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“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get out of here and go get something to eat. You’re too skinny, ” he said, waving me off. “And when all of this is over with and your mother’s back home, I want the two of you to come over for dinner and a proper introduction. ”

Translation: he wanted to introduce Noah to his Smith and Wesson.

Despite the fact he was letting me off the hook, I gave him my best please-don’t-pull-out-the-shotgun-and-embarrass-me look. Noah was important to me, and the last thing I needed was for Mack to pull the protective-father routine. I was twenty-four years old and more than capable of taking care of myself. Mack might argue that point if he knew the lengths to which I’d gone to help my family, but I saw what I’d done as a show of strength, not weakness. Regardless, I knew once they got to know Noah, he’d sweep them off their feet the same way he did me.

“It’s a date, ” I told Mack. “I’ll be back in a bit to check on Mom. ”

Once I’d left the room, I blew out a huge puff of air and sighed in relief before I made my way toward the elevators. I hadn’t gone far when a pair of hands shot out from an opened doorway and grabbed me, dragging me inside. There was no squeak of protest, no fighting off my would-be attacker, because I smelled him even before I saw him.

“Noah, what are you doing? ” I laughed as he put my back against the wall and pinned me in place with his body.

He started devouring my neck with kisses. “I told you I was hungry. ”

“No, you didn’t. I said I was hungry, ” I corrected him with a giggle.

He shrugged, securing my hands above my head with just one of his. “Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. ”

My body relaxed under his touch. “You’re insatiable, Mr. Crawford. ”

“Ah, so finally you’re catching on, Miss Talbot, ” he said as his free hand cupped my right breast and began to massage it.

“So what are we doing here then? ”

“I think you’re in need of some … what did you call it? Stress management? ” His hand moved down my side until he slipped it underneath my skirt and down the front of my panties. I moaned the second his fingers came into contact with the soft flesh there and began to manipulate my clit. The Cooch shivered in delight.

“Mmm, yeah. You needed this, didn’t you? ” His tongue wrapped around my earlobe and he sucked it into his mouth.

The Cooch bobbed her head emphatically and wept from his touch.

I tried to pull my hands down so I could immerse them in his thick hair, but he held me firmly in place. “Uh-uh, Lanie. No touching. Only feeling. ”

He accentuated the last word by dipping a long, broad finger inside me, languidly pushing it in before pulling it back out again just as slowly. The heel of his palm pressed against my clit, massaging it with his movements until I felt like my knees would buckle and I’d fall to the floor. But there was no danger of that because Noah was very capable of holding me up.

I felt a second finger push inside and then he stroked the walls of my pussy until I rolled my pelvis against his hand. Back and forth he flicked his fingers, maddeningly slow and then fast before slowing down again. It was enough yet too much, all at the same time, and I felt my body coiling with sensation, ready to spring with just the right stroke.

“Not yet, ” he whispered against my lips, then claimed my mouth in a searing kiss. Noah removed his fingers, leaving me wanting. When I groaned in protest, he broke the kiss and looked down on me with that evil little smirk that always made my girly bits break into a chorus of hallelujahs.

“Patience, kitten. You know I always take care of you. ”

True story.

Noah pulled his body away from mine, and moved my arms down until my hands were planted flat against the wall at my sides. He hummed in contemplation as he looked me over and then bit down on his bottom lip. “I’m going to let go of your hands now, Delaine, but I want you to keep them in place. If you move them, you will not get your release. Do you understand me? ”

“I really hate you for this, ” I said, but knew I would do anything he asked. So did he.

He smirked again. “No, you don’t. You already told me you love me, and you can’t take it back. ” He kissed the tip of my nose and then slowly pulled his hands away.

Noah

Sinking to my knees, I slipped my hands beneath the hem of Lanie’s dress and pushed the skirt up and over her hips. I couldn’t help the overwhelming urge to nuzzle her center, so I flicked my tongue out to sample the sweet taste of her arousal that had seeped through the black silk material. “Mmm, hors d’oeuvres. I think I’ll keep these for later. ” I ripped her panties from her body. Those fuckers had been outlawed and had no business creating a barrier between me and what I wanted.

