CHAPTER 31
NOAH
A car door closes beyond the doors of the barn, and I lift my head as Killian saunters in dressed in his work gear, his heavy boots hitting the ground with such force I’m surprised the foundations aren’t shaking.
“Something you want to tell me?” he asks, not giving me a chance to even greet him.
My brows dip, pulse quickening as he crosses his arms over his chest, his phone held in one hand.
I open my mouth and close it again quickly, not sure if this is a trick question or not. “Uhhh…”
Without a word, he holds his phone up in front of my face, a text thread open on the screen.
Isabella: Justin was fucking his secretary. I’ve been staying with Noah. Hope this doesn’t go against his *promise*.
My eyes snap up to his and I don’t need to look into a mirror to know I look guilty as fuck. I run a hand through the scruff on my jaw and groan.
“Wanna tell me how long my sister has been staying with you and why I’m only just hearing about it?” His tone is accusatory and pissed as hell. It irks me.
I cross my own arms, matching his stance. “She’s been living with me for almost two months and you’re only just hearing about it because she’s only just telling you.”
Grey eyes, so much like his sisters, narrow at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shake my head once. “Not my story to tell, man.”
“She’s my sister, I deserve to know.” He grits out.
“I know who she is, Killian. But she asked me not to tell you, and I chose to respect her wishes.”
He steps closer, his eyes searching my face and I let him. I have nothing to hide from him anymore. If he asks me if I’ve touched her, I won’t lie. If he asks me if I love her, I won’t lie. And I certainly won’t cower like the fucking pathetic coward I was years ago.
Because Isabella Ashby is mine. Whether he likes it or not.
But he doesn’t ask me any of those things. And when the look on his face morphs from anger, to shock, to disappointment, I realise it’s because he doesn’t need to.
He already knows.
My chest aches as I watch the trust my lifelong friend held for me drain from his eyes, but I don’t give in. And I don’t apologise. I won’t.
“You made me a promise.”
I nod. “I know.”
“You broke it.”
Another nod. “I know.”
He raises a finger, pointing it right at me. “If you fucking hurt her—”
“I won’t,” I say, cutting him off.
Snapping his mouth shut, he drops his hand and dips his head. It’s so slight that I would have missed it had I not been watching his every move, but in that one single movement, I know.
I have his blessing.
***
“Bella?” I call out as I walk into the house after work.
“My room,” she answers, her voice drifting down the stairs.
My room.
We’ll see about that.
I take the stairs two at a time and round the wooden railing to the spare bedroom, the door open wide as Bella shuffles back and forth from the bed.
I lean against the door frame; my hands tucked into the pockets of my jeans. “What’re you doing?”
Bella looks up from the item of clothing she’s placing onto a hanger and smiles. “Hanging the clothes I brought today.”
“Why are you hanging them in here?” I ask, head tilted to the side, a smirk playing on my lips as she frowns at me in confusion.
“Uhh… where else am I meant to hang them?”
“Well, in the room you sleep in would make more sense, would it not?” I say, holding back a laugh.
She’s slept in my bed every night since the night she sent me that picture and I don’t plan on letting her leave any time soon. It’s cute that she still considers this her room, though.
Bella nibbles her bottom lip and I step toward her; my eyes focused on the nervous little tick that drives me crazy.
My hand cradles her face, thumb finding that soft bottom lip and prying it free before I dip my head and suck it into my own mouth.
Bella softens against me, her free hand gripping my bicep as she leans into my kiss, attempting to deepen it and as much as I want to let her; I pull back, my gaze heated as I stare down at her.
“You could have gotten me into a fuckload of trouble today, doll.”
She’s only perplexed for about a second before her eyes widen in recognition. A brief flash of guilt crosses her features before its quickly replaced by something else. Something that makes her step back.
“Did he make you promise to stay away from me?”
Ah, shit. I avert my eyes, clearing my throat before opening my mouth to answer. “Yes.”
She scoffs incredulously. “And you made that promise?”
