Chapter Fifteen
NOAH
One minute they were talking about music and poetry, and the next, they were in each other’s arms with their mouths glued together as if breathing depended on it. Grace’s lips were soft and tasted of chocolate. The chocolate she had in her milkshake that afternoon.
Noah could barely function with the need to taste and hold her. It wasn’t bloodlust or simply lust. It was a lot more than physical need. He had his share of hookups. Some of them were needed to lessen the loneliness, others to fulfill a need for blood and sex. With Grace, he worried about hurting her physically and emotionally.
They started in her car in front of the mansion and rushed inside, grabbing each other in the corridor, a few steps from his bedroom.
“We should talk about this,” Noah said breathlessly while holding her face between his hands. He watched her with hooded eyes. Her beauty was mesmerizing. Her lips were a magnet. “Grace...”
“We’re only kissing,” she mumbled. Gulping, she nibbled on her bottom lip and met his gaze. “Don’t you want to kiss me?”
“Yes, but it’s highly unprofessional. I work for your grandpa, and you are technically my student.”
“You talk too much.” Her lips searched for his and silenced the shred of rationality that was left.
“Your grandfather is going to kill me,” he breathed out as he walked with her to their favorite spot—the sofa under the attic window.
“I won’t let him.”
He smiled against her lips.
They had a perfect date. He barely noticed the time go by. They didn’t run out of a conversation, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was perfect. The way she smiled. The way she averted her eyes when she felt shy. The soft red tainting her cheeks when he complimented her or their hands touched.
They took a stroll around town. It didn’t have a lot to see. The entertainment was a local pub, a burger joint, and an old movie theater. There was a park where families gathered, but he wanted somewhere less noisy, so they could talk.
Grace laced her arms around his arm, and they promenaded like a couple. He didn’t protest. He liked to feel her close and sense her energy surrounding him. It soothed his mind and soul. Noah didn’t feel anxious or on high alert when he was with her. She seemed happy, wearing a summer dress with high-heeled boots and a leather jacket. Her hair was braided, exposing her sleek neck.
The heat of her body against his brought him out of his reverie. She felt amazing. His hands itched to touch and undress her. He was turned on beyond reasoning, but he was going to be respectful. Grace wasn’t a one-night stand. By the way, she pushed away his wandering hands, sex was off the table.
Noah fell back on the couch, and she crawled on top of him, letting her body mold against his.
“You’re making it hard for me to control myself,” he complained.
Her lips left a trail from his mouth to his ear. “I can sense that.”
Her teasing made him harder.
Giggling, she kissed down his throat, and her hand caressed his chest.
“That’s unfair,” he protested. “You stopped me when I tried to put my hand there.”
“Do I please you, Noah?
Her question and her nibble on his neck made him moan.
“I thought you could sense it,” he teased back.
“Not just to have sex,” she explained.
Noah lifted her chin and raised her head so she looked him in the eye. “Grace, you’re intelligent and pretty. Anyone would be lucky to have you, but you can’t—”
Her mouth covered his. Their tongues entwined until he was out of breath.
Her mouth escaped his long enough for her to talk. “I’m glad you said that I’m intelligent first. I might grant you access to the second base if you keep that up.”
Noah chuckled. “We’re using baseball terms to describe this?”