ChapterEighteen
Noah
Icome to awareness as usual—gradually at first and then all at once.Something is different, I can tell.At first, I can't remember what.
Did I oversleep my alarm?
For a few moments, I'm utterly disoriented.A warm, smooth thigh slides against mine, and a nose nuzzles my throat with a soft, happy sigh.Is Noel late for class?Did I even set my alarm?
"Taylor, we have to get up."It comes out an unintelligible mumble:T'l'r, w'havva g'up.
A snuffle, a nuzzle, the soft, breathy groan of a waking woman.My eyes snap open—something about the sound of her voice as she moans triggers lucidity.
FUCK.
I said, "Taylor."
I can only hope she wasn't conscious enough to have heard my gaffe.My heart starts pounding.
Soft, tender fingers touch my chin, tilt my face down."Hey."Her voice is barely a whisper, delicate and sleep-rough."Good morning, handsome."
I search her face for a sign that she heard me, my heart rattling in my chest like a snare drum.Too bad she's got her cheek directly over my heart."Good morning, gorgeous."
She caresses my cheek and snuggles closer, burrowing against me."Noah, I heard you."She kisses my chest over my heart."Stop panicking.It's okay."
"I—" I inhale shakily."I was disoriented."
Another kiss to my chest, her fingers scratching my stubble."I know.I understand.I'm not mad.I’m not anything but happy to wake up next to you."She rolls on top of me, hair a curtain around our faces."Let me try to put you at ease.Even if you were to accidentally say Taylor's name during sex at some point, I would be okay.It would…it'd definitely sting for a second, I’m not gonna lie about that.But I hope I know you well enough to know it wouldn't be because you forgot who you were with or anything.She was your person, Noah.You spent more of your life with her than without her.Even after three years, that stuff doesn't just vanish."She exhales, fingers toying with my hair, brushing strands this way and that."You woke up in a strange bed after a late night, with a woman in your arms for the first time since Taylor passed.Of course you're going to be a little disoriented.Give yourself some grace, baby.And…I guess just try to trust me.Trust that I'm not fragile or emotionally delicate."
"How can you be so articulate before coffee?"
She nuzzles my throat again."I dunno.Just mom things, I guess."
"You're a miracle, Morgan."
She shakes her head."No, I'm really not.I'm just a girl who really needs to pee."She gives me quick peck and then rolls off of me and to her feet, her oversized Disney shirt slipping down around her thighs, but not before revealing that she's not wearing anything under the shirt.
My own bladder is giving me the what-for, so I'm right behind Morgan after she's done.It's a different kind of disorienting, performing the domestic, intimate activities of a morning routine with someone new for the first time in more than thirty years.She brushes her teeth and I get my little leather satchel of toiletries and do the same.
"Is that your usual pajama situation?"I ask.
Morgan, bent over the sink to spit out her toothpaste, reaches back and flips up the tail of her shirt, baring her bottom."Why?Do Disney princesses turn you on, Noah Austin?"
I give her ass a playful smack—hard enough to make a satisfyingcrackbut not hard enough to actually hurt."Well, it's not the Disney princesses turning me on, no."
At the smack, she squeals, straightening and rubbing the offended spot."Noah!"
I take over the rubbing."Sorry.Couldn't help myself.I don't know if you've picked up on this, but I'm kind of obsessed with your ass."
Instead of scolding me, Morgan bends over the sink again, shirt hiked up, and wiggles her butt at me."At least make it even."
I hesitate, but the only expression I can read on her face is playfulness.So, I spank the other side, leaving a splotchy pink spot on her bottom, which I then soothe with a gentle caress."You continue to surprise me, you know that?"
She turns into me, crushing up against me and sticking her hands down my underwear to grasp my butt in both hands."You're surprised that I like being spanked?"
"Um…yeah?"I blink."You do?"
She shrugs, squeezing.“So the evidence would suggest.”She lifts on her toes to kiss the corner of my mouth."But considering that I discovered just last night that I like being tied up and blindfolded, apparently I'm a little kinky.Who knew?"
