Noah

by Justine Elvira

  Paula: Not when you're eating me out. You have a talented tongue that better get here fast so it can lick my hungry cunt.

  Oh...I think I'm going to be sick. I run over to the sink and pull my hair back, waiting for the contents of my stomach to come out but nothing does. I just dry heave until I calm down enough for my stomach to settle.

  He's cheating on me. That fucking bastard's cheating on me.

  After everything we've been through together. I believed everything he ever told me and defended him to Noah and Kendall, but it was true. He was cheating and lying this whole time.

  I really am naive and stupid.

  I want to run into our bedroom in this apartment we made our home, and wake his lying, cheating ass up. I want to see the shock in his eyes when I tell him that I know everything and it's over. We're through.

  I can’t believe I ate the bullshit he was feeding me every day. Was any of it ever true? Was there even one day he was actually working late and not fucking around on me?

  I'm better than this. Yes, I gave up everything and followed Caleb here but I thought it was the right decision and I was right. New York was a good move for me because I needed to get out of my small town and experience life a little more. I just wish it wasn't all for a lie.

  Each second that passes since I read those texts gets me angrier and angrier. I'm afraid of what I'll do next. I can’t wake Caleb up right now. I’m feeling out of control and at the same time incredibly weak. If he gives me even one plausible excuse I might forgive him and forget all about the texts I've just seen, and if he has no excuse I might hurt him.

  I need some space to process this and devise a thorough plan of attack. I need to think this all through, but I also don't want him to walk through the day tomorrow not knowing that I know everything about him and Paula. He may have pulled one over on me this whole time, but now my blinders are off.

  This may be his apartment and I'll have nowhere to go when we break up, but I'm not going to keep my knowledge of his affair hidden because I'm afraid of the future. Kendall will let me live with her, and if she can’t, there's always Noah. He's taken care of me in the past and I know he'll do it now. Noah's apartment is right across the hall so that's where I'll go tonight to clear my head. I don't want to be here in the morning when Caleb wakes up.

  Placing Caleb's phone on the kitchen table I grab a piece of notebook paper and a pen off the counter and jot down a quick, seething note.

  Caleb,

  Next time you decide to cheat on me you should keep your phone close by or at least change your password. I hope you're happy fucking that whore, Paula, because you'll no longer be fucking me.

  Asshole!!!

  –Skye

  Those three lines feel satisfying and I slip the piece of paper under his phone and storm out of the apartment, leaving everything behind me.

  Chapter Seven

  Not caring if I wake up everyone in our apartment building I pound hard on Noah's front door. There's a good chance he's not here and at work in his office or his bar, but he's the best option I have at this time of night because I'm in my flannel pajamas and left my keys and purse inside my apartment.

  I can't believe I wasted six years with Caleb. I thought we were building a life together and that we both wanted the same things, but apparently, while I was sacrificing some of my dreams and dignity he was sowing his wild oats.

  Well, fuck him.

  He can have Paula and I hope they're happy together. I'm done being the pushover girlfriend who puts up with his bullshit. I'm done putting his needs before my own. I have needs, too! Needs I've been denying myself for so long I almost forgot they were there.

  When did Caleb become my number one concern? Oh yeah, right around the time Noah started boxing me out and hooking up with women in front of me. Right around then is when I gave up on Noah and started focusing on my old dreams of marrying a rich, successful man who would get me out of my small town in Michigan.

  I never thought Noah would settle down in a town outside Michigan, too. I thought he'd grow old in that small town.

  The deadbolt on the other side of the door makes a loud noise as it unlocks and then Noah answers the door, looking like I disturbed his sleep. He's in checkered boxers and nothing else, and I'm focused on his perfect abs and the dark happy trail that leads under his boxers, instead of why I came over here.

  "What's wrong, shorty? I was sleeping."

  I push past him and into his apartment, nudging his bare chest with my shoulder. His place is clean except for the wrinkled mess of sheets and covers on his bed.

