Wicked Games (16 page)

“I don’t know…I’m sure going to miss him being in the CIA,” Brianna teased in her southern drawl, as she curled another strand of hair.

Noah had just told her that Shadow was turning in his notice at the CIA and coming to work for Steele Security. He half-jokingly told her that Shadow saw more action in the time that Brianna was up to no good than in all his years with the company combined. 
The truth was Shadow said he was going to be an uncle soon, and he wanted to be with his family. Noah was thrilled to have him join his security firm.

Brianna was getting ready for their date night, standing in the bathroom and wearing her camisole and matching lacy panties. Noah walked to her, rubbed his hand across the little bump on her stomach, kissed her
, then gave the baby a kiss. She loved when he did that, and it had quickly become a daily ritual.

****************

She said she would be right down
. Noah called up the stairs from the foyer, where he’d been waiting for the last fifteen minutes, “Brianna! Don’t make me come up there and get you!”

She appeared on the second floor landing, looking down at him, “Oh, and just what do you plan to do with me?”

He flashed his wicked, half-grin at her. Oh, how that made her blood boil in the best way possible.

Finally dressed and ready to go, s
he walked down the stairs, and he never took his eyes off her. Her baby bump had made most of her clothes a little too tight for comfort. She went shopping for their date night, but at Noah’s insistence, she had someone from Steele Security close on her heels at all times. There were still people who wouldn’t be happy with being implicated from her investigative reporting, and Noah refused to take any chances.

              She picked an elegant aqua blue dress. The straps made a V from the center of her chest up around her neck. It was gathered and belted below her breasts, drawing the eye to them, and the flowing material hung down over her bump, stopping at mid-thigh. She wore her long hair pulled up in an elegant ponytail, with small wisps of curls strategically hanging down around her face. Her white-gold bracelets adorned her arms and matching earrings twinkled when she walked. Her sling back silver heels matched her silver purse that hung over her shoulder.

“Wow. Maybe we should just stay home after all.” He was only half serious, but if she agreed to it, he wouldn’t argue.
His eyes moved slowly up and down her body, and she could feel him undressing her with them, as she moved down the staircase towards him. 

“Not a chance, Mr. Steele. You are taking me out tonight!”
Brianna smiled as she moved to him, put her hands on his chest, and lovingly stroked the hard muscles underneath. “You look very handsome yourself, Noah.” 

Noah had made reservations at the most romantic spot he could think of for her. Knowing her love of the water
, any kind of water, he had arranged for a four-course dinner on a private yacht. A small band would be onboard to supply the romantic music.  She took his arm, and he led her out to the waiting limo.

He watched her face as they headed toward the marina. Confused, she looked at him
, but he just shrugged his shoulders. She knew she wouldn’t get any information out of him, so she snuggled up to him and enjoyed the ride. She really didn’t care where they went, as long as she was with him. Anywhere was better with him by her side.

She looked
even more puzzled when they boarded a small boat and headed out into the dark ocean, but she complied. His pride swelled when he realized she didn’t question him at all, she just completely trusted him. When they approached the yacht anchored just off shore, her eyes grew big, and she looked at him so lovingly and with the biggest smile on her face.
Oh yeah, score one for Reaper!

He helped her board the large vessel
, and the crewman led them up the stairs to the top deck. The table was set with white linens, china plates, and crystal champagne flutes, no alcohol for her, though, and the staff brought out one delicious dish after another. The band played slow, romantic songs, and just before dessert, Noah stood and asked her to dance with him.

On the dance floor, she wrapped her arms around his neck
, as he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her close to him. He whispered in her ear, “You are so beautiful.” He kissed ear and along her jaw until he reached her mouth. “I love you, Bri.”

Looking up into his eyes, she said, “I love you, Noah. This is a
ll such a wonderful surprise. Thank you.” He leaned down and kissed her tenderly, loving the feel of her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck. Noah thought about how right it felt to hold her again. He knew he was the luckiest man in the world to have a second chance at having a life with her. 

