Built to Last (5 page)

Noelle ran her hands up his tight muscular chest reveling in the roughness of his chest hair. She heard him groan and it turned her on even more. She held his eyes with her own again, reaching for the hem of her sweater. She slid it up and over her head in no time, leaving nothing but her bra between them. His looked at her with appreciation in his emerald eyes, then sliding his hands up her back he pulled her to him. His mouth found the taut peaks of her breasts, through the fabric, making her sigh and squirm with delicious need.

“Cade,” she whispered near his ear, nibbling on his earlobe.

“Noelle, I need you,” he crooned and turned them both on the couch so he was on top of her.

She could feel his arousal against her and it was driving her crazy. The heat between them was overwhelming. She couldn’t get enough of his sinewy form against her as he lavished her neck and chest with hot wet kisses. She wanted him, filling her over and over again, until she could no longer stand it. It was everything she had dreamt and so much more. She felt as if she might die from need if he did not join with her soon.

He released the clasp of her bra, exposing her breasts to his seeking lips. He teased her nipples with his tongue, the liquid heat of his mouth tightening each one and making Noelle cry out. She arched up into him seeking more. Her fingers slid up into his hair and held his head in place.

“Cade…” she purred, “oh Cade.”

“Mama...” the muffled cry came, so soft Noelle had nearly missed it over the movie and their panting. “Mama, mama, mama.”

Noelle sighed in frustration, her body dropping back to the couch under him. She looked up at him with a smile. “Hold that thought. I’ll get them back to bed.”

Cade let her up, feeling frustrated but chuckling to himself. He watched her pull the sweater back over her head and pad off up the stairs to boys’ room. He heard her over the monitor as she opened the door.

“It’s alright,” she cooed. He heard the creak of the side of the crib being let down. He imagined she was picking one of the boys up and cradling him on her shoulder. A part of him he had been unaware of until that moment, wanted very much to see her like this. So, he quietly made his way up the stairs and toward the top floor where he presumed the bedrooms were. He heard soft singing and followed her voice.

As he peered in the doorway, he could see her sitting in a rocking chair with a little dark haired bundle snuggled into her shoulder. The boy was holding a little yellow stuffed dinosaur tightly against his chest and the thumb from his other hand was in his mouth. His eyes were closed. Noelle stroked his head and back as she sang a lullaby to him. She rocked gently in the chair. Cade’s heart felt like it was skipping out of his chest. The image of her like this, comforting their own child came unbidden from the depths of his mind. He found it frightening enough to pull back away from the doorway. These were feelings new to him. What was it about this woman that brought out these feelings? Sure he wanted a wife and family at some point but hell he’d only been out with Noelle twice and while the making out they had been doing just moments before was great and would lead to what he had no doubt would be even more incredible sex, marriage was not on the table. How could it be?

Tyler had quickly fallen back to sleep and she had laid him back down in his crib only to hear Jason beginning to stir. She reached down and gently stroked his head as well, hoping that he’d just fall right back to sleep as well, but it wasn’t happening.

“Wawa.” the toddler demanded and Noelle handed him the purple dinosaur. He pushed it aside. “Wawa.”

Noelle remembered that Sam had said Jason liked a drink of water in the middle of the night and went to get one from the bathroom. “I’ll be right back Jason. I’m getting water.”

Apparently, that was exactly the wrong thing to do, and he let her know with a holler. He pulled himself up on the side of the crib and reached for her.

“Wawa” more loudly this time. She looked quickly to Tyler who began to stir again and cry. Noelle sighed and picked up Jason on one hip and then Tyler on the other.

“Down!” Jason demanded and toddled toward the bathroom as soon as she set him on his feet. She followed him as she comforted Tyler with his yellow dinosaur. She flipped on the light in the bathroom wondering how Cade was doing. She was beginning to understand her sister’s comment about the lack of sex, from earlier.

She turned on the water and let Jason fill his cup. She snapped on the Sippy lid and handed it back. “There you go honey. Now it’s time to go back to bed.

