Twisted (23 page)

When we reach the club and
park the car, Noah slings an arm across my shoulders as we run through the rain
to the club doorway. His cologne teases my senses and I savor the scent and the
feel of his warmth beside me.

The bouncer barely even
glances at my ID before he waves us in. Loud music greets us and we make our
way through the crowd. Even though it's early, the place is packed, probably
since it's raining outside.

I glance up at Noah and catch
his eye. “Do you need some liquid courage first before we hit the dance
floor?” I tease, not bothering to raise my voice since he can read lips.

He leans into my ear and
says, “Actually, yes.”

We head for the nearest bar
and Noah orders a rum and coke. He offers to buy me a soda but I decline. I'm
simply enjoying the atmosphere and I soak it up, enjoying the feel of the loud,
throbbing music and the vibrations in my chest. We find that all the tables are
taken, so we make a spot for ourselves near the dance floor while Noah enjoys
his drink, his eyes focused on the dancing bodies warily.

I touch his arm to get his
attention. “I promise you won't look stupid. I would never do that to you.”

He meets my gaze. “I know.”

His drink is nearly gone now
and I smile. “Well, c'mon, let me show you how it's done.”

Noah sets his drink down on
the ledge near us and looks less than thrilled. “I'm ready to be
tortured.”           

“You'll love my torture,” I
say with a laugh as I grab his warm hand and lead him out into the crowd. I
figure if he's in the middle with people surrounding him, he won't feel as if
people can see him, whereas dancing on the edge allowed the whole club to
watch. Two months ago I wouldn't have the guts to do this—especially with
Noah—but I've grown more comfortable with myself thanks to Cole.

Noah stands before me
stiffly, his jaw clenched.

I grab his hands and place
them on my hips. A hint of interest flickers in his eyes as I move close to
him, my breasts barely touching his chest. My hands rest on his hips and I look
up at him, smiling. “Trust me?”

Realization flickers in his
gaze as it dawns on him what kind of dancing I'm offering and damned if he
doesn't look very interested now.

“Dance with me,” I say as I
relax and move my hips to the music. I'm careful not to be too pushy or to come
off like a dog in heat. With Noah being deaf, he can't just dance on his own,
he needs help finding the rhythm and it would be easier for him to move if a
body was next to his, rather than away from him. My hips gently move against
his and I wait for him to want to catch onto the rhythm. He can't hear the
pounding music like I can, but his body could take its cues from mine.

Noah watches me dance with
great interest now, barely moving, before he finally hesitates and begins to
try to match my movements. And holy hell...deaf men can dance after all. It
takes a bit but before I know it, he's dancing more comfortably and you
wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him that he can't hear the music. I
think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we're doing a bit of hip grind.
Not the raunchy stuff people tend to do, but still a hip grind since our lower
bodies keep brushing. Judging by the look in Noah's eyes, he no longer cares
that he can't hear the music.  

I'm enjoying myself as much
as he is. Noah is a very fine looking man and I know what he's hiding under his
shirt. Now that I'm up close and personal with him, my body moving with his, I
can't help but wonder what it would be like to see him with his clothes off. Or
better yet, I keep wondering what it'd be like to be in his bed.

I try really hard to keep my
thoughts PG-13 since I have a boyfriend, but it's a lost cause. After a while,
I have no choice but to pull away and say, “I need a drink.”

Noah nods immediately, his
expression shifting to something unreadable as his hand goes to my lower back
and like a gentleman,
he
escorts me through the crowd.
He orders me a soda but nothing for himself. I sip from my straw and try to
control my attraction for him. I'm betting it had shown in my eyes while we
danced because I'd seen it in his as well. Noah's still very attracted to me
and my attraction for him is growing rather than fading.

“What are you thinking?” Noah
asks in my ear.       

