by Allyn Lesley
“Yes.” Jayson’s reply was hasty and held as much grit as he could muster.
“No.”
Jayson sputtered, but tried again, slower this time. “Avi is taken.”
“No. I categorically reject your bullshit claim.” The other man’s mouth fell open, and Noah’s lips twisted in derision. “Let me be clearer: you and Avi are over. Done,” he said with finality.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Jayson’s anger rose, and so did his body.
Noah didn’t hesitate to stand as well. With a few inches and about twenty-five additional pounds on the other man, Noah’s first instinct was to dominate by delivering a punch to his throat and knocking the younger man to his knees.
He could see it clearly in his mind’s eye: raring his foot back to kick the other man in the mouth or maybe the ribs. Then he’d use his fists to beat some sense into his face.
He counted to ten, a tactic Cass urged him to practice, because his anger had been out of control lately. It didn’t work.
“What the hell?” a feminine voice cried, rushing toward the men. “Jayson. Are you okay?”
Avi stooped to help a huddled over Jayson. His hand covered part of his face. Crimson was all she saw. Blood and embarrassment flowed freely over his face.
She whipped around to confront the source of her ire. The culprit stood there with an air of nonchalance and a smirk on his mouth. The mouth she wanted to...
Avi squared her shoulders. She marched over to him, her eyes involuntarily scanning the man for cuts and scrapes. He wasn’t even holding his hand in distress. Her stomach fluttered.
When she made her way to him, Avi tipped her head back to get a good look at the bull of a man.
An unremorseful, assholeish grin stretched across Noah’s face.
She itched to wipe it off. The sound of the stinging slap rose above the outdoor noises. His grin fell.
A grunt that sounded like a snicker came from Jayson. Avi raised her hand again and swung, but this time, her hand was caught in a vice-like hold.
Noah’s manacle-like grip strangled her wrist. He invaded her personal space, ready to settle their dispute, uncaring if she felt threatened. He dragged her closer. With their bodies flush against each other, Noah could feel the searing heat from her barely contained anger.
Good.
She should be pissed, because he was livid. He lowered his head to her left ear. The mole just behind her lobe tempted him to run his tongue over it.
Noah pressed his lips to the shell of her ear, speaking only so she could hear. “You get a pass. One.” He couldn’t help himself; she was so close and smelled so good. Noah kissed the spot that had become his Achilles’ heel.
He gently nudged her head farther to the side. “Next time you put your hand on me, Avi, it’d better be in the privacy of a bedroom, or...” His un-verbalized thoughts lagged, remaining tucked away for another time. “You should get your friend some medical attention.” He spun away, leaving the two to figure out their next move.
“He’s despicable.”
After the scene outside, Avi helped Jayson indoors, where Cass appeared at the front door as if he was alerted of the scuffle. A cigar hung from his lips, and amusement was just one of the emotions shining from his eyes that puzzled Avi.
As she helped Jayson hobble into the foyer, Beth rounded a corner, expressing her dismay over an injured guest. While her husband lit up his cigar and leaned on the banister, Beth was more hospitable. She apologized and directed Jayson to where he could receive care for his bruised eye and bloodied nose.
Cass’s unusual laughter hastened Avi’s trip up the stairs.
Now she was in her loaned bedroom, damning Noah Adams to the hottest part of hell, and even that place was too good for the evil bastard. Avi was enraged...beyond enraged.
“If I wasn’t a good Christian, I’d—”
“I just heard what happened. I’m so sorry.”
Avi turned with a start, a hand to her chest. “Jesus. You scared me.”
“Aunt Beth told me that Noah hit Jayson.” Incredulity seeped into Sofie’s words and face. “And now Jayson’s gone.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into Noah. First, he grills me with questions about you and Jayson. Now, he’s punched him.” Sofie threw her hands up. “I just found out he even told Gavin to stay away from me.”
