She’d thought about telling him the night she got home from the park. She wanted so badly to ask him about the things Derek had told her, but telling him about the park would mean having to come clean about seeing him the two other times that week as well. She knew Noah now well enough to know that wouldn’t go over well and she’d really hoped she could hold off until after the fight to tell him. Now she was thankful the guys had the same thought, but after their Rita conversation earlier she was even more worried about it now.
Admitting she’d made a week long decision to distance herself from Noah only to come home every night to get even closer to him than she’d ever been before was going to make no sense at all. It did sound ridiculous even to her. She’d explain it the only way she could. That no matter how hard her head tried to dictate what she should do—get a life that didn’t revolve around Noah—her heart and her body’s reaction when she was around him always won out.
Rationale didn’t stand a chance anymore. Her body just gave into what she really wanted every time now. He’d worn her down and at this point even he had to know it. She only hoped he could understand why she’d tried to fight it in the first place.
Noah finished warming up and the radio broadcaster outside announced it was almost fight time. The crowd started cheering as he riled them up. Veronica stood up, ready to go find her seat ringside where Noah had made sure they’d reserved it for her.
“Wait, Roni.”
Noah was back on the table where Abel had been prepping his face with Vaseline. He held out a glove to her and motioned for her to come to him. She did and when she was close enough she saw the Vaseline accentuated the small lump still left from the hit he took New Year’s eve. She touched the lump with her fingers. The one Noah stubbornly refused to have checked out by a doctor, saying it was normal for the swelling to take time to go away completely in the face.
“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be fighting with this thing still here?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” He smiled bringing his arm around her waist and pulling her to him. Her heart sped up, because except for the other day when he openly hugged her in the gym, he’d never done this in front of the guys. “Wish me luck?”
“Of course.” She smiled back and then did what she said she was going to do from here on—stop holding back—she leaned in and kissed him deep.
She pulled away slowly and Noah finally let her go as the crowd outside got louder. Noah got off the table and they all walked out together.
The fight started well enough. Noah appeared to be far more focused and in control than the last fight. The crowd was so much bigger and louder this time and that seemed to feed Noah’s adrenaline.
Veronica sat at the edge of her seat, her hands going to her face every time Noah’s opponent landed a punch, which to her relief wasn’t often. Noah seemed to be doing most of the landing. Then his opponent slipped in one good one that landed right on the spot Veronica had been worried about. The lump on the side of his face.
Seeing Noah rocked made the crowd go wild. Everyone was on their feet including Veronica whose heart was at her throat as she watched Noah try to shake it off.
“Get back in this, Noah! Now!” Abel yelled.
Noah did just that, landing two good ones back to back. The crowd roared and Noah had his opponent on the ropes. He landed another solid jab to the guy’s gut just before the bell rung and the ref stepped in to separate them.
This was definitely a part of Noah’s life that was going to take some time getting used to because God if she wasn’t close to tears already. Seeing him being knocked out so unexpectedly on New Year’s had been horrifying enough but watching and waiting knowing it could possibly happen again was the worst.
The next round went much better and even after Noah landed a couple that almost took his opponent down, it was beginning to look like the fight might come down to a decision. Then Noah landed a solid one to the guy’s jaw and he finally went down seconds before the bell.
Noah was once again declared the winner by way of knock out. The whole thing was bittersweet and Veronica had a feeling this is how it would always be. She watched and while everyone around him smiled and cheered she focused on his expression. Even though he smiled at her and smiled again when they held his arm up announcing he was the winner she could see he was in pain.
Once in the locker room he admitted to having a bitch of a headache, but told her not to worry it was normal. Jack gave him some pain killers with codeine and their proposed night out to celebrate was officially postponed. Gio immediately announced he was having a barbeque the next day at his place instead.
By the time they got home Noah was already feeling drowsy. Veronica thought they might actually skip out on their goodnight kiss, but when they got to their bedroom doors Noah pulled her into his. “Stay with me tonight please? I’ll promise I’ll be good.” He smiled even through a pained grimace. “Hell, with these pills kicking in now I’ll be lucky to stay awake for even a few more minutes.”
There was no way Veronica was saying no now. If it wasn’t for the pills she probably wouldn’t have said no to anything else either. After changing into her pajama pants and a t-shirt she climbed in bed with him and he immediately wrapped his arms around her spooning her closely. It felt so perfect she wondered if she’d ever go back to sleeping alone again.
CHAPTER 26
Noah skipped his run the next morning. He was feeling better, the headache was gone but the decision of whether to get out of bed early or stay in bed cuddling with Roni was a no brainer. He turned his internal alarm off and fell back asleep with Roni in his arms.
They slept so soundly it was already close to ten by the time he noticed Roni wasn’t in bed anymore. The bathroom door opened as he walked into the hallway to investigate where she’d gone. She walked out and smiled. Just the sight of her alone made him breathe in deeply.
He pulled her to him after meeting her halfway in the hallway.
