Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Cassie’s heart was going to fly out of her chest, circumnavigate the earth, and smack her in the face on the way back.
She was naked in Noah’s pool. And he was holding her so tenderly it was likely to break her.
A need that she didn’t even have words for was taking over everything. She ached for him.
It had been over a year since she’d had sex. What if she didn’t even remember how? What if she made a fool of herself even more than she already had by not even being able to get over the damn fence by herself?
But the sight of Noah in the moonlight quieted her mind.
Every muscle stood at attention. He had unflinchingly punched out her ex-husband mere hours ago, and now he knew every terrible detail of what she’d been through.
He would understand, even if something embarrassing happened.
She was safe here, and nothing was going to get in the way this time.
She freed one of her hands to reach between them and grip him. It was too difficult over his boxers. She tugged on the waistband until he relaxed his hold on her so she could pull them off.
Their gazes connected, and shockwaves coursed through her body.
It was too much, too vulnerable. She climbed back onto him, moaning as he ducked down to catch a nipple in his mouth.
There was something supremely sensual about a canopy of stars, the sultry summer air, and enough breeze to wick the beads of chlorinated water from her skin.
Her skin was a tapestry of goosebumps. Sensations rose and fell like waveforms on an EKG, crashing into each other in a disorienting array of fleeting impressions—heat, friction, need.
She moved her hand back to him, gently stroking his length. He moaned against her wet skin.
Noah brought his mouth back to hers as he waded through the water, headed toward the stairs. He climbed up to the pavement and stopped suddenly.
She pulled back.
“Fuck,” he said.
“What?”
“Why did I never buy any pool furniture?”
She smiled and reached between them to stroke him again. If he didn’t take her in the next two minutes, she might actually die. “The ground is fine.”
The ground, a wall, a fricken trash can. She was beyond caring.
“No, it needs to be…” He trailed off, his gaze sweeping over the yard.
Needed to be what?
He grunted and carried her over to the woodshed, kicking the door open. Oh.
The smell of sawdust and varnish commanded the space. He gripped the corner of a dust cover and yanked it off, revealing a stunning solid wood dining table. She could practically see it in her own dining room. Maybe once some money started coming in, she’d ask—
She didn’t even have time to finish the mental thought because Noah dropped her roughly on the edge of the table.
Before she had time to breathe, he’d dipped his head, kissing his way slowly down her torso.
His rough hands cupped her breasts, then moved down, gliding over her body as he guided her legs apart.
His beard tickled her exposed stomach. The heat of his lips set her body aflame. Everything was on high alert. She was centimeters from losing control.
His tongue found her first, followed by a finger. He stroked her gently, and her body bucked. Then he slipped inside, and a moan tore itself from her throat.
Then he added another finger, and his tongue was magic. She couldn’t take it.
“Noah,” she whispered. Her legs were opened so wide that they kind of felt on the verge of dislocating.
He picked up the pace, his free hand guiding her leg over his shoulder.
Her back bowed of its own accord, and she fell back to her elbows. She was rigid, primed, clawing her hands at the surface for something to hold onto.
“Breathe, Cassie,” he whispered against her skin.
Whether it was her name on his lips or the shaky breath she managed to draw, all at once, her body released.
The orgasm rippled through her like wildfire.
Her arms and legs jerked as she gripped his fingers so hard that she might seriously endanger his career as a woodworker.
She rode the wave, already in mourning as the sensations dissipated and a deep sense of peace crept in.
Holy shitballs. Was this what it was supposed to be like? Could she have had this delicious intimacy for the last ten years?
Noah rose and gently withdrew his fingers from her. He was rock-hard, and even though her body was still in recovery mode, she needed to know more. What did he taste like? What else could the hands that designed all this beautiful furniture do?
She slid off the table and dropped to her knees.
Sawdust bit at her skin, but she ignored it.
It would take a loose swarm of bees to pry her away from Noah.
She rested on her haunches before realizing.
Shit, he was tall and had long legs. She raised back up, raking her nails down his torso, savoring every inch of his stupidly chiseled body.
