“Stop it. Stop questioning yourself and show me your breasts.”
She picked up the pace, the dark command in his voice breaking through her self-consciousness. She let the shirt hang open and unhooked the front clasp of her bra before she could think twice about it. Her nipples peaked in the slightly chilly air. Her breasts were heavy, but those nipples perked up as though wanting Noah’s attention.
He hissed slightly, and his hands covered her breasts. “Fuck, you’re beautiful, Hope.”
He dropped to his knees, and she could feel the roughness of his five o’clock shadow on her skin. It gave her an edgy, restless feeling. She let her hands drift up to the silky darkness of Noah’s hair. His tongue flicked out, teasing at her nipple.
She whimpered a little and tried to get him to take more.
He pulled her hands into his own, gripping them on just the right side of pain. “You don’t control this, Hope. I meant what I said. I’m going to be in control of this. If you can’t handle it, all you have to do is tell me to stop. You say no and this ends.”
She didn’t want that. Not when she was so close to maybe getting what she needed. “Please, Noah.”
“I’ll tie you up if I have to,” he swore before leaning forward again and sucking a nipple into his mouth.
Fire shot straight from her nipple to her pussy. She forced her hands to stay at her sides. Noah’s arm circled her waist, pulling her into the heat of his mouth. He sucked and bit at her nipple, making her squirm and moan until he released the first and moved to the second. His teeth grazed her.
“Fuck all, Hope, you’re a sub.”
She’d rather suspected it. When Jen Talbot talked about some of the things Stef did to her, it always made Hope restless. Jen would talk to Rachel and Callie, making them laugh, but it seemed serious to Hope. Discipline didn’t seem like a thing to joke about. It seemed like a way to get what she needed.
“I can smell what this is doing to you. It’s so fucking hot.” His hands ran down her legs and up her skirt, skimming along her skin until he got to her panties. “But these have to go. You’re not to wear them. I don’t like them. Do you understand me?”
Noah didn’t like panties. She could do that. “Commando it is then.” She remembered what Jen had said some subs liked to call their dominant lovers. “Sir.”
Noah groaned. “You have no idea what that does to me.”
He dragged her cotton whites off her hips and down her legs. When he’d pulled them free, he put them right to his nose and breathed deep. “You smell so good.”
She knew she should think a man smelling her panties was a bad thing, but it really turned her on. The idea of Noah putting his nose to her pussy was even better.
He shoved the white bikinis into his pocket and went right back to her nipples, lashing them with his tongue and teeth as his fingers teased their way back up her thighs.
“You spread your legs for me,” he ordered, lips moving against the flesh of her breast.
She widened her stance, leaning against the wall for support.
“That’s what I want.” Noah’s fingertips brushed her pussy.
Hope dragged oxygen in as he opened her labia and pressed a single digit to her opening. She could feel the muscles of her pussy quivering in anticipation. She hadn’t even used a vibrator in years. She hadn’t had a man touch her in more than eighteen months, but she already knew this experience would be utterly different. She wouldn’t have alcohol to dull her. She was only drunk on the experience of having Noah dominate her.
But she could easily become addicted.
“You’re tight, darlin’. So tight. You’re going to squeeze the hell out of my cock.” He turned his face toward her. He was a work of art with a square jaw and a perfectly masculine brow. He could be on the cover of a magazine, but he was talking about fucking her. He was talking about shoving his cock inside and riding. “It’s going to be good between us, Hope. I’m going to make it good.”
It sounded like a vow.
Noah’s thumb brushed her clit, and Hope had to bite her lip to keep from begging.
“You like that. Tell me what you like, Hope. Tell me what you want. I need to hear it.”
He growled the words at her, his finger working its way deep in her cunt. She tightened her muscles around it, trying to keep him inside, but he fucked in and out with that one finger.
“I want you, Noah.” She’d wanted him from practically the moment she’d seen him, the attraction instant. It had only grown as she had heard his story and gotten to know the man. She really liked him. She liked how kind he was to his dog and how much he wanted to make things right with his brother and the town. He wasn’t sure how to do it, but she rather liked that, too. He needed her, and that felt heavenly.
“What part of me do you want?” His finger pressed up and pulled back, his thumb barely caressing her clit. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Something was building, something lovely and amazing and elusive with just that one finger inside her. More. She needed more.
“I want your cock, Sir.” She wanted him filling her up. She was so empty with only that little finger inside her. She needed more.
“You want cock? I can give it to you.” He stood up abruptly.
“I want your cock.” He needed to understand that. She only wanted his cock and James’s. She wanted James. God, what would James think? She forced that thought from her mind because Noah looked down at her with wonder on his face.
“You won’t regret it, darlin’. You won’t fucking regret it.” He kissed her again though he’d lost some measure of his control. It didn’t matter. She was out of control, too. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t thinking about anything but where this feeling went. She had to know. She’d been frustrated for years seeking this magical connection, and it was close. So fucking close.
Noah pressed her against the wall. He ground his cock against her pussy. He felt so big, so hard. He rubbed against her, and she felt the first stirrings of something amazing. She nearly screamed in frustration, but she was far too busy watching as Noah opened the fly of his jeans. He shoved the denims down, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. He tossed the wallet aside but came up with a condom.
