more genuine and easy than the stiff ones he’d used a few months ago when they’d first met. She liked to think she had something to do with that.
“Then that’s definitely not a mistake.”
His hands came up to cup her shoulders, then slowly slid down her back to her hips. He bent his knees so he could get a good grip on her upper thighs. Next thing she knew, she was hoisted up against him. Her legs automatically wrapped around his hips and her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Their lips met.
Like the other times, it was a melding of the mouths—deep, passionate, intoxicating. But different now because they both knew that this was just the start.
He walked back up the steps and through his front door, kissing her the whole time as he carried her weight easily. They made it all the way to his bedroom and to his big, king-sized bed with their lips still joined. He didn’t even stop kissing her as he gently laid her on the bed, his hand tenderly catching the back of her head so he could ease her onto the pillow.
“I love that you came here to me,” he whispered, his lips trailing down her jaw over to her ear. Her breath caught as they moved down the side of her neck. “I love that you’re the only woman who has been in this bed with me. The only woman I’ll ever want in this bed with me.”
She knew the tender words didn’t come easy for Noah, that he was making a huge effort on her behalf. “Show me, Storm.”
She loved the groan that fell from his lips as she reached up and caught his neck with her lips—kissing, licking, gently biting.
He pulled back to look down into her eyes. “I’ve only got one rule.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re honest with me. If something feels wrong, or you’re uncertain, or we need to slow down or speed up, you tell me.”
“I will. I trust you.”
He grinned and began unbuttoning her shirt, kissing across her collarbone. “Good. Because I trust you, too. And I’m not going to treat you like you’re damaged or breakable, because you’re not.” His lips continued to make their way down her chest, to the tops of her breasts. “You’re a survivor, a warrior, and have a strength that’s utterly humbling to me.”
She arched her back and he reached behind her with one hand and unhooked her bra. Her shirt and the scrap of lace underneath were gone from her body seconds later.
She arched into him, a breathless sigh falling from her lips as his mouth found one nipple and began to play with it, sucking, nipping gently, teasing and taunting. Her fingers threaded into his hair, keeping him pressed against her.
“Your body is a gift,” he said as he worked his way over to the other breast. “One I will never take for granted.”
She was panting by the time his lips left her breasts and made their way down her stomach. He pulled off her shoes and socks, then unbuttoned her jeans and eased them down her hips along with her underwear.
Before she could even have any doubts or concerns about how long it had been since she’d been this intimate with anyone, how much her body had changed from giving birth to two children, he eased her legs open and kissed her reverently—right at her very core. “So beautiful. Every single inch of you.”
All she could do was lay there in wonder as he took his time pleasuring her, figuring out what she liked with his fingers and then his tongue. Her hands clenched the sheets as she called his name over and over as the world exploded into a kaleidoscope of color around her.
She’d known being with Noah would be different, more wonderful, but nothing had prepared her for that.
And he still had his clothes on.
He was smiling as he kissed his way back up her body. “You’re so gorgeous. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’ll take it.”
“I know I said I would be honest, so I have to let you know I have a problem.”
Immediately his head jerked up, ready to solve whatever it was she threw at him.
She loved him. She truly did. If the mind-blowing orgasm hadn’t made that clear for her, the fact that he was willing to do whatever she needed did.
She poked him in the chest. “You have on way too many clothes… I have a problem with that.”
He