She shifted Tyler from one hip to the other, as Jason demanded, “Up” and reached for her. She walked the boys back to the bedroom and laid each one in his own crib handing each his own dinosaur. She wound the dual mobile that hung over their cribs and turned it on. Tiny lights sparkled all over the room as the music played and little stuffed moons and stars twirled over their heads.

“Goodnight boys. Auntie loves you,” she whispered and slowly backed out of the room. She closed the door almost all the way before she headed downstairs. She paused every few steps or so to listen for them. Noelle’s body was still singing with need. She smiled and hurried back down to where Cade was waiting. Just the thought of picking up where they had left off was enough to send a bolt of desire crashing through her belly.

In the basement
, Cade was sitting back on the couch waiting for her. He had listened to the boys erupt and to how well she had handled it and got them back to bed. He could still hear them talking to each other and cooing in their beds. His thoughts had been sobering enough to clear his head. Noelle returned to him and he felt drawn back into her warmth. He realized, as he looked at her, that he wanted more than sex from her. He wanted her to like him, to want to spend time with him. He didn’t want to just date and sleep with her.. He wanted to hold her and protect her from the world when it tried to crush her heart. It scared the hell out of him. No woman had ever made Cade Harden feel like this.

Noelle curled back up on the couch and into Cade’s side. “Now, where were we?” She began to nibble on his neck.

The sensation burned through him and his eyes dropped closed. Dear God this woman’s touch was so sensual. She had him ready for her in mere moments. He was on the brink of losing complete control with her. “No!” his mind screamed at him. This wasn’t what he wanted. Not here in her sister’s house. This was too complicated.

He turned to her pushing her away gently but firmly. “Let’s not get that started again or Del is going to get an eyeful when she gets home.” She still had her arms wrapped around his neck.

Noelle’s eyes flicked up to the clock. It was barely eleven and Del had said they’d be home by midnight. She thought there was plenty of time. “I’m game if you are,” she replied looking at him through her lashes with sultry heat. She leaned in and gave him a long sensual kiss.

Cade’s body immediately responded to the beautiful woman in his arms, but he needed to hold firm on his decision. He pulled away again, “Noelle, I want you desperately right now, but I don’t want to rush it. I want to have hours to touch you.”

The thought of making love to Cade for hours only served to fuel her fire. Again the white-hot bolt of need shot through her and a tortured sighed broke from her lips. Her heart was threatening to leap from her chest, but she could see he was serious. So, she dropped her eyes from his to hide her disappointment and nodded, “okay.” She felt his hand reach for her and stroke her cheek. It was such a caring and gently caress that it brought emotions to the surface. She felt tears pricking the back of her eyes and she blinked rapidly to relieve the sensation not wanting to cry in front of him, over something that seemed so simple. She leaned into his hand.

“Why don’t we get things cleaned up here and head back upstairs,” he suggested. Even as she had agreed to his decision, he’d held out a small hope that she wouldn’t let him off so easily. His body was still warring with him. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.

Noelle nodded and collected the nearly empty plate of cheese and crackers, and her wine glass. She finished off what was left in it in one large swallow hoping the liquid would help steal her nerves against her libido. She carried everything upstairs to the kitchen and rinsed off the dishes adding Cade’s glass to her own.

“So what is on the table this week for you?” He asked trying to reconnect with her on another level. His body was still demanding that he throw her across the nearest piece of horizontal furniture and have his way with her. It was quite maddening.

Noelle looked up from the sink and smiled. “I’ll be temping at a Realtor’s office this week from eight to five. It sounds kind of fun. I’ve never bought a house so I really don’t know what goes on with all of that. I’m just going to be answering phones and such, mostly receptionist work. I also want to find a few more things for my apartment. I used the furniture I kept but I could use a couple other things. I need some bookshelves and a new desk. Mine didn’t survive the commute. I don’t really have anything to put up on the wall either. The apartment has a fair amount of wall space.

