by Claire Adams
“We aren’t,” she said, sighing. “I don’t even know how we ended up roommates. I think we both are jealous of one another.”
“Ah, so a frenemy type of friendship then?”
“That’s a good way to describe it.”
The smell of baked chicken and salt began to fill the kitchen. I couldn’t help but admire the way the kitchen lights reflected in the shiny strands of Iris’ hair.
“Why do you live with her if you two don’t like each other?” I asked. “Or does this go back to not having anywhere to go?”
Even though she was sitting in my home, I still found it hard to believe that Iris had nowhere else to go. My parents, as dysfunctional as they were, still always had a room for me. I watched the expression on her face darken slightly.
“It’s not that simple,” she said, looking down at the countertop. “I only have a few months left anyway before graduation. I won’t have to worry about it anymore.”
The pit of my stomach twisted at the reminder that Iris and I were on completely two different phases of our lives. I had gone through my post college days already and settled down, but it was just beginning for her. She wanted to leave Utah and never look back. That much she had made clear.
Her reasons to leave were deeper than having a fake friendship with Bailey. It was the same reason why she ended up staying here with me. I let it go, though, when I sensed Iris’ defenses building up again.
“Have you figured out what you are going to do once you graduate?” I asked.
“Maybe go to New York,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I’m just keeping my options open at this point.” Her eyes suddenly widened, and she pointed to the oven behind me frantically. “Noah! The oven!”
I whirled around to find black smoke curling from the oven along with orange flames along the bottom. I let out a string of curse words at the sight of it while Iris darted around the counter to help me pull the now-blackened chicken wings out. She rummaged through the cabinet next to me before opening a bottle of salt and tossing it onto the flames. The flames flickered out and black smoke filled the kitchen.
Iris burst out laughing, deep belly laughs that brought me into my own laughter. We opened the kitchen windows to let the smoke out.
“I’m not a cook,” I admitted, rubbing at my face in embarrassment. “Obviously.”
“Obviously,” she agreed with a giggle. “It’s nice to know that you aren’t so perfect all the time.”
I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I landed on pizza. “Far from perfect,” I said. “I’ll order us a pizza.”
“Sounds good to me.”
An hour and a half later, I wiped my fingers free of grease and pizza sauce while Iris picked up the pizza boxes. I sunk back into the couch pillows with a contented sigh. I couldn’t remember the last time I had ever enjoyed a woman’s company as much as I was enjoying hers. Her guard was down for once, something that I thoroughly enjoyed.
“I have to ask you a question,” I said when Iris sat back down on the couch, folding a leg casually under as she faced me. “It’s personal, but I have to ask why you told me there was no one around to help you for spring break.”
“There isn’t,” she said flatly. She looked down at the couch cushions between us for a moment. “I could go to my mom’s house, but…”
“But?” I prompted gently.
“My mom’s an alcoholic,” she blurted out, wincing. “I hate that word, but that’s what she is. My parents are in the middle of a divorce, so my mom deals with it by drinking. Every time I go to her house, I end up having to clean and take care of her. It’s never relaxing.”
“That’s hard.” I really didn’t know what else to say. It made perfect sense then why Iris didn’t want to go home for spring break. I wouldn’t want to, either. “My parents are divorced, too. Been divorced for a while, actually.”
“It sucks. You get stuck in between them, or without one of them, even as an adult.”
“Pretty much. That’s why I went to New Zealand – to get away from them.”
“I wish I could go to a foreign country.” Iris sighed tiredly. “That’s why I failed freshman English, you know. Not because I was lazy or whatever. I had to constantly drive over to my parents’ house to deal with my mother’s drinking because she couldn’t handle my dad anymore.”
Fuck. I didn’t realize that had been the reason why Iris had failed the first time. Guilt lodged in my throat.
“I’m sorry, Iris,” I said. “I didn’t know. I acted like a complete dick about it.”
The corner of her lips turned upward. “Not as much as Professor Smith did. He told me it was a lesson – that I shouldn’t try to rescue my own family because my life is important.”
“I can’t say that’s not entirely wrong of him to say that,” I said. “You can’t save people who don’t want to be saved.”
“I know. I realize that now.”
A tendril of wavy hair fell across her cheekbone. I reached forward without thinking to tuck it back behind her ear gently. Iris tensed under the unexpected touch, but her eyes slipped closed with a small sigh.
The noise made me lean forward ever so slightly as I traced the rim of her ear with my fingertips. God, she was so beautiful, and melting under a simple touch. It made me wonder how she’d respond to other more sensual touches.
She shifted unexpectedly out from beneath my fingers. I allowed my hand to drop between us when she looked up at me with watery eyes.
“I better get to bed,” she said. “Do you mind?”
I cleared my throat and shifted off the couch to hide how aroused I had become by that simple contact. There was no way I would sleep tonight knowing Iris was in the room down the hallway.
“No problem. I should get some sleep, too.”
Iris waited in the hallway while I clicked the lights off in the living room. I glanced at the clock when I passed it, sighing inwardly at the time. 10:14. I never went to bed before midnight, but a shower screamed my name. I needed release.
