She rubbed her hand up and down his chest and smiled up at him. “I can be very persuasive.”
Noah stared down at her. “You were right about the dress. It’s killing me not to peel if off you.” He pulled her in close and rested his cheek against her forehead. “You smell amazing. You feel even better.” He glanced around the room at all the men staring at her. “Why do you have to be so beautiful?”
She leaned back and stared up at him, hoping he saw in her eyes how much she wanted him. “Tonight, just for you.” She took a small step back, took his hand, and tugged him toward the door. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Noah held Roxy’s hand the whole way home. It had been a long day for her. First, she’d had to fly back and forth for her unexpected business meeting in San Francisco. Then, she attended the intense dinner. Now, she relaxed and stared out the car window at the night sky. No need to fill the silence. He enjoyed sitting beside her, rubbing his thumb over the back of her soft hand, and enjoying the closeness as one after another country love song softly poured out of the speakers. Roxy relaxed in a way she’d never done since moving to the ranch.
He thought about the dance they shared.
Let’s go home, she’d said.
“Do you miss living with your sisters?”
“I don’t miss Juliana leaving her stuff everywhere and never washing a dish, or Adria clunking around the kitchen at four in the morning because she’s been up all night studying. Sonya tends to worry about everything, which amps my own need to make everything in our lives perfect.” She turned her head to look at him. “I miss the quiet mornings in the barn with the horses, our Friday night pizza and movies, and talking to someone who knows me inside and out and accepts me no matter what.”
“You’ve got the horses at Speckled Horse Ranch. You and Annabelle seem close as sisters now. I’d like nothing better than a standing pizza and movie Friday night with you. Any night, really.”
A soft smile spread across her beautiful face. “Tonight went better than I expected. The best part, dancing with you.”
“Is the ranch home now?” That’s what he really wanted to know.
“It’s starting to feel that way. The office is a great space to work. I love training the horses. After your talk with the ranch hands, most of them have stopped looking at me like some Playboy pinup. At least when I can see them.”
“I’m glad they’re behaving themselves. I for one understand how hard it is not to look at you.”
She reached out and cupped his cheek. Her amused smile made him grin. He turned and kissed her palm before she pulled her hand free.
“I knew it would take time to settle in and get people to accept me. I love the relationship you have with Annabelle and the way you two are so close to Mary and Robby. You’re a family. And you’ve made me part of that. I’ll have to go back to Wild Rose soon, but it’s easier to go back knowing I’ve got you to come home to now. I hope that eases your mind and doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”
Noah pulled into the driveway and stared up at the dark house. “Why would you think that unsettles me?”
“You’ve been very careful lately, moving this relationship forward slow and easy. While I appreciate it, I feel you holding back. I know it’s to give me time because of our misunderstanding, but it’s also starting to feel like you can’t do or say what you want around me. I don’t like that. Tonight around all those people, you were so careful not to touch me in a way that was too familiar. Even when we’re alone, you’re so cautious.”
“I don’t want to mess this up again.”
“How about you be you, I’ll be me, and when those two things don’t match up, we say so. We talk about it instead of holding back all the time.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “Deal.”
“I’m a little nervous,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“With my past and what men think of me, the way I look, I feel like when it comes to sex there’s an expectation . . .”
Noah shook his head. “Trust me, Roxy. Let go, and everything will be perfect.” He leaned in and kissed her softly, sweetly. A kiss so filled with promise she couldn’t help sinking into it and him. Noah didn’t hold back. He let loose the reins on his need for her and took the kiss deeper, sliding his tongue along hers, keeping things slow but powerful. His hand cupped her face and held her trapped in his spell. She matched his moves, his sultry mood, and let go.
Noah kissed her long and deep for another moment, then softly brushed her lips with a light caress and pressed his forehead to hers. “I’ve been hoping for that for a long time.”
“What?”
“You to stop thinking and just go with what makes you feel good.”
She rubbed her hand along his jaw. “You make me feel good.”
“That’s all I want to do, sweetheart.” He squeezed her hand. “Come with me.”
They met at the front of the car. Noah took her hand as they walked up the porch steps and right through the front door.
Roxy’s stomach fluttered. Not with apprehension like the first time she walked into the house, but anticipation. She and Noah had grown close these last weeks. She’d fallen in love with him. It felt a bit strange to admit that to herself. But as they walked up the stairs and Noah glanced over at her with hunger, need, and true happiness in his eyes, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to feel. And to want to show him.
Noah led her up the stairs. At the top, they paused and listened to the quiet. Annabelle slept peacefully, unaware the two people charged with looking out for her happiness had found some of their own together.
Roxy appreciated Noah’s patience as he held still, waiting to see if she changed her mind and sent him on to his room at the other end of the house. No way. Not now. Never again if she had her way.
She hooked her hand around his tie and tugged him toward her room as she stepped backward down the hall. He closed the distance, wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up off her feet, and kissed her hard and deep. He walked her into her room with her feet dangling at his shins. She held him close, her breasts pressed to the solid wall of his chest. Tall, strong, handsome, Noah held her secure against him. Right where she wanted to be, but not quite close enough.
