10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“ W illa, you need to calm down.”

“A word of advice, Dr. Anderson.” Rounding on him as she reached the line in the sand where the forest met the beach, Willa pointed a finger in Noah’s face. “The very last thing you should ever tell a Fairweather woman to do is calm down.”

He held his hands in the air, his smirk firmly in place. “Understood.”

She shot forward again, finding a small, worn path through the trees. However, she didn’t get far before Noah grabbed her by the arm. “I said no, Willa. Things are happening over there that are not for you to see.”

“Then why did you bring me here?”

“Because I wanted to make you happy and have one of those desires of yours come true,” he said plainly. “I also wanted to talk without Bonnie attempting to listen in on our conversation. She certainly is a busybody when it comes to you. It’s almost like she’s part of the family and not a staff member.”

Bonnie.

The perfect story to make him understand how badly her father would take the news of Paul and this Katie girl .

“She is a member of the family, except not by blood. My father is in love with Bonnie. He has been ever since he was a boy.”

It was incredibly satisfying to see Noah’s mouth fall open, and she patiently waited while he wrapped his mind around the whole thing.

“I…um…didn’t know.”

“Why should you?” Willa shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not as if we air the information for all to know.”

He truly was struggling. Noah was a brilliant man but also a good one. Grasping how devious the Fairweathers could be wasn’t something people like him were forced to do very often. “So, your mother allows your father’s mistress to serve on the household staff?”

She would have found his reasoning funny if the situation were not so serious. “Bonnie is not my father’s mistress. She is as chaste as the day she was born. At least, I hope she is.”

“Then why—”

“My father hired Bonnie when he married my mother, and she accepted because she wanted to be close to him.”

“But what were his reasons for offering her the job in the first place if not to keep her as a mistress?” The cruelty behind it was finally settling over him. “Wouldn’t that just be torture for them both?”

“The long and the short of it is that Stephen Fairweather doesn’t like other people touching his things. In his mind, Bonnie is his possession, and he keeps her close so she can never be with another man. He loves her in his strange, twisted way, but his dedication to duty overrides that love. He married my mother to keep the mill going. Her dowry was exactly what he needed, so he gave up his Bonnie for stability.”

Noah let out a heavy sigh as it all came crashing down on him. Resting a shoulder against a tree trunk, he stared at her. “Which is why you think he’ll not accept this whole situation with Paul and Lucy.”

“He’ll think that if he had to sacrifice the love of his life, then why shouldn’t others do the same. It will send him into a rage, Noah. He’ll blame Lucy. I know he will. He’ll say she didn’t do enough to encourage a courtship between herself and Paul.” Willa slouched against her own tree trunk. “And with Cal and Jennie, it’ll be much worse. So much worse.”

“Perhaps I can speak with him.”

Willa opened her mouth to tell him that was the worst idea possible, but before she could do so, a faint singing carried through the trees. Above them, the branches rustled in the wind, drowning out the haunting song for a moment or two.

But then it came again.

“Do you hear that?”

Noah frowned. “Hear what?”

“The song.” She held up her hand, silencing his reply. “Can you hear the song?”

Grace’s song—the same song she had been hearing during the night—was coming from somewhere deep in the heart of the forest, and Willa strained to listen. It was most definitely her sister’s singing.

As if in a trance, she began to walk into the darkening wood. Twilight would be upon them soon, and once it covered the land, they would have a hard time finding their way back to Hope without a lantern.

But Willa couldn’t think about that. She had to discover the source of the singing. Who was out there tormenting her? Who was breaking her heart all over again?

Noah was not as interested. “It’s time to go back.” He caught up and laid his hands gently on her shoulders. “It was wrong to bring you here.”

On a mission, she shrugged off his hold on her. “I want to see who is singing.”

Not knowing exactly what to expect when they departed Haven House, she had thankfully donned her walking boots, making her hurried trek through the forest easy.

“We’re close to where they meet.” Noah moved to stand in front of her, his large body completely blocking the way. “What you’re hearing is probably Melinda. She likes to sing for us.”

A raging heat erupted in the center of her body, exploding like a fiery pulse through every fiber of her being. With it, a bloody haze dragged across her vision, its tendrils curling around Noah’s beautiful face. “Sing for you?” she said, only slightly concerned by the screeching pitch her tone had taken. “These gatherings sound like a rather fun time. Too bad you never invited me. I’ve been told I sing quite well.”

A lie.

She couldn’t sing.

Bonnie’s cats carried a tune better than she did.

“Oh, so you sing?” he asked, approaching her as if she were a wild animal who might startle easily. “Is there anything you can’t do, Ms. Fairweather?”

“Do not tease.”

“Oh, but I so enjoy it.” He lifted a hand hesitantly, his fingers tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “That look that enters your eyes whenever you’re pretending to be upset over something I’ve said is incredible. It makes me crave things I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it. I want you glaring daggers at me all the time.”