We stood outside the guest room door in the dark hallway. My hand twitched in temptation to reach out and grab her, but she stepped away into the guest room. I curled my hands into fists and tucked them behind my back.
“If you need anything, I’ll be in my room,” I said. “Make yourself comfortable. Don’t be shy, either.”
The moonlight streamed in through the guest window. I barely saw the smile on her lips before she slowly closed the door with a whispered goodnight. I walked stiffly down the hallway to my room, slipping out of my shirt when I closed the door. A hot shower sounded better with each passing moment.
I paused when I realized I had forgotten to tell Iris where to go if she wanted to take a shower. The cold air caused the skin on my chest to pimple. I grabbed my shirt from the ground and opened the door to find her standing on the other side. I stiffened in surprise to see her standing there nervously.
“Iris?” I questioned, softly. “You okay?”
“Yes.”
The whisper caressed over me. I caught sight of the blaze in Iris’ eyes – a long awaited blaze that instantly set me on fire, too. Her eyes raked over my chest, leaving fiery trails in their wake.
A small voice screamed in the back of my head to shut the door, to tell her to go back to her room, but that voice was rendered mute the second her dainty hands reached up to touch the side of my neck.
I kissed her. I kissed her so deeply that a moan escaped her lips when I licked at them, begging to taste her. Fire shot up my spine when her tongue tentatively met mine and then quickly grew aggressive in a bold dance between our tongues. She tasted wonderful with faints hints of pizza, and I loved it.
My hands found the curve of her waist through the dark. A groan escaped my own lips when I felt her soft body press up against mine, yielding to the passion growing between us. Her teeth hooked onto my lower lip and gave a small tug. I growled in response.
“Hold on,” she
said breathlessly. She pulled back ever so slightly, her hands still clutching the side of my neck. “I have to tell you something before we…”
“What is it?” I asked, trying to keep my patience. My body ached to be touched, for a certain organ to bury itself into her sweet warmth.
She bit her lower lip. It took all my self-control to not lean in and bite it myself.
“I-I-I’ve never been with someone before,” she said, softly.
I blinked in surprise. “You haven’t?”
“No.”
I stared down at her, standing on her tip toes to kiss me and look up into my eyes. She looked torn between desire and fear. I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I took away something she didn’t feel ready to give, but damn she kissed like she knew her way around a bedroom.
Reaching up to gently clasp her wrists, I pulled them from my neck, and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. She shivered visibly under the touch.
“If you aren’t ready-” I started.
“I am. I am ready.”
“Are you sure?” I looked at her intently, looking for some sort hesitance. I found nothing – nothing but desire.
Her hands slipped from mine, and I stumbled back into my room when Iris gave me a little shove on the shoulders. I opened my mouth to question again if this was really what she wanted, but words failed me when she shut the bedroom door with a resolute click.
She stood before me in the moonlight before her hands slowly went to the hemline of her shirt. She lifted the fabric to reveal a flat stomach, and the rest of the world faded away. All I knew at that moment was the moonlight playing softly on Iris’ skin.
Chapter Sixteen
Iris
Moonlight danced across the muscular planes of Noah’s chest. He was still as ripped as the photos I had found on the internet, from his well-sculpted chest, broad shoulders that turned into strong arms, and a flat stomach that dipped down to sharp hips protruding from the waist of his jeans. Faint black tendrils of hair teased my eyes as I followed the line down from his navel to where it disappeared below the hemline of his boxers.
My heart slammed into my ribcage – repeatedly. I stood in front of him, shirtless and trying desperately not to cower. I had asked for this. I kissed him, and now I would get exactly what I asked for. I had known that coming down the hallway to Noah’s room.
We were playing with fire. I could feel it burn my skin as I watched a variety of emotions dance across his face as he stood at the end of his bed. Neither one of us moved for a moment while I felt his eyes skim across every inch of exposed skin. They left fiery trails, and I could feel a delicious heat starting to flicker to life between my legs.
Noah licked his lips sensually. His eyes were no longer a light shade of blue, but a dark and stormy color that reminded me of rough seas. A shiver went up my spine while I clenched my hands into fists to contain my nervousness. I didn’t want him reading my nervous expression again and backing out as he had intended to do before I shoved him into the room.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, taking a step toward me. “More beautiful than I ever imagined you’d be.”
I laughed breathlessly, nervously. “You’ve imagined what I look like naked?”
“Every damn day since I met you,” he said. “You’re nervous again. I can see your pulse jumping in your neck.”
The distance between us was torture. I wanted his body pressed up against mine again. I wanted to feel strong muscles shifting beneath soft skin. I wanted every inch of this man while I could have him in my grasp.
“We don’t have to do this,” Noah said. He caught my eyes before I could look away. “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t feel ready for. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if we did this and-”
I took a bold step forward to gently place my fingertips on his lips. He immediately stopped talking, watching me raptly as I closed the distance between our bodies. Pleasure shot through me at the delicious feeling of his body, hard and strong, pressing up against mine. One of his hands came up to splay against my lower back, holding me closely.
