Chapter 14

Long, Hot, Hungry, and Dirty

IT WAS THE WEIRDESTthing. She floated on a cloud at the same time a suede flogger connected with a thwap against both her bottom cheeks at once. Stretching, Fiona groaned because it felt so good on her joints and muscles. When she could only go so far because of the cuffs around her wrists and ankles, she moaned when a flogger smartly landed on her ass again.

"What the heck is going on?"

Her words hung in the air as she sat up, suddenly wide awake. She looked around. Noah's big comfy bed in his guest room was the cloud in her dream and the restraints, the linens twisted around her body. Her moans and groans she suspected were as real as her words upon waking. The flogger, pure fantasy, much to her disappointment.

Fortunately, there was a way to turn her disappointment around—if she dared accept his challenge. After disentangling herself, she hopped out of bed and went to find Noah and further investigate the pull he'd spoken of before her nap.

She found him sprawled in a big chair in his office, staring out the window. The moment she walked into the room, his eyes shifted to her and tracked her approach.

"You didn't sleep long. Only a few hours."

"It was long enough. You said the other night the next move was mine." She pulled his T-shirt over her head and in only her skimpy bikini panties dropped to her knees before him. "I'm making it, Master Noah. I'm yours, if you can forgive me."

He sat forward, brows arched in surprise. An instant later, he reached for her, his touch soft when he brushed her hair behind her shoulders, removing the barrier between her mostly naked body and his gaze. When she peeked up at him, his eyes were on her face, his expression troubled.

"Let me make it clear you'd be the first."

She blinked in confusion. "Weren't you and Claire in the lifestyle?"

"Yes, that's how we met, but that isn't what I meant. It has been eight years since I last made a commitment to a woman, and five since I swore I'd never do it again."

She placed her hand on his chest. "You loved her... Them," she quickly amended. "You were heartbroken."

"At first, but then I let bitterness and anger take over," he admitted.

"How did they die? If you don't mind me asking."

"It isn't something I talk about. Suffice it to say, I went a little off the rails."

"That's understandable. I can't fathom such a loss and can't say I wouldn't react the same way."

"I hope to hell you never have to find out." In an outpouring of raw emotion, his words spilled out, as if he couldn't keep them inside any longer. "I broke my arm when I was fourteen and wiped out on a mini-bike. In Afghanistan, I took shrapnel in an IED explosion. But nothing can compare to the gut-wrenching physical pain I felt losing them, and, emotionally, I was wrecked."

"Noah," she breathed, hurting for him. Knowing the anguish he experienced was immense and that he obviously still grappled with it, she struggled to find the right words to console him.

"I wanted only to escape and did so by filling my life with so much work, quiet moments were rare, and I didn't have time to sit and dwell, and remember." His gaze moved over her shoulder to the window, returning to whatever, real or imagined, had held his rapt attention before she interrupted him. "I started the foundation in their names to continue the work Claire dedicated her life to. I joined SVI not only to help children in need but to get out of the city that held so many memories of us. When Rossi opened an office here in LA, and Keiran called needing help, I was all in. And I became a member of Decadence to fill any downtime in between everything else. All of it was a temporary distraction and a pale substitute for the people I loved."

Suddenly, his eyes cut back to her.

"It's a cold and lonely way of living and, as I've been reminded recently, my life is only half over."

"Is that why you agreed to Val and Esme's Kinky Matches? Because you're lonely?"

"No. I agreed to their cockamamie fix-up service because it's time I look past the next job or mission, and beyond a scene or a night at a time with no connection and start living again."

With her? Fiona held her breath. Is that what he was saying?

His hand slid over her cheek and into her hair, cradling her head and ensuring she didn't look away for the next part.

"I knew it was you they set me up with," he said softly. "You were the reason I agreed. Periods of high stress and danger aren't good times to make important decisions, and neither of us should, but you make me want to try again, kitten."

The intensity of her longing for what he offered caused her chest to tighten and her heart to race, overwhelming her senses. But her brain blasted out a warning. Trying wasn't a guarantee. Her heart and mouth weren't paying attention, however. "I'm on my knees hoping you'll try, too, sir."

Both hands sank into her hair, his fingers gliding through the waves until they cascaded around her shoulders. One hand tenderly cradled the back of her head, while the other framed her face. With an intense gaze that bored into her soul, he drew her near, so close their breath mingled.

Finally, his lips met hers, gentle and coaxing at first, but when she opened in invitation, it quickly turned heated and hungry. His tongue dipped inside to tangle with her own as his hands explored, igniting a fire within her. It was all she hoped for, and she lost her heart to him then and there.

Suddenly, she was on her feet. Noah's nimble fingers sliding her panties over her hips and down her legs. His hands glided up the back of her calves, over her thighs, and curled around her bottom. At the same time, his lips kissed their way up the midline of her belly, between her breasts to her throat. There he murmured, "We should slow down."

