by Maggie Marr
While Nick’s penthouse was kept at a warm temperature, the place felt sterile and hard. Noel rubbed her hands over her arms. She felt so cold here. So alone. The entire place was black marble, stainless steel, and grays. Who knew there were so many shades of gray? No color, and the only thing remotely warm was a fire in the black marble fireplace.
“I prefer minimalism.” Nick walked toward her. Now in a white T-shirt and relaxed, faded jeans, he appeared more similar to the Nick she remembered from graduate school. “Less to weigh me down.” He handed her a glass of wine. “I thought we’d have dinner here.”
She followed him into the kitchen, where whatever chef he had on payroll had prepared an amazing meal, cleaned up, and disappeared. A giant bowl of salad with tongs waited on the gray granite counter, beside a heaping bowl of fresh pasta with scallops. Chicken piccata was next, and at the far end of the counter was a carafe of coffee and tiramisu.
“Do you eat this way every night?” Did he remember that fresh pasta was her favorite meal?
“Evenings are usually a dinner meeting or quick sandwich on the go. I don’t often get to eat here.” He scooped heaping portions of salad, pasta, and the chicken onto a plate.
“Then why tonight?” Noel sipped her wine. Her body relaxed with the alcohol.
“Because you need to eat and I remembered your fondness for fresh pasta.” Nick walked toward the table and set the plate down. He pulled out the chair and waved for Noel to sit. Once she was seated, he returned to get his dinner.
The kitchen was homier than the rest of the penthouse. A hardwood table that looked as though it belonged in a farmhouse instead of a penthouse was beside the wall of windows. The lights from Chicago and Lake Michigan twinkled. The exterior walls in all the rooms were windows.
“How long have you lived here?”
Two years ago, she’d come home from Africa to visit Nonna and remembered seeing this skyscraper being built.
“We finished late last year and then I moved in.” He sat beside her at the table. His gaze surveyed the view on the other side of the window. “It suits me.”
“Being high above the fray?”
He’d always been an observer of human interaction. In grad school, he’d hung back the first semester. Was polite and yet distant. Only after he’d observed and assessed everyone did he select a group of people to become friends with, she being one of them.
“How’s your family?”
Nick paused and the muscle in his jaw tensed. “You know about my father.” He twirled his fork in his pasta.
“I was sorry to hear of your loss. I was in Africa at the time—”
“I know,” Nick said. “Or I remember hearing that you’d moved to Africa soon after you left Northwestern.”
“Your mother? Your sister?”
“Mom is still in the North Shore. Same house. I don’t see her much.”
“And Katy?” The person in Nick’s family that Noel had understood and liked and enjoyed and actually thought she would eventually call a sister.
“Still teaching school on the south side. Living in a tiny walk-up and pretending she isn’t a North.”
Noel nodded. There were pressures and expectations associated with being a North. Katy hadn’t wanted them. Hadn’t those pressures and expectations been the thing that had scared Noel the most that night, long ago, when she’d run from Nick?
Her gaze met his. Her body responded. He was so close, and there was an undeniable attraction when it came to Nick. A base and animalistic urge for him to touch her. Her desire for him wasn’t logical. The rational part of her brain continued to tell her they were still mismatched. They wanted different things and had always wanted different things. Their physical attraction couldn’t overcome those differences.
But her body? Her skin? Her heart? Her sex? Really didn’t care. She only wanted his hands to caress her and seduce her and provide her with the pleasure that they had so thoroughly shared.
“I’ve missed you,” Nick said. His voice was rough but nearly broke when the words came out.
A sound like a moan slipped from her lips. Nick leaned forward and his lips were on hers. His kiss deepened and there was the power and the sweetness of his touch. He stood and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around him. Her hands held his firm jaw. She wanted this. She wanted him.
