by London Hale
And then to watch him suck my come right off those fingers? Holy shit.
“Well, it’s obvious you need to fuck him. Immediately.”
I laughed, propping an elbow on the table and resting my chin in my hand. “But what about everything else?”
Gen shrugged. “Who cares? If he’s not worried about his job—and since he fingered you in his office or wherever, I’m guessing he gives zero fucks about it—then you shouldn’t be either.”
I didn’t say this out loud, but that was only one part of my worries. I’d spent my life on Temperance Falls being called every name in the book. Hussy. Slut. Whore. Easy. Loose. They were titles I’d been born into, thanks to my mom who had me at the ripe old age of fifteen. From that day on, we’d both had a scarlet letter branded on us. My grandmother had done everything she could to steer us both toward the straight and narrow. But my mother was as free with her love as my grandma was frugal. And I’d never really had any interest in living my life for anyone but myself.
So then, why did what the townspeople thought of Noah and me bother me so much?
“This convo is gonna have to wait,” Gen said. “The blue-hairs must’ve been bitching to Pastor No again, because he’s on his way over here now.”
“He’s what?” I snapped my head to look out the window, and sure enough, there he was, strolling across the street like he had no cares in the world. In fact, there was a…smile on his face. And those two buttons I’d undone still sat open, giving the world a first-time glimpse of his chest. A chest I definitely wanted to see in all its glory.
“What the hell got into him? He’s smiling.” Gen pressed her face closer to the window as she peered outside. “He never smiles when he comes over here. And what the fuck is going on with his shirt? Pastor No has chest hair!”
I didn’t have time to tell her I’d been just as surprised as she was because suddenly the front door opened, the bell ringing softly to announce his arrival, and there he stood. In Sin, looking, well, sinful. Somehow his eyes found me almost immediately. And then…then his smile grew.
“Oh my God,” Gen whispered. “Pastor No?”
“Good afternoon, Miss McKay.” He nodded at her, then looked to me, his eyes darkening, his smile turning a bit devious. God, I hoped I was the only one who noticed. “Harper.”
“You let Pastor No finger you?” Gen hissed at me.
So much for that hope.
Figuring my best course of action was to ignore her entirely, I stood from the chair and smoothed my skirt. “Pastor Noah. What can we help you with? Something not up to standard for the old biddies?”
“No, nothing like that. In fact, I’m free from church responsibilities until Tuesday morning’s silent reflection hour.” His smile dimmed as he ran his hand down the buttons on his shirt and straightened his shoulders, almost as if he was psyching himself up for something. “I was coming to see if you’d care to join me for dinner tomorrow, Harper. I mentioned it earlier, but I wasn’t sure if you remembered.”
I blinked. Swallowed. Blinked again. “Say what now?”
“Dinner. With me. I’d like to take you on a date.”
I whipped my head around to Gen, who had her chin resting in her hand, obviously enjoying every second of this, then back to Noah. “But…I thought…” I shook my head, because none of this was making any sense. Why was he here? Was he really asking me out on a date? And was he seriously doing it in front of an audience? “Dinner…like, out? At a restaurant?”
“That’s usually what a date entails, yes.”
“You do know Gen can hear you, right?”
He furrowed his brow. “Is there a reason she shouldn’t hear this?”
Um, yeah. Like the fact that she could tell just about anyone what was going on. Or maybe that his whole career was at stake here. What in the actual fuck was going on?
“I just…didn’t anticipate you being so open about this. When you said dinner, I assumed you meant…” I trailed off with a shrug.
He went brows up and gave me a flirty smile. “Netflix and chill?”
Gen snorted at the same time a surprised laugh flew from my mouth. “Pretty much.”
“While I would never turn down such an invitation, my intentions for tomorrow evening were a little more…public. Like dinner at Nonno Pino’s and conversation.”
Dinner and conversation. What the hell? I glanced at Gen, who was absolutely no help. She fluttered her fingers at me, before waggling her eyebrows and giving me a thumbs-up. Yeah, super subtle, Gen. Awesome job.
