Hot and Bothered - Erika Wilde Page 0,78
a carefree bachelor was easier than risking rejection, in any form. But you… Ah, Natalie, you’re worth every bit of that risk.”
“So are you,” she assured him. She may have come to that conclusion only moments before he’d arrived, but she’d always known it in her heart. “After my parents died, I refused to form attachments to anything or anyone. Even with Chad, I might have lost myself in that relationship, but I never, ever risked anything emotional with him. I swear the very last thing I was looking for when I moved to Oakland was love. You made my heart race every time our eyes met across the bar, but I fought my attraction to you for months, as you know.”
“Yes, I do,” he said, and chuckled.
She smiled, too, then grew serious again, wanting him to understand everything that led to her loving him. “But with the amnesia I lost so many inhibitions—nothing held back my emotion and desires for you. No matter the circumstances, no matter the pretense of our engagement, everything I felt for you was, and is, real and true.”
He hugged her close and brushed his lips across her temple. His contented sigh sent warm breath rushing over her skin. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.”
She pulled back, just far enough to look into his eyes, needing that connection with him. “I also know if the accident never happened and I hadn’t lost part of my memory, then we wouldn’t be standing here like this, because I never would have allowed you close enough.”
A dark brow lifted with amusement. “Are you suggesting that fate brought us together?”
“Maybe I am.” She shrugged and smiled up at him. “Maybe we were meant to be together. I know I couldn’t go back to the emptiness and solitude that was my life before you.”
“Me, neither.” He kissed her. Lightly. Tenderly. “Come home with me, Natalie. Today. You’re all packed and ready to go and my house is too damned big and lonely and quiet without you in it. You belong there with me.”
“I love the way that sounds,” she told him. “I’ve never truly belonged anywhere before.”
“You’re part of my life and family now,” he said possessively. “So from now on, if you’re going to run anywhere, run to me.”
He was so calm, so steady and reliable. “I promise I will,” she said, knowing he had shoulders broad enough to carry her burdens, and arms secure enough to keep her safe, forever and always.
But right now, at this very moment, she needed his body for an entirely different reason. Brazenly, she pushed him back, until his knees hit the edge of her bed and he fell back with a grunt of surprise. With him sprawled on the mattress, she crawled on top of him, straddling his thighs, welcoming the press of his erection against her feminine mound.
She sighed, and grinned down at Noah, finally having him right where she wanted him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I have to have my way with you.” She whipped off her blouse and bra, tossing them to the floor. “Right here. Right now.” Skimming her hands beneath his shirt, she pulled it up and over his head, then bent to lick a nipple with her tongue, causing her heavy, aching breasts to graze his stomach.
He thrashed and groaned, the muscles along his abdomen rippling. “Natalie…wait.”
She wiggled out of her shorts and panties. “I’ve waited an entire week for you, and it’s felt like a lifetime. I need you, Noah.” She unbuckled the belt on his pants, dipping her tongue into his navel, and lower, as she pulled the zipper down and released his already erect shaft for her to touch and caress.
She squeezed him in her fist, and he hissed out a breath, his hips bucking upward for a firmer stroke. “God, you’re insatiable.”
A slow, sinful smile curved her mouth as she tormented him with a soft, leisurely lap of her tongue along the swollen head of his cock. “You bring out the absolute best in me, including wanting you on a regular basis.” She released him, only long enough to peel off his pants and boxer briefs and drop the articles of clothing beside them on the bed. Then she was back on top of him, her body poised over his, his erection pressed against her slick opening. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”
Strangled laughter escaped him, and his glittering eyes met hers. “Hell, no. You’ve seen how my body reacts to just being near you.”
“That’s good to know.” With her hands braced on his chest, she lowered herself onto him, taking him deep inside where she was hot and wet and silky soft, her expression reflecting supreme pleasure as she started to move rhythmically on him. “Because I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”
Noah understood the addiction, since he felt the same. But there was still one more thing he needed to do, had to do…just as soon as he took control of the situation. Pulling her down to his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled her beneath him, so that he was in the dominant position on top of her.
She didn’t seem to mind. She hooked her ankles against the back of his thighs and rocked him forward while she arched into him, causing him to slide impossibly deeper. Without a condom separating their flesh, the texture and friction of their bodies was more intense.
He grabbed her hip with one of his hands to still her provocative movements. “Natalie, wait,” he said through gritted teeth, feeling his own orgasm cresting and his restraint unraveling.
Startled, she blinked up at him, concern furrowing her brow. “Noah? What’s wrong?”
He reached for his pants beside them, grateful they hadn’t landed on the floor, and dug a small black velvet box out of the front pocket. Then he glanced back down at her, smiling gently at her wide eyes and uncertain expression.
He braced a forearm next to her head so he didn’t crush her with his weight. “I had no idea how my visit here would end, but I was optimistic,” he said.
“Is that…” She glanced from the small box to his face, disbelief and hope mingling in the depths of her gaze. “Is that what I think it is?”
Lowering his head, he kissed her parted lips. “It’s an engagement ring. I want to make you mine for real. No pretenses this time, Natalie.” With his thumb, he flipped open the lid, revealing a gorgeous solitaire diamond ring that made her gasp. “I wanted this moment to be perfect and do this right. You know, get down on one knee and ask you to marry me,” he said wryly, knowing that this intimate moment would be one neither of them would ever forget, but that it wasn’t a scenario they could easily share with friends and family.
Her soft hands framed his jawline, and her eyes shone with utter devotion and an abundance of love. “We’re a part of each other, body and soul,” she whispered, reminding him of that fact with a slight pull of her inner muscles around his shaft. “How much more perfect can a proposal get?”
A crooked grin lifted his mouth. “Say yes. Say that you’ll marry me.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, Noah Sommers, I’ll marry you.”
It took a bit of finagling, but he managed to remove the ring from the black velvet lining. Natalie held up her left hand, and he slipped the glittering diamond on her ring finger, making her his from that moment on.
Weaving their fingers together at the side of her head, he surged into her, strong and deep. “You do realize, don’t you, that since I’m not wearing a condom that we might get an early start on that family we both want.”
“Oh, let’s hope,” she said enthusiastically. “But if not, there’s always tonight and tomorrow…”
He laughed and quieted her with a kiss, letting desire and passion take over, knowing fate would take care of everything else.
All Books in The Some Like it Hot Series:
HOT AND SEXY
HOT AND HEAVY
HOT AND BOTHERED
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