ArousingMemories (6 page)

“No,” she reassured him and couldn’t help clasping his hand with
hers.

He looked at her face now. “We are lovers, aren’t we? I mean
we were before my injury?”

“Yes, we are. Not exactly encouraged in the organization
given that you’re my subordinate, but not disallowed, either.”

Noah frowned. “I met our boss, Ms. McGillicutty?”

“Ms. Mac, yes.”

“A very scary woman. I think she made my nurse wet himself
when she told him to leave us alone.”

“She has that effect on everyone. Fortunately she’s on our
side.”

He nodded his agreement. “She was actually very kind to me.
Very reassuring. She told me no matter what, the agency would take care of me.
She said I was not alone. People keep saying that.”

Squeezing his hand, Haley said, “Because you’re not, Noah.”

“I certainly wasn’t last night. Thank you, Haley.”

“Did my being here help?”

He chuckled. “Oh, yes. You helped me get to sleep very well.
However, I can’t help remembering somehow I didn’t manage to reciprocate.” He
raised his eyebrows at her.

She smiled at him before turning his hand over and licking
his palm. “Don’t worry about it. There’s plenty of time to reciprocate.” She
couldn’t hold the smile. “However, first we need to do some work if you’re up
to it.”

“Absolutely. I want to help.”

Haley settled back on her heels and opened the folder.
“Good. I have some pictures here and I want you to tell me if you recognize
anyone, or if any memories are jogged by looking at them.” She handed him the
pile of eight-by-ten color photos she and others had taken while keeping tabs
on Noah’s infiltration of the terrorist group. With bated breath, she waited to
see if he recognized the men and remembered what they had said. She searched
his face for any sign he remembered, hoping he would, not only because of the
lives it would save, but also because otherwise she would have to continue with
Operation Seduction. The plan was no hardship, of course, and justified, given
what was at stake. Still, it nagged at her how she was using Noah.

He frowned as he worked through the pictures, finally shook
his head violently and threw himself back against the chair. “Damn it! I have
no idea who these men are. Nothing is coming to me.” He looked at his arms and
chest where bruises were still livid and cuts barely scabbed over. “They did
this to me. They tortured me. I should remember who they are.”

Hearing his misery, Haley grabbed the file from his hands
and slapped it onto the table nearby. She took his hands in her own, rubbing
her thumbs across his knuckles. “It’s okay, Noah. Don’t worry about it. We had
to try and now we know it won’t be so easy to bring your memories back. We’ll
think of something else.”

He sighed. “What else could possibly work?”

Haley swallowed hard before responding. “Well, when I need
to remember something, I find it easier if I stop trying so hard and simply
relax. I distract myself.” She almost choked on the last sentence, and yet it
wasn’t a lie. The strategy did work. She had to put the nagging guilt aside.
She had a job to do, and right now, her job included seducing Noah. To that
end, she pulled one of his hands up to her mouth and sucked his forefinger
inside. She sucked on it as she would the meatier part of him. The towel he
wore moved as his cock roused with her provocative touch. She disentangled her
other hand from his to slide it along Noah’s inner thigh, a place mercifully
free of injury. He stopped her progress with his own hand, however.

His lovely green eyes stared down at her intently. “You said
we were lovers. Are we in love as well?”

Love? Were they in love? No, she loved Severin Blake, the
incessant tiny voice screamed again in the back of her mind.
Shut up
,
the more rational part commanded. She knew she couldn’t lie to Noah regardless.
Releasing his finger, she answered as honestly as she could without hurting
him. “We haven’t known each other long enough to have fallen in love.”

If he found her answer too much of an evasion, he didn’t
call her on it. Instead, he yanked the towel away from his body, exposing the
magnificent erection he sported. Haley didn’t hesitate to reach up and grab it
in a firm clasp. “Ah,” he exclaimed and smiled. “You certainly have a way with
my cock, and you do a great job of making me forget my problems.”

“I love your cock.” The statement was true, and as she
stared at the growing length of his hard-on, she licked her lips. “I love tasting
it.”

Haley maneuvered around his legs to position herself between
them. It took no effort at all to lean over Noah’s lap and suck his cock into
her mouth as she had his finger. It tasted so clean and sweet, the loose skin
giving way to her tongue and lips. His gasp of pleasure spurred her on. She
pressed down farther, taking the hardness as deep as she could. With one hand,
she worked the base of his cock where her mouth couldn’t go, with the other,
she massaged his balls. Her forefinger pressed into the taut flesh right
beneath them.

