by Thayer King
Zoe moaned. God, she loved his sounds of pleasure. Her nipples were tight sensitive buds. She pressed her thighs together. Her panties were so soaked that they were clinging to her pussy.
“Fuck! That feels so fucking good, baby.” His hands were shaking as he slid his fingers tentatively into her hair. “You’d better stop.” He tugged her curls. Zoe didn’t let him go. On the upstroke, she ran her tongue over the opening that was copiously leaking fluid. “I’m about to cum,” he warned. Zoe twisted her hand over his cock as she pumped his thick flesh. He trembled. “Zoe! Oh, shit! Oh, fuck!”
His long, low groan as he pulsed against her tongue was almost enough to send her over. She didn’t let him go until he stopped thrusting his hips and she’d swallowed all he had to offer. Noah’s entire body went limp.
Zoe sat back on her heels.
Noah wet his lips. “You’re always surprising me,” he panted.
She bit her lip. “Well…you read classical literature.” She’d seen his bookshelf. It was full of classics and biographies. “I like…romances. Some of them are very…steamy.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “I’m going to have to get my hands on your Kindle.”
She laughed.
He righted his underwear and zipped up his pants. “Take your panties off.”
Zoe shook her head. “That was for you. And I enjoyed it.”
He stroked her cheek. “You can’t expect me to leave you hanging.”
“No. I want the entire package when it happens.”
“Woman, you’re going to be the death of me.”
Zoe smiled, happy that she could please him in this way.
Chapter Ten
Noah stared up at his bedroom ceiling wondering what had awakened him. The night before, he’d fallen into bed exhausted and pleasantly satisfied by Zoe’s oral skills. The memory of her mouth on him had him hard and throbbing again. He’d known they’d be good together, but, damn, if it got any better than that it might kill him. And he knew it could be better. He’d wanted to taste her, despite her wishes to wait for more, not just to please her, but because he needed her sweet flavor on his tongue.
A loud knock sounded at his door. Noah assumed that this wasn’t the person’s first time knocking since they sounded impatient. Then his cell started ringing. He snatched off the nightstand and answered even as he rolled out of bed.
He’d gone to bed naked so he grabbed up a pair of briefs and struggled to get them on with one hand. “Hello?”
“Are you in there? Could you let me in?”
“Avery? Don’t you have anything better to do with your mornings?”
“Please, Noah. Avery and I broke up.”
“What?” He pulled on his jeans and fastened them. “Between last night and this morning? When did you find the time?”
“I’ll explain when you let me in.”
“Be right there.” He opened a drawer and grabbed the first t-shirt he came across. He put it on before opening the door and ran his fingers through his hair to calm it as best he could. He’d gone to bed without showering so yesterday evening’s hair products still had somewhat of a hold on it, though there may have been a few rebellious strays going their own way.
He let Avery in and she headed directly to his kitchen and began the preparations for coffee. “You’re getting low on coffee,” she said.
Noah shrugged and took a seat at the kitchen table. Avery liked to come to him after her breakups, but he was never sure if she was going to open up about the cause. Whether she did or didn’t, he would always be there for her. “I don’t drink it,” he said. “Ty spends his mornings with Julie. And you haven’t been around to drink it.”
She paused in the act of scooping out coffee grounds. “I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have…. I guess that’s why I feel like this thing with you and Zoe just came out of the blue. I feel like there’s this wide gaping void opening up between us.”
“Avery you don’t have to worry about that. We’ll always be friends.”
“Are you sure?” She leaned back against the counter and studied him. “None of your women friends have been more than casual before. How can you know she won’t try to come between us? Shit!” She lowered her voice. “I hadn’t even thought. Is she here?”
Noah chuckled. “Little late to be asking that, isn’t it? No, Zoe’s not here.”
Her eyebrows rose. “You mean you sent her home after? You know, you’re not supposed to do that with your girlfriends.”
“We didn’t-” He glanced down and cleared his throat.
