Page 81 of Purchase Power
Chapter 23
The only thing keeping Noah somewhat sane was the fact that Lucy was conveniently placed. He had a business excuse to travel to New York City that Friday, one whole day after his mother took her sweet time heading out the door. She left two days later than planned.
I can’t believe she did that. I mean, I should have guessed, but it always galls me.Tonya was not a punctual woman. She arrived early and left late. Or the opposite. Noah had been hoping for Oppositeland on his mother’s most recent trip, but she had proven to be a complete nuisance. When she wasn’t triggering flashbacks in her own daughter, she was hanging around Noah’s computer, asking him questions about the business, his personal life, and what he planned to do about Stacey’s “aggressive behavior.” Even if Noah wanted to see Lucy, it would be impossible. Between his mother’s bullshit and his sister’s troubles, Noah was stuck at home, trying to juggle work and domestic terrorism.
He didn’t even have time to get annoyed with Lucy for “fleeing” to New York City. A part of him didn’t blame her. He had stood her up Monday night because of the kerfuffle at home, and didn’t have the chance to tell her what happened until it was much too late and her mind was made up. That was when Noah knew Lucy truly had feelings for him.I didn’t just stand her up for dinner. I didn’t just inconvenience her. I hurt her feelings.
A woman only in this for the money and maybe some sex wouldn’t have cared about any of that. She was being paid, anyway. Hell, most women would have seen it as a convenient break from the constant attention. Not Lucy. She had given him a piece of her mind before announcing she was going back to New York until “you’re ready to be a gentleman.” Unfortunately, Noah knew exactly what she meant by that.
New York it would have to be. One day after his mother left the house and he ensured Stacey would be fine with the familiar faces of the staff, Noah packed an overnight bag and arranged for an early dinner in Manhattan. He booked a hotel room on Fifth Avenue and asked Lucy to meet him at his room around eight on Friday. Naturally, he intended to spend the night with her. With any luck, they could make a day out of Saturday, and return together to Gabriel Manor on Sunday. He still had one week on their contract, and he wanted to make the most of it.
That Saturday, they could talk about what their relationship really meant to them. He was keen to drop the G word on her and see how she felt. Could this be real? What would she want from him, and what could she provide him in the future?
But that was Noah getting ahead of himself. Right now, he needed to focus on properly apologizing to Lucy as soon as she arrived.
She was a bit late. About five minutes late.
“Lucy.” Noah had only cracked open his door to make sure it was her before swinging it wide open. She wasn’t in any hurry to enter his room.I figured I might have to grovel a bit…He may have had his reasons for standing Lucy up the other night, but they were neither here nor there if he couldn’t tell her the truth. For now, he had told Lucy that his meeting ran too late to meet her. “So glad you could make it. I was worried that…”
She helped herself into his hotel room. “Do I have much of a choice, Mr. Gabriel? We both know that if I want the rest of my money, I fulfill my end of the contract.”
“Yes… the contract. I wanted to talk to you about that…”
Noah had barely closed the door and approached the woman he had sorely missed, when she crashed her lips upon his.
Had Noah expected such forwardness on Lucy’s part? No. Of course not. That was as preposterous as himnothaving to explain himself after such a draining week. Sex may have been on his brain – around Lucy, it might as well be permanently penciled into his planner – but he was ready to seduce her back into his arms. Noah Gabriel was a man always prepared to play the long game. He was even ready to explain some of the more gruesome and cumbersome aspects of his life. Wouldn’t be the first time a potential girlfriend heard all of the facts before they got more serious.Is it any wonder I’m so guarded? Most of them understandably walk away after realizing what it is I’m up against in my own family.It was a lot to ask of a woman. Becoming a Gabriel was to sign up for something most people were unprepared to handle.
Yet Noah wouldn’t say no to the woman he (probably) loved kissing him so hard that she almost knockedhimagainst the wall.
