Chapter 26 Noel
Noel
“They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise
What the hell had just happened?
I was already in a fuck-tacular mood. The call I’d just received had flipped my world upside down.
I’d woken up this morning, planning on being the perfect student in Aspen’s class and being playful and cute and shit so she’d stop resisting me.
I’d even found the perfect quote to make her smile.
But then all hell had broken loose, and it had taken everything I’d had to even look at her in all her stunning glory while my guts felt like they were being jerked up toward my tonsils.
She’d called my name while I was in the middle of deliberating whether I should go home and try to help clean up some of the mess my sister had made.
But Jesus, how were we going to raise another kid in that place?
Caroline would be eighteen soon. Maybe I could bring her out to Ellamore with me.
Except the idea of leaving Colton and Brandt alone made me cringe.
Then Aspen happened. I have no clue what had changed between Saturday night and this morning, but this was not the woman I’d kissed goodbye on her front porch.
That woman was warm and receptive and could send me to my knees with her smile alone.
But this woman...fuck, I don’t know. But I was going to find out what her fucking deal was.
As she raced from the room as soon as she dismissed us, I grabbed my things and followed in hot pursuit.
“Hey!” I called. But there were still too many people around.
I wasn’t sure if she ignored me for propriety’s sake or because she was just that pissed.
Clenching my jaw, I followed. She hit a stairwell that led up to the top floor where the offices were kept.
We left the students behind and as soon as we reached the landing, I grabbed her arm.
She whirled around, glaring at me. So I glared back and yanked open the first door I saw. It ended up being a supply closet. Perfect. I shoved her inside.
“What do you think you’re doing? Stop manhandling me.”
After making sure we were good and locked inside, I came around slowly. “We are going to talk about this.”
“I said get your hands off me!” Panting, she twisted her elbow out my grip.
I clenched my teeth. “Christ, what is going on with you? Why are you suddenly so pissed off? Saturday night—”
“No! How dare you mention Saturday to me? Damn you.” She shoved against my chest. “Even the idea of you coming into my class with your flirty little note just minutes after hearing you’re going to be a father disgusts me.”
“A father?” I took a step back and ran into the door. “Say what?”
“Yes! A father.” Her green eyes shot hateful daggers just before they filled with pain.
“I heard you talking to that poor girl on the phone, yelling at her. Jesus, Noel. How could you treat her that way? You’re just as responsible for this as she is, yet you didn’t seem to have an iota of remorse or—”
“Okay, stop right there.” I lifted my hands, glaring at her. “Maybe you should know all your facts before attacking me.” I snorted out a bitter laugh. “Jesus. Your faith in me is incredible. I can’t fucking believe you automatically thought that was my kid.”
“Well, you sounded pretty fucking sure you’d have to take care of it, going on about how much harder this was going to make your life. Why wouldn’t I think it was yours?”
“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not into incest. That was my seventeen-year-old sister, Caroline, and yes, I was furious to learn she was knocked up.
I’m also fairly certain the baby’s daddy isn’t going to be there for her, so I will have to help her take care of it and this will make our lives that much harder to handle. ”
“Oh.” She blew out a harsh breath. Apology hung heavy in her gaze, but she didn’t beg for any kind of forgiveness. “I...”
When she couldn’t even say sorry, I snorted.
“This is just great.” Spiking my hands through my hair, I whirled away but couldn’t even step a foot from her; the closet was too small for me to escape.
I felt sick to my stomach. “I can’t believe I’m falling so hard for you that I’m willing to risk school, my family, my entire future—everything—and you still think I’m capable of juggling you and a new kid.
Fuck, I was even willing to try a monogamous, committed relationship with no qualms whatsoever, which I’ve never even considered before. ”
Rage consuming me, I spun back to her and pointed a finger into her chest. “I may have had drunk sex with complete strangers more times than I can count, but I have never, not even once, forgotten protection. I’m a safe fuck, got it?
And if I did manage to impregnate some girl, I sure as hell wouldn’t turn around ten minutes later to send secret love notes to my goddamn English teacher! Is that perfectly clear?”