Noah’s hands descended onto her head. His fingers entwined
in her hair and gently tugged at the strands. She pulled her mouth back until
only the tip of his cock was inside, tickling the underside of the glans with
her tongue. It was wet and salty. Glancing up, she could see his head was back
against the chair, his eyes closed. His breath came out in shorter and shorter
pants. He was close to coming, so lunging back down on his cock, she sucked as
hard as she could. Hot semen hit the roof of her throat, but she didn’t stop.
She merely arched her tongue to catch his juice and continued to milk him until
his movements subsided. When he let go of her head, she popped up to spit his
semen in the bathroom sink.

He watched her closely when she reentered the room. “Sorry,”
he said.

“Sorry?”

“I don’t think I was supposed to do that, come in your
mouth.” he clarified.

“Ah.” Haley sauntered back to him, not even trying to hide
how pleased she was that she had blown his mind, in a good way. She put aside,
too, the nagging sense of disappointment that her touch hadn’t instantly caused
his memories to flood back. Give it time, she told herself, and enjoy the sex
for what it is. “I don’t mind, I just don’t swallow, is all.”

“Okay.” Patting his lap, he added, “Come here.”

She frowned. “You must be too sore for me to sit on you.”

He shook his head. “It’s not that bad.”

“Hmm.” She wasn’t so convinced. “Are you sure you’re up for
anything more?”

“Haley, please,” he pleaded. “You’ve done a bit of touching
in the last few hours. I’d like to do some touching of my own.”

She didn’t need to be asked again. Her body already hummed
with the desire to be touched. Her nipples were hard points, and her panties
wet beneath her skirt. The mere fact that she elected to wear something other
than her usual pants said something. Kicking off her pumps, she did as he asked
and sat gingerly across his legs. The moment she did so, Noah wrapped his arms
around her and pulled her in for a long, deep kiss. His tongue pressed past her
willing lips and swirled around her mouth. It was so good, so comfortable, she
almost missed how his hand had snuck under her shirt. In a move she knew well,
he unclasped her bra, freeing her breasts.

While he continued his gentle assault on her mouth, he
shoved her shirt and bra up so he could play with one of her breasts. The other
one pressed against his naked chest. His skin was warm and inviting, his touch
teasing. Her body ached for more, and she couldn’t hide her need. She pressed
closer into him, whimpering her desire. He broke off the kiss, but before she
could complain, his mouth moved down to suck the exposed nipple. She groaned as
he tugged the hard nub into his mouth and sucked and laved it much as she had
done with his cock. Her clit throbbed in reaction and her fingers dug into the
back of his chair. It was possible she would come from this effort alone.

“Noah,” she urged.

“Easy.” It was his turn to soothe her. His hand snaked under
her skirt while his mouth went back to sucking on the hard tip. A finger
pressed against her swollen flesh through her panties’ thin lining.

She whimpered again and rubbed her head against his. Her
hips thrust up to increase the pressure on her clit. Noah took the hint. He
slipped his fingers past the top of her panties and slid them between her
now-soaked folds. He moved slickly against her flesh. She jolted from the touch
on her clit. Now it was her time to pant and moan.

“Faster, harder,” she urged her lover, and he complied.

Noah sucked hard on her breast. His fingers plunged into her
pussy as his palm rasped against her aching clit. She squeezed her hot channel
as tight as she could around the invading fingers, and thrust into his hand.
She was like an animal, writhing and gasping as the first wave of orgasm hit
her. With her eyes closed, there was nothing to see except the white-hot flare
of her climax. There was nothing to hear except the roar of her own release.
And there was nothing to feel except the bone-deep pleasure of Noah’s touch.
The orgasm lasted long seconds, crested, receded, crested again, until she lay
limp in her lover’s arms.

It took a minute or two of oblivion before Haley came back
to the real world and realized Noah held her in a vise-hard grip. His face was
tucked into the crook of her neck, and yes, there was wetness there that she
didn’t think was from her own sex-driven sweat. She kissed the top of his head.

