Eight months later

“Are you awake yet?”

I prodded Nora gently on the side. She moaned and rolled over in our spacious bed. I grinned and let her sleep for a while longer. It was only five in the morning, after all. I’d just returned after a particularly lengthy filming session for the sixth and final season of Code Grey, and after the six cups of coffee I had earlier, I was wired.

And horny.

I settled in next to Nora while she snored gently next to me—yes, snored. She was wrong about me and Oscar being the snorers in our house. It was totally her.

As I lay there listening to her, I stared up at the ceiling, contemplating our life together. It was pretty fucking great, all in all.

Ina and I were officially divorced, and Nora had returned from New York two months ago. Her gig with Hartwell had proved to be a major coup for her career, and she no longer worked for Delos. After parting with the small consulting company on good terms upon her return, she’d started her own little consulting business. It was all brand new and up in the air at the moment, but she was working hard, and I knew she’d be successful when it was all set up.

Ina was offering her business savvy and advice to Nora whenever she had time, and Nora’s best friend Angie was also helping out when she could. She’d recently started seeing a talented software developer and web designer (a guy named Yuri) who was making the consulting website for Nora for a decent price. So it was all coming together quite well. We all liked to tease Angie about her taste for supposedly ‘boring’ men, but Yuri was a great guy, and at least he wasn’t a damn accountant. After all the crazy shit we’d gone through last year with James and Chris, we all thought it was best to steer clear of accountants as much as possible.

Speaking of Chris, he actually reached out to me a couple of months ago to apologize for everything he did. He said he was in therapy to deal with his obvious issues with women. I was glad he was getting help, and I told him as such, but I’d never be friends with him again. He’d caused far too many problems, and he’d hurt and frightened Nora. At least I knew she was safe now, though—no crazy stalkers out to get her anymore. But even if there was, I’d protect her till my dying breath. She was my whole world, and things wouldn’t be the same without her in my life.

She rolled over and muttered at me, still half asleep. “How was work?”

I stroked her hair. “Great. The season is almost done.”

“That’s good,” she said, stifling a yawn. “And you still have that meeting with Beaumont later today?”

I nodded. Nora wasn’t the only one doing well in her career. Things were booming in mine as well, and Beaumont was a studio that had asked me to come in and audition for an upcoming action thriller movie.

They weren’t the only studio that had asked me to audition for movies, either. Starring in Fourth Down had put the spotlight on me even more so than usual, so the offers were flowing in thick and fast despite the fact the movie hadn’t even been released yet. It had finished filming about three months ago, and it was now in the post-production phase, which took even longer than filming—editing, advertising, test audiences and so on. I couldn’t wait for it to premiere, though, because when it did, Nora was going to get a very special surprise.

And speaking of special surprises… Nora’s hand was reaching down my chest and abs, stroking in slow lines till it finally dipped below the waistband of my pants.

“I thought you were asleep,” I murmured before letting out a low groan as her small hand finally found my stiff cock.

“Hard to stay asleep with you around,” she replied, hazel eyes turning dark with desire as she stared at me. “Operative word being ‘hard’.”

I grinned, bent my head and slammed my mouth down on hers. Nora met the kiss with every pent-up need inside her, opening her mouth to take what I offered. She made a dark, hungry sound at the back of her throat as I slanted my lips across hers, the kiss raw and intense and hot as hell. Her hand kept stroking over my dick as we embraced, and heat rushed to my groin.

I slowed the ravenous pace of our kiss and licked at her lower lip instead, a seductive caress. Nora mewled in frustration, needing so much more from me. My hold on her tightened, and my left hand moved down and slipped beneath her silk nightie. My mouth absorbed her gasp as my fingers gently dipped within her, teasing her slowly, and then I pulled back from her lips as my other hand swept down her back to grip the curves of her ass before concentrating on removing her nightie altogether.