“What can I say? I’m optimistic. No, I’m really not, but you seem to bring out the best in me.” He shoved down his boxers, and his cock bounced free.
Big, with a bulbous head, Noah’s cock was gorgeous. Perfectly formed and thick, there was a small drop of pre-cum on the head. She wanted to suck it off, but Noah tore open the condom and started to roll it over his cock. She couldn’t breathe, but it didn’t matter. It was all deliciously out of control, and she liked it that way. Noah pulled at her skirt, and she found herself pinned to the wall.
“You hold on to me.” Noah reached between them and fitted the head of that glorious cock to her pussy. “Wrap your legs around me.”
She did as he asked, leaving the safety of balancing herself and relying on Noah. She was caught between Noah’s hard body and the wall as he started to thrust up.
“That’s what I want, darlin’. Wrap yourself around me. You feel so tight, so fucking good.”
He felt good. His cock stretched her, inching in as Noah pressed up. The stretch burned, but it was so, so good. It was connection and need. It was everything she’d been missing. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on for dear life. Noah took his time. His hands were firmly on her ass, guiding his cock in a controlled fashion. She could see the way he gritted his teeth as he took care of her.
But she wanted that burn. She wanted that bite of pain. “Fuck me, Sir. Fuck me hard.”
“Your wish,” Noah growled. He pulled down on her hips and shoved his cock up.
She whimpered at the hard stretch that took over her pussy. It burned as Noah’s cock filled her, pushing in all the way until she could feel his balls against the cheeks of her ass. Noah groaned as he leaned in and kissed her.
“It feels so good,” Hope
whispered against his lips. She moved her hands back to his hair. “Fuck me, Sir.”
“I’m going to spank your ass red for topping from the bottom. And don’t think I won’t find out what’s going on, but for now, you win.” He pulled out almost to the tip and then fucked in again.
Hope tightened her arms around him. She was a mess. Her shirt was hanging off her arms. Her panties were in the pocket of Noah’s jeans. Her skirt was jacked up around her waist. She was sure she had mascara running down her face, and her hair was crazy. And none of it mattered because Noah was fucking her. He ground his pelvis against hers and shoved his cock deep inside. Over and over he fucked into her, bringing her closer to the edge. He pressed up as he ground on her clit, and Hope slipped over. The orgasm was a little earthquake that started in her pussy and ricocheted outward, lighting up every inch of her skin from the inside out.
He pumped into her, his beautiful face tight with desire. His teeth were clenched as he raised her up with his arms and then let her fall back, impaled on the hot length of his dick. He hit a magic place inside her, and she screamed, the orgasm doubling.
Noah groaned as he held on to her hips and ground himself against her. He buried his face in the crook of her shoulder as he forced every ounce of cum out.
He held her up. She’d never felt so connected, so happy and satisfied. She could feel the blood thrumming through her system as she draped her body around Noah’s, trusting him to keep her up. She loved how his heart beat against her chest, and she could feel his breath on her neck. She inhaled his masculine scent.
“Thank you.” Noah’s voice was ragged. He clutched at her like he would never let her go.
“Thank you, Sir,” she whispered. She could go back to calling him Noah later, but here she would give him exactly what he needed. She felt him smile against her shoulder.
“Well, I guess I’m not fucking needed here.”
Hope’s feet hit the ground. She barely missed falling on her ass as Noah turned suddenly. She was breathless but not with desire this time.
James stood in the doorway that they hadn’t even bothered to close, Butch at his side. She just fucked Noah. Oh, god, she hadn’t even thought about James.
Noah pulled his pants up with an awkward tug. “Hey, brother, I just came up here to talk to her.”
“I can see you did a lot of talking.”
James didn’t move, didn’t turn his head to spare her. He just stared right at her, a frown on his face. Judgment in those gloriously blue eyes of his. Butch seemed to stare at her, too.
With shaking hands, she started to button up her shirt.
“Look, Jamie, I’m sorry it happened this way, but it was inevitable. I’ve wanted her since the moment I saw her,” Noah began, his voice shaking a little.
“Yeah, and we all know that you just go after what you want with absolutely no thought to anyone else. You’ve been that way since you were a kid.”
“Jamie, I want to talk about this.” Noah ran a hand through his hair.
She’d made things so much worse between the two of them. Noah had made some progress earlier, and now she’d screwed everything up because she hadn’t thought at all. She had no real illusions that James wanted her, per se. He was mad at Noah. Noah wanted her, so James wanted her, too. She wasn’t going to stand here and believe for a second that James Glen was jealous. He simply wanted to punish his brother, and she was the tool.
“I think you both should leave.” Her heart ached. She’d loved being with them. She had no real idea where she was going to go. Lucy’s, perhaps. It had seemed like a good idea before, but now she just wanted to be alone. She screwed things up so often that maybe it was better for her to be alone. She was right to hold herself apart. She could be kind to people, but not really close to them. She was poison. “I’ll have someone drive me out tomorrow so I can get my things.”
She mentally counted money. She might have enough for a bus ticket.