I sigh out a regret-filled breath. “I did.”
“Why?” She asks, her tone surprisingly soft. I was expecting her to be pissed about this.
“Because he’s my best friend, Bells. My only true friend besides my brothers.
And he was right to make me promise that back then.
I was a horny teenager, thinking with my dick at every opportunity and you…
” I wave a hand in her direction. “You were too good. Too perfect and far too fucking pure for me.”
Bella folds her arms over her chest and cocks her head; eyebrow raised in challenge. “And I’m not any of those things now?”
I shake my head, advancing on her. My hands find her hips as I pull her closer.
“You are all of those things. Only now, I’m not the same teenage boy letting his dick do the thinking.
I’m not looking for a quick fuck with someone I can forget about as soon as the sun comes up.
I know what I want.” I lift her chin with my thumb and forefinger, bringing her eyes to mine as I lower my mouth to hers. “And what I want, is you.”
Her breath fans against my lips on an exhale and I close the small space between us, sealing my mouth over hers.
Arms wrap around my neck, her fingers threading into my hair as I lean down and grip her thighs, lifting her from the ground and carrying her out of the spare bedroom.
Our mouths stay locked on each other’s as I navigate us down the hall and into my bedroom, only breaking us apart when I drop her onto the bed and pull my t-shirt over my head.
She leans back on her elbows, watching under hooded lids as I approach and climb over her, lodging my body between her thighs.
My hands land on either side of her head, caging her in beneath me. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted you for, Bella?”
She shakes her head, biting that bottom lip again and I groan. “So fucking long.”
My mouth finds the skin just below her earlobe and she tilts her head, giving me better access as I trail a path of soft kisses down the line of her slender neck.
“I’ve thought about all the ways I’d touch you if I ever got the opportunity.” I trail lower to her collarbone, and a soft gasp escapes her parted lips. “Dreamt about the little noises you’d make as I fucked you.”
“Noah,” she breathes, her breath fanning the side of my face.
“Yeah, baby?”
“I need more.”
One of my hands finds the bottom of her t-shirt and I glide my palm against the soft skin of her stomach, up and over the swell of her breast. Her back arches into my touch as she moans.
“Fuck. I love how responsive you are.”
My thumb circles her pebbled nipple, my touch light and teasing. Bella’s chest rises and falls quickly, her heart pounding against my hand.
I lift my head and watch her, marvelling at the pink glow in her cheeks, at the way her eyes screw shut as she throws her head back, lips parted.
Pulling back, I lift her t-shirt over her head and discard it to the side. My hands move to her bottom half then, undoing the button of her shorts and removing them, along with her underwear, just as quickly.
I fall forward once more but Bella shakes her head, delicate fingers reaching for my belt. “You, too.”
With a chuckle, I stand, and Bella follows me up, moving into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, her hands working quickly on the buttons of my jeans. She pulls my boxers down at the same time and my dick springs free, hard and demanding.
I watch, enamoured as her grey eyes darken hungrily, my breathing picking up when her warm hand wraps around the base and she leans forward, tongue darting out against the tip.
My head falls back on a groan. “Fuuuck…”
Warmth engulfs me and I snap straight, forcing my eyes open as Bella takes me into her mouth, her throat working around my length.
Her eyes stay open, fixed on mine as she works me into her, pushing past the reflexes at the back of her throat until I’m so fucking deep her nose is almost touching my pelvis.
“Holy fucking shit, Bella.” The words fly from my lips on a whispered breath, my hands flying to her head. I wrap her hair around my fist, holding her in place for a moment as my dick twitches, the need to cum embarrassingly close.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly guide out of her, our gazes locked as her eyes begin to water. My cock falls from her mouth with a pop, and I use one hand to grip myself as I drag the head along her pretty, swollen lips, painting them with my pre-cum.
“Hmm,” I groan at the image below me. “So fucking pretty like this.”