  "Can I stay here tonight?" I ask, not really worried about what his answer will be as I sit down on the loveseat in the middle of the spacious room.

  Wiping the sleep out of his eyes he replies, "Why aren't you staying at your place?"

  "Because Caleb's a son of a bitch who's been cheating on me for God knows how long and if I stay in my apartment I might end up hurting him, and even you don't have enough money to post bail for me as I await trial," I ramble seriously.

  It takes a moment for what I say to register in Noah's half-awake brain but when it finally clicks his expression turns murderous. "I'll kill him."

  Taking my apartment key off the key ring by the door, he grabs the handle of the front door and opens it, walking out into the hallway. I jump off the loveseat and run to stop Noah, hopping on his back as he inserts his key into the front door of my apartment.

  "Not tonight, please, Noah. I need time to process everything before I confront him. You can't do this tonight."

  With his key still in the door he takes deep, even breaths, attempting to calm down. "Are you sure you don't want me to go in there and beat the shit out of him? If I wait until morning I'll have more time for this anger to fester and it will be worse on Caleb."

  With my arms around his neck I try to lean my head over his shoulder so I can see his face. "Then I definitely want you to wait until tomorrow because he deserves the worst you can give him."

  Sighing in defeat, Noah turns back around to his apartment and walks inside with me still clinging on to his back. When he closes his front door I hop off him and settle back down on the loveseat. Noah grabs us both a beer, pops the tops, and sits down next to me.

  "You mind telling me what happened?"

  Where should I begin?

  "Things have been off lately. I've noticed it but I just thought it was because of the long hours at work. He's never home, and the rare moments he is, he's usually catching up on the sleep he missed. We've gotten into fights about it recently, but he's always so convincing. He makes me feel bad for doubting him and it works. I feel horrible about how badly they treat him at work and for how I'm treating him at home."

  I grab one of the beers out of Noah's hand and take a sip, savoring the cool taste as it goes down my throat. "Tonight he came home late and went straight to bed. I was angry at first because I had a nice evening planned for him and he blew me off, but I wasn't skeptical at all because this was typical lately. I used the rest of the evening to work…I mean bills...yeah...working on bills. When I finished I straightened up before joining him in bed and that's when I found his phone."

  "You were working on bills?" He raises his eyebrows, making the skin on his forehead scrunch up and I know he doesn't believe me. Why is he focusing on that and not the fact that I found Caleb's phone.

  "Yes," I lie, because right now is not the time to tell Noah that I've been working for him.

  He drags a hand through his hair, frustrated. "We're dealing with the Caleb thing right now, but tomorrow, after you've confronted him and moved your shit out of his apartment, we're going to talk about what you were really doing tonight. I talked to Kendall today. I know everything and there's no way you're continuing to do that crap. Consider yourself fired."

  "What!" I gasp. "You can't fire me."

  "I can and I just did. Kendall will no longer be getting two paychecks and if I find out you're on even one m
ore phone call with a client of mine, I'll fire Kendall, too."

  Standing up from the loveseat I begin to pace back and forth. This can't be happening. How is it I'm losing a boyfriend, an apartment, and a job all in one night.

  "You can't do that, Noah. I need this job."

  "You'll find something else."

  "No, I won't. It's expensive to live here and working for you pays me three times as much than my other two jobs combined."

  Noah stands up now, too, and takes the near empty beer bottle out of my hand and sets it on the floor. "Like I said, we'll talk about how you lied and sneakily were working for me tomorrow. If you need money, I'll give it to you, but right now I want to know more about what happened with Caleb."

  He wants to talk about Caleb. Fuck that. He can’t pick and choose what we talk about. I came over here devastated about Caleb's infidelity, but now I'm mad about losing the best source of income I have at the moment.

  My lack of concern over Caleb right now should tell me something about my relationship with him.

  I get in Noah's face, well, technically his chest, but I look up at him with piercingly angry eyes and hope to intimidate him. He's not intimidated because he has the audacity to laugh at my expression and that pisses me off even more. "We're going to talk about this now, Noah. I'm just like all those other girls who work for you, so why do they get to keep their jobs but you're firing me?"

