by Annie Rains
“Exactly!” Krista bounced on her chair.
“I didn’t even say anything yet.” Noah grinned at her, those boyish dimples sending shivers up her spine.
“But I know what you were going to say. We should have a Friends-and-family-giving. They can’t protest that. And we’ll bring everyone together and celebrate Jack and Grace’s upcoming marriage.”
Noah scratched his chin, casting her a teasing look. “Yeah. Glad I thought of that. That’s a pretty damn good idea.”
“Your boat and my townhouse are too small.”
“We can have it at the Sawyer Seafood Company’s office. We’ll give Grace the day off, for some reason that I’ll make up, and you and I can get busy.”
“I love this idea.” Krista finished off her glass of wine, feeling elated and tipsy and absolutely in lust with Noah—more so than usual. The romantic dinner he’d created was definitely working its magic on her. And so was the charm of the cabin.
He set his fork down. “I’m full.”
“Me, too.”
Leaning forward, he blew out the candles, leaving them in the glow of the setting sun through the window.
His gaze lingered on her. “So, what else should I know about romance? Since I’m learning this weekend.”
Krista tapped her chin, thinking about it. “I’ve always thought dancing was romantic.”
“I used to do one mean Funky Monkey.”
A laugh tore from her throat. “I remember. It was terrible,” she said through scattered breaths.
Noah looked offended. “Girls swooned.”
Yeah, she’d been one of them. “I was talking about slow dancing. You know, standing close, her hands on his shoulders, his hands on her waist.”
Noah nodded, keeping his gaze pinned on her. “I knew what you meant. I’m not sure Jack is much of a dancer.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised what a man will do when he’s in love.”
“Yeah? Talking from experience?”
Krista shook her head. “Not my own. But, from what Grace has told me, I’m willing to bet that Jack will dance.”
“We should set it up then.” Noah stood and headed into the living room. He opened the entertainment center and thumbed through a drawer of CDs. “Aha. Nothing more romantic than this,” he said, shielding the CD as he slid it in.
“I’m scared to ask.” She sat on the edge of the couch.
He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. Then he pressed PLAY. A slow romantic tune filled the air.
“The Righteous Brothers,” Krista said, IDing the band immediately. “Good choice.”
Noah held out a hand to her.
“What?” She furrowed her brow.
“Your hands on my shoulders. My hands on your waist. Isn’t that how it goes?”
Her heart sped up. “Are you asking me to dance?”
“Trying to.” He stepped closer and reached for one of her hands, pulling her to stand. He draped her hand on his shoulder. Eyes locked on her, he did the same to her other hand. Then he stepped closer, leaving only inches between them as he anchored his hands on her waist. “Yeah,” he whispered. “I can see how this would be romantic. I’m learning a lot from you this weekend.”
She swallowed and wished she didn’t want to kiss him so much. His mouth was so close to hers. His breath tickled her desire.
“You know what I’ve always thought was romantic?” he asked.
“What’s that?”
“Kissing.”
Her heart stopped beating for a quick second. “Me, too.” The music and his proximity, his hands and the way he was looking at her had her dizzy. “If I kiss you right now, it might turn out like last night, though,” she said in almost a whisper.
He leaned in a little more. “I happened to like last night.”
Krista rolled her lips together. The desire was thick and hot, building inside her so much it ached. She curled her fingers into his skin, holding on even though part of her wanted to pull away. “Me, too.”
Before she could say or think anything else, Noah brushed his lips against hers. The music slipped into the distance as they clawed at each other, their kiss deepening from sweet to passionate. Krista couldn’t help herself. She lowered her hands from his shoulders and started to pull his shirt overhead. She cast it to the living room floor, then fumbled with the button of his jeans.
“Whoa, there, sweetheart. Thought it was more romantic to go slow.” He smiled against her mouth, then his tongue traced her bottom lip.
