by Kensie King
I truly had come to bring him lunch but that didn’t mean we could do like he said and build up our appetites.
That was a perk of being in charge—or at least partially in charge. Fox, Derek, and I all had an equal say in the business and we all worked equally hard. Which meant I could set my own hours as long as the work got done.
And I could take an extra long lunch to spend with Noah, the man I was falling for hard.
His fingers were cold when they brushed my abdomen, and I hissed in a breath.
“Sorry,” he murmured, but didn’t stop. He was in a rush to get the rest of our clothes off and I didn’t mind.
Hard and fast worked for me. I’d take more time with him tonight if I could convince him to let me stay.
The fire crackled behind me, and I could picture it now, laying together on the couch in each other’s arms. Naked, of course, and comfortable. Being open. I couldn’t deny I wanted Noah’s body, but I also wanted his mind.
I reached down to snag my pants and pull a condom from the back pocket. Noah didn’t slow down. He nudged me onto the couch and ducked down to remove my boots, yanking on the laces until they came undone.
Then he lifted himself, his eyes on my cock. His hands slid up my thighs, making me even harder. Fuck, this was hot. He still had his glasses on, seeming to forget they were even there.
I wondered how often each day he lost track of time. He forgot to eat. And it made me want to be there for him even more. I’d help keep him on track. I could work outside, keep doing what I was doing, and he could write on the deck at home. Our home. The place I was building for me and…whoever I ended up with. Before, it had just been some faceless person in my mind, the man I’d fall in love with one day and share a life with.
Now that face was Noah’s.
We’d fit so perfectly together.
My mind went blank, however, when his breath touched my cock. I couldn’t think, not when his mouth was practically on me.
Noah lifted his gaze to mine, as if searching for assurance that what he was doing was okay.
I nodded at him and then closed my eyes when he took my cock into his mouth. I couldn’t stop the groan when he started to suck. He took me so deep, it almost felt like I was inside of him.
My hips moved slightly, thrusting into his mouth.
His fingers flexed on my legs as I tried to sit still. “Fuck, Noah, that feels so good.”
He kept going, encouraged by my groans. The pressure built inside of me. I was so close to exploding, but I wanted to be inside of Noah when I did.
“Wait,” I said, reaching for him.
Noah looked up, blinking his eyes behind his glasses. God, he was adorable. And I wanted him so badly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I want to be inside of you,” I told him simply.
He smiled, and that alone made me fall a little harder. And when he stood, prepared to give me exactly what I was asking for, it hit me. Completely. I was in love with Noah Holden.
I rolled the condom onto my dick. I was prepared to walk to the bedroom, but Noah shook his head.
“Stay there,” he murmured, and then straddled me.
“You’re going to kill me,” I said, voice rough.
He didn’t respond, only lowered himself onto my shaft, easing down slowly as I spread him wide.
The look on his face was one of pure ecstasy. I loved that I could make him feel so much, that we seemed to fit so perfectly together.
His hands clenched on my shoulders when he’d finally sheathed me. It was so warm and so tight, I had to grit my teeth in order not to come too fast.
“Noah,” I said quietly, setting my hands on his hips.
In response, he leaned in slowly and kissed me. It was soft at first, just the brush of his lips against mine. Then he changed the angle so he could plunge his tongue into my mouth, drawing out another groan.
Damn, I hadn’t been lying. He really was going to kill me if he kept this up.
Then he started to move, sliding up and down on my cock and making me crazy. My fingers clenched on his hips, then I thrust up to meet him, driving in deep.
“Yes,” Noah said, breath ragged.
His forehead dropped to my shoulder briefly, like he was trying to rein everything he felt. But I wanted it. I wanted it all.
I continued to thrust, simultaneously wedging a hand between us so I could grip his cock in one hand.
His breath yanked in as I moved my hand back and forth.
“Brady, I can’t—”
Noah clenched around me, and the force of his climax coupled with his tightness around me was enough to shoot me over the edge as well. His body trembled against mine, and I wrapped my arms tightly around him to hold him close.
He’d warmed up, and instead of cold fingers, I felt his warm ones clutching my shoulder.
This was what I’d been missing. Someone to share cool evenings with. To build a fire for. To build my new home with.
It was all there, plain and simple right in front of me.
But I had no clue if Noah felt the same. He struck me as the kind of person who committed. Who didn’t sleep around. The kind of person who, once they found love, held onto it for dear life.
But what did I know? He would barely talk to me or if he did, it was to ask questions about me. He always had something else to ask me.
I wondered if that was just normal for him or he was trying to hide something.
“I’m glad I decided to take a break from work,” Noah said, his voice muffled against my shoulder. “And now I’m warm.”
“You are,” I told him, rubbing his back. The exercise and the fire had heated him up.
I’m glad I did that for him, and I wanted more of it. Not just the next few days, but forever.
His stomach grumbled and he eased back with a laugh. “Hungry, too.”
