It had been a long time since she felt so content. She knew there were no guarantees that anything permanent would ever develop between her and Travis but after spending a day with him, she still wanted more. A lot more.
And he seemed to feel the same. He was very affectionate, something she found she craved. At least there was no guesswork anymore about whether he was attracted to her. She could feel the proof of it against her back. She loved that he didn’t try to hide it from her—not that he actually could. From what he’d told her about his limited dating track, and what she’d seen with his tattoos and piercings, she was pretty sure he didn’t let many people in. Body art could be a form of armor, so the fact that he let himself relax with her touched her deeply.
“What are you thinking?” he whispered against her ear, his warm breath and deep voice making her toes curl.
He’d pulled the blanket up around their bodies and his arms were wrapped around her chest protectively. She placed one hand over his and gently squeezed. “I’m curious about that piercing, among other things.” She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been thinking about it all damn day.
He hissed in a breath behind her and his arms tightened a fraction. She loved getting a reaction out of him. She’d discovered that he had a tendency to keep his emotions and reactions in check. But there was no pretending her comment hadn’t affected him. It was easier for her to be bold when she wasn’t looking directly at him. Whenever he caught her in that dark gaze, her tongue got all twisted up. In this position, she could tease him and she enjoyed it.
One of his hands moved under the blanket, slowly and seemingly innocent. But she had a feeling there was nothing innocent about his intentions. There was another couple on the opposite end of the bench, but they were animatedly talking about the different light designs on the yachts, dinghies, and everything else in between—and thankfully paying her and Travis no attention whatsoever. Still, he couldn’t mean to do what she thought he did. Could he?
“What are you curious about?” He played with the button of her jeans, teasing her.
She had no doubt he knew how crazy he was driving her and he hadn’t even touched her intimately. But the thought of his fingers dipping lower… Wait, he’d asked a question. Well, two could play that game. “How it will feel against my tongue.” Noel had no clue where she’d found the nerve to say that, but couldn’t fight the grin when he let out a low, strangled rumble from his chest.
She hadn’t been on a date in forever, much less had so much fun with a man in…she couldn’t remember how long. Why not be as bold as she wanted? With Travis she wasn’t worried about pretending to be something she wasn’t. If she wanted to make sexually blatant comments, she could. He wouldn’t judge her for it.
His teeth pressed lightly against her earlobe and his entire body shuddered. “You know exactly what you’re doing to me.” Travis’s hips jerked once, his erection pressing into her back even more insistently.
“Probably the same thing you’re doing to me.” She’d been wet half the day just being in his presence.
His tongue darted out, tracing the shell of her ear sensuously before he pulled back. Goosebumps raced over her body that had nothing to do with the chilly weather. He surprised her by stopping, but then his fingers resumed their teasing path. Instead of just playing with the button, he popped it free of the hole, and tugged her zipper down. Just like that.
Behind her, he was sitting almost motionless, probably looking calm and collected while she was about to overheat. She surprised herself because she didn’t think for one second to stop him. No, she was way too excited to see how far he would go. The blanket blocked their lower bodies and it was thick so there was no way anyone could see what was going on, but…no way he—his hand slid below the waistband of her panties. She shivered at the feel of skin on skin contact.
She’d worn a lacy scrap of nothingness this morning. When she’d put it on, she’d thought of him and now she was glad she had on something sexy even if he couldn’t see it.
He moved lower, lower until his long, calloused fingers were cupping her mound in the most possessive way. It felt so intimate, to be sitting here like this, she wasn’t sure what to do. She found it difficult to breathe and when he slowly started stroking his middle finger over her wet slit, she shuddered. Noel couldn’t help it. She was pretty sure no one had noticed since their closest neighbors—who were only a few feet away!—hadn’t looked in their direction once.
Travis’s strokes were slow, lazy, and if not for his hard length against her back, she’d think he was completely unaffected.
“You’re going to pay for this,” she whispered. He was getting her worked up with no place to go.
He chuckled, the sound completely wicked. “You love this.”
Oh, God, she did. So much. It was so wanton, knowing that she was exposed underneath this blanket and Travis was doing such delicious things to her body in a public place. All someone would have to do was remove their cover and they’d see everything. That thought made her nipples tighten almost painfully.
“Imagine my hands are on your breasts,” he whispered so quietly she could barely hear him.
Those words evoked another delicious visual. She’d love to see and feel his big hands covering her, teasing and pinching her light brown nipples. They tightened even harder against her bra cups at the thought.
He continued stroking her clit, but he was moving faster now. Her inner walls were clenching with the need to be filled, but he was exerting just enough pressure over her sensitive bundle of nerves that she knew she’d be coming soon.
Right out in public.
Biting her bottom lip, she struggled not to squirm. She wondered if she should be embarrassed, but couldn’t dredge anything up. Not when this felt so damn good. A tiny moan escaped, but no one seemed to notice. She was so close. Her entire body had tensed, her nipples were tight and…
“Now imagine my mouth in place of my hands.” His whisper was guttural, the need in his voice clear.
That was what pushed her over the edge. Her climax rippled through her, pushing out from her core and searing all her nerve endings. It wasn’t a screaming type of orgasm, but the pleasure that punched through her left her a trembling, weak mess. Her abdomen clenched wildly as her body went to pitch forward. Travis held her in place, keeping her steady as she shook from the aftereffects. Her eyes fluttered shut and she swallowed convulsively, trying to keep herself contained. There was no hiding her ragged breathing though. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed but as she sagged against him, she saw the couple next to them gathering their empty to-go cups and blanket, still laughing and talking.
Noel couldn’t move yet and luckily Travis didn’t seem to mind. In fact, his breathing was harsh and uneven just like hers as he slowly removed his hand. He lightly nuzzled her, feathering kisses along the sensitive area right behind her ear. She loved that he’d been affected by what had just happened too.