“Ah, I see. You’re a masochist.” She would not smile, fighting its emergence to the bitter end. “I cannot say I’m surprised.”

“Why is that?” The hand in her hair coasted lower, skating along her jaw to cradle it. “Because I’m a doctor?”

“Of course. Your kind likes to learn through pain.”

His thumb stroked her cheek while she bravely held his stare. The last time they had been this close was when she tripped on the path to his medical cottage weeks ago. Only this time, there was no Lucy or John Richards waiting around the bend. This time, it was just the two of them, their breath mingling together in the cool winter air.

“I have not touched those women, Willa.”

“And I do not care.”

The serious expression that had taken over him suddenly transformed back into the arrogant smirk he carried around so effortlessly.

“Liar.”

“I am not,” she said, more to the tree she was staring at than him. “And I’m quite offended that you would call me such. ”

“There are several things I’m going to say that might offend you,” he countered. “Things you won’t mind hearing. Things you’ll be begging me to say and perhaps begging me to do.”

A crimson hue proceeded to cover every inch of skin on her entire body. She was na?ve to such things but understood the undercurrent of what he was implying.

Around them, the singing changed, going from Grace's light, ethereal tones to something deeper and more robust. It mixed with a giggling like the night she first heard it.

This time, Noah heard it, too. “Is that the song?”

“Yes, and the person who has been singing at night.” She listened a little longer. “I recognize the giggling.”

“That’s Jennie.” Noah dropped his hand from her face. “It’s time for us to go.”

The singing stopped, turning into a muffled conversation. They must not be far off, and Willa was determined. “Not until I speak with my brother.”

She followed the sound, with Noah hissing after her to stop. A break in the trees and brush was up ahead, and the sounds of water rushing past overtook the voices. Their words were hardly discernible now, coming across more like grunts.

Not far behind, Noah seized her arm just as Willa broke partly through the bushes and came to an abrupt stop right on the edge of the brown, murky river of water flowing past. It had always been strange to Willa how the blue of fresh water and the turquoise of the sea could merge to make such a disgusting shade of brown. Brackish is what they called it, and the muddy color filled the numerous dune lakes and small rivers connecting the bayous with the ocean.

But Willa wasn’t looking at the water.

She was staring at the opposite shore

And directly at a naked Paul Anderson moving between a woman’s legs .

The distance between them wasn’t all that great, with the river of brackish sludge no more than perhaps twelve feet across. She was quite certain she remained hidden, partially obscured by the trees and bushes lining the shore.

Not that either Paul or the woman would notice anything. A dragon could swoop down to obliterate them both with a single breath, and the pair wouldn’t even acknowledge its presence.

“Goodness,” she exhaled, hypnotized by Paul rutting wildly between the woman’s thighs. The couple was on a blanket, the woman crying out in abandon with every strike. “ Goodness .”

Noah stood at her back, his hand sliding forward to rest on her stomach. “Come along, Willa,” he whispered in her ear. “This is not for us to see.”

She ignored his command. “Do men always do that during the act?”

“Do what?”

“Flop around in such a way?” she asked. “It looks rather animalistic.”

Noah’s chuckle had her shivering. “Give Paul the benefit of the doubt here. He’s excited and attempting to find his rhythm.” The hand on her stomach moved higher, stopping at her ribs. “But to answer your question, yes. When it’s good between a man and a woman, they can lose themselves to their animalistic natures.”

Katie cried out, and the sound echoed through the trees. Willa’s eyes went wide. “Is he hurting her?”

“No.”

The echoed cries shifted to moans, and combined with the slap of flesh and the sight of Paul’s muscular ass straining as he moved faster, Willa’s curiosity only grew. “Then why is she making those noises?”

Noah’s hand pressed against her ribs, his thumb stroking her lower breast. Unlike their first meeting, the move this time was completely intentional, and she shouldn’t allow it.

But she did and even arched for more.

“We can discuss this on the way back to Haven.”

“No, I will hear it now. ”

Noah’s lips grazed her ear as he spoke. “Because Katie likes feeling Paul buried deep inside her.”

“That’s very hard to believe.”

In an obviously well-practiced move, Katie flipped Paul to his back, and the remnants of the chemise she wore were shucked over her head to be tossed on the sand.

“What is she… oh my .”

If Willa thought she couldn’t peel her eyes away before, she was mistaken. Totally enthralled, she stared at a naked Katie riding Paul as if she were riding a wild stallion. A blur of motion, the sight could almost be considered beautiful if one took the time to think about it. With her head thrown back and her large breasts swaying as Paul’s hands gripped her hips to encourage her on, Katie looked rather magnificent as she took control.

And when Paul lifted his head to speak softly to her, Willa found herself leaning forward to listen.

“Paul is telling her how good she’s doing.” Noah’s thumb continued to stroke her breast, the light touch causing goosebumps to explode across her skin. “And how much he likes the way she takes him into her body.”

“Oh.”

