“Are you going to sleep like that?” I gesture toward his clothing.
He just grunts, “Don't worry about me. I'll be fine.”
I walk over to him, my heart thudding in tune with each footstep. With shaking fingers, I grasp the hem of his shirt before I slowly pull it over his head. He dips down to help me strip it off his shoulders.
I look up at him, and the chocolate pools of his eyes are smoldering at me. Stubble lines his jaw. He looks so fierce, so masculine, like what I imagine a warrior would look like.
My eyes skate down over his chest that's decorated with an assortment of tattoos. Before I can stop myself, I trail my fingertips over one of the patterns.
I feel his chest tremble under my touch, and I look up to find his eyes watching me intently.
“Sorry,” I say as I snatch my hand back, but he grabs it and holds it to his chest.
“There's nothing to be sorry for, princess,” he tells me before he steps back and undoes his pants, letting them drop to the floor.
My eyes widen when I take in the huge bulge between his legs. I quickly look away. My face is burning. I’m probably as red as a tomato.
“Are you sure you're okay with me sleeping with you?” his big voice rumbles. “I promise I'll be okay on the couch if you're more comfortable that way.”
I quickly shake my head as I climb into the bed and pat the empty space beside me, my cheeks still flaming. “No. I want you to sleep here.” I've never meant anything more, despite my nervousness.
Noah slides into the bed next to me, taking up all the room. I knew the man was big, but he seems even bigger in my tiny bed. We lay there on our sides staring at each other for a moment before he suggests gruffly, “Why don't you turn on your side facing away from me? We might have a bit more room that way.”
“Okay.” My voice shakes with the fire coursing through my veins as I do what he says. I can feel the heat from his big body emanating onto my back, and I unconsciously gravitate closer to it until I feel my butt hit the big bulge between his legs.
My breath hitches, and he makes a choked sound—almost as if he’s in pain.
I jerk forward to put more space between us again, afraid that I’ve hurt him, but his arm bands around me, pulling me flush against his chest, spooning against me.
That huge bulge presses firmly against my ass, and I can almost feel it pulsing against me.
My heart is beating in overdrive at the way he's wrapped around me, and I'm loving every second of it.
I feel his hot breath on my neck as he breathes in against my ear, smelling my hair. “Fuck, do you know what you're doing to me, Cynthia?”
A tremor goes down my spine at the way he says my name. “No,” I confess because I really don't. I'm completely out of my element with a man in my bed. “I've never had a man in my bed before.”
His arm tightens around me possessively, and he makes a growling sound in my ear. “Knowing that isn't helping matters, princess.”
“What do you mean?” I ask breathlessly.
“I mean that makes me want to roll you over and show you what it's like to really have a man in your bed.”
My heart is pounding so loudly in my ears at his words, and I feel that bulge growing even bigger against me, pressing more firmly into my ass.
Is this just a man's typical reaction to a woman, or does Noah want me as badly as I want him?
I lay there for a moment in silence before I muster up all the bravery I can.
There's only one way to find out.
I roll over in his arms until I'm facing him again. His brown eyes are blazing at me as I raise a shaking hand and lay it on his cheek.
His eyes close and his head turns into my palm as if he's a dog starved for affection. It pulls at something in my heart.
“Noah,” I whisper his name.
My whisper is like a match to kerosene. His eyes suddenly burst into flames. They snap open and burn with smoldering heat, and the next thing I know, his arms are splayed across my back, pulling me flush against him as his lips crash down onto mine.