Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

Snow

 

I didn’t know what I should wear to the office the morning that I was to report after Hunter’s text. Should I go for business attire, like I was going back to work? An everyday outfit because, clearly, I was not going back to work? Business casual, whatever the hell that is?

What is the best outfit to wear for jail intake?

I finally settled on a pair of fitted black slacks with a yellow and blue sweater and my favorite red heels. It was appropriate enough that no matter who I was facing in the office, I would feel comfortable, but also versatile enough that if I was being hauled off to the hoosegow at least I would be able to climb in and out of the backseat with some of my dignity intact. When I arrived at the office, I had my old ID badge at my hip like I had every other morning I had worked there. Though I expected it not to work, the door clicked and swung open just as it always had. I stepped into the lobby and saw Hunter waiting in the center of the space. He had a hint of a smile on his lips and he opened his arms as I approached.

“It’s so good to see you, Snow,” he said. “We’ve missed you around here.”

“It’s good to see you, too,” I said as I accepted his friendly embrace. “I’ve missed all of you. Well,” I hesitated, looking toward the door that led onto the work floors, “maybe not all of you.”

“I guess that that is as good a segue as any,” he said, gesturing for me to head in that direction.

We walked together through the door and onto the first floor. There was a feeling of more energy in the air and I noticed that I could hear the low chatter of people talking and laughing, a sound that had all but died out by the time that Lucille fired me.

“Things seem to be better,” I said.

Hunter shrugged and guided me onto the elevator. As soon as we stepped out, I knew that he was leading me toward Lucille’s office.

“You can wait in the reception area,” Hunter said.

I reached out and grabbed onto his elbow.

“You would tell me if something horrible was about to happen, wouldn’t you?” I asked. “I mean, if you knew that I was about to walk into an ambush or something, you would let me know. Send a code or something?”

Hunter laughed and peeled my fingers away from his arm.

“I sincerely doubt you are going to be ambushed,” he said. “To be honest, though, I don’t know why he specifically asked to speak to you.”

It took a second for what Hunter had said to sink in.

“He?” I asked. “What do you mean, he?”

“You haven’t heard?” Hunter asked.

“Heard what?”

“He’s ready for you,” Cindy said from the desk beside the office.

“Heard what?” I asked again even as Hunter put his hand to my back and started guiding me toward the now-repaired door to the office.

“Lucille is no longer in control of Royal and Company,” Hunter said.

“What happened?”

I didn’t put voice to my somewhat shameful hope that she had met some kind of horrible demise, or at least that she had caught something miserable and was holed up in the hospital for the next few years or so.

“The company was taken over,” Hunter explained “It turns out that Walter Royal had been considering selling the company for some time and had been negotiating with the owner of another agency a few cities over. He had been grooming you to act as vice president under the new owner so that the company would continue to run as it always had. When Lucille came along she thought that he was giving her the company for good and was going to go off and retire while she worked. In reality, though, marrying her only convinced him even more that he was ready to go ahead and retire. He put her in control for the time that he would be enjoying his retirement trip, assuming that she would take care of the company and make sure that everything went smoothly in preparation for the transition to the new owners and to your promotion before they both retired to enjoy their life together.”

“Somehow I don’t think that she took it well when he told her.”

“Well, what went worse was when she told him that you had been fired. He felt horrible that he hadn’t told you about his plan and that his decision had cost you your position and the future of your career. He came back from his trip immediately, removed her from her position, and finalized the sale to the new owners. One of his conditions was that the new owner’s son consider bringing you back in.”

“His son?”

“Apparently, he wants to have more responsibility in his family’s business so his father handled the negotiations with Mr. Royal, but he is the president now.”

“So that’s why I’m here? Walter pleaded my case to the new owners of the company so they’re calling me in to let me down easy? That should be my second favorite thing that has ever happened in this office.”

“He specifically asked to see you. I don’t know why.”

I nodded and took the few steps to the door. Before I knocked, though, I turned back to Hunter.

