“Oh god, Noah. Don’t stop. Oh GOD don’t stop!” she cried out as she came, hard and fast. He held her in place with his hands and mouth, through the waves of her orgasm, only stopping when her body finally eased its trembling. He moved up her body, pressing kisses everywhere until he reached her lace covered breasts.
Mel opened her eyes, and looked down at Noah, whose head was right there, looking up at her with an expression of wonder mixed with animalistic heat.
“Goddamnit, babe, that was the hottest thing I have ever seen.” His voice was gruff, laced with arousal and she knew that she needed to feel him, all of him.
He rose up over her body, bent down and kissed her. She could feel his barely contained lust emanating in waves from him. Desperate to have him, Mel reached between their bodies and circled her hand around his rigid cock. She brought him to her entrance, and he began to ease himself inside, then froze.
“Fuck. Mel. We need a condom,” he ground out, his cock still barely inside of her.
“So, get one. Top drawer, bathroom.”
As Noah climbed off the bed to go and get a condom, Mel’s phone rang, the special number for work. A call from them usually meant they had a staffing problem and needed her right away. That sound, the sound of her life and priority, snapped her out of the spell she was under.Oh my god, what am I doing! She quickly picked up the phone to answer, anxious for a way to stop the tidal wave of lust that had threatened to consume her.
The look on Noah’s face when he came back into the room, condom in hand, filled her with guilt. He stood in the doorway, watching her as she agreed to go in for a few hours, as one of her colleagues had to go home early due to a family emergency. Listening as she used work to put the brakes on what had started to happen between them.
“Noah, I—” she started to apologize after she hung up the phone.
“It’s fine, Mel. Work comes first.” He grabbed his underwear off the floor and walked out of the room, his spine rigid with tension.
His words were what she needed to hear, but the hurt in his voice cut Mel in two. This was what had driven the wedge between her and Darren deeper and deeper, her constant prioritizing of work over family. Now she was doing it again, with Noah. But Noah wasn’t family, so why did this feel so similar?
Once she had pulled on her own underwear and a bra, she grabbed her phone and opened the group text she had going with the girls.
Mel: I need a girl chat, ASAP. Who’s free for lunch tomorrow? I’d offer to host, but…
Anna: You got it, girl! Ryan will be at the pub tomorrow so you can all come here. Is everything okay?
Callie: Yeah, what’s up, Mel? Are you sick of pretending to live in domestic bliss already?
Mel: Haha. Thanks, Cal, love you too. I just need you guys to help me figure some stuff out… That’s all.
Callie: Why so cryptic?
Reagan: OMG seriously Callie? Don’t you get it? She’s falling in love with Noah and is freaking out. Don’t tell me I’m the only one who sees it!
Mel’s jaw dropped. She was shocked that Reagan had figured things out so easily. Had she been that transparent?
Callie: NO. WAY. Wait. Really? Mel, is that it?
Anna: MEL!!! OMG!!!!
Mel: Calm down, you guys. I’m not saying Reagan is wrong, but…
Mel: Can we just talk tomorrow? Please!
Reagan: Of course, girl. We got you.
Anna: See you guys here at 11? We can do lunch.
Callie: We love you, Mel. We’ll figure it all out tomorrow.
Mel let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been prepared at all for Reagan’s very astute observation, but now that it was out there, she felt better. Talking with her friends would be the perfect opportunity to process everything.
* * *
While Mel was at work, Noah spent his night with Connor, lying awake wondering how everything had gone so wrong. One minute he was certain they were going to finally come together in an epic way, the next she was answering a call from work and running from what was building between them.
The next morning, Noah stayed in his bedroom with Connor until he heard Mel return home and go into her room and close the door. Knowing she would need to sleep for a while, and wanting a bit more space to figure out his next move, he quietly packed up some things and decided to take Connor to his mom’s house for a few hours, and then head out for a bike ride. It wouldn’t be the same, not riding with Mel, but he needed to release his energy somehow, and his bike was calling.
