Sweet Obsession (Men of Whiskey Row Book 1) (20 page)

“Look at me,” Jack ordered thickly, one hand gripping the headboard His face was a harsh mask of desire as the other hand tangled in her hair while he slowly fed her his cock. Noelle watched him watch her swallow his thickness inch by inch, and it was such a turn on that when he came, she was surprised to find that she did too. Afterwards he slowly pulled out and laid down drawing her close as she gave a big yawn. He gave a hoarse chuckle. “We’re not done, darlin.”

For a big man, he moved fast; and a surprised Noelle found herself on her knees, with her pussy hovering directly above his face. She bent to look down at him between her thighs, feeling a fresh stream of wetness coating them. “Feed me, baby,” Jack commanded, his sexy southern drawl making her giggle with a renewed burst of energy.

With a moan, she gripped the headboard and lowered her sensitive pussy slowly on to his sinful mouth. His powerful hands caressed her thighs before sliding up to grip her hips and hold her in place. Noelle could feel his warm breath on her weeping slit and it made her quiver uncontrollably in anticipation. Then she felt the barest flick of his silky tongue run along her seam, causing her to shudder. “Please stop teasing me!” she begged, reaching a hand down to part her slick nether lips in invitation. Jack gave a devious chuckle before shoving her down and thrusting his skilled tongue high into her wetness, deliciously alternating between tongue-fucking her and nibbling on her clit while a finger slowly teased her anus before pushing inside. With a scream, Noelle shattered under his skilled onslaught. 

“They keep your socks together,” Noelle muttered, giving him a glare. Jack laughed and slung his arm around her, nuzzling her neck with his whiskers; and she laughingly pulled away. “You’re going to give me beard burn, Jack!”

He, too, laughed and pulled her close to whisper in her ear. “At least it’ll match all the other places that you have it,” he teased in a low whisper, sending her into a state of arousal all over again.

“How are we doing over here? Can I get you anything else?” The perky blond flight attendant asked; and although her words were aimed at both of them, her blue eyes were trained exclusively on Jack. Noelle looked over his shoulder and narrowed her gaze at the little hussy, noticing another button had come undone on the woman’s uniform that now exposed an indecent amount of cleavage.

“We’re fine thanks. Just trying to enjoy our privacy,” Jack’s tone was dismissive as he kept his gaze trained on Noelle’s face. Earlier when he was leaving the restroom, the little blonde was waiting outside trying to engage him in flirtatious conversation. It was a waste of time because he only had eyes for his wife. His wife.
Damn that sounded real good,
he thought. Noelle was finally his, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep it that way. An unwanted image of his father’s enraged ruddy face popped into his head.

“Yer mine, Moira! Ya hear?? I’ll never let you go!!”

Jack blinked as Noelle’s soft hand touch his clenched jaw, and he saw the look of concern in her eyes. “You okay, Jack?”

He caught her hand and pressed a quick kiss into the middle of her palm. “I’m fine.”

***

After the flight landed, they picked up their car rental and started the scenic drive to Gatlinburg. Noelle enjoyed the clean fresh air and the lush views of the mountains. They stopped several times for her to take pictures, and Jack enjoyed how taken she was being surrounded in nature because she looked highly out of place with her stylish jeans, crop top, and high-heeled ankle boots.

The sunlight caught the gleam from her multi-layered gold necklaces and aviator shades hiding most of her face.  He watched the other male tourists surreptitiously checking her out, their female companions giving her the side-eye; and Jack felt a burst of pride knowing she belonged to him.
My chick’s badder than yours,
he smirked to himself. They lunched at the Peddler Steakhouse before hitting the road again.

“So tell me a little bit about your hometown, Jack,” Noelle said as she flipped through radio stations. “Oooh I love this song!” she exclaimed and turned up Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”.

Jack looked at her in surprise. “What do you know about Otis? That’s for grown folks, missy.”

Noelle snorted as she snapped her fingers in time to the beat. “Puh-leease. Ian and my uncle used to have the best barbeques, and they would play the skin off of old albums.” She sighed with contentment, “Those were some good times. Did you know my uncle?”

Jack shook his head. “Unfortunately I never had the pleasure. Growing up, we weren’t even aware that Ian was gay until Casey was fourteen, and we were allowed to visit him in New York City. We were orphans and spent our time divided between two residences after our parents died. Ian would always come for us during the summer, and we’d go off on some cool adventure. School was spent on ‘The Row’ except for winter and spring breaks which were spent in D.C.”

“D.C. and New York have some of the most prestigious schools in the nation. Why wouldn’t you get to go there instead of a school in the mountains?” Noelle asked curiously, and Jack looked at her in amusement. “Damn, that sounded snobby. I’m sorry.”

“I got a pretty good education in the mountains, Noelle,” Jack murmured as he switched the station and Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” came pouring through the speakers. Again he was surprised when she started singing along; and together they belted out the words as the vehicle sped deeply into the heart of the Smoky Mountains.

After the song was over Jack turned down the music for a minute and gave her a brief glance before turning his eyes back to the road. “Can I ask you a question?”

Noelle gave him a wary look but nodded her head. “Ask away.”

“Why did you let the chef take credit for your work?” he asked curiously. On more than one occasion he’d been highly annoyed by the way her family went on and on rewarding the little punk while she sat quietly in the background. “I mean, it’s obvious that you’re way better at cooking than him, and yet you said nothing.”

