26. Aftershocks

Noah gulped air as he returned from his orbit around the sun. One side of his brain spewed words to describe something that was indescribable. The other side of his brain told him he hadn't lasted long enough, but Jesus! He'd struggled mightily to hang on to a fragment of control, like pushing uphill against an Atlas-sized boulder poised to crush him. Aside from pulling out of Hailey's sweet body and marching into the tavern's walk-in refrigerator, he knew of no way to hold back the tidal wave that had engulfed him.

He'd even shouted out her name! He was a grunter, a groaner, an occasional "Oh God" mutterer. Women's names never exited his lungs, even during the most intense moments of a sexual encounter. But this particular intensity was on a mind-melting level he'd never even imagined existed.

What the hell was that?

Hailey let out a reedy sigh beneath him, and he came fully conscious and yanked himself off her chest to keep from squishing her. "Sorry." One hand was tangled in her thick strands, the other wrapped around her smooth back. He was reluctant to let her go, even as his dick slid from inside the slick heat where it had fit so well.

She dropped the back of her hand against her forehead and peeped up at him. "That was … Holy, um …"

"You took the words out of my mouth, surfer girl." Wow. He'd strung together one entire coherent sentence. Apparently, not every last one of his brain cells had been pulverized. Go, team!

He dropped a line of kisses on her shoulder. "I need to take care of this condom." Pulling himself upright, he swung his feet to the floor and gave his woozy head a moment to regain its equilibrium. He pointed his finger at the woman whose luscious curves and pink skin lounged enticingly against his pillows. "Stay."

Languidly, her hand swept from her head to caress his shoulder as if she'd done it for years. The simple, intimate gesture kindled a warmth inside him that had nothing to do with sex. "No problem there," she giggled. "My bones are currently in a gelatinous state and won't hold me up." Unable to stop himself, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss against her abused lip.

"Does it hurt?" A tendril of guilt lashed him. He would have sworn he'd kissed that lip raw and caused the split to widen, but she shook her head and gave him a lazy smile.

After he'd cleaned up, he plucked his boxer briefs from the floor and pulled them on, folded their clothes and stacked them on the side of the couch, then closed the shades on the tall windows to give her privacy from any peepers besides him.

Hailey didn't stay in his bed. Instead, she padded downstairs without a stitch of clothing and headed into the bathroom with a self-assurance that made him feel drunk. He watched her the entire way, mouth open, checking for drool as soon as she closed herself in.

Fuck, that was a sight he could get used to and never get tired of. He hadn't been lying when he'd told her she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and he'd seen a lot of them. It was more than her outward appearance, though, with which no one else was on par. It was the way she moved, neither brazen nor modest. Just Hailey. She was easy in her own skin, and that confident air rolling off her was sexy as sin. He wanted more of it.

By the time she exited the bathroom, he had started putting together a board filled with meat and cheese. She walked over and leaned against him as she inspected his project, her loose, sex-tousled hair tickling his bicep. Her honeysuckle scent curled around his head, invading his senses. For a beat, he forgot what he was doing.

"Thought we could use some sustenance," he rasped.

She canted her head. "Planning on another workout soon, barkeep?"

He halted his arrangement to band his arms around her waist and pull her against him. Then he kissed her until she gasped. "Abso-fucking-lutely, and if you don't stop looking so hot, it's gonna happen real soon on this butcher block, the counter, or the table." If he thought his legs would hold out, he'd add some door fucking in the mix too. He had big plans.

She raised a sultry eyebrow. "Good to know you've already got a next time in mind, but why not all three?"

A vision of naked Hailey bent over the butcher block made his mouth water and his dick come to life.

"Uh, are you working at Mountain Coffee tomorrow?"

"No, Amy didn't need me. Why?"

"Just wondering." Wondering what I'm going to do to that gorgeous body of yours the rest of tonight. "I'm talking next time, and you're talking all three," he summarized. "We're definitely going to need sustenance if I'm going to keep the surfer girl satisfied." He nipped her earlobe.

Walking a hand down his abs, she slipped her hand below his waistband, took his semi in hand, and toyed with it while she nuzzled his neck. He stifled a groan. "Think you're up to the job, barkeep?"

He had no idea, but he sure as fuck was going to try.

He slid his hands down her body and filled his hands with her ass, then blatantly dipped his gaze to her gorgeous tits, taking his time, filling in the pixels for the picture he would store in his mind's album. One side of his mouth hitched. "Who knew the stiff inspector was such a bad girl?"

"Former inspector. And I'm efficient, not stiff."

"No, you're not stiff," he agreed. "You're very pliable." To demonstrate just how pliable, he began to bend her backward, intent on getting his mouth on a pink nipple, but she twirled from his grasp and stuck her head in the fridge, leaving him cold and shriveling.

"Got any fresh veggies or fruit to go with our sustenance?"

