Waterborn (The Emerald Series Book 1) (31 page)

M
orning light tickled my eyelids
, prompting them open. Noah’s hand skimmed down my arm, the gesture reassuring as I blinked a couple of times, bringing his face into focus. He rested on his side, watching me, green eyes deep pools of calm satisfaction.

“Wow.” I smiled in response to the borderline worshipful expression on his face. I knew how he felt. I mean, I didn’t have a whole lot to compare it to, but for a first timer it was pretty amazing. I still languished in the residual effects of the way he had touched me, the way he had utterly possessed me. What he lacked in experience, he had certainly made up for in enthusiasm.

“Yeah, I’ve been lying here watching you, trying to come up with the right word. I don’t think there is one.” He reached over, running the tip of his finger down my cheek.

I could think of a few. Earth-shattering. Mind-blowing. Noah had been attentive to the point of obsession. And he’d been thorough. There wasn’t an inch on me he hadn’t touched with his hands and mouth.

“Well,” I said, wickedly curious. I hadn’t remembered much of my first time, but enough to set some expectations. And I liked that though my experience was severely limited, I at least had more than he did. “Was it like you imagined?”

“No.” There was so much going on in his eyes, just looking at him made me dizzy. “My imagination obviously sucks.”

“So it was good?”

“Good? I would say being with you was way better than good.”

“I don’t know. I’ve always liked the word good. God created the world and called it good.”

He laughed, almost to himself, and traced a path down my arm, skimming over my shoulder, my collarbone, and up my neck until his palm cradled my jaw. I loved the way he liked to do that, hold my face in his hand like I was a treasure.

“If you’re comparing being inside you with the creation of the universe then yeah, it was good. Mind-altering, in fact.”

The words sparked that same sense of urgent need I’d felt last night and the memory of all that we’d done spun itself in my mind’s eye. I lifted my hand and Noah pressed his palm to mine. Our fingers entwined, but the touch went much deeper. All the way through to my heart, binding my soul. And when he looked at me, I swear I felt the pearl around my wrist spark with heat. I’d become so intimate with the taste of his mouth and his skin that I could taste him in the air that blew between us. My mouth watered in renewed hunger.

“Mind-altering, huh?” I teased.

“Yeah, mine’s pretty much blown. And that’s good, so damn good.” His lips brushed over my fingertips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Up until last night, his eyes had always been my favorite feature, but now it was definitely his mouth. I could stare at his mouth forever, more so when it was on me.

“For wanting our first time to be in the Deep. I didn’t think you’d be comfortable with that.”

“Seemed natural,” I said.

The most natural thing in the world. She’d held us in her hand, suspended in a bubble of want. I hadn’t thought about it before, but in the Deep there was no need to breathe, no coming up for air, just a constant fusion of mouths and bodies. And there had been that moment when the lyrical movement of Noah’s hips and the play of his fingers had coaxed my Song out of me and I thought there wasn’t a place in the whole Gulf of Mexico that hadn’t echoed with his name.

The sun peeked over his shoulder, watery light making a halo of his hair. He looked like a beautiful angel but the curve of his lips was devilish.

“As much as I’d like to stay here with you all day,” he said, dipping his head to place a kiss on my breast. I squirmed under the wet heat of his tongue and the tickle of his hair. He lifted his head and his eyes found mine. Regret laced his voice when he said, “I’m starving. And people might be worried about us.”

My hand curled around the back of his head, fingers lost in the silkiness of his hair. I wanted nothing more than to pull his head back down. And if he hadn’t mentioned other people, I would have. Food could wait, but my dad was no doubt going crazy with worry.

“My house or yours?” I asked, bemoaning the intrusion of the real world. I liked this one.

“I’m not taking you home to your dad naked. Definitely mine.” He pushed to his feet and for a moment I was frozen in place, staring at the sand clinging to his thighs and butt. It was like he’d been rolled in sugar. I really wanted to bite him. Sunlight streamed over him, highlighting his hair as it washed over his broad shoulders. He belonged right here, naked in the sunlight so comfortable in his own skin, beautiful, tongue-worthy skin. Was it supposed to be like this the morning after? I didn’t feel the least bit shy or embarrassed. Not the least bit awkward even though I was naked. My mouth quirked.

