Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
He smiled against my mouth.
“Can you…?”
“Can I just what? What can I do for my girl?”
I moaned, “Make me cum, please...”
“One last question.”
I whimpered.
“Have you ever had a man make love to you?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Good girl. Now cum for me.”
My body erupted in a fit of spasms as my eyes rolled to the back of my head, and my breathing hitched, screaming out his name. He pulled me close, wrapping my arms around his neck to kiss me, and drowned out the loud sounds escaping my mouth.
Biting my bottom lip again, he ordered, “Eyes on me.”
I opened my hooded gaze, trying to catch my bearings.
He took a long, hard look at me and spoke with conviction, “I’m the man who claims your ass. The one who makes love to you. The man that you need. The one you want… but mostly…”
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same when he swept the hair away from my eyes.
Until he professed, “I’m the man who thought he was falling in love with you, but that’s not it at all.”
My eyebrows pinched together.
“No, you see, I’m the man who’s always been in love with you, Noelle.”
And just like that…
My mind was thrown back to the last time I saw him.
CHAPTER 25
NOELLE: THEN
By the look on his face, whatever he was going to say to me would hurt.
“You’re scaring me,” I voiced, my tone feeling scared. “What’s going on?”
We were sitting in my living room a few weeks after graduation.
“Are you okay?”
“I will be.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m finally doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“Opening my own business.”
I lit up, standing. “That’s great! Your father agreed to—”
“I’m leaving town, Elle.”
I jerked back. “What do you mean?”
He stood, pulling me into a tight hug as he held me so close to his chest that I could feel his rapidly beating heart hammering against mine.
“I want you to go with me.”
“Go with you where?”
He looked deep into my eyes. “To start a new life.”
The certainty in his tone broke my heart like he’d already made his decision.
I knew this wouldn’t be easy, saying goodbye never was, but we’d make it through this.
We were best friends.
“Elle.” He pressed his lips against mine, rubbing them back and forth along my soft mouth.
I thought I was going to die.
I felt like I was dying.
He repeated for what felt like the millionth time, “You know I can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“I need to do this for me.”
I winced for a second before responding, “That’s not fair.”
“None of this is fair.”
This wasn’t supposed to be this hard. This was on constant repeat in my head for the past few weeks. He’d been different, and he wouldn’t tell me why.
Now I knew…
He was planning on leaving and trying to figure out how to tell me.
Or worse, how do get me to leave with him, which he knew I wouldn’t.
Why is he doing this to me?
Inhaling a quick breath, he lifted his hand to the side of my face like he was trying to memorize it. His green eyes locked with mine, and it was the first time I realized how white they’d get when he was upset.
“Don’t cry, Elle.”
It was only then I realized I was crying.
We were only eighteen years old and had our whole lives ahead of us.
He kissed my lips, desperately hanging on by a very thin thread. “Please, come with me.”
I didn’t know what to expect from this goodbye, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. It was by far the most devastating moment for me out of all this. I was being pulled in two different directions, and for the life of me, I stood there silently praying I was making the right one.
“What if I ask you not to go?”
His eyes widened, waiting for I don’t know what.
For the first time, my heart wanted one thing, and my mind wanted the other.
I battled a war of what felt right but could also be wrong.
My mind spun on an endless loop of what was I doing…
He must have sensed my hesitation, and I laid my hand over his heart. “What if we started our lives now? Here? Together?”
“Noelle…”
Life was full of choices, and all it took was one decision to change the path of our lives.
“Who’s my girl?” He kissed her again, harder that time. “You’re my good girl. Come with me.”
The truth was, I was ready to throw it all away…
For him.
The immediate relief I felt when he kissed me with such passion and devotion was like nothing I could begin to describe. It was as if my world was back in place, and everything was as it should be.
I lost myself in that kiss.
There.
With him.
In his arms.
With this body pressed against mine.
Our hearts against one another.
Nicholas’s pride was his biggest strength and his greatest weakness. His determination would get him far, that much I was positive of. I knew he’d made all his dreams come true. It was how he was made. When he set his mind to something, there was no telling him no. He’d make it happen, no matter what or who tried to block him.