I glanced back at Noah, who was staring intently at me. He was just a guy asking for a date. I’d been out on plenty of dates, and they hadn’t meant anything. This was the same. The only reason it had to be different from past situations was if I made it so. And I didn’t have to make it so, right? No big deal. I nearly cringed because there was that phrase again. Instead, I swallowed and decided what the hell.
“Dinner. Out.” I offered a smile. “What time?”
“I made a reservation for seven. I’ll pick you up.” Noah leaned in, his fingers brushing against the back of my arm as he pressed a small kiss on my cheek, the innocent touch making my nipples go tight. Then he moved his lips to my ear, his voice dropping low. “Feel free to leave the panties off again.”
The following night, I practically bounded up the back stairs leading to Harper’s apartment over her shop. Date time—dinner and conversation, getting to know each other, and perhaps a little flirting that could possibly lead to more than flirting. I wasn’t focused on that, though. This was our first date, after all.
I’d spent the past twenty-four hours psyching myself up to deal with this date. For as outwardly sexual as my Harper was, she still deserved to be treated like a lady. That meant I would follow her lead on how fast our physical relationship would go. Yesterday could have been a fluke—could have been a single moment of weakness. She could be regretting it.
God, I hoped she wasn’t regretting it.
Still, I had to keep my desire for her in check. Restraint was the word of the night, a fact I reminded my cock of multiple times. I could not fail.
I knocked three times, then glanced down at the street where a couple was walking by hand in hand. That could be Harper and me later. Yes, hand-holding. I liked hand-holding. That’d be the perfect end to our date. A stroll along the waterfront with her hand in mine. I should remind her to bring a coat since it could get cold later.
The snick of the door opening had me turning back around, smiling. Ready to greet her as a gentleman should. But the vision before me kicked the gentleman back down the stairs and left nothing behind but a seething, whirling ball of testosterone and sexual desire.
“Hi, Noah. I was just finishing up.”
I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Harper stood in her open doorway wearing a short skirt that moved when she did. What she wasn’t wearing was a blouse. Harper had answered her door in only a skirt and a lacy purple bra, the jewelry through her nipples a beacon for my eyes. Barbells…I knew it. Between the skin on display and the way her breasts seemed ready to spill over the fabric at any moment, I was mesmerized. Stunning was an understatement.
Her lips—all thick and red and perfect for wrapping around my cock—quirked up into a half smile. “Are you planning on coming inside, or are you going to stand there and stare? I’m starting to get a complex.” She spun and walked back inside her apartment. That skirt—that evil little piece of fabric—practically danced around her thighs as she walked. It also rose with each step just enough for me to see the tops of the fucking stockings a lot like what she’d worn yesterday.
Come inside? Yes. Immediately.
I followed her inside, but that skirt obliterated any sort of plans I had for resisting her. I grabbed her hand and spun her around, pressing her back to the wall. Settling us in the patch of sunlight from the window of her hallway as the door swung closed behind us. We were alone. The quiet of her apartment made that small hallway
feel closer, made the space seem more intimate. Made the outside world disappear. The scent of lilacs only intensified that sensation. I was surrounded by her, every sense overtaken. Every inch of me hers.
Perfect.
“After the performance in church yesterday, I’d assumed you’d seen a girl in her bra before.” Her dark eyebrow quirked up…another challenge. “Was I wrong?”
“You’re not just any girl, though, are you?” I couldn’t hold back the slight smirk as her eyes widened. Score one for the pastor. “There’s nothing more I want than to strip that fabric from your body so I can see”—I ran a finger over the side of her breast, skirting right at the edge of the jewelry through her nipple, before dropping my hand back to her hip—“everything you have to show me. But this is our first date. I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
The way I squeezed her, pulling her body against mine so I could press my rock-hard cock against her stomach—the way I couldn’t stop staring at her—belied my words. My restraint was wavering, my control shredding. And by the way she looked up at me with fire in her eyes, she knew it.
“You weren’t a gentleman yesterday when you stuck your hand up my skirt.”