"I don't want to," she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

He lifted her, one big hand supporting her ass, the other sinking into her hair. He whispered softly beneath her ear, "I've never seen such a thick mane of hair. It's as soft as I'd imagined. I love when you wear it loose around your shoulders and watching as it shimmers in the light."

"You've been watching me?"

"Watching and wanting. For an entire fucking year. But I knew you wanted more than a scene or one night, so I kept my distance. But a man can only go without what he craves for so long. Then you rejected me—twice."

"I apologized for that."

"And I forgave you, but I'm done keeping you at arm's length and denying myself the pleasure of touching you. From your glorious hair to your satiny skin." He cupped a breast, weighed it in his palm, then grazed her hard, aching nipple with a sweep of his thumb. She wanted more, and arched into his touch, but it was gone, his hand sweeping down her side, over her hip, and behind so both hands gripped her ass. "To all your delicious curves the mere thought of which makes me hard as a rock, like I am for you right now."

His mouth swooped down to claim hers again as he lifted her. Then he carried her out of the office, past the guest room to the end of the hall, and into his room where he laid her on his bed.

He rose, his fingers working the buttons of his shirt as his eyes roamed her body. Immediately self-conscious of her more-than-a-handful-sized breasts, her nowhere-near-concave belly, and thighs fleshier than she wanted them to be, especially in the face of his lean, muscular form, she moved her hands to hide her belly pooch.

"Don't," he murmured, brushing them aside. "You're beautiful everywhere, kitten. And it brings me pleasure to look at you."

With his eyes locked with hers, he shrugged off his shirt, revealing the muscled chest and broad shoulders she had first seen at the club. Fiona's lips parted on a breathless sigh as she took in the whorls of gilded hair covering his bronzed chest. He also had a military tattoo on his defined left deltoid she hadn't noticed at a distance.

His jeans dropped to the floor with a clink of keys. The molded-on boxer briefs quickly followed, and she had a glimpse of his fully erect cock, quite a lot of it, before he put his knee on the mattress between hers.

The anticipation in the air was palpable, their connection crackling with electricity, as he lowered himself on top of her.

"I'll give you the choice this first time. How do you want it? A slow, tender, get-to-know-each-other fuck? Or how I've fantasized about taking you for so long: hot, hungry, and dirty?"

"Yes," she breathed, wanting it all as long as it included him.

He grinned. "I was hoping you would say that."

With a touch both tender and commanding, his fingers brushed her cheeks as he framed her face with his hands and claimed a kiss. It started out softly, his lips nibbling along hers, then he grew bolder and his tongue delved inside, teasing at first, then possessing as he explored every nook and cranny. She never thought mere kisses had the power to awaken the primal need inside her, but Noah's did, and they continued until, with her fingers entwined in his hair, she whimpered and writhed beneath him.

"My kitten is eager for more," he murmured against her skin, leaving her gasping for breath. The weight of his body on hers, and the line of fiery kisses his lips trailed down the side of her throat, sent shivers down her spine.

Noah moved down to her breasts, cupping them as he sipped a nipple into his mouth. He sucked, lashing it with his tongue from the inside. Her body arched toward him, silently begging for more. He gave it to her, moving to the other breast and lavishing the tip with the same indescribable sensations.

Quickly spiraling toward what she knew would be an intense release, she fisted her hands in his hair and clung to him.

Suddenly, his face was above hers, his eyes filled with a mixture of desire and restraint. "So thirsty," he murmured, "But this isn't a race." He moved her hands above her head. "Leave these here while I continue exploring."

He dipped his head and kissed her long and deep, before moving down her body again. He bypassed her achy breasts and tender nipples and slowly licked and nibbled his way to her thighs, which he pushed wide. Fiona's heart raced with anticipation, her body yearning for his mouth. He didn't disappoint.

She felt his breath waft warmly over her wet flesh then, as he'd done to her nipples, he sipped her clit into his mouth.

It had been so long, and he'd primed her so thoroughly, that's all it took. She moaned helplessly as her ass left the bed, her thighs clamping down hard around his head as pleasure rocked through her. She was still shaking and breathing hard when Noah rose above her, positioned himself, and glided inside.

Despite her orgasm easing the way, he stretched and filled her beyond what she'd ever felt before. It wasn't the absence of a man in her bed in what seemed like forever, or the lingering quivers and twitches of her muscles. It was all Noah—and so very much of him.

His hands moved up her arms, which, unbelievably, she'd left where he put them, and interlaced their fingers. Then, with his gaze locked on hers, he moved inside her.

In one long stroke of his cock, she experienced a resurgence of need. Her legs wound around his hips, opening herself wider to his possession, then she rocked with him in an utterly enthralling rhythm, until she was whimpering and soaring again.

"Oh my god, I've never had two, back-to-back," she gasped. Then something occurred to her, and she gasped again, this time in alarm. "Oh my god! We didn't... I didn't even consider..."

"What, Fiona?"

"Protection!"

He grunted as if insulted. "We'll discuss testing and precautions later. Until then, I have us covered. Or rather, I have me covered."