“What happened to Lucille?” I asked.

“You didn’t hear it from me, but Mr. Royal had me put in a call to his attorney for a little chat tomorrow afternoon.”

I nodded again and turned back to the door.

Bitch owes me doughnuts. Put it in the settlement terms.

I knocked, but Cindy gestured for me to go ahead in. I turned the knob and stepped inside, stopping short before I was even all the way into the room.

“What are you doing here?” I asked breathlessly.

“Come in,” Noah said from where he sat behind the desk.

I stepped further into the room and closed the door behind me. When I hesitated, he gestured for me to come closer. I took a few steps toward the desk, hesitated again, and then lowered myself into the chair across from him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked again.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to be feeling. I was delighted to see him, but I was also extremely confused and couldn’t seem to make all that was happening fall into place in my mind.

“I promise I didn’t mean to startle you,” Noah said. “I didn’t even know you when my father started negotiations with Walter.”

“Your father?” I asked, things starting to clarify a little. “You’re the president of the company now?”

He nodded.

“My father has been negotiating to buy Royal and Company as the first company that I would run for almost a year.”

“I thought that you were a baker,” I said.

“I am,” Noah said. “That is my passion. Advertising has been my family’s business for generations. As long as I go along with it and do my share of the work, I can bake on my free time. I paid my own way through culinary school and bought my own kitchen.”

“And your foray into The Enchanted Woods?” I asked.

I was inexplicably feeling angry, as if he had somehow betrayed me with decisions that he made before he even knew me, decisions that were truly no different than ones that I had made for myself.

“I wanted a chance to cook,” he told me. “I’m too well-known around my city to work in a kitchen there. I’ve kept in touch with one of my mentors from school and he told me about an opportunity that he knew about…”

I held up a hand to stop him. I couldn’t have this conversation right now. Seeing him without warning had hit me with far more emotion than I was prepared to experience, and I couldn’t handle it right at that moment. It was too much. I stood up, shaking my head.

“I can’t do this, Noah. I don’t know you at all.”

“Wasn’t that the point?”

I felt tears spring to my eyes at the comment and turned away from him, starting to the door.

“Snow, please,” he said. I paused, but didn’t turn back around. I closed my eyes, trying to control the emotion that I was feeling. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I only meant that neither of us really know each other because that’s the way that it was supposed to be, but that’s not how I want it to be. Please. Come to my house tonight. Talk to me. I can’t just let you walk away without having a chance. That’s all I’m asking. Just a chance.”

I hesitated, unsure of what I was supposed to say. My first impulse was to just keep going, to put it all behind me and try to find a new life bolstered by what I had learned and experienced at the retreat. I realized, though, that if I was truly going to follow what I had learned, I was going to be true to myself and to my feelings and push ahead, ready to find whatever might be waiting on the other side.

I turned to face him and nodded.

“Alright,” I said.

He smiled and I felt my heart flutter. He scribbled something on a sticky note and offered it to me.

“Here’s my address. Eight?”

I took the note.

“I’ll see you then.”

I wanted to hug him. I just wanted to be close to him. Instead, I turned back and rushed out of the office, moving past Cindy and Hunter before they could ask me any questions and left the building, dialing Robin even before my feet touched the pavement.

 

“Somehow I was expecting something else.”

I reached for another slice of pizza and pulled it toward me, dropping it onto the plate in my lap before taking up the shaker of parmesan cheese and giving the slice a liberal coating.

“I’m sorry,” Noah said from the carpet where he sat. “I was planning something more elaborate, but I ended up at the office longer than I thought.”

“No,” I said, sinking my teeth into the slice and sighing at the rich flavor that filled my mouth. “This is perfect. It’s the most incredible pizza I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

We ate in silence for a few more moments and then I dabbed my mouth with a napkin before slipping my plate onto the coffee table in front of me.

“Why did you ask me here tonight, Noah?”