Fuck the consequences. I didn’t care about any of that. I needed to release the tension coiled up in me in a painful spring. The only person who could release it was Noah. That much I knew as I pressed my lips up against his in a slow kiss that left us both panting for more when I drew back.
“I want this,” I whispered, resting my hand on his bare chest. “I want you. I don’t care about anything else.”
Noah’s forehead rested against mine. I nearly went cross-eyed looking up at him
“I want you, too,” he whispered back. “Just know that I’ve thought about this a great deal. Once I start, I won’t be able to stop. You have the chance now to back out before I go completely crazy on you.”
Nothing sounded better than that. I pecked at his lips and trailed my fingers down the side of his neck. Goosebumps erupted underneath my fingertips when I trailed them teasingly down the plane of his stomach. I stopped at the waistband of his boxers and jeans.
“I don’t want you to stop,” I said. “I don’t want to stop.”
“Fuck me,” he groaned out, and tugged me hard up against him. “I don’t know how long this will last, but I am going to make it good for you.”
I didn’t get a chance to reply. His lips pushed up against mine in a bruising kiss that left me squirming underneath him in pleasure. A gasp escaped my lips when his tongue swept into my mouth to stroke mine intimately.
Fingers crept up along my spine, teasing the bumps there before reaching up to unhook the clasp of my bra without missing a beat. I resisted the urge to cover up when I felt my bra straps slacken followed by Noah’s fingers tugging them down my arms. My breath caught in the back of my throat when his calloused fingertips brushed the underside of my breasts before cupping them firmly.
“Nice,” he whispered, working my flesh expertly with a tiny grin. “I’ve been dying to get a look at these for weeks now.”
“Have you?” I breathed out, a whimper escaping when his lips pressed up against my neck.
They stopped to nibble teasingly at my collarbone before he suddenly let go of my breasts. I groaned in disappointment, the cold air causing my nipples to harden painfully.
Noah chuckled deeply as he grabbed a hold of my hands to tug me toward the side of the bed. My disappointment quickly faded when his fingers unbuttoned the front of my jeans. My pulse skipped to a frantic pace when he coaxed the material down my thighs, calves, and then helped me step out of them.
He grinned up at me mischievously from where he was crouched at my feet. He pressed his lips against my knee before trailing his hands softly up the back of my calves. The heat between my legs throbbed painfully when his fingers trailed up the back of my thighs before they rested firmly on my ass cheeks. He gave them a firm squeeze, giving a pleasurable hum against my lips when I kissed him.
“You feel nice,” he sighed out, toying the with the lacy fabric of my underwear. “Iris, I have to tell you that I’m about to burst.”
“Me, too,” I gasped out. I smoothed my hands over his shoulders, relishing the softness and heat of his skin.
Noah’s arms slid around my waist as we kissed again, and he hugged me close to his body before my feet left the floor. He encouraged my legs to wrap around his trim waist. A jolt went through me when I felt something hard and hot through his jeans press against me. He let out a deep groan at the contact.
I tore my lips away from his to trail kisses down his neck, tasting the saltiness of his skin there. Nerves washed over me again when he set me in the center of the bed in a sea of pillows and a soft blanket. His mouth returned the earlier favor by pressing kisses to my neck and trailing down the front of my chest.
I sucked in a harsh breath as I stared up at the shadows dancing across the ceiling. The intensity growing between us was almost too much to handle.
Maybe I wasn’t ready just yet. No one had warned me that
sex for the first time felt like a damn heart attack about to happen.
When hot lips closed in on a nipple, a cry escaped me. Those thoughts washed away instantly when Noah suckled on one breast while his other hand reached up to work the other. I squirmed in pleasure beneath him as the temperature in my body rose another couple of degrees. He leaned up to kiss me one more time while a hand crept down my stomach in a southerly direction.
Surely, he did not mean to touch down there… He was my professor! There had to be rules against it, but having him so close, I couldn’t think straight.
The first stroke of his fingers sent a wild fire spiraling throughout my veins. The coil in my stomach responded in earnest by tightening against the repeated strokes. My head flopped back in the pillows when an overwhelming heat seared through me. My body arched and twitched on its own accord while tears burned the back of my eyes, but his fingers never relented in their steady stroking. I was dashing across the platform toward something – a bright and searing light.
Noah’s hand lifted from between my legs. I let out a trembling breath as I looked up at him in desperation. “Why did you stop?”
“Because it’s better when you’re actually doing it,” he replied, winking down at me as he sat back on his knees. He unbuttoned the top of his jeans before working the zipper down. “Trust me when I say that.”
“I’ll trust you,” I said, sitting up on my elbows to look at him more closely.
He worked on shimming out of his jeans and boxers before tossing them on the side of the bed. My eyes landed on the rather impressive erection settled against his lower belly. Alarm skittered through me.
“This won’t work,” I said, panicked. “You’re too big, Noah. It won’t fit.”
He chuckled deeply as he settled between my legs. His fingers stroked against me again, and a trembling breath escaped my lips. I looked up to take in his hair, silky strands a mess from my fingers running through it repeatedly. He never looked more sexy than he did right there as he concentrated on the bundle of nerves between my legs.