“I’ll grab our food,” I told him when he got off my lap. “Stay there.”
I could do this for him. Give him a break from work, take care of him some since it seemed like he frequently forgot to take care of himself.
I pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and set it on his lap so he could warm back up. Then I moved to the kitchen area and pulled off the condom to toss it in the trash.
When I angled back to the table, my hip bumped the surface and the screen of Noah’s computer came on.
I glanced over at him, but he was staring at the fire, looking completely rumpled and relaxed. He still wore his glasses but his hair was askew.
All I wanted right now was to spend the rest of the afternoon with him and then stay the night. I was tempted to take off the next few days so we’d have more time together.
I looked back at the computer and saw a document with a bunch of paragraphs. Probably one of his stories. My lips curved. Maybe one he was working on. And maybe he’d let me take a look if I asked nicely.
But then I saw some of the words. No, one in particular. Brady.
My name. Why was my name on the document? And…holy hell, this wasn’t a kids’ story. It was a sex scene. One that looked an awful lot like what had happened in my cabin yesterday.
Noah shifted behind me and I jerked my attention back to the bag of food.
Shit. What was this? Was he writing about us having sex last night? Maybe that was what writers did, they logged things—or maybe this was some sort of journal.
Either way, he obviously hadn’t been expecting me to read it. It wasn’t any of my business, even though now I was curious.
Before I could walk back to the couch, I heard my phone ringing. Noah leaned down and grabbed my jeans off the floor.
“Back pocket,” I told him.
He pulled it out and passed it over. I saw Derek’s number and grimaced.
“Sorry,” I said, “I should probably get this.”
Noah only smiled and waited while I answered.
“What’s up?” I asked Derek.
“Pipe burst in cabin
six.”
“Another one?” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Shit. “Cabin six has been a pain in my ass all year.”
Noah’s look was curious, and I groaned inwardly. Fuck. This wasn’t exactly how I expected the afternoon to go. In fact, I’d been hoping to stay another hour or so with him if Noah had time.
But this was something I had to get taken care of. We were supposed to have guests in every cabin next week.
“Did someone turn off the water?” I asked.
“Of course,” Derek said, sounding perfectly calm. He always sounded like that, though he was probably freaking out.
“All right.” I sighed again and gave Noah an apologetic look. “I’ll be there soon.”
After I hung up, I brought the box of food to Noah. “Sorry about that.”
“You have to go?” he asked, looking up at me.
“I can stay for a few more minutes and eat.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, shaking his head and opening the box. “I get it. You have work. So do I. We’ll see each other later right?”
His words encouraged me. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”
And maybe after another night together, Noah would be more open with me. Maybe I’d find a way to tell him exactly how I felt without scaring him off.
Chapter 15
By the time Brady had come back to my place last night, I’d written several chapters and was ready to quit working for the day. He’d been more inquisitive than usual, which caught me off guard.
But I got that it was the typical way of things. He was trying to get to know me, and that showed how interested he was.
It still blew my mind that he seemed to have formed an attachment so quickly, but I had to remind myself that he’d known me as long as I’d known him. And if he was telling the truth, he’d been interested as long as I had.
Years.
After we’d gone to bed together, there weren’t any more words, just him and I alone in the darkness. It had been so long since I’d shared a bed with someone, and I realized how much I was going to miss it after this.
The idea sobered me as I got dressed.
“Hey,” Brady said, walking up and wrapping his arms around me from behind. “I have to check cabin six again just to make sure everything looks okay, but then I thought maybe we could go for a walk.” He kissed my cheek. “You know, if you have time.”
I nodded agreeably. “Sure. I…”
“What is it?” Brady walked around so he could see my face. “Everything okay?”
I hesitated a moment, then nodded again. “Yes. Everything is great. Ready to go?”
He took my hand and we walked together out of the cabin. I couldn’t say it out loud, couldn’t find the words to remind him that I was supposed to be leaving the day after tomorrow.
It seemed too soon. I cursed myself for not booking the room for an extra few days.
But I knew I needed to get back for Nellie.
We walked to cabin six and I listened to Brady talk about the busted pipe, trying but failing to focus.
Maybe Nellie didn’t need me now that she was trying to stay together with her husband. Maybe an extra day or two wouldn’t hurt.
Brady would probably even let me stay with him.
“You sure you’re okay?” Brady asked after he looked through cabin six again.
“I’m fine.” I gave him a smile and tried once again to focus. “Where are we walking to?”
Brady opened the door for us and peered up at the sky. “I was thinking we could walk to the waterfall. Looks like the weather is going to hold.”
“Sounds good.” I linked fingers with him again as we walked to the road that led to the main street. “I should probably spend more time exploring while I’m here instead of staying cooped up inside.”
“You get used to the routine,” Brady said with a nod. “I get it. Sometimes I go for weeks without doing much more than take care of things around here and work on the house. I have to remind myself that I need more. I need to take time for myself.”
