Chapter Four
Cammi
I’m halfway through brushing my hair when I hear it. A shout—sharp, sudden, wrong. I freeze, brush still in my hand. Another sound follows, louder this time. Rough. Like it’s being dragged out of someone.
My heart starts pounding immediately. “Noah?” I whisper it before I realize I’ve said it.
Another shout, worse than the last. I drop the brush. I’m already moving. The hallway feels too long. Too quiet.
I knock on his door. Hard. “Noah?”
No answer. Another thud from inside. My chest tightens. “Okay, okay… This is not fine.”
I knock again. Louder. “Noah! Open the door!”
Nothing.
“Come on. Please.”
Footsteps approach behind me. Heavy and fast. “Cammi?”
I turn. It’s Wilder.
“Something’s wrong,” I say quickly. “He’s not answering. He’s yelling.”
Wilder’s expression changes instantly. Sharp. Focused. “Step back,” he says.
I do. He pulls out a key, slides it into the lock. The door swings open. I follow Wilder into the apartment and then the bedroom.
Everything goes still.
Noah is on the bed. Thrashing. “No…no…don’t…” His voice is broken. Panicked.
But he’s not here. Not with me. He’s somewhere else entirely. I stand frozen, not knowing what to do.
“Hey,” Wilder says, moving toward him. “Noah, wake up.”
No response.
“Noah!”
He grips Noah’s shoulders and shakes him once. Firm. Noah jerks and gasps, eyes snapping open—wild, unfocused, but awake. No longer trapped wherever he was. I slowly exhale, calming my erratic heart.
“Easy,” Wilder says. “You’re good. You’re here.”
Noah’s chest heaves like he’s run miles. He scans the room. Then lands on me. Everything in his face changes.
“Cammi?”
His voice is rough. Confused. “I…yeah,” I say softly. “I’m here.”
There’s a pause. Long. Heavy. His intense blue eyes hold me in place. I can’t look away.
Wilder straightens. “You good?” he asks.
Noah nods once. Still breathing hard. “Yeah.” Then, quieter, “Thanks. For the help.”
Wilder studies him for a second. Then nods. “Alright. I’ll leave you two.”
Two?
I open my mouth, but he’s already walking out. Besides, I’m still worried about leaving Noah alone. The door closes behind him. And now it’s just us. Silence fills the room. Suddenly, I no longer feel brave. I shift awkwardly by the bedroom door.
“I can go if you—”
“No.” The word comes out fast. Too fast. He blinks. “I mean…” He exhales. “Don’t go. Not yet.”
My heart does something strange. “Okay,” I say quietly.
I step further inside. His room is…bare. Just a bed. A dresser. Nothing else. “No chair?” I ask, trying to lighten the moment.
A faint smirk tugs at his mouth. “Didn’t think I’d need one.”
I nod slowly. Silence again. He runs a hand through his hair. “Sorry you had to see that.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
He looks at me. Really looks. “You should be asleep,” he says.
“I don’t sleep this early.”
He huffs. “Lucky you.”
I tilt my head. “You don’t sleep at all?”
A pause. “Not much.”
That explains everything. “Do you…want me to stay?” I ask.
The question hangs between us. His jaw tightens slightly. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t.” And I don’t. Not even a little.
I cross to the bed and sit carefully at the edge. He watches me like he’s still deciding whether this is real.
“Do you want to talk about it? The dreams?” I ask hesitantly.
Noah exhales aloud and scrubs a hand over his face. “They’re not dreams. They’re flashbacks…from my time in the Army.” Then those dark, tortured blue eyes find me. “War can be brutal. Now, I have PTSD, and loud noises set me off. Most nights, the flashbacks come for me as night terrors.”
I can feel his frustration and shame. “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”
He smiles. “I know, angel. You’ve got an expressive face.”
I wrinkle my nose, and my chest warms at his soft chuckle. “What do you usually do when you can’t sleep?” I ask.
“Wait for morning.”
“That sounds depressing.”