“He questioned...?” She was so flabbergasted she couldn’t finish. The man had no verbal filter and apparently was constrained by no bounds.
How dare he question Sofie about me and Jayson?
Freaking infuriating, good-looking…
No, she wouldn’t think about his looks; she’d concentrate on how big an asshole he was. How he made her ride leave her behind, stranded.
“Where’s his room?”
“Avi...”
“I said where is his damn room?” She crossed the bedroom with a hand on the doorknob.
Someone needed to tell him about his high-handed self. She yanked the door open, unsure which direction to take.
“Avi,” Sofie shouted behind her.
She faced her friend. Eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring just a bit, Avi’s determination was even more evident in her raised eyebrow and rigid pose.
“Fine. Make a right. It’s the only door down the hall.”
“I heard our little friend left.”
With his back turned to Ro, Noah glanced up from his phone then shrugged.
“Did you have to lay into him so hard?”
“He was in my way. Now the fucker knows to back off.”
Ro’s grinning image was reflected in the mirror hanging on the wall. “He’s harmless.”
“He’s delusional.” About who he is in my world and what Avi is to him.
That prick had better be crazy about Avi or there’d be hell to pay. Even now, Noah became pissed all over again. He didn’t think too long about why the possibility of Avi belonging to someone else bugged him. All he knew was it did.
“So you what?” Ro asked.
“I corrected him.”
“You’d be wise to take a look at the file Gavin gave you.”
Noah spun around, crossing his arms over his torso.
Seriousness replaced Ro’s joviality from before. “We have to be smart here, Noah. She’s hanging around Sofie. Whether you’ll admit it or not, you’re obviously digging this chick. Look at the damn file.”
Noah sighed. His friend was right. With Avi, he was doing everything out of sequence, which wasn’t like him, and going against what he knew should take place. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why that was, when all he wanted was one thing.
Once we fuck, I’m sure I’ll be rid of whatever this is.
A knock ended his musings.
Ro walked over, the butt of his gun exposed. “Who is it?”
Even at a trusted friend’s home, both men were still on alert, though it was lowered. Turning, Noah gripped his handgun that was on top of the chest of drawers behind him.
“Avi.” Her voice was just above a whisper.
Noah stiffened. His body reacted right away. He was beginning to believe Avi’s sole purpose was to slowly kill him of blue balls and drive him insane. Opening the top drawer, he hid his weapon before giving Ro a silent okay to allow her inside.
“Read the file,” Ro mouthed.
“Avianna.”
Her feet froze to the floor. She pivoted, seeing the man from earlier smiling widely at her. Ro swung the door back as far as it could go. In the next instant, Noah was there, filling the space. Avi became engrossed in the man who stood to Ro’s right.
Noah had removed the sweater, and now his white shirt was unbuttoned at the top and its sleeves were rolled up. Avi’s gaze dropped to the smattering of hairs on his forearm, licking her lips unintentionally. Raising her sight, she was met with Noah’s gaze focused on her, and then she remembered her reason for approaching his door. Standing taller in her heels, s
he opened her mouth to tell Noah Adams where to go and what to take to get there. Her attention was so trained on Noah that it wasn’t until Ro shoved away from the door that she recalled they weren’t alone.
“It’s a pleasure seeing you again, Avi,” Ro said as he passed by her.
Her eyes followed Ro’s back; he was whistling a familiar song.
“Did you come to gawk at Ro’s back, or to see me?” Noah asked, leaning on the door.
Avi was slow to face the devil. She walked toward him, even though his stance was challenging.
“I came to see you, of course.”
She didn’t wait to be invited. Avi entered the room Noah had slept in, most likely without any of the same lusty interruptions that she’d experienced. The room smelled like the ocean and man...mostly man. Even though his scent infiltrated her nose, she didn’t linger on it, whipping around as soon as she heard the door close.
“Why the heck did you hit Jayson?”
His gaze scorched her, singeing every part of her. He walked to her as if they had all the time in the world. With her arms akimbo, she refused to be intimated.