He glanced over his shoulder at me and lowered his plate to the table beside mine.

“I wanted to see you again,” he said. “I needed to give you an explanation.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation.”

“Yes, I do. I did everything that I could at the Woods to tell you how I feel about you. You rejected me at every turn.”

“I didn’t reject you, Noah. I acknowledged that both of us signed contracts that prevented us from spending any more time together than was arranged. That’s it.”

“Look, I told you that I was a last-minute fill-in for another man that was supposed to be in your experience.”

“Yes,” I said. “I remember.”

“That’s the truth. I was there because I wanted to cook. That was it. I found out about the position there and I went for it. I knew that it would only be a matter of time before the deal with the agency was finalized and I would have to spend most of my time at the office. It was my last opportunity to really indulge myself cooking and baking for a while. When I met you, though…. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Then Fawn mentioned that one of the men chosen for you hadn’t shown up and I offered to step in. I wanted to have a chance to spend more time with you than just when I brought your food, but there was more than that.”

“There was?”

“Yes,” he said, turning so that he was on his knees beside the couch where I sat, looking into my eyes. “I offered because I couldn’t stand the idea of another man taking that place. I knew why you were there. I understood. But that doesn’t mean that I wanted someone else to come in and take the time that I wanted.”

My heart clenched at his words. I felt a wave of guilt through my belly.

“I’m sorry,” I started, but Noah shook his head, stopping me.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” he said. “What you did was courageous as hell. When you left, though, it killed me. Then I saw your picture at Royal and Company when I went for a conference with Lucille to tell her that the final negotiations had started. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. All along, I was delaying getting to where I would have found you.” He stood and reached down to take my hands. “I never want another man to touch you. I never want you to have to search for anything. I want to be able to give it all to you.”

He started backing up, gently pulling me along with him. Staring into each other’s eyes, we made our way through the house until we reached the tall, curving staircase. Noah turned, continuing to hold one of my hands, and guided me up the stairs and down another hallway into a massive bedroom. Without another word, he brought his hands to the sides of my dress and gathered it, peeling it up off of me and dropping it.

The way that Noah looked at me sent a thrill through my body. The green of his eyes had darkened until they looked like velvet and his long dark eyelashes were hanging low with desire. This wasn't what I had anticipated when I had agreed to come to his house to talk with him. I had truly thought that even with his declarations in the office, I was going to be able to maintain a distance from him, to temper my emotions and accept that whatever had happened between us couldn’t possibly be real. Until this moment, standing in his bedroom with my clothes at my feet, I had thought that I had control over the desire that had been increasing within me since the first moment that I had seen him. I believed that no matter how intensely attracted to him I was, I could resist Noah and keep our relationship at a professional level. Maybe one day we could learn to be friendly.

Now that I was allowing myself to simply experience what was happening, I couldn't deny my need any longer. I couldn't pretend that my heart didn't race when I looked at him or that my body was already hot and wet waiting for him, that it had been since I saw him in the office. I wanted to give myself over to him and experience the luxuries that we hadn’t permitted ourselves. We weren’t held back by anything anymore, and I was ready to explore all that could be cradled right between us, just waiting to be discovered.

Noah reached to unhook my bra, but I shook my head. He paused, looking at me questioningly, and I brought my hands to the buttons on the front of his shirt so that I could slowly reveal him in the same way that he had undressed me. I wanted to savor this. We had already gone so far and been through so much, but this was different. I wanted to slow it down and let myself really enjoy every moment. Everything had changed. This could never be just this one night.

Right here, right now, it was just the two of us. We existed together in the private world of his home, away from everything else, and I could pretend that there was nothing else in the world, that we were even more isolated than we had been in the Enchanted Woods.

