Page 30 of Dangerously Yours

Even after he grew still, I could hardly catch my breath. Noah seemed to be struggling with his own as well because he buried his head against my breasts, and we stayed like that for several minutes. There was no talking or other sounds to be had, justthose of our heavy, labored breathing. A few bolts of electrical energy passed through us, and it still ignited sparks within me. No one in my entire life had ever made me feel this way. And it was more than sex, too. So much more.

Noah finally raised his head, and he cupped my face between his palms. He drew my head down, then kissed along my chin and jaw, but not kissing me where I wanted it most. Once or twice, I tried to force the issue, but he thwarted me. He then went lower, and I shivered as his warm mouth blew small gusts of cool air on my sweat-soaked neck. He did the same to my shoulders too, then pushed my breasts together. Nuzzling my cleavage, it wasn’t until he bit one of my still hardened nipples, that I whimpered.

I could do nothing more, at least physically. My mind was racing as rapidly as our heart rates had minutes ago, and something dawned on me. This man had the power to destroy me, even worse than Cade. If I was being truthful to myself, he had already taken control of my body, and so effortlessly. That scared me, and more than it should have. Noah claimed there was something between us, but I knew whatever that was it couldn’t last. We were too different. A tear I never thought I would cry over this man sprang to my eye, and I let it fall. Soon, it was followed by another, then another, until my entire cheek was streaked with tears.

“We need to talk,” I finally told him, and when Noah looked up at me and my face, his brows furrowed. “Please,” I asked.

NOAH

Lulu’s words were the ones men dreaded hearing from women the most. I was no exception as I quickly realized when I obliged. I pulled out of her, then cleaned us both up, before holding her in my arms as we sat in front of the same window I had just fucked her against.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“This thing between us has to end.” Her voice was forlorn, and I stared incredulously at her.

“End? It’s barely just begun, Lulu. Tell me why you’re feeling like this now, and we can talk through it all.”

“Do you not think our differences matter?”

“Of course, they do, but they’re nothing we can’t overcome,” I tried to tell her, but she seemed resigned to the fact that they were insurmountable.

“What do you even see in me, outside of the obvious?”

“The obvious is your heart, Lulu. I see the love you have for your community, your children, and even an ex-husband who doesn’t deserve an ounce of it.”

“I don’t love him,” she swore, but I still disagreed.

“You do, and it was evident in the way you cared for him after I had struck him. It’s to be expected though because the two of you shared a life together. You have children together. It doesn’t mean you are forever indebted to him, though.” I cradled her tighter against me, but tipped her chin up so she would have to look at me. “You have every right to move on with your life, Lulu. He has already done so.”

She stayed silent for a few seconds, before stroking my chin. “You and I are just too different. I mean, you’re thirteen years younger than me, for fuck’s sake. You’re also an all-star quarterback at the height of your career. You should be enjoying your success. Should be sowing your wild oats, or whatever men call it these?—”

“I’ve had sex with numerous women, more than I can count, and some whose names I can’t even remember. I might be younger than you, but age is nothing but a number when it all comes down to it.”

“It’s much more. It’s?—”

“It’s a cop-out. Yes, you’re older and you have children, but it doesn’t make me want you any less. In all the years and women I’ve been with, no one has ever made me feel what I feel when I’m with you. If you think that I haven’t also tried to convince myself that it’s just sex, or some kind of thrill that will go away, then you’re wrong. I have, but I can’t convince myself to believe something I know is a lie.”

“We barely even know each other,” she said, and although her logic held merit, the heart rarely did.

“I’ve known you for over a decade. We?—”

“You saw me at parties, but nothing more. I..” She grew silent as she was unable to even come up with something to defend her position. I got it. I truly did, but I wanted to stop lying to myself, and that meant I would need to make her stop lying to herself, too.

“I don’t know when this all happened, only that it has. Since we’ve gotten to know each other better, I feel at ease with you. There’s something here if only you would stop fighting it. Tell me that you don’t feel anything for me, and I’ll leave.”

She closed her eyes as I studied her face. I didn’t know for sure what was going through that pretty head of hers, but I didn’t care. I only needed to convince her to give us a chance. Give me a chance. Finally, she opened her eyes and spoke. “I do feel something for you. How could I not? I mean... you’re you, but I know how this will end already, and coming out of a contentious divorce, I’m not sure I can put myself through that again.”

“My QB coach once gave me some sage advice which I think fits here. It’d been given after I’d thrown two interceptions in back to back plays. He told me that if I ever wanted to move forward, I had to forget the past. I needed to get those mistakes out of my head, or else I would be doomed to repeat them. I thought he had been blowing smoke up my ass, so I had ignored him. The very next possession, I thought about the last throw of mine, and I ended up throwing another pick.”

“I don’t see what has to do with us, and?—”

“If you automatically assume every relationship will fail because your last one did, you’ll end up fearful and alone. Your marriage to Cade represents to you what those interceptions did to me. You can’t build a future when rooted in the past.”

“I don’t want to get hurt again,” she told me.

“I know, Lulu. And God knows I would never intentionally hurt you. Can I promise you that it will never happen? No! What I can promise is that I would never betray you the way that he did.”

“How can you be so sure? If someone younger... prettier... and with far less baggage came along, you would leave me in a heart?—”

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