His tongue tangled with hers and her entire body lit with fire. He walked through the starlit penthouse and through a door. He set her beside a giant bed. The walls were windows and she felt as though she were floating high above Chicago. She was above the earth, above all the restraints of her life. His hand slipped over her breast and cupped her flesh. His thumb rubbed over her taut nipple. He unbuttoned her shirt while his lips remained on hers. She pulled at the edge of his T-shirt, and he released the buttons of her blouse and then pulled his shirt up and over his head
She stopped breathing. Damn. His body, thick with muscle, was before her. She reached out and laid a hand on his chest, just above his heart. His flesh quivered beneath her touch. She looked up into his eyes.
“I want you.” His voice was rough and dark with need.
Air rushed into her lungs. Her sex clenched, and if he pressed his fingers to her, he’d feel the wetness between her legs. He reached around her and unclasped her bra, fingertips stroking over her shoulders as he pulled the straps from her. He cupped her breast and bent forward and pulled her nipple into his mouth.
Breath stalled in her lungs. Hot. Wet. His tongue teased at her nipple. His hand pressed down her belly and unbuttoned her jeans and slid the zipper down. His fingers slid beneath her panties and past her curls. She pressed her hips forward, wanting his touch. He pulled his mouth from her breast.
“You’re so wet,” he whispered. He pulled his hand from her pussy and yanked her jeans down over her hips.
She stepped from them and now stood before him naked. She pressed her lips to his. Her fingers scrambled over the button of his jeans.
He laid her on the bed. She watched him pull his jeans from his body. Every hard detail of muscles. His chest, his belly, his thick and wonderfully shaped thighs. The edge of his hard ass as he turned.
Her breath grew short and shallow. To wrap her hands around his ass and push him deep into her. His hard cock that was in front of her. Her sex clenched. Damn, he was huge. He’d always been huge. His cock filled her beyond what she thought her body could take. But she took him. The pleasure … oh God, the pleasure. Her hips instinctively rolled, even without his touch, simply watching his body come toward her. Her body tingled with need. Even with him just above her and not touching her.
He pressed onto the mattress and held himself over her. She grasped the base of his cock. Air hissed over his lips. She stroked up his shaft. His breathing grew shorter.
“You haunt my dreams, Noel.” His finger slid past her folds, and he rolled a fingertip over her clit. A cry rushed from her mouth. Her body craved this intimate touch. Her hips pressed forward.
“So wet for me.” He pressed his lips to the flesh between her breasts, and his fingertip still circled her clit. Then one finger slipped deep into her body.
“You feel that,” Nick said. “What’s between us?”
“Yes,” Noel panted.
“You can’t manufacture this, Noel.” His eyes seared into hers. “I’ve spent the past five years trying to forget this. Us. I can’t forget.”
His head dipped down and his lips were on her belly.
Again a moan, high-pitched, came from her throat, and her body rolled upward toward him. His hand clasped her hip and pressed her to stillness. His lips trailed down to the edge of her triangle of curls. His other hand gently parted her legs, and his lips trailed over the top of her thigh. He spread her legs with his hands and then nestled between her legs. Her body lit with anticipation of the pleasure Nick was about to give her.
Her sex tightened. His breath stroked her sex.
“Your pussy”—Nick’s finger circ
led her labia—“is beautiful.”
His gaze darted up over her mound and she locked her eyes with his. He watched her face and slipped one finger into her pussy. He slowly pulsed in and then out and then in.
“Oh Nick,” she moaned, barely able to control the pleasure that wound through her body.
“So wet. So beautiful. You were always wet and ready for me.”
“Yes.” A tremble pulled her muscles tight. Her back bowed, the pleasure of Nick’s teasing touch pulling her taut. She clasped her breasts, and he grasped one of her hips and slid now two fingers in and out of her. Her body clenched around him.
“And so tight for me. Are you tight for me? Do you want my cock in you?’
Noel brushed against the edge of ultimate pleasure. “Yes, oh God yes,” she whispered.
His tongue slipped along the edge of her engorged clit. Noel grasped the bed with her fingers and her hips bucked upward to meet Nick’s mouth. A mewling noise escaped her mouth and he smiled between her legs. He slipped her clit between his lips and sucked, a firm and hard suck, while his fingers pulsed in and out of her body.