Lanie gasped in surprise and I smirked up at her. “Never know when I might get hungry again, ” I said with a shrug.

“Not that I’ve forgotten your blatant disregard for the no-panties rule, Miss Talbot. You will pay for that. Later. ”

I tucked her panties in the front pocket of my jeans. Once they were securely in place, I put my hands on the inside of her knees and pushed, spreading her creamy thighs wide for invasion. I didn’t take my time, didn’t make it slow or sensual; I buried my face between her thighs and attacked. Lanie’s back arched and her knees buckled, but I held her in place with my hands firmly grasping her hips. There was no escaping me or my mouth until I was ready to release her.

I pulled back minutely, mixing the coaxing with the demanding, and saw her fingers twitch out of the corner of my eye. “Please don’t move those hands, kitten. I’d hate to have to stop before I give you what you want, but I’m a man of my word, and I will, so don’t test me, ” I warned with my lips grazing her sensitive spot.

“Please, Noah. Please, I need to …” I fucking loved to hear her beg for what only I could give to her. It made my cock impossibly hard, and I was overcome with the urge to get it wet.

Really, there was no reason we couldn’t both be appeased at the same time—kill two birds with one stone, or cock, as it were. Getting dental was a necessity first, though, so I nipped at her clit, letting her guttural groan linger and then grow into something altogether animalistic as I sucked on the taut knot with a vigorous hunger. Giving her delectable little pussy one last, long lick, I stood before her and planted my hands against the wall on either side of her head. When I pressed my body against Lanie’s, I made damn sure she could feel my hardness.

“This is what you fucking do to me. It’s really quite painful, but I assure you, the pleasure is also there, ” I told her, relishing her moans of appreciation as I continued to work myself against her very naked, very wet cunt. The purpose was to drive her crazy, which it did, but I was also insane and unwilling to wait any longer.

Quickly stepping back, I made fast work of my belt and jeans before pulling them down far enough to let my dick spring free. Then I slipped my hands between her thighs and onto the wall, forcing them to spread as I lifted her until she was at the perfect height with her legs draped over my forearms.

“I’m going to take my time with you once I get you back home, but for now, this will have to be quick. Hold on to me, kitten, ” I said, finally giving her permission to touch me.

Lanie hooked her arms under mine and grabbed the top of my shoulders with her hands and I entered her … deep. When we both moaned out in pleasure, I was forced to muffle our sounds with my mouth or risk drawing unwanted attention or causing some nosy nurse—or, God forbid, her father—to come investigate. I most definitely did not want to kick off my official relationship with the woman I loved by having her father threaten to send me to the morgue. Although apparently rigor mortis had already set in, at least in my cock—I was that fucking hard for her.

Not to worry, I was buried balls deep inside my Lanie, and that was more than enough to take care of the issue at large. Over and over again, I thrust into her, going deeper and deeper with each urgent stab. She sank her nails into my shoulder, and I could feel the bite from them digging through my shirt, but it didn’t deter me because that shit felt good when I knew it was derived from the pleasure I was giving to her. My girl’s kisses became needy, my thrusts frenzied until finally I felt her walls clench around my cock with a throbbing pulse and she moaned into my mouth. Her body stiffened and her thighs attempted to clamp shut of their own accord as she shuddered in my arms with her orgasm. It was all the permission I needed to finally let go myself and spill my seed into her with a final strangled grunt, my hips jerky with incomplete strokes until I was spent.

Hands down, best quickie ever. I’ll admit to feeling like a douche for taking her that way the first time after our confessions of love, but I would most definitely be making it up to her later. Over and over again, until she was thoroughly satisfied. And then start at the beginning again, because like my girl pointed out, I was insatiable.

I pulled out of Lanie and eased her down the wall until her feet touched the floor. She swayed a little lethargically in my arms, so I gathered her back up to me. “Easy, kitten. You okay? ”

She sighed contentedly. “Oh yeah, I’m really okay. ”

I chuckled at her response. She had the same effect on me—not that I was all that surprised, because it had been that way from the very first week we’d spent together, and it always would be.

