I stared into his emerald eyes, my breaths feeling shallow.
“I wanted to spend more time with you, too.” I gathered my courage and took a step toward him. “You were in the cottage the first day that I was here,” I said.
Noah nodded.
“I wasn’t supposed to be,” he admitted. “I had gone in there to look for something, and when you came in, I didn’t want to leave.”
“But you…” my voice trailed off.
“I couldn’t help myself,” he said. He was starting to come closer, but he suddenly cleared his throat and stepped back. “We should get back to the dessert. I just wanted to tell you that. I felt like you needed to know.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said.
Noah started guiding me through making a burnt caramel sauce for the ice cream, but I was barely listening to him. All I wanted to hear was his words over and over in my mind.
“Nope. I’m not going to eat it.”
Noah backed away from me, but I pursued him, holding a bowl of ice cream in one hand and a filled spoon in the other. My face ached from laughing throughout the morning as we baked the loaf of bread that we had made and then cupcakes and cookies while the ice cream solidified in the freezer. We had poured the thick ribbon of rich-smelling caramel into the container with the newly-churned ice cream so that it swirled through the finished scoops. I had dished out a large bowl for us to share, but Noah had turned me down, telling me that while he loved creating the decadent desserts, he rarely ate them.
Noah took another step back and his leg hit one of the chairs that were clustered in one corner of the kitchen, creating an area where he could sit to take a break without being too far from whatever he was making in the kitchen. Before he could correct himself, he stumbled and sat down hard. I laughed at the surprised look on his face and stepped up close to him to prevent him from standing up. I leaned forward to bring the spoonful of the ice cream to his lips.
"Don’t you want to try any? Just a little bite?" I asked, my voice falling to a soft, powdery half-whisper as I brought the spoon to nearly touching his lips.
"Just a little bite," he finally replied and opened his mouth so that I could slip the spoon onto his tongue.
His eyes closed and he made a moaning sound in his throat at the flavor. The sound went straight between my thighs.
"Would you like another one?" I asked.
Noah nodded, opening his eyes. I scooped up another bite, making sure to gather up a large portion of the thick ribbon of burned caramel and held it to his lips. He kept his eyes locked on mine as he pulled the spoon into his mouth and swept the dessert onto his tongue. I had dipped the spoon back into the bowl and was lifting it to his mouth for another bite when I felt his hands touch my thighs. In one swift movement, he grabbed onto my hips and pulled me forward, parting his thighs so that I stood between them. I gasped as the sudden movement at once startled me and caused me to splash some of the ice cream onto my cleavage.
I looked down and watched the white drops trail across my skin. Though the trail was cold, as it meandered along between my breasts I couldn't help the thoughts conjured by that image. Holding me still in his strong hands, Noah leaned forward and licked the melted ice cream from my skin, lingering for a few seconds as his tongue darted between my breasts to ensure he gathered every drop.
I whimpered and felt myself arch slightly, pushing my body closer to his. The spoon dropped from my hand and I felt Noah take the bowl out of my other hand. My arms fell to my sides as he dipped the pad of his thumb into the cream and stroked it across one of my collarbones.
"Another little taste," he said, letting his tongue follow the trail he had created.
He repeated the process, using his thumb to trace a line of the cream along the side of my neck. His mouth nibbled along the sweet trail and by the time he had gotten to the soft dip behind my ear, I was trembling.
"Another?" he whispered and I nodded, surrendering myself to him and to whatever game he was playing.
I watched him through lowered eyelashes as he slicked the cool ice cream along my lips. A second later, his mouth touched mine. It was the gentlest of kisses and I admired his control as he held his lips just above mine so that they barely brushed against each other as he let his tongue gather the melting treat. He dipped forward and drew my bottom lip into his mouth, giving it a suck as if seeking out every drop of the sweet liquid and tasting me mingled with it.
"Maybe just a little more?" he whispered again.
I nodded. My eyes had fallen nearly closed and I wasn't able to see what he was doing, but a moment later I felt Noah's fingers press against my lips so that I opened my mouth. He placed a piece of praline on my tongue and slowly withdrew his fingers. I sucked on them gently as they disappeared and felt Noah's breath against me as he leaned forward to replace his fingers with his tongue against mine. The caramelized saltiness of the praline and the rich silkiness of the ice cream mixed with the taste of Noah’s mouth lit my body on fire and I wrapped my arms around his neck to draw myself deeper into the kiss.
Noah place the bowl on a nearby table and his hands returned to my hips so he could pull me forward even closer to him. I complied with the pressure of his hands, giving myself over to him as he led me off of my feet and into his lap. My knees settled onto the chair on either side of him and my pelvis touched his. Noah tightened his grip and led me down until I settled into his lap, cradling the erection I could feel building beneath me with the heat of my core. He flattened his hands on my back and drew me closer to him.
Noah drew his tongue along the opening between my lips and I parted them willingly, coaxing his tongue into my mouth again so that he could explore me deeper. He broke the kiss so that we could catch our breath and a moment later I lifted my mouth toward his, craving the taste of him again. Not showing any signs of urgency, Noah trailed his mouth down the center of my chest until he reached the deep scoop of my neckline. He ran his tongue along it, tracing the curve of the fabric against my body so that he licked the swell of one breast and then the other. When he finished this blissful torment, he ran his fingers from my ankles up my legs to my hips. He let them trace their way back down again, stopping at my feet to carefully remove my shoes and toss them aside.
“Stand up,” he whispered.
Though I didn’t want to relinquish the deliciousness of my seat in his lap, I complied. When I was on my feet in front of him, Noah eased off of the edge of the chair so that he was on his knees in front of me. He leaned forward and nuzzled my stomach with his face, then suddenly paused. His head hung and I felt a sinking feeling in my chest.
“I think that you should go,” he said.
“Why?” I asked.
He climbed to his feet, straightening his coat before combing his fingers back through his hair. The expression on his face said that this was actually the last thing that he wanted to do, but there was something burning in his eyes that made it very clear it was the only choice he was willing to entertain at that moment.
“I don’t think that I thought this through enough when I told Fawn that I would do it.”
“What do you mean?”
Noah looked at me beseechingly, as if he didn’t really want to have this conversation, but I needed to know what had changed.
“I can’t look at you the same way that the other men can,” he said. “They don’t know you until you meet them on your date. I haven’t spent much time with you, but I feel like I know you.”