The couple’s screams grew, punctuated by Paul hammering into Katie from below. Holding her above him, his thick cock worked in and out, slamming upward at a speed that had Willa biting her bottom lip.

“That’s awfully fast.”

Noah’s forehead dropped to her shoulder as if he couldn’t continue to watch. His breathing had turned heavy, and Willa’s hand curled at her side. She desperately wanted to reach behind her and touch him. To know if what they were seeing was affecting him as much as it was her.

“Paul is close,” he whispered.

“Close to what?”

Noah didn’t need to answer because just then Paul shattered .

There was no other word for it. Mouth open and face twisted into a snarl, Paul shouted as he worked Katie brutally up and down his cock. He drove into her without mercy, filling the woman completely until he shook like a leaf trembling in the wind.

Too lost in what she was seeing, Willa didn’t notice her brother exit the woods with Jennie on his arm until Cal’s laughter attracted her attention. He was saying something to Jennie, and whatever it was had her dropping to her knees and ripping at the ties on his trousers.

Willa turned away with a gasp. She pushed past Noah and found the trail again, walking towards the beach with every bit of her skin aflame with a needy desire she couldn’t put into words.

Noah kept his distance, giving her time to think. She was so very thankful for that because if she were honest, she wouldn't know what to do or say to him if he hadn’t.

Hope was waiting, the sky above now a deep shade of blue since the sun had already said its goodbye to the world. Going straight to the horse, Willa vigorously petted the animal’s snout, the emotions and sensations running through her needing an outlet.

Questions.

She had so many questions.

Was what she just witnessed normal? Would John Richards do those things to her? Would she do what Katie was doing to John Richards? Would it hurt? How did it work?

“Why do they always get on their knees?”

Her insatiable curiosity had the question slipping off her tongue. The mill worker’s sweetheart and Jennie had both fallen to their knees in the same manner, and Willa didn’t understand why.

Sensing Noah approaching from the forest, she kept her focus on Hope. “I once happened upon a mill worker who was meeting his woman in the forest. She got on her knees just as Jennie did a moment ago, and I have yet to figure out what they were doing.”

“Willa, look at me. ”

His gruff tone was infused with whatever emotion was running through her bloodstream. That hidden primal part of her body recognized it immediately, pulling at something in her lower stomach and down to the throbbing pulse between her legs.

“Please answer my question.” She could not possibly look at him. “You’re my doctor and should be able to explain.”

“I’m also a man.”

“Pretend you’re not.”

His laughter shot out across the beach, startling both Willa and the horse. “After watching Paul in all his glory while holding you… that’s very much impossible.”

“Please try.” Willa glanced at him over her shoulder, somewhat shocked by the intensity staring back at her. He looked like a wire strung tight and ready to snap. “For me, Noah.”

Hearing his name on her lips had his eyes shuttering. “She was going to take him into her mouth.”

“But why?”

He muttered something to himself, almost sounding like he was asking God for strength. “Because the tight, wetness of the mouth simulates the feeling of being inside a woman.”

Hope grunted in appreciation as Willa spun around to give Noah her full attention, completely fascinated. “ Really ?”

“Yes,” he grated out, the tick in his jaw returning. “If done correctly.”

“But can’t a woman become pregnant doing this?”

“No.”

Concerned he would break his jaw due to how tightly he was clenching it, Willa shrugged. “Then what is the point?”

“Pleasure.”

She frowned, her brows drawing tight. “I cannot imagine it being pleasurable to have a man ramming himself into my mouth such as Paul was doing between poor Katie’s legs. One might lose a tooth if the person thrusting were unable to control himself. ”

Eyes bulging in disbelief, Noah let out a strangled sound. “Some women enjoy it. Some women do not,” he replied. “But all women enjoy it being done to them.”

Willa’s mouth formed a perfect O. Whatever did he mean?

“Explain.”

Noah lifted his face to the heavens, talking to God again.

“Noah Anderson, you are a doctor, so act like a doctor,” she huffed, the fear of him thinking her an idiot making her snappish. “Explain it to me as if you were speaking to a colleague.”

Another strangled laugh. “You are not my colleague, Willa. You are—”

“Yes, yes, I know. Your patient.”

“—the woman I want above all others.” His head dropped, the last of the day’s sunlight highlighting his beauty. “And I would use my tongue, Willa. I would bury my face between your legs for hours, feasting on you until the only word left in your vocabulary is my name. My name . I will have you screaming it, demanding more.”

“More of what?” She was so very frustrated and couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Tell me, please.”

“Tell you?” He stalked towards her. “I would rather show you.”

Hope snorted at his forwardness.

Willa gaped at him in shock.

And the wintery wind halted around them, allowing what Noah said next to be heard loud and clear.

“One word from you, Willa.” His arm dipped around her waist, drawing their bodies together until something like a guh came out of her. “One word is all the permission I need to drop to my knees, lift your skirts, and have you riding my tongue until you’re coming apart.”