Even if that reminder was snoring.
I lay there as light seeped through the curtains and watched her sleep. Noelle…she was pretty—not wild pretty like Willow or saintly pretty like June.
Nah…she waswickedpretty.
My kind of pretty.
There was a little crease between her brows, even now—like she was thinking about the next mystery, the next clue. I wondered if she always slept like that, fingers clutched in theblankets. I reached up and brushed a short, dark lock of hair from her temple.
I’d had women in my bed before…but never a woman like her.
She stirred, blinking awake slow, blue eyes still hazy with sleep.
“You’re watching me,” she grumbled.
“Guilty,” I whispered.
She groaned and hid her face in my chest. “Creepy.”
“Was I just supposed to lie here and ignore your snoring?” I asked.
She grunted against my chest, but didn’t move—just burrowed closer, her nose pressed against my sternum, her fingers curling against my ribs like she wanted to tell me off but held on tighter instead.
“There’s no way I snored,” she muttered.
“I have a witness,” I argued. “Milo was so annoyed he actually slept in the living room.”
Noelle tilted her head just enough to train one blue eye on me. “I only snore when I’m sleeping really well.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Which means I don’t snore. And I also don’t cuddle. I don’t…I don’t sleep this well, especially not in someone else’s bed.”
I kissed her hair. “Maybe you needed it.”
One hand slid down my abdomen, her lips curving against my skin. “Stop being nice or I’ll leave,” she said, her lips following the trail of her hand.
I closed my eyes as her head disappeared under the blankets, one hand on my hip and the other…fuckin’ hell.
“I’m starting to think that’s an empty threat,” I said, voice tight.
She didn’t reply; she didn’t have to.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
Noelle was still smiling when her lips found the head of my cock, warm breath ghosting over my skin. I swore, a low broken sound, and pushed the covers back so I could see her.
She glanced up at me as she licked the tip, then…fuck…as she took me slowly into her mouth.One inch at a time, teasing me. My hand moved instinctively to her hair, fingers threading the the short, silken strands—not guiding her, just needing the contact.
“Christ, Noelle,” I breathed.
She hummed around me, the vibration zipping up my spine. I watched her, completely undone by how much she seemed to enjoy it—how she closed her eyes like she was savoring every second. Not just doing it for me…doing it because she wanted to.
Because she could.
I was already on the edge. She hadn’t even taken all of me, but the sight of her like that—naked in my bed, mouth full of me, her hand stroking what she could take—it was enough to make my head spin.
When she pulled back with a wet pop and dragged her tongue along the underside of my shaft, I groaned and dropped my head back against the pillow. My hips jerked without meaning to, but she didn’t seem to mind. She just smiled against my skin.
