Page 26

noah

Something sparked to life inside Savannah out on the lake, and I feel like I won the fucking lottery getting to witness it.

I’m not oblivious to all the ways this date almost went up in flames.

Starting with the drive. She seemed relieved when I didn’t ask any questions about her need to drive, and I have never felt the need to push her.

When I give her some time, she reveals little pieces of herself to me—when she’s good and ready.

If I’m honest, I like that she doesn’t give parts of herself away so easily.

It makes getting to see those quiet moments from her—seeing her transform from small and stilted to absolutely fucking soaring—that much more special. More intimate.

The bathroom door cracks open, revealing Savannah in a pair of my deep, forest green sweatpants and matching sweatshirt.

They’re swallowing her whole, but doused in the moonlight shining through the patio door, she looks unreal.

Her beauty is unmatched, with her wind-blown hair, cheeks that are slightly still pink, and the somewhat hesitant way she nips at her bottom lip—she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen .

Her bare feet pad softly across the floor, stopping just between my legs, where I sit at the end of the bed.

I pull her in closer, dropping my forehead to her stomach, and breathe her in. She smells like my soap, with the faintest trace of vanilla still lingering on her skin. No oranges. I sigh and make a mental note to get her one later.

“What’s wrong, Golden Boy?” I can hear the smile in her teasing voice as she drags her fingers through my hair just as she did the other day—only this time, she pulls slightly when she gets to the nape of my neck.

I liked it then, and it felt comforting in a way that I had never felt before, in a way I hadn’t known I longed for.

But tonight, it feels like more than mere want.

Tonight, having her fingers run through my hair is a burning desire.

Her body is smooth as I slide my hands up and over her hips.

I lift the hem of my sweatshirt enough to see the way she has rolled the waistband of my sweatpants at least five times.

They hug her hips, and I’m irrationally jealous of a piece of cotton.

Her skin is soft and warm against mine as I drag my thumb from one hip bone to the other, causing her fingers to flex a little tighter on my shoulders.

I press my mouth to the lowest part of her stomach, a slow smile spreading across my lips when her skin erupts in goosebumps. My thumbs slip into the waistband of the sweats, and I pull them down half an inch before looking up at her for permission.

Her hooded eyes are on me as her fingers grip the back of my neck harder and she moves to straddle my thighs.

“Nine days and four hours, Savannah.”

There’s a slight tilt in her head, but she doesn’t speak.

“It’s been nine days and four hours since I felt your mouth on mine.

” I kiss her stomach once more. “Nine days and four hours that I’ve thought about nothing except those sweet little moans you make.

” I stand, gliding my hands up her body until my thumbs find the underside of her breasts.

I drop a kiss to her neck. “Nine days and four hours where I’ve had to wonder if you taste as sweet as you sound. ”

Her hands have found their way to my biceps, where she tentatively holds on.

It’s a stark contrast to the way I want to sink my fingers, my teeth, and my cock into her.

I brush her hair back, cup her face between both of my hands, and press my fingers against her neck.

It’s there that I find what I’m looking for.

The beat of her pulse flutters like a caged butterfly.

My teeth bear down on the middle of my bottom lip.

I’m elated to know that she’s trying so hard to pretend she’s still unfazed.

Meanwhile, I’m fighting the restraints against every primal urge in my body.

I hover my mouth over her lips. If I weren’t holding her jaw, I would have missed the near invisible lift of her chin and the slight hitch in her breath.

“Lose the sweatshirt.”

Her eyes never leave mine as she takes a step back, crosses her arms at the hem of my hoodie, and pulls it over her head.

Tendrils of dark hair float down her back, covering her shoulders.

She stands in front of me with her nipples already hardened into little peaks, and I all but buckle to my knees in front of her.

“Goddamn, Savannah,” I grunt.

She steps forward at the same time that I reach for her, pulling her flush against me.

Her hands tangle and tug in my hair, and I drop my lips to her neck where her beating pulse hammers against my tongue.

I close my mouth over her skin. I lick, nip, and suck along the column of her throat.

I pull up, catching her eyes with mine, and they reflect everything I’m feeling.

“Kiss me.”

Her tongue runs along her bottom lip before she pulls it between her teeth.

