Page 22 of Sweet Valentine

“How long were you married?” she asks as I take her fingers and bring them to my mouth again, kissing each digit before I answer.

“Four years.” She shudders, and I close my eyes, my forehead leaning against her hands. “I wish I could regret marrying her. I wish I could say that if I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t, but that’s a lie.” Her eyes snap up to mine, and the anger and confusion that stares back at me makes me smile. “Sweetheart, if I hadn’t married Amy, I never would have moved here, and I never would have met the love of my life.” Her eyes bulge, clearly not ready for that conversation.

“So, what now?” she asks, getting up from the bed and walking over to the window, her back to me. For the first time since I walked into the room, I realize what she’s wearing, and I groan inwardly at the sight. She has on a tight tank top, no bra, and boy short underwear…that’s it. When she was covered by the sheet, I was fine. But now…now, all I want to do is taste every inch of the revealed skin, hear her moans bounce off these walls, and feel her pussy come all over my cock.

I make my way over to where she’s standing, making sure to keep a bit of distance between us even though all I want to do is touch her. “Val,” I say quietly as she turns to face me. The unshed tears in her eyes break me in half. “Please tell me we can fix this. I don’t work without you. My life doesn’t work without you in it.” I’m pleading, hoping to God that she agrees to take me back.

“What else are you hiding?” She takes a deep breath. “If I didn’t know about this, how do I know you aren’t hiding something else?” Her voice is stern, her eyes scared, and when I reach out to touch her, she backs away. “I need to know that I won’t find any more skeletons in your closet, Noah, because the first one was a fucking big one.” I can’t help the smile that creeps across my lips, but Val just stares me down, waiting for my answer.

“Whatever you want to know, just ask. I have no more secrets. I swear, Amy was the only part of my past that I avoided talking about.” She eyes me warily.

“What about your family? I asked about them, and you just told me they died, nothing else.” True. She’s got me there.

“They remind me of Amy and the mistake I made. I felt like talking about them would mean I had to confess about Amy, and I wasn’t ready for that yet.”

“Why couldn’t you just talk to me about this?”

“Because it’s a black mark on my soul. Because I was married to a woman who could manipulate someone and not have a care in the world about it. I didn’t want you to think less of me.” That’s it. That’s the full truth. Whether she believes me or not doesn’t matter. The relief of this moment eclipses all the years of heartache I endured with Amy.

“You seriously think I would think less of you because your wife lied to you about taking birth control?” I can hear the venom in her voice, and I recoil at the implication of her words. She’s so far from that type of person that even hearing it makes me cringe.

“Val, I know you’re not like that. I just didn’t want to ruin what we had.” She gives me a look, and I chuckle. “Yet it seems I did a good job of that on my own.” She nods, smiling. I take a tentative step toward her, and when she doesn’t back away, I take another. “Please tell me we’re okay. Please tell me we can go back to what we had before.” I’m desperate. The need for her to take me back is all-consuming. When her smirk graces those gorgeous lips, I take that as a sign and dive in, taking her mouth and devouring her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

His lips taste like coffee as they devour mine. His hands clasp my hips, bringing me closer and closer to him as his tongue demands entrance.

“Val. You need to answer my question,” he mumbles, his lips still kissing mine. It takes me a second to realize that he’s spoken, then another to remember what the question was.

“What question?” I ask breathlessly, feeling his fingers digging into my hips, my tank top lifting up my torso, exposing more skin.

His laugh rumbles through me as he starts kissing across the edge of my jaw and down my throat. “The question was…” he murmurs, licking and sucking at the skin of my neck, making me forget where I am, let alone allowing me to pay attention to what he’s saying. “Can you forgive me? Can we go back to where we were before?” He stops his ministrations, his fingers trailing lightly across my jaw before his hands clasp the sides of my face.

“No,” I say, feeling his entire body freeze, his head dipping as his hands fall away from my face. I smile to myself and lift my hands to grasp his face like he just did to mine. “No, we can’t go back to what we were because those people kept secrets.” His eyes search mine, and I smile. “Noah, you’re it for me. Nothing can change that, even the idea of you being with another woman.” He goes to say something, but I stop him. “I know she means nothing to you now, but she means something to me. Hearing what she did to you, hearing what happened to your relationship makes me thankful that she was in your life. Because you wouldn’t be the man I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with if it weren’t for her and her selfish deeds.” I can visibly see the anxiety flowing off him as his forehead leans down to touch mine.

“I love you so much,” he murmurs, taking my lips once more, this time more punishing, more intense, and more dominant than before.

“I need to be inside you.”

I moan in answer.

“Thank God,” he murmurs. The second his hand reaches under my top and peels the fabric from my skin, I forget that I almost lost him, I forget that I drank myself stupid last night, and I forget that I’m hungover. I lift my arms over my head, and the minute the top is no longer attached to me, Noah’s lips connect with my skin.

“Val, I missed you so much,” he murmurs, and I chuckle because it’s been…what? A day, maybe two since we last saw each other? But knowing he’s as far gone as I am, makes me want him even more.

I back away from his touch, loving the hungry look in his eyes as I hook my thumbs into my boy shorts and slowly lower them to the floor.

“You’re gorgeous,” he growls. His hands spring forward, but again, I back away, shaking my head. His eyes narrow in confusion, but when I lower to my knees in front of him, they bulge, realizing what I’m about to do.

“Sweetheart, you don’t—” I cut him off when my fingers cup his hard, aching cock through his jeans, eliciting a guttural sound from Noah’s throat. “Damn, that feels good, baby.”

“That’s the idea…” I murmur as my fingers lift his shirt, exposing his flat stomach. Before I have a chance to demand he take it off, it goes flying across the room, landing in a heap next to the wall. My lips lightly brush his stomach as my fingers undo his pants, letting them fall freely to the floor.

“Baby, you don’t have to do this…” he mutters, his eyes closed, and his mouth open with a groan. Little does he know that I need to do this. I need to hear the desperate hunger in his voice, I need to feel the love in his touch before I combust. His eyes move down and watch as I release his cock from the confines of his boxers. The moment my fingers grasp his girth, I know he’s lost. It’s not until my mouth is around his cock, sucking lightly, that his hands find their way into my hair, and he makes a noise I have never heard.

“Fuck, yes, just like that…” I look up and see his head thrown back as his hips piston into my waiting mouth. This is what I wanted. This feeling right here.

“You like that?” I ask, my mouth wrapping around him more. His desperate sounds spur me on as I use my tongue to torture him. It’s not until I swallow him entirely, feeling his thick cock hitting the back of my throat, that he snaps, pulling away and throwing me on top of the bed.

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