“What?”

“I don’t know. I just feel…” I didn’t know where I stopped and Noah started, more than joined bodies as though the Deep held us together. “Spiritual.”

His gaze fell on me, a blatant journey of his eyes. Sensation exploded over my skin everywhere his eyes touched, the heat of it burning all the way to my core.

“You look beautiful,” he said, his voice drawing my eyes upward over his rippled abs and the fine smooth skin of his chest.

My fingers curled around his hand. “You look really… carnal.” I’d marked him sometime during the night. The time when we’d done it on the beach for comparison. My eyes traced the scratches on his shoulder where I’d dug in with my fingers, deep enough to draw blood. His eyes followed mine.

“I hate to lose these. I like having your mark on me.”

“I can do it again if you’d like.”

“Oh, I’d like,” he said, tugging on my hand.

I looked around for our clothes. Memory hit in a wave of awareness.

“Did I just throw my bathing suit in the surf?”

“Yes,” he said on an expulsion of breath, letting his eyes close. “That alone blew my mind, but when you ripped my shorts off…”

“I did not rip your shorts off.” I kicked sand at him.

“Oh yes you did,” he said. “Not that I’m complaining. You can rip my shorts off anytime.”

I sprang off the ground. My fingers ached to touch him. “Well, right now you don’t have any.”

“How convenient.” Noah pulled me close and finally put his mouth on mine. It was just me and Noah and an empty stretch of beach and the breeze blowing around our naked bodies. I took his moan on my tongue and it mingled with mine, my breath coming fast and shallow.

“I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Me neither.” He kneaded my bottom, the firm pressure of his fingers on my cheeks, making my legs quiver. “Well, not for food anyway. Would you mind so much doing it again?”

“Mind?“ It was so damn sweet of him to ask. And hot. He burned under my hand. I teased his lips with my tongue and let my hand answer.

“I’m taking that as a yes.” He lifted me off the ground, my legs hugged his hips and he shifted his hands farther underneath me. “Here or out there?”

“Out there.” I squeezed my knees, pressing closer.

“Holy shit, Caris.” He stopped, hands on my hips, holding me in place. I rested my forehead against his. Our eyes locked. “You do that again, I’m not going to make it in the water.”

“Then you better hurry.” My mouth claimed his as he carried me into the surf.

B
y the time
we surfaced behind his house, the beach was dotted with landers. Not like the tourist part of the beach, but it had to be after eight, and there was a handful of landers out for morning walks. It wasn’t like we could walk out of the water unnoticed, considering we were totally naked.

“So what do we do?” My legs straddled his back and I looked over his shoulder. He turned his head, meeting my mouth with his in a quick touch.

A sly smile spread across his face. “Well, they are on our beach.”

Okay, so maybe we could.

There was something so totally hot about walking out of the Gulf holding hands with a sun-water-sex god. For one fleeting moment I thought this was the way it should be, these landers shouldn’t be here. We were on the receiving end of a few sideways glances. One couple openly gawked. Noah winked at the older woman and she smiled appreciatively under the wide brim of her straw hat. A flock of gray and white seagulls spiraled overhead, disinterested.

Once we got closer to the house and farther from prying eyes, I jumped on Noah’s back. He hooked his arms under my knees and I rested my head on the back of his shoulder, his hair my wet pillow. He paused before stepping onto the back patio, spun around one direction and then the other, like a dog chasing his tail. I held on, laughing out loud, growing giddy with his quick movements.

“What are you doing?” I shrieked.

“I really want to see what you look like back there.”

I nipped at his shoulder. “Put me down, perv.”

“Nope. I got an idea.” He walked us up to the sliding back door. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror, but it was pretty darn close. Our reflection shone in the glass, and when he turned sideways I laid my head back down on his shoulder. My hair clung to my spine halfway to the curve of my bottom as I pressed intimately against his back. With Noah’s powerful thighs, his thick chest, and the horseshoe shaped ridge of his triceps under his round shoulders we looked like a sculpture, a piece of living art, Noah’s green eyes like precious stones.

