I wanted to scoff at that—I was determined to pay him back, after all—but I was too busy soaking in his soothing scent while focusing on the light-pink color of the pen.
“I love it,” I whispered before swallowing around the lump forming in my throat.
Noah had gotten me a pen. Afancypen. One like his, but pink and cute.
It was a lot to digest. The pen sat innocently strapped in the box of velvet, calling out to me like a beacon. I wanted to hold it, use it, love it—but nerves held me back.
“I’m afraid to touch it,” I admitted quietly before licking my lips.
Noah chuckled, his lips shaking against my skin before he pulled back with a handsome smile that finally broke my staring contest with the pen. I wondered if they made smile awards, too. I’d nominate him in a second. “Touch it, Emma. Or I’ll return it for lack of use.”
“No!” Horror clouded my gaze at the thought of him taking this magical instrument away from me. “You can’t do that.”
“Emma,” was all Noah said, with that hint of command in his tone. My toes curled under the sheet. “Just touch it, love.”
I gulped as I looked back down at the pink beauty before me. I could feel Noah’s eyes on me; they hadn’t left since I’d opened the box. I licked my lips in anticipation.
My finger reached out, hesitantly tracing the smooth pink exterior of the pen, and I recalled just how smoothly Noah’s pen had written for me.
I shuddered as my fingertip glided across the body of the pen without an iota of resistance, and shivers danced along my skin at the delicious contact.
God, it felt like sex.
Was that even possible?
Really,reallygood sex.
“I think I just had an orgasm,” I whispered reverently.
Noah snorted in surprise before covering his mouth with one hand as more laughter erupted. His belly shook, and he rolled onto his back.
“For God’s sake,” Noah managed to say through his laughter, eyes shining as they looked over at me. I was still in a semistate of shock—both from the highly sensual touching of the pen and from the way he was laughing so openly—and could only gape back at him while I tried to work through the feelings both he and the pen exposed. Noah grinned back at me as I tried not to melt at the strength of the emotion in his eyes. “I love you, Emma Fox.”
Maybe I did melt a little. Setting the pen’s box between us, I leaned down to plant a full, unyielding kiss on Noah’s smiling lips. His molded easily against mine, returning as much as I gave him. I placed a hand on his bare chest, and I pulled back just enough to look into the eyes that held me captive on a daily basis.
“I love you, too, Noah Kincaid.”
* * *
“Henrietta,” I declared proudly with a decisive nod. “I’m going to call her Henrietta.”
Noah and I had spent the last hour lounging around in bed. We kissed, whispered sweet nothings, kissed some more, and dozed a little—but I spent most of the time admiring and fussing over my new writing utensil like a new mother would her baby. Noah entertained himself by scrolling through his phone to check something as boring asstockswhile his finger drew random designs against my side.
It was the perfect birthday.
After fully liberating the pen from its box, I found Noah had even engraved a spot near the top of the pen.
All my love, Noah
I promptly bawled my eyes out upon seeing it, and Noah did his best to comfort me until I was capable of breathing again without choking on sobs.
I distracted myself by putting the pen to good use, which meant grabbing my diary from my backpack and writing all about my favorite birthday. The pen might as well have been crafted by the gods for how smooth it glided, and I quickly filled up a dozen pages.
Then I took it on a test run against Noah’s blank canvas of a chest. I doodled music notes up his arms, hearts over his shoulder, and was currently nibbling on my lip as I created a Hello Kitty masterpiece across his smooth pec.
Noah’s finger traced back up my side, creeping underneath my tank top as goose bumps followed his path. I fidgeted a little and grabbed his arm to hold it steady as I fixed Kitty’s ears.
“Careful, you’re disrupting Henrietta,” I murmured, and his finger paused.
