focus on his cock, pumping my hand up and down his length.
He rocks his hips into my touch, using my fist to fuck himself.
I stop pumping, squeezing tight and holding him there.
"I told you, I'm the one who gets control this time." I give one slow pump, enjoying the way his head tips back against the pillows like he's in that addictive spot between pleasure and pain.
"Fuck," he hisses through his teeth.
I wrap my lips around his cock, working my hand and mouth in time with each other.
His soft moan already has me aching, wanting more of him than I have right now.
Instead, I keep teasing both of us, letting go of his cock to tease him with my tongue again, flattening it against his balls and dragging it up his length.
When his grip on my hair tightens, I crawl up his body, nipping and sucking my path along his skin, teasing him while he shifts beneath me like he can't wait for the moment he's inside me.
Having that kind of power over him is addictive.
It wipes away all the thoughts about not having any control, about not knowing where this is going.
I might not want to admit it to myself, but I know that he's reeled me in, hook, line, and sinker.
And as I position myself over his cock, rolling my hips, I tease him as the tip of his cock just barely brushes against my pussy. I plant my hands on his chest, trying to keep myself stable as he starts running his hands up and down the curves of my body.
When his thumbs stroke my nipples, I nearly lose my balance and come down onto him even though I want to keep teasing him.
My nails dig into his chest, and I slowly lower myself down.
His cock stretches me out.
I moan, rolling my hips and taking my time to adjust to him. The second I start rocking, there's a delicious friction between my clit and his pelvis.
Noah grabs me by the hips, shifting to sit up a little more, leaning back against the headboard.
My back arches as I dig my nails into his skin, holding on while I roll and rock my hips.
"Fuck, yes." He leans forward, taking one of my nipples in his mouth.
My pussy pulses, arousal making my body clench tight as he bites down. "Fuck, yes, keep doing that."
He alternates between the stiff peaks, sucking and biting them until I feel like I'm going to come from just his touch.
He drags my earlobe between his teeth. "I want you to come all over my cock."
One hand comes up to grip my throat, fingers pressing against either side, making it a little harder to breathe.
It only adds to the pleasure as he lifts his hips, taking control from beneath me, slamming into me until my orgasm tears through me.
Noah keeps pumping into me, waiting until I relax again before flipping us over. "Sit up."
I do as he says, watching the way his hand wraps around his thick cock, stroking up and down, his thumb passing over the head.
As soon as I'm sitting, he kneels between my legs, cupping the back of my head and putting the tip of his cock against my lips.
He slams in, pushing straight to the back of my mouth.
My vision blurs, tears welling in my eyes, but I do my best to take him as deep as I can, sucking him until his cock stiffens.
Though I struggle to swallow, he keeps himself pinned to the back of my mouth until the last ropes of his cum spill into me, and then he pulls out.
His lips find mine, our kiss deepening for a moment before he sits back and eyes me hesitantly. "I thought you were still mad at me."
"I am, but I needed cock." I get out of bed, adding a sway to my hips as I head to the bathroom, knowing he's watching me.
It might be wrong, but even though I know he's never going to be the person I think he could be, there's still something so good about the orgasms he gives me.
\\\*
Noah appears in the doorway to the library, his arms crossed, storm clouds on his face. "We're going for a walk."
"I don't think that's a good idea right now. I have things I need to do." I brandish one of my textbooks at him. "I have a test I need to get ready for, and then there are several projects coming up."
"And a walk is a good thing. I know they taught you in school that taking a break every now and then is good for your brain, so get up and let's go."
The tone of his voice leaves little room for argument, and I get to my feet, putting the book on the table beside the plush black chair.
Noah stays a couple of steps ahead of me, leading the way out of the house and through the backyard. He says nothing for a long time until we enter the gardens.
Vines pour out of raised beds, sprawling across the cobblestones. The rose bushes look like they're grown, flowers starting to bloom even bigger than before.
"Why did you want to take a walk?" I follow him around a curve in the path, heading for a little fountain on the far side of the garden.
"How much do you actually like law school?"
"A lot. I know it might sound strange, based on my family and all that, but there's something about rigid rules that calls to me." I kick a rock, sending it skittering.
"There are exceptions to those rules, though." He looks over his shoulder at me.
I eye him before shrugging a shoulder. "Yeah, there are."