He chuckled. "Tease. There should be an apple in there. If not, I have something downstairs. But first I need you to do something for me." He ducked to the couch and grabbed his T-shirt off the pile. He thrust it at her. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're gonna need you to put this on before my brain explodes."

With a cute smirk, she pulled it on over her head and flipped her hair down her back. "Better?"

She swam in the shirt, but it didn't cover her toned legs, nor did the thin fabric conceal the contours of her breasts and her peaked nipples pointed right at him.

"Uh, give me a minute, and I'll let you know."

She rewarded him with a fuck-me smile and moved past him to pluck out an apple, a red pepper, and a stoppered bottle of chardonnay, which she held up. "For the women you bring up here?"

He crossed his arms, immensely pleased that she was probing around the question of who else might be in his life. That was a good sign, right? "That's for my mom. I don't bring women up here that I'm …" Having sex with? No, that sounds like I'm screwing women randomly. That I'm in a relationship with? No, implies permanence that's not there. "Women who aren't Mom or Dixie or likewise associated with me. Not until you, that is." He cocked his head and waited, gratified when the pretty pink blush made an appearance on her cheekbones.

"And Ursula," she murmured.

"She's never been up—oh shit! I forgot. She came waltzing in here the other night—uninvited. It was the first time she'd set foot in the place."

Hailey gave him a vague nod and busied herself slicing the apple. God, was this a dream? This woman he'd been fantasizing about was buck naked in his kitchen, on full display for his eyes only—well, under his worn T-shirt—slicing and dicing as though she belonged there.

The thought occurred he wanted her to belong there.

Whoa, hold up.They'd only known each other for a week. Except that night in his truck counted for at least a month's worth of getting to know someone, didn't it? He tried to muster his warning system, reminding himself she'd been part of his bar's shutdown, but the system was either offline or broken.

"If you don't invite women up here, then why have the condoms in your nightstand?" she asked.

"Where else am I supposed to store them?" he countered.

He touched her shoulder, and she whipped her head toward him and smiled in a way that about undid him. "Yes?"

He cleared his throat. "There's something I'd like to say." She put down the knife, and he continued. "I don't know where this thing between us is going, but I propose complete honesty going forward."

"I like that proposition. Complete honesty," she agreed. "When was the last time you slept with Ursula?"

He coughed out a laugh. "Wow! Okay, I see how it is. Gotta admit I wasn't expecting a loaded question right away. I wasn't expecting a question at all."

She picked up the knife and pointed it at him. "Are you stalling?"

"Not at all. Just caught off guard. The last time I slept with Ursula was at my cousin Wyatt's wedding. No, wait. She slept with someone else."

"You did share a room."

"And not much else. Honestly, I'm not sure when the last time was. Years? I haven't kept track." He took the knife out of her hand and palmed her hips. "Know why?" He dropped a kiss on her neck, then another and another.

"Um, no," she sighed and lengthened her neck. He pounced on the opportunity.

After laying down a heated trail of open-mouthed kisses, he drew back and smoothed her hair behind her ears so she could see his eyes when he answered. "Because it doesn't matter. She doesn't matter."

"You've slept with other people since, though, right?"

Why had he suggested honesty again? No idea. "I have. They don't matter either." Christ, he sounded like a callous bastard. He was no saint, and he certainly wasn't a monk. However, he was no longer the type to count conquests. He was also a man whose testosterone levels spiked anytime Hailey was near, and he didn't want to give her a reason to run. "They don't matter because they were short-lived and mutually casual."

"I get that. That's been my MO with most men in my life."

He locked out the image of "most men" and wrestled with the notion he fell into that category too.

She snapped him out of the uncomfortable contemplation. "Germaine?"

He shook his head. "Nope. No one else who lives in this town either." Thank fuck he could say that truthfully. "So if you're worried about some Fall River woman walking into the bar and announcing we had a one-nighter, don't." He touched the tip of her nose before locking his fingers at the small of her back to keep them from wandering under the fabric like they itched to do. "My turn. What did Ursula say to you the other night?"

She leaned into him, curling her hands on his chest. "Is this like middle school where you ask the girl's BF if the girl likes you?"

Amusement gleamed in her eyes, but her question left him befuddled—or were her soft curves and her fragrance making scrambled eggs of his brain? "You and Ursula are BFs now?"

"Hardly. I'm sure she would love to puncture my lungs with her pointy heels."

He tugged a tress. "That's kinda harsh."

"Well, not to be unkind, but she's pretty harsh. And pretty determined that you're going to end up together."

"Ursula wants what Ursula can't have—and what she can have. She's greedy like that, but she'll need to get used to a different outcome besides the one she's imagining."

"Hmm. And Noah Hunnicutt is in the ‘can't have' column?"

"Absolutely. But that might not stop her. You can't believe a word that comes out of her mouth. She's manipulative and mean and sadistic, and she'll say or do anything to get a rise out of someone. She probably zeroed in on you because she thought something was going on between us." And now that it is …

"Wow, that's kinda harsh," Hailey mocked. "So you're saying every word that comes out of her mouth is a lie?"

