Awake At Dawn (Wildflower Series Book 2)

ISHOOK MY head as I left the locker room, waving bye to Jonesy before focusing my attention on my phone and the text I just got from Grayson.

GRAY: I didn’t want to bring anything up around Julian last night, but are congratulations in order?

Depends on what kind of congratulations you’re referring to.

GRAY: You know.

Fuck, I did know.

GRAY: Gemma wasn’t drinking.

My fingers were stiff as I typed the next text.

It’s not mine.

But she is.

For now.

She’s been living with me.

To punctuate that thought, another text chimed in as I made it to my car.

SHE’S JULIAN’S SISTER, NOAH: When are you getting home?

I stared at my phone, thinking I really needed to change Gemma’s contact name. The reminder was a little too late, and I didn’t need the guilt flooding me every time she texted me.

Especially since she sent a follow-up text with a picture of her naked lower half with a vibrator poised between her legs.

SHE’S JULIAN’S SISTER, NOAH: If you don’t get here soon, I’m taking matters into my own hands.

Don’t.

I’m on my way.

I slid into my car, eager to get home. Despite being dead tired from last night’s party, I still had to go to the stadium today. It was damned annoying, considering how badly I wanted to see Gemma. She’d been with the girls all day.

GRAY: I think I’m gonna need some clarification.

I sighed. The problem? Nothing about our situation was clear.

Let me talk to Jules first and then I’ll tell you everything. I’m waiting for Gemma to give me the green light. Julian doesn’t know about any of it.

GRAY: Fuck, good luck.

I’d need it. But right now, I didn’t want to think about Julian. All my thoughts were reserved for Gemma.

Last night had been the first night in a week that we spent apart, and while that shouldn’t be that big of a deal, it sure as hell felt like it. More specifically, it felt like torture.

Torture made worse by the fact that I spent the whole night with the brother of the girl I was fucking. The girl I couldn’t stop thinking about. The girl who, at this very moment, was in my apartment, half-naked.

Hopefully, completely naked.

I stepped on the gas, letting the car accelerate at the same rate as my pulse.

I was addicted, and I didn’t fucking care. I’d never slept with someone this many times. Yes, it had only been a week, but I’d never even wanted to see someone two nights in a row before. And now, I couldn’t think of anything other than spending every goddamn night with Gemma.

Thank the Lord we still had months before our little arrangement was up. Maybe by then, my addiction would have eased. Maybe the excitement would have waned. Maybe my pulse wouldn’t tick up like this at the thought of her smile.

That had better be the case.

Otherwise…I was fucked.

Because right now, it felt like I’d never get enough of her, and that downright terrified me.

The interstate lights blurred around me as I sped the rest of the way home. Just as I pulled into the garage, my phone lit up again.

SHE’S JULIAN’S SISTER, NOAH: Hurry.

I swore under my breath as I parked and tucked my full-fledged erection into the waistband of my sweats. I’d thought about Gemma the whole way home, and it showed. The last thing I needed was the building security to see the boner I sported on my way inside.

Rushing into the complex, I damn near sprinted to the elevator before tapping my fingers impatiently as it brought me up to my floor. When the doors opened with a ding, I flew down the hall, completely ignoring whatever snide comment Summer flung at me as she passed.

I held my breath when I entered my apartment, half expecting to hear Gemma’s moans as soon as I stepped in the door, just like I did that night after getting home from Florida. But the apartment was quiet except for Winnie’s click-clacking paws as she ran over to greet me. I crouched down to pick her up, letting her shower me with puppy kisses as I walked her to my bedroom, where I hoped she’d take a nap. Because I had plans right now that I didn’t want interrupted.

Luckily, Winnie’s kennel was one of her favorite places to be, and once she was happily tucked away, I kicked my shoes off and padded to Gemma’s bedroom, stopping short in her open doorway.

Lying on her stomach, she had her back to me. Or rather, ass to me. I swallowed a groan and leaned against the doorframe, taking in the sight. She had her vibrator twirling in the fingers of one hand and her phone in the other, her thumb flying across the screen as she typed something.

Most importantly, though, she wore this wispy, transparent nightgown that gave me a clear view of her naked body beneath it. The blue, ethereal fabric barely fell over the curve of her ass, and I couldn’t wait to push it out of the way so I could⁠—

“Hi.”

Considering the dirty picture she sent me less than an hour ago, Gemma sounded surprisingly shy as she noticed me lingering in the doorway.

When I couldn’t figure out how to move or speak—too stunned by how incredibly beautiful she looked lying there, Gemma frowned.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she flipped onto her back and pushed herself up on her elbows.

As if that fucking helped.