He could be the exception to the rule if I were willing to stay here with him. If I were content with just being another bird in a cage again, I wouldn't have to worry about a thing.
I'm never going to be happy like that. I know I wouldn't be, not when I spent my entire life that way and dreamed about the day I'd finally get out.
"Would you ever live somewhere else and practice law?"
I hum and shrug again. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not tied to New York, and I'd like to get out and really see more of the world, but transferring while I'm in law school would likely be a bit better. I wouldn't pass the bar here and then have to take another one in another state."
He nods like he's considering what I said. "You'd still have to learn the state laws, though."
"I would, but it seems less intimidating to do it while I'm still in school."
"Where'd you live if you could live anywhere in the world?"
"On the other coast," I say without giving it a moment of thought.
He turns to me, surprise in his eyes and the warm breeze ruffling his hair. "Why?"
"You're full of questions today."
Noah says nothing, his eyebrow arching as he waits.
I squirm a little, not sure how deep I want to get into things with a man I don't think is ever going to love me. I don't even know if I could ever love him.
But there's a feeling sitting just below my ribs that I know I'm not ready to even think about putting a name to. One that needs to see another side of him, to see what the future could be.
I need to see him realize he could be more if he really wanted to be.
"Why, Summer?" Noah asks again, his tone stern as we leave the gardens, strolling up a hill on the far side of the property.
"Because I want to be so far from my family that their shit can't drag me down anymore."
"And if I could give that to you, one day, then what?"
We crest the hill, and at the bottom is a small lake shimmering beneath the afternoon sun.
"I'd want to know that you were going to stay. I'd need to know that you value the woman I am, not the one people try to force me to be. I'd need you to see that you could be more too."
"And if I'm not capable of being more?"
"Then you don't see yourself like I do."
As I peel my shirt off over my head, I'm already toeing off my shoes and socks.
I look over my shoulder at him while reaching for the clasp on my bra.
His gaze rakes up and down my body.
I peel off the rest of my clothing as I walk down to the lake, standing naked at the edge for a moment before getting into the chilly water. Even with the sun beating down from above, there's still an initial shock in getting into the water.
Turning around and sinking beneath the water until it's lapping at my collarbones, I motion to him. "You coming?"
Noah walks toward the lake, stripping as he does.
It's like my own personal show. I don't know if we're ever going to stay off each other long enough to talk about anything important, but this seems like a start.
I don't know what's going on in his head as he follows me deeper into the lake.
His hand wraps around my ankle beneath the water, and he pulls me closer.
My legs wrap around his waist as he stands, the water at the base of his neck.
"Why all the questions?"
His arms band around my waist as he holds me close. "Because I need to figure some things out in my life. And I thought figuring you out might be a good place to start."
Chuckling, I trail my hands along his shoulders, enjoying the way his muscles flex beneath my touch. "You know, talking like that is starting to make it hard to think you're a monster."
His cock is already hard and pressing against me. "Don't get it backwards. I'm horrible. You should be running for your life right now."
"No, I think I've got other things I want to do with you."
Noah smirks, his lips brushing over mine. "And what might that be?"
Hector jogs down from the top of the hill, stopping at the edge of the lake, averting his eyes while I sink back beneath the water. "We've got a problem!"
"What is it?" Noah moves in front of me slightly, blocking more of me from sight.
Hector grabs my clothing and piles it on the bank for me. "There's a matter that needs to be handled at the Long Island warehouse. We need to hurry."
\\\*
When we turn into the warehouse parking lot and see the thin plumes of smoke curling from the windows and swirling into the sky, I know something's wrong.
Really wrong.
Noah clenches the wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white.
People pour from the building, but as they do, gunshots are fired. One person after another hits the ground.
Noah glances over at me. "You need to stay here. I can't be worried about you."
"No." I glance at the building, the first glimpse of orange flames flickering up the side of the cement structure, peeking through the windows. "You're going to get hurt. Just—"
He shakes his head, checking his gun to make sure it's loaded before opening his door. "I mean it, Summer. Stay the fuck here."
I stay in the car as Noah runs toward the building, the smoke getting thicker, the flames climbing higher.
When he opens the door and disappears inside, my heart seizes in my chest.
I'm torn between going after him and staying here.
Hector isn't enough backup, though. Not where there are people shooting at them outside and a fire going inside.
Ten minutes. That's all I'm going to give him.
And then I have to go in there after him.