"Exactly."

She seemed to stifle a giggle.

He picked up the tress again and wrapped it around his knuckles, marveling at its silkiness. "What's funny?"

"She referred to you as ‘a delectable hunk of man meat with fancy green eyes.' I suppose she was lying then too?"

"What the hell are ‘fancy green eyes'?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. As for the other stuff, it's pretty self-explanatory."

He wagged his head side to side. "Okay, so she doesn't lie about everything because we both know I am, in fact, a delectable hunk of man meat." One corner of his mouth twitched with a smile, but he kept it from fully blooming in case he was reading her reaction to this cringeworthy yet weirdly light convo all wrong.

She chuckled, and something broke free in his chest. Suddenly, all he could think about was hauling her back upstairs and finding other ways to make her whimper and moan. He toyed with her hair, pulling it to the side to tilt her head. Her gaze drifted to his mouth, and her lips parted. He paused a beat, enjoying the feel of her warm breath floating across his skin. As he lowered his eyelids to kiss the living daylights out of her, she gave his chest a playful shove.

"What's with the whole skating thing?"

Because his blood was traveling south, his brain was sluggish and it took a moment to engage. "The what?"

"The string you attached. I have to learn to skate from you."

"Oh right." God, holding her against him like this was distracting as fuck. He needed to focus so they could get through twenty questions and back to bed, and he still had a burning question of his own he had to ask.

He shrugged a shoulder. "I didn't like seeing Shane with his hands all over you. Figured it would be less bloody this way."

"Aw, you were jealous. That's kinda cute."

"I am not cute."

"No?" She aligned her body with his and wriggled. Her big blues blinked up at him, deceptively wide and innocent. Then she placed her moist mouth on his neck and sucked. "I think you're cute, which means you're also kinda sexy."

Shivers chased each other from his neck to his outer extremities, including his dick, which was now fully ready to come out and play. It surged against her, apparently smarter than he was because it told him to stop arguing already.

"Okay, you win," he agreed, "I'm cute." Also abandoned was the question he needed answered. It was important, but not so important he'd let it annihilate this moment they shared.

"And sooo masculine and oh so hunky." Her husky voice rolled over him in a throaty purr.

"I thought we agreed to be honest?" he barely huffed out.

"I am being honest. I started crushing on you the first time I saw you," she murmured.

His befuddled brain turned that comment over for a closer look but didn't get far.

She took his hand, lifted her shirt hem, and placed it on her bare breast. "I love how you touch me. Just being honest." His eager fingers moved on their own. "Oh yes, Noah, like that." Her voice was a breathless sigh.

Oh God. He was a fucking goner.

She nipped and licked and sucked his collarbone, his throat, his ear while his hand fondled her soft flesh.

He dropped his head back. "Yeah? What else?" he heard himself croak, greedy bastard that he was. Jesus, the things she was doing with her mouth had other possibilities bombarding his short-circuited brain.

"That ego needs more stroking, huh? Wonder what else needs stroking?" She lifted off the T-shirt. "It's getting hot in here."

"Fuck yeah. It's turning into a downright scorcher." His voice came out in a strangled choke.

She shimmied against him like a silk curtain waving in a breeze, her skin teasing his in the most exquisite, erotic way before dropping her hand between them to glide her palm over his boxers. Her talented fingers danced and teased his rock-hard cock until it ached. He wanted her to stop; he didn't want her to stop. But if she kept going, he'd lose his load in his boxer briefs—which was not where he wanted to let it go.

"Any more questions?" she whispered as she licked the shell of his ear.

He struggled to sound casual, but his "Nuh-uh" came out as nothing more than a hoarse, guttural growl.

"Oh good." She sank to her knees and took him in her mouth, leaving him with only the drawn-out version of the word "Fuck!" on a loop in his head.

Yeah, his brainpower was nonexistent.

When his crown hit the back of her throat, she hummed with pleasure and took him deeper. A sliver of sanity broke through his lust-addled mind, and he reached down and hauled her upright.

"Enough, you little minx," he grunted. "We're skipping the snack."

"Thought you were hungry," she chirped.

"I am, but not for charcuterie." Such a dignified word compared to what he had in mind. He darted to his folded pants and extracted a condom from his wallet. At the butcher block, he nearly dropped the cheese board in his hurry to whisk it to the counter. She leaned her palms against the little island, amusement dancing in her eyes as she watched his machinations. Gathering her in his arms, he crashed his mouth down on hers and took back control. And when he had her reduced to panting, he turned her and bent her over the butcher block.

Oh my fucking God, what a sight!

Yanking his eyes away, he sheathed himself. Casting one last appreciative glance at Hailey splayed across the wooden surface, he entered her from behind.

She cried out, "Yes!"

Their joining was cataclysmic, shattering, violent. When they hit the peak at the same moment, he could have sworn the old brick walls shook.

He was addicted, already craving his next fix. That addiction's name was Hailey Bailey.