“It is.”
I smile slightly. “Okay. We’re not doing that tonight.”
He raises a brow.
“We’re watching a movie.”
“A movie.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t have a TV.”
I hold up my phone. “Good thing I do.” I wink.
For the first time since I walked in, he actually laughs. He shifts back against the headboard, and I settle beside him. Not too close. But not far, either.
“You’re serious?” he asks, eyeing my phone.
“Very.”
“What are we watching?”
“Something important.”
“That sounds suspicious.”
I gasp softly. “Excuse you. This is a classic.”
He raises a brow. “I don’t believe you.”
“You will.”
I pull up The Princess Bride and press play, angling the screen so we can both see. A swordfight, a kidnapping, a farm boy who answers everything with “As you wish.” A few minutes in, he glances at me.
“Is this old?”
I scoff. “It’s timeless. Just trust me—nobody gets through the part with the giant without smiling.”
He hums like he’s reserving judgment.
“Just watch,” I mutter.
We fall into a quiet rhythm—the soft glow of the screen, the low murmur of the movie, the steady sound of his breathing beside me. It’s nice. But the silence thickens despite the movie playing. Then, I feel his gaze. I turn without thought, and I’m held in place by hypnotic eyes.
“We should—um—watch the movie,” I say quickly.
“Right.”
Neither of us looks at the screen. Another beat of silence. Then his hand brushes mine. My breath catches.
“Cammi.”
“Yeah?”
“Tell me to stop.”
My heart stutters. “Why?”
“Because I don’t think I can.”
My pulse is everywhere. “I don’t want you to.”
That’s all it takes.
He leans in, slamming his lips to mine. The phone slides away, and an instant shockwave passes through my body. My hands grip his wide shoulders as his hand cradles the back of my head, holding me where he wants me. The kiss turns hungrier, his lips sliding over mine, sending heat down to my core.
Every movement is heady and possessive like he can’t get enough.
Heat ignites slowly, sending waves of desire everywhere as he nips my lower lip, sucking it deeply.
I’ve never felt anything like this. It’s terrifying and exhilarating at once.
Slowly, his hand glides down along my collarbone—feather-light touches that make me sigh.
The kiss deepens, his tongue sliding against mine. I gasp at the sensation flooding me. The tension in my core winds tighter. His fingers graze my tight nipples through my shirt, and I jerk softly in his arms.
“Noah…” I whisper against his lips. Panicked.
He stops at once. “What is it, angel?” he asks, concerned.
My chest heaves as I swallow softly. “I—I don’t understand what’s happening to me. I’m not… I’ve never—” I stop. His soft gaze stays on me. Waiting. I exhale gently. “I’ve never done this.”
He presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “Then we don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with, angel.”
“I want to. I do. Just…not all of it.”
“Then we go slow.” His voice drops, certain and low. “I’m not going to give you more than you can take. But I’m going to give you everything you can.” A pause, his mouth at my ear. “You let me decide how much that is. Can you do that for me?”
I nod against him. “Yes.”
“Good girl.”
He pulls back just enough to strip off his shirt.
I suck in a sharp breath at the sight of him—broad, carved with muscle.
I’ve imagined what Noah looked like under his clothes, but imagination doesn’t come close.
A second later, I’m back in his arms, drowning in his scent, his lips finding mine again.
He eases my top up and off, revealing my breasts. The kiss breaks on a small gasp. My mind is all scrambled. Then, his mouth travels down my jaw to my throat, lighting up every nerve.
Warm hands cup my breasts in those same feather-light strokes. My gasps melt into soft moans as my nipples tighten to beads.
“Look at me, angel.” His tone is almost a growl. Gentle and commanding at once. It goes straight to my core, and I can’t help but obey.
My eyes flutter open just in time to watch him draw one tight peak into his mouth while his thumb rolls the other.
The dual sensation causes me to jerk, pushing my chest into his hand and mouth.
A loud moan escapes me. I want—I don’t even know what I want.