“How you feeling?” she asked touching the side of his face softly with her fingers.
“Much better. No more headache.” He pecked her tasting the toothpaste on her lips. “You getting up now?”
“Actually I was thinking of getting back in bed.” Her sly smile with the twinkle in her eyes made his heart speed up.
“I’ll meet you there in two minutes.” He practically ran to the bathroom, hearing her giggle behind him. After taking care of business he brushed his teeth and was back in the room in under the two minutes he promised.
She was already in his bed scrolling through her phone when he walked in.
“I can’t wait to upgrade this thing,” she said setting it on the nightstand next to the bed.
He crawled in next to her slipping his hand over her belly. “When’s your contract up?”
“Next week.” She smiled big.
“Next week?” he asked nuzzling up against her ear, making her squirm. “Then you can do it already.” He kissed below her ear bringing his leg over hers. “They usually let you upgrade a few months before your contract’s up.”
His hand roamed freely around her belly area and made its way up her cotton t-shirt, slowing only as he reached the swell of her breast. Feeling his heart pick up a notch and his own breathing accelerate he stopped and looked into her eyes for any objection. One thing was clear, any talk of upgrading phones was the furthest thing from her mind now. She brought her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
He kissed her deeply his hand caressing her breast and she moaned softly against his lips. It was a sound he’d heard several times this past week and he loved it. He was so ready to make love to her it was crazy, but there was one thing he’d been going nuts thinking about in case she wasn’t ready for that just yet.
“I wanna taste you,” he said in her mouth, stopping when he felt her body freeze. Her wide eyes got even wider when he added, “everywhere.”
Her audible gulp made him smile. “Have you ever had an orgasm from
oral sex?”
She shook her head slowly making him smile even bigger. “Good, I’ll be your first.”
Her answer sort of surprised him, especially at her age but then she had said Kratz had been her only serious relationship and somehow he doubted at his age that dickhead would be into that. For Noah ever since Tessa, it had become his fetish. One he’d perfected over the years.
He worked his way down her neck sucking slightly after kissing her soft skin. “No hickeys,” she said squirming.
Oh, there’d be plenty more hickeys coming her way. Putting his mark on her had now become another one of his fetishes. Nothing had been more pleasing than to see his unmistakable marks on her neck after their workouts when the makeup she’d used earlier to cover them up had all come off.
He lifted her t-shirt off her, bringing his lips over her breast. Hearing her moan as he sucked her nipple made him hotter than shit and he sucked even harder. He’d finally started to work his way downward when he noticed the mark he left on her breast. Why the hell that turned him on so much he didn’t know, but he felt ready to burst. He kissed the mark one last time before starting his kiss trail down her belly.
Her body trembled when his finger went under the waistband of her soft pajama pants. Pulling down at her hips she lifted her behind to get them off and he had to slow to catch his breath when he saw how clean shaven she was. His breath hitched for a moment when he thought of all the other places he could leave his mark.
Starting with her soft inner thigh he kissed and sucked, loving how her body reacted to his tongue, his lips. Slowly he worked his way to her most private of places stopping again to catch his breath, try to calm his heart, keep himself from exploding right there.
Staying as calm as possible, he dove in for that first taste. It was just as good as he thought she would be and he struggled to hold back from devouring her like the wild animal tasting her made him feel like. He wanted her first time to be as long as possible but she was already moaning and every quiver her body made with each one of his licks got even stronger.
He worked her gradually, meticulously enjoying every jolting response her body made to his stroking tongue. There was no other way to describe it but heaven. Doing this to Roni he knew would be a different experience than any other he’d ever had but this was incredible. He could go on for days and not get enough.
Unable to hold back the need for more his lips and tongue went in for the kill. Her back arched and she lifted her hips slightly shuddering again and again until she cried out in delight.
His tongue continued even as she began to beg for him to stop, that she couldn’t take anymore. Satisfied and nearly there himself he kissed her one last time before coming to lie next to her still shuddering body.
In the distance somewhere, even earlier when it felt as if nothing else around him existed he thought he heard the phone ring. Now that all his senses were coming back he knew it was. Roni’s phone rang on the nightstand but she didn’t answer. She was still lying there with her hand over her chest, trying to catch her breath.
“I think I enjoyed that more than you did.” He lay next to her, pulling her now naked body to him.
“That can’t be possible.”
He could feel her heartbeat now. Fast and hard against her chest. “Oh, believe me. It’s very possible.” He kissed her cheek. “I already can’t wait to do it again.”
She turned to him her eyes as wide as when he first told her he wanted to taste her. “I don’t think my heart could take anymore.”
He chuckled just as her phone rang again. This time she reached for it looking at screen. She sat up so quickly she startled him, and answered. “Margaret, what is it?”
Her legs were off to the side of the bed in an instant and she reached for her shirt holding it up in front of her in an attempt to cover up again but she looked upset.
“No I’ve been calling her all week but she hasn’t answered or returned my call.” Noah waited concerned with the panic in Roni’s voice. “I’ll be right over.”
