NOAH
10
All too quickly,my time in Black River has come to an end. My heart tugs as I board the private jet Bradley chartered to cart me back to LA and real life. The flight attendant offers me a goblet of water as I settle into the plush seat and dig into my bag. I have a case of nerves that has less to do with the flight itself than it does what awaits me when we land. Locating the Xanax that my doctor prescribed, I pop one and down it with a sip of the water.
There’s no denying I’ve served myself with a massive helping of heartache that has no cure. Nothing this entire weekend had gone as anticipated or planned.
The constant barrage of text messages is a stomach-pitching reminder of what I’ll be returning to. Glancing down, I read the latest.
You’ve had your fun.
It’s time to get the fuck home.
I’m not a patient man.
Don’t keep me waiting.
I’m on the plane.
“Anything else I can get for you, Miss Lane?” The flight attendant hovers, prepared to go above and beyond for me, but all I really need is to be left in peace.
I tuck my phone into my pocket. “No, thank you. I’m hoping to nap the entire way.”
“Well, please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything. The captain said to tell you our flight time to LAX is about two hours forty minutes today due to some inclement weather.”
“Okay, thank you.” She slips away, and I put in my ear buds, selecting a soothing playlist. Hopefully I’ll pass out soon.
The music washes over me in gentle waves, and a ragged sigh drags from my chest. Drowsiness brings a jumble of mental images along with all the accompanying emotions to tease at the far reaches of my mind as I’m pulled further and further toward the blissful nothingness of sleep.
My throat goes dry. Rhett’s all sleek muscle. Broadshoulders and chest taper to a narrow waist, his ass filling out his Wranglers in a way that has my face flushing and heat snaking through my body. In the dim light of the stable, tanned skin glistens with the sweat of hard manual labor. My eyes roam, licking over every dip and ridge and plane of his sinfully carved body until a fever sets in, and the urge to touch every square inch makes my breath hitch.
Rhett pivots at my arrival, his gaze trailing over me. My eyes drink him in, watching the way he works a rough swallow down his corded neck as his lips part. “Starlet.” The sound of the nickname he’d given me so many years ago falling from perfect lips has my heartbeat thudding like a steady drum in my ears. A hint of a smile curves his wicked mouth, reeling me in. And because there’s never been any denying Rhett, I let my feet propel me forward.
I stop just shy of him, tipping my head back to peer upward. The way those dark eyes of his rove over my body strikes a jolt of desire straight to my core, awakening parts of me I’d thought were long dead. I open my mouth on a gasp, and nothing but the agonizing truth of a thousand nights spent missing him spills out. “I can’t stay away, Rhett, even though I know I should.” With my entire body trembling at the force of emotion crashing through me, I hold a hand out to him as I search for the only answer I’ve ever wanted—whether this separation has been as much misery for him as it has been for me. “I need you.”
A heartbeat later, hisunyielding fingers grip my hand. “I’ve always been right here.”
There’s no resistance on my end as he tugs me closer. We crash together, bodies aligning like puzzle pieces, destined to fit. I’ve never forgotten how we were. Not for an instant. No matter the distance that kept us apart. No matter the time that’s passed or anything else.
“You were made for my hands, Noah. He could never hold, touch, tease you. Not in the way I can.” A territorial growl brushes the bare skin of my neck. “Welcome home, Starlet.” His breath heaves from his chest where my palms have landed, and the pounding of his heart under my fingertips has me swallowing past the knot of emotion rising. Hands tangle in strands of my hair, using the hold to angle me just so. Desperation hangs heavy around us, and his mouth hovers over mine, warm breath cascading over my face and sending shivers running down my spine. His penetrating gaze burns, leaving me struggling for air as my lungs forget their purpose. Oxygen? I don’t need it. The only thing I need is him.
“Rhett…” My breath pants from my lips, my heart somewhere up in my throat as he stares down at me. One look of longing from those chocolate eyes is enough to make my panties wet. Time moves agonizingly slowly as he studies me, and he groans out my name. “Noah.” The nearness of his mouth tempts mine. A taste. A shared breath. Soul-deep need. “It’s been years, but I can still taste you.”
We’re all searing heat; lips and tongues fueled by heady desperation as we moan out a wicked hello. I clutch at his strong arms, fingers sliding down sweat-drenched skin, nails digging in as I hold onto the one man I never should have let go of. The only one who’s ever mattered.
“Starlet,” he groans out as his lips blaze a hot trail along my jaw and down the side of my neck. “I fucking ache for you, darlin’.”
A stuttered breath passes from me at his admission, and I curl into him, seeking out what I’ve been missing… and what my body has been craving. From head to toe, I’m a live wire, zapping with electricity at every touch from his fingers and every kiss from his lips. I slide greedy hands along his rib cage, and his hips thrust forward, grinding against my stomach. Evidence of how much he’s missed me, this, us.
In some sort of erotic daze, I peel my shirt over my head, leaving me in lacy black undergarments and boots. “Time to unbuckle those jeans, cowboy.” Bringing my hands to his belt, I stare up at him from beneath hooded eyes. As if I’ve memorized this dance, I work the leather through the buckle, tugging it free and dropping it to the floor with a loudclinkthat has the effect of gunfire ricocheting around the cavernous building. I have his jeans unfastened only a moment later, and my gaze flicks to hischest where sweat trickles over ridges and slides through valleys of well-hewn muscle. My mouth waters, and I can’t resist the urge that pulls me closer, lips gliding over slick skin, my tongue darting out for a taste.
He groans aloud. “Fuck, Noah. I’ve missed you.”
A raw jolt of energy spears through me, the resulting throb nearly my undoing as I discover Rhett Rivers all over again. His scent sends a tiny whimper of need falling from my lips. He’s the air right before a summer thunderstorm mixed with a long day of hard work. He’s the antidote to my heartache.
His eyes wander over me, almost as if he can’t believe I’m really here with him. Doing this. “Jesus Christ, baby,” he moans, his words spilling raggedly from him. The muscle at the back of his cut jaw twitches, and he draws in an unsteady breath. “Darlin’, don’t tease me. Need that perfect mouth on my cock.” His voice is rough, rumbling like thunder from his chest and crashing into me like a lightning strike. Our eyes meet, sparks leaping between us, and there’s nothing I want more than to finish what I’ve already started. Slowly sinking to my knees, I drag his jeans over an ass sculpted by years of work on the ranch. My gaze never leaves his, the connection between us never faltering. I’m still so in tune with him, I understand every need, and I want him in the worst way.
Rhett groans as my unsteady exhale trails his deep-set V. A ragged sound pulls from my chest as I release his heavy cock from behindthe denim, and he rasps, “Show me you haven’t forgotten what I like.”
