Deeper (The Deeper Chronicles #1) (32 page)

“I don’t deserve this or you.” His cool palms found her blazing cheeks.

She shivered. Breathing became secondary. His touch made Avi lightheaded. His intensity left a burning trail along her skin. “Just one night, Avi.”

Her body reacted to the yearning and desperation in his words and the dark abyss of his eyes. She thrust her hips forward, the place between her thighs seeking more contact, even while another part of her whispered for her to be cautious. This wasn’t in her plans. She hadn’t come to New York to hook up with an ex-drug dealer her father had a soft spot for, but she was tired of denying the attraction between them.

His lips tugged upward into a smirk that both infuriated and titillated her.

“Tell me I can have you.” The soft timbre of Noah’s words teased her core and destroyed the last vestiges of the refusal.

“Yes.” She moistened her lips. She had wanted him since that first night.

She should run...

His fingers sunk into the fabric of her skirt. “Good, because I don’t think I could’ve let you leave me, not tonight.” His head tilted and she was sure he was going to kiss her. Instead, his lips lingered near her ear. “What are you doing to me?”

Not waiting for an answer, he pulled her toward the vehicle, where Zach stood with the door open for them.

“Drop us off at my uptown co-op, Zach,” Noah rushed out, helping Avi into the vehicle.

The interior of the SUV hummed with anticipation. Desire vibrated off the tinted windows, yet all Noah did was clamp a hand on Avi’s knee and played with her skin. The ride was short and they were quick to exit. Inside the elevator, they were all hands and lips. All she wanted was a bed and Noah on top of her.

Inside her.

Bending her over.

Pounding into her.

Kissing her.

Caressing her.

Avi just wanted him.

His co-op was dark like the man. She had to depend on Noah to guide her down the murky hallway, hoping they wouldn’t end up kissing the floor instead of each other, because his lips never left hers.

An impatient need to feel skin had Avi yanking on Noah’s shirt to pull it from his broad chest and away from his muscular shoulders. Her nails sank into his hard flesh. Buttons skittered across the wood floor.

“You’re driving me crazy.” He groaned as her hands found his belt.

“You’ve been driving me insane.” She melted into him when his hot lips sucked on the side of her throat.

“Ugh...” The back of his legs hit the bed, but he turned them around. With a soft shove, Avi tumbled backward with her skirt at her feet and shirt opened. “You’re fucking gorgeous.” The dim moonlight illuminated her shape and Noah drank it all up.

He tugged his pants down his slim hips. Muscles bunched and flexed as Avi followed his every movement, envious of the materials allowed to lie against his skin. When he took off his boxer-briefs, her eyes bulged.

She licked her suddenly dry lips.

Lowering himself to her, he turned her head to face him, grinding into her panties. He whisked the last of her clothing from her body. All that remained were her stockings and garter belt.

“Had I known you had this on...” His fingers trailed the line running from her calf to her thigh. “I’d have taken you in the car.” He bit the tender flesh near one of the snaps.

“Oh...” Avi whimpered.

Noah dragged his mouth down her body.

Along the sides of her neck.

Tasting the swells of breasts.

Her legs parted, giving him access, and his large hand covered her.

Avi squirmed, needing him everywhere all at the same time.

The heel of his hand brushed against her, teasing her small bud and pulling a groan from deep in her throat.

She pulled on the ends of Noah’s hair when his lips wrapped around her. “Aw, hell,” she stuttered out.

Two of his fingers filled her instantly and headed for her g-spot.

“Don’t you come,” he demanded.

It was so good. Better than the last time he’d been this intimate with her. And she couldn’t hold on.

“Mmm...”

Releasing her sensitive clit from his mouth, he demanded again, “Don’t you come, Avi. Save it for my cock.” He slithered up her body, his fingers still buried deep inside her, wreaking havoc on her body.

His glistening lips covered her mouth. Tasting herself, she erupted just as Noah made his presence known, entering her body with skill and haste.

“Oh, shit,” he cried, breathing through his nose so he wouldn’t get swept under by her clenching muscles.

Her legs trembled as she felt him leave her body and slam his way back inside. Sensation after sensation, her body answered Noah’s call. He found a rhythm, which she matched, as he gripped her thighs, commanding greater access.

“Yes,” Avi moaned out when his hand forced one of her legs up and over his shoulder.

Sweat dripped from his brow.

His eyes held hers, boring into their depths just as his length made her body know it was his for the night.

Her hands wound their way to his face, begging him to end his sweet torture.