As soon as she hung up she was up and threw the shirt over her head.
“What’s wrong?” Noah came to the edge of the bed and stood up.
Roni rattled something off about Nellie finally confronting her bastard cheating husband and finding him with another woman. Margaret was Nellie’s mom and just seeing her name on her caller ID had set off Roni’s panic button since she never called her. She’d asked her to come to Nellie’s house and help talk sense into her, because apparently Nellie was going overboard on the sleeping pills the last few days, not answering any of their calls and none of them knew what was going on until they stopped by her place unannounced.
“You want me to go with you?” he asked following her into her room.
“No, I may be there all day.” She stopped, a regretful grimace replacing the wild concern on her face. “I’ll probably miss your barbeque.”
Noah waved that away. “Don’t even worry about that. Just calm down before you drive,” he said taking the few steps toward her and hugged her. “Relax okay?” He kissed her forehead. “She’ll be alright now that you’ll be there.”
She smiled and he hoped she knew he really meant that. Having Roni around made everything so much better. He wasn’t sure how to explain it. Everything just seemed brighter—tasted better.
He made her promise to check in and let him know how things were going and promised her it would all work out.
Feeling a little guilty about how hot his goodbye kiss to her was, he had to sheepishly apologize. He knew she was worried about her friend and he was being insensitive but it couldn’t be helped. Tasting her mouth and sucking her lips gave him vivid memories of what he’d done to her earlier, bringing out the wild animal in him again.
After she left he showered and took off to Gio’s. Since this barbeque was for him, and since being home without Roni was just boring he decided to get there early and give him a hand setting things up—make a run to the market with him and chip in for any food he bought.
Not surprising Abel and Hector had the same thought. They were already there when he arrived. They had Hector hosing down the cement and between Noah, Abel and Gio they brought out the folding tables from the garage. “Damn. How many people did you invite, Gio?”
“Not too many but since it’s Pria’s birthday in a few days my mom thought she’d have her a cake and invite some family over.”
All of Gio’s sisters were younger but Pria was the youngest and the spunkiest. Noah didn’t mind sharing his barbeque with any of them but he was especially glad it was her. Although he wished he would’ve known sooner; he might’ve gotten her something.
They finished setting things up and people started arriving. It turned out Gio’s mom had gone to the market that morning to buy all the stuff and wouldn’t take a dime from Noah when he offered to chip in.
One thing he did insist on was giving Gio money for the booze. There was plenty of it and he knew they’d be doing some drinking.
It wasn’t until later that afternoon that Noah got the text from Roni confirming what he already had a feeling about. She wasn’t going to make the barbeque at all. Things were pretty bad and she said she’d explain later but she wanted to stay with Nellie longer.
Feeling a little disappointed, especially because he missed her already, Noah told her not to worry and that he’d see her at home later.
Noah hung out for a few more hours, getting a little buzzed then remembered he was getting home on his bike so he better slow it down. It was already dark out and he was especially vulnerable then. As it was he’d be invisible to most drivers in the dark, so him not having the quickest reflexes added to the danger.
He stopped drinking and grabbed a water instead. Roni texted him to tell him she was home now like he’d asked her to earlier, but said she was too pooped to leave. Even though she assured him she’d be fine with him staying as long as he wanted, Noah’s wild animal was already coming alive and he could thi
nk of nothing better than getting home so he told her he’d be home soon. He left out the part about having to have a couple more waters before getting on his bike. Gio was eyeing him when he finished sending off the text.
“Is that Roni?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, she just got home from her friend’s and said she’s too tired to come down.”
“What friend?” Gio asked as Abel handed him a beer then tried handing Noah one.
Noah shook his head showing Abel his water then smirked wondering why it made a difference to Gio what friend Roni was with but answered anyway. “Her friend Nellie.”
Gio and Abel exchanged glances. The same damn glances they did the day of the fight at his place. So he had to ask, “What?”
“You said she wants nothing to do with Kratz right?” Gio asked taking a swig of his beer.
“Yep, that’s what she told me.” Noah answered confidently but annoyed that they’d be bringing up this shit again.
“Like they’re not even friends or anything?” Abel asked.
Noah answered with a nod but said nothing else. Instead took a drink of his water.
“But he showed up at her house?” Gio raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a little contradictive?”
Contradictive? The word alone annoyed him even more. Was he implying Roni was lying? “She didn’t invite him and she hadn’t seen him in years. His ass just showed up out of nowhere.”
Abel and Gio exchanging another glance did it. “What the fuck? What are you guys getting at?”
Abel shrugged and called Hector over. Noah turned even more confused now and watched as Hector stopped at the snack table. This irritated him further. He wished they’d just spit it out.
“It could be nothing,” Abel said as Hector took his damn time at the snack table. “It’s just that she went out with him before and her saying she wants nothing to do with him anymore, just makes what Hector saw seem even weirder.”