“You’re beautiful,” he said when our eyes met in the glass.

“We’re beautiful.” God, I almost wanted to cry. If I’d had had my phone I would have taken a picture. The words sat there on tip the of my tongue.
I love you.
They remained unvoiced, hidden behind my smile.

“Do you think your mom is up?” I asked, hating to break this spell, but the last thing I wanted was Noah’s mom walking in and seeing us staring at ourselves naked in the window, no matter how hot it looked.

“I don’t know. I’ll check. You want to wait here?” He unhooked his arms and my feet found the ground.

“I’m definitely waiting here.”

He turned around and slapped a quick kiss on my lips, then opened the back door. “Be right back.”

I watched him through the glass. Well, mostly I watched his ass, his naked self as glorious as a sunrise. Not a single tan line, his whole body was this perfect shade of Goldilocks. Just right. I looked down at my own body. I didn’t have any tan lines either, something I hadn’t noticed until now. When I looked back up Noah stood in the doorway smiling at me.

“She’s not here.” He scooped me up and buddy carried me down the hall with his hand planted firmly over my backside.

“Noah, what are you doing?” I heard the spray of water as he walked into a bathroom filled with fresh steam. He put me down under a shower of hot water.

“Clothes are in the drawers. Pick whatever you want,” he said, eyes roving over me with a look of regret.

“You’re not staying?”

“My mom’s pretty progressive, but I don’t think she’d be happy to come home and find us in my shower.” He bent down and kissed me. “I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.”

I thought he had left and reached for the bar of soap when he peeked his head back through the shower door, a mischievous smile on his face.

“I’m in love with your ass, by the way.” Then he closed the door behind him.

T
he next best
thing to being wrapped in Noah’s body was being wrapped in his clothes. The t-shirt was perfectly roomy, and as I walked down the hall to find the kitchen, I couldn’t help burying my nose in the Noah-scented fabric. A pair of plaid boxers peeked out from under the hem.

I paused in the hallway leading from his room to the living room and kitchen to look at the mosaic of family pictures. I lingered over each one, watching a story unfold of a close-knit, happy family. There was a stunning one of his parents when they were young, surrounded by a ménage of shots of Noah and Jamie. Noah was the spitting image of his dad, with the same green eyes and the same sun-streaked dirty blond hair. Jamie, on the other hand, took after their mother, with his sea-foam green eyes and their dark hair always a contrast to the backdrop of the white sand and emerald surf. Even as a toddler with his startling white hair, it was obvious Noah had worshipped his older brother. Both of them, even as young boys, had been well defined, their hours in the ocean making them impressive physical specimens at a young age.

But the one that caused me to catch my breath was one of the three of them, father in the middle, sons on either side. It made my heart ache to think that half the people on this wall were gone. I had been so caught up in my own family drama, I had failed to fully appreciate the extent of Noah’s loss. Noah grieving for the family he’d lost, while I, on the other hand, emoted over the one I’d gained.

I found him in the kitchen, standing at the stove, hair shower damp. He had on a pale pink t-shirt over charcoal gray boardshorts that looked anything but feminine on his body. I laced my arms around his back and nuzzled him from behind. I inhaled deeply, past the soap he’d used to find his scent underneath. I could bury myself in his smell.

I felt his hand on my arm. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I peeked around him at the omelet cooking in the pan. “That looks amazing.”

“Well, don’t go getting all excited that I can cook or anything. This is it. I can make omelets and scoop ice cream.” He bent his head and kissed my wet hair before I released my hold on him.

He cut the omelet in half with the end of the spatula then distributed the two halves on separate plates. “My phone is on the counter. You should tell your dad where you are.”

The mention of my dad had me groaning inside. He’d been giving me so much freedom lately and there was something so carefree about the ability to take off into the Deep. A house almost didn’t really feel like home anymore. Home consisted of this whole place, the beach, the water. Shelter was more of a convenience than anything. Lines of home and family that had been clearly defined were now blurred.

I typed in a quick message, assuring my dad I was okay, not entirely sure what to say.

Hey, Dad. I spent an incredible night deflowering Noah and now we’re at his house and he’s cooking me breakfast.