Page 54 of Your Fault

“Unless I remember wrong, last time you were the one taking the reins, Freckles. Now you’re at it again? Who gave you permission?”

“Permission?” she repeated, her eyebrows raised. “Keep acting smart and you won’t get anything at all.”

I laughed. “Babe, you won’t regret waking me up,” I assured her, pulling off the T-shirt, rubbing her body, and maneuvering to where I wanted to be. I kissed her legs and thighs, counting to ten to keep control of myself. Noah stirred, sighing, gripping the sheets, and I knew I was about to make my promises reality. “Look at me,” I ordered her.

As we locked eyes, she said, “Oh, God.”

“You like that?” I asked, and just then, I heard a noise behind the door.

I cursed, got on top of Noah so she was completely concealed beneath me, and pulled the covers over us.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “I was about to…” Justthen, I covered her mouth with one hand while the door opened with a creak.

“Nicholas?” Raffaella asked.

Dammit!

“Raffaella, I was asleep,” I replied, trying to maintain the calm in my voice while Noah lay beneath me, stiff as a board.

“Sorry. I just wanted to thank you for staying here with Noah.”

Noah—I could feel her just then, shaking beneath me.

“No worries. I wouldn’t have wanted to leave her alone,” I said, smiling, caressing her now. I looked down and could just barely glimpse Noah’s eyes, so big that I almost cracked up laughing.

“I know,” Raffaella said serenely. “Okay, well, I’ll let you sleep. Your father and I were hoping we could all have breakfast together in a bit.”

“Great,” I said, frowning from pain as I felt Noah’s teeth sink into my arm. Her mother shut the door, and Noah slapped my shoulder.

“Idiot!” she snarled.

I laughed again and kissed her, sliding my tongue between her lips and savoring her while my fingers toyed with her. A few flicks, and all her anger had subsided.

“You’re a douche,” she said, closing her eyes, enjoying my attentions.

“A lucky one. Come here.” I took off my underwear and pulled her to me without waiting, grunting into the pillow as I felt her. She murmured something unintelligible while I started stroking, not wanting to waste time.

“Please, Nicholas, I need to finish…” she whispered, digging her nails into my back. I’d left her hanging before, but now I caressed her again, wriggling my way between our bodies.

When I heard her gasp, I stopped for a few seconds, trying to stretch the time on so I wouldn’t come, too.

I started over, going slowly, waiting for her to recover. Nothing compared to feeling her like this, with no barrier between us, skin against skin. Since Noah had gone on the pill, I was in heaven.

“Just one more,” I said, slowing down. “Let’s try and finish at the same time.”

And we did. Together, we reached that spectacular liberation that left us exhausted for long minutes. We lay still in bed, trying to recover our breath.

“That’s what happens when you try to waylay me in the morning,” I said.

“I’ll try and remember that for next time.”

Months had passed since the last time I had breakfast with my father in the kitchen. I think it was shortly after Noah returned from the hospital after the kidnapping. Doing it again was very weird. Raffaella was there, too. We were a happy family, I guess.

I didn’t want them to see how little I cared to be there. Plus, Noah didn’t like seeing me in a bad mood with her mother there, so I tried to act relaxed. Noah sat next to me. She wasn’t so much eating her cereal as playing with it. The radio was on in the background as always, and the way my father and Raffaella were sitting there across from us told me this wasn’t just a casual meal together.

“So…” my father started, looking back and forth between Noah and me. “How’s everything going? You’ll be off to school soon, Noah. Do you have everything ready?”

“Not even close. I still need to get started packing,” she said, putting a huge spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

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