Noelle was silent for so long that he thought she’d changed her mind about answering. Finally, she spoke. “I’ve always loved cooking, but I love my family more, even though they can be a bit critical of me. That’s just who they are. Don’t get me wrong; at times it can be very stressful, but finally after years of seeking their approval, I finally decided I didn’t care about it anymore and just wanted to be left alone.” She shrugged her shoulders. “So when my parents first hired Martin, I could tell he had charmed his way in and there was a lot he didn’t know; so I decided to help out. Why not, you know? I had recently graduated from culinary school and wasn’t doing anything with my skill set. Why not be of use? He needed help.”

Noelle paused to take a sip of her water. “Besides, I liked the challenge of cooking for my family. Their expectations are really high; so if could please them, then I know I could please the POTUS if he ever came to dinner. Anyhow, I don’t need them to validate me. Validation is for parking anyway.”

Jack glanced over to see Noelle looking out the window; and he wished he could take away the hurt still lingering inside of her that was painfully obvious in her voice. An image of the night he first saw her popped into his mind. “I used to think sometimes that you were being smothered alive. You seem like the kind of girl, that if no one was looking, would slide down that long spiral staircase.”

Noelle giggled and realization dawned on him as he looked at her. “Holy hell, you did it, didn’t you?”

The car filled with the sound her musical laughter as she looked back at him and confessed. “Every chance I got, I was sliding down that staircase. Until Mother caught me, and I spent a month pruning the garden and polishing all the silverware by myself.”

Jack laughed again and silently vowed to get her to loosen up again on this trip.

Chapter Fifteen

Jack’s hometown was not the small hick town Noelle expected it to be. Nestled at the base of the Smoky Mountains not too far from Gatlinburg was the small, but prosperous town of Whiskey Row, with a population of 10,000 according to the welcome sign. It was founded in the late 1870’s by European and Asian immigrants who found the overcrowded, larger cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia too competitive to live in. Because it was at the edge of the mountains, they cleverly called it Mountain’s Edge. Blacks eventually moved in; and for a while, racial tensions ran high as the many cultures collided, but eventually everyone found a way to co-exist for the most part.

In 1915, a Russian named Petr Romankov, while exploring, discovered an old, abandoned mine further up the mountain. He had a good feeling about the place and convinced his brothers Ivan and Sergei to explore it with him. They agreed and down the mine shaft they went; not telling anyone but their wives where they were going. The brothers were gone for three days before only Sergei and Peter were seen again. Ivan had met a terrible fate in the mine when it collapsed and the remaining two brothers were lucky enough to make it out alive.

A week after their return, the brothers left town again; and when they came back much to the astonishment of the townsfolk, they brought with them the deed to the land the town was settled on. The Romankov brothers didn’t stop there. They bought as much land up the mountain as they could and then began to restructure and expand the town, adding a bank, more schools and businesses. The year after Prohibition ended, they opened up distilleries, a winery and brewery. With all the alcohol being made and sold, the Romankovs decided to change the town name.

***

Whiskey Row was now a little resort town, a mix between Aspen, Colorado and Park City, Utah but with a larger range of ethnicities from what Noelle could see. The tree-lined town was filled with specialty boutiques, hotels, and restaurants. There was a huge, elegant beauty spa, an old-school type of barbershop, and a tattoo parlor that was next to a dance studio. There was also a livery and blacksmith. The town was Rustic Americana at its hippest; and Noelle instantly fell in love with it, relieved it was nothing like the movie
Deliverance
or that Animal Planet show
Mountain Monsters
.

As they drove down Main Street, Noelle saw people stopping to stare. Jack nodded to some and the greeting was returned. In the rearview mirror, Noelle could see people stepping out into the street to get a better look at their vehicle. It seemed his presence was causing a stir. She glanced at Jack and would have thought he was unaware of the reaction they were creating, but his hands were gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly for him to be relaxed.

“It’s a beautiful place, Jack,” Noelle said sincerely; and he nodded but didn’t turn to give her his signature grin. He seemed very deep in thought as they continued to drive, and Noelle decided she wouldn’t push it, for now. Instead she turned her head, continuing to absorb the gorgeous scenery. The diversity in this small space was shocking. She saw people from all walks of life: cowboys, hipsters, rockers, bikers, prepsters, and business geeks.

Jack continued to drive south into what appeared to be the residential area of town. Then he made a right, and they were cruising down a long driveway towards a huge Chateau-style white, mansion, which was surrounded by a tall, black gate. Outside of the gate was a guard booth where they paused and Jack rolled down his window. He nodded to the huge, stone-faced security guard that stepped out, and Noelle could see the gun holster under the man’s suit jacket. The man nodded back then pressed a button to open the gates, granting them access.

As they pulled into the huge circular driveway next to a crystal water fountain, Noelle took in the exquisite landscaping of the grounds and the guards with leashed Caucasian Ovcharkas patrolling them. It was a beautifully designed fortress, she decided. Jack got out of the driver’s side and walked around to open her door. With guarded eyes on the enormous, Russian bear dogs, she slipped her hand into Jack’s warm one and warily allowed him to help her out.

“Ummmmm…is this your home? And did I see a helicopter landing?” Noelle asked, looking around suspiciously. “And if you say yes, is public relations really code for something else?” Jack’s broad shoulders shook with silent laughter.

“No this is actually –” he started to speak but was interrupted by the front door opening, followed by a loud squeal of excitement. A tiny girl with a huge, reddish-brown, curly afro and a peanut butter complexion shot out of the entrance and down the steps. She launched herself at Jack, pushing Noelle out of the way in the process. He caught her, twirling her around as she shrieked with laughter.