Page 103 of Chasing Your Ghost

Later, he would hate himself for not taking his time to learn which places he could touch to make her squirm with pleasure. Later, he would consider the feasibility of building a time machine so he could go back and stretch their time together into several more hours.

But neither he nor Ella had the patience for that, and when Noah eased himself inside her, thankfully having retained enough sense to put on protection, he feared he would come right then and there. He paused, breathed out an appreciative curse, and thanked his lucky stars that he didn’t embarrass himself like some inexperienced teenager.

“You okay?” he asked Ella, his eyes meeting hers. It felt intimate, their gazes locked like that, and Noah couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ll be better once you start moving,” she informed him with a challenging smirk.

He couldn’t let her challenge go unanswered, so he pulled back before slowly sinking into her again, every muscle in his body tight with restraint. “Better?” he asked after repeating the movement.

“God, yes,” she replied, her hands digging almost painfully into his sides and urging him to continue.

So, Noah did, and soon he’d set a punishing pace, his thrusts fast and frenzied. Ella, of course, was never one to be outdone, and while he plunged into her, she plundered his mouth, her tongue delving and her teeth biting and tugging. It was too much, and when she moaned against his lips, he knew he couldn’t last much longer.

He lifted himself, separating their lips and changing the angle to something Ella clearly approved of based on the gasped “Holy shit” that escaped her swollen lips.

Noah gritted his teeth, determined to ensure he didn’t come before she did. He met her heavy-lidded gaze again. “God, you feel amazing,” he told her with a groan.

“Don’t stop,” she commanded him.

“Never,” he promised as though that was something he was capable of before he moved one of his hands to the place where their bodies were joined.

Trying to be gentle, he circled his thumb in time with his thrusts, clenching his teeth tighter when Ella’s vocal reaction proved nearly enough to send him over the edge.

“I can’t hold on much longer,” he admitted, his voice breathless and steeped in pleasure. “Fuck, Ella, I need you to come for me.”

His words turned out to be precisely what she needed to set her off. Her body tensed beneath his, and a loud blend of a gasp and a moan tore out of her throat as she clamped down on him. That, in turn, was all Noah needed to go over the cliff himself, her orgasm taking him over with her.

His final thrusts were erratic and stilted, and he couldn’t be sure if he’d roared his release or if he’d bitten back the sound. Everything disappeared in that moment, his entire world condensing into the pleasure Ella had wrung from his body.

His face disappeared into the crook of her neck when he collapsed on top of her, and the sweet scent of her perfume tickled his nose and brought awareness back to his body. He let out a contented sigh and, with great effort, rolled off of her, keeping a heavy arm wrapped around her waist.

Ella rolled onto her side to face him. “That was…”

“Amazing? Incredible? Fantastic? Out of this world?” he suggested.

“All of the above,” she replied with a chuckle that did strange things to his insides.

“It was pretty spectacular,” he agreed, grinning sleepily and tugging her closer. He pressed a kiss against her forehead, wishing he could lie there forever, but he reluctantly released his grip on her and sat up. “I need to clean up.”

She nodded, and Noah felt her eyes on his unclothed body as he walked to her en suite bathroom. He made quick work of getting rid of the condom and washing up. It was a good thing, too, because when he returned to the bedroom, it was to find Ella curled up under the covers looking seconds away from falling asleep with a satisfied smile on her face.

He got under the sheets with her and pulled her against him. “Hey, you.”

“Hi,” she responded, sounding shy even as she made herself comfortable in his arms.

Noah didn’t know what would happen next. He knew what he wanted to happen, but it seemed impossible that the two of them could call a cease-fire and become something more than just allies or friends. So, he said nothing more.

He held onto her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his fingers resting on her sweat-dampened skin. He felt as though if he could stay there like that, he could hold onto the moment forever, never having to leave it and never having to face the reality that was ceaselessly pounding at the door, demanding to be let in. The reality that would never let him have more than a few stolen moments of peace.

“Ella?” he said after the arm Ella was lying on had long since grown numb, and he’d drawn what must have been over a hundred circles and patterns along her spine. He hadn’t wanted to break the comfortable silence, but there was something he needed to ask her, something he needed to offer.

“Mm?”

“Do you think you’d be willing to try spiritwalking if I was there with you?”

Ella stiffened in his arms, every muscle freezing until she was a hard statue against him. “Oh my god,” she murmured. “I’m so stupid.”

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