Page 125 of His Greatest Muse

I’m a willing servant to his needs. Trust is the footing of every relationship, and I have never trusted anyone the way I do Noah.

“Want to lock you up somewhere and keep you safe,” he spits.

Unable to speak, I simply cup his face and hold his stare, letting him take and take from me. Harsh slaps fill the room with each snap of his hips. My vision shudders, and then he’s releasing me, letting me gulp breath after breath as a sharp pressure grows against my clit.

“Let me keep you safe from this,” he begs.

“I can’t.”

He grits his teeth and twists my clit, eliciting a cry from me that’s impossible to muffle. I barrel into an orgasm with no chance of stopping it. It sweeps me under, and I sink beneath the weight of it, drowning in ecstasy. When his thrusts turn savage before beginning to slow, I feel his warmth fill me and grow weak against him.

“Please, Tinsley.” They’re deep, exhausted words.

Tears burn my eyes. This time, a lack of oxygen isn’t the reason behind them. I want to tell him that I’ll do what he wants me to. But I won’t lie to him again. I will never forgive myself for what happened to him, but I can try and make up for it. That starts with our plan and my part in it.

I pull his face closer, until we’re breathing each other’s air, and then whisper, “I love you.”

Pain fills his eyes and travels across his face. I feel that same pain travel between us and crawl inside my chest, making a home for itself there.

He stills, still buried deep and throbbing, and sucks in a deep inhale.

“I amneverletting you go. I will follow you into the afterlife if that’s what it takes, but you’re never spending a day in this world or any other without me. We’re bound together. I know you know that. We’re forever.Inseparable.” His fingers climb up my neck and trace the lines and curves of my face. As if he doesn’t already have them memorized. “Remember these words when you’re risking everything.”

* * *

Freshly showeredand in clean clothes, I park my ass at the top of the bed and watch Noah tie a pair of sweatpants around his waist. Of course, they’re grey, as if I needed to get horny while I’m sore between my legs. Each shift of my body has me aching, the feel of him still lingering. It’s incredibly sexy, albeit a bit annoying.

“You chose those pants on purpose,” I accuse.

He arches a brow at me before stalking toward the black guitar beside the bed. Excitement swells in my belly as I watch him pick it up and move to the bed.

“Just grabbed the first pair of pants I found.”

I roll my eyes. “Liar.”

“Do you want me to play for you or not?”

“Oh, I do. Very, very much. Give me the private Noah Hutton experience.”

“Only for you,” he replies while getting comfortable beside me.

Bending his right leg, he rests the body of the guitar against his stomach and grips the neck. It’s a second nature position for him, and I don’t dare speak as he begins to tune the strings and quickly dives into a melody that I recognize on the first note.

I rest my chin on his shoulder and watch the graceful movements of his fingers across the strings. The familiar rasp of his voice fills the room, bringing a much-needed sense of temporary peace to our lives.

“Golden Girl” flows seamlessly into another song, the one without a title. Two words appear in my mind, but I’m not sure enough about them to voice them out loud as a potential title. Instead, I focus on the lyrics and notes and the story they tell.

I don’t need to give it a title to know it’s about me—us. Our story and forever love.

When the time comes, it won’t be just Noah’s declaration from earlier that I’ll remember. It’ll be these lyrics and the piece of his soul that he put inside of them.

46

TINSLEY

My mom setsa bowl of red Jell-O and whipped cream on the table in front of me. I stare at it and shake my head, grinning as she pulls out the chair beside me and sits.

“I’m not a little girl anymore, you know,” I tease, poking the centre of whipped cream with a spoon.

---