Fiona felt a rush of relief and vulnerability. Noah's innate confidence and his aura of dominance had enveloped her, making her feel safe and cherished, so much so, she'd almost made an unforgivable error. "I don't usually. I mean, I never... But I didn't even consider..."

"You were a little excited. The first one was a surprise, but I enjoyed watching the second. You're beautiful when you come, kitten. Did it feel as good as it looked?"

"More than good," she replied, smiling drowsily up at him. "It felt incredible."

"That's the only one—excuse me, your count is two—that you get on your own. The rest you'll have to wait for my permission." Her eyes widened at his wicked grin. "We didn't quite achieve slow, but you had tender. Now it's time to get dirty."

He pulled out and flipped her on her belly. Next, his hands on her hips raised her to her knees. Still rock-hard, he entered her from behind. His hands gathered her hair, and he wrapped the length around his wrist over and over until he gripped it near her scalp—controlling but not hurting. Fiona felt a rush of pleasure as he moved inside her, claiming her body as his and overwhelming her with his dominating presence. In a good way. Like she'd always dreamed of.

With each thrust, he ignited her need to surrender and give in ways she'd never imagined before Noah.

With steady pressure on her hair, he pulled her upright until her back was against his chest and her head rested on his shoulder. His hand curled around her throat then moved higher to cup her jaw. He turned her face to his, the whole while still moving into her, deep and demanding.

"Whose mouth is this, Fiona?"

"Yours, sir," she whispered before he sealed his lips over hers and his tongue swept inside.

His hand moved down her breasts, massaging the mounds and rolling the nipples. He pinched one and tugged, causing her to cry out. The pain lasted only for an instant quickly dissolving into pleasure as he massaged the ache away. He moved to the other, repeating the pattern. After another roll and tug, he caught her earlobe between his teeth. "I love your full, round tits, kitten. Who do these belong to?"

"You, Noah. All of me is yours."

"Mmm, my sweet girl," he murmured, nipping the flesh between his teeth then soothing it with his tongue. His open mouth ran along the side of her throat as his exploring hand moved lower. It stopped before reaching where she thought it was going, kneading the soft protrusion of flesh below her navel.

"I won't have you hiding anything from me, little subbie. Including this delightful softness. That's the kind of woman I want, one who is soft, warm, sweetly submissive, and all woman. All your softness, silky skin, and lush curves tempt me to touch and turn me the fuck on. You got me?"

"Yes, sir," she cried out, her breath catching in her throat as she discovered a newfound acceptance she had never felt before with a man. It only made her want him more.

"That goes for your creamy thighs, that will eagerly part at my command and welcome me into your body. Also, this luscious round ass"—his hand swept between them and palmed a cheek—"which you will also yield, should I feel the urge to spank, plug, or otherwise seek entrance."

His hand moved again, locating where they were joined. Two fingers slid around his cock, the long center digit gliding inside increasing the fullness as he cupped her and pressed her body tightly against his. So close that nothing, not even air, could pass between them.

"This wonderfully warm, wet pussy is mine, too. To taste, tease, and to take. Isn't that right, kitten?"

"Yes, sir. I'm yours," she replied, somehow staving off an orgasm while she teetered on the edge. "I submit all to you."

His thumb grazed her clit, returning to rub and flick and tease, but only for a moment because his fingers slid out. She whimpered in disappointment—she was so close. But they moved to her lips, his fingers slick with her juices, and he painted them.

"Let's taste your desire for me, together, Fiona. After that, you may come whenever you like as I fuck you."

Shocked, she stilled, never having done anything like it before. But his hand wound in her hair, turned her head and her mouth to him. When he covered her lips and his tongue delved inside, in an explosion of tangy spiciness, the carnality of sharing the taste of her pussy with her lips and tongue sent a wave of ecstasy sweeping over her.

As her body tightened then convulsed with pleasure, he held on more firmly, his cock plunging into her harder and faster. And he swallowed her cries as he groaned his own pleasure into her mouth. In a rush of heat, as he spent inside her, she raised her arms and entwined them around his neck. She didn't want to lose him just yet, and even kneeling, that was a sure possibility on jelly legs.

Still connected, he eased them to the bed, lying curled around her back. She hummed with content as they lay intertwined, her body still tingling, thoroughly fucked and dominated. Fiona couldn't help but feel a sense of completeness. This was what had been missing, what she'd been searching for.

"Be right back," Noah whispered, dropping a kiss on her shoulder before easing from the bed.

She heard water running in the bathroom and knew he was taking care of necessary business. Thank goodness he'd kept his wits about him.

When he returned and climbed in beside her, he pulled up the covers and wrapped around her from behind. "There are two hours before dinner. Sleep more," he urged, showing no sign of leaving her in the bed alone.

She snuggled against him and allowed herself to drift. But as she closed her eyes and sleep pulled her under, a nagging voice in her head called to her. The one she'd ignored when she'd entered into this carnal, wholly satisfying exchange.

You've given your body and heart to a man who swore off love for five long grief-filled years. I hope you know what the hell you are doing.