Unlike Xander, her words seemed genuine, so Noah smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m good. Uh, thanks for stopping by.”
She smiled and left Noah to feel like a ridiculous ass standing in the doorway watching a woman that most men would give their right arm for walk away.
He smiled, thankful he was a good deal smarter than most men.
23
Jezebeth lay on
her bed sniffling. Her tears had run their course and now she was left with a headache, a wet pillow, and a large ache inside her chest. Not much of an improvement from before she’d begun to cry.
A soft knock sounded at her door and excitement and anticipation shot through her like a super dose of adrenaline.
“Noah.”
Jez lurched out of bed and wiped her wet face on her arm as she jogged toward the door. She grabbed the knob and pulled the door open ready to jump into Noah’s arms the second he appeared. “Hey—” Her words died in her throat as she found Jerome on her doorstep. He was a human who had lost his soul to Lilith in an incantation very similar to the one Noah had performed.
“Welcome home, Jez. I’ve missed you.” Jerome’s gaze was possessive as it roamed over her, and for the first time since she’d met Jerome over a thousand years ago, his blatant gaze repulsed her. She and Jerome had very often exchanged sustenance over the years and they’d formed a friendship of sorts, but he definitely wasn’t who Jez had hoped to see right now.
Jerome was a handsome man by any standards, and he flashed a deadly smile that would cause human women the world over to give him anything he asked for. But it had no effect on Jez. “Are you going to invite me in, or do you want to do it right here against the door to your quarters?” His voice was low and suggestive, and she wondered how she could’ve ever thought his banter charming.
Because before you met Noah, Jerome
was
charming,
her subconscious insisted.
Jez bit back a grimace—mainly because that little voice was entirely right. “Jerome . . . I’m not really up for anything tonight.” She wasn’t sure how to tell him she was no longer interested without giving away the reason, which could endanger Noah if word got back to Lilith.
Jerome frowned as he searched her gaze. After a long moment his expression softened and he smiled down at her, sadness filling his blue eyes. He reached out to run his fingers across her cheek.
“You’ve found love.”
Jez stepped back as if he’d slapped her. Was she that transparent? Did Lilith already know?
Jerome laughed and shook his head. “Jez, come on. I won’t say a thing. I’m happy for you.” He sighed, and the regret in his blue gaze was enough to convince her he was being honest. “I gave up love for one night with Lilith, remember? I didn’t realize that no matter how skilled the lover, without love, it’s just a fleeting experience. And now I’m paying with eternity.”
Relief slid through Jez like a cool autumn wind, and she relaxed the muscles in her shoulders and arms as she stepped forward to lay her hand on Jerome’s chest over his heart. “Thank you, Jerome. I hope one day you find love again. You’re a good man.”
“For a human?” he asked with a small smile.
She laughed and stood on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across his lips. “For anybody.” When she dropped her heels to the floor, her gaze traveled past Jerome to find Noah watching her from a few feet away.
His hair was still damp from a shower, the dark gold ends curling lightly around his collar. He was dressed in clean jeans and a black T-shirt, and she wanted nothing more than to pull him inside her quarters and keep him there with her for eternity.
She stumbled back from Jerome as guilt stabbed at her. “Noah. I was . . . we were just . . .”
Noah stepped forward, effectively cutting off Jez’s feeble attempts to gather her thoughts. He faced Jerome, the tension in the air between the two men a palpable thing that beat against Jez’s skin like tiny electric shocks. “I’m Noah Halston.” Noah held out his hand to Jerome and met the other human’s gaze unflinchingly.
Jerome’s lips quirked as if he approved of Noah’s approach and clasped hands with him. “Jerome.”
“No last name?”
Jerome huffed out a laugh. “It used to be MacNiel, but once my soul went to Lilith, there seemed very little use for it here.”
Noah shrugged as if that made perfect sense. “Thank you for looking out for Jez through the years.”
Jez frowned as she glanced up at Noah. She didn’t remember mentioning Jerome. Just how long had Noah been standing in the hallway?
