Noah stroked her cheek. He missed his mother, but at least he’d had a mother who loved him, and he was angry that Ash had been deprived of something that should have come so easily. If her parents hadn’t been dead, he’d have fucking-well killed them himself.
“Once, they went to school to meet my teachers and they were the parents I wanted them to be, kind and smiling and interested in what I’d been doing. I thought it was a miracle. They’d changed and now I’d have a family like everyone else’s. But when we got home, they ignored me again. I gave up trying to figure out what I’d done. I pretended I was a mouse. I snuck downstairs to feed myself on bread and cheese. I kept as quiet as I could. I went to school on my own, came back on my own and hid in my room. I went days without even seeing them.”
She tipped her head to look at him, and Noah stared at her intently. How could anyone do that to a kid?
“One day, it finally dawned on me they didn’t care. Whatever I did, good or bad, it made no difference unless it impacted directly on them. Though I did wonder if I’d starved myself to death, would they have noticed?” She smiled. “I think the smell would have got to them.”
“Jesus, Ash.”
“Maybe I’d been a difficult baby, wouldn’t sleep and drove them crazy. Who knows? But it didn’t matter anymore once I realized I couldn’t change them, I could only change me. At that moment, I stopped wasting my time feeling sorry for myself.”
She sighed. “No one knows everything that happened. I’ve kept some secrets locked inside for a long time, but I have come to terms with them. I won’t let my past be an albatross around my neck. I can’t let it stop me from living my life.”
But it wasn’t the same, Noah thought. Ash had been an innocent kid with vile, abusive parents. He was guilty as sin.
“What would you do if you were me?” he asked.
“Start work again. Do what you’re good at. Take photographs of things and people that make you smile until you feel ready to take more difficult pictures. Find a happy thing to do for yourself or for someone else every day, and pretty soon the world will look different and feel different. Lastly, I’d go and see the soldier who was injured.”
“I don’t think he’d want to see me.” Noah wouldn’t if he’d been him.
“Maybe he won’t. But you need to see him. There might be some way you can help. You don’t even have to tell him you’re behind whatever he needed.”
Noah wrapped his arms around her. “How come you’re so wise?”
“Because if I hadn’t made my world happy, I’d probably be dead.”
Oh God. “You make me happy,” he whispered.
“You make me happy too.” Ash pushed herself up, reached back and yanked out the plug.
The water drained away, and Noah was disappointed the bath was over until she took his hands and put them on the rim of the tub.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Hold tight,” she said, and lifted his feet over the sides. After a few moments she pushed the plug back into place.
He raised his eyebrows.
Ash smiled. “I don’t want to drown.”
Oh Jesus Christ and every bloody angel in heaven. Was she going to— Fuck yes, she was. Warm water still lapped around his balls, but Ash had shuffled down between his spread legs so she could lift his cock to her mouth. Noah groaned as she licked him, thrilling at the way she swirled her tongue around the nerve-rich tip of his shaft, the way she swept her tongue from his root to his crest. She licked up a pearl of pre-cum, and he had to fight the urge to buck his hips and shove his entire length into her mouth.
Ash released him with a little pop and grinned. “You taste nice.”
“You missed a bit,” he whispered.
She reached over for her glass, took a drink and put the glass down. When Noah felt the cold liquid wash around his cock, he hissed and clenched his fingers on the edge of the tub. “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Ash held his cock against her lips and fluttered her tongue over his slit. One of his hands had somehow made it to her head, the other was on the way to his balls, but Ash beat him to it and pressed down at the base of his cock.
“Mine,” she growled.
Through hooded eyes he watched her take another mouthful of champagne and then shuddered as she engulfed just his tip and let the liquid run down the length of his cock. She laved him from his crest to his balls, and Noah threaded the fingers of both hands in her wet hair. When she gripped his cock and took his balls in her mouth, he held his breath. She played with them gently, separating them, pushing them together with her tongue and he struggled to keep his eyes open to watch.
“Oh God,” he moaned.