Now, I was greeted with the view of her tits, barely veiled by the see-through fabric. I could see the perfect outline of her nipples, and my mouth watered. Fucking watered.

“I’m trying to wrap my head around that…thing you’re wearing,” I rasped.

Gemma laughed, and it rang through the air, beautiful and crisp. “My pajamas?”

“Your pajamas?” I choked out. “That’s—I—fuck, Em.”

She grinned and propped one leg up seductively, sliding her foot toward her ass and letting that flimsy fabric ride up, exposing a tiny glimpse of her pussy. My already stiff cock pulsed, wondering why the hell I was still standing here in the doorway when I could be touching her.

“I thought I should upgrade,” she crooned. “I wanted something pretty.”

Pretty. Sexy. Stunning. Fucking hot.

Yeah, she’d accomplished that.

But there was something she needed to know.

“Just to set the record straight…those white pajamas you always wear? With the little hearts? You looked pretty and downright fuckable in those, too.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “But this? Em, if you wear that around the apartment, I won’t be able to get anything done without ending up inside you.”

“Mmm,” she hummed. “Sounds good to me.”

I chuckled. “Insatiable woman.”

“Being horny is basically a pregnancy side effect.” She shrugged, and then her lips tilted sideways in a smirk. “What’s your excuse?”

“You,” I said without thinking about it. “You are the reason I’m so fucking hard. I drove down the interstate with a stiffy after I got that goddamn picture.”

She grinned knowingly. “You liked that?”

“Liked it?” I stepped toward it, shoving my hands in my pocket. “God, Gemma. You really have no idea, do you?”

She answered that by giving me a good, long once-over. It felt like permission to do the same, so I let my gaze drift back over her body, appreciating every dip, every curve, every freckle. Everything that made Gemma, Gemma.

And then there was that vibrator, still in her hand.

“Are you going to let me watch you use that? You have no idea how many times I’ve pictured you do that after I heard you that night.”

“Maybe another time.” A teasing twinkle lit up her eyes as she did the opposite of what I expected, reaching behind her to drop the vibrator in her bedside table drawer. “I don’t know if I need the vibrator now that you’re here. I have you now.”

“You have me,” I agreed in a husky murmur. “But I don’t think you understand how close I am to losing it. I feel…” I broke off, running a shaky hand through my hair. Seeing her like this was making my heart beat out of my fucking chest. My entire body felt unsteady, and I knew it was because I wasn’t touching her yet. I couldn’t feel her wrapped around me yet. “I want you so badly that once my hands and lips are on you, I’ll only last a few minutes before I’m inside you. And you deserve better foreplay than that, angel. I never said you couldn’t use the vibrator. I just wanted to be here to watch.”

Gemma raised a brow, but she didn’t say a word.

She didn’t need to. I saw the wildness in her gaze. Saw how it looked like I felt inside.

I nodded at the nightgown still covering her body.

“Strip for me.”

“You sure you want me to do it?”

“If I get any closer to you, it’s getting ripped off your body. Do you want to keep that pretty thing in one piece?”

She nodded slowly.

“Then strip for me.”

Gemma obeyed slowly, lifting the gown’s hem and dragging it up her body. She had to raise her hips to pull it up completely, and the way her body shimmied as she peeled the fabric off was un-fucking-believable.

Once the nightgown made its way to her bedroom floor, Gemma leaned back again on her hands, giving me a fantastic display of her naked body. My cock screamed at me, reminding me of how fast I drove to get here. But how badly I wanted her was the problem. Every inch of me trembled with need, and I felt like all it would take was the littlest touch, and I’d be done for.

“Just so you know…” Gemma started before her voice trailed off when I dragged my shirt over my head in an attempt to regulate my body temperature, which was suddenly out of control.

I had never felt proud before when a woman ogled my body. Not to sound too cocky, but it felt predictable. Almost like they were doing it for show. Or they were doing it because of my name and what I stood for, not for who I was. They were doing it because of what my body represented and not because they liked the man beneath the muscles.

But when Gemma looked at me like that…fuck, it felt like I was on top of the goddamn world. Like I had something I could be proud of. Even if it was just making this woman speechless—the woman I’d fantasized about since I was practically a teenager.

“Just so I know?” I prompted.

I hated to interrupt this little interlude, but damn did I want to know what she was going to say.

Gemma jerked out of her trance. “Just so you know, you could have walked in here, dragged me onto my hands and knees, and fucked me without so much as a hello. I’ve been ready for you.”

She really was going to be the death of me. Fuck.

I dropped my pants and underwear to the ground. “You’ve been ready for me, huh?”

“I’ve been ready for you,” she breathed.

That did it.

That look, that pleading, that pretty face.

