Chapter Twenty-Two

        Standing in the middle of Noah’s bedroom, Emma Jean swallowed the anxiety that suddenly swamped her. After drying off from their bath, the liquid courage that had come from the wine started to wear off, and she wondered if she was truly ready for this. Noah stalked toward her, utterly comfortable with his nudity. His bobbing erection drew her gaze and she gulped at its sheer size. She’d already had him in her mouth, so it’s not like she didn’t know that he wasn’t exactly small, but he was about to be in a place that hadn’t been properly penetrated in months. She wondered if it would hurt.

        “Baby, you look terrified.”

        “No! No, I’m just...wondering if it’s going to hurt.”

        He ghosted a thumb over the apple of her cheek. “Not if I can help it.”

        Her shoulders relaxed. She trusted him. He’d never intentionally hurt her, and she felt silly for even worrying about such a thing in the first place. She let him guide her to the bed and gently push her down into the sumptuous bedding. She wiggled her way toward the headboard as Noah put a knee to the bed and followed her. In an instant, they were skin to skin from chest to knees.

        “I’ve never wanted anything more than I want to feel you come on my dick.”

        Emma Jean bit her lip as his declaration made her moan. “I want that too.”

        They both attacked at the same time. Hands roving, teeth nipping, tongues tasting. Emma Jean spread her legs wide in a bold invitation, and Noah took advantage. He settled between her legs all the while teasing her nipples with both his mouth and fingers until she felt like she might crawl out of her skin. She needed release and she needed it now.

        “Noah,” she whined.

        He hummed in acknowledgment of her distress, his mouth full of her breast, but he made no move to alleviate the desire raging through her. He only stoked it higher and higher. She bucked against him in a bid for him to move his attentions lower, and he chuckled roughly at her insistence.

        Eventually, he slipped his hand down, coasting over her body until he reached her cookie jar. She almost giggled at that thought, but she didn’t want him to stop now that he was finally where she wanted him. His fingers slid over her wet pussy, the folds slick with her juices. One finger dipped inside, then two. She whimpered at the invasion but lifted her hips seeking more.

        “You ready for me, baby?” he rasped.

        “I’ve been ready. Quit stalling,” she snapped, though it came out breathy.

        “You’re magnificent when you’re feisty.” He grabbed the condom he’d tossed on the bed next to her and sheathed himself.

        Repositioning himself, his hands gripped her ass, pulling her toward him. He notched the head of his cock at her entrance and kept his eyes on her face. “You okay?”
        “Yes,” she groaned in exasperation, bucking again in an attempt to get more of him inside her. “Stop teasing me, Noah!”

        Noah wore the grin of the Cheshire cat as he slid all the way inside in one excruciatingly slow glide. They moaned in unison.

        “You good?”

        “You don’t have to keep checking in with me. If you do something I don’t like, I’ll let you know.” She hoped he knew that she’d had it up to here with his dallying, because she was about to flip him and take what she needed if he didn’t move things along.

        “Okay, okay. Sheesh.”

        Then he began to thrust, and Emma Jean lost every ounce of annoyance and impatience because the man felt like heaven inside her. She brought her knees up to frame his hips and let him take her to the precipice before shoving her over. She lost her breath as she screamed his name causing her voice to cut out as she tumbled into an ocean of ecstasy, hanging onto Noah like he was the last life preserver.

        After, when she felt like she was solidly back in her own body, Emma Jean curled into Noah and slept.

***

In the pre-dawn hours, he woke her.

The fire that Noah was stoking under her skin threatened to combust.

        She begged him to push her over the edge and into raging inferno territory.

        “Please...faster,” she panted.

        “No. You’ll take it the way I give it to you, sunshine.”

He continued his almost lazy thrusting. The excruciatingly gentle sweep of his hands had moved from titillating to frustrating. She felt like she was on the precipice of something profound but couldn’t get that final piece of the puzzle to click into place. She tried lifting her hips in encouragement, but he pinned her lower half to the bed.

“Noah, please ,” she begged. “I need more.”

“Emmie, you need exactly what I’m giving you.”

What he was giving her was affection. It wasn’t fucking; it was lovemaking. His tender touches and sweet kisses were exactly what she didn’t want. She couldn’t be that person to him right now. She wasn’t what he deserved. At some point during the night, those insidious doubts had crept back in, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she had just taken ten steps backward.

 She started to twist, bucking him off.

Noah rolled away and stared at her. “What the fuck, Ems?”

“I told you, I need more,” she ground out.

She moved to straddle him, impaling herself on his length, and wasted no time in taking exactly what she wanted from him. She moved up and down in furious motion with her head thrown back like it was the ride of her life. When she hit the peak, her body clenched around him, dragging a moan from deep in her throat.

“My turn,” Noah snarled, rolling them so he hovered over her. “You had it your way. Now we do it mine.”

Emma Jean was confused at his anger, and that confusion only intensified as he continued loving her. Despite the tension rolling off him, he resumed his gentle attentions. He built her back up again until she was aching for another release.

“Noah….”

“No.”

“Noah….”

“I said, no, Emmie,” he bit out.

He kissed her, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth and stroking just as gently as his cock did. Her body liquified underneath him, and he broke the kiss to whisper, “I love you, Ems,” causing Emma Jean to experience an orgasm so surprising and so intense, she was sure she’d not survive it.

Toes curling, breath catching, and mind-bending, the sky exploded behind her eyelids. Emma Jean had never experienced anything so sublime in all her life.

And it terrified her down to her very marrow.