Inch by inch I eased the silky material upward, revealing more and more of her soft skin. I caught just a glimpse of the neatly trimmed triangle of hair between her thighs before I drew the slip over her abdomen and up her ribcage to her breasts. Fisting the wad of material against her sternum, I lifted my head to gaze at the pert flesh I’d revealed, topped with pale brown nipples. They were stiff and pebbled, a fine scattering of goosebumps covering her silken skin. Unable to stop myself, I slid the hand at her hip upward until it rested between her shoulder blades and dipped my head to taste her.

She gasped when my lips touched her nipples, her muscles tensing beneath me. I placed teasing, reverent kisses over the velvety curve of her breasts, then let my tongue play with the stiffened center, rubbed my bristly cheek against her tender skin. She hissed in a breath and grabbed the back of my head, holding me close. I didn’t need encouragement. I took her into my mouth and slowly sucked, rolling her nipple against the roof of my mouth. Nora moaned and squirmed in my arms, and I took turns pleasuring each breast, letting my hand slowly trail down the center of her body to the apex of her thighs. My fingertips brushed light patterns against her inner thighs, coaxing her to open for me. She did, slowly, and when I slid my fingers across the slick, swollen flesh between her legs, she whimpered.

The feel of her wetness made my cock throb and the heady scent of her arousal made my heart pound. I wanted to be inside her so bad I could barely see straight. Gliding my fingers through the wet folds, I stroked over the taut bud of her clit, drinking in her soft cry. I eased one finger into her, then a second, pumping gently before withdrawing to stroke her clit again. Within minutes she was trembling, her breaths coming in short, sharp gasps. Her fingernails dug deep into my shoulders, her eyes glazed as she stared into mine and moved her hips in time with my hand. She buried her face into my neck. “I need more… please, Jacob.”

I pulled my fingers out and positioned myself above her, nipping her lower lip before flexing my hips and pushing the head of my cock inside her. Nora caught her breath and squeezed her eyes shut as I slid deeper, pulling her mouth free to press her face into the curve of my shoulder. I was only in her an inch or two but she was so damn tight and warm that I almost wanted to come already from the friction.

Nora moaned and rolled her hips in a silent plea for more, her open mouth sliding against my hot skin. With a rough growl I eased out of her and did it again, stopping partway in, that slow, shallow slide of rigid flesh hitting the sweet spots inside her. My hips pulsed, sliding my cock in and out, over and over, while I slipped a hand between us to rub my thumb around her clit in slow circles. Nora trembled, her inner walls tightening around me, squeezing my dick to perfection.

“Fuck… don’t stop,” she gasped.

My thrusts grew deeper, more forceful, my lips and teeth working the side of her neck. Heat and pressure built inside my groin, nearly robbing me of thought. I heard the plaintive moan that tore from her, knew she was holding my shoulders so tight she was probably leaving marks, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My mouth smothered her wild cries as her climax claimed her, and as her muscles contracted around me, I let out my own deep groan of satisfaction. “Fucking hell,” I moaned, head tipping back as I came inside her in hot spurts.

Breathing hard, I bent my head to bury my face in her neck and held her while we recovered.

“Now that’s how I like to be woken up,” Nora said with a satisfied sigh as I finally rolled off her.

“Lucky you. I haven’t slept yet.”

She smiled and ruffled my hair. “Sorry. Oh, by the way, Dad called last night. He said he’s still expecting Fourth Down premiere tickets from us.”

“Well, I did promise them to him for lying and pretending to be your boyfriend when I first met him,” I replied with a grin. “Don’t worry, I already reserved the tickets.”

The Fourth Down premiere event was going to be held in three months; a star-studded affair with all of Hollywood’s glitterati. The movie had been highly anticipated for over a year now, and I knew it was going to shoot my career into the stratosphere once it was out. I wasn’t going to be the main star on the red carpet at the premiere, though.

Nora was.

Like I said earlier, she had a surprise coming her way….