Page 160 of Chasing Infinity

Noah arches one of his dark eyebrows at me, his eyes darkening. “Yeah?” I nod my head, bobbing my chin up and down. Noah steps closer and cups the side of my jaw, tilting my lips toward his so he can kiss them. When he pulls away, he winks at me. “Well, then I think we better do something about that, hm?”

I agree, and we make quick work of walking across the square back toward home, not wanting to waste any time. As soon as I flip on the lights in the apartment, I freeze. My eyes dance around the room, taking in the mess of red and green rings made of construction paper strung up along the walls. My jaw falls open, and I raise a hand to my mouth.

“Are you surprised?” Noah whispers in my ear, his husky voice causing goosebumps to pop up along my arms.

“Noah,” I gasp, shaking my head as I turn to look at him. “How did you know?”

“You told me,” he shrugs. “A long time ago, you mentioned that one of your favorite Christmas traditions was making a countdown to Christmas paper chain with your mom.”

“And you just remembered that? After all these years?”

Noah grins. “I remember everything you told me, Parks. You’re one of my favorite humans in the world. How could I not?”

Dropping my bags on the floor, I throw my arms around his neck, pressing my body to his. Noah wraps his arms around my waist, holding me tighter to him. He leans down and presses his lips to mine. My eyes close, and I melt against him, the feel of his kiss causing heat to bloom deep in my belly.

He kisses me senselessly, and I lose track of time. Finally, he pulls away. Both of us are breathing heavily. His eyes gleam as he stares down at me, his lips swollen from kissing me so hard.

“Would you like to do the first one tonight? Then maybe we can pick this up again in the bedroom?” he asks, his voice low and sultry.

I nod, untangling myself from him and going over to where the paper chain ends. The first ring is made up of green construction paper. I hook my finger against it and meet Noah’s eyes. He gives me an encouraging grin, and I rip it in two.

There’s something so satisfying about ripping apart the rings each day, counting down until Christmas. Even though I’m fully grown, Christmas is still one of my favorite holidays. There’s something so magical about waking up early in the morning when the sky is still dark and seeing the Christmas Tree in my living room fully lit up.

I watch the paper ring fall elegantly to the floor. When I look up, Noah’s standing close to me, his eyes glittering as he watches me. With two steps, I move closer to him and wrap my arms around his neck again. Noah’s hands trace over my back, coming to settle on my waist. He pushes me back just an inch away to look down at me.

“Thank you, Noah. This was,” I shake my head, “a perfect surprise. I can’t believe you did this for me.”

He leans toward me until our foreheads are touching. A sideways smirk appears on his lips as he whispers, “It’s only construction paper, Parks. And even if I had to construct this chain out of titanium, I would, just to see you smile like that.”

I close my eyes and breath him in, appreciating his specific blend of cedar wood and a swirl of green apple. All Noah. All mine.

Before I’m fully aware of what I’m doing, I tilt my chin toward him. Noah meets me halfway, closing the distance between us until there is none at all. His kiss is hot as he presses me closer to him. His hands around my waist pull at me until our hips are flushed together. My hands trail up the back of his neck and into his hair, gripping the strands.

Noah makes a guttural groan at the sensation of me tugging at his hair, and somehow his fingers hold me even tighter. He pulls away from my mouth, his lips moving down to my neck. I tilt my head away, giving his hot mouth more access to my flushed skin.

“God, Parks. You’re so—” his voice breaks as I moan from the sound of his husky voice, heavy with passion.

“Noah,” I whisper as he laves his tongue over the pulse in my neck. “Noah, I need you.”

Before I get to ask him twice, Noah is sweeping me up in his arms. I gasp out loud, my arms gripping around his neck, so I don’t lose my balance. As soon as he’s got a good hold of me, Noah walks us straight out of the living room and into my bedroom. He kicks the door behind him and walks me right over to the bed, where he dumps me on my mattress.

As I settle onto the bed, Noah steps away from me. His eyes are dark as he surveys me. I stretch my arms above my head and arch my back, thrusting my breasts toward him as if to help entice him further.

Noah’s chest rises and falls with his breath. He lets out a low rumble and then moves toward me. Leaning over the edge of the mattress, he claims my lips and devours me. A hot spark of arousal shoots straight from where his lips touch mine to my core. I writhe underneath him, my hands coming up and circling around his neck, pulling him in closer to me.

Noah’s hand slips under the hem of my shirt. The feel of his skin on mine ramps up my need for him tenfold. I arch against him again, moving my hands down toward the edge of his top. Before I get the chance to rip it off of him, he’s pulling away from me. I feel the sudden loss of his contact, and I whimper.

“Easy, baby. Let’s take it slow,” he whispers, gruff and gravelly. “I want to enjoy this.”

I wiggle on the bed and grip the hem of my shirt, whipping it over my head and reaching behind myself to unclip the band of my bra. As soon as it’s released, I fling the undergarment away from me, baring myself to him.

Noah’s eyes dilate as he watches me, his pupils blowing out until his blue eyes are almost black. As his gaze is locked on me, I slide my hands onto my breasts, plucking at my nipples once, then twice, then circling around the sensitive skin until my skin breaks out in goosebumps. Noah’s attention is glued to me, waiting to see what I’ll do next.

My hands move down from my breasts to the button of my jeans. As smoothly as I can, I undo the button and the zipper, sliding the waistband down around my hips. Noah finally steps in to help, hooking his fingers through the loops and yanking the denim down my legs. He tosses the restrictive clothing onto the floor and then turns his attention back to me.

Slowly, he leans down until his lips are hovering over my breast. At an agonizing pace, he sticks his tongue out. He runs a circle around my nipple, tracing the shape of my areola until I’m shivering beneath him.

I gasp out his name, arching my back and thrusting my breasts toward him, silently telling him what I want. Noah flattens his tongue and presses it to my right nipple, laving against it and then moving away so he can latch his mouth to my breast. His tongue flicks over my sensitive nipple a few times until I’m about ready to scream. Then he moves to the other side, performing the same type of delicious torture.

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