Jerome smiled and nodded once, in the same manner the succubi and incubi did before he leaned in close to Noah’s ear to whisper something Jez couldn’t hear. He straightened and the men exchanged a glance filled with both understanding and meaning.
Irritation flashed through Jez and she grabbed both men’s arms. “Hello? I’m still here, and don’t appreciate being talked about as if I’m not.”
Sexy smiles curved both men’s lips, and Jez glanced toward the ceiling—a silent plea for strength in dealing with males of any species.
“I’ll just leave you two alone for a while.” Jerome stepped back and winked at Jez before turning to walk away down the hallway, leaving her and Noah alone.
Jez glared after him.
“Are you going to invite me in?” Noah’s low, sexy voice pulled Jez’s attention back to him, and she glanced up into his storm-cloud gray eyes and answered automatically. “When I led you inside earlier, that gave you an open invitation to my quarters.”
He grinned, the action sending sudden shocks of arousal through her like thousands of tiny darts of fire. “I know. But I’d love it if you invited me inside.” The dark promise and double entendre shot through her, causing familiar slick moisture to form between her labia.
He stepped forward, herding her backward until he stood just outside and she stood just inside her quarters.
The ache inside Jez’s chest had disappeared to be replaced by a growing warmth that seemed to thrive when Noah was around. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced in her long millennia of life. The sensation spread outward to meet up with the growing ache between her thighs.
So it was true. She really did love this man.
Human or not, he’d captured her heart, and there was no going back. Not that she wanted to. Now that she’d identified the emotion, she wanted to revel in it, to wrap herself inside it and explore its depths until reality came crashing back in on them.
Her decision made, she grinned as she reached up and grabbed a handful of the front of his shirt and hauled him inside her quarters, slamming the door behind him.
She turned back to jump into his arms, but Noah surprised her by picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder so her face bumped against his muscled back. “Noah!”
He slapped her lightly on the ass, sending a shot of straight arousal to churn deep inside her gut. “Do you know what I was thinking about while I was in the shower with my hands slick with soap that smelled just like you while I stroked my cock?”
Jez’s breath caught in her throat as the vision he described took up residence inside her mind and refused to dissipate. She swallowed hard as he dumped her on the bed, where she bounced lightly against the soft mattress. “What were you thinking about?” Her voice came out barely a whisper, but she knew he heard her by the way his eyes darkened.
He stripped off the black T-shirt and tossed it away to reveal his broad shoulders and firm chest lightly dusted with sandy blond hair. Jez’s gaze traced downward to where the line of hair disappeared under Noah’s jeans.
As if summoned there by her thoughts, Noah brought his hands to the top button of his jeans and Jez watched fascinated as he undid the button and slowly slid down the zipper to reveal soft-looking black boxers tented by Noah’s erection. A small dark spot against the cloth told her the swollen head of his cock was already leaking pre-come.
“I was thinking about
you
.”
She snapped her gaze back up to his face in time to see the most vulnerable expression she’d ever seen etched across those handsome features.
“I was thinking about not only how you would feel beneath me, or surrounding me as I slid inside you, but also about how I’m not sure I could ever go back to a life without you in it.”
Jez’s throat tightened as emotions tore through her like a tidal wave, closing her throat and pressing against her chest.
“I love you, Jezebeth. I don’t give a damn that you’re a succubus, or that you have to face Lucifer soon, or that Lilith thinks you belong to her. I don’t care about any of that, because you and I really belong to each other, and nothing anyone else says or does can ever change that.”
Pressure built at the backs of Jez’s eyes until her vision wavered from the unshed tears filling her eyes. She pushed up onto her knees and poked her index finger against his chest. “You know that’s a dangerous way of thinking, don’t you? To fall in love with a succubus? Lilith would kill you, and she’s not the only one who would try—she’s just the one with the most right to.”
