ArousingMemories (11 page)

She stopped for a second and looked away. It was his turn to
squeeze her hand. He sensed there was more to her story, that she held
something back. After a few seconds, she continued. “They had rigged the
building to explode, in an effort to cover their tracks. They intended you to
die as well. We’re lucky in the timing. A few minutes more and you would have
been gone.”

Heaving a sigh, she looked at him with sad eyes. “I’m so
sorry, Noah. I was supposed to protect you.”

“Hey!” he said, pressing a quick kiss against her trembling
lips. She was trying not to cry. “I’m not a child. I must have known the risks
going in. And, you’re saving me now. It means the world to me to have you to
cling to.” Because he was close to tears himself, he went silent and watched
the ducks some more.

After a few quiet seconds, an unpleasant thought popped into
his mind, however. “Have I killed?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Yes,” Haley’s voice was equally quiet. “But you took no
pleasure in it. You’re not a killer, Noah. You do what you have to do to
protect others.”

Squeezing her hand, he sighed at the news. “Fair enough.” He
sipped at his coffee, looking at the river again.

She tugged at the hand she still held and brought it to her
lips for a kiss on his palm. “You’re an awesome lover,” she added with a sly
grin that lightened the mood as she no doubt intended.

He tossed his head. “That I know. My short-term memory is
intact, don’t you forget.”

“Oh God, now you sound like…” She didn’t finish the
sentence. She didn’t have to.

“Sev,” he filled in the rest for her. When she only nodded,
he asked another burning question he had held in up until now. “Does it bother
you that I was with him the other day?”

“No.” Her response was so quick and simple, he almost believed
her. Almost. As with Sev, there was something in her eyes that told him there
was more going on between these two people than they let on. Their affair was
hardly over as they both claimed. They were tied to each other still. Why
wouldn’t they acknowledge it? Oh, well, it wasn’t as if he was in any position
to act as a therapist. He was in sore need of one himself. If they were going
to pretend this was not an awkward triangle, then so was he.

Putting down his mug, Noah leaned over and cupped Haley’s face
with his free hand. The shadows under her eyes were more prominent in the
sunlight. She needed to take a nap and he was going to help her relax enough to
get one. He held her gaze for long moments and continued to do so as he slowly
lowered his mouth to hers. He gave her a chance to rebuff him, to show how she
might truly feel about him and Sev and to warn him they were not really alone
if it was the case. She made no effort to stop him, however, and he claimed her
with a kiss.

Wanting to both savor her and cater to her, he took his
time. His lips brushed hers with gentle swipes before opening to tug and nip at
her flesh. When she sighed in appreciation, he took the advantage and slipped
his tongue inside her warm mouth. He was welcomed in with a suck and a lick,
and he was content to stay there, tasting and probing. He cupped her head with
both hands to run his fingers through the tangle of her thick, dark hair.

“Hmm,” Haley moaned into him. Her hands slid along his arms
to clench at his shoulders. Her head lifted up a bit as her tongue started to
chase his in earnest.

Noah pulled out of the kiss, ignoring her mewl of protest.
He looked down at her deep, brown eyes and shook his head. “You need to relax.
No touching, no moving,” he added, clasping her hands in his and pressing them
down to the ground on either side of her head. “You’ve been taking such good
care of me. Now it’s my turn to take care of you. Ah!” he admonished when she
started to speak. “Close your eyes,” he commanded in a low voice and stared her
down until she complied. Leaning close to her ear, his hands braced on the
ground next to hers, he added in a whisper, “I’m going to make you wet. I’m
going to make you come.”

A knowing smile played across her lips, but she otherwise
remained as she was. There was still a tenseness about her, though. The furrows
between her eyes indicated she was far from relaxed. Well, he would change
that. He started with small kisses planted right where the tension showed. When
that smoothed out, he moved on to place fluttery pecks on her closed eyes and
along her temples and cheeks. He lapped a thin line along both sides of her jaw
before nipping at her lips. Her mouth opened once more on a sigh, but this
time, he turned down the invitation. Instead, he traced her jawline once more
to tug at her earlobe with his teeth.

