Chapter 17
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Noah
He liked watching her work. Hell, who was he kidding? He liked watching her do almost anything.
She walked over to him, her hips moving sexily in that gorgeous pink dress. The heels she was wearing made her almost eye to eye with him. He already loved how tall she was, but this was even better somehow.
Like they were on even ground.
He refrained from grabbing her hips and pulling her into his body. “Have I mentioned how much I love those heels?” He kept his voice low so that no one could overhear their conversation. They decided to keep things platonic for the auction, but after that, all bets were off.
“Oh really?” She raised both eyebrows. “Have a shoe fetish I need to know about?”
“Nah.” Noah shook his head slowly. “I just like being able to look you in the eyes.”
“I sort of like it myself.” She tipped her head to the side. “Go get yourself a drink.” She glanced down at his empty hands.
“I will. I was just admiring the view first.” Zara’s eyes flared at his words. She bit down on her bottom lip, eliciting a groan from him. It took everything in him not to reach out and soothe that lip with his thumb.
Someone shouted Zara”s name, and he knew he had to let her go. For now.
“I”m sorry,” she said, looking like she truly meant the words. “Duty calls.”
“Don’t be sorry. Go.”
She gave him one last look, one that promised she’d make it up to him, and then walked away. He got a nice long look at her ass covered in the pink fabric and only the pink fabric before she was surrounded by a crowd of people.
“If you”re hiding this, you probably shouldn”t stare at Zara”s ass as she walks away,” Heath said as he came to stand next to Noah.
“Nice of you to finally show up. I assumed you had faked your death so that you wouldn”t have to do this.” Noah wasn’t going to acknowledge his comment about staring at Zara”s ass.
“If I thought I could get away with it, I would have.”
“You”re such a baby. It”s a freaking auction. For charity. Somebody bids on you, you take them out for a nice dinner, and they pay a buttload of money to the animal shelter.”
“The only reason you”re happy about doing it is because Zara is here. There is no other reason.”
“You think I”m happy about being auctioned off while the woman I love watches? You”re sick and twisted.”
“I didn”t say you were happy with the auction part. I meant you were happy that she was here, and you got to spend time with her.”
“When you have to keep your hands to yourself around the woman you love, you can complain. Until then, let”s get drinks. If we have to suffer through this, we might as well have alcohol.”
“See,” Heath said triumphantly. “Even you think it’s suffering.” Noah shook his head, pushing him on the shoulder to get him moving. At the bar, they ran into a few other ball players they knew and a few guys who played other sports. Some he’d met over the years, and others he hadn”t. The next time he looked around, he noticed that the ballroom had filled up with many new faces in the crowd.
The bidders.
There were a few people he recognized, celebrities, tech moguls, and team owners. But there were a lot he didn’t know. Just rich people wanting to support a good cause.
At least, that”s what he was hoping for because there were a lot of women in the room. Young women, old women, women everywhere.
“Jesus, there’s a lot of people here,” Heath said to no one in particular.
Noah rubbed his forehead. “I had no idea it would be this many. Who are all these people?”
“Hannah said it”s a lot of wealthy people from the area who like to do good and give back.”
Noah was happy people wanted to give back and donate to a good cause, he just hated that he was about to be caught in the middle of that. After about another 30 minutes of mingling, he headed to the backstage area with the rest of the athletes being auctioned off. One by one, they each took the stage where Jase would sing their praises and start the bidding. The crowd laughed and shouted with each guy, and it seemed like good fun. Noah let himself relax a little bit.
“Hey,” Hannah came up to him. “The crowd is generous tonight. I even ran into a few people waiting to bid on you.”
Damn it. He had just relaxed, and now he was nervous again. “Let”s hope it”s somebody nice, and who doesn”t think this is going to be a real date.”
“From my mingling, it seems like there”s a few of those out there that want these to turn into more, but for the most part, people understand that it”s for charity.”
“Have you seen Zara?” He hadn”t seen her since he first came backstage, and that was from a distance.
“She”s back out in the crowd schmoozing with some possible donors. She”s good at that. I hate it.”
He imagined she was good at it because she was good at everything she did.
“You’re up next,” Hannah said, tapping him on the shoulder.
He moved closer to the curtain and waited for Jase to call his name. When he heard his name, Noah parted the curtain and stepped out on the stage with a big smile.
No one needed to know that it was fake.
“And here we have Noah Ashe, outfielder for your very own LA Emperors. Doesn”t he look great? Noah has planned a date at his favorite local park where you’ll have a picnic lunch. Sounds romantic, right?”
Noah held himself back from rolling his eyes in front of the crowd. He’d had no clue what to auction off but, thanks to Zara’s help, had decided on a picnic in the park. It was simple and easy and hopefully wouldn’t lead anyone on.
