“Is that why you’re all the way out here in the middle of almost nowhere?” I know his company is pretty big and he has a few other people working for him. I have to deal with them from time to time.
“At first, yeah. It’s kind of grown on me now. Life’s not so busy. I like the quiet a lot more than I thought I would.”
I know the feeling. I’ve always been a homebody. I just stay in the town so I can have some human contact from time to time. I know if I lived out in a beautiful cabin like this, I’d probably never see another soul until my mom came and dragged me from it kicking and screaming.
“Don’t you get lonely?”
“I was at first. Then I found you.”
“Liar, you hardly talk to me.” I playfully smack his arm.
“I don’t talk much because I want to hear you. If I’m talking, you’re not.”
“But I like hearing you, too.”
“Then I’ll talk until I can’t utter another word if it makes you happy. As long as you stay here with me.”
“You want me to stay here with you? Like, for the holiday?” My heartbeat picks up as I wonder what he’ll say.
“Yeah for the holiday.” He pauses for a second, and I see what looks like uncertainty creep into his eyes. “And after.”
“After?” I push, wanting more. It’s hanging in front of me, so close I can almost grab it. I want his words and for him to ask me to stay.
“Forever,” he finally says, and I can tell he’s worried what I might say. My chest fills with warmth, but it feels too good to be true.
“Is it too soon?” I know it’s a stupid question. Hell, we just had unprotected sex. Our baby could be growing inside me as we speak, but I need him to give me more. He’s hiding so much of himself from me. I want to know we’re on the same page, that he’s just as crazy about me as I am about him.
“I’ll make you so fucking happy, Noelle. I know you’re perfect for me. I’ve listened to you talk for hours on end. You’re it for me. I know it to my core, and I’ll spend every day showing you that I’m it for you. That we belong together.”
“Why aren't you using the audios I made?” The question has been hanging in my mind, and after all the sweet things he’s said to me, this one thing is still not adding up. He liked my voice so much, and he used me for so many jobs…
He blushes at my question like he’s embarrassed.
“I-I…shit.” He brushes a few strands of hair out of my face. “I didn't like the idea of others hearing you say all the sex stuff in the audios. I wanted it to just be mine.”
“You kept them for yourself?” He must have a stockpile of my audios hidden away. I don’t know why, but it is adorably cute. I wonder what he does with them. I’ll have to ask him later, for sure.
“God, this makes me sound crazy, but yeah, I kept them for myself. Seems I do a lot of things I shouldn't when it comes to you.” He says it like he has a few more secrets he’s keeping, and I want them. If we’re doing this, jumping into this so quickly, then I need to know it all.
“Are there more things I should know?” It should be freaking me out, but thinking that he’s been stalkerish makes me feel warm inside. Like he’s got all these little dirty secrets about me just for himself.
His grip tightens on me like I might try to get away from him. “I ran a check on you when I first found you. Learned everything I could. I also might have hired someone to watch you for me.”
“You have someone watching me?” Now that I can’t believe. Watching me would have to be the world’s most boring job. I maybe leave the house once a week, and that’s just to go to the store. I get everything pretty much just shipped right to my front door.
“I was worried someone would steal you,” he says with such certainly. He says it like it’s a real possibility that someone is really going to come and take me away.
“Steal me?” I don’t even know what to do with that.
“Yeah. If I had met you, I would’ve scooped you up and never let another man near you. I got scared you’d meet someone and then…” His words trail off. He doesn't even want to finish the sentence. I can see the uncertainly in his face. He’s scared I’m going to run from him now that I know the truth. But the grip he has on me won’t let me go anywhere, even if I wanted to.
Nope. He’ll never be rid of me now.
CHAPTER 10
ALEX
“I don’t want you to ever leave me, Noelle. I can’t bear the thought of not having you for even a second now that I’ve got you under me.”
She smiles so big and brightly at me, it’s as if she can feel the same things I’ve always felt for her.
“This is insane,” she tells me, leaning up to kiss me quickly. “I feel this pull between us, and I’ve never felt anything like this before. It’s…it’s—”
“Love,” I finish for her.
“Love,” she repeats, and we stare into each other’s eyes.
Thrusting into Noelle gently, I try to take her tenderly this time. Less hurried and less afraid of the moment vanishing.
I kiss her passionately and whisper my promises of devotion and desire. And when we find our peaks together, her name on my lips and mine on hers, I cradle her in my arms and hold her while she sleeps, truly happy, inside and out, for the first time in my life.