“You didn’t what?” Her eyes widened. “You’re not sleeping with her.”
“Avery, I don’t discuss my sex life.”
She grinned. “Or lack thereof.” She shook her head and turned back to finish making the coffee. “I didn’t think she seemed like your type. What is this? Is it the challenge of getting into her pants? That’s mean.”
“That’s not it at all,” he said, bristling at the insult. “I thought you knew me better than that.”
“Then what is it? She looks like you kidnapped her from the Victorian era by acquiring a time machine.”
“Look who’s being mean,” he said, surprised at her catty attitude. “What the fuck?”
“You’ll have to excuse me. I’ve been dumped and I haven’t had my morning dose of caffeine.”
“He dumped you?”
She made an exasperated sound. “Something about me not being attentive enough. I guess he expected me to fawn all over him because he was a television producer. Big deal.” She took mugs out of his cabinet. “Maybe you’d like coffee better if you tried the flavored variety.”
“Zoe likes tea or juice for breakfast.”
She placed a mug of black coffee in front of him before raiding his fridge for creamer. “This is almost empty,” she complained, shaking the container.
“You can have what’s left. I won’t drink mine anyway.”
“Thanks.” She fixed her coffee before joining him at the table. She took a long sip then sighed. “How can you know she won’t be touchy about you having a female friend? All of my boyfriends hated you and Ty.”
“Don’t worry about Zoe. She’s really sweet. Once you get to know her, you’ll love her.”
“Noah Granger, why don’t you talk to your mother?” his mother began without preamble the when he answered her call.
Whenever his mother used his first and last name, he knew he was in trouble. “I’m sorry,” popped out of his mouth before he even knew why he was apologizing.
“You should be sorry. You hang up on me and then you don’t call me back. I had to talk to Warren to get even the smallest of information about what’s going on with you. Why can’t you be more like your brother?”
Noah shot a glare at his brother where he was helping a customer find decide between two vegan cookbooks. Warren’s eyebrows rose. “Bastard,” Noah mouthed at him before turning away to make his way to the back of the store where he could have some privacy.
“When am I going to meet the girl?”
“Um….”
“Don’t tell me you’ve broken up with her already?”
“Of course not, but Mom, she’s shy and I just dragged her to a party on Saturday. I don’t want to put too much pressure on her. Plus, we just started dating. It’s too early to ask her to meet my parents. That sort of behavior tends to scare people off.” He knew it scared him off. If a girl so much as mentioned her parents, he was gone.
“Fine. I’ll give you until Sunday.”
“Sun-” But he was talking to himself. His mother had hung up on him! “Shit.” He returned to the front of the store where Warren was now alone. “You could have given me a heads up you tattle-telling bastard.”
Warren just chuckled. “You should talk to the parents more. I can’t believe you didn’t call Mom back.”
“Since when did you start stopping by their house every Sunday?”
He shrugged and shuffled
some around some papers. “Stopped by to tell them Kelsey’s expecting,” he said casually with a small smile.
Noah’s mouth dropped open. Then he smiled and hugged his brother. “Congratulations, dude.”
Warren laughed and hugged him back. “Thanks, man.”
“I’m really happy for you. I can’t believe I’m finally going to be an uncle.” He rounded the counter to pick up some stray books left by customers who changed their minds once they got to the checkout counter. He glanced at the titles and turned to go put them back on the shelves.
“Oh, by the way, Noah….” Warren called.
“Yeah?”
“Ball’s back in your court with the parents.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”
***
Despite Felicia’s wishes her office farewell/engagement party was not a grand affair to be envied. She’d wanted to have it on a Saturday evening at one of the local hotels. Instead, she was given a lunch party with wine and cheese and cake on a Monday afternoon in the office breakroom. Felicia had bitterly complained to Zoe about it on Friday, her last day at work. Zoe had read between the lines to arrive at the truth. Though Henry liked to spoil Felicia, the rest of the partners at Frederick, Thomas & Zimmer were not willing to pay for a swank party for a receptionist who had only been with the firm for a year and a half.