  "I'm technically not firing you because you never worked for me. I'm firing the imaginary Kendall who talks to nasty old men for a living until they're coming from the sound of her sultry voice. That Kendall no longer works for me."

  I back down and place my hands on my hips. "Then I want to apply as me this time. There are laws, you know. You can't discriminate against me just because you know me."

  His cheeks tint red with anger and it's distracting my train of thought. He's so hot when he's angry. It's always turned me on. My breasts get heavy, my nipples harden, and scorching heat spreads through my southern region. I can't believe I'm horny right now.

  "You're right, Skye, I can't, but is this the kind of profession you really want? Does talking to these men make you feel successful and accomplished? No, I bet you feel disgusted every time you hang up the phone."

  He's right. Why the hell does he always have to be right? This man is infuriating.

  "You're such a hypocrite. You own the fucking business, Noah!" I'm shouting now as my uncontrollable anger resurface and I'm unable to control my irritation at his hypocrisy. "You sell sex, or the illusion of sex, every day in all different forms. So what, I can't be a phone sex operator anymore? Fine, put me somewhere else. Let me strip, or maybe I can have my own webcam series. I hear those are successful. Hey, I know. I want to be one of those high-class escorts. The athletes and celebrities treat them really well." I have no desire to sell my body or do any of those things, but Noah pissed me off so much that I don't care what he believes.

  Okay, maybe I do care what he thinks.

  "I need a dependable and reliable job and working for your company gives me that. Do you really think I want to be working as a phone sex operator for the rest of my life? I only need the job temporarily."

  "Shut up.” His voice is low and even. It's a little terrifying; nothing like his yelling was before. "Do you really think I'd actually let you do any of those jobs if you were serious? Do you think I'd want you to sell yourself? Hell no, I don't. Fucking call me a hypocrite, Skye. I don't fucking care. I am a hypocrite, and that's not going to change when it comes to you. If things were better with Caleb and he knew what you've been doing all this time, he'd be pissed, too."

  "Don't bring Caleb into this," I interject. "This is between me and you."

  He leans down so his eyes are level with mine and I can smell traces of mint on his intoxicating breath. It must be from when he brushed his teeth before going to bed. "You're right, it is between you and me, Skye." He rests the palm of his hand on my neck and glides his thumb up and down my throat. His eyes flicker to the spot on my neck he's caressing. "Your voice is sexy as fuck and those men don't deserve to hear it."

  He pauses and his eyes shift to mine. I'm lost in the intensity of his gaze as he continues to speak. "You're a goddamn prize, Skye. You're like the coveted gold medal at the Olympics. A man should have to earn that medal, not be able to pay for it."

  The pureness and sincerity in his voice as he speaks about me releases all the anger inside me and replaces it with love. My emotions are so intense around him because I love him so much. That was the sweetest, most romantic thing he's probably ever said to me, and even more importantly, I can tell he believes everything he said.

  I'm not sure how long he's felt this way or when Noah started thinking I was a prize. I always just assumed I was some average girl that he called his best friend once, but I guess the signs were there all along. I just missed seeing them all these years, but now I see them clearly. It's obvious he wants me.

  At least I think he wants me.

  Suddenly I no longer care that I can't work for him, or that earlier tonight I was ready to kill Caleb for cheating on me. All that matters right now is Noah, and my intense need to finally be with him. I wanted him for so long and that desire for him is back. I don't want to wait any longer to have him.

  I slide the palm of my hand up his bare chest and around his neck, pulling him down to me as I reach up on my toes and brush my lips against his. He tastes better than I imagined and this time there is no wondering if he'll kiss me back. I'm not mistaking the chemistry between us in this moment, because when our lips touch he kisses me back immediately. Our mouths dance to a song I've waited years to be a part of.