“Kiss me, Savvy,” I repeat. “I’ll give you anything you want. ”

My blood feels like it’s on fire, like it’s begging me for her. This woman, who appears so stone cold on the outside, is now the reason my insides feel like lava.

She rises up on her toes and I feel fucking euphoric when she touches her lips to mine.

It’s tentative at first. I slowly move my mouth over hers, melting into the softness of her lips, and gently loop one arm around her lower back.

She pulls back to meet my eyes, one hand still settled at the nape of my neck, the other now cupped to my cheek.

Before I can take a full breath, she reclaims my mouth—more demanding this time.

Her lips part, and all my reserve breaks.

I pull her tighter to me—my hands roaming over her body, my tongue exploring her mouth—and she responds with a hunger that doesn’t match her outward calm.

I slip my hand down the front of her pants, taking in the smoothness of her skin against the rough calluses on my palm.

I smile against her mouth when I don’t feel any other fabric beneath her pants, and I trail my thumb over her until I reach her slit.

A deep groan rumbles from the back of my throat when I find how wet she already is.

“Fuck. I knew you would feel good.” I pull my thumb back, replacing it with my middle two fingers, and easily glide them through her wet lips.

I ghost the tips of them over her entrance and hold my breath as I listen to the whimpering moans she is fighting so hard against. I want to hear her wholly and without reservation.

No more suppressing moans, I want surrendering cries of pleasure.

I glide my fingers inside of her, only an inch, and her fingers tighten against my arm in response.

“I can’t wait to hear how sweet you sound when I’m filling you up and you’re screaming my name.”

“You talk a big game, King.” She forces her voice to sound more even than it actually is.

I pause, pull back, and search her face. Her magnetic eyes dart back and forth between mine. There’s a small crease between her brows, and I know she’s not as immune to me as she claims to be. She’s just better at hiding it.

I step back and drag my thumb along my bottom lip, torturing myself with the faintest taste of her. I huff out a small laugh. “There you go again, Savvy, running that fucking mouth of yours.”

She does a good job hiding whatever she’s feeling. Not a lick of surprise on her face, no labored breathing, not even a deep swallow. Her eyes are stone-cold sober and her voice doesn’t waver a bit when she says, “What are you going to do about it?”

Diabolically disrespectful. Savannah Alvarez talks a lot of shit, but her eyes can’t lie. I stare into the endless depths of her dark, hungry stare and smile.

I cover her hands and remove them from my neck. Her eyes move back and forth between mine, her chest rising and falling a little more rapidly now. “What?”

She stares at me as I turn her around and guide her to sit on the bed in front of me, twisting the length of her hair around my wrist. My cock jumps when I tug on it and her mouth falls open.

“You almost had me.” I run my thumb along her mouth, sticking it between her parted lips until I’m grazing her bottom row of perfectly straight teeth.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She breathes around my thumb.

I nudge her knees apart until I’m able to stand between her legs, and a thick swallow sounds in her throat.

“I think you taunt me because you want me to say some tired shit like, ‘I’ll find a better use for your mouth’, or, ‘You’d sound better with a mouth full of my cock’.

” I drop my thumb to her chin, and her teeth strum along her bottom lip, fighting the pull of her smile, confirming that, yeah, that’s exactly what she was expecting me to say.

“But, you want this, and now that I know that.” I bend down, dragging my nose along her jaw until I get to that sensitive part of her neck.

“I’m going to make you wait for it.” Her inhale is shaky, and I move back to the front of her face, dropping my forehead to hers. “I’m going to make you beg for it.”

She lifts her chin, pulling against the hold that I still have on her hair until her mouth is as close to mine as it can possibly be without touching, and she whispers against my lips, “We’ll see who’s begging by the end of this.”

Fuck.

I let go of her hair, grabbing both her wrists instead. I lower her to the bed, restraining her arms above her head.

My free hand runs from her throat, down between her breasts, and I draw a circle around her nipple with my middle finger. She presses her chest deeper into my touch, but I don’t let her have it, instead—I drag a feather-light finger down to the hem of her pants.

I watch her stomach rise and fall as I slip my hand beneath the sweats. “Keep your hands up.”