Your Fault (Culpable Book 2)

We left the patio and walked straight to our room—I’d already gotten my key earlier. When we went in, we stood there staring at each other, and neither of us knew what to do or say. Should I stay mad at her? Should I kiss her all over? Noah seemed to be asking herself the same thing.

“So we’re about to have fun, huh?” she asked, skillfully pulling down her zipper and letting her dress fall to the floor.

I’d never seen that underwear and bra and those sexy heels… She left me breathless.

She started to trip, and I quickly bridged the two feet between us, grabbing her around the waist, carrying her into the bathroom, and setting her down on the sink.

“Noah, you’re drunk.”

She shrugged. “Not so drunk that I don’t realize you brought me in here to punish me for going to Europe.”

I frowned. “I’m the one who’s getting punished tonight, Freckles, not you.”

“Well, I can think of a lot of other things we could do besides punish each other.”

I couldn’t resist smiling. There she was, half naked, her cheeks red from alcohol or embarrassment at the situation or who knew what. Unable to take it anymore, I cupped her face in my hands and pressed my lips to hers, not using my tongue, just playing a bit, because I had to, otherwise I thought I might lose my mind.

She started unbuttoning my shirt, and I stepped away.

“I think you should maybe take a cold shower first…”

Noah shook her head. “No, no cold, I’m good,” she said, pulling me back in.

When we kissed that time, it was more intense, and my hands climbed her back, unclasping her bra. She looked incredible, with those freckles all over her breasts and shoulders. I kissed them and moved up to her earlobe, catching it between my teeth, sucking on it like a piece of candy, making her quiver.

“I don’t want you to go,” I confessed, picking her up and carrying her out of the bathroom while she squeezed her legs around me, forcing me to tense my muscles.

Instead of answering, she kept kissing me as I laid her on the bed, holding back a bit to keep from crushing her, moving my lips down to the hollow between her neck and collarbone.

She shifted beneath me, trying to rub me closer. I lay down next to her and stared at her, entranced. Her breasts were rising and falling with her labored breathing.

“I could spend the whole night just watching you,” I said, propping myself up on my right arm while my other hand stroked her ribs, passed over her flat stomach, and trapped her left breast between my fingers.

“Nick, get on top of me,” she said, her eyes closed, wriggling beneath my hand.

“I want to watch your whole body flush as I touch you, Noah.”

Her honey-colored eyes opened and stared straight into mine. “But…”

I hushed her with a kiss while my hand crept into the elastic of her waistband. “I don’t want you to go to Europe,” I repeated, serious now, reaching inside.

She twisted and closed her eyes again.

I started fingering her, and the sight of her face made me nearly gasp. There was nothing I would have wanted more than to be there, watching her react to my caresses, seeing her bite her lip, listening to the soft sighs of pleasure she let escape from her lips.

I couldn’t go a month without her. I couldn’t stand it. I loved seeing her happy. Doing this just one time since I’d returned from San Francisco wasn’t enough for either of us, and the thought of her being gone a whole month made me want to show her just how bad I was going to miss her.

“Are you going to go?” I asked her, rubbing her harder.

“Yes…” she said, and once more, I was angry.

“Are you sure?” I hissed as my hand moved faster.

I knew she was about to finish, but I stopped at the moment of maximum intensity.

Her eyes opened wide as if she couldn’t understand what was going on. Her pupils were dilated from desire, and her mouth was hanging open, about to free a cry of pleasure that now wouldn’t come.

I couldn’t look at her. I closed my eyes and lay on my back. My whole body hurt. This was punishment for me, too, but the rage was too much for me. I couldn’t even explain how it was consuming me.

“Why’d you stop?” she asked.

How could I tell her how lost I felt just then? How could I make her see that leaving me was going to mean I’d be living in hell?

I said nothing, and Noah crept close and rested her head on my shoulder, stroking my chest over my shirt.

“I don’t want this stupid trip to cause problems for you and me, Nick.”

I ran a hand over my face and looked over at her.

“If it’s that important to you, I’ll talk to my mom, and we could…”

“No.” I cut her off. “Just give me time to get used to the idea… I want you with me all the time. I know it’s impossible, but that doesn’t make it any easier… It just pisses me off, that’s all.”

She looked pensive, and I could tell she was unhappy with the situation, too. She bent over and kissed me on the cheek.

“I love you, Nick. Do you love me?”

“I love you more than I love myself,” I responded, stroking her bare back.

“That must be difficult,” she said, smiling like a little girl.

“Very funny,” I said, rolling on top of her and trapping her in my arms.

My lips hovered slowly over hers as she sank her fingers into my hair.

“Are you tired?” I asked, pressing my mouth into her neck.

“Finish what you were doing before,” she whispered.

I needed her. I had needed her since we’d fought in the car. I needed her to make me feel like I was the only one, the only one she wanted, the only one she lusted for.

“You want me to make love to you, Freckles?”

Blushing, she took off my shirt. I could see the desire reflected in her eyes. She licked the center of my chest, my neck, my chin, and my body stiffened as I pinned her hands over her head, feeling her teeth sink into my ear.

She stretched up, and I let her kiss my lips, darting my tongue in and out of her mouth softly as I pressed my hips into hers.

“I love you, Nick,” she said, arching her back as my hand had its way with her again.

“I love you, too.”

And that was how we finished the night: doing the one thing that didn’t cause us any trouble.