Page 95 of Bonds of Magic
I’d done that to him. It was me Noah wanted. Not that guy in Pointe Claudette, not anyone else. I was the one who made him so desperate he couldn’t think straight. My own cock hardened in response.
When he broke the kiss, I could barely breathe. Mostly from him stealing my breath, though he was crushing my body a bit too. It didn’t bother me, though. Not when it was Noah.
“Is that enough to convince you I want you?” he growled. “Do you believe me yet?”
I looked at him, dazed. I was more focused on the shape of his lips than the words coming out of them. But when he pulled back farther, I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and tugged him down.
“No,” I said fiercely. My teeth grazed his lips. “I think I need more convincing.”
I sank into the kiss. I was so grateful he’d stopped doing whatever pure, noble thing he thought he needed to do to keep me safe. Because right now, what I needed more than anything, was to feel less alone. To know I belonged somewhere.
He nipped at my lower lip, then pulled back like he might say something. I put a finger to his lips.
“No feelings,” I said. “I know what this means and what it doesn’t. But you have to start treating me like an equal.”
My heart thudded. Noah could walk away right now and destroy me. But I needed to say it. I needed him to understand.
He closed his eyes and nodded against my fingers.
“Equal,” he said.
“Good,” I began—but I couldn’t get the rest of my sentence out before he claimed my mouth again.
His hands slid to my waist, tugging at the hem of my T-shirt and lifting it up a little. His lips moved to my ear, and he whispered, “Can I?”
“God, yes.” I wasn’t wearing much to begin with, but my clothes couldn’t come off soon enough. I wanted to feel his skin on mine.
He tugged my shirt off over my head, then stared down at me, silent.
“What?” I asked. I fought the urge to cross my arms over my chest.
After months of combat class, I was in the best shape I’d ever been in. I even had baby bicep muscles. But compared to Noah, that was nothing. I knew he’d been with guys who were way more attractive than I was.
“You’re beautiful,” he said softly.
I laughed in spite of myself. “I’m really not. But it’s nice of you to lie to me.”
“It’s not a lie.” His eyes roamed across my body. “You’re gorgeous.”
I shook my head and slid my hand down his arm, muscular, with ropey tendons. “No.You’regorgeous.” My hand moved down to the bottom of his shirt. “All of you is gorgeous, I’m pretty sure. But I wouldn’t mind confirming my suspicions.”
He laughed and brushed my hand away. “Later.”
He lowered himself onto me, his lips making their way down my neck and onto my chest. He caught my left nipple in between his teeth, teasing, then biting, and I gasped, melting into the mattress.
It wasn’t hard to see how much I liked this. I slept in a T-shirt and boxers, and my cock was making it very apparent how good a time I was having. Noah’s hand strayed down my stomach, his fingers slipping under the waistband of my boxers. I moaned in approval and dug my fingers into the muscles of his arms, hipping up off the bed to meet his hand.
“Someone’s eager,” he said with a smoky laugh.
“Oh, had you not figured that out yet? The whole thing where I begged you to kiss me didn’t make that clear?”
“Maybe you need some more discipline,” he said, still laughing as he pressed a kiss to my stomach. “You know I don’t like it when students don’t wait for instructions.”
“Well, instruct me then.”
I meant it, but he just laughed and kissed me again. He tugged at my boxers, pulling them down my thighs, then all the way off. I was completely exposed while he remained fully clothed.
But when he moved in between my legs, covering the entire lower half of my body, I didn’t feel so naked anymore. I also didn’t really care, since his mouth was doing tantalizing things to the sensitive skin on my inner thighs.