I swallow hard at the fact
that he's shifted closer to me, making me way too aware of his body. I manage
to smile easily as if my mind isn't swirling with dirty thoughts of him. “I
told you, you can dance.” Not to mention we'd danced quite a few songs compared
to the one that he'd promised me. I feel thrilled and pleased he trusts me
enough to be out there with me tonight.

His lip tilts in the corner
slightly and he leans in and says, “That wasn't exactly dancing.”

“So what time is it?” I ask
abruptly.

Noah studies me and something
shifts in his gaze, as if he knows I'm pretty close to wanting to jump
him. He pulls his eyes away from mine and looks at his watch.
“Ten-fifteen.”

“We might as well head out,
then,” I say as I take a few more sips of my soda before we ditch it at the bar
and head out into the night.

The ride home is silent of
course and I find myself staring out my window as I try hard not to feel so
aware
of Noah. This night was supposed to be fun and just a way to show Noah that it
was okay to take a chance and try something, even if it made you uncomfortable.
Instead, my plan has completely backfired and now I am left wanting him like I
want to breathe.

It's wrong on so many levels.
First off, there is Cole. Second, Noah is five years older than me and at
eighteen, it's a bit of an age gap. If I were older, the gap wouldn't really
matter but the fact of it is, I'm still in high school and he's close to
graduating college. Third, he's my housemate and Tate would likely kill him if
we ever acted on the attraction. And lastly and most importantly, I don't
deserve someone like Noah. He is well and truly beyond my reach and he's way
too good for the likes of me. Up until now I've done a good job of shelving my
attraction for him and forgetting about it. I need to try to ignore it again
and look at him as just a friend and nothing more.

When we enter the house, I
immediately slip off my boots since the bottoms are wet. My clothes are
slightly damp since we'd had to make a mad dash through the pouring rain to get
to his car. I glance at Noah to see that he's kicked off his shoes and he's
running a hand through his slightly damp hair.

I smile at him. “Thanks for
going tonight.”

“It wasn't as bad as I
expected it to be. How about we get out these wet clothes and we make some
popcorn and watch a movie,” he suggests.

“You want to watch a movie?”
I ask, thinking about his deafness.

“If you don't mind the
captions.”

“No, that's fine,” I say and
we both head upstairs to change. I'm almost to my room when Noah turns on the
hallway light and says my name. I pause and toss my boots in my open doorway
before walking back to him curiously.

He gives me one of his easy
smiles. “I should be thanking you for tonight. I like that you don't treat me
like I'm broken. You treat me like I'm whole, no missing pieces.”

Something flares inside me
and I absolutely hate that he would think that about himself or that anyone
would look at him and think that. I step closer to him and touch his warm
cheek, which tenses slightly beneath my hand. “You are not broken, Noah. Broken
implies there's a part of you that needs to be fixed. You're perfect just the
way you are. Anyone that treats you less than that is a fool,” I say sincerely
before I go up on my tip toes and kiss his other cheek. I pull back, smiling
because this man has touched my soul on so many different levels. I refuse to
let him have a single, negative thought about himself.

Noah's eyes darken with
emotion and then much to my shock, his warm hands slide around my waist and he
pulls me close, his head lowering towards mine as his eyes watch me
intently—waiting to see if I am going to pull away.

It's sweet that he gives me
every chance to stop the kiss from happening, but God help me, I don't want to.
My eyes drift shut as I tilt my head up. As his lips move against mine and his
tongue sweeps into my mouth, I clutch at his shoulders and give in to the
attraction that I can't seem to fight anymore. The kiss is something I've been
dying to relive and it's better than I could have ever imagined. It also seems
to flare out of control real fast. It deepens and gets hotter and hotter until
I feel like I'm going to catch fire if I can't have more.

I slowly become aware of
Noah's hands on the back of my waist where they have slid under my shirt. The
feel of his hands on my skin has my body igniting. I kiss him back with abandon
as I grab the hem of his shirt, tugging on it. I need more. I want him so
badly.

Noah breaks the kiss, his
eyes almost black with desire as he looks down at me. “You sure,
Blayre
?”