“Nick, oh my God, Nick.” Her hips arched and her body pressed into his mouth. She shattered piece by piece as his tongue pulled the edges of her orgasm tighter and tighter. His fingers deep inside her as her body clenched.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please, I want you inside me. “
He pulled his mouth from her and was up and over her. His lips pressed to hers and she tasted her juices on him. He was above her and the hard, round edge of his cock was near her folds as he pushed at the edge of her entrance. He reached over her to the nightstand, and she watched as he ripped the foil and unrolled the condom onto the length of his cock. She fought her urge to reach out and stroke the length of him and to pull his shaft deep into her mouth. He was so big, so long, could she take him? He held himself over her and the tip of him edged her entrance.
“I’ve dreamed of this for five years.” He pressed into her and she stretched around him. “So fucking tight, Noel. So fucking tight.”
His gaze locked with hers. His face was haggard and she knew he was holding back his desire to slam into her, to push deep into her body. Her hips rolled up to him.
“Baby …” He shook his head and gave her a warning look.
She reached out and clasped her hands on his ass and dug her nails into his hard, thick muscles.
“Noel, fuck!”
“Fuck me, Nick. Fuck me.”
“Fuuuuck.”
He thrust deep into her. His cock plunged into her and her hips arched up to meet him. Her body and back bowed. The slow, steady rhythm was gone, his body lost to the urge as she wrapped her legs around him and held tight to him as he thrust in and out of her with a deep taking.
“You are fucking mine, Noel. Mine.”
He pulled back and thrust forward, and she felt the hot tears start in her eyes.
“Do you feel that?” He gasped out. “Your pussy, your body, is mine.” A growl chased after his words as he thrust into her again and again.
She tightened her legs and pulled him deep into her. She held him and he went in out and out and in and out, thrusting and thrusting, taking her over the edge.
Fuck!” he yelled, and his body convulsed and he pressed once more deep inside her. His muscles turned to stone, a deep shiver clutched through him and he came.
*
His heart warmed only for Noel. She thawed his frozen heart with her words, her touch, her bright green eyes. There was no fear when she looked at him, she did not humble herself due to his power and background. She’d always been her true self with him and made no concessions because of his wealth or his power. Instead, she expected more from him. She tasked him with greater responsibilities because of his privileged life.
Never had it mattered to Noel that he was a North, of North Industries. In fact, if he’d been asked, he’d have said that being a North, with all the expectations that came with his name, had been a minus for Noel. She’d not wanted the life that both he and she had thought were required of his wife.
He wrapped his arm tighter around her and pulled her closer. His body curved around her back. He was a fool. A fool then for thinking she needed to be a certain way and a fool now for believing they could love each other again. But if her being here, in his arms, made him a fool, then let him be one. If just for a while.
In her sleep she pressed against him. She needed her sleep. Nonna was Noel’s everything. The woman who had cared for Noel after her parents’ death. Nonna had been Noel’s support and cheering section through her life. And now Nick’s company was set to destroy Nonna’s home? No wonder Noel was pissed. Angry. If anyone had fought for him as Nonna had fought for Noel, he would chain himself to the front door of a building too.
He fought a smile. Who the hell did Noel Klaus think she was, facing off against a bulldozer? Damn, she was fearless. He squeezed his arm tighter around her. Fearless and a fool. He took a deep breath and inhaled the scents of her. Rich vanilla mixed with cinnamon. His cock hardened. Her round buttocks pressed against him. And now his fingers traced her nipple.
Fuck, she wasn’t even awake and her body pressed against him made him hard. He wanted her with an insatiable passion and lust. He had always wanted Noel, from the first time he’d seen her at Northwestern. His want had been so deep and complete that he’d been unable to speak.
He pulled her hair away from the back of her neck and pressed his lips to her warm skin. He was being selfish—she needed her rest, but fuck if he didn’t want her. For five long years he’d wanted her. Each night, she’d haunted his fucking dreams. And now she was here, in his bed. His lips pressed to her flesh. His hand cupped her breast. Her ass pressed against him and a soft moan came from her throat.
