Teagan
"Do you ever sleep?" I muttered as I pulled my pillow out from under my head and draped it over my face. "Seriously, Hope, turn it off."
It was three in the morning, we were still awake and I was seriously regretting agreeing to sleep at Hope's house – and regretting introducing Hope to the Irish television show Love/Hate.
I managed to doze off at some stage, but the sound of screaming woke me. When I asked Hope what the hell was happening, she just shrugged and told me her mom had nightmares – which had totally freaked me out.
"Shh," she mumbled, eyes locked on the screen. "One more episode."
I discovered Hope was one of those people who had to see something through to the end – which was why we were currently on season three of the show, and I had a pain in my brain from listening to her imitating the characters accents. But I was thankful to Love/Hate for distracting my friend from her infatuation with losing her virginity – because I was still pretty hung up on the fact that I'd lost mine tonight to a criminal gang's muscle…
Jesus Christ I had sex with Noah Messina, and I'd done so on an elevator floor in the fanciest hotel I'd ever stepped foot inside… oh god, my cheeks flamed thinking back – and my toes curled.
"Ugh." Tossing my pillow on the floor I climbed off my makeshift bed and stretched awkwardly. "I need a drink," I whispered. I couldn’t lay there a second longer with my brain tormenting me – throwing images of Noah's face around. I had to move, go… do anything to distract myself.
Hope waved me off. "Help yourself to whatever…" she muttered.
Shaking my head I crept out of Hope's bedroom and down the staircase.
Thankfully someone in the Carter household didn’t seem to like the dark either because the place was lit up like a glowworm. I had to steel myself before I walked into the kitchen and even then I screamed my head off.
"Jesus," I gasped, holding my hand to my chest. "You nearly gave me a heart-attack."
"Sorry, sweetheart," Cam chuckled as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "You want some?"
Cameron's piercing blue eyes locked on the gorgeous shiner I was sporting on my cheekbone curtesy of the big ape wearing the size twelve boots, but thankfully he didn’t ask questions.
"Yeah," I replied as I lowered myself onto a chair and forced myself not to stare at my best-friend's brother like he was a piece of meat. "Thanks."
"How's the foot?" Cam asked as he placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of me before taking the seat opposite mine. "By the way, I really am sorry about the whole Ring of Fire thing, Teagan," he added in a surprisingly serious tone of voice.
"It's better – and apology accepted," I told him, looking anywhere but his naked chest. "You're up late – or early…" I shrugged. "Whatever way you want to look at it."
"You heard my mom, didn’t you?" was all he replied in a quiet tone.
"Yeah…I heard her," I said quietly as I studied his rarely troubled face. "But it's not a big deal," I told him, feeling a strange need to comfort the dark haired, bare-chested giant beside me. "Everyone has nightmares, Cam."
"Yeah," he said with a sigh. Curling his fingers around his mug Cam blew into his coffee before taking a sip. "But not everyone has lived their nightmares."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing." Cam shook his head and jerked out of his seat. "Nothing, I'm talking shit… Night, Teegs."
"Goodnight, Cameron." I watched him leave and felt strangely saddened.
Cam turned when he reached the door. "I should warn you." He jerked his thumb in the direction of their lounge. "Lover boy is crashed out on the couch."
I shook my head at a loss.
"Noah," he explained drolly.
"He is?" My heart dropped into my ass and then decided to skyrocket up into my mouth. "Why?"
Cam shrugged casually. "Maybe he has the same reasons for being here as you have."
"What? He wants to have a sleepover with your sister, too?" I asked dryly but my comment backfired when a huge swell of jealousy rose inside of me.
"You're a spunky little thing, aren’t you?" Cam mused fondly as he scratched his bare chest, eyes twinkling with mischief.
A thought popped into my head all of a sudden and my head snapped up. "Do you know much about his family?"
Cam's brow burrowed. "Whose family?"
"Noah's." I rolled my eyes with impatience. "Do you?"
Cam sighed heavily. "Teegs, you really shouldn’t…" His voice trailed off and he glanced at the kitchen door before returning to the table.