My fingers worked their way down his shirt and then pushed it out of the way, revealing his sexy, chiseled body. He stood still as I ran my hands down his chest and belly to bring them to his belt so I could release the buckle, then the button of his pants. Noah drew in a breath as I lowered his zipper, my fingers brushing against the firm swell that was becoming more obvious with each passing second. It was making my mouth water and all I could think was that I couldn’t wait to suck that cock into my throat. Noah's pants dropped to the floor and he stepped out of them. My eyes locked hungrily on the distended fabric of his trunks and I licked my lips as I forced myself to look up at his face again.

Noah suddenly captured my mouth in a possessive, insistent kiss. I offered myself over to it, wrapping my arms around his neck to enjoy the warmth of his skin pressing against mine and the pressure of his erection on my belly. After a few moments, he swept me up into his arms and started back toward the bed. I felt small and protected in his grip, but feminine and sensual as I let him lower me onto the mattress. As he straightened to stand by the side of the bed, Noah's hand came to the side of my face and his fingertips traced along the curve of my jaw. He ran his touch down my neck and then along my chest, applying light pressure as his hand teased between my breasts and onto my stomach. I arched my back toward the touch and let my eyes close.

The touch of his hand gave way to the heat of his mouth and Noah followed the same tingling trail with his lips. He occasionally let his tongue slip between his lips to glide along my skin and I ached to feel that tongue between my thighs. He lifted his head and blew a stream of cool air along the damp skin, making me tremble. Dipping his head again, Noah kissed his way to the waistband of my panties. He was nearly there and I could feel my thighs shaking with anticipation, but before he went any further, he lifted his head again. I felt his breath grazing across the heavy swells of my breasts and teasing the sensitive tips of my hardened nipples.

I opened my eyes and saw his eyes running along my body, taking me in with admiration. There was an expression in his eyes that bordered between pleasure at revisiting my body after leaving it so completely satisfied during our date, and a flicker of something new, as if he, too, could sense that something powerful had changed. He ran his mouth along both breasts, his mouth open slightly so that he nuzzled them instead of trailing individual kisses. When it seemed that he had offered enough reverence, then brought his fingers to the front clasp. The cups popped open, allowing my full breasts to spill out toward him and I moved my arms to get out of it.

The moment that the lace touched the floor, Noah's mouth was on my breast. I gasped as he pulled my nipple in to swirl his tongue around it. His hand slid along the curve of my waist and onto my other breast, kneading into it as he continued to suckle at my nipple. His teeth sank lightly into my flesh and then he moved his mouth to the other breast, lavishing it with the same attention.

I was writhing against the bed by the time that he was finished, brought to a level of arousal that I would never have thought possible just with those simple movements. He had gotten nowhere near touching my core, yet I felt only seconds away from climax. I craved the feeling of him plunging inside me, but Noah was far from finished. Instead, he kissed along the center of my belly back to the waistband of my panties where he dipped the tip of his tongue beneath the elastic and ran it from one hipbone to the other. He was getting closer, driving me further and further to the bounds of my control, but not far enough to release the ache that he had built between my legs.

I felt Noah's hand run along my thigh and then to my hip. He climbed onto the bed with me so that he stood on his knees and looked down at me, groaning as he traced my garter belt with his fingers. He leaned down and ran his tongue beneath the garter on one inner thigh and then pressed my legs apart so he could climb between them and repeat the lick on my other leg. His hands worked at the clasps on my outer thighs and then inner thighs, releasing the garter belt completely from my black thigh-highs. These were another of the tangible reminders of the changes that had come over me during my time at the retreat. Like the lacy lingerie, knowing that I was wearing the garter and thigh-highs, even if I didn’t think that anyone else would see them, made me feel sexy and confident, powerful enough to take on any challenge that I might face. Right then, they heightened my arousal, especially when I saw the way that Noah looked at them.

His fingers gripped the top of one thigh-high and Noah rolled it down my leg carefully, following the progress of it with his mouth. He continued until the kisses reached the arch of my foot and he tossed the delicate silk away. He repeated the process on my other leg and then slowly released the hook-and-eye closures along the front of my garter belt so that he could peel it away from my body. Every step slowed him, but made each touch more delicious, each breath more laden with anticipation and need. Finally, the tight belt was gone and I was in nothing but my barely-there panties.

