23. Noah
Noah
Iwatched Bailey slide to her knees, and my cock twitched. I had imagined this moment countless times, but reality was still infinitely better than anything I could have pictured.
She sucked on the tip of my cock, those wide doe eyes locked onto mine before she swallowed and let me slide deeper, trusting me enough to take me all the way to the back of her throat. Her mouth felt incredible, and I was already struggling to maintain control.
“Just like that, baby. Jesus, fuck,” I groaned. My fingers threaded into her wet hair, and I rolled my hips slowly, testing, giving her time to adjust. She was incredible, taking everything I gave her and still hungry for more.
“That’s it,” I breathed. “So fucking perfect.”
I increased the pace of my thrusts and gave my girl every inch of me. She might have been the one kneeling, but she certainly held all the power.
She swirled her tongue around, adding in her hand to stroke my entire length.
I looked down at her, checking to make sure she was okay, before taking a firmer grasp on her head and fucking into her mouth.
Every time I hit the back of her throat, her grip on my thighs tightened, almost daring me to see how much she could take.
“You love this, don’t you?” I grunted. “You like knowing that I worship the ground you walk on but can also fuck your pretty mouth however I want.”
She moaned around my cock and swallowed me deeper, drool dripping out the side of her mouth.
“I’m going to come, Bailey,” I warned, voice rough. “And I want you to swallow it all. Are you okay with that? Look at me.”
She held my gaze and nodded, lips still wrapped around me, her hands shifting to grab my ass.
“Good girl.”
I thrust once more before I spilled down the back of her throat with a groan that I couldn’t hold back. Something primal lit up inside me at the thought of her swallowing my cum, something I’d have to unpack later.
I gathered her in my arms, guiding her up and pressing my mouth to hers—slower this time. Softer, too. I could taste myself on her lips and felt something dangerously close to love settle in my chest.
“You were so good, baby,” I murmured against her mouth. “So fucking beautiful.”
She gave me a small, almost shy smile. “Yeah? It’s been a minute for me since I’ve been intimate with anyone,” she said quietly.
I brushed my thumb across her cheek.
“You were utter perfection,” I said.
I slid my hand down her back before landing a playful smack on her ass. “But no referencing past men when you’re naked in my shower, peaches.”
I quickly dried Bailey off, exhaustion from the day settling over us as we fell into bed.
“I’m nervous about tomorrow,” Bailey murmured against my chest.
It was pitch-black in my bedroom, and I wondered if the darkness surrounding us was making her feel more vulnerable.
“Tell me what’s making you nervous,” I said, smoothing a hand down her still-damp hair. I felt her exhale against my skin before she spoke again.
“I don’t come from a big family, and next to the definition of narcissists would be a picture of my parents,” she sighed. “I won’t know how to fit in with you all.”
“Bailey,” I said gently, brushing my thumb along her jaw until she looked at me. “First off, you don’t need to fit in. You’ve already carved out a permanent spot in the Whitaker family with or without me.”
Her breath caught slightly.
“But also, all of your interactions with Grant and Eli? You fit in a long time ago from where I’m standing,” I said. I could tell that she was still nervous and figured a little vulnerability from my side could only help.
“You know that my dad left when I was young, right? Theo doesn’t remember him at all, but I was old enough to remember just how shitty of a father he was.”
Bailey threaded her fingers with mine, tightening her grip on me.
“He was never around, always hanging out at one bar or another, and when he was home, he treated Ma like the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. He was never appreciative. Never told any of us how much he loved us. Never did the one thing a father is supposed to do, which is support his fucking family.”
I sighed, adjusting Bailey so she was lying on top of me.
“He’s why I can have such a poor work-life balance and why I never know how to turn it off.
Taking care of this family is my responsibility now, and I don’t take that lightly.
The only bright spot in his leaving is how close the rest of us got.
We defend each other fiercely, and we are the only ones allowed to give each other shit.
We show up, and we love hard, and you get to be a part of that.
You are a part of that. So, no, there’s nothing you need to do to fit in except be your lovely self. ”
“I hate to break it to you, but I’m not sure we’re going to work out if we both have parental trauma,” Bailey whispered.
I barked out a laugh. “I’ll let you in on a secret. Ma helped me plan today’s date.”
Her eyebrows shot up.
“She’s hoping that if she contributes early on, I’ll let her name my firstborn son.”
Her eyes widened in mild panic. I laughed softly and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Kidding…mostly. But she already knows how I feel about you and about us. She’s been rooting for you since day one.” I settled her head firmly under my chin and rubbed circles against her bare back.
“There is nothing you could do to get on her bad side,” I added. “Unless you insult her mac and cheese. And even then, she’d probably just feed you more until you changed your mind.”
“Oh my god. Is she making that? You know how I feel about cheese,” she whined.
