What I didn’t know, and what life had unfortunately not prepared me for, was how they would look.
Noah Richards is cut.
He’s not overly huge, but his body seems to be perfectly defined in all the right places. His shoulders and chest are broad, with those lovely trap muscles that are like handles, and curved pecs with no chest hair, which appears to be natural. He has a very precise eight-pack of abs - that’s two more than the normal amount, I might add - clustered on his stomach, leading down to a nice little happy trail and, wait for it… The V.
Oh, the glorious V. How we love you so…
And of course, because this is Noah we’re talking about, he’s made his drool-worthy body into his own canvas with a hefty collection of tattoos all over, and a silver barbell through his left nipple.
Good God, someone should have warned me. I’m not in the right headspace to be standing next to a man this fucking fine.
My mouth is actually watering. I need to stop staring, but I just can’t. He looks like every girl’s bad boy wet dream.
As I slowly step closer to him, I observe some of the tats he didn’t show me the night we met., like the ones on his chest and pelvis. Yes, he has tattoos on his pelvis, and yes, they’re outstanding.
He has matching tribal suns on either side of his happy trail, disappearing into his pants. And his Mad Hatter tattoo from his shoulder and back continues onto his front in a very elaborate way that has me drawn to the art of it as much as how dang good it looks on him.
He also has the word Seek written in some very beautiful script above his left pectoral. And a whole slew of others I would need days to explore and gush over. In more ways than one…
“Are you done studying me?” He finally speaks, and I realize I’ve been staring at his body for quite some time.
But it’s really a work of art. He looks so good in every single way, and the tattoos just make him that much more unique. His look definitely matches his personality, that’s for sure.
“For now,” I say with a smile, gleaming up at him, because as much as I gave him crap for it on the phone before, I did miss his crazy ass the last two days.
“Good,” he chirps then bends down and scoops me up into a giant hug that forces me to wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his naked waist.
He burrows his face in my neck, and I think he’s sniffing me. Well, if he can do it…
I smoosh my face into the crook and breathe in his Noah smell. He smells appetizing, like I’m meant to eat him or something. It’s his natural scent that’s sort of sweet and super manly. Add to that whatever soap he uses and the faintest hint of hemp. It’s very nice, and again, exclusive to Noah. Jeez, even his smell is different than everyone else in the world.
He continues to hold me tight, and then I notice him moving, walking inside his apartment with me in his arms, kicking the door shut with his foot. He walks through a massive foyer, and into another wide-open room. My head bobs all around as I take in the scenery.
His place is fantastic. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s the most gigantic apartment I’ve ever been inside, with the highest ceilings and what looks to be a spiral staircase heading to an upstairs.
He steps up to a table and picks up a bottle of water with his left hand while he holds me onto him with his right. He takes a sip and makes an ah noise when he’s done.
“Are you ever going to put me down?” I ask with a laugh. I’m barely even holding onto his shoulders, and my legs are now dangling off the ground.
He’s very strong. So that’s what all those elaborate muscles in his arms and shoulders are for…
“Nope,” he mutters and I laugh again. “My Alex.”
I squirm around in his grasp, wiggling until he chuckles and finally sets me on my feet, but not without first pressing a soft kiss on my cheek. And I mean very soft. His lips are like marshmallows.
I compose myself now that I’m walking on my own again, and continue to gaze about his kingdom. My attention is immediately stolen by giant wall-length windows that look like they open up onto some kind of terrace. He has a huge living room filled with gorgeous leather furniture, plants everywhere, a fireplace, and the biggest damn flat screen I’ve ever seen.
The decor in his place is everything I love in home decorating sitting in one space. It’s all warm, mahogany and Cherrywood, with sprinkles of Noah all over the place in the forms of collector’s items, cool accents and what appears to be some kind of medieval sword hanging on the wall.
“Okay, so first thing’s first. It appears you’ve decorated my hat,” his voice pulls me back to him and I look up to catch his raised brows.
“Oh… yea. It was an accident,” I stutter, remorseful. “I was wearing it while I was painting and -”
“Alex, I gave it to you,” he chuckles, tilting his head to the side. “You can fill it with fish guts if you want. Although I would ask why you were doing that if you did…”
I giggle and bite my lip, removing his hat from my head. “Actually, I wanted to give it back to you. Now that I left my mark on it, I think you should wear it again.”
His face lights up, which is such a wonderful thing to witness. “You want me to wear an original Alex Mackenzie?!” I laugh and nod, handing it over. He snatches it from my fingers. “Yes, please!”
He tucks the hat onto his head, covering the top of his shaggy light brown hair. It’s his look, and he’s really pulling it off.
“So… What do you have planned?” I ask sauntering around him, continuing to check out his awesome pad.
“Well, I think I should be a polite host and give you the grand tour,” he murmurs, then locks my arm with his.
He proceeds to guide me all over his place, showing me his giant kitchen, massive dining room, huge living room and the terrace, which is another synonym of big. Then he shows me the guest room he was talking about, which is super nice, the downstairs bathrooms - plural - his office, library, and a home-gym. After that, we ascend the insanely cool staircase and he shows me the upstairs, which houses another bathroom, a slightly smaller office, and lastly, his bedroom.
“This is where the magic happens,” he teases and I elbow him in the side. “Sorry. I just love using tired clichés.”
“This place, Noah… Jesus, it’s phenomenal.”
I can’t even comprehend how amazing his entire home is. But his bedroom is a baby-maker if I’ve ever seen one. It’s just as large as every other room in the house, but decorated more… sensually, I guess would be the word. The color scheme is dark, and he has black and white photography on the walls of the erotic nature. I’m obsessed with it.
His stuff is everywhere, and it totally smells like him in here, giving me the secret chills. He has his own master bath, naturally, and all kinds of big oak furniture that’s so beautiful I can’t help but run my fingers over it.
When I take a closer look at his huge, very comfy-looking California King bed, I realize that we’re not alone.
“Oh my God! Who is this?” I squeal, trying to be quiet as I step closer.
“Alexandra, meets Boots,” Noah croons, walking over and picking up the cat who was previously curled up like a fluffy ball in the middle of his bed. He hugs the animal to his chest and kisses it’ head over and over. My ovaries are exploding. “Boots, this is Alex. We like her a lot, so be nice.”