Always? Was I thinking long-term about our relationship? Damn straight I was. She was mine.

Lanie

“He did not! ” my mother squealed.

Dez laughed at her reaction. “Oh yes he did. You should’ve seen him, Momma Faye. He was all”—Dez tucked her chin to her chest and spread her shoulders to mimic my father—“ ‘That’s my wife, boy, and I’ll be goddamned if I’m gonna sit by and let some pimply-faced orderly who’s just barely reached puberty and still jacked up on teenage hormones give her a sponge bath! I’m the only man who touches those goodies! Leave the sponge and the tub, and walk away slowly, son, before someone gets hurt. ’ ”

My mother was full-on laughing by the time Dez was finished with her less than accurate impersonation, and the peal was music to my ears. I hadn’t heard her laugh like that in so long I’d nearly forgotten what it sounded like. Of course, had my father heard Dez’s mockery, he wouldn’t have found it quite so humorous. Good thing he was at the house getting things ready for my mother’s return.

It had been ten days since her transplant, and so far so good. All her color was back, and she was sitting up, laughing, eating, smiling … living. The scar on her chest was an angry red in color, but it, too, had healed significantly, and she claimed that it only hurt a little if she coughed. That may or may not have been true, but the sparkle was back in her eye and she was soaking up every single bit of information she could about how to maintain her health so her body wouldn’t reject her new heart.

The only source of worry I could find was Faye’s concern for the family of the young lady who had given her another chance to live. She wanted to offer her condolences and thank them properly, as we all did, but Daniel said it was the family’s choice not to have their information disclosed. Upon his suggestion, I sat down with my mother and we wrote them a letter that he agreed to deliver, hoping they would one day find peace with their loss. I’d also hoped my mother would find peace with her gain, but she was a sentimental person and I knew the idea that someone else had had to die in order for her to live would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly like that, ” Polly chimed in.

“It was exactly like that, ” Dez argued.

I knew better. “Mack does not say ‘goodies. ’ ”

My mother interrupted with a devilish grin. “Um, yes, he does. ”

“Oh, gross! Mom! ” I did not need those mental images. I contemplated checking the janitor’s closet to see if there was some bleach—or whatever it was hospitals used to keep everything so sterile—I could use to scrub my brain. It was definitely going to take something industrial-strength and then I’d probably still be scarred for life.

She scoffed. “Oh, please, Lanie. How do you think you got here? I assure you, it wasn’t by immaculate conception. ” She got this dreamy look in her eye like she was reminiscing. “We sure did have a lot of fun making you. The things your father can do with his—”

I plugged my ears with my fingers and started singing to drown her out. It didn’t work. I could still hear her over my own hideous screeching.

“ … your dad has this fascination with the Statue of Liberty, so I have this outfit—”

“Stop! Stop! Stop! Pleeeeease stop, ” I begged.

Faye finally fell silent at my outburst and gave me a look. “Don’t act like you’re so innocent, ” she said, smoothing the sheets over her midsection. “I’ve seen that piece of man meat you’ve been wearing. You two haven’t been able to keep your hands off each other. I bet he’s good in the sack, too, isn’t he? I mean, he’s Noah Crawford, Chicago’s most eligible bachelor. ”

“Seriously? I’m going to puke, ” Lexi said in a bored tone as she examined her nails. Then she sighed and straightened in her chair. “I love my cousin and all, but I really don’t want to hear this. ”

My mom did that thing where she tried to be less like a mom and more like one of the girls. “You shush it, girlie. I want to know everything, ” she told Lexi, then turned back to me. “So just how big is the big spender? ”

“I’m soooo not going to answer that question, ” I said, appalled and embarrassed. I wanted to curl up into a fetal position and suck my thumb until it all just went away. “What are you, some kind of cougar? Need I remind you that I’m your daughter, and this is beyond inappropriate? ”

Dez came to my mother’s defense. “Stop being such a prude, Sandra Dee, and let your inner Cha Cha DiGregorio shine through. You’ve shimmied your way into your paintedon leather, strapped on your peep-toe heels, colored your lips red, and snagged Danny Zuko. ” Her obsession with Grease bordered on insanity.

