Chapter Thirty-Six
Sienna
All this timeI thought he had left me, it never once crossed my mind that he was doing it to protect me. Not once did it occur to me that it might have been something far more important or substantial than simply not wanting to be with me anymore. But it still hurt, and my heart was still fractured.
My mind spun, my racing thoughts making me dizzy as I tried to digest it all. “How did they find me?”
He stiffened, and cleared his throat. “We’re not sure if they found you specifically.”
“What does that mean?”
“We’ve noticed their increased presence in and around Atherton. But we’re not one hundred percent sure they’ve zeroed in on you yet. I just couldn’t risk it, which is why I had to get you out of that town asap.”
I glanced up at him. “You keep on saying ‘we.’”
“I’m not the only ex-marine these people have fucked with. We have each other’s backs whenever needed.”
“So, you’re saying I broke an ex-marine’s nose?”
He snickered, and I loved the low rumble that rolled from his chest. “Yes, you did. And to be honest, I didn’t expect any less from you.”
I smiled and leaned against his chest, wanting to drown in his warmth. His presence, his smell, the way I could hear his heartbeat brought back every single memory I had tried so hard to forget. Memories that cut and carved my insides into a million pieces.
Closing my eyes, I tried to silence my thoughts and shut out the noise so I could focus on him, feel him, and let his energy consume me as it pulsed with a rhythmic thrum from his heart to mine. But it wasn’t long until doubt started to trickle into my thoughts, corrupting it with its cruel intentions.
“Noah?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you have come back if it weren’t for them?”
Excruciating silence draped over us, and I already knew the answer without him having to say a word. It sucked, and it cut real fucking deep. “If you didn’t think my life was in danger, you never would have come back.”
“I’m not going to sit here and lie to you, Sienna. I’m not going to give you the answers you want to hear simply because it would make it easier for you.” He let go of my shoulders and inched back. “I’m giving you the truth and nothing else because I want you to trust me. And when I say that being away from you was one of the worst experiences of my life, it’s the truth. And when I tell you that I would have moved to the other side of the goddamn world if it meant keeping you safe...it’s the goddamn truth.”
“Would it be too much to ask that you lie to me then?”
With a gentle nudge of his hand beneath my chin, he lifted my face toward his, and I was one breath away from drowning in his eyes. “Fine, I’ll lie to you,” he started, staring at the spot where his thumb caressed my jaw. “I didn’t miss you at all. I didn’t once think about touching you or hearing you moan while my fingers traced along your skin.” My body shuddered, his hand traveling down the side of my neck, his eyes following the movement. Hunger reflected in them, and it woke my own need within me, taking me by surprise. “I sure as fuck didn’t think about you naked and writhing on silk sheets as I made my way up from the inside of your legs to the round swell of your breasts.” His hand slipped down, simply brushing his knuckles against the side of my tits, causing me to suck in a breath. Something sparked, and then there was fire everywhere. Around me. Inside me. Filling the space between us.
“Noah,” I whispered.
“And I sure as hell didn’t think about kissing you.” His lips crashed against mine, and I was sure the ground beneath us shook and shattered—his kiss both familiar and new at the same time. And the second his tongue found mine, a low grunt emanated from deep in his throat, vibrating to my lips. I whimpered through the kiss I had longed for, for so fucking long, trapped in a ripple of emotions—a kiss that tasted of desperation and fire. It wasn’t a gentle brush of his mouth or a slow sweep of his tongue; it was hard, aggressive, and so damn perfect. We wanted to consume each other; allow this intense longing to fucking explode.
His arms snaked around my waist, and he pulled me on top of him, allowing me to straddle him as he leaned with his back against the wall. Every ounce of pain and heartache I had endured fused with the ache only his touch and kiss could ignite.
My hands grasped the sides of his face, cupping his cheeks, feeling the brush of his stubble against my palms. I was enveloped by him, moaning against his lips and demanding he kiss me deeper. Harder.
“Jesus, Sienna,” he whispered. Chills moved along my spine when he cupped my ass with his palms, forcing my hips to move and feel his hard cock against my sex. A low, insatiable growl echoed from his chest the same time I whimpered, needing him to fill me.
His lips moved to my jaw and down my throat. All I could do was wrap my hands around his shoulders, lean back and crane my neck so he could taste every inch of my skin. With every touch of his hand, every thrust of his hips, words I had kept caged since he brought me here fell from my lips. “I hated you but missed you more.”
Abruptly his arm circled my waist, and he pulled me up, pushing forward and placing me on my back. A rush of air escaped me when he settled between my thighs, and I wrapped my legs around him.
It was chaos. A frenzy of longing and lust, our bodies shamelessly rocking in search of the pleasure we knew we’d always find together. Reaching up, he clutched my chin between his fingers, forcing my head to the side so his lips could devour the sensitive skin of my neck, his tongue lapping and licking, tasting his way to my ear where his warm breath caressed my flesh. “I need to be inside you, baby girl.” His tongue traced along the shell of my ear. “I want to watch you come. I want to lose myself inside you while the rest of the fucking world burns down around us.”
“Noah.” I breathed, more than willing to go down in flames with this man.
“Let me have you,” he murmured right before claiming my mouth with a fierceness that resonated in the way his tongue dueled with mine.