“You’ll have to let me know if I can help with anything. I have a truck to move furniture with if you need it,” he offered and then wondered who had helped her get moved into the apartment in the first place. Griffin’s face flashed into his head along with a stab of jealousy. He shook it off. She was here with him and she had made it obvious to him that was where she wished to be.

A car door slammed closed outside and Noelle looked up at Cade. He had been right to stop them both. Her cheeks filled with color again. She walked out into the living room, greeted her sister as she gathered up her coat, and got ready to leave. “How was the movie?”

Del blushed from head to toe. “It was good.” she replied a little too quickly, Noelle thought. She gave her sister a look that said ‘we need to talk later’ and Noelle nodded. She felt Cade’s body heat behind her and swallowed hard. He wasn’t even touching her and she wanted him.

“Both boys were up about twenty minutes ago. I didn’t have any trouble getting them to lay back down though.” she leaned over and kissed her sister’s cheek. “Call me,” she whispered in her ear.

“Thanks for your help,” Sam said and shook Cade’s hand. “It’s always good to see you Noelle. The boys love seeing their Auntie. Now that you are living a little closer, we should see about having a family dinner night once in a while.”

“I’d like that Sam. Goodnight you two.”

Cade followed Noelle out the door and to her car. “Thank you for inviting me to join you,” he said and leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

Noelle was having none of that and she grabbed the front of his jacket pulling him down into a full hot kiss that left both of them breathless. “Your place?” she asked. “I’ll follow you.”

Cade wasn’t sure if he was in any state to drive home after that kiss. While his logic and body were warring, his subconscious answered for him with a nod. He wasn’t going to turn her down, even if he had to get up early in the morning. He climbed into his vehicle and took several breaths to steady himself before pulling away from the house. He watched her pull in behind him in the rear view mirror. Every inch of his body was vibrating with anticipation knowing, that she was only a car length away, and as eager to be with him as he was with her. Twenty plus minutes later he was pulling into the garage of his house in West Valley.

Noelle’s stomach was full of nerves. The anticipation of what was to come was nearly overwhelming. She hadn’t stopped smiling the entire trip. She was going to sleep with Cade. She wanted him. He wanted her. She wanted to give him the time he said he wanted to spend making love to her. Tonight, when they were together on Del’s couch, she had felt that same overwhelming attraction to him she always had. She hadn’t been with anyone since she had moved in with her mother and maybe that was why she wanted him so badly. Maybe that was why her body responded so quickly to his touch. Nevertheless, she didn’t care. She wanted to sleep with Cade Harden, and so she would. She didn’t have to have a relationship with him to sleep with him, did she?

She shut off the car and climbed out, suddenly feeling a bit shy standing in the cold. She didn’t want a relationship with this gorgeous man or any other because her life was a mess. However, she was still human and she had needs too. He wanted her and she was going to throw herself headlong into a night of abandon and passion. She had decided. She followed Cade up the steps, her hand sliding around his waist as he unlocked the door.

They were barely inside before he was kissing her again. His lips were hot and firm against her own. He acted as needy as she felt. Every inch of her body cried out to be touched by him. The curling tightness in her belly was back with a vengeance. With nothing to keep her from holding back, Noelle touched and kissed every delectable part of him that was exposed. She wrapped herself around him in abandon until the need had grown to devastating heights. She didn’t stand on ceremony; she wanted him too badly to wait for him to romance her. This wasn’t about romance anyway. She pulled away from him only long enough to strip off her sweater and jeans. She stood before him in pale pink lacy bra and matching panties and watched him unbutton his shirt again. She helped him slide the shirt off his shoulders kissing his chest. He smelled of the cologne he preferred and she loved it.

“Hang on,” he panted, stepping to one side of her and around his couch. He tossed down a blanket and some pillows on the floor in front of his fireplace and moved his coffee table. He squatted down long enough to light the stack of logs that were already in place, and then looked over at her. “Come here.”