I smiled into her hair. “I’ll protect you from the dairy.” And when she laughed softly into my chest, I knew she believed me.
Bailey messed with her hair for the fifteenth time as we pulled into Ma’s driveway.
“Peaches.” She whipped her head toward me. “You’re going to make yourself go bald if you keep tugging on your pretty hair like that.”
“Right.” She slid her hands under her thighs, gnawing on the side of her lip now.
She wore a stunning yellow sundress that exposed her smooth shoulders, and how I was expected to act like a gentleman for the entirety of dinner was beyond me. I unbuckled her, tugging her as close as I could inside my truck.
“Hey, baby?” I asked.
“Hm?” she responded.
“You know I’m crazy about you, right?”
That brought a smile to her face, the tension slowly slipping from her shoulders.
“Let’s go have dinner and give Grant shit for two hours.
” I grabbed her hand and the bottle of wine we brought and helped her out of the truck.
This wasn’t the home I grew up in, but that didn’t matter.
It was full of memories and knickknacks of Ma’s and the guys’, and those comforts were all that mattered to me.
We walked up the porch steps and entered through the front door, not bothering to knock, and the sound of familial chaos greeted us.
“I’m saying if it came down to it, I could take a gorilla. You know, if push came to shove,” Grant boasted.
“You’d lose to a motivated golden retriever,” Theo joked.
“Okay, asshole, what animal could you take?”
“None of them, dipshit, because this is a stupid conversation,” Theo retorted.
“Language, boys,” Ma shouted. “Not under my roof.”
Bailey and I came around the corner to see Grant and Theo looking properly chastised.
“Hey, assholes, Bailey’s here, so be on your best behavior,” I said with a pointed stare. Bailey smiled into my arm before going to hug each of my brothers.
“Ma, aren’t you going to scold Noah?” Grant whined.
Ma came out of the kitchen, an apron swallowing her tiny frame, before pinching my cheek and pulling Bailey into a bone-crushing hug.
“It is so good to see you again, my dear. I hope my son isn’t working you too hard,” Ma said. Snickers broke out around the room, and I flipped them off behind her back.
Bailey blushed. “No, not at all.” She looked up at me. “He’s been amazing.”
Grant made a gagging motion, and I considered whether I really needed three brothers. Two seemed plenty.
“I brought a bottle of wine, I hope it works with dinner,” Bailey said. “I also want to thank you for inviting me over; it really means a lot to me to be included like this.”
“Anyone who can put up with my sons more than deserves an invite to Sunday dinner. Come join me in the kitchen, I’m finishing up my mac and cheese.”
Bailey shot me a look as she was dragged to the kitchen, and I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. I mouthed, “Blink twice if you need me.”
I walked into the living room, giving Theo and Eli hugs and smacking Grant on the back of his head.
“How is Bailey doing after everything with Liam? I put out a notice to all of the inn employees stating he should not be allowed anywhere on the premises,” said Eli.
I sat on the couch, leaning over so Ma and Bailey wouldn’t hear.
“Thank you for doing that. I had to get her out of there; otherwise, I would have done it myself.”
“What a piece of shit…and our lawn sucked,” Grant muttered.
“She’s tough. She shouldn’t have to be, but she is, which is why I know she’ll be okay,” I said.
Theo glanced from the kitchen and back to me. “So, what is officially going on? I haven’t seen you both together since the festival. Are things official?” he asked.
“Ma said Bailey wants to be fuck buddies,” Grant interjected.
I rolled my eyes, apparently my secrets weren’t safe with her. “We are working through the technicalities. Her family is shit, and she has been hurt before. I won’t be the one to rush her; I’m planning to wait as long as I need to.”
“Man down bad,” Eli said.
Theo rubbed his hands together. “Start planning the wedding, boys.”
The guys all held up their beers. “Cheers to that,” I said.
I left the guys a couple of minutes later and snuck into the kitchen. I leaned against the doorframe and watched Bailey sip her wine while Ma rambled on about how biscuits out of a can should be considered a crime.
“How’s it going in here, ladies?” I asked.
I walked over and curled my arm around Bailey’s waist, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
“We don’t need a babysitter, Noah, we’re doing perfectly fine. Go set the table with your brothers while I look for baby pictures of you,” Ma replied.
“Ma, I’m trying to impress her, not have her running for the hills,” I grunted.
“It’s called informed consent, sweetheart.”
“And on that note, I’ll take my exit,” I said. Watching Ma and Bailey talk in the kitchen soothed a part of me I hadn’t known was rough to begin with. The two most important women in my life bonding was a sight I hoped I never forgot.
I had plenty of family to go around, even without my father, and I wanted Bailey to know that. Whether we worked romantically or not—though I really fucking wanted us to work—she had a family here. One who would always love her.
“Eli, can you come set the table with me? I need to talk to you about something,” I said. And that something involved figuring out how to get Bailey to stick around. Permanently.