Chapter 34
Noa
N oa had a new plan. After an ‘everything shower’, and feeling more like herself than she had twenty-four hours earlier, she was determined to go through with it.
Tonight, she would know what it was like to be with Alex Fletcher.
Truly be with him. Not some quick drunken shuffle in the sheets when neither of them knew what they were doing.
Tonight, she wanted to give it all up for him.
The thought had static electricity thrumming through her veins with anticipation.
In the shower, she couldn’t think of anything else.
The visual of what it would be like to have her hands tangled in his dark hair as he looked up at her with molten eyes from where he was buried between her legs meant she had spent the whole time fighting the urge to get herself off before he even arrived.
God, she really did feel like a horny teenager when it came to him.
So, after sending off a text asking him to come over, she sat on her bed, a thrumming between her legs, and she felt nervous for the first time since deciding what she wanted and setting out to get it.
There was a rapping at the door, and she stood, quickly shuffling over to it.
‘Hey, come in,’ she said.
‘Is something wrong?’ Alex scanned her, again looking for any sign of injuries.
He tended to do that a lot, but just the feeling of having his eyes tracing over her set her body alight.
The air in the room felt non-existent, and suddenly, all the confidence and bravado she had earlier slipped away as she took in his six-foot-two, towering form in the doorway.
Her mouth was like sandpaper, throat tight as she struggled to choke out any words.
‘No. I… I… well… I…’
She shook her head and looked down at the floor. She needed to get it together. Why was it so hard to ask for what she wanted?
Maybe, because all we are taught as women is that we shouldn’t go after it, that our needs are less important or silly.
Or maybe, because the last time she had asked for what she wanted in the bedroom, she had been shut down immediately by her ex who liked to ‘keep things simple’.
It was clear now that his ice cream flavour of choice was vanilla, and hers was raspberry ripple.
Both very yummy and admirable flavours, but you can’t switch out one for the other.
The memory still made her feel vulnerable when she thought about putting herself out there and talking about sex.
Suddenly, like he could sense her spiralling inside her own head, Alex’s hands brushed against the skin at her collar bone, then her chin was locked between his fingers and being lifted to look at him.
‘Use your words, Trouble. Tell me what you want.’
That name that she once hated she now didn’t want him to call her anything else.
‘I want you. Like, really want you.’
He made no move to take what she was willing to give, but his eyes darkened.
That wasn’t just a saying she read in one of her books anymore, she actually saw it.
The blacks bleeding into those amber irises, until all that was left was unmistakable, raw desire.
It was clear that no one had ever looked at her that way until right now, because, before that, Noa had just thought they were pretty words on pages. No.
Sizzling heat smouldered between them. So much lust and need.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Not three months ago, Noa thought Alex was a walking red flag, but right now all she could see was fifty shades of green.
She wanted him more than she had wanted anyone, and she had just laid that bare for him.
‘It’s been a long day, Noa. I’m going to need you to be a little bit clearer.’
The challenge in his words that would have usually made her feel shy and retreat, just made her bold. She had never been so sure of anything, and if he needed her to prove that, then she wouldn’t waste another second.
Before she could second guess herself, she fisted her hands in his shirt, pulling him toward her.
She kissed him tentatively, at first, but he returned it in spades.
He grabbed the flesh of her hips, sending jolts of pleasure to her core and he spun them, pushing her against the door.
With one hand travelling up her body to cup her cheek and the other resting on the wall next to her head on the wall, he boxed her in, pulling away for a second before he dove straight back in, his lips crashing against hers.
The kiss turned desperate, like they were running out of time for something, but she wasn’t sure what.
A delicious heat coiled between her legs and pooled there.
She had never felt this turned on in her life, and all he had done was kiss her.
His mouth slowly let-up from her lips, travelling toward her ear, then her pulse point, nibbling as he went.
His breath was hot against her skin, yet it left goose bumps in its wake.
She let out a moan, and it seemed to spur him on to continue his assault on her senses.
Their bodies were pressed together against the wall, but she pulled his shirt, still wanting him closer.
He smelt musky, like tobacco and spices and sex.
It was her new favourite scent, and she wished she could bottle it up.
His smell alone was almost enough to make her come undone, and she moaned again. She was aware that she was a panting mess, and she was sure that, if he wasn’t holding her up, she would be a puddle on the floor. But she didn’t care.
‘God, I could listen to that sound every second of every day and it wouldn’t be enough,’ he growled close to her ear.
More goose bumps scattered across her skin like gooseflesh.
Without warning, he let go of her, stepping back and looking her up and down with a hunger she had never seen before.
The way he looked at her with lust-filled eyes made her feel vulnerable and powerful all at the same time.
She hated the space between them but, with his eyes roaming up and down her unapologetically, she was glued to the spot, unable to move.
Despite the way he looked at her now, she could still see a part of him holding back and she didn’t want him to.
She knew what it was like to overthink things.
She had done enough of that for the both of them, but she had decided enough was enough.
She needed to get him out of his head. Taking a deep breath, she reached behind her, slowly unzipping her dress and letting it fall to her feet.
‘Jesus,’ he breathed, his fists flexing at his sides like he was dying to touch her but needed permission.
He looked her up and down as if committing every inch to memory. She just stood there, letting him take her in for a long minute, before she spoke the words she hoped would pull him from his daze.
‘What are you waiting for?’