I stepped forward to kneel on the end of the bed, and when I spoke, I barely even recognized the deep, strangled voice that came out of me.

“Turn around and grab the headboard.”

If Gemma wanted to get fucked on her hands and knees, then Gemma was going to get fucked on her hands and knees.

She scrambled into position precisely like I told her to, placing her hands on the headboard and giving me that perfect ass to look at as she kneeled on the bed.

“Good girl,” I breathed, tracing a finger down her spine and watching goose bumps erupt over her skin.

I loved that. Loved seeing how easily I could affect her. She held the same power over me.

Gemma groaned my name, impatient as ever, and a grin slipped onto my lips as I leaned down to lick up her inner thigh. Her legs slid further apart, clearly wanting more. Wanting me to go higher.

I happily complied. Gemma’s legs trembled as my tongue swept between her legs, her cries saturating the air as I took a minute to toy with her clit. Fuck, she was wet. And delicious, making me want to spend days between her legs. I could live here and be a happy fucking man. She tasted so goddamn good. She tasted like…

“Mine.”

Gemma rotated her hips in response, trying to get more. “Yes,” she whimpered. “Noah, please.”

Her pleas had me folding in an instant, kissing my way up her body until I could nip at the shell of her ear.

“I’m here, baby. And I’m going to fuck you hard now,” I whispered. “If it’s too much⁠—”

“I can take it,” she interrupted, glancing back at me over her shoulder. Her eyes blazed with both desire and determination.

“That’s my girl.” I grinned, pulling back to grab her hips and line myself up. I pumped one hand over my cock once before guiding it between her legs, letting the tip graze her clit because I was addicted to how she whimpered. To how her body squirmed, begging for more. So I gave it to her, slapping my dick hard between her legs and watching as her knees threatened to buckle.

“Better hang on tighter, angel,” I warned.

And then I got to slide home.

Fuck, that first thrust inside her body—nothing compared. Nothing.

Gemma gasped loudly, and I hoped to hell it was the same feeling for her. It was the feeling I was trying not to think about last night when we were apart. The feeling that plagued me as I drove home with a raging erection.

But it was nothing compared to what was still coming.

I pulled back before slamming into her again, harder this time. Gemma cried out, and I smirked at the sound. I made that sound. That sound was just for me.

I wanted to hear it again. So I pumped my hips against Gemma’s, sliding in and out of her sweet cunt with an unrelenting rhythm. My fingers tightened, digging into her skin as I tried to keep a grip while drowning deeper and deeper inside her. Broken sounds left my lips as heat and pleasure overtook all my senses. I was lost. To all of it. To her.

“Oh my fucking God,” I groaned as Gemma’s inner walls started fluttering around my cock. “Gemma, fuck, baby.”

She threw her head back while taking every single blow. Her fingers remained wrapped around the top of the headboard, and loud pants of desperation left her lips.

Knowing I would lose it soon, I reached around to her front, cupping one breast as it swayed in time with my thrusts. I kneaded it roughly, loving the soft feel of her in contrast with the dirty, hard way we were fucking. Gemma loved it, too, a humming noise leaving her lips as I tweaked a nipple.

So I kept doing it, pushing her over the edge. She gasped, and I felt her tightening, strangling my cock in such a blissful way. I kept my pace steady until she exploded, and then I slapped my hips against hers harder, determined to make her orgasm last. Determined to chase my own release.

When it hit me, I nearly doubled over from the power of it. Pure liquid heat tore through my body as I shuddered uncontrollably.

Holy…holy fuck.

The room spun around me, us, and I had to take a few deep breaths before my vision straightened.

Gemma had dropped her head to the pillow, and she seemed to be doing the same. I watched her back rise and fall as she panted into the bed. Dropping my lips to her spine, I ghosted a few kisses down it.

“You okay?” I whispered. “You took me so well, Em.”

She nodded, still not lifting her head.

“I’m okay,” she said, the words muffled. “I’m…I’m more than okay, Noah.”

Of course she was.

Regretfully, I drew out of her body. And I couldn’t help but look down to watch how my cock slid from her dripping pussy. Something in my chest clenched with the sight, and shit, I knew what it was.

Possession.

Gemma was the first woman I’d ever fucked bare. And while I always knew it would feel unbelievable to have sex without the barrier of a condom, I never imagined I’d react like this at seeing her filled with my cum. Holy fuck, it felt like marking her. Like claiming her. And I wanted to do it over and over and over again so that I could have repetitive proof that she was fucking mine.

I stilled at my thoughts.

It was just the sex, making me think like this.

I needed to remember that.

It was just the sex.

It was just sex.

Just. Sex.