Noah kicked off his boots and slid his jeans and boxers off in one fluid movement, revealing his long, beautiful cock with the heavy sac that hung beneath. He crawled onto the bed and wrapped one arm around her waist as he toppled her backward and fell on top of her, bracing his weight with his arms.
He laid between her legs, his cock pressing against her pussy through her jeans. “Look at me and tell me you don’t feel the same way.”
Jez let herself fall into his gaze, but couldn’t bring herself to lie, even to save Noah from himself. No matter what else happened, she wanted him to know the truth. “I can’t. Heaven help you, Noah, I love you too, which dooms us both.”
A slow, satisfied smile curved his lips as he lowered his face to hers to whisper against her lips. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be doomed with.”
The combination of his warm breath against her skin and his words sent a wave of gooseflesh marching over her, and she shivered under him even as she chuckled at his words.
Noah lowered his weight onto her and she wrapped her arms around him, threading one hand into the hair at his nape while the other hand explored the fascinating ridges of the muscles along his sides and back.
Noah took possession of her mouth, delving inside as if she were a delicacy to be savored. He thrust against her, his cock a teasing hardness and heat through the unwanted barrier of her jeans.
Jez started to pull away to undress, but then Noah skimmed his fingers down her sides and slid them under her shirt. As soon as his fingers hit her bare skin, Jez moaned into his mouth and arched against him.
For the first time, Jez didn’t fight for control, but let Noah set the pace, ready to follow wherever he led.
As if Noah sensed her surrender, he growled deep inside his throat and skimmed his lips down her cheek to the hollow at her throat—a spot that drove her wild.
The nibbling kisses and the exquisite friction from Noah’s cheek stubble sent arousal skittering down Jez’s neck into her torso. Her nipples tightened and her breasts ached, suddenly confined and uncomfortable inside her bra.
As he continued the sensual torture, a slow, steady throb began deep and low inside Jez’s belly.
Noah skimmed his hand up higher under her shirt, cupping her breasts through the bra. The warm, possessive touch made Jez squirm and arch against him, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted skin-to-skin contact.
As if he sensed her impatience, Noah nipped her neck just hard enough to get her attention and began to slowly unbutton the few still-intact buttons that held her shirt together.
Jez gasped and lolled her head to the side to give him better access to do as he pleased against her neck while she held his head in place with her hand.
“There will be no rushing tonight, Jezebeth. I’m going to unwrap you like a package and savor every second.” The husky words whispered against her skin sent a frisson of awareness through her entire body.
Noah made her feel cherished, cared for . . . and beautiful. Jez tried to think of the last time she’d felt truly beautiful—not just in whatever form she’d taken to please someone else, but her true self.
She couldn’t remember.
He raised his head to look at her and frowned. “No thinking.” He traced his finger over the crease between her brows, smoothing it away as he smiled down at her. “This is all about feeling.” Noah ripped away the rest of her shirt, leaving the scraps under her as he popped open the front clasp of her bra and slowly peeled back the cups as if she were a long-awaited Christmas present he wanted to savor.
His expression was filled with a mix of wonder and male possessiveness that made Jez catch her breath. But when Noah leaned forward to suck one tight nipple into the warmth of his mouth, Jez moaned. Each pull of his lips against her flesh sent liquid warmth coursing through her body, tightening the tension slowly building inside her.
When Noah moved his mouth to the other breast, his warm palm cupped the one he’d just left, massaging and gently rolling her nipple between his fingers while Jez bucked her hips against him, wanting him inside her.
Noah made an “mmm” sound deep inside his throat, the vibrations traveling through her breast and along her skin like a whispered caress. She traced the muscled planes of his back and shoulders and then skimmed her fingers down to cup his well-muscled ass in her palms, urging him to grind against her.
Noah pushed up on all fours and Jez immediately missed his warmth. But when she glanced up into his intent gaze, she knew he was far from finished with her.
Anticipation curled inside her gut like a sleeping dragon ready to awaken at Noah’s command, and she laid her palm over her quivering belly, willing herself to calm and just enjoy the sensations he continued to create.