67. Willow
WILLOW
NOVEMBER PRESENT DAY
Throwing that first bottle and hearing it explode, sending the ignited liquid spraying all over the kitchen was the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done. The room that has caused me to wake up in a cold sweat crying and screaming more times than I can count. It’ll finally be destroyed.
I can hear the sirens cutting through the icy air. I'm shivering. The dampness has soaked up my legs past my knees, and I can hardly feel my skin I’m so cold.
The firetruck, police, and EMS pull into the driveway blocking us in. Multiple men and women jump out of each vehicle and come rushing over to us demanding to know what happened.
I want to speak, but I can't. I'm too stunned watching this hellhole be turned into a pile of smoldering debris right in front of my eyes. There were enough old, half-drunk bottles of alcohol hidden throughout the house to help feed the fire.
“Go wait in the car. I'll be there shortly,” Noah whispers in my ear.
Noah kisses me, pulling me back to reality. The cops are there waiting for one of us to talk to them, and that's exactly what Noah is going to do. He is the owner of the house after all.
I climb into the truck and crank up the heat to full blast. I grab one of his jackets off the back seat and wrap it around myself as I turn on the heated seats for both of us.
In the flames' light, I can see Noah talking to the cops. He's gesturing to me then back at the house. Is he telling them who I am? No. He wouldn't risk that.
The cop nods before gesturing his team to move out. One firefighter throws his arms in the air and yells something at Noah before storming away.
Noah nods at the cop and shakes his hand showing him his phone one last time. Probably to prove he is the owner of the home.
I still can't believe he did that for me…I mean, I can after everything he told me tonight, but still this is insane. He truly is my Prince Charming, my knight in shining armor who rescued me.
Jenna’s going to lose her fucking mind.
Maybe it's time I come clean about my past to her. I owe her that much after all these years. She's been there for me through my panic attacks and nightmares without ever questioning why.
Noah walks slowly back to the truck before hopping in and waving one last time to the cops.
“I explained everything. I told him I needed to destroy it to get rid of the memories of losing the people who were like a second family to me.
When I told him who I was, he remembered my father, and everything else didn't seem to matter after that.
His fire chief wasn't too happy, but it is what it is.
I have to pay a fine for doing this without a permit or getting them involved, but that's it.”
“Shit, Noah. I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about…”
“Shh. I knew what the repercussions would be before we did this. I'd rather pay a fine than have you wait one more day to be rid of this place.”
His hand cups the back of my head and he kisses me. My entire body flares to life when he does. A small nip to his lower lip in the same spot I bit earlier has his fingers tangling in my hair and deepening the kiss with a growl.
A knock on the window shatters our moment, and I can feel the irritation radiating off of him. It’s kind of hot. The fire chief from earlier is standing there waiting impatiently for Noah to roll down the window.
“Yes?” Noah says as the window lowers halfway.
“You look familiar,” the chief says as he looks past Noah, directly at me.
He's younger, around our age, so he might have even been someone we went to school with back then, but I don’t remember.
My throat feels like there’s a knot forming.
I always knew there was a risk of someone recognizing me around here because of how much I look like my mother when she was my age, but I guess I never thought it would happen.
He glances over at the smoldering building then slowly back at me. His eyes widen and his mouth drops open.
“It's you…You’re Wi…”
“Please don’t finish that sentence,” Noah says with a firm, deadly tone.
“But she…”
“I know what it looks like, but I’m asking you to please be discreet about this,” he says, cutting the fire chief off.
He glances back at the house one last time before looking back at me.
“You probably wouldn’t remember me. I was two years older than you. I’m Kyle Bentley. My family and I were your neighbors.”
He gestures back over his shoulder to where his family's farm is.
“You had a dog named Bosco, right?”
He smiles a genuine smile at that, one of the only other expressions besides a scowl I’ve seen on his face all night.
“Yep. Wow. I just can’t believe you’re here. When the sheriff told me his family name, I just had this feeling it was you. I’m so sorry for what happened back then. I’m the one who called the police that night. I had my window open and heard the screams. I’m so fucking sorry, Wi…Miss.”
“It’s okay. There’s nothing anyone could have done. He was crazy.”
My stomach hurts a little less with him seeming to understand that this needs to be kept quiet.