She couldn’t help it. Her knees weakened and she almost dissolved into a puddle right there. “Screw romance. I want sex.”
“No, no, no, no. I’m doing this right.” He lifted her shirt off her body, slow and deliberate. The slow reveal made her skin burn. She needed him to touch her like he’d done last night. Needed to feel his hands and mouth on her. When her shirt was gone, he reached around and unclasped her bra, letting her breasts spill down into his ready hands. “I want these pants off you, too,” he growled, then unfastened her jeans and yanked them down, dropping to his knees as he did.
Krista was so weak with need she could barely stand up. “What are you doing?”
“Tell me what you want me to do.” He scraped his unshaven cheek against her inner thigh, making her moan. Then he bit down gently on her sensitive skin.
Her knees nearly buckled right there.
“Tell me.”
“I want you to make me naked,” she said.
His hands rode up her legs, cupping her bottom. Then he yanked her panties down, making her cry out softly.
Noah pulled her down to the floor with him. “This is what I want,” he said when she was under him. “I want you on the floor, in front of this fire.”
Krista reached down and gripped his length as he pressed it toward her. “I want to feel this inside me,” she said.
He thrust against her hand. Then he lowered his mouth and plunged his tongue inside, mimicking the movement she’d told him she wanted. The kiss went on forever, the ache escalating until she was writhing beneath him.
“I’ve got to get another condom from the honeymoon stash.” Noah lifted off her body and headed to the bedroom, giving her just enough time to collect her thoughts. The first time had been a lapse in judgment. Was a second time really a good idea?
Noah returned and held up a golden wrapper. He was naked and glorious, and all hers—if only for tonight.
Oh, definitely. This is a very good idea.
—
Noah covered Krista’s warm, naked body, sliding into her arms like it was the most natural place to be. And it was. He felt comfortable with her. She was his life-long confidant, and having sex with her was far beyond anything he’d ever experienced.
“You okay?” he asked, hovering above her.
“Better than okay.”
“Good.” He pressed against her, kissing her long and slow. He loved how she clung to him, pulling him to her, as if she couldn’t get enough. He pressed his length against her, once, twice, and then he was inside her.
She moaned beneath him, showing him her satisfaction, urging him on and driving him absolutely crazy.
“God, you feel like heaven.” And if he had to choose right now between Blushing Bay, the Sawyer cabin, or her—which place would he stay forever if he could choose only one—no contest, he’d choose Krista.
He stopped moving for a moment above her, the thought of forever paralyzing him.
She tugged, pulled, her body writhing against him. The fire crackled beside them as they laid on the floor. “Don’t stop now.” Her eyes were mere slants. A smile held her lips. God, she looked like an angel. What the hell was she doing with him? He kissed her sweetly, then long and deep, his body moving inside her again, pushing his nagging thoughts away.
She rewarded him with a moan. After only a few minutes, she sucked in a sharp breath. Taking her over the edge, he pushed harder, faster, his own groans ripping from deep inside him. Satisfying her was his greatest pleas
ure.
“Go ahead,” he said.
Her moans increased. Then her eyes closed and her body tensed and arched.
He watched her, working hard to keep his own eyes open. He wanted to see her, to memorize this moment because it was so much better than he’d ever fantasized. And despite himself, he’d fantasized about her over the years, especially over the last couple weeks.
With a cry, she went limp beneath him. Her smile drew up higher and even in the dim lighting, he could see the glow cast along her features.
Yeah, he could definitely stay here, in this moment forever.
Chapter 13
Krista tiptoed out of bed. It was unusual for Noah to still be asleep. He was a fisherman. She’d never known him to sleep past sunrise, but this morning he was sound asleep. It’d been an eventful night. She guessed she’d expended all his energy.
A blush ran over her cheeks at the thought. It was a shame they had to leave the cabin today. She envied Grace and Jack for getting to stay a solid week on their honeymoon. What better place to start a marriage?
Or a relationship.