The staff brought out their dessert plates and he led her back to the table.
Under the lid, a small black velvet box sat propped open on her plate. It held a 3-carat round-cut diamond solitaire, set in a white-gold band, with 14 diamond side-stones wrapping around the band. She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. 

She looked up to find Noah down on one knee beside her. He picked up the box and held up the ring.

“Brianna, I can’t spend one more day without you by my side. I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. Will you give me the great pleasure of going to sleep in my arms every night and waking up in them every morning, of having my children, and taking my name?”

With tears streaming down her face and smiling from ear to ear, she jumped in his arms, yelling, “Yes!  Yes! Of course, yes!”

Brianna and her sister, Missy, had a girl’s day out shopping. Missy was as excited about the wedding as Brianna was
, and they finally had a chance to spend the day as sisters and enjoy each other’s company.   Missy insisted Brianna try on every wedding dress she could find until they found the perfect one. Then the perfect veil. The perfect shoes. The perfect jewelry.  And too many bridal magazines. By the time Brianna got home, she was exhausted.

“Have fun with your sister today, baby?” Noah greeted her
, as she walked in. 

“Yeah, I really did. I’ve missed her. She’s so excited about the wedding!” Brianna’s face lit up when she saw Noah.
He was barefoot, and his jeans hung low on his hips. He wore no shirt, showing off his sculpted chest, arms, and abs. She would never get tired of looking at him. He held his arms open, and she walked straight into them. 

She had dropped all her bags
, except one long garment bag. “Is that what I think it is, Brianna?” Noah asked, as he took the bag from her hand. 

“Yes, that’s my wedding dress,” she beamed
, but then her smile fell.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Bri?”

She let out a small chuckle and said, “I look fat.  In every dress I tried on, I looked fat! It’s a girl thing, I guess.”

After hanging the garment bag on the coat rack,
Noah knelt in front of her, lifted her shirt, and splayed his hands across her belly. 

“I think this is
so
sexy, Brianna. I love that my baby is growing inside you.” 

She ran her fingers through his hair
, as he was knelt in front of her. He looked up at her with intense desire in his eyes, and she felt her knees go weak.

As Noah rose to stand, his hands rose
, and he pulled her shirt up over her head and tossed it aside.  He gently stroked her cheek before his fingers lightly brushed down both sides of her neck to her collarbones. His big hands flowed over her skin, leaving goose bumps in their wake until they reach her bra.  He quickly unhooked the front clasp and let out a guttural growl, as her growing breasts sprang free. He rubbed his thumbs over her sensitive nipples before leaning in to take one in his mouth.

She gasped as he sucked and pulled on her
, and her back instinctively arched into him. One hand continued to rub the other breast while his other hand left a heated path across her stomach to the button of her shorts. He swiftly unbuttoned them and pushed them down to her ankles, and she easily stepped out of them. He moved to take her other breast in his mouth, as she pulled him closer to her, demanding he take more.

His hand continued its exploration over her lacy panties to the heated pool of liquid between her legs.  He could feel her wetness through them
, and his already full-grown erection throbbed painfully. 

“Damn, Bri, I will never get enough of you.” His voice was husky and so sexy.
Before she could respond, he had removed her panties, and his finger was exploring her sensitive folds before finding her small nub of pleasure nerves.

She dug her fingers in his shoulder and moaned in pleasure. He increased the pressure with his thumb
, as his fingers plunged deep inside her. With a sharp intake of breath, she cried out, “Oh, Noah!” He felt her inner walls quiver, as he increased his speed. He knew she was close to climaxing, her breath was increasing into pants, and her hips were moving in time with his fingers. 

“Ummm, don’t stop!” Her raspy voice was pleading with him.

“Come for me, baby. Let me feel you come.”  She felt his hot breath in her ear, as his deep voice whispered, urging her on. He felt her entire body tense, as her head dropped back. She gripped his shoulders harder, and he felt the ripples roll through her, clenching around his fingers, and drenching them, as she cried out his name, “Noah!”

