Chapter 9
Beau
She was still in my bed when I woke up.
I hadn’t expected her to be…not necessarily. I’d hoped she would stay, but she kept saying “let’s do it again, then I’ll go.”
But she didn’t.
She stayed.
And she snored.
It wasn’t loud…not too loud, anyway, and certainly not louder than Milo. I actually kind of liked it.
I liked having her close to me.
I liked having the reminder that she was in my bed…in my arms.
Even if that reminder was snoring.
I lay there as light seeped through the curtains and watched her sleep. Noelle…she was pretty—not wild pretty like Willow or saintly pretty like June.
Nah…she was wicked pretty.
My kind of pretty.
There was a little crease between her brows, even now—like she was thinking about the next mystery, the next clue. I wondered if she always slept like that, fingers clutched in the blankets. I reached up and brushed a short, dark lock of hair from her temple.
I’d had women in my bed before…but never a woman like her.
She stirred, blinking awake slow, blue eyes still hazy with sleep.
“You’re watching me,” she grumbled.
“Guilty,” I whispered.
She groaned and hid her face in my chest. “Creepy.”
“Was I just supposed to lie here and ignore your snoring?” I asked.
She grunted against my chest, but didn’t move—just burrowed closer, her nose pressed against my sternum, her fingers curling against my ribs like she wanted to tell me off but held on tighter instead.
“There’s no way I snored,” she muttered.
“I have a witness,” I argued. “Milo was so annoyed he actually slept in the living room.”
Noelle tilted her head just enough to train one blue eye on me. “I only snore when I’m sleeping really well.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Which means I don’t snore. And I also don’t cuddle. I don’t…I don’t sleep this well, especially not in someone else’s bed.”
I kissed her hair. “Maybe you needed it.”
One hand slid down my abdomen, her lips curving against my skin. “Stop being nice or I’ll leave,” she said, her lips following the trail of her hand.
I closed my eyes as her head disappeared under the blankets, one hand on my hip and the other…fuckin’ hell.
“I’m starting to think that’s an empty threat,” I said, voice tight.
She didn’t reply; she didn’t have to.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
Noelle was still smiling when her lips found the head of my cock, warm breath ghosting over my skin. I swore, a low broken sound, and pushed the covers back so I could see her.
She glanced up at me as she licked the tip, then…fuck…as she took me slowly into her mouth. One inch at a time, teasing me. My hand moved instinctively to her hair, fingers threading the the short, silken strands—not guiding her, just needing the contact.
“Christ, Noelle,” I breathed.
She hummed around me, the vibration zipping up my spine. I watched her, completely undone by how much she seemed to enjoy it—how she closed her eyes like she was savoring every second. Not just doing it for me…doing it because she wanted to.
Because she could.
I was already on the edge. She hadn’t even taken all of me, but the sight of her like that—naked in my bed, mouth full of me, her hand stroking what she could take—it was enough to make my head spin.
When she pulled back with a wet pop and dragged her tongue along the underside of my shaft, I groaned and dropped my head back against the pillow. My hips jerked without meaning to, but she didn’t seem to mind. She just smiled against my skin.
“You really tryin’ to kill me first thing in the mornin’?” I managed to say, voice rough with sleep and lust.
“Thought I’d spice it up with a little true crime in the bedroom,” she said, stroking me with one hand while her mouth kissed along my hipbone.
I laughed—tried to, anyway. It came out more like a choked breath, my body already too far gone to manage anything close to steady. “Shit, woman…”
“Mmhm,” she murmured, tongue dipping low, dragging against skin that had never felt this sensitive before. “That’s what I thought.”
She looked up again, eyes heavy-lidded, lashes brushing her cheeks. She was so fucking pretty like this: wild and slow, playful and focused. I didn’t know how she managed to be all of it at once, but she did—wrecking me in ways I hadn’t even known I could be wrecked.
Her lips wrapped around my cock again, her hand stroking me in rhythm, slow and careful. Every nerve ending was lit up, every breath ragged. I cupped her jaw—not to stop her, just to feel her.
“Noelle,” I rasped. “You keep going like that and I’m not gonna last.”
She gave me a look that was all challenge, and then she hollowed her cheeks and took me deeper.
Fuck.
I tightened my grip, just barely, and she moaned around me. It was too much. Not enough. Every inch of me tuned to her, every thought gone.
“Baby,” I warned. “I’m close.”
She didn’t stop.
She wanted this.
Wanted me like this.
And I gave in.
I came hard, hips jerking, my hand fisting the blanket as I spilled into her mouth with a groan that ripped right out of my chest. She took it all, swallowed every bit, and only pulled off when I was shaking from it.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then crawled back up my chest, kissed the edge of my jaw like she hadn’t just blown my whole mind.
“That was a thank-you for breakfast,” she murmured against my skin.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. My chest was still heaving, my body still tingling, but my heart…it felt weirdly calm.
“We haven’t had breakfast,” I mumbled.
“I know,” she said. “You’re taking me to Mabel’s for more interviews.”
I blinked, still trying to recover, still not entirely convinced I could walk yet. “You wanna go now?”
“Not right now,” she said, pressing a lazy kiss to my collarbone. “But eventually. I’ve got questions, and you promised me pancakes.”
I laughed softly, my palm splaying across her back. “I didn’t promise you shit.”
She looked up at me, batting her eyelashes. “Beau,” she said. “Promise me you’ll get me pancakes?”
I hummed, dragging my hand slowly down her spine, and I meant it when I said, “Anything you want.”
She smiled then—one of those smiles you don’t even realize you’ve been craving until it’s on someone’s face, aimed at you like you earned it.
“I might hold you to that,” she said, her voice a low murmur against my skin.
“Good,” I replied, still catching my breath. “I hope you do.”
We lay there a little longer, tangled together. The morning sunlight kept creeping in, but neither of us moved. Her fingers traced lazy circles on my chest. I smoothed my palm up and down her back.
It felt good.
She felt good.
And for the first time in a long while, I didn’t feel like I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I wasn’t bracing for someone to leave. I wasn’t counting the hours till they did.
I was just…here.
With her.
Eventually, she sighed and stretched, pressing a kiss just over my heart. “Okay,” she said. “We should get up before I decide I never want to leave this bed again.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Yes,” she said quickly, but she didn’t move.
I waited. Then: “You sure?”
Noelle lifted her head. “Don’t tempt me.”
I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, let my thumb brush the edge of her jaw. “You tempt easy?”
Her eyes met mine. “With you? Yeah. Unfortunately.”
There was a pause—quiet, steady, maybe even a little dangerous. And I felt it then, even stronger than before.
She was already staying. She didn’t want to admit it yet. Might not even realize it herself. But I saw it in the way her body curled into mine. In the way she didn’t rush to put clothes on. In the way her eyes lingered on my mouth like she hadn’t gotten her fill.
She wasn’t done here.
Not with me.
Not with this town.
Not yet.