Her head moved from side to side and her whole body became
restless. He knew he was having the desired effect on them both. His cock
strained against his jeans, rigid from his simple ministrations to the woman
beneath him. A strong urge welled up inside him to part her legs and plunge
inside what he knew would be a welcoming pussy. He beat it back. This was for
Haley. She deserved the pampering, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it
himself. Slow and gentle was the way to go. He was going to build her to a
frenzied peak.

Noah wasted no more thoughts on what he was going to do, and
got back to doing it. Straddling Haley’s body, he was careful not to touch her
with anything more than his mouth. He picked up where he’d left off, giving her
chaste kisses down her neck. When he reached her shoulder, he allowed himself a
little bite, just enough to make her gasp. She moaned when he chased the hurt
away with a lick. Her body rose up to rub against his. With effort, he arched
his back to keep them from touching. He ignored his hardened cock’s loud
protest.

He could see her nipples jutting out. His mouth watered. He
needed to get rid of the fabric standing in his way. Not trusting his teeth to
be gentle, he lifted his hands to help. His palms rasped against those inviting
breasts as he worked the buttons, and he couldn’t resist clasping the plump
globes once the shirt was gone. Her bra was plain white, yet flimsy. The heat
of her flesh came through it. Haley moaned once more and pressed into his hands
as a reward for his forwardness. Noah grinned at how aroused she was already,
but put his hands back on the grass before swooping down with his mouth again.
His lips latched on to one of the hard nubs through the bra and sucked.

“Unh!” Haley bucked against his mouth, yet kept her hands
down as ordered. When Noah glanced up to check, he saw her fingers were
clenched in tight balls, however. He smiled inwardly while laving her nipple
with lazy circles. He hadn’t relaxed her yet, but that would come.

He took his time with her lovely breasts, showing each
excited point how much he appreciated it. Eventually though he made his way
down her exposed belly. His tongue lapped and his lips nibbled her taut skin
until he hit the waist of her skirt. Time to shift direction. Wiggling down her
body, he stopped when he straddled her knees. Her choice of wearing a skirt
made things very convenient. He slid his hands up her outer thighs, bringing
the filmy material up with them. He stopped when he could see the junction
between her legs and gazed for long moments at the spot waiting for him. The
crotch of the white panties was already wet from her juices. The sight beckoned
him to slide into the moist heat.

Noah bit his lower lip to keep from groaning, and ignoring
the impulse to plant his mouth and gorge to his own delight, he circled the
soft, creamy skin of the thighs with his fingers. With each pass, he moved his
hands farther up, trying to keep his touch as light as possible. Haley’s
breathing quickened and her legs parted more in silent invitation. He ignored
it. No need to rush, after all. When his thumbs reached the edge of her
panties, he slipped them underneath the material. Her labia were plump and wet
and waiting for him. He imagined he could make this woman come right now simply
by gliding his touch over her clit, but where would be the fun in that? Then
again, maybe it would be great fun to make her come now and make her come again
and again.

The power was enticing. Suddenly he wanted to do just that,
make Haley come. He pressed one thumb more firmly into her slick folds and
found her clit. He rubbed it in a circle, hard and fast, and knew a moment of
triumph when Haley arched her back on a stifled cry. Her whole body spasmed in
a wave of climax, and her legs closed against his hands. He didn’t stop rubbing
her clit until she stopped moving. Finally she went limp. Her eyes opened to
slits and she gazed at him with a satisfied smile.

“Come inside me, Noah?” she invited in a breathless voice.

He merely shook his head and held her gaze as he pulled her
panties down. With measured movements, he tugged first one leg and then the
other free from the garment before settling once more across her. Her mons with
its shock of dark curly hair lay bare to him. Her skin glistened from her cum,
and it beckoned him forward. Clasping her hips with his hands, he lowered his
head until his face was mere inches from his target. His tongue darted out and
frenched her slit with short strokes and long ones. He could taste her arousal
and her sensitive nub was still swollen from his earlier touch.