Returning to the chair he'd vacated, Cam leaned towards me. "I really shouldn’t be discussing this," he said with a sigh as he rubbed his face with his hand. "And with you, of all people."
With you, of all people…
"Why?" I asked in annoyance. "Am I not privy to that sort of information because his sister has decided to hate me?" I let out a heavy, defeated sigh.
"No one's privy to that sort of information, Teagan," Cam replied softly. "And indifference is worse than hate," Cameron pointed out. "Personally I'd rather be hated than not cared about at all."
"That's comforting," I muttered sullenly.
Cam shrugged. "There's emotion in hate – a lot of feelings go into hating someone."
I shook my head in confusion. "Okay, that makes no sense, Cam. How does any of what you've just told me have anything to do with Noah's family?"
"It doesn’t," he said with a cocky grin. "I just said the first thing that popped into my head – which was more than likely complete bullshit."
"Well thanks for your bullshit advice," I grumbled as I stood up and placed my mug on the draining board.
Cam stretched his arms above his head before getting up and walking over to the door. "Sorry, Galway girl," he chuckled. "But if you wanna know about Noah's personal life then you're gonna have to put your big girl pants on and ask him yourself."
The sound of Cam's footsteps descending down the hallway made the thought of Noah sleeping in the next room a sudden and huge temptation.
Crap… I wanted to see him.
Oh god, I was so screwed.
Shuffling out of the kitchen I tiptoed down the hallway and placed my hand on the door handle, turning it ever so slowly. Pushing the door of the lounge inwards, I held my breath and allowed my eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room.
The television was on mute but the light coming from the screen and from the lit up Christmas tree standing in front of the bay window was enough to illuminate Noah stretched out on the Carter's couch with one arm resting over his face and the other placed atop his bare chest.
A navy afghan was pooled around his hips and I couldn’t move my eyes from the spot. There was something incredibly stunning about Noah's hips – his whole body in fact. I would never admit it to another soul, but I was pretty sure his was the most beautifully sculpted male body I'd ever seen in real life.
I felt an intense urge to trail my finger over the grooves on his stomach just to check if they felt as hard I remembered.
Dammit, stop thinking about him like that…
Closing my eyes I turned my head and urged myself to calm the hell down. One more look and then I would go back upstairs and pretend to sleep. I was veering dangerously close to stalker-central but I figured one more peek wouldn’t hurt. Then I'd go to bed.
I'd have to.
Because what was the alternative? Wake Noah up and ask him to take up we're he left off in the elevator? Yeah, I had bigger issues than Hope had. At least she wanted to sleep with her loving boyfriend. I wanted… I wasn’t sure what I wanted.
"Thorn."
Holy shit. I let out a startled cry and clutched the door handle with both hands.
Moving his arm away from his face, Noah stared at me, his dark brown eyes roaming shamelessly over my body. "You gonna stand by the door all night or are you gonna come in?"
He's bad news wrapped in beautiful packaging, Teegs, I chanted in my head as I ogled his magnificent body. Be wary. Keep your guard up…
Noah pulled himself up to rest on his elbows and I swallowed deeply when the afghan moved lower on his waist, revealing white boxer shorts – fitted and extremely snug white boxer-shorts. "You're letting the heat out, Thorn," he husked, twisting his neck from side to side. He dropped his feet to the ground and sat up before patting the cushion beside him. "Decision time."
Did he just…
How did he…
Hang on, why were my feet moving towards him?
Against my better judgment, I trotted over to couch and lowered myself down.
"Why are you sleeping on the neighbor's couch, Noah?" The question just burst out of me and I worried my lip as I looked at his injured face.
Noah let out a heavy sigh and I was suddenly and acutely aware of the heat of his body as the coarse hairs on his muscular thigh brushed against my smooth soft skin. "Sometimes it's…" he paused and pinched the bridge of his nose, shifting on the couch so that our bare legs were touching before saying, "it's just safer this way."