His heart pumped like a jackhammer. It wasn’t just the feel of her hands and mouth but the sight of her doing this that sent his balls into a frenzy. Noah could sense his little swimmers battling for position, readying for the off. Shit, I’m close.
Don’t you dare fucking come yet.
His body was totally in her thrall. His hands might be in her hair, but she was in control. Lust had flooded his head and smothered his capacity to think. His breathing was ragged and choppy, his chest heaved. Ash settled her lips around the dark crown of his cock and slowly swallowed it, taking a fraction more with every dip of her head, while below her mouth, her hand twisted and pumped. She licked, sucked, nibbled until Noah’s fuse wire shortened. He tried to distract himself by counting tiles on the opposite wall but kept getting stuck at three.
“That is… Feels… Hot shit…shit… So good,” he mumbled, hoping he hadn’t gabbled unintelligibly.
When she pulled back to get another drink, he wanted to drag her back to his dick and finish him off, but this time she sucked his nipple and allowed the liquid to warm against him before she swallowed. Noah’s head ached.
“Please,” he groaned. Fuck, did I just beg?
More champagne passed from her mouth to his and Noah wondered if he’d ever be able to drink it again without thinking of this. Ash licked her way back to his cock and pumped it into her mouth while ten fingers drifted over his nipples to trace the muscled ridges of his ribs. When one of her hands fell back to wrap around his cock, Noah caught the other and pulled it to his mouth, drawing on her fingers in time with her sucking his cock. When he sucked hard, she copied him and his breath stuttered. He licked and she licked, he sucked fast and so did she. Her grip tightened around the base of his shaft, but the pressure on his balls was no longer enough to hold back the inevitable. Orgasm was on the rise all over his body. An atomic bomb couldn’t have stopped it.
Well, he supposed it could— Fuck it, what was he thinking? Noah almost bit her fingers when Ash took another couple of inches of his erection into her mouth. His cock head brushed the back of her throat, the bullets left the gun and there was no way back.
“God, God, God,” he grunted as fire shot from his brain, down his spine, into his legs and back to his balls. Cum erupted from his cock and his hips jerked, sending a wave of foamy water shooting from one end of the tub to the other.
Noah grasped her hand and held on tight as he emptied himself into her mouth and slid down into the water at the same time.
Should have asked.
Too late now.
Christ, when can we do that again?
As the last, wrenching spasm died away, Ash lifted her head and smiled at him. Noah wiped a fleck of his cum from her lips.
“You’ve rendered me speechless,” he whispered.
For the first time in months he didn’t want to fall asleep when he went to bed.
* * * * *
Dalton gave up waiting for pasta and retired to his room with a cheese sandwich, a packet of crisps and a beer. He was glad for Noah yet jealous too. Dalton wasn’t bad-looking, but even when they’d been younger, whenever he was out with Noah, there was never any question as to who’d definitely get lucky and who probably wouldn’t. Even in Noah’s current fucked-up state, Ash wanted him, and she knew nothin
g about him other than what she’d read in the paper.
But then she only had to go online to find out some of it.
He opened up his laptop and went into Google. He had no difficulty uncovering information about Green Piecethough they didn’t appear to have a website. They were mentioned on individual and community blogs and on local business sites. Dalton opened a Word doc and copy-pasted details of the seven projects the company had undertaken, listed the links and printed it out. He gave a low whistle when he saw the number of links for Leopold Road. He’d thought the name was familiar. It was the home of Timothy and Denise North. Twenty-odd years ago, they’d enticed teenagers away from shopping centers, brought them back to their home and killed them. Eventually. Seven bodies had been found. There’d been some sort of bunker under the garden.
Dalton tapped Trevor Elleston into the search box. It was an unusual name so he thought he’d find something. Did you mean Elleston Trevor? the search engine asked. That was the name of the guy who’d written Flight of the Phoenix. Dalton couldn’t find a link between any Elleston and Green Piece. Maybe it was an uncle on her mother’s side. Googling Ash Elleston left Dalton scratching his head. It was as if she didn’t exist. No trace on Facebook either.
