There’s no hesitation on my end. He’s as beautiful as ever, and I don’t hold back, working my hand from base to tip. A feral hiss pulls from him at the contact, his pupils dilating as I lean in, tracing every vein with my tongue and licking up the moisture that already beads at the tip. “Your mouth is heaven on earth, Noah. I’ve thought of it every day and dreamt of it every fucking night.”
A full-body shudder rocks me as I wrap my lips around his thick cock and hollow my cheeks, sucking. The taste of him erupts on my tongue, and I groan with pleasure as I take him deep, letting the head nudge the back of my throat.
“Just like that, Starlet. You’re gonna fuckin’ wreck me.” He threads his fingers through my hair and fists it at the base of my neck. “Be a good fuckin’ girl and choke on my cock.”
My chest jerks at the gravel in his voice, and I grab onto him, nails digging into his skin as I slowly work him in rhythm with each of his stuttered grunts and groans. Tears well as I gag on his length. His pelvis thrusts, but I let him ruin me, drawing him in instead of holding him back. My tongue swirls, inviting the madness that’s fogging the air around us.
His lips part in bliss on a particularly deep thrust. “Darlin’,” he gasps out, caressing my cheekbone with his thumb, collecting themoisture that slides down my face. “Love it when your tears roll for me.”
On a heaved breath, Rhett pulls out of my mouth. I blink up at him with my heart hammering, and a moment later he’s picked me up, leaving me no choice but to wrap my legs around his hips.
“Claim me, cowboy.” My back meets the wall behind us. He captures my chin with his thumb and a few fingers, tipping my face upward.
“Fuck, I love seeing your lips puffy and swollen.” His mouth meets mine, his tongue an invasion. An attack. A war that I don’t want to fight anymore. Our bodies strain together, unable to get enough. It’s the glide of skin on skin—hot, sweaty, perfect—that practically has me coming apart in seconds. His thumb flicks over my lace-covered chest, then fingers catch the delicate fabric and yank it down, exposing my aching breast to him.
Rhett’s gaze glows hot as he tracks the lust pinkening my cheeks, an out-of-control wildfire. Dipping his head, he captures my nipple, tugging with his teeth, and a hand dives between us.
A startling moan rips free. “God, I’ve missed your touch.”
He swallows my words with a kiss that robs me of breath. My hips buck, unable to control the way the pressure he’s applying to my clit over my panties makes me want to grind against his fingers. I need this. Need more of this feeling cascading over me. I want to drown inhim. My fingers roam, sliding into his hair and gripping hard as I plunge my tongue into his mouth again. Rhett makes me want to throw all caution to the wind.
“Do you need this? Such a greedy girl.” He slides my panties to the side and teases the head of his cock through the wetness between my legs. The heat quickly rises between us to incendiary levels. “Is this why you came looking for me? Because nobody makes you come the way I do.”
The bulb overhead flickers, glinting off his eyes as I suck his bottom lip into my mouth. He growls, and his satisfaction hits me square in the chest. My thigh muscles jump, and my breath catches as his cock glides inside me. Tightening down on him, my pussy throbs as I take him in, inch by delicious inch.
“Fuck! You’re so tight. Let me remind you what you’ve been missing all this time. Remind you what you cheated us out of.” With a demanding thrust, he drives me higher and despite everything that’s gone before, I let go and allow myself to just fucking feel.
“You’re mine, Noah. Always fuckin’ have been.” The gruff quality of his voice ignites something deep within me, and I gasp, losing myself in the slide of our bodies, slick and sweat-soaked. And in the heat of this moment, as we stare into each other’s eyes, rapture unfurls. Tension snaps. And we explode, lost to carnal bliss.
“Miss Lane?” A gentle touch to my shoulder jerks meto awareness, and I shift the sleep mask from where it obscures my vision. I blink into eyes that are not Rhett’s as the flight attendant watches me curiously. “Sorry. It sounded like you were having a bad dream. Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”
My face heats as my heart throbs uncomfortably in my chest, and I shake my head. “N-No. I’m fine.” After our conversation this morning, I don’t know if Rhett understands that it was never him I was leaving. I wish he knew just how deep a canyon all this time spent missing him has etched into my heart. The regret I feel is all-consuming.
Especially now.I’m so far from fine, I could cry.
NOAH
11
My mouth is dry,like it’s full of sand, and swallowing is next to impossible. That kiss Rhett and I shared outside the bar reminded me of everything I lost. I let him believe that I willingly chose Bradley when it’s merely a facade. A means to an end. And it kills me. I told Rhett to find his happiness. But a part of me hopes he waits, even though it’s unfair to him.
Squirming as a flash of my earlier dream slams into me, I shift uncomfortably on the leather seat. I’m haunted by the scene my mind played for me like a movie. I can practically feel the way the wood planks that make up the walls of the old stable would have scraped my skin as Rhett and I lost pieces of ourselves to each other. Every detail is imprinted on my soul, and even though it was all in my head—it doesn’t matter. It felt so real because every touch mirrored the life we once lived.
A sleek black sedan carries me through the streets of LA, back to the penthouse I’m sharing with Bradley for the duration of our contracted relationship.
My scattered thoughts bounce back to the beginning, to the night that started the butterfly effect that brought me to where I am today. At eighteen, I’d thought Bradley hung the moon. He’d seen a social media video of one of my songs, which prompted him to come to Black River to watch me perform live.
That night changed the trajectory of my life. Within a few weeks, he’d handed me the world on a silver platter, serving dreams I never believed I could achieve. From that point, everything happened so fast. I was caught in a whirlwind, blinded by fame and glistening lights. If only I’d known his true intent.
Drawing in a breath, I quickly glance down at my phone, revealing no communication since I told Bradley I’d landed. Funny how now that I’ve reached out to him on my own terms, he chooses to ignore me. In the back of my head is a whisper of truth: This is yet another demonstration of the control he feeds on. What I want has never mattered—a lesson I’d learned rather early on in our business relationship.
I still recall the night of my debut album release party. It was a bittersweet victory. My first single had soared to the top of the charts, but when I looked around the room at all the faces sharing my success, I felt so alone.Nobody from Black River was there, and it was my fault. In my haze of self-deprecation, I’d accepted the drinks Bradley supplied, hoping to drown out the emptiness.
Too naive to recognize there was a motive to his consoling comfort, I’d let him lower my defenses. When his touches became heated, I put a stop to them immediately. Unbeknownst to me, that was the one thing he’d never let me get away with. I’d publicly humiliated him in front of executives and peers within the industry. My refusal set off a chain reaction, and things got progressively worse from there.
For a while, I dealt with Bradley’s growing obsession because I didn’t see another option. Hemstock Holdings, run by Bradley’s father, Harold, is the biggest music label on the West Coast. In my stupidity, I neglected to realize that my first contract stated that HH would own the masters to the first five albums I produced. This includes all recorded and future music, as well as the ability to license, distribute, and monetize.
Even if I were to walk away, leaving the contract unfulfilled, I couldn’t release new music because they’d own that too. I’d havenothing.I’ll have done all this fornothing. I’d be giving up my entire life’s work. Everything I’d lost would be in vain. Breaking Rhett’s heart, shattering my own—it all would’ve been fornothing.