“I asked you a question.”
He stepped closer to her.
Her hands flopped to her sides. She flinched when his fingers reached out to graze her cheek. His rising desire crashed into her. And she liked it. A lot. She inhaled sharply, unable to help the swirling need tickling her lower belly.
His lips curved upward, as if he knew what he did to her.
“I don’t give a fuck about him.”
She took a step forward. “Then why would you ask Sofie who he was to me?”
It pleased her when the smirk left his face. His nearness overwhelmed her, but she tamped down the fight-or-flight response so she could tell him she’d never end up in his bed. Despite the pep talk, Avi inched closer to Noah. A whispered sigh left her lips when the back of his hand brushed the side of her face.
His other large hand found her hip, pulling her against him. Softly into her ear, Noah said, “I crush my competitors, Avi, especially when I want something badly enough.” Noah’s grasp on her flesh was so sure...so possessive. “I asked Sofie about you because I want you.” His fingers stilled.
No, don’t stop, her body screeched.
“And I always get what I want.” His hand drifted to her skirt’s waistband.
This wasn’t happening. She pushed at his upper body, but her attempts were feeble and half-hearted.
His hold tightened.
“I won’t give in to you.” That’s what her mouth said, but her soft frame molded itself into the hard plains of the boorish man.
Noah’s chin rested on top her head, and when it was on the tip of her tongue to beg him to let her go, he dove his nose into her hair.
“You smell so good,” he said.
No music played, yet her body danced to an internal rhythm Noah established. They rocked to the beat, sensuously brushing against each other. Her shoulders swayed as her hips rolled left then right.
“Fuck,” he said, hands gripping both her hips this time.
Reason fled. She had no intention of asking anything more about Jayson or what happened. She didn’t care. Now, all she wanted was to relish the feel of being enveloped in Noah’s arms. His strength vibrated through the thin material of his shirt.
“Why are you really here, Avi?”
Desire licked all over her.
“Why are you here?” His tone was low and dripped of sin. Everything was sinful about his not-so-simple request.
“To, um...” Her voice shook.
Noah’s left hand trailed down to her thigh. He squeezed its thickness. Avi sunk into him, both loving and fearing the engorged length pressed against her lower belly. He lifted the edge of her shirt.
“I’d love to run my tongue over this,” he said, playing with her navel.
She swallowed. Between his unyielding chest and his seductive hands, she was nervous, curious, and suddenly parched. It’d been four years since she had sworn herself to celibacy. And here he was, this Noah character, forcing her to rethink that decision. He had the ability to piss her off just as much as he made her quicken with lust for him.
He’s shattering everything. Her self-imposed intimacy goal. Her anger over what he had done to Jayson. All of it was slipping from her.
Not even her other partners advanced this quickly sexually with Avi. But one weekend with him would be her undoing. She should say something, maybe ‘stop’ or ‘no’. Remind him he’d never see her naked.
But her arms lifted in the air, helping him ease her top off.
Her mind couldn’t grab onto a shred of intelligence. And she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was to feel...to feel what her dream-self had fantasized about for a month now.
“Why are you here, Avi?” he asked again, weaving a pattern on her stomach.
Tell him how his pig-headedness is unattractive. Tell him to leave you alone. That’s what logic screamed at her.
He gripped her waist. “Tell me I can have you.” Noah used his nose to brush away strands of hair from her neck. He placed a soft kiss against her silky brown skin. “Tell me,” Noah demanded.
The warmth of his lips tickled her.
Logic flew out the window.
Avi groaned, needing to feel his lips everywhere on her.
“It’ll be so good. Just tell me, Avianna,” he whispered.
Her name oozed from his lips like honey…thick, warm, and tempting.
“Yes...pl-please, Noe,” she begged. The nickname slipped from her plump lips and was as natural as breathing.
He pulled back, revealing laughing eyes that shone with her passion for him.