Noah cupped his mouth over the front of my panties and I moaned at the heat of his breath and pressure of his tongue as it nudged and teased me through the fabric. He sucked at me through my satin and lace and ran his hands up my outer thighs until he gripped the delicate fabric so that he could whisk it away from my body. I was fully bare stretched out in front of him, my body primed for whatever he wanted from it, and Noah gazed down at me with hunger and admiration in his eyes.

In one fast movement, his hands came to the backs of my thighs and he pressed my legs back and apart so that I was completely open to him. His breath ran along my wet, ready core and my back arched, my toes pointing so that they touched his shoulders. Noah didn't move away, but instead brought his mouth closer, touching a gentle kiss to the taut peak that he had coaxed forward with the gradual, patient attention to the rest of my body. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had been there from the moment of my awakening, the earliest moments of my discovery of my body, and he knew me in a way that no one else ever could. I whimpered and opened my legs further, trying to encourage him further. The tip of his tongue flicked through my folds and I gasped. The sound fueled him forward and Noah lowered his mouth to open it over my center and draw his tongue deeper through me.

Noah focused the tip of his tongue on the dripping, sensitive pearl of my clit, swirling it masterfully so he brought me just to the edge of my control and then eased me back, allowing my body to rest slightly so that he could just continue on and build me up again. Just before I completely lost myself, Noah lowered down to press his tongue deep inside me. I reached down and buried my fingers in his thick hair, at once holding his head closer to me to intensify the feeling and pulling back on it trying to relieve the incredible pleasure that I knew I wouldn’t be able to withstand for long.

Noah flattened his hand on my belly, pressing down to hold me in place. I rested my hand on top of his, intertwining our fingers to find more connection and strength. His thumb moved down, brushing across my clit in the same rhythm of the movements of his tongue deep inside me. In seconds, the pressure that had been building through my hips, thighs, and belly spiraled up to an intense peak and then shattered into a cascade of frantic spasms. He moved his mouth away and plunged his fingers deep within me, pressing them as far as he could as I came around them.

Finally, my body calmed and my screams quieted, but I wasn't yet fully satisfied. I needed his hard, thick cock inside me. Fortunately, Noah didn’t seem interested in hesitating for even a moment. I watched as he climbed off of the end of the bed and stood. His eyes continued to travel along my flushed body as he tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his trunks and pushed them down. His thick, delicious-looking erection sprung out and I reached for it hungrily.

 

Noah

 

Still tasting Snow on my lips and feeling the ridges of her walls on my tongue, I climbed back onto the bed and crawled over her so that she could wrap her hand around my cock. I moaned at the touch and pressed my hips forward to further it. She wrapped her entire hand around me and started to stroke my shaft, giving tiny twists with each glide that made me so hard it almost hurt. Her palm rose up over the head and I felt her soft skin gather the drops of fluid that formed at the slit to make her long strokes faster and smoother.

The pressure of her hand changed to create a slight pull and she reached up with her other hand to press against one side of my ass and guide my hips forward. I allowed her to position me until my hands were above her head and my pelvis was hovering over her chest. Snow brought the tip of my cock to her lips, tracing their luscious softness slowly. It was delicious torture and a deep moan wrenched from my chest as I bit down on my lip to try to control myself. Finally, she opened her mouth and took me in fully across her tongue. Her hand gripped my ass harder to stabilize me and I reciprocated by lifting one of my hands off of the mattress and tucking it beneath her head to hold it up more comfortably.

Snow’s mouth glided along my cock skillfully, sucking with just enough pressure and strength to drive me toward the brink of oblivion without allowing me to tip over. I began to move my hips, thrusting into her mouth. She accepted the movements, relaxing her mouth so that I could slide deeper, dipping into her throat as her tongue massaged the underside of my cock. The sensation was incredible, and finally I couldn't take it any longer. I withdrew from her mouth and lowered her head back to the bed.