  His lips are urgent against mine as he's moving me backwards. I stumble over the bottles on the floor, spilling what little beer was left in them, and then he's pushing me up against the wall near the headboard of his bed.

  His hands are everywhere–caressing my soft neck, teasing my supple breasts, gripping my small hips. Every touch, every squeeze has me aching, begging him for more as I push my breasts into his hands and sigh in delight when he squeezes my tits.

  I've imagined what this day might be like for so long–ever since I was fourteen and my childhood crush became the man I fell in love with. Back then I imagined him sneaking into my bedroom while my parents slept down the hall, or stealing a kiss behind the school. Then as I got older, my dreams of a first kiss became dreams of a first time. I wanted Noah to be the man I lost my virginity to. I waited for him–saving myself all those years and had several relationships fizzle out because I wouldn't give it up. Those guys thought I was holding out for marriage, but I was really holding out for Noah.

  After that night at the frat party, things changed and all my expectations for a perfect first time went away. Six months after I started dating Caleb I gave it up to him and made love to him on a twin bed in our first shitty apartment together in New York. It was awkward and uncomfortable, and when it was over I honestly didn’t understand what the fuss was about, but as time went on that changed and I thoroughly enjoyed sex.

  But that's all it was–sex. The way Noah is kissing me now feels like a promise for what we'll share in a few moments, something explosive and scintillating. It will be much more than sex.

  It will change my life.

  His strong hands slide under my flannel and up the soft skin of my stomach until he reaches the underside of my breasts. I'm not wearing a bra and he groans when his thumbs trail across my hard nipples.

  His touch sends a jolt of electricity through my body, reminding me of what's to come. I never want to stop feeling this way. I want Noah's hands on me for the rest of my life. I'm wearing entirely too much clothing. One of us needs to take my clothes off, but I don't want to let go of him long enough to undress.

  Noah solves my predicament when he rips my flannel pajama top open. He destroys my top and the front buttons scatter all across the room. He slides the remaining material down my arms until my to
p is lying on his hardwood floor.

  His hands come up to cup my bare breasts, while he leans down and nuzzles my neck, kisses the soft skin over and over again. His beard tickles as his lips wander softly down my body until he's kissing the top of my heavy breasts.

  "God, I've wanted this for so long," he groans huskily against my skin.

  I've wanted this for so long, too.

  I arch my back so he can indulge on more of me. "You're fucking beautiful, Skye. Every inch of you is beautiful. These tits...are beautiful," he whispers before sucking one of my erect nipples into his mouth.

  Oh...

  God...

  I need...

  Him...

  Now!

  This feels like a dream and at any moment I might wake up. This is too good to be true. Stuff like this doesn't happen to me. Noah kissing me and ravishing my body doesn't happen to me.

  As he continues to play with my breasts, he slides one of his hands down my smooth stomach and under the band of my flannel pajama pants. I love how his tattoo sleeve covering his arm looks against my pale skin. His head moves up my body until he rolls his forehead across mine. "You're a naughty girl," he claims when he realizes I’m not wearing panties. Then he's tracing his fingers over my smooth mound and spreading my swollen lips apart with his thumb. A fingertip brushes against my clit and my head hits the back of the wall as I gasp in approval.

  Finally.

  "Noah, please," I beg. I begin to gyrate my hips, moving my clit against his hand. He smiles against my mouth before lowering his lips to one of my breasts and biting down on my nipple.

  "Fuuuuck..." I cry, unprepared for the bite of pain chased with a jolt of pleasure. His teeth release my nipple and then he’s kissing up my body until his mouth is back on mine. My tongue teases his as my hands slide up and grip the hair on the back of his head. I pull hard and he's forced to release my mouth.

  "Noah, please...I need to feel you inside me. Please–" I'm unable to finish the last of my begging. My eyes roll to the back of my head and I scream out my release from an orgasm that came out of nowhere. My entire body trembles in gratification. I've had plenty of orgasms before but this one was...different. Maybe it's because I don't need approval from him and I don't need to be self-conscious about every move I make.