at him, confused and curious, scared and excited. Fuck him. I could take whatever he could dish out. I opened.
“Good girl.” He fed his cock over my tongue, his legs shifting as he moved closer, thrusting his hips downward, into the bed, into my face.
His knees shifted, and my arms were suddenly trapped between his thighs at my sides. I shouted around his cock, and it was gone.
“Look at me, Avery.” His voice snapped through my hysteria, and I blinked up at him. “Say the word, and I stop.”
I couldn’t catch my breath. Time seemed to be moving twice as fast, and I was slipping into the dark and dangerous place I hated. Hated, but wanted to overcome. I wasn’t weak. My mouth opened again.
“There’s my good girl.” But he didn’t shove his cock down my throat this time.
He teased my spread lips, painting them with his arousal as he straddled my arms and shoulders. I just laid there, mouth open, panting for him.
“Keep your mouth open wide for me, beautiful.”
I blinked, so outside of myself, all sense of shame disappeared. My jaw loosened, and he rose above me, stroking his cock, his eyes staring into mine.
“I’ve dreamed of coming in your pretty mouth… And you’ve teased me enough that I earned the pleasure.” He tugged his flesh hard and grunted as hot come splashed across my lips and tongue. “Averyyyyyy…” he hissed, jerking every last drop over my lips and tongue.
My chin trembled as he looked down at me. My lips closed and tasted him. His finger trailed softly down the side of my face as he watched me swallow his release.
“So beautiful.” His weight lifted off of me, and I remembered what it was to take a full breath.
He pulled me to him, his body stretched beside mine, his mouth kissing my swollen lips, definitely tasting his own come.
“You were very brave, Avery.” He cradled me to his chest, his hands petting over my hair and shoulders, rubbing soothing strokes down the length of my arms. “Very, very brave.”
I didn’t have words or thoughts. All I had was Noah. Noah wanted to hold me, and I wanted to let him because Avery had gone somewhere else and I couldn’t find her right now.
His lips pressed against my temple, his breathing deep and steady. My dazed mind followed the rhythm like a metronome, counting off time in little Noah beats.
His kiss moved to the side of my face, his hands gently cupping my breasts as his body curled tighter around mine. I’d never been held so firmly in all my life. I wasn’t sure I could breathe like this, but he seemed to be breathing for the both of us.
“Avery?”
My thoughts scattered like frightened little woodland creatures at the sound of an approaching predator. “Hmm?”
“Don’t run from me when I let you go.”
My eyes flashed open, forced wide by a new emotion I didn’t recognize. Terror? Euphoria? Panic? Anxiety? Love? I didn’t know what it was. I was too exhausted to think. “Okay.”
His mouth curved against my cheek. “Good girl.”
“But Noah…”
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to hate you tomorrow.”
“All right. But just for one day.”
26
Avery
I tiptoed back to my apartment before the sun came up. Noah was out cold, and the email announcing that classes were canceled due to the storm had already hit my inbox. The streets were a sheet of white, trapping me on Delancey Street with my instinct to avoid and nowhere to hide.
Unsure what the day would bring, and honestly frightened about any awkward moments that might address last night, I escaped to the gym. I worked out as long as I could, hitting every possible machine, spending an extra thirty minutes on stretching, and then wasting as much time as I could doing yoga poses.
It sucked that it was only quarter to eight when I returned upstairs. This day was going to take forever.
After I showered, I received an email from Micah. We had to postpone our plans for tonight, but he said he wanted to talk to me. As I toweled off my damp hair, I called him.
“You’re up early,” he answered.
“My classes were canceled.”
“Everything’s closed.”
My stomach twisted with anticipation that could be good or bad. “You said you wanted to talk to me.”
“Yes.” The slightest pause made me nervous. “I’ve been thinking about our arrangement, love. I know you’ve been thinking about it as well.”
“I have.” Mostly because it no longer seemed right to charge for time spent with someone I wanted to keep in