Bella blinks at me innocently, her face flushed, nipples hard as stone and I don’t miss the way her thighs clench, no doubt seeking some relief.
I cock a brow, a smirk teasing my lips. “Need some relief?”
“Yes,” Bella whimpers, and I line my cock back up with her mouth, my smile widening when she opens and sucks me back in instantly.
I hit the back of her throat once again before pulling back and repeating. She takes it all, her eyes never straying as her hands hold onto my thighs for stability.
“Touch yourself for me, Bells.”
Without hesitation, one of her hands leaves my thigh and moves straight to her breast, pinching her nipples between manicured fingers.
I shake my head, my hips snapping back and forth as I fuck her face. “Your pussy, Bella.”
Like the good fucking girl she is, her hand leaves her tits and moves down between her thighs. She uses her middle finger to draw small circles over her clit, and she moans around my length, the sound sending vibrations straight to my balls.
“Fuck, do that again,” I order, my voice raw.
She does and my knees almost buckle at how fucking good it feels.
The hand between her thighs moves quicker and she adds another finger to the mix, coating them in her own wetness as she closes her eyes.
“Ah, ah,” I tsk. “Eyes on me, doll.”
Her cloudy eyes snap up to mine, and I stroke her head affectionately as I pull out of her mouth, giving her a brief reprieve to draw in a deep breath before slamming back in.
This time, she gags, and drool falls from the corners of her lips, and I catch it with my thumbs, smearing it across her face.
The telltale tingle starts at the base of my spine when she circles her tongue over the tip and I pull out abruptly, my hands wrapping around the back of her thighs as I flip her onto her back.
My chest aches, heart galloping behind my rib cage and I slow down my movements as I stare down at the woman beneath me. I in no way deserve to touch her like this. I most definitely don’t deserve the open trust shining in those stormy eyes.
She’s so far out of my league it’s not even funny.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” My voice is hoarse but soft with the emotion coursing through me and the moment Bella’s eyes find mine, I know she can hear it.
She swallows, and I’m drawn to the way her neck works.
Lining the head of my dick up with her entrance, I take her hands in mine, holding them above her head as I slowly push in.
She gasps, attention never straying from mine as I fill her slowly. Her walls clench around me and I hiss out a harsh breath at the tightness. “So fucking perfect.” I mumble, mostly to myself.
“Noah,” she whimpers, her legs shaking around me.
“I know, baby,” I whisper, burying myself to the hilt.
Snapping my hips back, I draw out, only to push back in again, my pace slow and torturous.
My lips trace a line along the bottom of her jaw, over her cheek and to her mouth where she opens, her tongue darting out to tangle with mine.
I taste myself on her and a growl rumbles in my chest as I fuck her slowly, dragging out the feeling of being inside of her for as long as possible.
Bella moans into my mouth, our hands still clutched above her head.
Something feels different this time around as I move inside of her.
There’s a tightness in my chest that wasn’t there the last time we fucked.
A softness in my movements that I’ve never had with anyone else.
The way our tongues move in tandem with one another is intimate in ways I never knew it could be.
And then it hits me.
It’s because what we’re doing isn’t fucking at all.
It’s something way, way deeper than that.
Something I’m not sure I’m ready to admit out loud to her, yet.
“Fuck,” I croak, pulling my mouth from hers to watch her.
A light sheen of sweat glistens along my forehead as my hips work, the feeling in my chest growing and deepening with every gasp escaping her lips.
Her body shakes, her own hips moving in time with mine as we both chase our impending release.
“Are you with me, Bells?” I ask, releasing one of her hands to cradle the side of her face.
She nods, her eyes shining with something as I pick up my pace ever so slightly. Her free hand moves to my bicep, her nails digging into the skin as her head falls back on a long moan and I know she’s close.
With two more thrusts of my hips, she detonates, her body tensing as the muscles of her inner walls clamp down around me and that’s all I need to follow her right over the edge.
And when a lone tear falls from the corner of her eye and I catch it with my thumb, I know she feels it too.