He groaned. “Lara, no running. Not unless I’m right there next to you.” He sighed. “You’re sure this is what you want? Coming with me to Bend?”
She took his hand in hers and kissed it. “I’m sure.”
He cleared his throat. “I told you I love you. And I do. But Lara… I don’t want to wait.” He hadn’t meant to ask her now, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“Wait for what?”
“I want all of you.”
“I’d say you’ve had all of me.” She winked at him. “I’m a little put out you haven’t had more lately. I’m in bed, half-dressed, just you and me and no one else for a change, and you haven’t made a move.”
“Woman, I’m trying to ask you to marry me.” There, he’d said it.
She blinked at him. “Huh?
Not exactly the response a man wanted to hear after proposing. “Lara, I love you. I know I said I’d give you time. We haven’t known each other very long. But I love you. All of you. You can handle me. You don’t freak out just because I’m a little different. And you’re so strong, so intelligent and funny. I want to live the rest of my life with you. You’re the one for me, honey. I know it deep inside.” He brought her hand to his chest.
“Oh Noah.” Her eyes filled. “That was so romantic. I can’t believe it came from you.”
He grunted with laughter.
She continued. “I trusted you from the beginning. It wasn’t even the voices, it was you. Something about you that called to me. You’re the only man who’s ever seen me. I won’t lie and say I’m not a little scared by the idea of marriage, but yes, I’ll marry you. In eight or nine months.”
“Hell, Lara. You want a long engagement, you got it.” Noah wanted to burst with happiness. If only the woman would stop shifting on the bed. The T-shirt she wore kept riding up, exposing her smooth belly. And those damn shorts hinted at all kinds of things. Even with the bandage, her legs would look perfect spread wide while he licked and sucked her pretty pussy.
“Uh-oh. You have that look again.” The wicked grin she sent him made him groan and press down his hard-on. “Tell you what, handsome. You want me to say yes, then you have to show me what it’s worth to you.”
She spread her legs, slowly. “Man, my leg hurts, but not as much as my pussy.”
The sly woman knew he liked it when she talked dirty. Damn, he loved her.
“Fuck me with that huge cock, and we’ll see if I say yes.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He sounded like he’d swallowed a bag of gravel.
“Then don’t. You’ll have to be gentle. And we’ll fuck so slow, until I come all over you.”
He swore under his breath and stood. Stripping down to nothing, he did the same to her, being ultracareful of her leg. “I think I like you this way best. Naked.”
She laughed.
“Now don’t move. You’re only allowed to lay there and take what I give you.”
“I love when you get all bossy on me.” She moaned when he sucked her breast, biting gently on her nipple. “Oh God. Noah, I’m ready to say yes right now.”
He chuckled and turned his attention to her other breast. He had her begging in seconds, and he ached to fuck her. But he wanted to draw this out, to please his woman and himself by taking his time.
He drew down her body and knelt between her legs. Lowering his head to her pussy, he licked her with patient, deliberate strokes. She writhed and moaned, but he wouldn’t be rushed. When he sucked on her clit, her flavor exploding on his tongue, she cried out for more.
“I said be still.” He palmed her stomach, holding her in place while he ate her out.
He waited until she’d come before he eased himself next to her and turned them so that he spooned her. Then he eased her injured leg over his, taking care to move without jarring her. “Okay?” he asked on a breath, out of his mind with lust.
“Oh yeah. I want to feel you inside me, Noah. Come on, deep in me.”
He found her entrance and slid inside her. “Oh fuck. You’re hot.”
“And wet. Very, very wet.” She whispered his name as he continued to push.
He continued until he’d put the whole of himself inside her. Shaking at the effort to hold still, he kissed her neck and nibbled at her ear. “I love you so much, Lara.” He pulled back, then thrust inside her again. “Always.”
Their lovemaking was slow, tender, and so rich that it tied his every thought and breath to hers in a way that felt almost mystical. Not just sexual, this loving wrapped emotion and psychic pathways together, until the two of them flowed together like one entity. Like Flynn and Cecilia must have been, came the unbidden thought.
And then thoughts of the outlaw lovers left him as he poured himself into Lara, the woman who owned him heart and soul. He’d spent his life caught up in the past, but he’d found his future in the arms of a woman steeped in the present.
“Forever, Noah. I love you.” Lara hugged his arm over her belly and snuggled with him, still joined.
He had trouble catching his breath. “Oh baby. Me too. You’re mine. Never forget that.”
“As if I could.” She laughed, and he laughed with her.
Noah couldn’t be sure, but he felt a soft sigh and the sense of approval from a powerful presence beyond them.
“Oh, she’s glad we found each other,” Lara whispered. “She’s leaving me in peace now. And she’s thankful we solved their murder.”
He pulled her tighter against him. “I have all the thanks I need, right here in my arms.”
“You said it, cowboy.” Lara sighed and settled against him. They lay in silence for some time before he finally withdrew, and Lara turned to face him. “Bend, Oregon, hmm? Tell me more about this PowerUp! gym and the people who work there…”
Chapter Thirteen
Frank had been right. A few days later, Noah and Lara were still pouring on the love with a saccharinity that made her teeth ache. Chloe squirmed in the uncomfortable seat on her flight that she prayed would make it back to Oregon in one piece. The lovebirds sat behind her holding hands and doing all that lovey-dovey crap that annoyed the hell out of her. Sure, she wanted her buddy to be happy, but his newfound emotions continued to impress upon her the deficiencies in her own life. What awaited her at home? A few cans of SpaghettiOs and some lint balls rolling on the floors of her near empty house?
Jeez, she hadn’t seen any man action in close to a year. How pathetic was that?
“Change is coming.”
Trust that fucking voice to be back now. Where had it been before, when she’d been close to circling the drain in that psycho’s attic? On a good note, at least they had the painting. Her boss would be pleased about that. Jack couldn’t chew her ass that much about being late on delivery. Plus, he now had a much better balanced retrocog in Noah. Lara centered him, the couple was in love, and Jack no longer had to worry about losing Noah.
Though the boss man didn’t show his emotions, he was the first one on her ass if he sensed anything wrong with her squad. The night-shift guys worked well as a unit, but he counted on Chloe to keep a closer eye on the general well-being of his agents. Kitty, her daytime counterpart, watched the dayshift. Of course, it helped that the empath could sense the emotional health of her team. Chloe had to go on gut instinct and direct supervision. And with guys like Noah, Nathan, and Aiden, she had her hands full.
She shifted again, wishing her ass hadn’t gone numb from the stupid seat. At least she had a space beside her. The rotund man on the aisle seat continued to snore his way home, but she could handle that with a view out the window.
She glanced at him, wondering if she closed her eyes and napped, if she could count this as sleeping with another man. How boring was her life that the past few days had been more excitement than she’d seen in months? Not having a sex life was pathetic yet doable. But God, she really missed her work with the PWP.