“Let us live vicariously through you. I mean, you’ve scored the jackpot, honey, so the least you could do is gloat about it for the less fortunate. ” Dez crossed her legs, propped her elbow on her knee, and rested her chin in her palm. “What’s he working with? And don’t try to lie, either. I’ve seen the size of his feet and his hands. ”

“Oh my God! I can’t believe this is happening, ” I mumbled, running my hands over my face. “I’m being punked, aren’t I? Where are the cameras? ”

Dez made a fist with one hand and started rotating the other as if she were holding a movie camera aimed straight at me. “Lanie Marie Talbot, this is your life, ” she said with a game show host’s intonation. “So tell us … Vienna sausage or Peterbilt truck? ”

“Just tell us, ” Polly chimed in. I was shocked. She sounded like I was about to reveal the secret to eternal life or something. Noah was her boss, and her husband was probably the closest friend Noah had, yet she was all up in my business, wanting to know how long his schlong was.

Lexi sighed and rolled her eyes. “Tell them, for God’s sake, so that we can move on from this horrendous topic. ”

“Fine! ” I yelled, throwing my hands up in defeat. “He’s colossal, okay? Huge! And the sex is epic! He knocks it out of the park each and every time he’s at bat. He’s got me speaking in tongues and my head spinning around on my shoulders like I’m possessed or something. If the absolute greatest sex in the universe were to manifest into a physical being, it would clone itself after Noah Crawford. He is the poster child for massive orgasms, the alpha and omega of cocks everywhere. His junk should be stuffed and mounted like a trophy over a fireplace, put on display behind bulletproof glass with heat-sensitive alarms and motion detectors at the Smithsonian of Cockdom! It is the holy grail of penises everywhere, and only he has the ability to harness its full power. In short, Noah Crawford is the epitome of sex. He makes my toes curl and my body convulse. There. Are you happy? ”

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. My mother’s jaw was slack and Polly’s eyes were bulging out of her head. And then there was Dez …

“So if you had to put a specific measurement on it, what would it be? ”

I heard a throat clear at the doorway and my head snapped in that direction to find Noah leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. Judging by the egotistical smirk on his face, I’d say he’d heard just enough of my speech to make him impossible to live with.

“Sorry to interrupt, ladies, ” he said as he straightened and walked into the room. “Mrs. Talbot, you’re looking very well. ”

“I, uh … Well, um, thank you, ” my mother stuttered, apparently picturing my boyfriend naked, which was oh so Jerry Springer of her.

When I’d first seen my mother in the recovery room ten days earlier, Noah had been right by my side, and I remembered the way her jaw had nearly dropped to the floor and how she repeatedly rubbed her eyes as if she couldn’t possibly have been seeing what she was seeing. She beamed like the mother of a beauty pageant contestant who’d mopped the floor with all those other wanna-bes. Not that my mother had ever treated me that way, but she knew who Noah Crawford was, and she was stoked that her baby girl was dating him.

“I missed you. ” Noah squatted behind me and leaned in to give my neck a very sweet, chaste kiss. Then he wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind and addressed my mother. “I spoke with Mr. Talbot on the way over and he said all the medical equipment arrived today and has been set up. Looks like you’re good to go when Daniel gives you the green light. ”

“Actually, Dr. Crawford said that, barring any unforeseen complications, I can go home tomorrow. ” Faye beamed excitedly. “I want to thank you for making all of this possible. I know you’ll probably never claim responsibility, but I also know that if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t be here right now, and my daughter wouldn’t be nearly as happy as she finally seems to be. You’ve touched the life of each member of our family, Noah, and we can never repay you for that. ”

He hugged me tighter. “I’d do anything for Lanie. Besides, I only did what any decent human being would do if given the resources, Mrs. Talbot. I’m no saint. ”

“Well, in my eyes you are, and I won’t soon forget what you’ve done, ” my mother said with misty eyes. She took a deep breath and collected herself before starting again. “Now, Lanie, what are your plans? Are you going back to school? ”

Yeah, she and Mack still thought I was legitimately enrolled at NYU. How was I going to get out of that mess?