I leaned in, dropping soft kisses along her neck. Unable not to steal a taste of her to join in the rest of my senses. She tasted like she smelled, and the dichotomy of such an innocent scent on such a brazen woman wasn’t lost on me. Pure sin. “If I remember right, you didn’t seem to mind my hand up your skirt.”
She grabbed my belt loops and tugged, rocking her hips into my cock. “No, I didn’t.”
Oh, hell. My hands shook as I fought to keep them from sliding under clothes and seeking soft, warm skin. A fight I was quickly losing.
“And is that what you want? You want me to come inside and make you come on my cock?” I ran my fingers over the edge of her garter belt where it lay across her ass, slipping my fingers underneath the edge of it only to find skin. No panties again. Fuck, this woman was perfect for me. So soft. So fucking silky and warm. I grabbed her bare ass with both hands, kneading her flesh. Groaning at the feel of her skin against mine.
She rose to the balls of her feet, pressing harder against my aching cock, and brushed her lips against my ear as she whispered, “As you seem to have figured out, I’m not wearing panties and wasn’t planning on it for this so-called date. I thought I was being fairly obvious, Pastor No.”
Restraint—shattered.
“Turn around, Harper.”
The little vixen gave me a solid stare, even going so far as to raise an eyebrow at me. I knew I was pushing her—Harper definitely wasn’t one to take orders—but I couldn’t help myself. I had to have her. Finally, she turned, rubbing her ass against my cock in a way that sent lightning bolts along my spine. This woman was pushing me hard, and I loved every second of it. I let her put space between us, let her have a single moment where she could hold on to that fantasy of Pastor No.
I wasn’t saying no tonight.
Harper shot me a saucy sort of smile over her shoulder, her hands against the wall. Her ass popped out. “Can I assume you don’t want a glass of wine? I set out a bottle and everything…”
But my chain had been pulled too tight for her sass. I pushed her against the wall, covering her body with mine as I pressed my hips into her ass. Desperate and needy for her.
“I have no interest in wine, and my guess is you already knew that,” I said just before I bit down on her neck. She jerked and gasped, spreading her legs when I nudged my thigh between them. “Do you want wine, Harper? Do you want me to keep being the gentleman who wants to take you to dinner? The nice guy who says the right things and behaves himself while pouring you a glass of good Chardonnay? Or do you want me to fuck you right up against this wall?”
“Goddamn,” she said, reaching back to grab my hip. “Where the hell did you come from?”
“Pennsylvania. Now spread those legs a little more, doll. I’m going to need some room to work.”
She inched her feet apart, bending slightly in invitation. I flipped that slip of a skirt up and over her hips, finally getting a view of exactly what I wanted. Ass on display, pussy peeking out at me, she was a vision of every want and fantasy I’d ever had. That soft skin was too much to ignore, the temptation too much to resist. I ran my hand up and down the length of her, teasing her pussy with my knuckles, watching as her thighs flexed with every pass.
But I wasn’t all about her pussy. No, sir. There was something hidden beneath the lace of her bra. Something I’d seen shadows of. Something I needed to get my hands on. I moved one hand around the front of her, grabbing her breast. Kneading it. Sighing as I felt the hard ridge of jewelry there.
“You have pierced nipples.”
I could almost hear the laugh in her voice as she said, “Excellent deductive skills, Noah.”
But I knew how to handle the sarcastic side of her. I slipped my hand inside the flimsy fabric of her bra, pinching the metal barbell between my fingers and thumb. Tweaking it. Tugging it. Harper moaned and twitched with each pull, telling me exactly how sensitive those bars of steel made her nipples. Giving me ideas on what to do once I got my mouth on her.
“I’ve seen the shadows beneath your shirts a hundred times and wondered.” I gave the barbell one last tug before placing my hand against the wall, supporting myself as I once again stroked over her pussy. “I’ll have fun with those later.”
“I sure hope so. Just so you know, they respond well to tongues.”
Always brash, my Harper. Always so forward. I loved it. But still, I needed to check in with her. Had to know.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked as I leaned in to nibble down her neck again. “I’ll stop if you don’t want me—”
“Do I look like I’m having second thoughts?” Again, she spread her legs, her ass shaking a little as she did.