“How do you normally do that?” I asked. “When you take time for yourself?”
“Like, what do I do?” He shrugged. “Sometimes I’ll go fishing. Or ride into town with Fox while he’s hunting for some sort of seasonal fruit or vegetable. It doesn’t really matter, it’s just getting away from work. How do you do that?”
“Take time for myself?” I said with a laugh. Did I ever really do that? I mean, sure I’d order takeout and settle down with a movie here and there, but most of the time it was going out for coffee and bringing work with me. “I visit with my sister sometimes.”
But that was usually only when she was having relationship troubles lately.
“Anything else?” Brady asked.
I bumped his shoulder with mine. “I go on retreats and meet sexy guys.”
He cast me a grin. “Yeah? Do you write about them? Take a break from children’s books and write sexy stuff?”
I kept the smile on my face, even managed a laugh, but inside I was shocked. Did he know? Had he figured out my pen name somehow?
“That’s funny,” I mumbled. Then I heard the roar of water and pointed in that direction. “Is that it?”
He squeezed my hand. “It’s just up ahead.”
I was still reeling from Brady’s question. To be honest, it was a great opening to tell him all about my secret life. But that was far too embarrassing. If he knew how long I’d pined for him, how I’d written about him in all those sexy situations, and even our situations, he’d think I was a lunatic.
“How about your secret pen name then?” Brady asked, casting me a smile. “You going to tell me about that?”
I tried to turn my grimace into a smile. “It’s not that exciting.”
“It is to me.”
I saw a sign on the side of the road, just a small one that the weather had worn and scratched but said the name of the waterfall. “You think it’s going to busy?”
“Like with tourists?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Not really. Sometimes the tourists will stumble on it but not often. You’ll see the locals walking by here sometimes, though.”
When we walked down a short path, the roaring grew louder until the waterfall appeared. It was surrounded by mossy rocks, several falls that fell from farther up.
“It’s bigger than I thought it was going to be,” I told Brady.
He smiled at me, and that smile was worth everything in this moment. I had to give him something since he was trying to make conversation with me.
“I’m definitely going to put this in one of my stories.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Can we walk up there?”
Brady gestured and took my hand again. “There’s a path on the side.”
I followed him around the pond at the bottom and up the skinny path. Water splashed our pants and shoes as we passed. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining, too. At least, not yet.
When we reached the top, it wasn’t as loud, and Brady pulled us away from the first tall waterfall. He propped his arm on a tree and looked up. We could barely see the sky from where we stood, just a canopy of green trees that covered the space where we stood and made it so dark it was almost like early evening.
“This is beautiful,” I told him. “I’m kind of jealous you get to be around this all the time.”
Brady smiled again, making guilt flicker inside. “I enjoy it. But it’s not too far from where you live, right?”
“Several hours. Not too far, but a ways to go for a day of inspiration,” I told him.
Though it wasn’t like I hadn’t thought about coming here more. A four-hour drive wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things and it gave me time to brainstorm.
“Not too bad if you planned on spending the weekend,” he said.
I watched his face, wondering what he was getting at. He
seemed to have something specific on his mind, and the idea of that made me uneasy.
Brady reached out and took my hand again. “Noah. I’m not saying this right—or…” He shook his head. “I want to see more of you. Not just today or tomorrow. After that.”
My heart stuttered to a stop. More? Of course I’d thought about it, but then I’d shoved the idea away. “Brady.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t… I’m not sure how that would work.”
Brady shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. Four hours isn’t that long. You could come here and write and I can probably drive there for the weekend a few times as long as… Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m not looking at you like anything,” I murmured as panic welled inside. This wasn’t good. Not at all. He wasn’t supposed to have serious feelings because that ruined everything. It made the situation that much more complicated. Usually I was the only one with feelings and I’d learned to shut them off pretty well so I didn’t get hurt.
“Yes, you are,” Brady said. He ran his thumb over my knuckles. “What did you think this was? Just some fling? Then afterward you’d go home and we’d forget anything happened?”
“No,” I said, voice rough. “I mean, I figured you’d move on and I’d…”
“What?” Hurt raced across his features. “You think you’re the only one affected by this? Why the hell would I pursue something with you if I was just going to say goodbye at the end of the week and forget you were ever here?”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“That’s what it sounds like,” Brady said.
He released me to shove his had through his hair. Fuck, I was making this worse. He was supposed to just forget about me—even if that wasn’t what I wanted. That was just the way the world worked. But that was unfair to assume it wouldn’t hurt him if we both just walked away.
“I just didn’t think…” I trailed off, not knowing how to explain this to me.
“I’m pretty sure I can figure it out.” Brady’s eyes locked on mine. “You don’t let yourself get close enough to someone for it to matter. That way you don’t get hurt. And that’s why you won’t tell anyone about your pen name or even your life, really.”