“You’re mine now.” His dominating words caressed the innermost part of her womanhood, which roared to life. “I can’t be gentle at first, but later...” he whispered, picking her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Avi,” Noah gritted out in pleasure-pain, dipping his head back and exposing his throat.
The tip of her tongue ran over the ridge of his prominent Adam’s apple. She turned her mouth sideways to taste more of him, savoring the smoothness. She latched onto the skin, nipping along the way.
He carried her to the large bed. His lips parted, sucking on her upper lip. Her tongue was tentative at first, but as it touched his bottom lip, swiping along the ridge, she became bolder, as did the gyrations from her lower body. Her reward was Noah’s confident tongue swirling into her mouth.
Avi moaned. Her stomach muscles quivered when Noah palmed her rear. Again, his lips attached themselves to her neck, tasting and biting her flesh.
“Too many clothes,” Noah gritted out, pulling down the band of her skirt.
Wasting no time, they tugged and pulled at each other’s clothing. Their pace was frantic, with one goal in mind: get naked. One of her hands hovered over the latch of her front-clasp bra, and her barely there bikini-cut panties sat on her hipbones. Suddenly, Noah became motionless. Her gaze lifted from her task, and Avi nearly stumbled back under the weight of his attraction.
He devoured her with a single look.
She became ravenous for him.
Noah’s desperation was open and blatant.
And it made her feel like a woman.
It was too much though, and her eyes dropped to the floor. She tucked what had to look like unruly hair behind her ears.
“You have no idea what you do to me, do you?” he asked.
His tone was raw. The words hit her in places she’d never discovered with anyone.
“If it’s anything like I’ve been...” Avi stopped. Her teeth clenched down on her inner cheek, unsure if she shared too much.
Dropping his head down so their eyes connected, he pleaded, “Finish your sentence.”
Swallowing her nerves and giving him the direct look he demanded, she began again. “I’m sure it’s nothing like I’ve been dreaming about for the last month.”
Noah grabbed her hand, le
tting her feel him. “I’ve been hard since I first saw you dancing at my club. I’m hard all the damn time. Just hearing your name. Or smelling you as you walk by me, which is all you’ve done this fucking weekend.”
A tiny smile appeared on her lips. “Yeah?” Her question was still tinged with uncertainty.
His dimples sunk deeper into his cheeks. “Yes.”
He groaned when Avi’s fingers snuck into the band of his boxer briefs. His confirmation made her bolder. Experimenting, she wandered over the low-cut hairs under her fingertips. “Yeah?” Her hand hit the smoothness of his head.
He moaned, leaking pre-cum onto her hand.
He was like smooth granite in her nimble hand. “Grip me tighter. That’s how I imagine your pussy—hot and tight.”
“Yeah?” she asked again, doing as she was told. The teasing minx awoke under Noah’s gruff commands.
With a flick of his hand, he unsnapped her bra’s clasp, freeing her breasts. Her nipples beaded. His hand cupped one of her breasts. “We look good together,” he said.
She watched his movements, liking the contrasting coloring between his hand and the dusky color of her areola. She tried not to visibly writhe, but couldn’t control the moan that slipped from her lips when he caressed the other breast. His smirk told her he saw through it.
“Stay here,” he whispered.
She felt empty when he backed away to retrieve something from the nightstand. Now that he wasn’t facing her, she took the time to appreciate how his muscles bunched with his actions and how bitable his ass really was when he bent.
“I know you like what you see, or you wouldn’t be checking me out so hard,” he said on a laugh that made her blush, when Avi wasn’t a blusher.
“What are those?” she asked when he came closer.
Noah fanned out packets of condoms. His grin was too wide, and scared her in the process. Her body purred because of the longing emanating from Noah. His hand tracked a sensuous path from her leg to the side of the panties that covered the final part of her body. His fingers glided underneath the silky black fabric grazing her supple skin, and snatched it off.