Done. In seconds, I had my pants unfastened and pushed down to my knees, one of the condoms I’d stored in my wallet as a just-in-case clenched tight in my fist. Just in case had just become right the fuck now, and I was thankful I’d thought to be prepared. I tore open the packet with my teeth, looking forward to the day when she trusted me enough to go in without it. Oh fuck. Bare. Someday, I’d slide into that sweet pussy bare—something I’d never done in my life. Something that made the deepest, darkest, most testosterone-filled corners of my brain stand up and cheer. She was going to have me dripping out of her one day. Not today, but soon. Fuck, that thought was hot.
Once I’d sheathed my cock, I gripped the base, sliding the tip through her wetness. Preparing. Fighting with my internal teenager not to just slam inside and bunny-fuck her until I came. I had to get her off, had to feel her clenching around me. This was going to be quick, but it needed to be good for her.
“I have to tell you,” I said as I started to push inside. I caught my breath and held still, unable to speak. Unable to move. She felt too good—too warm and wet and hot in all the right ways. Soft yet tight, her pussy enveloped my cock. One flinch, and I was going to come. I couldn’t yet—not until she got hers at least once. I just needed a moment to breathe first.
“What?” she asked, turning around to look at me over her shoulder. “Noah?”
I couldn’t resist her. I leaned in to kiss those sultry lips. Softly. Sweetly. “It’s been a while, Harper. I’m not sure how long…”
My words were cut off with my groan as she pushed back away from the wall, forcing me deeper. Fucking herself with my cock as I held still. Good Lord, this woman was going to kill me.
“I trust that even if you go off in three seconds, you’ll still make sure I come. Am I wrong?”
“No,” I gasped, growling as my legs began to shake. “You’re not wrong. I want to make you come so bad. It’s all I need right now.”
“So do it.”
I nodded, pushing deeper. Fuck, she was so hot. So wet. Her pussy grasped me so right. There was no way I was going to last. I dropped my hand between her legs, slidi
ng my thumb back and forth between her lips until I found her clit. She gasped and jerked when I pressed down, when I teased that sensitive flesh. The smell of lilacs seemed to increase as our bodies moved, as we writhed against one another right there in her hallway. I hadn’t even taken her on the couch or the bed, hadn’t given her a chance for either of us to get naked. Not that I thought she cared. Her pussy tightened around me, spasming slightly as I pushed her further. As I teased her clit and thrust deep. She liked this…liked the roughness and the spontaneity. Fucking perfect.
“That’s it, doll. Let go. Let me feel you come.” I circled her clit while she grasped at the wall and cursed. Her body was tight, her muscles ready. On another hard thrust, she slammed her hand down. It didn’t hit the wall this time but the window. The one looking out across the street. Framing the church almost perfectly. A little slice of the pastor side of me peeking into the moment, something that only made things that much hotter.
“Noah.” Harper leaned forward, her hand covering the small window, pushing her ass back against me in ways that should have been illegal.
Fuck, I was going to come, but I needed her to go first. Needed to feel it. To hear her cries and feel her arousal drip down between us. I wouldn’t leave her wanting. Ever. I pumped harder, quicker. Worked my thumb with more pressure. I wanted to close my eyes, to fall into the sensation and let go, but I couldn’t look away from Harper. She was so beautiful like this, so honest and raw as she worked her body with mine. And needy—fuck, was she needy. Just a few more. Just a little.
Her pussy clenched on my cock a second before she moaned in that keening way I already knew meant she was coming. I slid deeper, overpowering her, making sure she got as much out of this as she could. Pushing myself right to that edge as well. I came with a groan, my face buried in her neck, my chest heaving as I tried—and failed—to catch my breath. Perfection. Every second, every sensation, was fucking perfection.
But as the caveman retreated and the gentleman I’d been raised to be came back, something akin to guilt began to make my gut tense. I’d fucked her like an animal against her wall. This was supposed to be our first date, and I’d fucked it up. Literally.