“Noah,” I said, knowing I was close. He gave my nipple a final kiss and then straightened, then he slid his hands under my ass and began to move.
I wrapped my legs around his waist and hooked them over one another so I had something to anchor me. Then I began to move with him, writhing atop the table, chasing the ultimate high. In and out, he took me over and over again, and when I reached down to finger my clit, a groan hit my ears.
“Yes,” Noah said as I massaged the sensitive bundle of nerves. My fingers were soaked and so was he, and under any other circumstance I might’ve been embarrassed. But right here and now I felt nothing but power as Noah watched me masturbate for him.
“Fuck, Laurel, I’m close.”
So was I, and as he tunneled inside of me again, the orgasm hit, and my body clamped around him like a fist. A cry of pleasure ripped out of me, and I squeezed my legs tight, not willing to let him go until I was fully satisfied.
As the wave finally ebbed and the ache eased, my legs relaxed and Noah withdrew. My eyes fluttered shut, and as I sank into the delicious lethargy washing over me, he wrapped a hand around my wrist and tugged me upright.
My eyes flew open and I came face to face with Noah. He leaned in and whispered against my lips, “My turn.”
His words made my body throb with renewed interest, and I looked down between us to see his erection was thick, hard, and bare. Noah had removed the condom at some stage, and I couldn’t wait to touch him. I wrapped a hand around him and began to stroke, and when he leaned forward and said, “Harder,” I increased the pressure.
I angled my neck, and Noah nuzzled in. He began to pump up into my fist, then brought his other hand up to knead my breast.
“God,” I said as he twisted my nipple, and then I turned my head and took his mouth with mine. The kiss was desperate, passionate, and full of pent-up desire. Noah thrust into my fist hard and fast, and a second later he pulled back and groaned, coming all over my hand.
He took a shuddering breath and rested his forehead on my naked shoulder. After a couple of minutes had passed, he looked me in the eye and smirked.
“Damn. That was…”
When he seemed to be at a loss for words, I nodded. “Yeah, it really was.”
As silence settled in around us, and the reality of what I’d just done and with whom slammed into me, all of the doubts I’d shoved aside earlier came rushing back in.
What had I done?
Noah gently slipped the straps of my dress back in place, then he tucked himself in. “You know, I never imagined finding you again after all these years, especially back here. It’s—”
“Crazy?” Because that was how this was starting to feel to me. Crazy, insane, like I’d lost my goddamn mind. What was I thinking letting things go this far?
“Yeah, but in a great way. Don’t you think? Tonight was amazing. You can’t tell me it wasn’t.”
I couldn’t, that was true. Everything had been perfect. From the location of the meal, to the unbelievably hot sex we’d just had on this VIP table. But as I realized where he was going with this, I knew I was too vulnerable to keep my walls up right now.
I slipped off the table and gestured to myself. “I, um, I need to go and clean up a bit.”
Seeming to sense the shift in my mood, Noah nodded and stepped aside. “Of course, sorry. Take your time. I’ll take care of this while you’re gone.”
I glanced at the uneaten food and nodded. I knew I was acting strange. I’d gone from hot to cold in the blink of an eye. But I just needed a few minutes on my own to regroup. To remember exactly what my plan was. Because no matter how good this date had been—and it had been great—it could never happen again. Ever.
27
Laurel
LATER IN THE evening when I pulled into my drive and cut the engine, I was still coming to grips with everything that had happened tonight. From the sensual high to my crash back down to reality, there was no way to deny the delicious lethargy in my body. I pushed open the car door and pulled Noah’s jacket around me tight.
Ever since Noah’s return, I’d been taut as a tripwire, tense, and on edge. His sudden reappearance had wreaked havoc with my internal wiring. But after that initial shock had passed, a different kind of tension altogether had settled in.
Well, he’d certainly taken care of that tonight, because the satisfied hum now coursing through my veins guaranteed I’d get the best sleep I’d had in weeks. Hell, maybe even months.
I headed up the stairs to my front door and, luckily for me, no one was around to witness my late-night return. The last thing I needed was for people in town to start whispering about me. But tonight, I’d allow myself to bask in the moment alone. I’d wrap myself up in the scrumptious memory that was Noah’s mouth, hands, and body all over mine, and enjoy the best date I’d been on in years. Before I put it in the memory bank, never to think of again.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside, then kicked out of my heels. I tossed my keys on the foyer table and was about to head down to my room.
“I didn’t know you were going out tonight.”
I gasped and clutched at my chest, then whirled around to see Jake sitting on one of the couches in the dark. He was supposed to be at Caleb’s tonight, and the shock of seeing him there automatically erased my relaxation from seconds ago and replaced it with motherly concern.
“Jake?” I switched on the light to make sure he was in one piece, and when I couldn’t see anything out of the norm, my breathing calmed and my heart began to beat again at a normal rhythm. “What are you doing home? I thought you were spending the night at Caleb’s?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.”
The judgmental tone was so unlike Jake that it immediately made my hackles rise. I straightened my shoulders, and when Noah’s jacket slipped down my arms, I quickly reached for it, knowing the dress I had on underneath was not something Jake was used to seeing me in. Something that wasn’t lost on him.
“Whose jacket is that?” he asked, getting to his feet.
“Excuse me? I’m the adult in this house, and I believe I asked you a question. What are you doing home? You told me you were spending the night at Caleb’s.”
“So? I changed my mind. You wouldn’t care if you weren’t trying to sneak in in the middle of the night.”
Right, that was it. I knew the two of us needed to talk after today’s blow-up at the baseball field, but I was just about done with this new attitude. I stalked across the room and jabbed him in the chest.
“Listen to me, young man. I know we’re pretty casual around here and have a different kind of relationship than most. But that doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful or rude. What’s gotten into you?”
Jake narrowed his eyes and looked me over in a way that made me cross my arms over my chest. That niggling feeling from earlier started again in the pit of my stomach.
“What’s gotten into me? You’re the one acting completely different these days.”
Wow. He was clearly pissed off, and that was something we needed to discuss. But no matter how angry he was, or how much he did or didn’t know, I wasn’t going to stand here and be talked down to by my teenage son.