Krista slipped her feet into a pair of slippers and shuffled down the hall to make the coffee. With a hot cup of caffeine in hand—not as good as the BB Café’s back home, but she’d trade it any day for the view—she slipped on a heavy jacket and went onto the front porch to sit in the swing. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked out on the mountains, so large and unmovable, a lot like she’d considered Noah to have been before this trip. But she’d moved him. It’d been a magical weekend and she hoped things didn’t fall apart once they left.
Her phone buzzed beside her, snapping her out of her happy daze. She snatched it up and grinned at Grace’s name on the caller ID. She finally had reception! Trying not to move in case she lost the connection, she answered. “Hello.”
“Hi there!” Grace said. “How are things going?”
And that was a loaded question. “Great.” Krista heard the little rise in her voice.
“Was that a question?” Grace asked on a laugh. “And why haven’t you been answering your phone? I’ve been calling for the last two days.”
Krista groaned, taking a sip of her coffee. “The connection here is awful, but other than that, this place is amazing. You and Jack probably won’t want to be on the phone when you’re here anyway.”
“True. So, are you and Noah playing nice?”
“Yep.” There was that rise to her voice again. Oh, I am so busted.
“Wait a minute. What’s going on up there?”
“Well, let’s just say, Noah wasn’t as much of a lost cause as I thought.” Krista nibbled on her thumbnail.
“What? Did you kiss?” Grace asked.
“There might’ve been kissing.”
Grace squealed. “Did you do more than that?”
Krista’s gaze flicked to the front door. She didn’t want Noah to overhear her spilling the details of the last two nights’ sexcapades. “This place is so romantic, Grace. I mean, the mood is set and if there’s so much as a spark, it’s like this place ignites it.”
“And there are definitely sparks between you two. There always have been. Oh, my God. What have you two been doing up there? Did you have sex?”
Krista pulled her hand down to her lap and glanced at the door again. “Maybe.”
Grace squeaked into the phone. “Oh, my God! That’s a yes if I ever heard one.”
“But we’re leaving today and I’m not sure if the sex meant anything to Noah. I mean, it did to me, but I know him, better than anyone else probably. He doesn’t do relationships.”
“Maybe if he found the right girl, though.”
“I’ve been here all along,” Krista said. “And he never wanted me before.” She didn’t want to let her hope come crashing down around her. She wanted to believe that this thing that had started here at the Sawyer cabin was real, and that it’d continue when they got back home.
“Well, I’m thrilled for you two. Maybe we’ll have a double wedding at the end of the month.”
Krista rolled her eyes. “Not happening. Please don’t tell anyone, okay? This is privileged information.”
“My lips are sealed. And my fingers are crossed for you two. You’d be amazing together.”
Grace didn’t know the half of it. In Krista’s opinion, she and Noah already were amazing together.
A noise came from inside the house. “Oh, I have to go. Noah’s awake.”
“Wait. It’s eight a.m. Are you telling me that Noah is just now waking up? Wow, you two must’ve really enjoyed yourselves last night.”
Krista laughed. “Meet me at the BB Café tomorrow morning. I’ll dish all the details.”
“You got it.”
Krista hung up and watched the door. A second later, it opened and Noah stepped out onto the porch with mussed hair and a thick layer of stubble surrounding the lower half of his face. A few days off at the mountains looked good on him. He held a cup of coffee of his own.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked in a sexy, sleep-coated voice.
“It’s about time you woke up,” she teased, sliding over just a touch.
He sat beside her and glanced over. “I haven’t slept in this late since a few years ago when I had the flu. I like this excuse better.” He winked and her body melted into the swing.
“Me, too.”
“So, uh, we head home today.”
She nodded, feeling the regret over that fact bubble up inside her. “Yep.”
“Guess we’ll pack and be on our way in a bit. Back to reality.”
