A Novella MisTaken(22)

Usually she was the type to throw clothes off as fast as possible and get to the banging. She’d had no idea that simply stripping for a man could be so hot. She’d been braless, so when he slowly scanned up her body, he lingered at the curve of her breasts, causing her nipples to rise to attention. His gaze held so much weight, and it took everything not to cross her arms over herself and try to hide. It was as if he were touching her with his eyes, skimming across her skin like feather-light strokes of his fingers.

Imagine when he touches me there.…

Or wherever he touched her, because he might not touch her there and she had to trust that if he didn’t it would be all for the best. And she did trust him, surprisingly. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be there in the first place.

“Beautiful, Jay,” Noah praised her, sending waves of goose bumps down her arms. “I appreciate that you’re not trying to cover yourself up.”

Another burst of pride shot through her. A nagging voice at the back of her brain said she was being ridiculous. She didn’t need his praise to know she looked good. And she certainly didn’t need his permission to decide how she was going to stand before him.

But that voice was wrong. Not because she actually did need his permission or praise, but because she wanted both and that was why she stood there for him. That didn’t diminish her strength as a woman. Did it?

If it did, she wasn’t thinking about that now. Now she was following as Noah led her to the chest at the foot of the bed. He sat down and turned her to kneel in front of him, her back toward him. Which was a little strange. Until he started massaging his hands through her short hair. Then it was anything but strange. It was magical.

“Oh, God,” she moaned as his fingers kneaded into her scalp, sending sparks of electricity down her neck and spine. Her first instinct was to tighten up, but she breathed out slowly and leaned back into his strong hands.

Noah leaned down to brush his lips across her shoulder. “That’s it. Relax. Enjoy this. Enjoy me.”

His hands moved down to the muscles of her back, rubbing them with deep pressure that felt almost too hard to bear. Instead of pulling away, though, she steadied herself with deep breaths, releasing into his touch. Soon, she was loose and her tension a distant memory. Noah brought his arms around her chest then and began to knead her breasts. An entirely different kind of tension began to build up—the sexual tension that she’d somehow forgotten while he’d been attending to her. It was thrilling how he could do that—how he could dictate what she was going to feel and when—and along with the thrill was an anticipation that threaded through her with a steady pulse. She was on the edge wondering, what next? Already she was sure this would be the best sex she’d ever had, and Noah still had all his clothes on.

Noah broke their physical contact abruptly. “Stand up and turn toward me.” Jay did as Noah asked without a second thought, immediately missing the warmth of his touch, but eager to see what he had planned.

“Undress me.”

She thought he’d never ask. Wrapping her fingers around the hem of his T-shirt, she tugged it up and over his head. Her breath caught at the sight of his chest. He was thin, but well-toned. She longed to trace the dips and valleys of his sculpted muscles, and her hand reached up to do so until she remembered his rule: No touching without permission. She could ask though, and she did.

“Not yet.” His denial caught her off guard. It also made her want to touch him even more.

But, incensed as she wanted to be, she obeyed.

“Now, my pants.”

She worked at his fly and zipper and was grateful when he stood up without her asking so she could pull his jeans to the floor, leaving him in his boxer briefs. He stepped out of the pants and kicked them to the side. It was her turn to study him, her eyes settling on the thick bulge at his pelvis. Even constrained as he was, she could see his size was impressive. She licked her lips as she found herself hoping that he’d order her to her knees again, this time to take him in her mouth much like that erotic story she’d read at Book Nook. She even hoped he’d reward her with a “Good girl.”

God, wasn’t that something she never thought she’d wish for? Was she going to regret this later? She didn’t want to. More to the point, she didn’t regret it now. She would regret, however, not reaching out and stroking him. He wouldn’t mind just a little tiny bit of a fondle, would he?

Before she could think about it, she’d cupped her hand around his shaft. He twitched once in her hand before Noah swatted her away. “Uh-uh. I said no touching. I was going to let you finish undressing me, but since you disobeyed, you’ll have to wait. Touch me again and there will be further consequences.”