Noah turned, his brows drawn together. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I think you two should talk without me around. I’m just going to mess this up. You’re brothers. You need to talk.”
James stalked in the room. “I’m not talking to him, but I am going to lay down a few rules for you. You are going to go to the bathroom and clean yourself up. If this place still has running water. What the hell happened in here?”
“There was a fire in Stella’s kitchen. The smoke came up here. It’s really just a bad smell. I can stay here.”
“You’re not staying here.” Noah tucked his shirt in.
“Shut the fuck up, Noah.” James snarled his brother’s way before turning back to her. “I wasn’t finished with the rules. You’re going to clean up, and then you’re going to get in the truck. I have work to do. I talked to Nell while the two of you were fucking. She needs you this afternoon. I made her promise she won’t overwork you. I’m going to drop you off at the fairgrounds, and I’ll pick you up at two. If you give me any more hell, I’ll put you over my knee right now.”
“Any more hell?” His tone was starting to push past her guilt. “When have I caused you hell?”
Those lips of his turned slightly cruel. “Every second of every day since I met you. I’ve thought about you every minute.”
Bullshit. “You could have had me any time you wanted me, James. You didn’t give me a second glance until Noah wanted me. You’re like a child who doesn’t want a toy until his brother has it. Did you fight over all your girlfriends?”
He slapped the wall behind her. “And that just proves that you don’t know me at all. Until the day my brother walked away, I shared everything with him. I had rarely slept with a woman without my brother because in my family that was the way it was. Brothers shared because that’s how we made a family. Ranching is rough. It’s rough on a woman. I never wanted my wife to be lonely, and that’s damn straight what she would be if she married me. And I would be lonely because all my life I didn’t have someone to rely on. Don’t you dare tell me I’m a spoiled brat who can’t share. You just fucked the brat, baby. He walked away. He chose to leave me and our family over a woman. And then walks right back into town and takes the only one I really care about.”
She wanted to reach out to him. He sounded like he meant what he said. “James, I don’t understand. I asked you out. Do you know how hard that was for me?”
He reached out, and his fingers touched the buttons of her shirt. She had buttoned up so quickly she’d missed one. She stood there while he corrected the problem with a tender twist of his hand.
“I didn’t date you because I didn’t date,” James explained, his eyes pinning her. “I didn’t have anything to offer you until Trev brought some money back into the ranch. I only had work and pain to offer anyone, so I kept my relationships physical. If I had known you only wanted a good throw down every now and then, well, I would have stayed away from you because I wanted more. It doesn’t matter now. You’re my responsibility no matter what mistakes you make or what terrible taste in men you have. I take care of my responsibilities. I don’t walk away from them because they become difficult. Now, do as I told you, or I will spank you. I’ll be waiting in the truck.”
He turned and walked away.
Noah looked ashen.
She felt a little sick. What had she done? It seemed she was always doing the wrong thing, and it cost everyone around her. “Noah, you should go talk to him.”
“He won’t listen. He won’t…Damn it, Hope, go and get cleaned up. Do what Jamie told you to do.”
She felt her eyes go wide and her gut churn. “What?”
Noah’s stance hardened. “Jamie gave you an order. Do you expect me to go against him? Do you think you can play the two of us off each other? I can be indulgent, but this isn’t going to work if you put us at each other’s throats.”
“Have you gone insane?” Hope asked, her voice shrill even to her own ears. “Noah, you need to see what’s going on here. He
’s mad at you. He’s just using me to get to you. I get that what happened here doesn’t really mean anything. I do. I am not an idiot. Your loyalty is and should be to your brother, not some chick you banged. So just go. He can’t make me do what he wants.”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, sitting down on the couch and pulling her over his lap. Before she could really think twice, he shoved her skirt up, the cool air hitting her skin. She was shocked to find herself staring at her floor. She turned her head slightly. James hadn’t bothered to close the door. It was still standing open. She was damn happy that she lived on the second story or she would have probably had an audience. She opened her mouth to protest, and the flat of his hand smacked her ass.
He’d spanked her. It hurt, but it also did something for her. God, she was such a freak. She wasn’t about to let him know she was affected by him.
“Are you done?” She was pleased with how even her voice was when all she wanted to do was ask him to try again.
“Not even close. Jamie’s right. You need rules. You are not to talk about yourself that way again.” His hand smacked against her other cheek. He wasn’t playing. Hope groaned at the sharp, stinging pain.
Noah continued. “You’re not some chick I banged. You’re Hope. You’re my girl. Maybe sex is some easy exchange of bodily fluids for you, but it isn’t that way for me. You’re the only woman I’ve slept with in years. I do not take what happened lightly.” Another smack, this one to the center of her ass.
Hope whimpered but didn’t complain. The pain bit into her flesh, but his words were a balm.
Two more righteous slaps. “And I am not willing to give up. Jamie might be pissed, but if we play this right, he’ll also be in. He can be mad as hell at me and still want you. I want you. He wants you. You can bring us all together. You’re the piece of the puzzle that’s been missing.”
He spanked her until she’d counted ten slaps, every one a hot reminder that he wasn’t going to allow her to go anywhere. He wasn’t going to let her disappear.