Page 79 of Brewing Temptation

He just chuckled, shaking his head.

I found the girls all consoling a livid Noel in the back room, where I’d known Rosalie would tuck them away. The perk of a small-town community was how we all knew each other and looked out for our own. And in her short weeks here, Noel had become ours. Not just mine, but Mistyvale’s too. They’d guard her back. And I’d never been more grateful. She was holding strong; her chin raised, little hands clenching and flexing, arms crossing and uncrossing. But when her gaze landed on me, water brimmed in her eyes, the sight making anger jolt down my spine. Fucking hell, I should’ve beat the bastard’s face in just for putting that kind of pain in her eyes. Consequences be damned.

“He’s gone, baby,” I reassured, squeezing between Elora and Tara, and wrapping her up in a hug. Relief flooded my system as she relaxed into my arms, setting her head on my chest. Every inch of me sang at the contact. At the way she fit against my frame. Trying to focus on that sensation instead of my need to track him down, I said, “Charlie saw him out. I’m going to talk to him about filing for the restraining order up here. Start the process over. This is bullshit.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, her little hand clutching my shirt tightly. “I’msosorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Fuck, I hated laws. We should settle some things Wild West style. The worst part of his spectacular timing was that I’d seen her register that I’d kissed her like that because he was here. And that wouldn’t fucking do. Pressing my mouth to the crown of her head, I gave her a gentle squeeze, trying to think of what I could say, right as Charlie knocked on the door frame.

“James, you gonna give me an update?”

“Yeah, be right there,” I said, pulling her forward to see her eyes. “You okay?”

She nodded, breathing, “Yeah, go. Thank you.”

“We’ve got her,” Elora soothed, offering Noel a glass of water as Rosalie and Alice both sat beside her. Nodding, I backed up to talk to Charlie about how we could—legally—keep her safe so I didn’t have to take it into my own hands. Because making my cousin read me my rights didn’t mean jack shit if it kept her safe.

* * *

The ride homefrom Birch Barrel was precariously silent, Noel staring out the rain-slicked window as towering trees blurred beyond. I wasn’t sure if she was mad at me, hurt by his bullshit venom, or reliving her past. She’d talk if she wanted to. But I’d opened my mouth at least a dozen times, only to close it again before we pulled into the driveway. The engine cut off, leaving us sitting with only the tinny plunk of raindrops against the truck to fill the void. Finally, she reached for her handle and I mirrored the motion, not wanting to rush her, but not about to abandon her either. Noel had just pushed her door open, a wave of chilly air bursting into the cab when she softly spoke.

“Thank you for tonight.”

“Of course,” I said without hesitation.

“You didn’t have to do that.” She slid out onto her feet, turning to face me with a hand on the truck door.

“Stand up for you?” I asked, hopping out into the mud as icy droplets hit my skin. “Kind of the whole reason this started, isn’t it?” The words tasted sour on my tongue because not even I was dense enough to believe that. I’d already resolved to say something—todosomething—and try to earn her time before he ever stepped off that plane. I didn’twantto want her. But I fucking did.

She shrugged a shoulder, looking anything but sure of herself. “Sure. I mean…putting on the show. You didn’t have to sell it like that.” Giving me a sad little smile, Noel closed the door with a creak and metallic slam, and headed through the rain towards the house, leaving me staring after her.

Putting…putting on theshow? Fuck that. Why had I been such a colossal dumbass?

I was around the hood and headed her way in a heartbeat. Noel had just gotten the front door open when I caught up, flying across the porch in a rush. Her eyes widened in surprise when she turned, hand glued to the handle as I stepped in around her. Scooping her hand up in mine, I kicked the damn thing closed, and backed her up with my body until she was pinned against the wall. Threading my fingers through her hair, I angled her up and kissed her harder than I’d ever kissed anyone.

It was a collision, a conquest, a desperate attempt to show her how much I fucking needed her. It was raw, and some primal part of me was desperate to take her right there against the door. To show her this went so far beyond our bullshit little ‘arrangement’.

A little moan filled my mouth as she responded, her hands coming up to tangle in my loose, damp curls, pulling me tighter against her like I wasn’t already at risk of bruising her perfect little lips. She parted for me, my tongue reaching out to taste and take, my knee tucking between her thighs. Satisfaction roared through my chest when she stepped wider for me. Breath heaving, heart pounding, dick throbbing where it pressed against the confines of my zipper, I peeled our mouths apart, staring down into bewildered brown eyes.

“That was so you’d know it wasn’t for the fucking show.”

Noel

Jameson’s desperate,bruising kisses halted only long enough for him to insinuate that this kiss was actually ours. No show. No pretense or ploy. Shock had barely skittered across my senses when he moved back in, and I ground my hips against his, hands scraping over his magnificent body, his clothes chilly and damp from the omnipresent rain.

He panted against my lips for a beat before growling, “I meant what I said tonight, Noel. Don’t for a moment convince yourself that wasn’t the God’s honest truth.”

I wanted to respond, wanted to question, but then his rough, glorious palm had angled my face up and away so he could graze my neck with his mouth like he wanted to eat me alive, spare hand roughly cupping at my breast. Words vanished. Thoughts muddled. Heat exploded, the inferno growing as he roughly tweaked my nipple. Suddenly, I was painfully aware I hadn’t been shaving consistently since I got here. Could I muster the dignity to care? Absolutely not.

“Oh fuck,” I breathed as he sucked on the delicate skin of my neck. Arching into him, our chests heaved together, hips grinding as desperate heat pooled between my legs. His hard cock was about to bust his jeans at this rate, every movement seeming to stoke his arousal. I wanted it to. Wanted to feel his silky smooth skin, to know how he moved, what he tasted like. My fingers scraped under his shirt, hoisting it up to strip the chilled, sticky fabric from his skin. Jameson’s hands abandoned their perusal of my body, clamping down around my wrists.

Panting, he said, “If you start touching me like that, I won’t be able to stop.”

“Good,” I breathed back. “Don’t.”

“Notnow.” He shook his head, confusion colliding with the wave of warmth in my throat. “The first time I fuck you, it won’t be after you were thinking abouthim. The first time I fuck you, my name will be theonlyone on your mind—the only word you remember, the only thing you’ll be able to scream. I won’t have you confusing this with a sympathy fuck or a comfort fuck. I won’t let that asshole tarnish what belongs to us.” When I made to speak, his mouth came down hard and demanding, silencing my retort. Breathing hard, Jameson leaned back just enough to speak, his forehead resting against mine, his next words hot against my lips. “Because if I take you, I expect you to give meeverything. Do you understand me?”

Head shaking, I breathed back, “No. I don’t. Don’t youdarestop.”

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