Noah set her back on her feet but didn’t stop kissing her. She waited for his hands to slide the dress zipper down her back. His fingers squeezed gently and stroked her bare skin, but he didn’t dive in and rush. He waited, took his time kissing her, his patience reigned.
Despite her nerves that his expectations might be more than she could fulfill, she wanted to snap his rigid control. She wanted to demolish her reservations that she wouldn’t be enough. She wanted to be everything he wanted in a lover, but feared he’d think less of her if she gave in to the overwhelming desire sweeping through her.
Noah broke the searing kiss. He cupped her face and stared down at her. “It’s just you and me. Whatever you want, whatever you need, it’s the right thing. Even if you need more time.”
“I want you, Noah. I want to be us without my past making me think something I do will make you think I’m like her.”
Noah listened without taking his eyes off her. He swept his thumb over her kiss-swollen bottom lip. “What’s the worst that can happen? We make love, you like it, I like it, we want to do it all the time. I want you to love it. I want you to want to be with me all the time. If you don’t, I’m doing something wrong. And I want to do everything right, because I want you in my life. I want you and me to be us.”
And just like that, all her inhibitions and reservations disappeared. She didn’t second-guess herself, but allowed herself to do what she wanted. And what she wanted was to get her hands on the gorgeous man with the kind heart.
She slipped her hands up his chest and over his wide shoulders, pushing his suit jacket down his back and off his arms. He stood still, letting her do as she pleased as they
eased back into the intimacy and growing need between them.
He’d loosened his tie on the ride home. She slipped the knot and pulled it off his neck, tossing it away with a smile she hoped conveyed her eagerness to get him naked. His gaze followed her deft fingers as she undid one button after the next down his shirt to his belt. She slid her hands inside, spread the crisp white cotton aside, and rubbed her hands over the wall of muscle that tensed and rippled beneath her roaming hands.
Noah pulled the shirt from his waistband and kicked off his shoes. She pulled the shirt down his arms. When it caught at his wrists and he had to wrestle it free, she took advantage and kissed her way from his neck, down over his hard pecs, and rippled abs to his belt buckle. His breath stopped the second she let loose his belt, unbuttoned his slacks, slid the zipper down, and slipped her hand inside and down the thick column pressed against his black boxer briefs.
She worked her palm down, then back up his hard length. Noah released his breath on a heavy sigh as his head fell back and the shirt dropped to the floor at his feet. She slid both hands over his hips, pushing his pants down his legs, then slipped her hands around to cup and squeeze his very fine ass. She pressed kisses to his hard chest and snuggled into all his warmth and strength.
Noah took advantage of having her close, unzipped her dress, and slid his fingers down her bare back and up her spine. He swept his fingertips across her shoulders, then dragged her dress down her arms. She freed her hands and removed her black lace bra revealing her bare breasts. The front of the dress hung at her hips.
She looked up at Noah and caught the awestruck look in his eyes.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
A shy smile tugged at her lips as her eyes roamed over every sculpted muscle in front of her. “When you smile at me, my stomach flutters with a thousand butterflies. When you touch me, your warmth spreads through me like a wave of heat that’s a fire that doesn’t burn. When you look at me, I see how much you want to be with me. But when you kiss me, I feel your patience and need and how much the moment means to you.”
Noah cupped her face in one hand and leaned down close. “You mean everything to me.”
The depth of how much he meant that warmed her heart. His kiss made the connection between them draw them closer.
Lost in the kiss, his strong body pressed to hers, her need to touch and give him everything, their remaining clothes disappeared along with her inhibitions. They ended up on the bed tangled around each other.
Noah kissed his way down her neck and chest and squeezed her breast, her tight nipple caught between his thumb and finger as he licked it. The contact startled her. Not because she didn’t want him to touch her—she wanted a hell of a lot more of it—but because it brought to light the stark reality of how careful and restrained he’d been these last weeks. He’d kissed her. He’d held her. But he’d been the perfect gentleman.
He stilled and removed his hand. Her past had ruined so many potential friendships and relationships with men. She didn’t want it to ruin what she had with Noah. He cared about her. He stuck up for her. He didn’t want to use her.
He wanted to love her.
If only she’d let him.
She took his wrist and planted his hand over her breast. She placed her hand over his and squeezed. “Don’t stop. I want more.”
Noah leaned up, kissed her, and swept his thumb over her tight nipple. The sweet sensation rocked through her and made her sigh. Noah took the kiss deeper. Her tongue tangled with his as his hand squeezed and stroked her breast.
Emboldened by the amazing feeling sweeping through her, she rubbed her hands down his back and over his bare ass, rocking her hips against his hard length. He groaned and kissed his way back down her neck to her breast. He took her hard nipple in his mouth. His tongue slid over her sensitive skin and she raked her fingers through his thick hair and held him to her.