Her green eyes were so wide I could see every remorseful thought inside her. “Yes,” she whispered. Then her face crumpled. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Why do I keep misjudging you?”
“The hell if I know.” I clenched my teeth and glared.
“I fully realize this thing between us is doomed, okay. I know we can never...” I closed my eyes and bowed my head.
“We might not stand a chance, but I can’t stop thinking about you.
I can’t stop craving that connection we share.
It’s so fucking strong, I’ve been willing to.
.. God, I would do anything for little stolen pieces of you, Aspen.
But if you can so easily assume I’m... Christ, if you don’t feel the same way about me—”
“I do. I feel the same.”
“Then prove it, damn you. Show me I’m risking everything for a reason. Because, right now—”
Warm lips crashed into mine, cutting me off. Aspen clutched my face and rose up onto her toes, pressing herself against me and fitting us together like two halves of an inseparable whole.
“I do. I swear it,” she rasped against my mouth between kisses. “I feel the same. Exactly the same. Please. Please. I’m sorry. I feel it, too. I’m just scared and—”
“So am I.” I literally shook from fear, and some residual anger, as well as growing lust. The lust won out. Hauling her up into my arms, I slotted our mouths firmly together.
Every molecule in my body ignited. As heat consumed me, my brain shorted out and my body took over. Or maybe it didn’t quite short out, but it definitely went into caveman mode.
Mine.
Must possess.
My words hadn’t gotten through to her, so I was compelled to just show Aspen how much she affected me. How different she was from every other woman. I had to somehow cement what we’d started so she’d know this wasn’t merely fluff.
My mouth attacked hers, forcing her to open and let me in, to accept every piece of me. My fingers imprisoned her face, trapping her in my kiss. I turned into some kind of madman, unable to get enough. The fact that she was just as frantic for me only fed the beast.
Blood pumped through my veins like rushing lava.
Hot and explosive. Unable to control my staccato breaths, I backed her into the small space of wall next to the closed door.
But that wasn’t enough for either of us.
Not nearly enough. She climbed me, clinging to me with her legs as she wound them around my waist.
I bumped my hips up between her thighs and ground against her hard. The way she gasped and arched into me, throwing her head back and pulling taut in my arms as she bit her bottom lip, was so fucking hot I almost came in my jeans.
Sinking my teeth into the base of her neck, I thrust against that warmth I wanted to burrow into. Her fingers in my hair tried to yank me bald. The resulting pain was so damn hot I growled and caught her knee, spreading her just a little wider.
Before I knew quite what I was doing, my palm skated up bare skin until my hand was under her skirt. Damn, I loved this skirt. And with no pantyhose in my way, I found my way inside the barrier of her panties as soon as I encountered moist cotton.
She was wet. So wet. For me.
“Noel,” she moaned, writhing against me, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt and yanking me closer.
I thrust a finger into her and we both let out a sound of shocked abandonment. “Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck,” I breathed. She was so... “Fuck.” I nudged another finger in and, damn, it was so sweet. So fucking sweet.
Aspen knocked the crown of her head back against the wall and closed her eyes tight. Her lips parted as these quick, shallow pants exploded from her, each breath heaving out her pleasure. She was so beautiful as I kissed her neck. Fingers pumping hard and fast, I nearly came every time I went deep.
When my lips caressed the shell of her ear, I asked, “Do you feel that? Do you feel what we do together? This isn’t normal, Aspen. We are a force of fucking nature. How can we keep fighting this? How...God. I want to be inside you so bad right now.”
“Uhn...” That seemed to be her tipping point.
She shuddered and the muscles hugging my fingers contracted.
Crying out, she came so hard and fast it shocked the shit out of me.
I kissed her to muffle the sound, my digits penetrating until they were soaked and cramping.
She kissed me back, and kept kissing me until I was breathless and dizzy.
As soon as her body began to quiet, I slipped my hand free and grappled for the top button of my jeans. Mindless with lust, I didn’t think the next step through. I just knew I had to be inside her as soon as possible or I was coming in my damn jeans.