The sexy rumble of his voice
has me licking my lips with anticipation. “Yes.” 

His eyes search mine for a
brief second before he takes my hand and leads me into his room, his hand
switching on the light as he shuts the door behind us.

Anxiety swarms me at the idea
of leaving the light on. I touch his arm and wait for his eyes to drop to my lips.
“No light. Please.”

“I need to see your face,
Blayre
,” he says, his eyes meeting mine.

“I don't want the light on.”

“Give me a second,” he says
quietly as he moves away from me and walks over to the nightstand near his bed.
He opens the drawer and pulls out a candle and a candle lighter. He lights the
candle and then sets the lighter back in the nightstand before pulling out a
condom and dropping it on the nightstand. Then he looks at me questioningly as
if I might have already changed my mind.

The little flame wouldn't be
bright enough for him to see my scars and I feel more confident now. I smile as
I reach out and turn out the light. There's a little voice inside me saying
this is going to cause major problems for me in the coming days, but I refuse
to let reality invade this night. Right now it's just me and Noah, nothing else
matters but this moment.

Noah walks towards me and I
meet him halfway as we pause by the bed, our mouths meeting in a deep hungry
kiss. My fingertips roam over his chest before they trail to the hem of his
shirt and pull at it. He steps back briefly to strip off his shirt before he
pulls me close, his mouth back on mine. His kisses are unlike anything I've
ever experienced. There's so much in them besides just physical attraction.

His hands move to my waist
and they slide beneath my shirt, his fingers grazing my bare skin as he begins
to lift the shirt up. Our lips pull apart and in the shadows of his bedroom, I
feel his eyes burning into mine as I raise my arms, allowing him to pull the
fabric up and away from my body. He tosses it over his shoulder before his arms
wrap around my waist and he walks me backwards toward his bed.

The backs of my thighs meet
the bed and I willingly topple backwards and grab for him, not wanting his lips
to be far from my own. His hard body rests briefly on mine before he pulls back
slightly, his biceps bunching as he literally picks me up slightly and shifts
me up on the bed. My head now rests on his pillow, flickering orange shadows
dancing across our faces. His lips claim mine again as his warm hands wander
over me, familiarizing himself with my bare shoulders and arms, my ribcage, and
then my stomach.

My own hands are doing some
exploring of their own and I love how smooth and warm his skin is. His
shoulders are so broad and as I trail my fingertips down his back, I can feel
hard muscle. Noah is definitely in prime physical condition. As his lips leave
mine, they travel down my jaw and I tilt my head back, my eyes drifting shut as
his lips find a sensitive spot on my neck. My body trembles as I shiver. Noah
pauses before he gently kisses the same spot again, drawing the same reaction.
As his tongue sweeps out across my sensitive skin, my body moves restlessly
against his. This is the most amazing torture I've ever experienced. I think
I've been missing out on some stuff because this is new to me.

Noah's hand reaches up and
skims the strap of my bra down my shoulder, his head lifting as his eyes
connect with mine. His eyes are questioning, and it melts my heart that he is
so attentive to my reactions and that he's asking once again if I want to
continue. I hold his gaze and shift up slightly on my elbows to give him access
to the back clasp of my bra. His hands reach behind me and he gently unclasps
it and I lie down as he eases it off, tossing it aside as his eyes roam over
me.

I find myself almost holding
my breath as I wait to see his reaction. Never before have I cared so much
about how I look and more than anything in the world,
I am
hoping he likes what he sees. His lips curve in a wide, sexy smile before he
shifts closer, his lips going back to my neck to briefly tease that sensitive
spot, making me shiver for him. Then his lips finally move on as they trail
down my throat. I expect him to go straight to my breasts but instead he trails
hot, teasing kisses down the middle of my chest towards my stomach before his
tongue dips into my belly button, causing me to squirm as I fight back a
giggle. I can feel his lips pull into a smile against my stomach before he
makes his way back up and finally he turns his attention on my breasts.