Haley bucked against his mouth and moaned. He took the hint
and pressing into the folds, latched on to her clit with his mouth. He sucked
on it as he would a cock, using tongue and lips to coax another climax. The
legs he held rose up and clamped his head in a viselike grip. It was getting
hard to hold this woman down, her body was jerking too much. She was close to
coming again. And then she did, harder than the first time. He held on tight,
riding her waves of climax, ignoring the fingers that gripped his hair and
tugged up even while her legs held him in place. Only when her movements
quieted did he release her and look up.

Her fingers slid from his hair, and she didn’t open her eyes
this time as she lay spent on the ground. But she spoke. “Now, Noah,” she
commanded.

He obeyed. Jerking up to his knees, he unfastened his jeans
and pushed them down far enough to free his aching cock. It, too, was wet. It
jerked in his hands, demanding its due. He bent Haley’s legs up and lowered
himself between them. He thrust his cock into her waiting pussy and let the
groan of pleasure escape his lips. As soon as he was buried deep within her,
she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer. He lay over her
and claimed her mouth once more in a kiss. He thrust his tongue into her mouth
in a move to rival his other penetration. She met him head-on, urging him to
take her hard and fast in both places. Their moans blended together in a chorus
of pleasure.

Their bodies moved in sync, pushing his cock in and out of
her grasping pussy. Noah’s climax erupted all too soon, and as he let loose his
hot semen inside her warm core, Haley spasmed in yet another release. She cried
into his mouth, and she clamped hard onto his thrusting cock. Her fingers dug
into his shoulder, her heels dug into his back. His own fingers clenched the
blanket until he was spent. When they were both quiet, only their harsh
breathing left, he slid out and lay beside her. Her eyes were closed, her body
limp, her face relaxed.

Noah smiled in satisfaction and closed his own eyes to rest.

Chapter Seven

Haley had spent the afternoon getting laid. Those were Sev’s
first thoughts when he saw her hurrying down the hallway. The idea of it pissed
him off, and the fact that it pissed him off pissed him off even more. It
shouldn’t matter to him who she banged, yet it did. For God’s sake, why had he
sent her back into Noah’s arms if he was only going to resent the idea of it
later? What a hopeless tangle it all was, and most importantly, it was an
unneeded distraction given that hundreds of casualties could erupt in less than
forty-eight hours. The thought brought him back to why Haley was racing toward
him. He had called her, although he doubted he had anything really useful for
them.

“Where are they?” she demanded as soon as she was within a
few feet.

Sev jerked his head to the right. “In there, but I have to
tell you this smells like a big fat nothing to me.”

“You don’t jump at shadows, Sev,” she replied, stopping in
front of him. “Well, not very often anyway.”

He knew she was thinking of the previous night, when he had
shot the creep at the warehouse instead of taking the risk with Haley’s life by
trying to capture the guy alive. “You can poke at me from now until the end of
time about putting down the rabid dog taking aim at you, sugar. I’m not going
to apologize for it. The asshole was nothing anyway, a wannabe, too stupid and
unstable even for the Sons.” Identification of the body had been swift, given
the long rap sheet of its owner.

Haley blew out a breath. “I know. He was there to curry
favor in some way only his crazy mind would understand, but he still may have
had information we could have used.”

Sev held his ground, held her gaze, refusing to regret being
cautious with her life. She broke the stare first.

“Never mind about last night. Let’s concentrate on the two
live ones we have. Beggars can’t be choosers. These guys you hauled in were
acting suspiciously and that’s exactly what we’ve had people out in the field
looking for.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. He rubbed his chin while looking down in
thought. It was still hard to look her in the eye for some reason. “The lab has
the gizmo they were attaching to the Hatch Shell. Hard to say what it is,
although it looks like a container for a bomb. And there was a small amount of
explosives, too. On the other hand, their IDs check out. They’re students at
Cambridge Tech.”

“Makes sense. Given that the Sons are homegrown, I’d expect
some of their members are corn-fed student types.” She blew out a breath.
“Let’s have a look at them.”