He checked the time and hit speed dial. Dalton didn’t usually call Ilya from inside the flat when Noah was there, but it was still raining and Noah and Ash were making enough noise in the room next door to drown out his voice.
“Again?” Ilya snapped.
Fuck you. “You were the one who wanted to know when anything changed. He’s talking of starting a project, taking pictures to showcase a company called Green Piecethat converts derelict sites into urban green space. Noah mentioned calling Wolfe to see if he’d commission it.”
“Really?”
“He sounds brighter, more together.” That had to be good, didn’t it?
Ilya exhaled. “Where did he get the idea?”
“It’s something Ash is involved with.”
“So what happens when he dumps her?”
Dalton heard muffled laughter coming from the adjoining room. “Maybe he won’t.”
“She was supposed to be a quick fuck to get him—”
“Back in the saddle?” Dalton muttered. Back under family control?
“I didn’t want them to get too serious. Give her a couple of thousand to disappear. I’ll transfer it.”
Ilya broke the connection before Dalton could tell him no. He tossed his phone on the bed. Maybe he wouldn’t need to tell Ilya anything. Noah was so volatile, the chances of him and Ash still speaking by morning were not high. Yeah, he was better to wait.
Chapter Fifteen
Ash woke the next morning to find Noah staring at her. Their bodies were close under the duvet, though not touching. She could feel the heat between them, his warmth a soft caress against her skin. Last night had been a revelation. She’d never had sex like that, never come so many times, never had a guy groan like that when she touched him, never moaned so loud when a guy touched her. Not many times she’d woken with a guy lying next to her. A smile crept onto her lips.
“What’s that for?” he whispered.
“We’re still alive.”
Noah’s lips curled in a smile to match hers. Ash sighed. Well, it would match if she had a drop-dead gorgeous smile like him. It was a crime to look so good in the morning. The dark stubble peppering his chin made him look sexy not unkempt. His tousled hair seemed deliberately boyish, and the shadows beneath his eyes had almost gone. Ash didn’t even want to think about what she looked like. Her hair alone was probably enough to frighten small children. Noah continued to stare at her.
“What are you doing?” Ash asked. I bet I’ve got a spot. Damn.
“Counting your eyelashes.”
Oh God.
“You can’t move until I’ve finished.”
Ash blinked.
“Fuck it. One, two…”
“Funny guy.”
“I don’t want you to go to work today,” he said. “You haven’t finished auditioning for the role as my sex toy. It’s a long, complicated process.”
“Did you puncture your last one?”
Noah growled. Christ, even his breath smells sweet.
“I can’t skip work,” she said.
He frowned. “But I think you’re coming down with something. You were very hot in the night. Then there was all that thrashing and groaning.” Noah edged a little closer but didn’t touch her. “You need to be kept under close supervision.”
“I have to go in.” She didn’t want to, but people were expecting her.
He slid a warm hand onto her stomach and woke the butterflies nesting there. “Don’t.”
“I can’t let people down.”
“But you’d be letting me down if you go in today.” His fingers danced lower until his hand cupped her pubis, and Ash’s pulse jumped.
“I can’t skip work because I don’t feel like it.” Unlike you. Ash waited for him to get uppity but he didn’t.
“Okay.” He gave a long-suffering sigh. “I’ll come with you and give you a hand.”
Those words thrilled her, but not as much as the next thing she heard. Rain beating against the window.
“Hear that?” she asked.
Noah lifted his head from the pillow. “You can hear my cock crying?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Rain?” he asked.
“Remember? I don’t work when it rains.”
“Thank you, God.” Noah let his head drop back.
“I’ll just check to make sure Martin’s texted to confirm.” Ash slid out of bed and walked over to her bag. She heard Noah moan when she bent over, and she giggled. He was obsessed with her butt. Two messages. One from Martin saying See you next Wednesday. One from Ronan saying Are you alive? Ash quickly tapped a message to both and dropped her phone back in her bag.