I moved backwards to position over her and leaned down so that my chest brushed against the hardened tips of her nipples. She licked her lips and I touched them with mine, taking the moment to calm down slightly so that I could allow my excitement to slow and my body to cool so that I knew I wasn't going to come within seconds. When I felt like I had a grasp on my control again, I reached down to touch her thigh. I met her eyes and she stared back, the expression in her eyes open and unwavering. We didn’t need words and I knew that things had shifted, taking away the need for anything else. I eased her thigh up slightly and tilted my hips forward to touch her hot, wet opening with the tip of my erection. Snow was still dripping from the orgasm that I had felt around my fingers and tongue, and that had nearly sent me over the edge. I couldn't wait to feel her surrounding me. It wasn’t the first time that I would be inside of her, but this was different. I wanted to feel the hot wetness of her walls against my skin and let her feel my skin stroking her.

Snow drew her leg up further and I knew that she wanted the same thing. The movement opened her further, allowing me to sink slightly into her. I drew in a breath at the feeling of her slick body embracing me and pushed forward, plunging fully into her as I kissed her passionately. She was incredibly hot and tight, making me feel fully enveloped by her, and I felt her link her leg over my hip to intensify the grip.

We remained in that position, still for several seconds as we got accustomed to the feeling of our bodies melding with nothing between us. Our breath synchronized and the patterned flow of it was the only sound that I could hear in the room around us. I allowed my body to lower slightly so that my chest rested against hers. I could feel the beat of her heart against my ribcage and I took my mouth from hers to touch a kiss over her heart. I felt her body relax and I started to move. My hips rolled against hers allowing me to sink deeper and deeper into her. Snow whimpered and writhed as I stroked deep inside of her, and I watched her eyes close as she seemed to lose herself in the luxurious, indulgent feeling of our bodies worshipping one another.

Snow's hands touched my back and glided along my skin. She pressed into my muscles with the tips of her fingers, drawing me down onto her so that my weight pressed her into the bed. Having her completely open and enjoying my body with abandon beneath me made me feel strong and powerful in a way that I had never known. Just as I had imagined that it would be, this was an experience unlike any that I had ever had. Rather than just me having fun with the willing body that was handed over to me, I was connected to Snow, linked to her as we experienced this together, and I craved giving her pleasure and showing her the love that I felt for her just as much as I craved my own satisfaction.

In that moment, I stopped thinking about what I was feeling and experiencing, and instead just gave myself over to it. I closed my eyes and focused in on the nearly overwhelming sensation of being inside of her. Snow lifted her head and kissed my shoulder, grazing at my skin with her teeth, then brought her mouth to my ear. She traced it with the tip of her tongue.

"Let go," she whispered.

The words shot me to a new level of arousal and my pace became faster and more intense. She whimpered and moaned beneath me and she drew both of her knees up so that the tips of her toes were the only thing touching the mattress. The position gave me complete access to her and I thrust within her harder, pounding so deep I could feel that I couldn’t go any further. I could hear the sounds pouring from within her growing louder and deeper. I opened my eyes and looked down at her, finding her staring up at me with a look that was an erotic balance between vulnerability and wild abandon. Our eyes met and I couldn't control myself any longer.

I roared as I rushed headlong into climax and felt it crash over me with blinding intensity. As soon as I gave my first hard throb within her, Snow let out a cry and I felt her body clench down around me as she tumbled into another orgasm. The contractions of her body around me met each of my pulses, drawing me in deeper as I spilled into her. I stayed in place, held as deep within her as I could push myself, until our bodies had quieted and deep relaxation began to settle through my muscles.

Finally, I withdrew from her and slid over onto my side. She curled into my body, settling in against me as if crafted specifically to fit into that spot. I kissed the top of her head and her hand came up to rest on my chest. There was so much that I wanted to say, but before I could, the relaxation took over and I slipped away into sleep.