Noah sucks harder and nips softly. He then moves to the other side and blows warm air across it.
Goosebumps spread over my skin, and my whole body draws tighter.
I fist his hair with one hand and clutch the bed sheet with the other.
I don’t understand why my core aches like this, but I need relief.
He takes a soft nip that triggers another breathy moan from me, then sucks hard—harder than I expect—while strumming my other nipple.
Heat builds. I can’t look away from his hypnotic blue eyes.
The tight feeling grows and grows until a mini aftershock racks my body.
“Noah!” My voice cracks, panicked. I grip his hair tighter, jerking softly beneath him.
“It’s alright, angel,” he murmurs against my breast, licking and sucking. “Let go.”
This feeling should ebb. It doesn’t. It feels like a calm before the storm, buildings. Slowly he releases me and slides lower, drawing my panties down as he goes.
“Fuck, angel. You’re soaking.”
I jerk my hips at the warmth of his breath on my clit, moaning low in my throat. He parts me and blows softly. I grind into the bed, the sensation overwhelming. I feel slick heat sliding free.
“So responsive,” he whispers, drawing my pleasure out.
“Noah, p-please,” I beg, bucking wildly.
“What do you want, angel?” he asks before sliding his thumb over my clit in tight, slow circles.
“Ah— …” My whole body shudders. “Please. I—I want—”
I don’t have time to finish. He closes his lips over my clit and sucks hard. At the same time, he eases a single finger inside me—shallow, careful, just past the first knuckle, giving me time to stretch around him.
“Noah!” I buck harder, moaning aloud.
I feel it everywhere—heat racing down my spine to where his mouth is. My moans become louder with every gentle slide of his finger, the tension building with each deep pull of his lips. He keeps it shallow, unhurried, coaxing rather than taking.
He presses his tongue firmly against my clit, and that’s the thing that breaks me. I buck hard against him and come, moaning long and loud, pleading for more as the sensation crashes over me. I twist the sheet tighter in my fist.
Noah releases me and slides up my body. “Look at me,” he orders.
I obey. Blue eyes bright with need hold mine. I can’t look away. My body still wants more, like it hasn’t been fully sated. I whimper softly, and he leans down and takes my mouth in a searing kiss, like he read my mind.
I close my eyes and savor it—the slide of our lips, the taste of myself on his tongue.
It sends fresh aftershocks through me, something strong winding up again in my belly.
He settles his weight fully over me. settles his weight fully over me as his cock presses against my pussy through his boxers, and I shiver.
My hand slides to his back as he rocks against me—he takes, I give. Shockwaves roll through me as Noah grinds his cock harder, and somehow, the tension climbs again. Soft moans become whimpers of need with every grind, every thrust.
Then Noah stiffens. His movements become fast and jerky, triggering my release. I come undone, moaning, babbling something I won’t remember. A low grunt tears out of Noah, and I feel wetness on my thighs.
With one last tender kiss, he lets go of my lips. He shifts to the side, pulling me into his arms. Soft kisses land on my forehead, my temple, my chin. I smile dreamily, even as my heart tightens with an unnamed feeling.
I slowly start to drift—then jerk awake as Noah moves away. He turns back at my small sound of protest. “I need to clean you up. I’ll be right back, angel.” He presses a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth.
I nod. When he comes back with a warm, damp towel, I sigh. He gently wipes my thighs, tosses the towel aside, and settles back in, pulling me close until our lips nearly touch and our eyes drink each other in.
My heart races as emotion swamps me. No one’s ever wanted me this close or this much. Not even my mother. Noah doesn’t say much, but his every action speaks louder. My breath catches, and I gasp softly against his lips.
His grip tightens just slightly. “Cammi.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
My chest tightens. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do.”
“For what?”
“For staying.”
I smile softly against his lips. “I wasn’t going anywhere.”
A pause. “Good.” His voice is quieter now. Sleepier.
I close my eyes and smile. Because for the first time in a long time, I feel seen.
Wanted.