Ah, yes, she was awake. Her hand reached back and she grasped his hard cock. His breath shortened and he pulled at her nipple, giving it a tight, hard squeeze. She tilted her head and his lips were on hers. His mouth pressed her lips open. The flat of his hand skimmed down over her belly and found the front of her pussy. From behind her, he nudged her legs open with his thigh, and his fingertip pressed against her clit. That high-pitched moan, the one that nearly sent him into orgasm just by itself, came from her. Her body was like a taut wire. He stroked her clit and pulled his lips from hers, his mouth close to her ear.
“You’re wet for me, baby. Do you want me?”
“Yes.” Her tone begged and her hips pressed forward and back in a rhythm so enticing that it was hard for him to hold back.
“Say it,” he ordered, his voice stern.
“Nick, I want you.”
“Who do you belong to?” His cock nudged the soft edge of her folds as her ass, her perfect ass, lodged against his belly.
“I belong to you.”
With Noel’s words, his cock slipped inside her tight pussy.
“Oh my fucking God, Noel, you are so hot, so wet, so tight.” He pressed his teeth to his lip and pushed deep inside her. His hand remained on her clit and he stroked her as he slowly pushed in and out of her. His lips were against her neck and his teeth ravaged her flesh and then he gave her a kiss to soothe the heat.
“Oh, fuck, Nick, oh my God, you make me feel so good, I …”
“What, baby? What, Noel, tell me, baby.”
“Your cock, oh my God, your cock.”
Her sex clenched around him and his balls tightened to his body. He kept his finger stroking her clit as she tightened and tightened. His other arm was around her from underneath and he squeezed her nipple. A shriek came from Noel.
“That’s it, baby,” he whispered in her ear. “Come for me, come for me now.”
“Oh God yes, oh my God, I’m going to—”
“Come now,” Nick ordered. He could feel the tingle in the soles of his feet as the pressure built in his spine. The jet of hot come built in his balls like a fire and then shot out of him as he pushed in and out of her hot, wet pussy. His cock th
robbed and he coated her entire womb with his come.
“Fuck, yes!” Nick roared. “You are fucking mine, Noel. You are fucking mine.”
He speared into her again and then again and then stopped. She was limp against him. He pulled his cock from her and rolled her onto her back. He pressed his lips to hers, then pulled back and looked into her eyes.
“I never stopped loving you. I hate that you left me, that you left us, but I still fucking love you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. She reached her hand to his face and her fingertips trembled as she touched first his lips and then his cheek.
“I know.” She swallowed around her tears. “I still love you. I always have.”
The big bold tears dripped from her face and over those beautiful cheekbones. He pressed his lips to hers. Even with the pain from their past, his heart warmed. A deep warmth that settled into the core of his being. A warmth he’d not known since picking out that beautiful ring for Noel years before and placing it into his pocket. A ring that he’d had designed for her. A ring he’d been certain that she’d accept, but instead a ring she had not wanted.
He kissed her. He wanted this moment to remain, he wanted her to stay, he wanted this time to be different. And yet the fear was still lodged in his heart, the fear that Noel Klaus would not remain here, with him, forevermore.
Chapter Eight
“What do you think, Mrs. Klaus? Is two nights in the hospital long enough for you?” Dr. Snow held a tablet computer and smiled at Nonna. “Everything looks good. I’m sending you home today.”
“Today?” Nonna’s eyes fluttered from the doctor to Noel and then to Nick, who stood behind Noel. “Are you certain?” Nonna pressed her fingertips to her temple. “I’ve been feeling a little dizzy all morning.”
“Dizzy?” Dr. Snow searched the tablet she held in her hand. “I have no note of you reporting any dizziness.” She handed the tablet to the nurse beside her and pulled her ophthalmoscope from her pocket. “When did the dizziness start?” She bent forward and lifted one of Nonna’s eyelids and searched her pupils with the light.