His Price (17 page)

“Coventry. Until a year ago, then we moved to Providence. You know I said that at lunch?” A thin brow pulled up, lips remaining parted.

God, this woman is beautiful.
I couldn't take my eyes off her, even the tiniest detail of her face kept me mesmerized.

“Yeah, well, lunch was a bit distracting for me. If you hadn't realized that already. Why did you move?”

“Uh, uh, uh.” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, waving a single finger. “One question at a time, it's my turn.” Picking up her fork, she poked around the food on her plate. “What's your middle name?” she said, sliding a piece of chicken into her mouth.

“Skip.”

With her mouth half full, she mumbled. “No, you can't skip. What is it?”

“Really? I don't want to say it, it's embarrassing.”

“Come on, no one likes their middle name, it's a fact. So spit it out already, it can't be that bad.”

“Fine. But let me go on record saying I don't want to hear it ever again.” Rolling my eyes, the word fell out as a whisper. “Regan.”

Chuckling, she brought her napkin to her face. “What? Really? Regan?” Her laugh grew louder as she said it together. “Hegan Regan?” I watched her body shake with each attempt to inhale, trying to contain her laughter.

“Yes, can we move on now?” My lip curled at the corner. I hated my middle name, but it was comical. I couldn't deny the fact that the two names rhymed with each other, and to this day I had no idea what my parents were thinking.

“Okay, I'm sorry. Go, your turn.” Her lips sealed tight, small giggles still emanating from inside her throat.

“Why did you move?”

Noella stopped smiling immediately. Her body tensed up, back going stiff. “Well, that's when my mom got sick. We moved to be closer to the hospital she's been in.” Resting her fork on the table, her fingers began to wrap around each other.

“I'm sorry, that has to be tough.” I didn't really know what to say. I've never been in a situation like that before. No one close to me has ever been gravely ill or come close to death. So finding the words to give her some form of comfort wasn't easy.

But that's what I wanted to do. I had the overwhelming urge to grab her and hold her, tell her I would fix her mom and it would all be fine.

Wow, where is this coming from? I've never felt like this before, never wanted to do anything I could to help someone else.

Watching her entire frame fill with worry and fear, it pained me; hitting me right in the gut. Her pain had become my pain, and I needed to stop it,
for her.

Noella shook her head. “It's alright. It'll be okay.” Her lungs started to rapidly fill with air, nose squeaking as she took in slow deep breaths. She was on the brink of crying.

“Yes, it will be. I'll make sure of it, I promise.”

Lifting her eyes to mine, the welling water balanced on the edges of her lids. “You can't promise me that, Hegan. Even if you did give her everything she could ever need, you can't promise that.”

My stomach whirled with a feeling I wasn't familiar with. Was it sadness? Uncertainty? Or just human nature to feel her emotions? I didn't know.

I've spent years burying anything and everything if it tried to clench my insides. Those feelings weren't welcomed in my world, and I learned early on that my feelings didn't really matter.

“Noella, I'm going to make sure your mom gets what she needs. I can promise you that.” Wrapping my fingers around hers, I squeezed firmly. “And I'm serious. Regardless of anything else, I can promise you that.”

Her shoulders rolled forward, sniffling into her napkin. I could tell she was close to her mother, this hit her deep. A single tear crested her lid, trailing down her cheek. Cupping her chin, my thumb brushed the drop away.

Every nerve in my body became charged, firing rapidly. Noella deserved a life where she didn't have to worry, didn't have to struggle. My brain started to toil over my goal and my feelings.
What the hell am I doing? Is this worth it? Worth everything?

“Why do you need me to have your baby? You said you'd lose everything, but I need more. Why?” Narrowing her eyes, she searched my face, searched me for the answer.

Her need to understand the entirety of this and what I put on her; plagued every muscle in her face.

Taking a deep breath, I gave her the reason she was looking for. “On my birthday, my dad told me I needed to give him a grandchild. He said if I didn't, then he was going take everything from me.
Everything.”
Tearing my eyes from hers, my hands fell limp. “I don't want to live on the street, in an alley. I need this.”

“So were both screwed, huh?”