She wanted to ask him what this weekend meant for them. What were his intentions toward her? She bit her tongue. Talking about intentions and feelings was likely to send Noah running. “And we have an anti-bachelor-and-bachelorette party for Grace and Jack to plan. I think it’s a great idea.”
“Me, too. We’ve had a lot of great ideas this weekend.” His gaze ran over her, slow and easy. God, she didn’t want this trip to end.
“I have another idea,” she said, leaning into him.
His mouth quirked on one end. “Oh, yeah?”
She nodded. She wasn’t usually this bold, but she needed to make the most of their time here at the Sawyer cabin. In case that was all they had. “I need a shower.”
One of his eyebrows lifted. “What do you know. I happen to need a shower, too. Perhaps we could conserve water.”
She nodded and stood from the swing. “That was exactly my idea.”
“Great minds.” He followed her inside, locking the front door behind them.
They hurried through the living room and tumbled into the master bathroom, running their hands over each other. Krista had meant what she’d said to Grace. The mood here was magnetic. Half due to the mountains, half due to the man currently stripping down in front of her. She lifted her T-shirt off and his gaze lowered to her bare breasts. Then she shimmied out of her yoga pants.
“You are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen,” he said, and that thrilled her. She’d seen him with so many beautiful women over the years, years when he’d looked at her with nothing more than neutrality in his eyes. Now he was looking at her with fiery desire. As if he wanted to eat her up.
The thought of that made her step toward him. “I’ve never made love in the shower,” she confessed, kissing his mouth. There were so many sexual things she’d never experienced that she wanted Noah to show her.
He cupped the bottom of her chin gently, and held on to her and the kiss. “Well, then, let me be your first,” he said before crushing his mouth against hers.
—
The sign read: WELCOME TO BLUSHING BAY. Noah had never been more relieved—because his right leg was falling asleep from the six-hour drive—and more bummed at the same time. Because he’d be dropping Krista off at home in a few minutes. He couldn’t even try to go inside. Joey might be there.
Krista stirred in the passenger seat. She’d been asleep for the last few
hours, which Noah was thankful for. He needed time with his thoughts. Not that time had helped anything. He still had no idea what he was going to do next where Krista was concerned, if anything. Maybe what happened at the Sawyer cabin stayed at the cabin. The thought of that made his chest ache.
“Where are we?” Krista asked, breaking into a large yawn. She stretched her arms over her head and looked around. “Oh. Home.”
Noah glanced over just in time to see her frown. “What happened to ‘there’s no place like home’?”
She shrugged, hugging her arms around herself. “I love home. But I really needed this break.” She blew out a breath. “Tomorrow is back to work where Karen will stare down her nose at me even though I’ve earned that head nurse position. I’ve been there the longest and I work the hardest.”
“So relax. You always get what’s coming to you. I believe that.”
“Like you? You deserve to be head of the Summerly. I always knew you’d make a great captain.”
Noah nodded. “I never would’ve made it if Jack hadn’t decided to quit the business. The position is only mine by default. Not because I earned it.”
Krista reached over and gave him a shove. “Stop that. You never give yourself enough credit. Even in school.”
He laughed under his breath. “Maybe because I was the one voted least likely to succeed.”
“That was a joke and you know it.”
He nodded. But it hadn’t been a joke to him. He was the joke. He was the youngest of the Sawyer brothers. Sam was the smart one. Jack was the hard worker, competitive down to his core. Noah was the one who’d managed to rip the family apart, starting with his mom dying in childbirth. That wasn’t his fault; he knew that deep down, but he still felt responsible. Joking around became his armor growing up. It kept people from seeing his pain. And because he was such a jokester, no one seemed to expect much from him. So he’d given everyone exactly what they expected. “I make a decent captain,” he admitted.
“My brother thinks you’re pretty great.”
“Yeah?” A smile lifted on Noah’s face. “He’s a great co-captain. Gotta say, his cab breaking down was one of the best things to happen to me in a long time.”