“Noah?” He shook his head in response, saying nothing.
“Noah,” she said more firmly and lifted up his face to look in his eyes. They
were indeed wet and he looked miserable. Alarm shot through her. “Did I hurt
you?” She tried to get up from his lap, but he held her tightly to him.

“I’m fine. Physically,” he amended. With one hand, he wiped
the tears from his face with obvious disgust. “I can’t seem to keep my emotions
under control, is all. One minute I’m happy, the next sad.”

“You’ve been through a lot,” she reminded him, her heart
breaking.

“I know, and I hate it. I hate being so useless. I hate
looking into the mirror and not recognizing my own face. I hate not recognizing
your face,” he added in a softer tone. Cupping her cheek, he kissed her sweetly
on the lips before looking away.

“It’s okay,” she reassured him, mimicking his actions. “Give
yourself time. We’ve probably overdone it.” The idea caused guilt to well up
again. She’d pushed too hard and too fast. And even though she rationalized it
as a way to get back his memories, part of her was afraid she was doing it more
for selfish reason. Perhaps it was her way to keep desire for Severin at bay.

“No,” was Noah’s sharp reply, although he responded to what
she had said, not what she had thought. “I love what we’ve done. It’s so normal
within such abnormality. It helps, but I am tired. I suppose I should take a
nap. Like a five-year-old during kindergarten,” he grumbled.

It made Haley smile. This time, when she tried to get up, he
let her and he also let her help him up from the chair and back into bed. He
caught her hand as she pulled away. “Would you mind terribly staying with me
for a while? I mean, if you’re not too busy.”

Lying down beside him, she said, “No, it’s fine. I don’t
have a meeting for a couple of hours yet. I’ll stay.”

“Thank you,” he sighed and closed his eyes.

As she lay there listening to his breathing slow down and
even out, she prayed she was doing the right thing.

Chapter Four

Sev sat at the conference table doodling mindlessly on his
notepad while Haley debriefed various field operatives. There really was no
need to take better notes as all anyone said was that they had found nothing.
No suspicious people, activities or items in the last two days and time was
getting short. Within days, Boston would be jammed with thousands of people in
town to celebrate the Fourth of July. If they didn’t figure out where The True
Sons of Bitches, as he liked to think of them, were planning their mayhem, it
was going to be an ugly event. It made him sick to his stomach.

They needed to get lucky and fast, or Noah needed to
remember what he had learned the night of the explosion. Sev knew that when she
wasn’t coordinating the fieldwork or conferring with Ms Mac, Haley hung out
with Noah. What the two of them were doing was a matter of speculation on his
part, but he had a pretty good idea. Too bad it hadn’t worked yet. Of course,
Noah was still a bit shaky from his injuries. Sev had kept his ear to the
ground on that score. According to Noah’s nurse, a nice guy who was not Sev’s
type in the least, the patient was slowly recovering and regaining his
strength. It was hard to believe Haley would push the guy’s recovery with hot
and heavy full-court-press sex.

He’d wrestled with the idea of putting a similar plan into
action. If Haley was right, and he knew she wouldn’t have lied or been mistaken
about something so important, then Noah should be okay with Sev’s advances.
Still, he wasn’t so sure. He didn’t know squat about amnesia. What if it
changed a person? If Noah didn’t know his own name, maybe he didn’t know he was
comfortable being bi, either. As he thought it, Sev scribbled “coward” on his
paper. He was being a coward. Sexuality was ingrained. It had taken him a few
years to accept it about himself, to accept he was a guy who liked fucking
women and men in equal measure. Sure, it made him different, but it also made
life a hell of a lot more interesting. Maybe being seduced by Sev would
kick-start Noah’s memories when Haley’s touch couldn’t do the trick.

The competitive thought made him smile inside and he felt
guilty about it. It wasn’t supposed to be about besting his former love. It was
about saving lives. The bitch of it was he couldn’t keep Haley out of the
equation. He couldn’t keep her or his longing for her at bay. She was right
there, hair slightly mussed, clothes wrinkled, her face set in a serious way
that told him she was concentrating very hard. There was nothing even remotely
alluring about her at the moment, yet he wanted her as much as he ever had. If
he allowed himself to stare at her for a few seconds more, his cock would get
hard. His bored mind would conjure up images of hoisting her onto the
conference table, stripping down her pants and plunging his raging hard-on into
her wet pussy.