Page 34 of Fractured Trust

Fuck. Noah squeezed his eyes closed and ground his cock against the couch to try to get some relief. Eventually, she relaxed back onto the seat, but he’d told her what he was going to do, and he was nothing if not a man of his word. He kept going, gentling his hand and tongue, but not letting up.

“Noah.” Her voice was a sweet, husky rasp. “I can’t…”

He raised his mouth just above her clit. “You can, Sunshine. You will. Because I need more. I just need more of you.”

Summer moaned and threw her head back as she clenched around him again. He built her back up gradually, his tongue and lips playing over her skin, his fingers moving inside her, pressing against that sensitive spot that had always driven her wild.

Soon she was arching up under his hands again, her hips twisting into him. When he knew she was close, he curled his fingers against her front wall and pressed his tongue hard against her clit. Just like that she shattered, even more intensely this time—her cries loud enough for her neighbors to hear. And he fucking loved it. Loved hearing her pleasure, feeling her contract around his fingers, loved the way her hands clutched and tugged at his hair.

This. This was what had been missing from his life for so long. Her. The taste of her. Her touch. Her scent.

When she eventually came down, he withdrew his fingers, pressing a gentle kiss to her clit, then the soft skin of both thighs before sitting up and taking her in. She lay there, eyes closed, cheeks still flushed as her chest rose and fell with her rapid breaths. He was still as hard as a rock, and it was costing him everything he had to not just say fuck it, unzip, and thrust into her.

But he waited, and when she finally opened her eyes, the hazy, pleasure-drunk look on her face filled him with satisfaction. Then she blinked, her expression clearing, and those doubts, the ones he’d known were waiting to descend on her, trembled on her lips, ready to spill over.

He’d prepared himself for it. He didn’t like it, but he’d prepared himself. Because he knew they both needed time to process everything. He wasn’t sure what this meant yet—still had questions that required answers. He didn’t know what the future held. But he knew that tonight wasn’t the end of it. When the time was right, he was going to lose himself in her body. He was going to reclaim every inch of her, erase every memory of Deacon’s touch, and he was going to make her screamhisname again.

He shook his head before she could voice her doubts aloud. “No, don’t,” he said. “Don’t question it, Summer. Just accept it for what it was from the minute we saw each other again—fucking inevitable.” He gave her a few seconds to absorb that. “Now, I’m going to go home. We’ve both got a lot to think about. A lot we still need to talk about. But this, what just happened? It needed to happen.”

She wet her lips and nodded, her eyes searching his.

Noah tugged her upright and helped her straighten her dress. When she looked at him again, there were a thousand questions burning in her gaze. He dragged his thumb across her bottom lip, then slid his hand to her chin and tilted it up, so her eyes locked on his. “I want you to be okay with this. I want you to know that what’s going to happen between us is unstoppable. So, take this time to get it straight in your head, all right?”

Amazingly, the faintest flicker of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I don’t remember you being so bossy.”

Her voice was still breathy, making his dick jerk with need. But he tamped it down, forcing out a laugh. “I don’t remember you being so difficult.”

He wanted to kiss her again, wanted to press his lips to the tiny crease between her brows. Instead, he let his thumb graze over her plump bottom lip one more time, skim along the smoothness of her cheek. Then, sucking in a sharp breath, he made himself stand. He had to go before he did something stupid and ruined it. But his drums were going to get a fucking workout tonight, that was for sure.

Forcing himself away from her was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. But it was the right thing to do. She was raw. He could see it in the glaze in her eyes, the renewed tension in her body.

And he—fuck, he felt abraded. This whole thing between them because of a stupid photo. No, not just a photo, a woman who thought she had a right to put her mouth on him without his permission, and a backstabbing, deceitful friend who’d just wanted what he’d had and had taken it by the lowest means possible.

As Noah stepped back, his hand trailing down her arm, she shivered. Her eyes raised to his and the small smile that had brightened her face died. “What are we doing, Noah?”

He grinned, her hesitation somehow making his conviction stronger. “I told you, Summer. No questioning it. I’ll see you soon. That’s a promise.”

After one last, long look at her sitting gorgeous and disheveled on the couch, he spun on his heel and left, feeling lighter than he had in months.

Maybe even years.

Chapter 15

Summer stood outside the plain white door, her heart beating too hard in her chest. It had been two days since Noah had revealed the truth. Two days that she’d been running the events leading up to her breaking both their hearts through her head. Her emotions had been all over the place as she tried to reconcile what Deacon had apparently done with her memories of him back then.

Noah had been true to his word, giving her time to think, letting her take the time to get her head straight. And as much as part of her had wanted him to stay that night—to take control of her body, to use his to wipe the pain and anger from her mind, at least for a few hours—she knew he’d done the right thing. She wasn’t ready for what might come next. She needed time and space to adjust to the shift in her emotions.

And she needed something else. Which was why she was here now, standing in front of this plain, white door.

Deacon’s door.

She raised her hand, hesitating for a second as she noticed the fine tremor that shook it. Then, taking a deep breath, she knocked.

Summer shifted anxiously as she listened to the approaching footsteps, grateful that he was at home. His schedule had always been fairly predictable, but who knew what might have changed over the last few months, and she would have hated for this to have been a wasted trip.

When the door swung open, Deacon stared at her, his expression first shocked, then guarded.

“Summer, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit? L.A. not turning out as well as you hoped?”

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