Page 53 of The Brave and the Reckless

Ugh.

Of course, today’s show went perfectly. Noah didn’t miss a single cue. Every single move landed exactly as rehearsed. I should have been glad, but by the time we made it to the hideout, I was seething with annoyance. Apparently yesterday hadn’t affected him as much as it had me. He’d just casually given me the best head of my life, and then returned to business as usual.

I stomped to the far side of the hideout, putting a fewfeet of distance between me and Noah. Maybe this whole thing would be too complicated anyway. Sanny had begged me not to make a mess of things for him here. Asking his best friend to eat me out again was definitely messy.

I turned to look at Noah and clear the air, but startled when I realized he’d followed me. He towered over me, all sharp lines and shadows in his costume.

“Look,” I sighed, “about yesterday…”

Noah’s gloved hand folded over my mouth. I dropped back against the wall, blinking up at cold eyes surrounded by shade. The mask and hat made it impossible to see his expression, and my insides squeezed tight in response. Seeing him like this was the moment before the roller coaster drops you over the edge. The thrill mixed with the biological instinct to take flight. Instead of shaky tracks rattling my nerves, it was his leather glove pressed against my lips, when I knew exactly where that glove had been yesterday. His other hand slid down my stomach, drawing a shaky breath from my lungs. One click, and the headset’s quiet buzz in my ear died. A moment later, he shut his own mic pack off.

Right. He needed me to be quiet. Didn’t want everyone to hear about ourthing. It made sense, but I was still a little disappointed.

At least until I realized he wasn’t letting go.

His gaze lowered as he watched my chest rise and fall over the sweetheart neckline of my dress. The sharp focus grazed across my skin more intensely than any touch could, raising goosebumps in its wake. With every second my heart beat faster and my breaths came quicker.

When his eyes flicked up again, pale blue through thickblack lashes, they held a question. I’d spent the last weeks pressed against Noah, moving with him and around him, learning to read the shifts in his body language, so I knew exactly what he was asking with his muscles completely still and his eyes locked on mine. I nodded.

Still holding my mouth shut, Noah whirled me around. He locked his other arm around my waist, keeping my back pressed against his chest. My head hit his shoulder. I blinked up at him, the raw cotton of his bandana scraping over my cheek.

“I think I finally understand what bewitching means,” he rasped as he walked us forward.

Was he calling me awitch? I tried to retort but my voice was muffled by his hand. Any logic and reason evaporated instantly around Noah. That was the only explanation I had for why I clamped my teeth around his thumb. Hard, so he’d feel it through the leather glove.

That asshole chuckled. He didn’t even flinch. “Case in point.”

The fronts of my thighs hit the table.

“Bend over. Elbows on the table.” He loosened his hand from my mouth, and I unclenched my teeth.

“Telling me what to do? How original.”

“Do you prefer being handled, princess?”

“Handled?”

Noah left one hand on my waist but slid the other to the back of my neck. With one strong push, he bent me down. I barely managed to slap my hands against the tabletop to retain some balance. I swallowed. He’d positioned me flush in front of him. There were too many layers of clothes between us to feel anything more than the heatof his firm body pressed against me, but the mental image was enough to spark the flame in my abdomen. So much better than being given orders.

“Yeah,” I breathed, “I prefer that.”

“Noted.” Noah hiked my dress up. The skirt layers pooled around me, and I braced myself for his touch, but it didn’t come. Noah sucked in a sharp breath. “That makes things easier.”

“Don’t rip these ones too,” I huffed. I started pushing myself up, but Noah brought a large hand down on the small of my back, keeping me pinned in place. He curled his fingers into the thick belt of the harness. Something strange and deep unclenched inside me as I realized that I trusted him enough to just… let him.

Noah pushed my leggings down my thighs. His gloved hand came back up, smoothing over the curve of my ass and sliding into my panties. He squeezed my flesh, just enough to open me up a little. Maybe I should have felt a little self-conscious about being bent over and exposed like that, but it just sent my pulse racing.

“Fuck,” I rasped. One of my arms whipped around. I wanted more of his touch, needed to feel him. My fingertips barely brushed the hem of my panties before he caught my wrist. His grip locked it behind my back, holding my hand alongside the harness.

“Tsk-tsk. Hands off. That’s mine,” he growled.

“You wish,” I huffed.

“Do you let anyone else touch you like this?” His thickly gloved thumb slid to the junction of my thighs. He swirled it around my entrance leisurely. Teasing me.

“None of your business.” I pressed my forehead againstthe smooth wooden tabletop, desperate for even a little bit of cold. Noah fucking Young set my nervous system ablaze.

His finger brushed over my clit, smooth leather spreading my arousal over my sensitive skin, only for his touch to leave me as he tugged my underwear aside.

---