“Let”s start the bidding at one thousand dollars,” Jace said, and Noah watched as a dozen hands went up.
“Alright. It looks like we”re going to have to start higher than that. What about two thousand? Who will give me two thousand for Noah?” The same dozen hands went up, and Noah held back a groan. He was happy for the money that would be raised, but it seemed like things were about to get a little rowdy.
“Five thousand!” a woman in the crowd yelled. Noah couldn”t see her, so he had no clue who it was.
“Six!” another woman to the right shouted, this one he could see. She was a prominent CEO at a local company, and her husband was right next to her. He knew they were huge Emperors fans, and he would be happy if they won him.
“Seven!” another woman yelled, and again he knew this one to be the wife of the owner of the local football team.
From the back, the same female voice that started the bidding shouted, “Ten thousand dollars!”
The crowd gasped and then fell silent. Ten thousand dollars was a lot of money. It was the highest anyone had gone for yet. Part of Noah was happy that he was the one bringing in that sort of money; another part of him was a little afraid of what this woman would want in return.
“We have ten thousand,” Jase said. “Do I hear eleven?”
A new voice came from the left. A man’s voice. A voice that sounded familiar, but Noah couldn”t quite place. “Fifteen thousand!” the voice yelled.
“We have a new bidder,” Jase announced. “Fifteen thousand dollars. Going once, going twice, sold! Noah Ashe, you are sold to Shane Bradley for fifteen thousand dollars for a lovely date in the park.”
The crowd laughed, but all Noah could think was how fucking lucky he was.
Shane Bradley was there, and he’d bet on him.
Backstage he was still in shock when he ran into Heath, who had yet to go out on stage. “You”re a lucky son of a bitch,” he said. “I had no idea Shane was even in town, but now you get out of your date, and you”ve made the most money so far.” He straightened his tie. “At least until I get up there,” He winked.
“Oh, now you”re excited to go out there?” Noah rolled his eyes.
“I”m here, I”m doing it. I might as well try to beat your amount.”
Heath walked away, Noah immediately looking around for Zara.
Instead he found Shane Bradley. “She’s still out front.” Shane strode toward him, looking every bit of the billionaire he was.
“I was just coming to thank you for your bid.” He stepped forward, shaking Shane’s hand.
“If I hadn’t won you, my wife would not be happy with me. And I prefer it when she’s happy.”
“I didn’t even realize you were coming tonight.”
“I wasn’t. When I got the invitation weeks ago, I declined, but last night, Allana stormed into the living room after she saw the updated list of athletes who were being auctioned off. She informed me that I had to go and bid on you so that Zara didn’t have to worry.”
Noah chuckled. “Do you do everything your wife tells you to do?”
“I do, and someday, so will you.” Shane leaned in. “Zara is one of my favorite people. Not only is she a kick ass agent, she’s a good person. Allana says you love her and are good for her. Don’t prove her wrong.” He stepped back, a big smile on his face. “Now, about that picnic in the park.”
Noah was shocked but only for a quick second. “Your wife is very astute.”
Shane laughed. “Among other things.”
“You don’t really want to go on a picnic with me, do you?” If he did, Noah would gladly take him on one.
“You’re a nice guy, Noah, and a great baseball player. But no, I do not want to go on a picnic with you. Let’s go get some photos taken for the media and then you can go find Zara and I can fly back home to my wife.”
That sounded great to Noah. At least the finding Zara part. He hadn”t seen her since before he was auctioned off and he missed her like crazy. Once pictures were taken and questions were answered, Noah finally went in search of Zara. He looked everywhere and was just about at his wits’ end when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Pulling it out, he found a text from Zara.
Zara:
Hannah has relieved me of my duties for the night. Let”s go home.
Under the words was a picture of her in what looked to be the back of a car. But that wasn’t what caught his attention and had him running out of the ballroom and then the hotel.
Her dress was bunched up around her waist, her legs on display. He couldn”t see her pussy, but that was only because of the angle of the photo.
She was a fucking tease and he loved it.
He didn’t bother to text her back. She knew sending that pic would have him on his way to her in seconds. He saw the car waiting in front of the hotel as soon as he exited the doors. The driver was waiting for him to open the car door.
Noah stopped him. “I’ve got it. Just get us home.” Noah opened the door, blocking the inside of the car just in case someone happened to be looking, and slid inside.
Zara sat in the same position as the picture she’d sent and Noah felt like he couldn’t breathe. Not in the same way he couldn’t breathe when he had a panic attack. This was different. She stopped his heart with her beauty and intelligence and adventurous ways when it came to sex.
He wasn’t panicking, he was in love.
He’d thought he’d loved her before, but really, he hadn”t even known her then.