There was a single brightly lit yacht decorated in blue, red, green and white lights straggling behind the other boats. As it faded into the distance, she got herself under control. Sort of. As quick as her still tingling fingers would allow, she zipped and buttoned up her pants.
The blanket fell away as she turned to face Travis. She almost stumbled back from the raw heat in his gaze.
“Next time, I get to see your face when you come.”
Which meant there would be a next time. Sweet Lord, there’d better be one. And she wanted him to come too. To let go and find pleasure with her. She wanted to wrap her fingers and lips around him as he came in her mouth. Then she wanted to feel him sink deep inside her. Her eyes felt heavy lidded as she watched him. Unable to string together a coherent thought, she simply nodded. He leaned forward, his lips quirked up in a half-smile.
Noel paused at the sound of a female voice calling Travis’s name. Whatever spell had wrapped around them was momentarily broken.
Frowning, his expression pure exasperation, he pulled back and looked in the same direction Noel did. But then he smiled, a genuine one at the petite, gorgeous woman with long whitish-blonde hair striding toward them. She had on a black studded collar, studded leather wrist bracelets and, despite the cooler weather, wore a tight corseted mini-dress that laced up the front and pushed her very generous breasts out. Her legs were covered only because of her thigh high boots and her toned arms were covered in tattooed sleeves. She looked like a Goth Barbie doll.
Stepping back, Noel let Travis slide off the bench to greet her. He smiled warmly at the woman and gave her a hug. “Surprised to see you here,” he said, his voice light.
The woman shrugged, flicking a curious glance at Noel before returning her attention to Travis. “The kids wanted to come, so here we are.” She threw a glance behind her to where a tall, black man was wrangling two children both under the age of five. One was literally running circles around him screaming a holiday song at the top of his lungs while the other was trying to scale him as if he was a tree or jungle gym. “Thought I saw you with a woman and had to check it out.”
Travis smiled and slung an arm around Noel’s shoulders, pulling her tight against him. The action soothed her as she slid an arm around his waist. She didn’t have a claim on him, but it was nice he was making it clear that they were…something.
“Olga, this is Noel, my…” Travis shifted uncomfortably and she didn’t blame him.
“Friend,” Noel finished for him. She had no clue what they were and now wasn’t the time to define it.
The woman’s grin was genuine as she held out a hand. “Friend, huh? You own the coffee shop, right?”
Blinking, Noel nodded as she shook the woman’s hand. Clearly Travis had talked about her if this woman knew that much. That had to be good. “Uh, yeah.”
“Honey!” The woman’s husband or boyfriend shouted, looking stressed and ready to pull his hair out.
Olga cringed. “Sorry, gotta run, but we’ll talk later.” She gave Travis a mischievous smile and a polite one for Noel before she hurried away. Her heavy looking boots thudded loudly as she ran and scooped up one of the boys.
When she was out of earshot, Travis picked up the blanket, but quickly resumed his grip around her shoulders. “Olga was my high school girlfriend.”
The way he said it, it was clear there were no lingering romantic feelings. Or Noel really hoped there weren’t. She’d seen nothing but friendship between either of them when the woman had hugged him. It had been only a brief introduction, but after having a friend stab her in the back, she’d gotten pretty good at reading people.
“You guys still talk a lot?” Okay, she couldn’t resist asking.
Travis shrugged. “Once a month, mostly by email, sometimes on the phone. She and Jay always invite me over for the holidays. That’s her husband.”
Noel wanted to ask if he was going over this year, but didn’t have the courage. Christmas was right around the corner and even though things between them were so new, the thought of spending the holiday with him sounded like perfection. And that scared her. She’d never gotten so wrapped up in a man this quickly. She liked to take things slow, to be careful who she dated. “So…you told her about me or is she a really good guesser?”
He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Your name might have come up a time or two in the past few months. She’s been after me to ask you out since I first mentioned my…interest.”
“Interest, huh?” Her entire body flared to life at that one word.
Travis snorted. “You about knocked me off my feet the first time I saw you. I had some very dirty thoughts about what I’d like to do to you behind the coffee bar.”
Oh.
Well, damn. “Same here, well, minus the dirty part. I’m sure my fantasies are a little tamer, but you were impossibly sexy and all mysterious looking. Always wearing those dark suits which seemed at total odds to the tattoos peeking out. I couldn’t figure you out.” And she still hadn’t.
“You still think I’m sexy?”
Now
she
snorted. “Still? How about even sexier. Every time I look at you…” She trailed off, feeling self-conscious. She hated playing games and she’d spent enough time around guys to know they hated it too, but just laying everything out there without any pretense made her feel vulnerable.
“You gonna finish that thought?” he asked as they reached her car, his expression open and hungry. For her.
Biting her bottom lip, she looked up at him. Screw it. Honesty was the best policy, right? “I get wet.” Maybe not every time, but it was damn close.
A shudder rolled through his big, broad body and his eyes heated. “Keep talking like that and I’ll forget any good intentions I’m holding onto.”
“Good.” She didn’t want him to hold anything back. Normally it took her a lot longer to even consider sleeping with a man but she knew things between her and Travis would be heating up a lot sooner than later. And she couldn’t wait.
Travis stood at Noel’s front door with her. He’d never been more torn in his life over anything. She hadn’t said the words, but she’d invited him in with her eyes and body language and he really wanted to say yes. But he didn’t want to move things too fast and risk screwing up what he was pretty sure could be
it
for him. He’d never believed in bullshit theories like ‘the one’ before. Well, until he’d gotten to know Noel. He could easily see his entire future with her mapped out and he fucking loved it.