Lexi came to the rescue. “Actually, I pulled some strings with the dean’s office and got him to agree to let Lanie drop her classes for this semester and reenroll for the next, without it affecting her scholarship, ” she said, giving me a look that said I should go with what she was saying. “So she’s free to stick around here for a while. ”

My mom clasped her hands together. “That’s great! You’ll be coming home, then? ”

“Um …” That caught me off guard. I hadn’t really thought about what I would do, or where I would go once she was free to leave. I turned to look at Noah, hoping he’d saddle up on his white horse and come to my rescue yet again, but his defeated expression offered me no solace or hope of being able to go back home with him. I could tell by the way he nodded and offered a smile that our separation wasn’t what he wanted, either. But at the same time, he had to have known this would happen, which meant he was sacrificing, yet again, for me and my family. I wished he’d been selfish and demanded I stay with him, but I knew he wouldn’t.

I turned back to my mother so that I wouldn’t have to see his pretty face, in hopes that I’d have the strength to say what he and I both knew I had to say. “Yeah, Mom, I’m coming home. ” I gave her a halfhearted smile that I hoped looked convincing enough.

What kind of daughter had I become? I should’ve wanted to be there to help her on her road to recovery because she still had quite a way to go. But I couldn’t fathom the idea of sleeping in my cold bed—the very same bed in which I’d spent night after night wondering if I was doomed to never know what it felt like to have a warm body cuddled up next to me, to never know the fire that boiled in my veins from a lover’s touch, to never know what it felt like to be adored by someone of worth.

I could feel Noah’s warm breath on the shell of my ear as his husky voice spoke from just over my shoulder. “If it’s okay with you, Mrs. Talbot, I’d like to steal her away from you for the evening. Unless you need her here, of course. ”

Always the fucking considerate gentleman. Throw me over your shoulder like a Neanderthal, damn it! Whisk me away to your cave with grunted warnings for anyone who might dare try to take me away from you! God knew the man didn’t seem to have a problem behaving that way when he’d decided he knew what was best for me time and time again before. It may have been seriously fucked up of me, but part of me wanted that Noah back again. At least in that moment.

“No, no, no. Lanie’s been with her sick old mother every single day and night since I got here, ” Faye said. “She needs to get out. You two kids go and, um … have fun. ” She tried to contain her giggles, but then Dez, Polly, and Lexi started snickering, and all bets were off.

How very junior high of them, I thought. But it became very evident that I was never going to live down the whole Noah-is-a-sex-god rant. I imagined the episode of The Jerry Springer Show we could all appear on: “My Mother Wants to Sleep with My Boyfriend, but He’s Too Busy Boinking His Cousin, His Married Assistant Dreams of His Penis Size, and My Best Friend Might Be Pregnant with His Baby. ”

Intent on capitalizing on my newfound realization and making them all suffer for embarrassing me, I shook those disturbing thoughts out of my head and stood. After kissing my mother on the cheek, I grabbed Noah’s hand and dragged him behind me as I turned for the door.

“Where are you going? ” Polly asked.

I stopped short, looked back over my shoulder at my friends, and with a knowing smirk said, “The Smithsonian. Envy me, bitches. ”

“The alpha and omega of cocks everywhere, huh? ” Noah asked as we stepped into the empty elevator and the doors closed behind us.

I inhaled deeply, letting the scent of him that had permeated the air in the small space envelop my senses. I think I purred. “Something like that. ”

Noah suddenly had me pinned against the wall, his body pressed firmly to mine, and his mouth engaging my own in a searing kiss. His hands were everywhere: fondling my breast, cupping my ass, stroking the sweet spot just under the crotch seam of my jeans. His attack was so fast and furious that I hadn’t even had a chance to take a breath. Oxygen was overrated, right? I was pretty sure I could live without it because as long as Noah continued to do things that made my pulse race, it meant my heart was still beating. Sure, I would probably be a little brain-damaged from the lack of oxygen to the old cranium when he was done, but it would be worth it.