Noah wrapped his arms around her, refusing to let go as he filled her mouth with his kiss. Breath was the least of his concerns. All Noah Gabriel cared about was putting his hands on her body and rocking into her like it was the first time again. He had been prepared to talk. Having sex – no, makinglove –was certainly a more preferable way to get his point across.I’ll show you a hundred ways to love you, Lucy Craig.That was Noah’s brain officially losing it. He was halfway through reading a classic, but the phrase “lost the plot” had never made more sense.
“Go on.” Lucy unhooked his belt and pulled his shirt out of his trousers. “Fuck me the way you like it.”
If Noah weren’t so under her spell, he may have taken the time to stand back and realize that something was off with his dearest Lucy.The way I like? How about the way she likes? The way we like?Yet Noah was mesmerized by her lips. The touch of her breath against his skin. The part of her legs as she brought his hand between her thighs. Her heat was so intense that his eyes began to roll into the back of his head and his kiss descending from her mouth to her throat. Much easier to focus on getting his fingers beneath her underwear when he didn’t have to kiss her like she deserved.
I can’t believe I’ve missed her so much already.Noah had never needed a woman as much as he needed Lucy after such a short time together. He hadn’t even confessed his greatest secrets to her, yet it didn’t seem impossible. She was an understanding woman. She had such a light optimism to her that Noah couldn’t imagine the danger of sharing such an intimate part of himself with the woman he might ask to be more than his partner in bed. Yet every time he imagined introducing her to someone like Stacey, or asking her what she thought of his childhood, Noah’s thoughts continued to round back to her body, and how good she made him feel.
He didn’t need late night confessions or romantic dates when what he really needed was right here in front of him. Kissing him. Waiting for him to take her like a man.
“You deserve the very best, you know that?” Noah’s kiss lingered against her chin. The sigh of acceptance radiating from Lucy’s throat completely did him in. Noah couldn’t hold back any longer. As long as she was willing, he would pull her into his arms and escort her to the bed. “I’ll give you whatever you want, Lucy. I was going to ask your forgiveness tonight, but…”
“Just fuck me.” Lucy said that with a firm hand on his chest. It practically sank through his ribcage and wrapped around his heart. “Don’t think about it. Do it, for the love of God.”
There was a sinister tone to her voice, but Noah didn’t care. He saw the light in her eyes and felt the warmth of her skin. It was enough. Enough to push her down onto the bed and cover her in exquisite kisses that held the power of his apologies.I’ll tell her everything later. Right now, I can only think about one thing.
Classic, wasn’t it? A beautiful woman beneath him on a bed. His cock begging to be inside of her. It was all Noah could think about as he dug his face into the crook of Lucy’s neck, pushing away her blond hair and the dark roots appearing on her scalp. Every inch of her body shivered for him.
“Tell me you want it,” he said. “I have to hear it.” He had to know that this was real.
Lucy opened the one eye facing him. Her ass lifted, rubbing against his crotch, enticing him to burst from his trousers and take her like that first night together.Or our last night together…Noah hadn’t forgotten. How could a man forget the unbelievable ecstasy that had overcome him as they shared such unprecedented intimacy.I’m not even talking about how I fucked her. I’m talking about that kiss.Their first real kiss. Two weeks after going at it like rabbits and leaving their humanity behind.
“I want whatever you’re offering, Mr. Gabriel.”
He didn’t ask her to call him Noah. They were past that point now.
“That’s right.” Her heavy breaths were peppered with growls of absolution as he pulled up her tight skirt and yanked her ass higher into the air. “You won’t believe how wet I am for you,sir.” Lucy shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it onto the floor. When Noah pawed at her breasts, coming for her lips for another kiss, she turned into complete mush within his grasp. The straps of her simple dress fell down her shoulders. Noah pulled them down as far as they could go. He wanted her breasts out of their casements. He wanted the scent of her body touching his nose. He wanted to consume her, yes, but the point was to make her feel something neither of them had ever felt before.
Hot, rugged sex that was simultaneously filled with unbridled lust and a deepening love.