Why did he hide himself? Why was he depriving himself from love? And what the hell had happened to Bobby?
She brushed the intrusive thoughts off and gave him a long, slow lick. The manscaping was a pleasant surprise. His hands tensed at his sides, and he gripped the edge of the table.
Her gaze burned into him as she took his velvety warmth into her mouth as far as she could reach.
He let out a moan, his back hunched, and all of a sudden, she had a very full mouth.
“Shit,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
Cassie swallowed and wiped her mouth off, barely concealing a smile. All that worry over nothing. She rose to her feet and brushed the sawdust off her knees. “Don’t be. I’m flattered.”
“That wasn’t supposed to… You’re just so…” He gestured at her.
Oh, he was embarrassed. This big, strong man had been brought to his knees in seconds. She felt powerful.
She silenced him with a kiss, and he tightened his arms around her.
“That was just round one,” she said, running her hands over the muscles in his shoulders. “I’m not done with you.”
She wouldn’t be done until she had felt every last inch of him. Warmth and need were rising in her again. This time, her head was clearer, but she didn’t want him any less. If anything, the need had intensified, sharpened like she had twiddled the fine-adjustment knob on a microscope.
His expression changed from hesitant to sultry. He kissed her again, and she pressed herself to him. It was never close enough.
“Shit.” He pulled back and smacked himself in the forehead. “I don’t have any condoms.”
“I…do,” she confessed. She had bought them on her way back to her house after the exam room incident.
“Great. That’s so much better than my plan to text Will for a drive-by.”
“Come with me,” she said. She took his hand and led him out of the woodshed. The pavement was still warm underfoot as they passed the pool. She picked up the pace, and he followed her lead.
It was thrilling, running naked through the moonlight with Noah.
Forbidden and supremely hot. They lived on a dead-end road surrounded by woods, so it wasn’t likely that anyone would interrupt.
But she could only imagine the town gossip mill if Fran had taken a wrong turn on her way back to the Inn and stumbled upon a stark-naked Noah.
They burst through the gate and took a quick look around before scurrying barefoot over the grass and up her porch steps.
“Not now, Taco,” she called to the dog who greeted them the second they opened the door. She darted into the kitchen and grabbed a treat from a ceramic jar. She threw it to him, then pulled Noah up the stairs and into her bedroom.
Noah was in her bedroom. In her safe, beautiful, feminine retreat. And he was very naked, and very not feminine.
He looked startlingly out of place against her bright coral wall.
A sudden wave of self-consciousness set in. Noah was clearly in his prime. He was chiseled, rugged, perpetually in shape from swimming endless laps and working with his hands.
She had gained a few pounds since the divorce, and she hadn’t had much time for exercise since moving here.
She wasn’t at her prime anymore. She was in her thirties.
There were crow’s-feet, and frown lines, and gravity held her in its grip.
She’d been riding the wave of desire so hard earlier that she hadn’t even taken a moment to take stock.
But the comparison between them was stark.
She moved her hands to cover herself.
Noah crossed the room and gently gripped her wrists. He guided her arms away from her body, forced her to stand vulnerable in front of him.
“Why are you hiding yourself?” His voice was gentler than usual.
“Because…look at you,” she said, sweeping an arm at his torso.
“Look at me? Look at you.” He pointed toward the backyard.
“Cassie, I just came in two seconds because you’re the most beautiful person I have ever seen.
” He slid his hands down her hips. “I’ve wanted this from the first minute I saw you.
Even though you were pissing me off. And now, it’s pissing me off that anyone ever made you feel like you weren’t enough. ”
She averted her gaze. Dave had always been quick to point out her physical flaws. He made sweeping suggestions for a workout plan that she didn’t have time for and controlled the grocery list with an iron fist.
This conversation had delved too deep. This night was supposed to be a simple, lustful transaction, not another revelation of one of her many flaws.
But this was more complicated than that. Noah was more complicated than that. He wasn’t some guy in a dark bar that she was never going to see again. He was her neighbor. Her landlord. And he was starting to mean something more than both of those roles.