Roxy lost herself in the moment and wallowed in the exquisite and erotic sensations Noah evoked with every kiss, sweep of his tongue over her skin, and press of his body to hers. Aching for him, her body pulsed with a need so great she couldn’t contain it. His fingers brushed over her soft folds. One sank deep into her slick core. His thumb rubbed her oversensitive nub. She rocked into his hand to the steady rhythm. The more she got into it, the more Noah gave her.
He held her right on the edge as he rolled on a condom.
They joined together with the need to be close so great that the slide of his body into hers, against hers wasn’t enough. She held him close. Moved with him. Loved him with everything in her heart.
When he rose above her, her body locked around his, and the sweet friction turned to exquisite pleasure so intense she called his name and they both flew happily into the flames.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Noah woke up with a beautiful woman in his arms staring at him and his heart overflowing with happiness at the rightness of it all.
“He’s not in his bed. He must be with Roxy,” Annabelle whispered outside their door.
Roxy’s eyes went wide with shock, then filled with fear that Annabelle would walk in on them in bed together.
His heart beat double time, too.
Last night, all he’d wanted was to be with Roxy and take things to the next level. He hadn’t thought about anything else. The reality of how they’d do that slapped him in the face this morning. They lived together. They couldn’t exactly hide. He wasn’t about to start sneaking around in his own house.
“If he’s with her, that’s none of your business,” Mary admonished.
“I just want them to know I’m happy they finally got together. It’s about time,” Annabelle added with that teenage outrage mixed with indignation. Impatience, and the excitement she couldn’t hide.
Roxy smiled softly, her sexy-as-hell body pressed down the length of his. Warm. Inviting. Tempting.
“Do you think now is the time to tell them that?” Mary’s question made him catch the laugh bubbling up inside him before he let it loose and Mary and Annabelle figured out he and Roxy were awake and listening. “If they want to sleep in, let them. Now come downstairs for breakfast.”
“Fine.” Annabelle’s heavy sigh faded with their retreating footsteps.
Roxy rolled and sat on the edge of the bed and looked over her shoulder at him, her face and eyes filled with concern and an unease he didn’t like seeing after they spent the night together.
He brushed her long hair across her back and over her shoulder, then traced his finger along the vine tattoo trailing from one shoulder, down her back, to the opposite hip. “Where are you going?”
“We should get up. Get to work.”
He leaned up and kissed each rose along the vine. “Four roses. You and your sisters.”
She smiled. “Yes. We all have one.”
“It’s beautiful. Like you.”
He hooked his arm around her waist, pulled her back down beside him, and brushed the mussed hair away from her face. “We used both the condoms I had with me last night, but it’s Sunday, and I intend to start my day in worship.” He rolled on top of her and kissed her long and deep until she melted beneath him. He broke the kiss and stared down into her sultry gaze, her body already responding to his as she gently rocked against his aching cock. He put action to words and kissed his way down her neck to one pink nipple, puckered and begging for his mouth. She tasted just as good as last night. His need for her had grown to a living thing inside him that demanded to be fed. And so he lavished one breast and the other with his attention while the woman below him offered up herself to feed his growing desire. She didn’t hesitate to slide her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. She raked her fingers through his hair and held him to her. Every moan and sigh encouraged him to, go on, keep it coming.
She wanted him.
She couldn’t get enough of him.
It empowered him to love her with complete abandon.
He’d been so careful not to make her feel
like an object, something to be used and cast aside. She’d had a lot of that in her life.
Her own parents treated her like something they could set on a shelf.
Not him. He wanted her to feel how much he wanted her in his life as a partner and lover. Important and needed and wanted and precious.
He wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to have everything good and wonderful. He didn’t want her to hold back with him. He wanted her to trust that what they had was real. He didn’t just want some fantasy come to life, though she was that for him. But that fantasy went far beyond sex. The brittle connection they’d shared before last night had become pliable. He no longer worried one careless word or misconstrued deed would snap it. Now, they shared a bond that allowed them to bend and compromise to meet each other’s needs.
Making love to her didn’t change that bond. It strengthened it.
Now she knew he’d never hurt her. He’d never betray her. He’d never turn his back on her.
He’d love her for the rest of his life.
He might not know how to tell her, but he could show her.
And he couldn’t wait to show her again. In this way, when they were alone and as intimate as two people could be, she had his devotion.
He left her full breasts for a taste of the prize he wanted to sink into so bad his dick hurt. But this morning was about making her feel good. And showing her that the trust she’d given was worth the courage it took her to believe in him. So he headed south with soft kisses over the plains of her taut stomach to her curved hip around her toned thigh and down to her slick core weeping to be touched. He licked her soft folds and smiled at her sharp intake of breath and long exhale as he teased her soft folds with one slow sweep of his tongue.
“Noah,” she sighed.
He draped her thighs over his shoulders, palmed one breast, her tight nipple between his fingers, and placed the other over her lower belly and swept his thumb across her sweet little nub. “I’m right here, sweetheart. Hold on.”
Dirty Little Secret Page 25