“I-I’m comi—”

“Yes. Yes.” He took one of her fingers into his mouth and sucked on it.

Avi grunted out her second release, clenching around his hardness just as his body crashed into hers. “Noah...”

“Fuck...” Stiffening above her, he pulled out, pumping and spilling onto her stomach.

He shifted to the side, cradling her to him with hands firmly planted on her ass. They both floated, each in their own head. His fingers left a heated trail along the path they ventured, while her breathing settled to match his.

“That was amazing,” she whispered, awed.

“We’re doing that shit again as soon as I catch my breath.”

A
t a little past midday, Noah was leaning back in a chair in his kitchen. Avi moved around, wearing nothing but his dress shirt from yesterday. Despite telling her he would do the dishes, she had stood when he finished eating.

The food had been good, but the sight before him was delicious. She bent low to return a pan to its place. His shirt flirted with the tops of her thighs, exposing a part of her body that enraptured him. She was supple—firm where needed and soft where he liked. Everything about the woman held his attention for longer than any other before her.

When they weren’t grasping at each other, they’d drifted into a comfortable silence. She never volunteered much, and he hadn’t pried.

He swallowed a moan when she stood on tiptoes to restack his dishes. Her bare, brown flesh contrasted with the blue shirt. When she reached up again, he made a decision: he’d keep her around.

“Need some help?” With lightning speed, he was behind her and pushing her into the counter. He buried his face into her hair and pressed his hardness into her ass.

Her tinkling laughter warmed him, had him feeling fuzzy and wanting to cuddle. He wasn’t a warm, fuzzy, or cuddling kind of man. Nevertheless, Noah wrapped his hand around her midsection and pulled her to him.

It felt right.

She
was right.

“What are you doing to me?”

“I-I don’t—”

He spun her around and tipped her chin up. Her brows furrowed and her lips parted. Noah used a finger to smooth away her worry and confusion. He pushed her hair, all big and sexed out, from her face. He used to think he wasn’t one for long-term relationships, but Avi made him want to try.

“Change isn’t in my vocabulary,” he said, just to tell her where he came from and where he stood.

She shook her head, and confusion clouded her features. “I’m not asking—”

His hands slipped to her neck, fingers stroking the satin-smooth flesh.

Avi’s mouth fell open, and through her parted lips, he heard her low ‘oh’ before she took a step away from him, but he followed. Gripping her, Noah forced her closer, his forehead lowering to hers. Instead of meeting his stare, her eyes found interest in the spot just south of his chin.

“I don’t do shit like this, Avi.” Too grown to be considered anyone’s boyfriend, and too skeptical to seek more than non-committal fucks, Noah had no idea what he was trying to ask.

She remained as still as a statue.

“I want more than one night.”

He played with the hair along her nape and weighed his options. What ramifications were there to his decision? Letting her into his world wouldn’t be easy, but he would bend his world to accommodate her.

He needed to do so many things: get her a new phone, have Cass set her up with a bodyguard, and get them both to his doctor for blood work. Lost in lust-fueled insanity, he hadn’t used protection last night. He wasn’t going to be completely irresponsible, but didn’t intend to use condoms after their blood results came back. She’d felt too damn good: slick, warm, and too damn tight, just as he imagined.

She raised her gaze to his, putting an end to his mental to-do list.

“You make me want more than one night, too,” she whispered. Her shoulders sagged as if she didn’t want to voice her confession.

He didn’t respond with words. Instead, he palmed her ass cheeks and lifted her onto the island. He pulled a condom from his back pocket and sheathed himself before falling into bliss over and over until a hoarse Avi mumbled about being too achy.

Much later on, when he entered her addictive body, she half-heartedly begged him to stop, but he couldn’t. And he didn’t. He never got his fill. He did slow his pace, and her body welcomed him each and every time. He didn’t know if she was taking him over, or if he was taking her over.

And it didn’t matter.

“What are you over there doing?”

Avi’s fingers continued swiping over the screen. “Texting Sofie.” Without looking up, she asked, “You’re still not going to tell me where we’re going?”

“I’m taking you somewhere.”

She put her cell phone away then turned to him. “Where is this somewhere?”

“Just down the block,” Noah said.

Avi sat up, peeking through the glass.

“Recognize anything?” Noah wondered.

Quaint row homes filled Avi’s view, reminding her of her hometown with its friendly neighbors who waved at each other across well-kept lawns and litter-free sidewalks. Older sedans and sleek minivans dominated the curbs and driveways.