The bell dinged, signaling our stop at another floor. Before the doors opened, Noah pulled away and stood by my side. A nurse stepped on, carrying a food tray. Judging by the way her eyes widened when she took in my appearance, I’d say she knew exactly what we’d been up to. My chest was heaving, I was sure my hair looked every bit as disheveled as my clothes, and I could feel the flush on my skin. When Nurse Observant finally stopped staring at me, she swept her eyes over Noah … and gasped. I turned to find the cause of her reaction, but he seemed perfectly normal to me. I was about to chalk it up to it being merely the effect his gorgeousness had on women when I suddenly noticed the enormous bulge in the front of his pants. I quickly stepped in front of him to block Nurse Observant’s view of the colossal cock. Just then another nurse stepped onto the elevator, and the two soon were engaging in conversation, which meant I wasn’t going to have to spoon the bitch’s eyes out for ogling my man.

Noah put his arm around my waist and pulled me back against him so that my ass was firmly planted against his erection. He nuzzled my ear with his nose and grinded against me, whispering, “Jealous, Lanie? ”

I shook my head.

He chuckled quietly and gave my exposed neck a soft kiss. “Yes, you are. ” His warm breath caressed my ear. “I want to fuck you. Right now. Right here. In this elevator. With them watching. ”

My heart literally skipped a beat. I’d never thought of myself as kinky, but I wasn’t really surprised that exhibitionism turned out to be a turn-on for me. Noah had already shown me so many different sides of the person I truly was on the inside—someone that I hadn’t known existed before. Damned if I didn’t want him to do it just as badly as he wanted to. And I knew it wasn’t only so those hussies would know he belonged to me, either.

The elevator finally stopped on the ground floor, and Noah led me out the front doors to where Samuel was waiting with the limousine. Once we were inside, Noah pulled me to him and kissed me deeply.

“I missed you, ” he said, breaking the kiss.

Noah had been by my side throughout the entire ordeal with my mother and we hadn’t gone one day without seeing each other, but I knew what he meant. With the exception of the one time, we hadn’t been able to hide away to, um, take care of business. We were both wound up pretty tightly, and it seemed yet another separation was on the horizon, what with me going home to stay with my parents and all. I hoped we’d have a lot more alone time despite that, though, because I was not one bit averse to sneaking out into the woods with him and doing it like a couple of adolescent teens.

“Me too, ” I whispered, stroking his cheek.

A mischievous smile crept up on his face. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about your punishment, either. ”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Not with the stupid panties again. ”

“Oh, yes, ” he said, grabbing my hair roughly and forcing me to look at him, which really turned me on. Holy crapola, did it ever. “It was a cheap shot, and you know it, so you must be punished. ”

“And what might my punishment be, Mr. Crawford? ” I asked, eagerly playing along.

“I might have an idea. Hungry? ” he asked, and I nodded. “Good, because I’ve got something for you right here. ”

I heard the clinking of his belt buckle and then the metal against metal as his zipper was released.

“I missed your lips, ” he said, kissing me chastely. Then he sighed heavily. “And I really missed your mouth. ”

He wasn’t talking about my sarcastic wit, either, and it kind of made me all giddy inside because I knew I could take care of that for him, gladly.

With his hand still fisted in my hair, he pushed my head down toward his crotch, where his cock was already free and giving me a Hey! How are ya? I’m the piece of meat that’s about to get crammed down the back of your throat when my man, Noah, there forces you headfirst into his lap so that he can fuck your mouth. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Shouldn’t have worn the panties, woman.

I stifled a giggle because it wasn’t like I was the least bit intimidated by the threat. How could something I wanted be considered punishment? I was getting off easy. Or, rather, he was going to be the one to get off. And maybe that was his angle.

“I love you, ” I whimpered, hoping to change his mind if in fact he had no intention of letting me get mine.

“Mmm-hmm. I love you, too, kitten. Now suck my cock, ” he said, pushing my head into his lap.

I loved that he hadn’t lost that domineering edge just because admissions of love had been spoken. It wouldn’t have been the same. He wouldn’t have been the same, and I didn’t want him to change who he really was.