As she raised her head and opened her eyes, she saw the smug, sexy smile on his face
, just before his mouth covered hers. His tongue pushed into her mouth, slowly and tenderly caressing her tongue. She raked her fingernails over his chest, down his abdominal muscles to the top of his jeans. 

She slipped one finger under his waistband and lightly rubbed across the hypersensitive skin, and just skimming across the top of his erection. He groaned into her mouth
, and she quickly unbuttoned his jeans, and slid her entire hand in to grasp him.

The kiss quickly became urgent and demanding
, as she stroked him up and down with one hand, and pushed his clothes off him with the other hand. He pulled away from the kiss, quickly lifted her, and carried her up the stairs to the bedroom. Setting her in the middle of the bed, he stopped to look at her beautiful naked body, and began to lower his head to make love to her with his mouth and tongue. She grabbed his face in her hands and barely breathed out, “I can’t wait, Noah! I need you inside me,
now
!”

“OK, Brianna,
but just this once
…” she felt the deep rumble of his laughter through his thick chest. He moved his body to cover hers. Using his knee to part her legs, he settled between them and framed her face with his forearms. He paused at her wet opening, staring into her eyes, and she wrapped her legs around him, trying to push him forward while moving her hips towards him. 

He laughed again, “My baby is so impatient,” as he pushed deeply into her. She cried out in pleasure and arched her back. The
y soon moved in time, his hips thrusting and hers rising to meet him over and over. He was amazed, and quite pleased with himself, that with her every orgasm, she wanted more and more.

At last, she cried out, “Noah, I can’t take any more! Come with me, baby.” He thrust in her, feeling her excitement building until he felt her walls milking him, squeezing and quivering, and he let go
, whispering words of love, as he emptied himself into her.

Rolling off her to his side, he pulled
her close to him and rubbed the bump on her stomach. He nuzzled his face into her hair as he said, “I think I’ll just keep you pregnant all the time. I’m really loving how you can’t get enough of me.”

She felt him smile against her
, and she responded, “I don’t have to be pregnant to not get enough of you, Noah. That’ll never happen.” Then she playfully added, “I’ll be glad to let you try to make me, though.”

He loved her challenge, “You got a deal
, and I’m holding you to that!” Brianna smiled and rolled to her side, snuggling into Noah’s body, as his arm wrapped around her. They drifted off to sleep, sated, and happy.  

She awoke in the middle of
the night and made her way to the bathroom. When she returned to bed, she had to admit that maybe the pregnancy hormones were adding to her desires, because she couldn’t go to sleep until she had him again. He was still sleeping soundly, as she planted feather lite kisses along his jaw, down his neck, and then took him in her mouth.  He groaned in pleasure, and his hands went into her hair.

“Damn, woman, are you trying to kill me?” His tone was playful
, but he was clearly aroused and more than willing. He pulled her head up with a groan, and she rose to straddle him. She held him at her core and intentionally impaled herself on him slowly, watching his eyes as he watched her. She began rocking back and forth slowly, enjoying the ride and the feel of his thick length fully inside her. She moved one hand up to her breast and pulled at her nipple.

His eyes darkened
, and the look on his face was feral, as his hands gripped her hips and forced her to move faster. As she increased her speed, he began to thrust up into her. Both of her hands moved down her torso, one hand held tight at the base of his erection, as she moved up and down while the other hand reached around to gently stroke his balls, increasing his sensitivity. She felt him shooting into her, as she climaxed. 

They were both breathing heavy
, as they rolled to the side and snuggled. Noah confirmed on a pant, “Oh yeah, I’m
definitely
keeping you pregnant from now on.”

Noah woke early the next morning, eased out of bed to let Brianna sleep, and went down to the kitchen to cook her breakfast. The smell of bacon and coffee woke her
, and she smiled when she realized where he was. She picked up his t-shirt that was on the chair beside the bed, pulled it over her head, and watched as the hem fell to her mid-thighs. In the bathroom, she ran her fingers through her hair, brushed her teeth and then made a beeline for the kitchen.