Zoe sipped from her water bottle and wondered how long she needed to stay before she could politely excuse herself and go back to work. Felicia certainly wouldn’t notice. Henry was at her side and she was surrounded by her work friends. Henry had already given a speech thanking Felicia for her work with the firm and had presented her with a gift card to a high end department store and a dozen red roses.
Justin bit into a cracker topped with cheese. “The cheese is good,” he announced. “But the wine is cheap. My uncle owns a vineyard and he taught us how to recognize a crap wine.”
“Tastes fine to me,” Luke said, emptying his glass.
“I heard the cake is coconut,” Justin said and all three of them shuddered.
“Then there really is no point in hanging around.” Luke put his glass on a table and walked out.
“I should go, too.” Justin popped the rest of his cracker into his mouth. “I’ve got a ton of e-mails to go through and a new keyboard to install. Donna in HR spilled hot chocolate on hers.”
“I can do that,” Zoe volunteered.
“Zoe, can I have a word with you please?” Henry Thomas asked.
Justin gave her a little wave and deserted her. “I was just about to leave,” she said, pointing at Justin’s retreating back, still hoping to make her escape.
“It’ll only take a moment.”
“Okay.”
“Felicia talked to me about finding you a date for the engagement party. I’ve got a few good candidates. If you’d give me some idea of what you’d like in a young man-”
“I’m dating someone, Henry, but I appreciate your effort.”
Henry frowned. “When did this happen? Felicia said-”
“I haven’t mentioned it to Felicia.” As far as Felicia knew, Zoe was still waffling about whether or not to date Noah.
“Oh? Why not? It’s not with the young man who was obsessed with her is it?”
Obsessed? Zoe wished she even had a fifth of Felicia’s ego. “Henry, I wish I could discuss this with your further, but we’re still working on that important software update, so….” She backed away from him. She didn’t breathe easily until she’d made it to their office. Justin was at his desk, typing away, but Luke was nowhere in sight.
Her phone buzzed. She’d received a text from Noah. Please, call me when you can.
Figuring that she still had a few minutes’ worth of lunch time left, she called Noah. “Hello?”
“Hi, baby. How would you feel about meeting my parents this weekend?”
Zoe dropped into her office chair. “What?”
“I know it’s heavy and way too damn early. But my mother’s really anxious to meet you.”
“Why?”
“You’d have to meet my mom to understand. Please?”
She nibbled her lower lip. Finally, she sighed. She couldn’t resist him when he said “please.” “Okay.”
“Thank you so much, baby. I’ll do dinner tonight. Talk to you later.”
“Okay.”
Justin peeped at her over his monitor. “You sound like you’re in shock. Everything okay?”
“Noah wants me to meet his parents.”
“Whoa. Didn’t you just start dating this guy? Sounds serious.”
That didn’t worry her as much as the fact that she’d have to meet and impress new people. She doubted Noah was gearing up for a proposal. Having a girlfriend was new for him. He certainly wasn’t ready to make any more leaps. But then why did he want her to meet his parents?
Sunday dawned far too quickly for Zoe’s state of mind. Noah assured her daily that everything would be fine and that his parents would love her. They arrived at his parent’s home, a beautiful two-story house located in the suburbs.
His mother opened the door and enveloped them both in hugs. “Let me look at you,” she said to Zoe, holding onto her arms which gave Zoe the opportunity to observe her as well. Lillian Granger had shoulder-length gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore no makeup. Her brown eyes were filled with warmth and welcome. “Oh, Noah, she’s adorable,” she pronounced at last.
“Mom, you’re embarrassing her. And me, for that matter.” He frowned. “Is that Mrs. Lipscomb?”
His mother turned to follow his gaze into the den. “Why, yes, dear.”
“Mom, you said it would just be family.”