“Took you long enough.” She raised an eyebrow biting down on her bottom lip.
He steadied his breathing, needing to gain some control. “Were you timing me?”
“Maybe.”
He placed a hand on her bare leg, moving it ever so slightly up and down. “You know, the first time we kissed was in the back of a car.”
She spread her legs wider, giving him a peek of what was between her legs. “Oh, I know and this time, we are going to finish what we started.” She put her hand over the top of his, moving his further up her leg.” Touch me, Noah.”
Her needy, desperate words had him diving on top of her, claiming her mouth as his fingers found his way to her wet and waiting pussy. He wasn’t gentle or sweet. He speared her with two fingers, swallowing her cries of pleasure with his kiss.
She writhed and moaned against him as he brought her closer and closer to climax. He pulled her on top of him until she was basically riding his hand.
“Oh god,” she moaned, her words a little loud when only a partition separated them from the driver.
He leaned into her neck, licking and sucking the skin there. “You have to be quiet. You don’t want the driver to know what we’re doing back here.” He ran his hands up her back, yanking on her hair to expose her neck even more.
“I don’t care.” She ground down on his fingers, gasping at how deep they were. “Make me come, Noah.”
It wasn’t a request. More like a demand. One he wasn’t going to back down from. He continued to let her ride his fingers but added his thumb stroking over her clit. She was gorgeous on top of him, fucking his hand. Her eyes were dark and her skin flushed and he saw the exact second her release came.
His dick was so hard as he watched her come all over him that he was surprised he didn”t come in his pants.
He assumed that would be it. That she would melt into a puddle in his arms and they’d stay that way until the car pulled up in front of his house.
He was so wrong.
In the blink of an eye, she was on her knees, between his legs, her fingers working to get his belt unbuckled. Seeing her between his legs, eager for his dick, had his body confused. Part of him felt like he shouldn’t like it so much, and the other part didn’t fucking care. That part wanted to grip her hair tightly and fuck her mouth until she choked on his cock.
His dick finally free, she wasted no time sucking him into her mouth, humming around his thickness.
His mouth went dry and he clenched his hands into tight fists. She was so fucking good with her mouth. He loved her pussy but her mouth was another thing entirely.
When she looked up at him through her lashes, licking up his shaft, he was powerless to stop himself from reaching out and gripping her head. “Put that cock back in your mouth.”
Her eyes narrowed and she grinned wickedly. “If you want your dick in my mouth, put it there.”
She was issuing a demand. Somehow she fucking knew about his hesitation to fuck her mouth. This was her way of giving him the green light.
Gripping his dick, he slapped it across her lips, eliciting a moan from her. “You want this dick?”
She nodded, opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue.
He felt his balls draw up, ready to release at just the sight of her on her knees, begging for his cock.
He slapped her tongue with his dick and then pushed inside her mouth. It wasn’t gentle but it wasn”t exactly rough.
Somewhere in the middle.
He wrapped her gorgeous hair around his fists, gripping her hard. Her eyes held his as he continuously fucked her mouth, her eyes watering whenever he went a little too deep. He pulled back, trying to control his baser instincts.
“Don’t stop,” she panted, taking him back into her mouth again.
Another green light.
He gave into the animalistic feelings he was having and fucked her mouth until she was gagging and spit was rolling down her chin. He soon felt himself about to lose control. He held himself deep in her warm, wet mouth as he unloaded his release down her throat.
He watched as she sat back on her heels, licking her lips and smiling. Her mascara was running and her hair was a mess. Shame gripped him at how he’d treated her and, for the first time in her presence, he felt a panic attack rise up inside him.
Her face fell and she shook her head. “Noah, stop. Whatever it is you’re thinking, just stop.” She rose up, sitting down beside him on the seat. “I loved that. I asked for it and you gave me exactly what I wanted.”
The panic slowed. “I got lost in the feeling and I pushed you.” He lifted a hand, swiping his thumb under her eye, wiping up some of the mascara.
“You didn’t push me. If anything, I pushed you.” she leaned forward, pressing her cheek against his. “I love everything we do together. I’m not delicate.” She pulled back, looking deep into his eyes. “Fuck me however you want. I swear to you, I’ll tell you if it’s too much or I don’t like it. I’d expect the same from you.”
As the panic lessened even more, he felt himself grow calmer. “You have to promise me that. I get a little crazy when it comes to you because I’ve wanted you for so long. I’ve conjured up a million things that I want to do with you and to you.”
“I have my own list.” She ran her thumb over his bottom lip. “How much do you bet a few of them match?” She waggled her brows at him.
Laughter bubbled out of him as he took her into his arms, kissing her delicately.
She might say she wasn’t delicate, but there were times he needed to treat her that way.