"Safer?" A slicing pain tore through me, the thought of something bad happening to Noah caused my chest to restrict, making it hard to breathe. I stared up at him, a dozen different emotions at war inside of me. "Is it because of those guys – are they going to come back for you?"
Blowing out a sharp breath, Noah's shoulders sagged and accidently rubbed against mine, setting off fireworks inside my body. "Not tonight," he finally replied.
"I want you to say never," I admitted, my voice torn.
All my earlier anger had evaporated and all I was left with was this raw, unpolished feeling of affection pooled with an unnerving amount of helplessness. "Tell me what happened to you tonight will never happen again." I blurted out, feeling weirdly emotional. I was so afraid for him. "Please, Noah."
Noah's hands shot out and clamped down on my hips, drawing me onto his lap so that I was straddling him. "I can handle this, Teagan," he whispered against my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I felt the lightest of pressure when his forehead touched mine. My body thrilled to the touch. "I don’t want you to handle this," I told him. "I want it to stop." The heat emanating from his skin was causing my body to burn. I could feel him strain against me and my heart raced erratically. "I need it to stop..."
"I shouldn’t have told you," Noah grumbled as he leaned back. "I should've kept my goddamn mouth shut because now all you'll do is worry and want…"
"Want to know more?" I filled in, nodding my head. "Absolutely."
"I told you more in one car ride than I've told anyone else in my entire life, Teagan," he husked.
Noah's eyes burned with sincerity and I couldn’t stop myself from asking, "Why me, Noah, why tell me?"
"Because we match," he admitted with a sigh and my heart skipped a beat.
We match…
Noah's fingers tightened on my thighs. "We're joined, Thorn," he rasped. "Connected – we just are."
"We just are?" I repeated slowly, eyes locked on Noah's. Hell, I felt like I was drowning in the darkness of his eyes. I lowered my face to within an inch of his. "What does that mean, Noah?"
"Sometimes things are unexplainable because some things don't need an explanation," he told me in a gruff tone before covering my lips with his. "I can't give you a definition, Teagan," he whispered against my mouth. "I can't answer the why's or how's of what's happening between us because honestly, what you're making me feel is fucking alien to me."
Noah's tongue trailed over my lower lip, he pulled my lip into his mouth and sucked and I was lost to sensation as my tongue dueled erotically against his….
My all-time favorite Florence and the Machine song drifted through my ears, and I pulled my lips away. "Kiss with a fist," I stated, highly amused by Noah's choice in ringtone as I pulled back and grinned at him.
"What can I say?" Noah shrugged nonchalantly as he leaned forward, with me still on his lap, and grabbed his phone off the coffee table. He switched it off and tossed it back on the coffee table. "It's been stuck in my head since I heard this insanely hot Irish girl singing it at the crack of dawn right outside my house."
"Insanely hot?" I raised my brow in amusement. "You're full of it, Messina."
"Well here's more of it," he chuckled softly before pressing a kiss to my lips. "Someone once asked me if I had to choose one song, one three or four minute piece of music to explain my life, what would I pick?"
Noah leaned back against the couch, wrapping his arms around my waist and when he smirked my heart rate spiked. My body seemed to go on high alert. I was coiled tight with a fucked up mixture of lust and terror.
"Could I choose," he husked. "Or would the music choose me?"
"What did you say?" I asked, thoroughly enthralled.
Noah stared me, his brown eyes dark as night. "At the time I thought the question was pretty random," he chuckled. "But now, now I'm beginning to wonder if it's pretty genius – to have one piece of music to explain your life…"
"Would be extraordinary," I agreed with a sigh. "Four minutes to sum up the course of a lifetime…what did you choose?" I asked, suddenly and desperately needing to know.
Noah smiled but didn’t tell me.
Instead he rolled me onto my back and covered my body with his before thrusting his tongue inside my mouth while his fingers pulled at my nightie. "Something I once heard you sing," he whispered through kisses as he managed to rid me of my nightdress.
"What…when?" I moaned, writhing underneath him. I arched myself upwards, wrapping my legs around his waist. All that separated our bodies were his white boxers and my pink thong.