“Well, the Lipscombs are just like family.” She turned to Zoe. “They’ve lived across the street since Noah was in high school. I’m sure you’ve already met their daughter Avery.”
“Yes, ma’am, I have.”
“Well, Noah, let’s introduce her to everyone.” Lillian clasped her hand in hers and tugged her along. Zoe glanced over her shoulder at Noah. He followed them into the den shaking his head at his mother’s enthusiasm.
Next followed a whirlwind of introductions. Mr. Granger had a head full of gray hair like his wife. His eyes were also brown which made her wonder where Noah had inherited his amazing aqua eyes. Warren’s hair was the same warm brown as Noah’s and the brothers looked enough alike that one could tell that they were siblings without being told. Warren’s eyes were also brown. He towered over his wife Kelsey, a lovely, petite red head that made Zoe feel tall despite the fact that she was only average height. Mr. and Mrs. Lipscomb were friendly if somewhat reserved when they met her, but Zoe couldn’t imagine that they had any actual interest in meeting her at all. Avery was there as well. Zoe was happy to know at least one person present other than Noah.
“Well,” Lillian said, clapping her hands together. “Since everyone is here, I say we eat. Zoe, I’d love it if you and Noah sit next to me.”
Dinner was a noisy affair, but Zoe liked the chaos. It meant less attention was directed her way. Noah’s parents asked her plenty of questions. They were incredibly friendly so that she didn’t feel like the subject of an inquisition. They just seemed interested to know their son’s girlfriend better. Once they were satisfied, Zoe was glad that she didn’t have to talk anymore. Avery kept the table in stitches by regaling them with tales of Noah’s escapades as a youth. Of course, everyone except her and possibly Kelsey had heard all the stories before, but they seemed to enjoy them as well.
Shortly after dinner the Lipscombs went home because they were leaving on a trip in the morning. Warren took Kelsey home as well since it was the early stages of her pregnancy and she was exhausted. That left Zoe and Avery to help Lillian clean up the kitchen. Lillian had banned William from the kitchen in the first year of their marriage because he became a klutz whenever he held her fine china. Noah was tasked with keeping his father busy and out of her kitchen.
“What
’s for dessert, Mom?” Avery asked Lillian as loaded the dishwasher. “I never did get any of the key lime pie you gave Noah.”
“It was delicious,” Zoe complimented. “Noah gave it to me in exchange for baklava.”
“So that’s what happened to that pie. I’d wondered,” Lillian said. “Tonight’s dessert is apple pie and ice cream.”
“Lil!” William bellowed from the den. “I can’t find the remote! Where did you put it?”
Lillian rolled her eyes. “Girls, let this be a lesson to you. Men can never find anything. He probably hasn’t looked beyond an arm’s reach. I’ll be right back.”
Zoe emptied water out of a couple of glasses and put them in the dishwasher.
“You know, I think you’re really smart to be taking it slow with Noah. I mean, I know if I was dating a guy with his history, I’d wait to have sex, too.”
Zoe froze at Avery’s words. “What?”
Avery wiped the kitchen counter vigorously with a cloth. “I said you were smart to wait to have sex. I love Noah, but he usually runs at the first sign of commitment. Ty told me he broke it off with the last girl because she called him ‘babe.’”
Zoe was upset on so many levels that she was struck mute. How dare Noah discuss their sex life with his friends? It was disrespectful and disgusting. Had she misjudged him? Was he the sort who went around bragging about his conquests? Despite all the women she’d seen him with, she’d never gotten that impression of him. He never discussed his past flings with her. She’d thought it was out of respect for them and for her, but now she wondered.
And if Avery was to be believed, Zoe had been right in her initial hesitance to date him. As one of his closest friends, Avery knew him better than Zoe. If she got too attached to him or fell in love, would he run?
***
Something was wrong. Zoe had seemed fine during dinner, but during dessert, she’d seemed withdrawn. She was always quiet, but now she appeared preoccupied as well. She barely spoke on the drive home.