Page 67 of The Puck Secret

My fingers are held tightly between his, like he is afraid that if he lets go that I might disappear, but what he doesn’t know is I’m the one who is afraid. Afraid this isn’t real, afraid he’ll change his mind, afraid my father won’t allow it, but most of all I’m afraid of how far I’ve fallen for Nova Darkmore. I’m still not sure how we got here. How cocky comebacks and brutal barbs turned into a need so strong that my heart skips a beat every time he looks at me. Which is constantly, his eyes find me every few seconds like he is also checking if this thing between us is real.

After he told me he loved me, we waited for Archer to return with coffee, who then said his goodbyes with a knowing smile on his face, before Nova led me back to his mom’s hospital room where we have remained ever since. He even introduced me to his father, who was waiting by Diana’s bedside with a solemn look on his face, and I could tell it was hard for him to be there. To be around her, around his son. I know they have had their issues, but sometimes tragedy can bring people closer together, and I hope they can eventually find their way through this.

It’s late now, the sun almost completely disappeared from the sky, and yet still my hand remains firmly in his. The weight of his stare is so beautifully heavy that I feel I might crumble beneath it. His dad left a little while ago, but still we sit in silence, which is why as soon as Diana starts to rouse, Nova is on his feet within seconds and back by her side.

“Mom?” he says in a panic, sliding his hand into hers and holding it against him. “Mom, it’s okay, everything’s fine, you’re in the hospital,” he tries to reassure her, reaching above her bed to press the call button to alert a nurse.

Diana’s eyes are wide, scanning around the room to check out her surroundings, until they land on me and stop. She frowns a little at first, and I panic about whether I should stay or go. This is quite a personal moment, and yes we know each other, but I doubt she wants me here for this. So I rise to my feet and walk towards her bed to head for the door, but before I can pass, her voice stops me in my tracks.

”Maddie Darling,” she whispers, and unsure what to say or do, Nova and I both look between each other, until a soft smile spreads across her face. She turns to her son with a knowing look as she says a little louder, “I knew there was a girl.”

Nova chokes out a relieved laugh, looking up at the ceiling to try and rein in his emotions before he drops into the chair beside her bed and grins at her. “She’s not just a girl, mom, she’sthegirl.” A blush rapidly burns my cheeks as Nova gestures for me to join him, and when I reach his side, he uses his free hand to curl around my back and keep me close.

His mom looks like she couldn’t be happier at this moment, and for a second my heart threatens to burst in my chest. This is what it’s like to have a kind and loving parent behind you, it must be so nice to have that all the time, and I find it hard to bear as I think about my own parents no doubt waiting for me to return home to talk to them.

Before any of us can say anything else, doctors and nurses descend into the room and create chaos as they run tests and check Diana’s vitals. Nova and I wait patiently outside, and they soon give her the all clear out of the danger zone for now. They are going to be keeping her in for at least a few days while they come up with a treatment plan to try and help her, but there is nothing more we or they can do at this moment. With that, we are advised that visiting hours are over and to return tomorrow.

Nova says a quick goodbye to his mom and then I lead him out to the parking lot where I left my car to give him a ride home. Once again the drive to his house is silent, but his hand remains firmly around mine until we pull up and I cut off the engine. Nova doesn’t even look at me as he slides out of the car and rounds the front of it, coming to my side, before opening the door and looking at me expectantly.

When I don’t move, he cocks an eyebrow at me. “I know you don’t think I am letting you go home right now, Princess,” he says, that sexy yet insufferable smirk curving up at the edge of his mouth. “If you think for one-second that you aren’t spending the night in my bed you are sadly mistaken. Now get out of the car, or I will drag you out, the choice is yours.”

I almost laugh, as if I have a choice. Like I told him, I didn’t choose him, I fell head first into his chaos and haven’t wanted out for even a second. It’s why I don’t move, because I know I don’t have to, his words will ring true, and when he sees that I remain still, his smirk gets even wider. “Oh, so my girl wants to play,” he mutters, swiping his tongue across his bottom lip. “Then let’s fucking go, Princess.”

Nova leans his whole frame into the doorway of my car, his hands gripping my hips and dragging me towards him as if I weigh nothing, and when I realize how serious he actually is, I panic. “Nova,” I gasp. “I’ll walk, it’s fine, I was just kidding.” He can’t carry me, not all the way to his room anyway, that’s just ridiculous. Yet ridiculous is apparently his middle name, because when he pulls me from my car and slams the door behind me, he tosses my body over his shoulder as if I don’t weigh a thing. “Nova, I’m too heavy for this!” I yelp, jostling against his giant body of muscle as we move.