“If you need anything, anything at all, just give me a call. Okay?” he says as he reaches past Noah to hand me his card, but Noah snatches it out of his hand.
Kyle pulls his hand back and glares at him. I swear, Noah actually seems to sit up taller to make himself look bigger even though he’s already taller and more muscular than Kyle.
Men…I swear.
“Thank you, Kyle. I'll keep that in mind.”
“We have to get going now. Have a good night, Bentley.”
“That’s Chief Bentley, Anderson.”
“Night, Chief Bentley.” I wave as I take Noah’s hand with my other.
“You can always call me Kyle.”
He smiles at me before glaring back at Noah and turning on his heels to walk back over to where his men are dousing the remaining fire with water.
Noah rolls back up the window before putting the car in reverse and getting us out of the driveway. As soon as we’re back on the main road, his hand immediately goes back to my thigh.
“Willow, you’re soaked.”
In more ways than one, but I’m not about to confess that right now when we have a long drive ahead of us.
“I’ll be fine. I’m warm enough now. Let’s just get back to your house. I need a hot shower.”
He silently nods before rubbing my leg trying to make sure I’m not lying about being warm enough. I can tell he doesn’t like that Kyle recognized me. I didn’t like it either, but unfortunately it happened.
“You doing okay?” he asks as his hand moves to the back of my neck and starts lightly massaging it.
The feeling of his skillful fingers on the tight muscles in my neck is like heaven. I turn my head back and forth letting my neck crack as the tension leaves. Then his thumb digs into a spot that has my whole body shuddering and a moan escaping my lips.
“Oh, God.”
“Jesus, Willow. You can’t make those kinds of noises right now,” he growls as his fingers continue to work my neck muscles.
“But it just feels so. Fucking. Good.” I let each word flow off my tongue.
When I glance over at him, he's trying so hard to focus on the road, but I can see his eyes keep darting over to look at me. His pants are tight against his crotch, and there’s absolutely no hiding how turned on he is right now.
My body aches from the chaos of the last few days. I’m tired, but I also feel wired and aroused from the high of lighting that place up and watching it burn to the ground.
“Noah,” I purr as I lift the center console so the bench seat is fully open for me to slide closer to him.
“Yes, Willow?”
I unbuckle my seatbelt and slide a bit closer to him. His hand is still on the back of my neck, and I can feel him tensing up, unsure of what I’m going to do.
“How good are you at multitasking while driving?” I ask coyly.
“Decent…Wait, why?” he glances back at me confused before focusing back on the road.
“I was just thinking of a way to repay you for everything you did for me tonight.”
I turn my body and glance around us at the surrounding road. Thankfully, there aren’t many cars on the road. Less likely to get caught.
I place my hand on his thigh and watch a smirk form on his lips.
“Oh, have you? And what would that be, Little Rabbit?”
I shift on the seat and lie down where my head is resting on his thigh. I can hear his breath stutter as he tightens his grip on the wheel.
He looks down at me as my hand slides up his thigh to his zipper before slowly lowering it. His eyes look almost pitch black at this angle, and the way he’s looking at me has my body begging for his touch.
“Keep your eyes on the road, Mr. Anderson.”
He practically moans when I pull his cock out of his pants. It’s already hard and pre-cum’s beading at the tip. I watch his attention return to the road before I let my tongue lick along the tip of his cock.
“Fuck, Willow,” he hisses as I begin licking his length.
I can smell the fire on his skin, and it’s even more arousing. He said he’d burn the world for me, and that’s what he did. My thighs clench as I shift to lie more on my side so I can get a better angle.
His right hand moves back to its spot on the back of my neck, and I can feel my pussy clench from the sensation. I don’t know why the back of my neck is so sensitive, but I swear he could control me like a fucking puppet with just two fingers on the back of my neck.
I let my lips cover the head as I slowly slide him into my mouth. My tongue caresses along the tip, and I can feel his body shudder. I pull back and let his cock fall from my lips. He looks down at me, and I smirk.
“Don’t tease me, Little Rabbit,” he growls.
I let my tongue run along his entire length before flicking the tip. His grip tightens on the back of my neck as his dark eyes look down at me with a heated desire.
“Deep breath, Miss Bennett. I’m going to enjoy this.