He pulled her closer and put his mouth beneath her left ear. He kissed the spot, releasing a fresh wave of tingles.
“You are so beautiful that it physically hurts to look at you, Cass. I want to see you. All of you.”
His gaze dipped slowly, sensually. The urge to cover herself was still there, but her skin was warming under his observation.
He released her and looked around the room. “It’s too dark in here.” He strode over to the window and muscled it open.
“Out there?” She raised an eyebrow.
He nodded. “I’ve seen you on the porch roof reading in the early evenings. When you weren’t playing music at the volume of a jet engine, anyway.”
“You’ve been watching me? Creepy,” she teased.
“Not watching. Noticing.”
Cassie grabbed her designated roof blanket and fished a condom out of her bedside table. Was this really happening?
She climbed through first and nearly fell out the damn window when Noah stroked her opportunistically, releasing a fresh wave of desire. He followed her, and she spread the blanket out on the roof of the porch.
They turned to look at each other.
Instead of speaking, he gathered her to him tenderly. He kissed her, more gently than before. She luxuriated in the scratch of his beard on her skin, the glide of his rough hands along her hips.
In seconds, he was hard again. The hollow ache in her begged to receive him.
He guided her gently to the blanket and leaned her back. She was spread out beneath him, and for a long moment, he just looked at her.
She started to shrink her arms back to her sides, but he shook his head, eyebrows contracted. So she lay vulnerable and naked under the stars as he took in every inch of her, first with his gaze and then his mouth.
“Let me redeem myself,” he whispered into the nape of her neck.
“I’ll allow it,” she said as he skated his nose down her collarbone, tracing a path to her belly button. The scent of chlorine lingered in his hair.
She lay helplessly underneath him, hand buried in his hair as he claimed every inch of her, kissing and licking and teasing, and good god, it was too much to handle. How was anyone supposed to feel all these feelings at the same time?
He released her and sat back. Foil crinkled as he ripped the condom open and rolled it on.
She leaned up and pulled him roughly to her, claiming his mouth with her own. Every part of her was screaming.
Noah filled her slowly, inch by shuddering inch.
She gasped at the sudden hit of pain at accommodating his staggering size, and he stopped.
“Are you okay?” There was concern in his eyes, and a canopy of stars glittered overhead.
She nodded and willed herself to relax. It had been a long time, and her favorite vibrator was not as well-endowed as Noah.
“Just breathe. I’ll go slow,” he said, withdrawing an inch or so. “Stop me anytime.”
She shook her head fervently. “Don’t stop.”
The concern in his eyes vanished, replaced by need. He kissed her again, bringing his hand down to stimulate her. He took his time, exploring her until she was quivering again. She grabbed him by the hips and pulled him to her.
They slid together slowly, and finally he filled her. This time, there was no pain, only an indescribable wash of heat. He glided in and out, slowly at first, then urgently.
He was above her, looking at her, watching her every reaction.
Sensations popped like flashbulbs as he swirled his thumb over her, coaxing her back to the edge. Her body was a grid system of firing synapses as he thrusted. Everything was ushering her back to the brink, lighting up like a damn runway.
She moaned, and he went deeper. Faster. Harder.
She arched her back, as tense as a bow. Finally, he pushed her over the edge. They nailed the peak at the same time, clinging to each other as he pulsed inside her.
The release left her limp and breathless. She might never walk again. She’d have to live here on this roof and order DoorDash. Maybe she could still treat birds.
He collapsed to a forearm and kissed her again, tenderly stroking her face.
She had never been so at peace and yet so confused. This was supposed to be a quickie. But now it was over, and he was still kissing her, looking at her with something deeper in his eyes.
Shut up, brain, she sternly commanded. Stop overthinking it.
She kissed him back and relished in the postcoital glow.
Noah pulled back and looked behind them.
“Shit, we almost fell off the roof.”
“We what?” She sat up to look. They had somehow scooched from the top of the pitched roof almost to the bottom.
Noah’s foot was six inches from the gutter.
“Whoops,” she said.
“Let’s get you inside before I accidentally kill us both.”