She shook her head in disagreement.
“Yes, you are, gorgeous,” I insisted, not allowing her to continue this charade. “I still remember that first night you rolled into town. High heels taller than any damn set of heels I had ever seen.”
Alena smiled as she closed her eyes, as if she was remembering the moment too.
I inched a little closer between her parted thighs and slid my hands over her legs. “You had on that tight little red dress that showed off every curve of your body. A perfect body I have not stopped thinking about since. I don’t just say shit I don’t mean, Alena.”
Our eyes locked, and I began to close the distance between us. “From that moment, a lot of things have happened in my life, but never once have I not craved you. I just have really great discipline, but sweetheart, it’s never been easy.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Alena
There I sat on the countertop, Noah tucked safely between my thighs and a huge emotional knot lodged in my throat. His stare bored into me, as if trying to force me to accept his words.
“For the first time in a very long time, I’m not afraid of moving forward. I want this, Alena. I want it all.” I swallowed, trying to moisten my throat, because right now it felt like sandpaper. “I want the fights and the making up. I want the cold nights and snuggling up together to stay warm. I want those times when we annoy each other so badly, yet we can’t stomach the idea of being apart.”
He needed to stop talking, because at this rate, there would never be any hope of me holding back the tears fighting against me.
“I want to know at the end of a shitty day that I have you to make me feel whole again,” he added, and that was all it took. I blinked rapidly, still trying to control my emotions, but the moment the first tear fell, it was all downhill from there.
“Tell me you want those things too,” he whispered.
“Yes,” I replied as I shuddered.
Everything shifted in that moment as his lips crashed against mine and he fed his hands through my hair and fisted it tightly. Our tongues tangled in a heated kiss.
After nipping at my lip, he pulled back and began working his way down my neck. The rough feel of his whiskers rubbing against my skin was amazing. Each place he made contact remained sensitive, not letting me forget where he had been. My heart raced as my mind screamed for more. God, I just wanted more, I wanted everything, I needed it.
When his lips settled at the dip between my breasts, I held my breath, begging for him to continue. “These are amazing,” he groaned as he cupped my breasts. The heat rose in my neck as he pushed my tits up and trailed his tongue along the edge of my bra.
I reached around, unclasped the hook, and let the lacy material fall away to pool at my waist. A deep moan escaped him as he descended on me like a starving man.
I felt like I was going to explode with need.
“I’m gonna take you to bed now, baby—” Noah’s voice was a husky whisper, “—where I plan on making love to you all night long.”
I shivered as he lifted me from the counter and carefully led us to his bedroom down the hall. Once inside, he lowered me to the bed and began to undress. His eyes remained locked on mine in a heated stare.
Before he crawled onto the bed, he removed not one, but three condoms from his bedside table and tossed them at my side. A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth when I looked from the foil packages back to him. Cocking an eyebrow in question, I licked my lips.
“You up for it?” he asked as he placed one knee on the edge of the bed and began crawling toward me. “Because I have all kinds of plans for us.”
“I’m more than ready to feel all those plans.”
With my submitting to his desires, he beamed brightly and lowered his body over mine. As we made contact, it felt as if a switch flipped. My sweet cowboy with his loving words had now morphed into a hungry man. He was driven by lust as he ground his erection against me.
“You feel so damn good beneath me. So fucking good, Alena,” he growled in my ear.
Noah held true to his word. For the next five hours, he explored every curve of my body. We only allowed ourselves small breaks in between as he held me close, my head resting just above his heart.
When I woke the next morning, my body screamed with the achy aftereffects of our night of passion.
***
My phone chimed with yet another message from my father. For some unknown reason, he felt the need to call me at least once a month and express his disapproval of my life choices.
“You could have had the world, Alena. Expensive cars, the biggest house on the block, and envious onlookers wishing they could live for just one day the lifestyle you were given.”