It wasn't until the tension finally left her body and her hands fell away that I realized what had happened.
I'd been kissing her, and she'd kissed me back.
Fuck, I was so close to losing it. I'd done so well, but the scent of her slick and her satisfied sighs had me on the edge. Sage, on the other hand, had fallen back on the pillows, unaware of the battle I was fighting with myself. I'd exhausted her, and she looked happily spent.
But her scent still filled my nostrils, and the sweet slick from her pussy coated my fingers. If I didn't get away from her, didn't leave her room, and take care of myself, I was going to ruin everything.
"Thank you," Sage murmured.
Resisting the urge to lick her juices off my fingers, I dried them on my jeans instead. "I'm going to go..."
"Why?" She was barely awake, and her eyelids fluttered as she looked up at me. "Because if I don't, I'll do something that we're not ready for yet."
She was silent for a long moment, sitting up enough to really look at me, her fatigue gone for the moment. "Noah, wait. Maybe we could..."
I interrupted her, "Is the pain gone?"
"Yes, but..."
I held up a hand to stop her. "Good. Then I will see you tomorrow."
"You can come back to bed," she argued, but before I could lose the fight and pounce on her, I walked out of her room, closing the door firmly behind me. I heard her call, "You're insane, Noah!" as I left, and I agreed with her wholeheartedly.
"What the fuck, Noah," I said out loud, and then went straight to the shower.
The hot water did nothing to ease the tension coiled in my muscles. The scent of her clung to me, and it was all I could do to keep from imagining her joining me in the shower, her slick-covered pussy wrapped around my cock.
Almost as if I was on autopilot, helpless to do anything else, I took my cock in my fist and began to stroke it while thememory of my mate was fresh in my mind. Her scent, her voice, her taste, the way her body arched into my touch.
It was almost too much. I didn't last long, and my climax took me by surprise, roaring through my body. A guttural sound tore out of me as I spilled over my hand, my mind filled with thoughts of her and the image of my seed coating her pretty pussy.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck."
When I'd finished, I sagged against the wall, out of breath and shocked at how quickly I'd come.
"You can't do this again," I told myself. "You have to control yourself around her."
Even as I said the words, though, I knew I'd probably fail. It was all too easy when it came to her.
Chapter 14 - Sage
With my heat finally on the back burner, I was beginning to adjust to my new back and my new life. While I wasn't quite thriving, it was still something.
I tried not to feel bitter that no one from my old pack had come looking for me, but there was no point in dwelling on it. I thought the Brokenclaw pack was modernized enough not to be okay with one of their women being kidnapped, but apparently, I was wrong.
After 'catching' me the first time and discovering that I was just shopping, Noah let me freely roam his territory without much oversight. He also gave me a credit card attached to his account, so I didn't have to worry about money.
I was shocked at the freedom, but Noah had been true to his word, and he'd changed his ways by apologizing and keeping his hands to himself after easing my pain.
I couldn't decide how I felt about that, even a few days after the fact.
The more time I spent with Noah, the easier it was to remember why we had been friends in the first place. But after the night of my heat, he'd been more distant, consumed with pack duties and seemingly reluctant to share space with me.
There were two reasons why he might have been avoiding me: he regretted getting me off the other night, or he liked it so much that it was difficult to be around me and not repeat what we'd shared, and more.
For my own sanity, I convinced myself it was the second one. I'd much rather be irresistible than regrettable.
Noah had been right. As much as I'd wanted him to knot me that night, waiting had been the right choice. I wouldn't have been upset with him if we'd had sex, but I would have been extremely unhappy with myself.