“I don't know, Noella.” Spinning my fork against the table, I couldn't look at her. I've been trying to keep my head straight, focused on what was supposed to happen.

But it was getting harder to do. Everything I had been so sure of was slowly dissolving around me.

I didn't have the answer anymore.

Noella

M
y mind had been made up, he was getting what he wanted. Was I nervous about that? Afraid of what my future would be like with a baby in the picture?

The answer was simple.

No.

I was more afraid of what my mother would go through if I didn't. Watching Hegan fiddle with his fork, tossing food around his plate like a child trying to avoid vegetables, I could tell he felt differently.

He didn't know what his future looked like, or what the hell he wanted out of his life. The only thing he had been focused on was the money coming to him. Money that in the end wouldn't do shit to really make him happy.

“Hegan, what do you want out of this besides money?” Tilting my jaw, a single curl broke free, framing my eye.

“What do you mean?” Confusion filled his face, brows forcing down, wrinkles riding up to the crest of his forehead.

“You probably could have hired a lawyer to fight your dad's offer, but you decided to just go for the baby. Why? I know you're not stupid, a baby is a lot of work.”

Hegan sat still, an open gaze fixed across his face. His mouth was thin as a razor, no words forming against his tongue. Shaking his head, eyes falling back to his plate, he didn't have an answer to give.

“You don't know?” I said, lip perching to the side. My hand wrapped around his wrist, fingers gently circling the ink. “What's the first thing that comes to mind when I ask you,
what do you want?”
Tracing the deep lines penetrating his skin, I watched goosebumps ride up his arm.

Licking his lips, he forced out hot oxygen from his lungs. “You,” he said, jerking his head up. “That's what I think, I want you.”

I didn't expect that, every inch of me went numb. Chills ran over my body, the hair on my neck standing as the words reached my brain.

What? He can't be serious, can he?
My walls that had been protecting me started to crumble, withering away as he spoke. Hegan didn't break his fixed stare, he peered into my eyes, his entire body trembling subtly in his seat.

“What?” That was all I could mutter out. I felt like I had been torn out of my body. My lungs seized, muscles tensing with a wanton need to just leap over the damn table and kiss him.

“You're the first thing that came to my head,
you.”
Leaning in, he brushed the curl behind my ear. “I don't think you realize how incredible you truly are.” Lifting my head, he caressed the exposed flesh of my neck.

No. No. He doesn't know what he's saying.
This was a job, a cash job. A baby for him and all the help I could get for my mom. How could he sit there and try to steal my heart too?

I already agreed to give him what he wanted!

Why is he doing this?

Parting my lips, I tried to speak, but only a voiceless huff spilled out. My throat gurgled with sound, short pants rolled off my tongue. Finally finding my voice, I said, “Hegan, you don't know what your saying.”

“Yes, I do.” He pulled on my face, stretching my back forward, bringing me closer to his chiseled jaw. His mouth brushed against my cheek, whispering into my ear. “I know what I want, I'm just sorry it took me so long to find it.” His dampened lips pressed against my skin, light kisses floating down to my neck.

Rolling my head, my eyes fell back inside my skull. Colors started to shoot across my lids; blues, greens, yellows. The bright flashes coated my brain, dripping down to my belly, and driving the butterflies into a rampant storm.

Draping my hands over his shoulders, I dug my nails into the muscles of his back. It was a raw, feral heat between us. Sweat broke across his skin, emerging in small droplets as he pulled me onto his lap.

I had surrendered to my feelings, to the smoldering coals burning in my gut. His palms opened against my upper back, slowly trailing down my spine. Shivers transcended across my skin, head falling back, a light moan escaped into the dimly lit room.

Rocking my hips against his waist, I could feel his bulge pressing up. The thick cock massaged my clit as we glided our bodies together. Every thought that hung on chains around my brain had ceased. Having his baby, the debt I had... All of it.

Gone.

In that moment it was just the two of us, nothing else mattered.

“Noella,” he moaned. “God, you're beautiful.” His hands gripped the base of my head, mouth pressing firmly against my lips. His tongue slid between the smooth flesh, tangling with mine. Each muscle twirled together, wrapping wildly.