Noah looked up
, as she walked in, and she recognized the hunger in his eyes and the gruffness of his voice, “You look good enough to eat. Seeing you wearing my shirt turns me on.” 

She
stood on her tiptoes and planted a heated kiss on his lips. “I’ll let you show me just how much later in the shower.” 

She turned towards the coffee and heard him growl. Suddenly, she was lifted in air, sat on the counter
, and Noah stepped in between her legs. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him in close to her. The look in his eyes was pure love, so warm and inviting she felt it reach deep inside her. 

He cradled her face in his hands
, and he opened his mouth to say something but stopped. She could see raw emotions in his eyes and knew he wasn’t at all the sensitive type, the type to easily share his feelings.

Brianna put her hand on his, leaned into his palm and patiently urged him on, “What do you want to say, Noah? It’s just me – you can tell me anything.”

He moved his hands to her hips, but didn’t take his eyes off hers. “I need you to hear me out, ok? So I can get it all out at once.” Brianna nodded in agreement.

“When I first met you, in the desert, I knew it was a bad idea to get involved
, the secret missions, and we lived literally a world apart. But I couldn’t stay away from you and I really tried. I fell completely in love with you out there. And I found you on purpose that night in the bar. That wasn’t luck or coincidence.  It
was
luck that some guy didn’t have his hands on you when I walked in, because I would’ve killed him.”

He took a step back from her, a deep breath
, and raked his hand over his jaw before continuing.  Brianna didn’t interrupt. She knew he wasn’t finished, but her heart lurched at the distance he suddenly put between them. 

“When you started asking me a
lot of questions about Richard, I got jealous. It seemed like you were talking about him all the time, and I started thinking maybe you were cheating on me with him.
Really
thinking that you were, Bri, and I pulled away from you.”

He took another step away from her
and leaned against the island. “That day you came to me wanting to talk, I was so wrapped up in my own bullshit I couldn’t think straight. I said I was too busy with work, but I wasn’t. I was afraid you were going to say you were leaving me. I’ve never ran from anything in my life, Bri, but I ran from that.”

She nodded that she understood what he meant and looked down at the floor. She’d never even considered that he thought she would cheat on him.  She suddenly noticed he was quiet
, so she looked back up at him. He was waiting for her full attention, and he was giving her time to digest what he’d said.

“Then you left for your assignment and you didn’t come back. When they showed up at the door to tell me you were dead,
I…” his voice trailed off, and his hands were balled into tight fists. “I didn’t think I would make it. I was on suicide watch. I don’t know how long Bull and Rebel stayed here with me, because I didn’t
want
to live without you.”

Brianna didn’t speak
, but the tears were steadily flowing down her cheeks, as his words created the mental images. She’d often wondered what exactly had happened, but hearing it was more painful than she’d thought possible.

“
They say time heals all wounds, but that’s not true. Time made it worse. Time reminded me of all the things that we would never do together. I learned to live with the pain, but it never left. The day you came back, I was torn between being so
damn grateful
that you were alive and so
fucking mad
that you were alive.” 

He saw the hurt flash over her eyes again and immediately realized how the words sounded.

“Not mad that you were
alive
. That came out wrong. I was mad that you
stayed away
from me all that time – three long years. I mean, how could you have ever loved me, if it was so easy for you to live without me, you know? Anyway, when you stayed with me that night, you told me and
showed me
how much you loved me in so many ways. When I got up the next morning, I actually felt better. I smelled the waffles, and it was like those three years were just a bad dream. You were here with me again.”

He next spoke through clenched teeth, holding back the anger and myriad of other emotions that were swirling in his eyes. “
And then I realized you were gone again. I know why you did it. But Bri, while I was searching for you, all I could do was
listen
while they beat you and threatened to kill you. I ran in that building, just as she was squeezing the trigger. The gun was point blank at your head…
one second later and I would’ve watched you die!”