"Back in the summer," Noah rasped between kisses. "It was the most beautiful fucking sound I ever heard. It woke me up…"
"I want to be with you, Noah," I admitted against his lips, clutching him tightly. "But I'm scared," I admitted. "I'm terrified of losing myself in your world when I know it's wrong."
"I won't let that happen, Thorn," he whispered, pulling my lip into his mouth and sucking gently. His forehead touched mine, his breath fanned my face and I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply, reveling in his scent. "I'll get us both out of this…I promise."
The sincerity and emotion in his words struck something deep inside of me. "Okay," I whispered. "I admit it, I care and you make me vulnerable."
"About damn time," he husked before lowering his mouth to mine.
Someone cleared their throat loudly.
Oh shit.
My body froze and I was almost too afraid to open my eyes to see who was there.
Noah obviously didn’t hear them because he continued to kiss me, devouring me like an addict would his drug of choice.
"I really wouldn’t if I were you," a deep male voice said and finally Noah caught on and froze, eyes blinking open with shock, lips still pressed to mine. "That couch is like a fertility shrine," the same voice added in an amused tone. "If you knew the half of what's been conceived on that thing..."
"Jesus Christ, Dad," another male voice muttered.
"Yuck," I whispered, cringing.
Noah muttered an impressive array of curse words before reluctantly craning his neck. "Do you mind?" he asked in a flat tone.
I peeked over Noah's shoulder quickly and saw not one but two men standing in the doorway of the lounge. One of the men was of average height, muscular build, with a Christmas hat on his head and his arms laden down with presents.
The bald headed uncle, I realized.
"Not really," the bald uncle chuckled. "But the control freak upstairs will…hey – isn’t she the one who tossed paint on your car? You guys are together now?"
"Yes, we're working things out, Derek," Noah replied dryly. There was reluctant fondness in Noah's voice letting me know that he knew this Derek guy. "So if could you please fuck off and let us work things out it would be much appreciated."
My eyes locked on the other guy who was clocking in at well over six four with curly black hair and that guy was…
"Jordan!"
I heard Hope's sequel of delight seconds before she barreled into the lounge and threw herself upon the curly haired giant.
Jordan caught her easily and the hug they shared – the intimate way he shuddered when she pressed her face into his neck – was so intimate and beautiful.
"Merry Christmas, Keychain," Jordan whispered against her neck as he knotted his hand in her curls. "I told you I'd make it."
"No way," Colton's familiar voice chuckled, followed by Cam's booming voice as he cheered, "I knew he was bagging her."
"Goddammit, Noah," Hope screamed, obviously just noticing our naked presence. "I can't believe you brought a girl into my…Oh. My. God. Teagan? What are doing underneath Noah…and naked."
"Nah," Colt chuckled. "I can see lace panties."
"Pervert."
Let me die…
Let me die…
"Hi, Hope," I mumbled, twiddling the tips of my fingers that were wrapped around Noah's neck while I buried my face against his chest. "Please get me out of here," I begged Noah in a hushed tone as I clung to him in pure mortification.
Noah's eyes burned into mine and the affection I saw in them caused my skin to tingle with heat. "Hate to break up the family reunion," Noah said, eyes still locked on mine. "But could you guys take this into the kitchen so we can get up and out of your hair?"
"Yeah," a distinctively commanding voice ordered.
Noah's entire frame stiffened and I think I shriveled a little inside.
"Everyone go back to bed," Mr. Carter ordered as he stood in the doorway, his angry blue eyes locked on Noah. "Now."
Everyone, including Derek scampered out of the room like chastised rascals.
"This isn’t as bad as it looks, Mr. Carter," I muttered, red-faced.
"You." He glared at Noah. "Get off that girl and get your ass on the other side of this room."
"And you," he snapped, pointing at me. "Get your clothes on and your explanation ready. I'm calling your uncle."
"Kyle, you need to …" Noah began to say but Kyle stopped him.
"Kitchen, Teagan," Mr. Carter snapped as he turned around and stalked out the door. "One minute."
****