When she looked at Noah, he had one leg bent, tenting the duvet.
“I’ve got a present for you,” he said.
Ash stepped toward him. “Does it need unwrapping?”
“Sort of.”
“I’ve got a present for you too.” She slid in next to him.
“Does it happen to be somewhere for me to put your present?”
She pouted. “Darn it, you guessed.”
Noah dropped his knee and pulled her into his arms. “Mine is one of those gifts that keeps giving and giving.”
Ash’s breathing quickened. The combination of Noah’s rough cheeks, silky hair and wet mouth were instantly arousing. He licked, kissed and nibbled down her arms, feathered his tongue behind her knees until she begged him to stop, then trailed his mouth the length of her spine while she begged him not to stop. He rolled her, turned her, flipped her like a pancake, and Ash loved every second of it. Noah sucked her toes, her fingers then her nipples until orgasm threatened, only to do nothing but stroke her damp mouth with his thumb until the wave retreated.
She was strung so tight, she repeatedly verged on the point of breaking several times, but Noah wouldn’t let her come. He pulled her to the edge merely to drag her back. Ash was desperate, and yet she loved being played with like this, loved that core-deep sensation that grew and grew before the burst of release, loved the way her body responded to Noah’s touch.
He arranged her on her hands and knees in the middle of the bed, set his knees on the outside of hers and trailed his tongue from her neck, down her spine and finally into the crease of her butt. When his mouth settled over the delicate folds of her sex, Ash panted into the pillow.
“You are so tempting,” he whispered. “I want you to come on my mouth, but I desperately want to fuck you like this.
He blew on her damp folds, and the rush of warm air made her hips buck.
“’Course, I could do both, but I’m not sure how much longer I can hold on.”
“Shut up and choose,” she begged.
He pressed the head of his cock against her sex, grasped her
hips and pushed.
* * * * *
Noah left Ash sleeping, slipped on a pair of boxers, picked up his phone and sloped off to the kitchen. Dalton was in there, working on his laptop.
“’Morning,” Noah said.
“’Afternoon.”
“Shit. Is it?” He stuck the kettle under the cold tap. “Want a coffee?”
“I’m fine, thanks.” Dalton pushed a sheet of paper across the table. “That’s what I found.”
Noah switched on the kettle, put the croissants in the oven and then picked up the sheet.
“I couldn’t trace her uncle under Trevor Elleston. There’s nothing on Ash either.”
Noah’s turned to face him. “So what?”
“Don’t you think that’s odd? No references to her at all?”
Noah glared. “I didn’t ask you to spy on Ash.”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” Dalton held up his hands. “I apologize.”
“Leave her the fuck alone, Dalton. Don’t interfere. She’s…”
“What?”
“Special.”
Noah didn’t miss the way Dalton’s jaw tightened and it annoyed him. He picked up his phone and scrolled for Wolfe’s number. He hesitated before he pressed call and steeled himself.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Wolfe roared.
Noah winced and moved the phone farther from his ear. He’d forgotten Wolfe didn’t have a quiet on his volume control. “You don’t know?”
“I heard you had your head stuffed up your arse. Extricated it yet?”
Noah smiled. “Almost.”
“What do you want? Not to ask me how I am. I’ve been ill, swine flu, but what do you care? You just lie around feeling sorry for yourself until you need something. My guess is you’re looking for work. I need someone for Crufts.”
“Fuck off.” Noah was not going to photograph a dog show, no matter how desperate he got. “I have an idea.”
“Bore me.”
Wolfe sounded like a big guy with broad shoulders and chest to match. He was no more than five feet five with no hair at all. But he knew everyone who mattered in the media world, was an expert on the visual side, and though he had a foul temper, he was also an astute businessman. Noah outlined his idea for a magazine piece on Green Piece, and even before he’d finished, Wolfe had picked it up and started to run.
An Ordinary Girl Page 17