Every feeling that I'd brushed away and coaxed into the steel vault I created, had streamed to life. Hegan made me feel like I was at the top of the highest drop of a roller coaster; adrenaline purged my veins, a rush that couldn't be replicated.

A rush I never wanted to end.

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, I tore it over his head, dropping it to the floor. Hegan was built hard as cement. Dragging my fingers down his stomach, his abs rippled like an ocean current. The warmth between my thighs, drove harder onto his cock, grinding down onto his jeans.

I felt like the floor was dropping from beneath my feet, the walls around me faded into a blackness. Hegan had completely consumed me.

“This might sound crazy, but I wish this wouldn't end,” I said, rubbing my clit faster against his hidden cock. Hegan pressed my hips down, gyrating up to meet my pace.

“You don't have to wish, I'm not holding you hostage. But I won't let you go.” Hegan's face held firm, a wall of one emotion.

No fear, no anger, no sadness. Only intention.

My eyes darted between his, searching for a flicker of untruthfulness. Could he be trying to ease my nerves, and nurture my decision so I didn't question myself?

But I saw none of that. What I saw, the light that streaked across the forest colors...

It was
genuine.

In one swoop, Hegan had shoved our plates on the table, the sound of ceramic against wood screeched through my ears. Setting me down in their place, my dress slinked up to the crease of my hips, exposing my freshly barren pussy. A cool breeze brushed my skin, turning my body rigid.

His warm hands wrapped around my inner thighs, spreading his heat across my body. Any trace of a chill had swept away, my body was on fire. Hegan's firm grip tugged my ass to the very edge of the table, forcing my legs open wider by his waist.

Arching my back, I inhaled a thick breath, ribs pushing my breasts into his chest. The air hitting my lungs felt like I was swallowing bits of flaming ash; the hot oxygen burned as it swam down my throat.

Hegan pressed my shoulders back, folding me onto my elbows. A single hand dipped into my lower spine, fingers driving in hard to hold me in place. Taking his free hand, Hegan tore at the button of his jeans.

I wanted him so bad, every piece of my body wanted him inside me. Ready and willing, I didn't need the foreplay, didn't need to be sweet talked. All I needed and wanted was his cock driving in as deep as he could go.

“Hegan, fuck me. I need you to fuck me.” Using my forearms, I gripped the base of his neck and pulled him down. Running the tip of my tongue over his ear, his body quivered.

“Fuck, you're wild.” With his pants around his ankles, Hegan palmed the thick shaft pressing against his briefs. “I'm going to give you all of me tonight.”

Arching one brow, a soft giggle highlighted my tone. “You act like this is the first time, did you forget the sex we had already?”

Smirking, Hegan hung his head. “Babe, I didn't forget. I could never forget. But tonight, it's not just sex. Tonight is something else.”

“How so?” I asked, sliding my fingers through his hair, twisting a few strands and rolling them between my grip.

In his eyes, as he swept them over my body, stopping on my face; a seriousness flooded his expression. “Because I care about you, Noella. I've never cared before. You make me feel something.”

Sitting quietly, my hands remained toiled in his roots. He rendered me speechless, I could only hold my stare on his face. I felt my chest rise and fall rapidly, ears buzzing with a dull chime that seemed to be set in the distance.

There was nothing ringing around us, that sound was my heart, pounding so intensely it was rattling my bones. His words filled my thoughts, clenching my stomach and twisting my insides into knots.

I did that? I gave him something to feel? Me?

“Heg—”

Slicing my voice in half, he drove his mouth onto mine. The tip of his cock tickled my wet, swelling clit. He was standing firm, hard and ready to fill my pussy. Wiggling my hips, I reached down and guided his length inside.

Each inch that spread me open pulsed. Engorged, his cock tasted my walls, the juice dripping down eased him in further. I felt every rippled vein as he slid in slowly. Hegan paused, looking down. I thought he had reached the limit I could take. Fuck, I could almost feel him in my belly already.

But I was wrong, there was more of him left to go, a lot more.

In one swift push, Hegan grunted, and his cock was buried inside me up to the base. Tensing around his shaft, I felt him jerk inside me, the tip of his dick tapping the ceiling of my pussy. His head fell to my shoulder, hands squeezing my hips hard, nails digging in firmly to keep me static.