A hard smack lands across my ass, which is right by his face, as he laughs, “Oh please, Princess Peters, I lift more than double your body weight everyday.” And as if to prove his point, he strides us both all the way up to his room without breaking a sweat, but he doesn’t stop there. He leads us right into his ensuite, before putting me down, slowly letting my body slide along every ridge of his.

When I am finally on my feet again, he is towering over me, watching, waiting, just taking in every moment between us as if he doesn’t think they're real. “Nova,” I sigh, needing to know it’s real myself. “Kiss me,” I beg. “Please.”

He leans in, almost instinctively, until his eyes drop to my clothes, and then his lips bypass my mouth and head straight for my ear. “Lose the other man’s jersey and I’ll think about it.”

My smile is instant, goosebumps breaking out along my skin at just the feel of his breath on my neck. He doesn’t care that the jersey belongs to my brother, it isn’t his, and that’s all that matters. So, slowly I reach under my jersey and slide my leggings and underwear off first, then when my bottom half is bare, I grip the edge of the jersey between my fingertips. Toying with it, lifting it just an inch, in the hopes of driving him wild. Yet Nova doesn’t rush me, he just watches me, and I feel like my heart might completely stop just from the power of his stare, his pupils darkening with anticipation as he watches me undress.

“Are you teasing me, Princess?” he asks, a wicked smile curving along his mouth, as his fingers join mine at the hem of my shirt.

“That depends,” I breathe, shivering beneath just the lightest of his touches, as the pads of his fingers brush against my skin. “Is it working?”

He sighs, dropping his forehead to meet mine. “Oh, baby, it’s been working since the second you knocked on my door and begged to suck my cock.”

I scoff, “I did not beg.” I most definitely did. I’m a dirty, little liar, and if he just reached between my legs right now, he would discover how close I am to begging him again.

“Is that right?” he asks, gripping the shirt in his hands and ripping it off over my head, stopping so my hands are banded tight inside of it. “See, I definitely remember some begging.” He pushes me until my back meets the door, and then he is pressing me into it. “Something about no rules, and me punishing you,” he adds, trailing kisses down my neck until he meets the juncture of my throat, where he gently bites and sucks until I know I bear his mark.

“Nope,” I gasp, arching my neck to give him better access. “I don’t remember any of that.” It’s a lie, a dirty, dirty lie. I know it, he knows it, but this is just the game we like to play with one another.

He kisses me, a rough press of his lips against my own as he drops the jersey to the floor. “Then I guess I’ll just have to remind you.”Kiss. “Today.”Kiss. “Tomorrow.”Kiss. “And every day after that.”Kiss.

This time when he goes to pull away, I don’t let him, sealing my lips to his and pushing my hands into his hair and pulling tight. He groans into my mouth, and I let my own lips part so I can tangle my tongue with his. We kiss until we are breathless, until my thighs are damp with my arousal, and then still we kiss some more. By the time he pulls away, his eyes are so intense they almost bring me to my knees.

“I love you, you truly know that right?” he asks, reaching back and pulling his shirt off over his head, moving for his jeans. Mesmerized at the sight of him, of him stripping for me, looking at me like I am his entire world, and how casually he admits his feelings for me, all I can do is nod. “Good,” he grunts, leaning into his shower and switching it on, before moving back to me. “Because I’m about to fuck you like I hate you.”

He is lifting me off the ground before I can even respond, and I have no choice but to wrap my legs around him, his hands finding my hips, and his cock nestling within the warm, wet heat between my thighs. When we step beneath the spray of the shower he drags my mouth to his and kisses me brutally, digging his fingertips into the skin around my waist so hard it makes me gasp, his tongue slipping into my mouth once more.

We crash into the shower wall, my back meeting wet, slippery tile as he positions himself, and we both groan as he thrusts inside of me without pause. My hands grip his shoulders and I hold on tight as his cock slides in and out of me deep and fast, his hips snapping furiously between my spread thighs, and stealing the breath from my throat as I moan his name.

“Nova,” I cry. “You feel so good.” My pussy clenches around him, already so close to coming that if he weren’t holding me up, I would be on the floor begging for more.

“Fuck,” he groans, his tongue licking up the droplets of water that spill down my tits as I cry out his name. “Such a perfect fucking pussy, Madeline,” he grits through his teeth, his thrusts never faltering. “So tight and wet, and so fucking mine.” His fingers find my throat, wrapping around the base of my neck obsessively, as his thrusts inside of me start to slow, teasing me with every roll of his hips.

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